Spring Training

Every year I look forward to baseball season, not only because I love baseball, but because it tends to coincide with a more consistent trout pattern here on the Upper Texas Coast. Of course, we always have to go through a couple of months of back-and-forth results before we’re finally rewarded with this consistency of which I speak. The inconsistencies such as drastic tide and water temperature fluctuations, barometric pressure changes with each passing front, and every possible wind direction on the compass only further improves our angling abilities by the time May rolls around – much like spring training gets the Astros ready for opening day every year.

We enjoyed catching lots of trout all winter with a few large ones in the mix all the way into late January. By February the frequency of cold fronts made life for a full-time fishing guide very difficult. If it wasn’t the gale force winds and frigid temperatures it was the extreme low tides, and if those elements weren’t enough Mother Nature would occasionally throw in some dense fog. I haven’t gone back and counted them yet (I kind of don’t want to) but I’m sure I canceled more trips this past January and February than ever before.

Not only did we lose a lot of water during the winter but I don’t recall ever seeing tides as low as they were this spring here in Galveston. It’s forced me to pull a rabbit out of my hat on many occasions. Just the other day I had one of my longtime customers and his client who was driving in from three hours away. I knew the tide would be even lower than predicted because we would be fishing the day after a late cold front that produced northwest winds up to 40 mph and super high barometric pressure.

We drove to a boat ramp that I’ve used many times during low tide situations but this particular morning I knew I’d be pushing the envelope. Sure enough the tide was further out than I’d expected and it was due to drop even more while we were fishing, so I was forced to find another ramp. When we arrived at the second launch the end of the concrete slab at the ramp was very short, so backing my trailer down the usual distance required to launch would result in my trailer axles dropping off the concrete. I told my customer that he would have to back me down while I manned the boat. “When I tell you to hit the brakes, hit the brakes! This is either going to work out beautifully or it’s going to be a complete disaster.” Rusty’s timing was flawless on the braking as I shot off the ramp and into the boat slip. It was honestly the lowest tide I had ever attempted to launch my Whaler.

So now we’re successfully in the water but faced with conditions that were completely different than 24 hours earlier. So what do I do? The only thing I knew to do was to go to an area where I had been catching some nice trout, peruse the area and try to figure out how they may have changed their pattern based upon the changes in conditions.

Everything was lifeless as far as I could see across the water’s surface. I was just about to crank up the Suzuki and head elsewhere when I suddenly detected the sweet scent of trout. I looked over my left shoulder and saw a small slick about 150 yards out from the shoreline where we’d been catching these fish. Our trout had pulled out off of a deep shell ledge which wasn’t surprising given the circumstances. Thank God they showed us where they were. It could’ve been a difficult day otherwise. We troll-motored from slick to slick catching and releasing 20-plus trout until the bite eventually faded. Small bite windows were the theme during that time period and you needed to be right on top of it when it happened.

For the first time in a few years, pretty much the entire Galveston Bay Complex is salty, so most of the trout we have in the system are fairly spread out. They are gravitating to live habitat such as oyster reefs. However, not all reefs are created equal. Oyster reefs with the most peaks and valleys tend to hold more fish for two reasons. The oysters filtering (feeding activity) attracts dozens of bottom-of-the-food-chain marine organisms and the more high points and eccentric troughs the more places for said marine life to hide, which provides more ambush points for trout to ambush prey.

I absolutely love the fact that everything on the menu is available in May. If we want to wade for trout and reds then that’s not a problem. If drifting open bay reefs is more to your liking then that’s productive too! And don’t think for a minute that you can’t catch a big one while drifting open-bay shell. Some of our biggest trout in recent years have come from drifting open-water live oyster reefs. One of the awesome things about this time of year is that our trout produce slicks over these reefs more frequently than other times of the year making them super easy to home in on.

As a small slick emerges I first observe which way it’s moving in relation to the wind and current and then set my drift accordingly. The larger the slick the further upwind and upcurrent I begin my drift. There are occasions when the current is stronger than the wind. In this case the trout will actually be downwind (but upcurrent) of the slicks. Fishing shoreline slicks while wading is similar. Observe the direction the slicks are drifting then set up your wade accordingly. It’s usually easier to pinpoint where a shallow slick originated because it’s obviously not only emerging in shallower water which means the fish will be closer to it, but we also typically have some kind of landmark to use as a starting point.

When drifting here in Galveston Bay I like to focus more on reefs in depths of seven feet or less until later in the summer. MirrOlure Provokers, Saltwater Assassins and MirrOlure Lil Johns will all work well while drifting slicks and bait concentrations. I usually go with an 1/8 ounce jig head but a 1/16 works great if the fish are staged near the surface. Medium to large topwaters such as MirrOlure She Dogs and Rapala Skitter Walks can draw some explosive blow-ups while fishing out of the boat as well.

The inconsistent trout patterns of late winter and spring are over! The water is warming. Trout metabolisms are increasing and fish are feeding! There are so many signs (slicks, hovering gulls and terns over migrating shrimp, mullet and shad concentrations, shoreline mud boils) and areas (sand bars, coves, shoreline reefs, mid-bay reefs, bayou drains, grass-lined shorelines, rock jetties and other structure) at our disposal this month. With school being out it’s an excellent time to get the kiddos out on the water to not only get in on some of the best trout action of the year but also to teach them the importance of conservation and sustainability of our fishery so they can someday enjoy making the same memories with their kids that we’ve been blessed to make with ours.