Fish Catching Travel
The sounds of gunfire were echoing across the bay. Airboats roaring, more boats than I would have guessed, and as low a tide as I have seen in a coon’s age. Just another day in the paradise we call Port O’connor.
It had been a while since I fished out of POC so I figured why not? With the cold front still lingering, and a brisk north wind, of course it seemed like a good idea to go to the Gulf. I slept in, stopped by the store for a new starting battery, and finally made it to the bay about 11. There was actually more folks down there than I would have thought with the weather, but it was Friday.
I immediately discerned that the tide was going to be way low. No great feat considering I had not seen the water that low at the ramp since last winter. With only half a day it was off to Big Bayou to catch a few redfish. When I got there the tide was hauling out, and any water left on the bank was the color of some kind of yuppie frapi drink.
I sucked it up and starting throwing plastics and caught a rat, and I do mean rat, on the second bank. With the water color I changed to spinnerbait and managed to put this one in the boat.
He was kind enough to knock the snot out of it.
I know at times it may seem I go on and on about the Strike King Redfish Magic, but I make no apology. It catches redfish. It seems no matter what the weather, the tide, the time of year, if you need to catch a redfish the Redfish Magic is the way to go. No disrespect to Strike King, but it is an idiot bait. If you can cast and reel, you can catch redfish anywhere they are. I know, it has put hundreds of redfish in the boat, not to mention trout and flounder, for me over the last 10 years, and it never fails me.
Basically I fished all the usual places in Big Bayou and ended up catching 6, 2 like the one above and 4 rats. While I rarely have one come unbuttoned, I did lose a big one, which sucked considering how tough it was. You hate losing them anytime, but it hurts a little more when it is tough.
One thing that did surprise me, on my favorite trout bank that never fails to produce, did fail to produce. In fact, the bank had been so consistent that I even re-fished it before quitting, and got the same result. So with the wind I decided to make a quick run to the Oil Cut, which was out of the wind, to fish a couple of mud banks with the sun on them. That turned out to be a complete waste of time as it did not produce a bite anywhere on anything.
So for the afternoon it was just the 6 reds. Now do not get me wrong, if that is the result when the fishing is tough, I will take it any day. The tide was so low that there were huge expanses of flats and reefs completely out of the water, something I have not seen since last winter. I did talk to a couple of guys at one of the cabins who had been there since Wednesday. They were primarily duck hunting and told me that limits of redheads were the order of the day, with few other ducks. They also had the lights set up at the camp and had not caught a trout the whole time they they were there.
Just for your information I stopped at The Fishing Center and when I went in they were doing some remodeling. Randy introduced himself and said he had just bought the place with his partner Randy, and they were just starting to do some fixing up. He was personable and I am sure they will make the place a success. The new owners are Randy Hudson and Randy Spencer, or as I will call them from now on, Randy squared. Many years ago I owned a small tackle store in Arkansas and I know how hard it can be as a small business owner in a small town. So stop in, introduce yourself, and help them get off to a great start. New blood can only help the area.
There you have it for today. It was nice to get back to POC, no matter how busy, and no matter how slow the fishing was, I still love the place. A world of different fishing opportunities lie out of this small fishing village. To some of the long time fisherman it must seem like the end of an area as it gets busier and busier. But the fishing is still good, and with a little effort and gas you can still find a place to fish. The fishing world keeps evolving, and with it comes new challenges. So we just have to suck it up and find a way to catch fish. When you think about it, that is the heart fishing. Thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
