After not being able to fish for a week, I was ready to get after it. And so were the trout. I got to Froggie’s about 10:30 as there was a really heavy fog this morning. When I headed out it was just starting to clear.
I was intending to do some wading today, but the fish ended up side tracking me. When I started there was a light breeze, and the water was not moving as it was low tide. Throwing a topwater resulted in no strikes. I guess I am just not a winter topwater guy, or the time was not right, but either way it was not working for me.
So switching to the usual, a Texas Tackle Factory purple paddle tail with a chartruese tail, I worked some shallower banks with soft mud. Staying way off the bank and making long casts resulted in exactly nothing. I fished about half of the left side, including the large oyster bar, which was out of the water.
I did have one thing happen, as I eased down the oyster bar a man and his wife in a Trans Cat just plain cut me off, driving right up to the bank and tossing an anchor. Not only did they cut me off, fishing that particular bank by driving up on it, it has a shelf way out that is only 18″ at low tide, just ruins it anyway. I guess there are folks who just do not know the etiquite as far as moving in on someone. So instead of getting mad I moved across to the deep channel bank on the right hand side of Big Bayou.
I started getting bit right away. Basically it was just like the last time I fished there. Just tossing it to the bank, hopping it up and letting it fall down the drop. The water had started moving by then so I stuck with the whole right hand side.
The old dead fish in the cooler shot. Sorry there are no more pictures, I intend to take some with the baits in their mouth but I fished to hard and then the fog got the best of me. But at least I got the fish fry for the old folks.
The fish really started biting. For the next 3 hours I just used the trolling motor to maintain a good distance from the bank, and just hopped it along. It got better and better to the point that when they were really whacking it I used it real fast and could actually see some of them roll on it. There are times when the Polaroids really come in handy. When they are like that it really gives you a sense of how often you have trout tailing it, slashing at it, and just not getting it.
So I stayed there until I quit. I threw a bigger 5″ bait, but they were biting the tail off it, so I kept with the 3″. They were also willing to hit a corkie, and I threw it some, catching maybe 5 or 6, but the plastic was clearly the way to go. And of course, after catching a bunch reeling the corkie last time, they would not touch it that way. The wind was blowing now just hard enought to make corkie fishing out of the boat to difficult, so back to the plastics. The corkie requires a perfect cast and action, and when you are whipping down the bank it is not the bait to use.
One thing I found interesting today was that I caught no reds and no flounder. Now not catching any flounder was not that surprising as they bite much better on those deeper banks on a falling tide. But with the tide coming, up it is rare that the reds do not come with it in that area. But all in all it was a good day. My parents are coming from Arkansas so I kept 7 for a fish fry, the rest lived to fight another day. Most were in the 15 – 17″ class, but a couple topped 20, and I had one real good one break my line, which was my fault.
About 4 the east wind off the Gulf started blowing in a fog. And it was getting thick, thick enough I headed to the dock. 2 years ago my brother and I had a similar sitution when the fog rolled in mid day, and we stuck it out, which was a bad decision. You could not see your hand in front of your face, and we barely made it in. The next day while cleaning the boat to go home, we met a couple cleaning theirs who stayed to long. And they got to spend a long night in the boat. So even though I have a GPS to follow back, why chance it. So discretion is the better part of valor, so in I went.
The trout fishing has just been awesome this winter. Though the fish have not exactly gone to some of the places they have the last few years when it was really cold, if you find them now they seem to be hanging there on a regular basis. So if you get a chance go, and if the fishing now is any indication of what is to come, we are going to have a great trout year. And if you do get a chance, take some one who does not get to go to often, they will love it.
Good Luck and Tight Lines.
