September 15, 2003 — Come-On Cool Weather
After 15 straight days on the water I get to catch up on the fishing reports. During this period I had the privilege to fish some outstanding anglers, friends and my brother and his group.
Fishing has been somewhat sporadic, with one day outstanding and the next fair. We continue to catch enough fish to make everyone happy and send fillets home if the anglers wish to do so.
Trout continue to hold on the outside of the grass in 4 to 5 feet of water. Our colors of choice continue to be Bone T.T.K. and to my surprise the old standard Red and White. Red and White is really catching fish now and I must confess I stumbled on this color by chance. While fishing for flounder with red/white I caught a number on good trout. Well it didn’t take me long to admit the old saying RED and WHITE will treat you right! As of yesterday I caught a number of good trout using the old standard. We have caught a number of 28″ and above trout, and numbers of small fish.
Flounder are started to grace most of our stringers now with some large ones for the table. Cuts and drains continue to be the most productive areas for flat fish. Remember if you are using soft plastics for flounder, if you feel you are fishing SLOW enough slow down some more. The flounder are taking the bait very slow.
Reds continue to bite along the same pattern as the trout, but with the approach of cooler weather look for them to school on the north and south flats. Sat. a week ago we had a double on over sized reds. 32″ and 29’ must say things were somewhat hectic for a few moments. Both were caught and released.
REMEMBER TO SHUFFLE! Had my nieces’ husband stuck last Sat. I tried to get him to buy a Lotto Ticket because the odds of someone getting hit the FIRST time they ever wade fished, they have to be LUCKY!!!!!!
His wound was clean and he had no additional problems. See photo!!!!!!!
I guess the word is getting out that we are strongly promoting keep what you can eat and release the larger trout for someone else to enjoy. We are getting a number of anglers who come to the Lower Laguna Madre with fishing on their minds in lieu of meat hauls. The site of a large trout hitting top water is taking front stage with most of our anglers now. Its amazing once anglers ENDURE our conservation message, how their mind set changes. It’s all about education, and enjoying the moment.
