Thought I would squeeze in a short day at POC as the crowds are on the way. When I got to the ramp at about 8 it was already over half full, but a guy had just pulled out, and when I went to park I got a spot right up front which was nice.
I took the skiff today as the plan was to see if I could limit in Barroom Bay and Big Bayou without going anywhere else. It almost worked. With a brisk breeze blowing I decided to fish a Redfish Magic, and so first it was the bank on the north side of Big Bayou along the islands were the grassy shorelines are. Only 2 reds cooperated, one keeper, but the tide was low, and it was real shallow. There was one interesting bite today, see below.
I don’t catch many Groupers inshore at POC. And when you do catch one of these little guys it reminds you of how hard they fight when you are dragging them off the bottom in 100 foot offshore. And see the stilt house, that is the side the reds were on.
As the south side of the Bayou was somewhat out of the wind, I threw the Waker for a little, and they liked it, but did not love it. Between me not getting the hook in 2, and 4 or 5 more missing it, I never did catch one on it. But it is time, they seem to like that bait much better when the water heats up and it is flat calm. As the winds begin to lay a little more with summer, the Waker will really come on. So if you have a falling tide, and I mean getting low, try one.
So off to Barroom proper. I cut through and started by the only house on the south side with a dock. I tried plastics first out in about 2 -3 foot without any success. So in to the bank I went and started throwing topwater. About halfway down that side, back towards Fisherman’s Cut, there is a small cut running from the Bayou into Barroom. It has a small oyster bar along it, and has been good to me in the past. As I got close I had 4 big blowups on the Spook Jr. and did not hook one up. So in the water I went.
A good choice. Over the next hour, around noon, I had at least 10 hits, and caught 4 keepers throwing to that creek mouth. That area has a good hard bottom for wading and usually holds a few trout.
Right before he took off. I just wanted to show you that Super Spook Jr.
My buddy Aaron swears by that bone Super Spook Jr. with the feather on the back hook. Today they loved it. I then waded out deeper hoping to catch a trout or two on top, but it was not to be. Since we have had a southerly prevailing wind for a few days Barroom was really off colored. I guess there wasn’t water clear enough, that was deep enough there, to catch them on it.
So off the the other side I went to wade. I fished the area on the north bank in front of the orange condo that I wade a lot. Over the next hour I worked the plastic over pretty good and only managed 5, though at least 2 would have measured. I just don’t think it was “good” trout water. But I was determined to stay in that area and see how it would go.
Next it was the channel leading into Barroom from the Bayou by the next to the last island. It is narrow with about 3 – 4 of water in it depending on the tide. I caught 5 or 6 wading the length of it, a couple which were acceptable. All were on plastics. I am still alternating between the red/pearl paddle tail and the electric chicken in the split tail. Today it was just one or two bites, here and there, and neither bait seemed to make a difference.
After that I decide to make one last drift across Barroom so I headed down to near the channel markers and let the wind push me. I caught 3 small ones but could not seem to find the better fish. I switched to a pearl Bass Assassin and did finally catch a couple of good keepers. At that point I had enough and called it a day.
So for the day a nice limit of reds, and probably 6 or 7 keeper trout. I wasn’t keeping fish today, but that is as good a guess as I can make on the trout. But it was a stuggle for me on the trout. I never had more than a few bites in one place. But the reds more than made up for it. There is nothing like a redfish knocking the snot out of a topwater. It did not help the water was so off colored, and if I was not so determined to catch them there, I would have left in search of “greener” water.
I did talk to a couple of guys at the dock with a pretty nice mess, all on shrimp. And my neighbor fished a small tournament last weekend, and limited using croakers before 9:30. So live bait is on, and croaker fishing should really take off with summer here. If you want to put some fish in the boat, and are not a hard headed lure chunker like I am, buy some bait.
And one final word about the coming weekend. It was crowded today, and will be a lot worse this weekend. I saw one boat grounded this morning, and another just made it off the mud flat. So take it easy folks, there is no hurry, live to fish another day. Plus, who want to pay the Tow Boat guy $500, like a friend of mine did a couple of weeks ago. And most of all, try to play well with others this weekend. So have a great holiday, hope you have a great time, and maybe even catch a few fish.
Good Luck and Tight Lines.
