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.

Birthday Fishing

It was a perfect birthday fishing weekend. Caught limits reds, and a limit of trout.

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.

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.

First time in Freeport

We met up with bogdog (Clint) if Freeport Saturday morning and hit the water by six fifteen. After a short paddle we reached the first stop, we split up and started looking for some reds. It didn’t take long for the action to get fired up and the reds were exploding all over our top waters. Between the four of us we landed seven reds between eighteen and 30 inches on top waters in an hour, and a couple of small trout. The tide was super high and you could see reds chasing shrimp and mullet way up in the grass, so I put on a (Kicker Fish bait) strawberry white tail shad stick. I rigged it up weed less and sent it into the grass after a red that was chasing some shrimp. When I say way up in the grass I mean about twenty feet in from the waters edge. As soon as the shad stick hit the water that red inhaled it and the fight was on, and then it was over. My twelve pound line was no match for a big red in thick grass, so if anyone sees a red swimming around with a strawberry white tail shad stick bait in his mouth watch out he’s a feisty one. After that we paddled back to the trucks, loaded up, and headed for our next destination.

When we arrived at our next stop we unloaded and started fishing. The fishing was a little slow but we managed four nice reds on top waters. Most of the fish were caught out in the middle of the lake we were fishing, and some were caught out of a school we found that was running bait on the bank. After about two hours the bite was over and we headed home.

Thanks for the trip Clint we had a blast

Specks in the spot light

Friday night we headed down to the east end of Galveston to do some trout fishing. After the lights and generator were fired up it didn’t take long for the trout to show up. The trout were not in there usual numbers but there were some decent size fish in the lights (18-20”). I started throwing the usual baits, mirrodine, small finesse shad, and bass assassins with little luck besides some throw backs. I decided to tie on one of the new baits I picked up from KICKER FISH BAITS and that was the ticket. First cast with a pearl pepper saltwater shadstick landed an 18” trout. A couple of casts later another 18” trout, and many more after that. The shadstick was rigged up weed less with a bass hook, about 6” of leader line, and a swivel (no weight). The trout couldn’t stand the action that the shadstick has. The best retrieve was slow letting it sink about a foot down and then twitching it a few times back to the surface. We only kept enough fish for a meal and let the rest go back. If you get a chance to do some night fishing I would suggest getting some shadsticks, they were a life saver and kept me from getting skunked at the hole.

AFTERNOON TRIP WEST BAY

Made an afternoon trip to the south shore line near sanluie pass Saturday. The east wind was blasting and the water was dirty but we managed some trout, flounder and a red. Most fish were caught on plastics, the red was caught on a monster live mullet. Going to try some night fishing this weekend with the guys.

2010 IFA Kayak Fishing Tour Texas Division

Josh MacNaughton made second place and caught the LARGEST Red Fish in his first tournament (Results).

2nd Place prizes included Hobie Mirage Outback Kayak and $200 cash for catching the biggest Red Fish in the tournament. Josh also won a new fishing net in a raffle.

Special Thanks to his sponsors:
GOD
Tatum MacNaughton TX Realtor.