Sabine Scene: July 2018

All it took was less rain, five consecutive days of light north wind and a late-season cold front the last week of April to turn the fishing on Sabine Lake into catching!

It seemingly turned on overnight in spite of water clarity best described as “thick.” Actually, it was the trout bite that lit off and continues to improve as we were already pretty much having our way with both the flounder and the redfish.

The rock walkers fishing both the north and south revetment walls were the first to report the improving trout bite. Many of those anglers were fishing the walls simply because they had grown tired of steadily canceling trips due to a howling wind that changed directions every other day.

The trout weren’t big, but they were hungry and limits became the norm rather than the exception. The Swimming Image, no surprise there, and slow-sinking crankbaits like the Softdine XL and Catch 2000 were the baits of choice. There were also mornings when they would readily assault smaller topwaters like a She Dog or Skitter Walk.

We unanimously declared it to officially be “Game On” when the trout started smacking tails rigged under a cork and a four-inch Usual Suspect as well. Due to the last of the glut of fresh water still flushing through the lake, outgoing tides have been the most productive.

Once enough salt water starts pumping in to upgrade salinity levels, however, that will all change. Incoming tides not only usher in saltier and clearer water, but acres of bait fish as well. That should already be occurring by the time this magazine reaches your mail box.

I hope that you get as excited as I do when I see the latest edition of this magazine poking out of my mail box. Immediately reading it from cover to cover takes precedence over everything but church and spoiling the grandkids.

The tips and techniques alone are worth the cost of the magazine, but I most enjoy the credible reports and columns from areas I will probably never have an opportunity to fish. Once you’ve read this magazine long enough, you feel as though you personally know every writer!

I can’t count the times over the years that a client has said, “You know Jay or Bink or Capt. Gary said such and such,” and I know dang well they have never even met them. The fact that they still feel confident enough in their writing to quote them, however, says it all.

Because I fish Sabine only, I have no way of knowing which techniques or lures that I fish may work in your neck of the woods as well, but here are a couple of new ones that have made a big difference in my catching this year. Prior to a trip last month, I had never been able to catch flounder when they were jumping out of the water and crashing into pods of small shad.

That all changed, however, when a client proved that they cannot resist an Assassin Tiny Shad tied on only 8 to 12 inches of leader under a Mansfield Mauler. Cast the rig behind those small pods of shad and simply let it ride the tide with little or no popping.

The shape of the tiny crappie grub and shortening the leader do the trick. Depending on water clarity, Texas Avocado and Silver Shiner have been the only two colors I have had to fish thus far.

The second game changer is more about the lure than the technique. If you haven’t already done so, steal yet another page from the bass fishermen and tie on a topwater lure that goes by the name of Whopper Plopper. The trout absolutely crush it when they run it down and I have caught fish with it when they would hit nothing else.

It is evidently the subtle noise it makes as you steadily reel it across the surface. The speed of retrieve can make a difference, but I haven’t had the first strike allowing it to pause and twitching it. It sounds a great deal like a buzz bait, but fishes like a cross between a Hunchback and a Devil’s Horse. You also can throw it out of sight with ease.

I hope one of your kids wins a big check in this year’s S.T.A.R. tournament, but it won’t happen if you don’t sign them up and take them fishing!