Still Looking For a 30"

We hit the water around three this morning and picked up some trout in the lights at the secret spot in Galveston. At five we loaded up and headed to the Red Fish hole to try for some topwater madness. The Reds were thick but not wanting to commit to any good strikes. I had numerous blowups and tail slaps but no takers until I started throwing my new go to bait (Red Daddy Assassin Spinner with an opening night sea shad). As soon as that spinner hit the water it was Fish-On, I caught five trout with one at 28.5” and one 23” red fish. There were also a few throw backs and some missed fish mixed in so all in all it was a good day. It would have been a great day if that trout would have been the 30” I’ve been looking for all my life. When I set the hook on her I was sure it was a red fish, but when she gave up and came to the surface I was shocked when I saw a black back instead of the bronze one I was expecting. As soon as I saw that log surface I was almost sure that is was the one I had been waiting for, but once again it was just a little short. After a quick measurement and some pictures she was set free to see another day.

Prefront fishing

We made a quick trip down to the island "Galveston" before the front came through and it paid off pretty well. We managed to get four limits of trout to 24” and eight reds to 28” between four of us. Most fish fell victim to Saltwater Assassins, and a hand full were caught on Corkys. This is going to be a short post due to the fish fry we are about to have. Love them fried fishes.

Wind, rain, and a yak load of fish

After looking at the weather this morning I made an executive decision to head down to cold pass anyway. The whole drive down I was hoping the weather guessers and the radar were wrong as they usually are when it’s supposed to be nice. When I met up with Brian at the KOA camp grounds we were greeted with a cold thirty+ MPH north east wind and rain. After making another well thought out decision we decided to unload the yaks and give it hell. Once we were on the water we headed to the north side of cold pass, which was a wild ride with the tide going out and the wind blowing in. When we arrived at the secret spot it was FISH ON all day. At the end of the day my total was twenty+ reds from twenty one - twenty five inches, two trout sixteen and eighteen inches and one little flounder at fourteen inches. Brains total was two reds at twenty two inches and one I donated to him. Two reds were caught on gold and black topwater and the rest of the fish were caught on Texas roach salt water assassins sea shad.

West Bay Reds

Made a trip down to west bay Sunday morning and managed to pick up two twenty five inch reds. The wind was blowing and the bite was slow but the two bites I had resulted in two solid reds that were perfect for lunch. The first red fell victim to a corky and the second came on a saltwater assassin. I talked to some other fishermen while I was out there and most came up empty and some had a few trout. The fishing could have been better but it was still a good day to be on the water with some fellow yakers.

Gulf Coast Fishing Team Tournament

The Gulf Coast Fishing Team tournaments are going to start up on Feb 5th. This is going to be a fun and affordable series to fish in. There will be a boat, kayak/wade, and kids division there will also be some side pots to get into. Here is the link http://gulfcoastfishingteam.org/index.html hope to see you there.

Midnight Madness II

We made another trip down to west bay Wednesday night to get some meat for the freezer. The East wind was blasting and it was making fishing tough, but we managed twenty one nice trout and a dozen throw backs. All fish were caught on purple chartreuse tail Mirror lure soft plastics and pumpkin seed with chartreuse tail. Once again the preferred retrieve was a slow steady reel with a light twitch every so often. I wasn’t able to take a lot of pictures due to the sporty conditions on the water but I did get one of the ice chest full of fish and Cody holding the first fish of the night. If anyone from Mirror Lure is reading this I just want to say you make the toughest soft plastics I have ever used. I have used the same lure on two trips and caught around forty fish on it and its good for another trip or two.

Morning wade

Sunday morning I took a solo wading trip to my hole in west bay and it was very productive. When I arrived at my spot the wind was dead and the water was boiling from schools of mullet being chased by bull reds. Bull reds were not on my menu so I just watched the action while I waded over to a marsh drain I like to fish. While I was in route to the drain there were some rat reds destroying grass shrimp on the shore line. I decided to make a cast with my skitter-walk and it was hammered by a two spotted rat red. Once inside of the drain I was shocked by the number of red fish that were in there. My second cast landed a twenty two inch red and the action was non stop until around eleven. A few times I caught myself just watching all the action instead of fishing. Fifteen reds from twenty to twenty seven inches were caught inside of the drain in knee deep water. The baits of choice were a chrome and black skitter-walk and a red and white kicker fish bait shad stick There were numerous times red fish would swim right up next to me and not get spooked, I guess they thought I was a pole or something. There were a few times reds would come completely out of the water and land on the bank trying to get shrimp. It was a very nice day to be on the water, and a shame I had to enjoy it by myself. All but three fish were released, and the three fish were mighty tasty.

There were a few strange things that happened Sunday morning. There was a large sea turtle that hung out with me for a while, not that strange but kind of cool. Then there were stingrays flying out of the water chasing shrimp and mullet, I’ve never seen that before. The best one of the day was the small waterspout that ran over me, it was neat but it got me pretty wet.

I guess I could be more Specific about the hole, I was fishing the south shore line of west bay by the pass.