What I’ll Take Away

All astute anglers work to continuously refine their abilities. I and the few fishing buddies with whom I regularly share detailed information operate from a guiding principle. We try our best to learn something every time we go fishing. We believe if we can learn at least one new thing each time out, no trip will be wasted, no matter what we catch or don't catch.

2006 was a dandy year for catching fish in the Upper Laguna Madre and Baffin Bay. We had an exceptional run in the upper reaches of the lagoon in late winter, then the action shifted farther south and got even better. April and May were off the charts! In April, I averaged over one hundred fish per day, at least half of them keepers, and of those fish, five trout per day stretched the tape to over twenty five inches.

Those are some rare numbers; I know, because I have long been a statistics freak. I even invented names for some of the stats I keep, dubbing the number for twenty inch plus trout per day the "Power Index" and the number over twenty five inches per day the "Super Power Index". Maintaining an "SPI" of five for a whole month is definitely unusual, especially if more than a few trips are made.

The heat of summer produced some good stats too. Predictably, redfish were abundant and aggressive and lots of little trout were biting, but the number of bigger than average trout remained high when compared with other summers.

We experienced plenty of days when fish were relatively easy to catch. Some important lessons are learned when the fishing is not particularly challenging. Other, potentially more meaningful facts can be gleaned from efforts made on days when the catching is much tougher.

One lesson that I'll take away from last year's action is that brown tide is unpredictable. Annoyingly, water that's clear or lightly tainted one day may be nasty the next. In some cases, wind seems to blow the bloom into and out of areas, but in other situations, it is difficult, even impossible, to come up with a reason for the sudden and unexpected appearance of the algae.

What's certain is that fishing brown tide is more challenging than fishing clear water. I and my clients caught some big trout in tainted waters in the last twelve months, but doing so required lots of effort and patience. Of course, being productive in waters with low visibility requires an intimate knowledge of the spots to be fished, so that lures can be sent into fish-holding zones often obscured by the stain. Productivity in the brown slop may also be enhanced through the use of specialized techniques.

Changing lures and presentation styles can aid anglers in coaxing more bites in mucked-up waters. Angler Jeff Phillips of College Station proved that switching from soft-bodied Corkies to hard-bodied Mirrolure plugs can make a marked difference. On a cold, post-front February outing, he used a Catch 2000 Jr. and a Catch V to scratch out several impressive fish while most of the rest of us in the group struggled to get a bite.

He caught one trout at 28 inches, one at 29 inches and another at 30 inches, and he hooked and lost a fish that seemed to all of us to be bigger than any of those. In talking to him about it later, I felt kind of stupid, as his reasoning for choosing the plugs makes perfect sense and is the kind of thing I should have realized previously.

Jeff pointed out that the Catch V and 2000 have louder rattles than a Corky, and that they have superior reflective qualities, making them more visible to the fish. Additionally, he added scent from a spray-on bottle to his plugs that day to help the fish find them. Taking a loud, flashy, stinky plug and creeping it through brown slop surely makes sense, especially a slow-sinking model that can be shaken vigorously without being moved through the water too far too fast.

I have since used Mirrolure's products several times in brown tide and caught big trout. I also have been applying spray-on scents more than ever before, adding juice to soft plastics as well as to Corkies and Mirrolures.

Thanks to the people at Mister Twister, I don't really have to enhance the scent of my soft plastics any more. I now use their Exude products, which are impregnated with scents that trail off into the water as the lures are retrieved. The RT Slug in particular has been a top producer for me, both in stained and clear waters.

Since we had clear water in a lot of areas for a big portion of 2006, I learned some lessons about sight casting for both trout and redfish. Conventional wisdom says that once spotted, fish are easier to catch on soft plastics than other lures, and I agree to some extent. On several days, I found that the only way to coax visible fish into striking was by swimming a soft plastic paddletail steadily in close proximity to their noses. On other days, however, the fish would spook away from sub-surface offerings, but would follow topwater plugs with interest.

My experiences last year reminded me that some people take their floating plugs off too quickly when they get weak blowups or when they see fish following without striking. On more than one such occasion, I found that switching to sub-surface plugs resulted in a reduction in the number of strikes, not an increase. If fish are showing interest in topwaters but not striking and sticking regularly, changing the presentation, size and/or style of floating plug can be more effective than changing to Corkies, Mirrolures, spoons or soft plastics, whether sight casting or not.

Sometimes, even in clear, shallow, calm water, the fish still want their meal served on the surface. Chad Sills caught a trout pushing thirty inches in May on a SheDog in shin-deep water. That big girl had the whole plug inside her mouth after making a memorable, committed and resounding move to eat the loudly pinging chrome plug just a few yards in front of him.

Another big trout caught in skinny water on a topwater reminded me of a lesson I'd previously learned. Steve Carter caught his first trout ever, a twenty seven inch, six pounder, on a pink Skitter Walk while we were wading knee deep, proving once again that a beginner to the world of trout fishing can catch a big fish. This possibility is enhanced when the angler is armed with lightweight tackle best suited to wading, chunking and winding all day. The Laguna rods and Shimano reels I use exclusively aid in the ability to sustain efforts over the long hours. Critically, Steve had the basic casting skills necessary to function with the equipment he borrowed from me and furthermore he did his best to concentrate on the presentation I suggested and thoroughly worked the area I pointed out to him.

His catch reinforced an important lesson for me. Even beginners can catch a big trout on a lure if they are willing to follow good advice, and then display ample patience and adequate dexterity. This truth was pounded home some years ago when Jason Simmons caught a ten pound trout while under my tutelage. He had caught only a handful of trout prior to that trip, but he knew how to handle his equipment and he worked admirably to execute the exact presentation I suggested, and then planted his feet in a productive spot without moving around aimlessly. His efforts rewarded him with two other trout over eight pounds to go with his ten, giving me a great deal of satisfaction to complement his glee.

I had at least thirty customers catch their lifetime best trout while fishing with me in '06, and I am happy and proud to say that. I am also honored that so many other anglers who did not catch the trophy we sought on their scheduled day assured me that they learned a lot anyway. This year, I will make a concerted effort to ensure that my focus on helping my clients become better anglers remains as high as it's ever been.

I know I can control the fishing decisions I make and how much effort I put into teaching my clients something when we are on the water. These days, I fish under less pressure than previously, partly because I've gained confidence in my choices of locations and techniques, but mostly because I've come to accept that the outcome of any trip will be positive if I focus on controlling the things that I have power over.

I now know that I can offer a quality fishing experience to any angler who puts a priority on learning something during the trip. If we are committed to practicing the craft of finding fish and figuring out how to make them strike on a given day and if I do a good job of giving advice and rendering aid, then we'll all come away satisfied. We'll wind up catching some big trout too!

Though we caught as many trout over twenty seven inches in 2006 as we ever have, we killed just a few. I am blessed to work with so many people who are willing to keep only what they really need. One thing that became abundantly clear last year is that more people are heading to places once frequented by a select few. I learned that the parking lot they paved for us at Bird Island Basin isn't big enough to accommodate the crowds of spring!

More and more people are fishing saltwater every year in Texas, and I seriously doubt the growth will stop any time soon. It is therefore incumbent on those of us who love fishing coastal bays to fight the good fight and encourage people to think about what they keep and kill. I learned last year that it is possible to raise the ire of many people when promoting the idea of responsible harvest.

It is sad to think that some people perceive me as an elitist or believe that I think there is no place for fishing for trout with live bait. Though I don't choose to do so, I know that fishing with bait is best for some people, and that I am in the end no "better" than them. I also know that eating trout is part of the culture of saltwater fishing. My customers and I keep some "grease poppers" for the table on a significant portion of our trips.

But many of us can see that if we all kill all the fish the law allows every time we have the opportunity, we will have a profoundly negative effect on the fishery. To those of you who have supported my stance (and that of this magazine) on conservative harvest and who treasure the sport of fishing and consequently wish to behave in ways that enhance the continued productivity of our coastal waters, I say thanks. I appreciated all the positive emails I received in response to the articles and stories I wrote last year which touched on the need for the careful handling of fish, conservative harvest and on the absurdity of needlessly killing fish for pride or greed.

And to those of you who misunderstood my goals in writing and publishing those pieces, especially those who sent me nasty emails, I apologize for any confusion, but not for the stance I took. Let me write once again that I support the rights of all people who fish within the law and who do so ethically, whatever methods, baits or lures they choose. But I do not, nor will I ever, support or condone cramming freezers with fillets just because the law says it's legal to do so.

2006 was a memorable year for fishing in the Baffin/Laguna area. Thousands and thousands of fish were caught; lots of those fish were killed. Some of the dead fish are still, I'm sure, occupying space in freezers around the state. As winter winds down and reports appear on the internet, alerting the masses that the fishing is heating up around here once again, I hope that the catching is as good as it was in '06. I know from last year's experience that the crowds of people clamoring to get in on the action will most likely be bigger than ever.