Pushing the Mental RESET Button

Do you know that feeling you get when you get the opportunity to grab some much-needed sleep when you are just flat exhausted? You wake up rejuvenated and seemingly ready to get right back into the swing of whatever made you so tired. I got to experience the fishing version of that feeling and I have to say it was truly like a mental kickstart for me, a “little blue pill” for the soul if you know what I mean.

For more years than I care to chronicle, the big speckled trout have been virtually absent from Sabine Lake and Lake Calcasieu, at least on a consistent basis. The past ten years have been tough on both bodies of water as a seemingly endless stream of hurricanes, storms and floods have just wreaked havoc on the populations of speckled trout. In March of 2016, 25 inches of rain fell on Toledo Bend reservoir in 31 hours, which pushed the lake level to 174.36 feet – more than a foot higher than the previous record established in 1989. This emergency situation led to the complete opening of all but two of the spillway gates. Mass flooding ensued downstream and you can only imagine what Sabine Lake looked like once the flooding subsided.

Since that flooding event and another just like it 2021, along with multiple hurricanes and tropical storms, things have never been the same, especially where big trout are concerned. I truly cannot remember the last time I personally put my hands on a 6-pound trout while fishing either Sabine or Calcasieu, and that’s a mind-blowing thought for me considering how many of those fish we had before all the weather events.

Now I’m not saying there haven’t been any big fish caught in the last few years. I’m sure a few were, but they have been very few and far between. An especially telling fact considering past history, which certainly makes it more difficult to get excited about fishing for them. Unless, of course, you go where the big fish population is in much better shape.

During the past several years I have been able to scratch the “big fish” itch by making a road trip and heading south to see Jim and Carlin Leavelle in Baffin Bay. Jim was a prominent figure in the Galveston Bay complex for many years as both an accomplished tarpon guide and big trout enthusiast. Jim now resides in Corpus Christi and runs his fishing operation on Baffin Bay. Jim’s son Carlin has followed in his footsteps by becoming an excellent angler in his own right and can more than hold his own when it comes to catching big trout.

Several years now Carlin has held a “birthday tournament” in December where several of his friends get together and fish for the weekend and, fortunately for me, I have been adopted as the “foster uncle” to these young anglers. Each time I fish with them I am absolutely blown away at how talented they are when it comes to chasing big fish. It’s a shot in the arm that puts a smile on my face.

For those of you who have never fished Baffin, Mansfield, or the Laguna Madre, all I can say is you owe it to yourself to make that trip and experience it. For years I had standing invitations from some good friends to go down to that part of the world and fish but just never made the time to do it because we were catching the same quality fish here at home. Fast forward to today and I go every chance I get because each trip reminds you of just how special it is to catch fish that big and that’s exactly what we did during this particular trip.

Each day we caught twenty or more fish over the 16-20 inch slot that we released. Each day almost everyone caught a fish in the 4-5 pound range. Each day the big fish for each group nudged 8-pounds with several fish of 6-pounds or better. For me it was it was absolutely déjà vu, it was the mid-2000s all over again and I couldn’t stop smiling because it had been so long since I had seen or done anything like that.

As a matter of fact, that particular weekend was good enough to make me go back the following weekend and do it all again just for fun and it actually got better. We caught perfect pre-frontal conditions along with extended feeding periods that really had the good trout cranked up. A solid topwater bite that was topped by a ridiculous Corky and soft plastic bite kept us busy virtually all day.

The timeframe between each good fish was short and the bites were steady, which made for an incredible day on the water. If you asked for anything better than what we witnessed, you would have been nothing less than greedy. I walked away from those four days with a much-needed new outlook and desire to find those fish on my own home water.

The five-hour trip home afforded me plenty of time to reflect and think about my path forward on both Sabine and Calcasieu. I realized that I had become somewhat routine and monotonous in my approach to everyday fishing and that there was plenty I had been overlooking. The process of rediscovering water and the quest for finding a big trout in my backyard would soon begin.

It’s no secret that I have a profound affinity for redfish and part of that love is due to the fact that we just have struggled so much with speckled trout populations. The current overall state of the speckled trout for both Sabine and Calcasieu could best be described as cautiously optimistic, due to the fact that we are finally seeing some better numbers and quality of fish but have yet to put together several consecutive seasons of growth and stable weather.

This year has been the best fishing we have had in the last three or four and hopefully that trend will continue without interruption. I would like nothing better than to hear about someone on either body of water catching a legitimate big fish this winter or early spring, just knowing that they are still out there. I know that I’ll be doing a lot more looking for those better fish during the coming months and leaving the safety of just getting bites from school trout because you won’t find those better fish running under the birds with the little guys.

Now if you want to go chase those better fish there is certainly a method to the madness and you don’t have to go far to get all the information needed to do just that right here in Texas Saltwater Fishing. There are countless articles devoted to chasing big trout and every one of them has something to offer. For me, personally, everything starts with tides, solunar feeding tables, and bait. If you can put those factors in your corner, you are way ahead of the curve. Another tried and true fact of life is that sub-surface, neutrally buoyant plugs and soft plastics will catch more than the lions share of big trout each year. Original Corkys, Soft-Dines, and Fat Boys are top producers and deserve a spot in every fisherman’s tackle bag but there are also others that deserve consideration as well.

One of my personal favorites is the Grasswalker by Trout Support. This 4.5 inch soft plastic was designed by Tobin Strickland as a way to deal with floating grass. The bait is incredibly dense and can be cast a mile even though it’s rigged weightless. I have never before seen trout strike a soft plastic and swim off with it like they do with this lure, it’s the saltwater version of fishing a Whacky Worm. The bait is incredibly versatile and can be fished in a variety of ways. I have clients who aren’t comfortable fishing baits like Corkys use this instead and the results are amazing because the bites are unmistakable.

Another soft plastic making a lot of noise this winter has been the Dart from Coastal Brew Baits. The Dart comes in 5,6, and 8-inch models and is ridiculously durable. Most commonly rigged on 1/16 or 1/8-ounce jigheads, the Dart draws reaction strikes as well as anything out there due to its erratic action and lasts longer than 95% of other soft plastics, which gives anglers plenty of bang for their buck.

Heading forward into 2025, I have my fingers crossed that we avoid any bad freezes while the state’s fish populations continue to rebound. If we are fortunate enough to put together another decent weather year here on Sabine we may very well turn the corner toward a serious rebound. I truly hope to see fishing in the near future resemble what it once was and not be a distant memory, only relived in stories and photos. If you are fortunate enough to catch a good fish this winter please do everything you can to release that fish as carefully as possible to help ensure future generations of anglers have an opportunity to enjoy the sport as much as we do now.