Last Fishing Outing...

...of the year.  Surely no one would think I would quit fishing altogether.  I just ended up the year partaking in my favorite hobby, that's all.  I'd like to say I'm starting off the new year the with a fishing trip as well, but I have more important things to tend to today...the Capital One Bowl pitting the LSU Tigers against my Penn State Nittany Lions.  So, I'll be parked in front of the TV for 3 1/2 hours pulling for my Nittany Lions.

Enough of that, how 'bout that fishing outing of New Years Eve?  Well, started off in a Pea Soup fog that never fully lifted all day.  Early, the fog only provided 200 yds of visibility.  The trip to the North End of Sabine Lake wasn't too bad with the GPS and a shoreline, but once I hit the main ship channel where I had to cross over, you gotta trust the GPS, your eyes, and your ears.  Slowly motored across and got within view of the moored barges in the channel along Stewt's Island, then headed to the flat behind Sydnes Island.

Water was in pretty good shape, 1' of visibility, 51.5 deg, and an outgoing tide.  With these conditions, I decided to get out and wade fish.  Rigged one rod with a Yellow Gulp! Jerk Shad and the other with a glow Catch 2000.  And, brought along a Mirrodine, and a couple other C2000's.

Tossed pretty much the whole lot without a single swirl let along strike.  The water was, well, pretty quiet, no bait activity at all.  Headed back to the boat and decided to drift.  With very calm winds, the water surface was slick with some occassional surface chatter, so drifting shouldn't create any hull slap.  Drifted the remaining length of Sydnes Island, again, no takers.  Through the fog, spotted a group of wade fisherman between the tip of Sydnes and the Barrel Channel.  Also, this southwest end of Sydnes did have some bait activity, but still, no trout.

Decided to head to behind Stewt's Island to near spot #4 on the GPS.  Water temp slightly better, 52 deg.  Drifted for awhile finally picked up a nice 21" trout on the Berkely Gulp! Jerk Shad in yellow.  He musta been a loner cause I had no more takers.  By this time the tide had pretty much gone slack, low tide was supposed to be around noon for this area.

Decided to try the flats along the ship channel, water temps here were lower, 51.3 deg.  And, the visibility was not quite as good.  Probably due to an incoming tide.  Went back to behind Stewt's and to Sydnes before finally calling it a day at nearly 3:00 p.m.

Oh, the one trout, well, he's one happy trout, he was good and healthy, so he didn't need a fillet autopsy; and, he was released.

We'll get'em next time!  And, Go Lions!

Calm Conditions, Calmer Bite...

Hadn't fished in two weeks, so I had a pretty bad case of fisherman's withdrawal symptoms.  The weather conditions for the past two weeks, especially the weekends, had not been idyllic.  But the forecast for Sunday morning looked promising, calm winds out the W to NW along with some warming temperatures.  Sounded perfect for fishing those flats off the ship channel in the north end of Sabine Lake.

With that forecast, made the decision to get my medicine and head out Sunday morning.  Glad I waited till 9:00 a.m to launch, a fog and heavy mist was still prevalent, but visibility was good enough to safely navigate the channel.  Headed towards Goat Island, as I passed Sydnes Island, some waders were already in the water there.

Other than the lingering fog and mist in the air, the conditions were great.  Very calm with a nice glass table of water to cast into.  Began a drift behind Goat Island on the far east end.  Drifted the entire length to the island throwing Catch 2000's, a Corky, and an Electric Chicken Blurp.  Didn't get a hook up till I had reached the far west end of the island.  I had been chunking a black Catch 2000 most of the morning before switching to a gold one.  The gold drew a strike from a small trout.  Decided to head to the back side of Stewt's Island.  On the way, made one drift behind Sydnes around some scattered gulls without a bump or bite.

Began a drift behind Stewt's throwing the black 2000, tried the electric chicken blurp as well without any takers.  Switched over to the gold 2000 and hooked up on a nice 21" trout.  Landed another trout but just under 15".

After what seemed to be a thousand casts, decided to run all the way back to Goat Island in hopes things may have improved there.  Once again, the water was like glass.  Too perfect to not give a topwater a try.  I'll spare you the details, all I got to do with it was practice walking the dog, not a single swirl let along blow up.

All the while, gulls could be heard in the distance and some boat traffic was moving around in an attempt to pin down some fish.  I decided to pick up and run back toward Stewt's.  Ultimately ended up there along with some scattered gulls.  About a 1/2 dozen boats were further into the lake, I decided to hang where I was since the gulls were not really holding and were only making an occassional dive on bait.

Decided to go back to the blurp.  Made a cast to a swirl and immediately hooked up on a nice slot redfish.  Released him.  Went back to the gold 2000 and managed another trout at 18" and caught another that was once again just under 15".

Continued to drift behind Stewt's till about 4:15 p.m. before deciding I'd had enough.  Headed on in.  Seemed a shame, such nice calm conditions, but the bite was even calmer.  We can only hope to get such good conditions more often to find when that bite will turn on.

Behind Stewt'

Skittish Birds, Howling Wind, Limits of Patience...

Got my better half to go out fishing this past Sunday.  Besides, she bought the boat right!  Anyway, thought it would be a good day to get out on the water for some peaceful time out away from the house.  Wind was blow'in a little, but figured, eventhough the reports were good on North Sabine, we would be better off fishing in Keith Lake.  I always like a good excuse to fish there.

Well, that was a good call from a wind standpoint.  The wind was blowing pretty good, roughly a 15 mph clip out of the the ESE.  Not the best of winds for Keith Lake, but would have been way better than attempting it on Sabine.

Got out of the launch and headed not more than a half mile out when my wife spotted a flock of birds.  We had to attempt an approach from a downwind position.  That wasn't a good idea.  Shutting down 200 yards away, trying to troll into the wind, and then cast into the wind, you might as well be pulling against an anchor and casting into a brick wall.  And, my wife, although quite adept at using a rod'n'reel, hadn't been out in awhile, birds could have laid eggs in that reel after a couple of those casting attempts.

To avoid impending frustration, we ran into Johnson Lake, then into Mud Lake.  Spotted some bird action there as well.  Had a better opportunity to position upwind and work in silently.  But, the birds, at first glance, began to disperse.  I know, the fish are still there.  We caught a few undersized trout and reds, but without birds, an outgoing tidal current, and the wind, it was difficult to stay on fish or to find them.

We made several attempts at birds, everytime, no matter how far away we started in, they scattered.  With that frustration, anchored at a favorite floundering spot, baited up my wife with a live shrimp, while I chunked a glow/chartreuse curly grub tail, tipped with shrimp.  No matter, no flounder, no trout, only a lone redfish would be a taker.  He ended up a celebrity in these photo shots before returning to the waters.

Getting the wife out was very nice, she enjoyed the ride and fishing despite the wind.  But not catching fish with all the effort in that wind can tax ones patience.  I for one don't want to push the limits of patience, so it was time to head on home.

Where are the Flounder...

Fished Friday the 13th over in Calcasieu.  This was my first time to explore Calcasieu on my own and in my boat.  Brought along a friend and die-hard fisherman as well.  Calcasieu was our choice and we had high hopes of making a good haul on flounder.  See, in Texas, in November, you are only allowed 2 flounder per day, but in Louisiana you are allowed 10 per day.  Big difference.  Big difference in the frier, broiler, skillet, or on the grill as well.  And, we sure wanted to have just this one trip and stock up on this delicacy.

Well, we managed to do alot of exploring in the West Cove Area, Oyster Bayou Forks, and we even made a run to the west jetty boat cut.  Made a run around Monkey Island as well.  We managed a few nice specks early under some bird action, two nice bull reds at the boat cut, and finally landed two nice flounder in West Cove along with a redfish.

Here's one of those Bull Reds we caught.  Actually, we had doubled up, I landed what would have been a twin, I got mine to hand first, so unhooked and released so we could land the other and get this photo.

Friday the 13th may have spoiled our high expectations, but it didn't spoil our day on the water and away from work.  But, I am wondering, where are the flounder?