First time in sabine

On the way home from the IFA championship in Alabama we decided to stop and fish the north end of Sabine on the Texas side. After two days of punishment from the Fish Gods we caught a break and a ton of fish. The Red fish and Trout were stirring up the shrimp and the birds were getting the extras. The only word that could explain the day would be total chaos. At the end of the day we had two limits of Reds and two limits of Trout. Fish were caught on Gulp shrimp under a popping cork, topwaters, plastics, and corkys.
I could go on for days about how great the fishing was but I will let the pictures do the talking.

IFA Championship Orange Beach, Alabama

We headed out Thursday morning around one A.M. with no sleep since Tuesday night. We arrived in Alabama a little after nine A.M. and were pre fishing by ten. At the first spot all we could find was one small trout and some very fresh water. After we loaded up I did some research and found another promising spot in Oyster Bay which was about an hour away. When we arrived at our next stop we found a good amount of Reds and Trout. After a couple of hours of fishing and exploring it was decided this was going to be the place to start Friday morning.

After the captains meeting at the fabulous Cobalt restaurant we went back to Oyster Bay so we could finally get some much needed sleep. A little after five A.M. we crawled out of the truck. Yes we slept in the back of the Tahoe for three nights. On the way down the intercostal I had two blowups on a topwater just before the entrance to Oyster Bay, and I knew it was going to be a good day. Once inside the bay we saw some seagulls working on the south shoreline. After a short quarter mile paddle we were in a school of trout under the gulls. All of the trout were small but I was able to pull one out that was sixteen and a half inches. Now that I had my Trout I could go find one of the many Reds that we saw the previous day. After going to all of the spots that we found Reds on Thursday we came up empty, so I went exploring and still could not find a Redfish anywhere. I did manage to find a trout that was a little bigger. I fished until the very last minute and had nothing to show for it but an eighteen and a half inch trout.




Saturday we changed our location and fished Wolf Bay which gave me the same results as the previous day. I caught an eighteen and a half inch Trout and not a single Red. I don’t know what the deal is with Alabama fish but if I could take all of the places I fished during the tournament and bring them back to Texas they would be loaded with fish.

I wasn’t able to pull off the win that I wanted but it was a great experience. Once again I am very grateful for all of the hard work that the IFA and Hobie has put into giving us kayakers a chance to prove ourselves in a pro tournament.

The boys first tournament

Grady and Sterling had their very first fishing tournament October 30th. The event was put on by Texas CCA and is a wonderful family event. Although, the boys did not place with their fish. we all had a great time and they won a new fishing pole in the raffle.


Grady caught a 9in Whiting.


Sterling caught a 9 1/2in Sand Trout.

Working on the yak hauler

I was informed Friday that my ride to the IFA championship tournament decided to go hunting instead of going to the tournament. Now I’m going crazy trying to get everything lined out to get myself to the tournament. My truck needs new tires, the yak trailer needs some work and tires to be road worthy. Luckily things are starting to come together. Some new lights and some extra supports for the kayaks were added to the trailer today with the help of my boys. Once some new tires are put on it will be good enough to get me to Alabama and hopefully get me back home. This is some last minute rigging so don’t laugh too hard. My plan is to build the trailer how I want it thanksgiving weekend. The only reason I’m writing this post is because the pictures are pretty funny.

Wild day on west bay

The day started out with Travis’s reel being frozen up, and after a shot of oil and a few turns of the handle it was back in working order. After we set sail I noticed my rudder would only turn left, so I headed back to shore and pulled my yak back onto the trailer, and with a few adjustments we were ready to fish. The red fish and trout were smashing shrimp every where from the bank out to around a hundred yards. On my third cast I stuck a sixteen inch trout and he was the first and last trout to go on the stringer. A few minutes later I bowedup with a nice twenty four inch red with three spots and he was the first of four reds to join the lineup. Almost every cast with a top water resulted in an aggressive blowup but not very many hookups. I was having a blast watching those fish destroy my super spook. In my opinion missing fish on top waters is more fun than catching fish with any other bait..
The mission of the day was to catch some red fish for Travis to take back to college station since he has not been able to come in town as often as he use to. We closed out the day with a trout, four reds from twenty two to twenty eight, and a whole lot of blowups without a hookup.


The baits of choice were any top water but I mostly used a white with red head super spook jr., and the two biggest reds fell victim to a natural Gulp shrimp on a weed less jig head.