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Prime Time Fishing
We expect Spanish mackerel in the Matagorda Bay region, this was our first in the Lower Laguna.
My Dad used to say that if the cattle were up and feeding it was time to go fishing. A local doctor kept a fish tank in his office and when they were active he said we should go fishing.
Me, I never put much stock in either of those pieces of advice as I would usually start early and fish until I stopped, but I learned long ago that fishing Prime Time or the solunar feeding times yields more fish caught, more times than it doesn't.
Case in point was a couple of weeks ago we were in Port Mansfield and after having worked all day on Thursday then driving 252 miles to Port I really wasn't looking forward to getting up before daylight to start my day of fishing. So I checked the feeding time and on that particular Friday the time to be on the water would begin at 8:12 AM, or so the Prime Time table showed.
So at 7:45 the next morning, at an un-crowded boat ramp, we unloaded and my son finally found a spot for my truck in a very crowded parking lot. After the long idle to the mouth of the harbor we headed for the spot that we had decided to fish during discussions the night before.
Upon arrival I wasn't happy with our choice of spots. While the water was fishy, there was no bait movement that I could see. No mullet jumping no schools of bait moving around but we stuck to our plan. If fishing turned on around 8:12 AM then Prime Time would be right-on again.
Prime Time was off a bit. Our first trout came to hand at 8:15 and then we just watched in awe as the bait started moving, the pelicans started dive-bombing and the trout went into a feeding frenzy.
It's really hard to describe unless you've experienced it and I know some of you have. But in plain terms, the fish just "turn on" and go nuts feeding on anything and everything in sight. We caught fish literally on every cast from the start, well not me but more on that later; not keepers mind you but a trout on every cast for well over an hour. We had our 5-fish limits in the box in about 30 minutes, crimped the barbs on our jigs and caught fish until they quit. We lost one good trout that could have been as long as 28 or so, but the box of fish we kept ran 16- 22 inches which is just perfect for what we had in mind for the fillets.
There were no nibbles, light taps or barely detectable bumps during the time that the fish were feeding. Oh no, they slammed those red and white soft plastics we threw to them. Mostly we found our hooks embedded in the solid part of the jaw or deep inside of the mouth. Point is they were hungry and active at the time that the solunar chart said they were supposed to be.
This magazine has a GREAT solunar table but if I have no copy handy I simply use an online version and there are many to choose from. Just Google "Texas prime time fishing" from your phone or computer and find one you like. One of the really good ones wants latitude and longitude for precise times and your UTC which for Central Time is -6.
The next morning the solunar prediction said the major was from 9:10 to 11:10 AM so again we found an empty boat ramp as we unloaded the boat around 8:20. (Yes, the parking lot was full). We ran to the same spot where we had success the day before and found the exact same scene that greeted us the previous morning. No bait moving, no mullet jumping just more or less dead but pretty water. The solunar table was off again as the first fish nailed my bait right at 9:00 and buddy it was on.
It was a repeat of the morning before but the undersize to keeper ratio was running around 5 or 6:1 for every decent fryer we landed. But oh what fun it was to sit there and catch fish after fish until you just said okay that's enough, it's getting hot and my arm is tired. About the time I sort of hinted that I was ready for a cheeseburger at the Pelican Pub, Sterling set the hook on what we originally thought was a really nice trout but turned out to be a Spanish mackerel which took us both by surprise. Another surprise was that the reds that were all over the place on previous trips were absent this timewe never caught a single red.
Solar and lunar activities affect fish and game in different ways. The sun they say has the most influence in fish and game and the prime solar periods are dawn, midday, dusk and midnight. But in my mind the moon is the biggest factor in the feeding times of fish.
The moon is the primary influence on tides and tides move game fish and bait around. Storms affect tides as well, but the moon is the king of the rising and falling tides. For me the best time to fish the moon is an hour before to an hour after when the moon is directly overhead. Experts speak of the period when the moon is "underfoot" meaning that it is on the opposite side of planet earth and according to them that period is just as major as when it is directly overhead.
Having said all of that I believe in the solunar tables as they have proven to be right on the money as far as the best time for catching fish. Much more so than seeing a bunch of cows up and grazing in a pasture but even that has a ring of truth to it, since the moon has a huge affect on all living things.
I have to let you guys and girls in on a little tip. On the first morning Sterling was kicking my butt catching fish while I struggled a bit. We were both throwing red and white soft plastics with 1/16 ounce Hogie screw-lock heads but I was getting maybe one fish to his three. What I found out was that he was using the Mirrolure scented 4" Soft-Eel. Now I don't know if the "scented" part had anything to do with it or if it was the incredible action that these baits have due to the split where the hook comes out, but they work. I switched over to this bait and on the first cast I was hooked up.
We both caught all of our keeper trout on this bait both mornings and the bait is still in good shape. I can't say that there are many soft plastics with good action that can stand up to the many fish that we caught over the two mornings.
We have been testing a product that won us both over. We have been wearing fishing balaclavas for a while now but we've found one that we won't ever be on the bay without. It's made by Gillz, LTD the makers of Breath Like A Fish Apparel. Their balaclava which they call a BLAF Gillz Element Mask has a UPF rating of 50+. It is moisture wicking, anti-microbial, stain resistant and has gill plates on the sides that tunnel air down to your neck and down your shirt and a mesh-panel breathing port that reduces sunglass fog. I highly recommend this product and you can get them at http://www.breathelikeafish.com/Element_Masks_s/1817.htm.
We ordered ours on a Monday and had them on Wednesday so their shipping is fast–go getcha one.
Be safe,
Martin
Me, I never put much stock in either of those pieces of advice as I would usually start early and fish until I stopped, but I learned long ago that fishing Prime Time or the solunar feeding times yields more fish caught, more times than it doesn't.
Case in point was a couple of weeks ago we were in Port Mansfield and after having worked all day on Thursday then driving 252 miles to Port I really wasn't looking forward to getting up before daylight to start my day of fishing. So I checked the feeding time and on that particular Friday the time to be on the water would begin at 8:12 AM, or so the Prime Time table showed.
So at 7:45 the next morning, at an un-crowded boat ramp, we unloaded and my son finally found a spot for my truck in a very crowded parking lot. After the long idle to the mouth of the harbor we headed for the spot that we had decided to fish during discussions the night before.
Upon arrival I wasn't happy with our choice of spots. While the water was fishy, there was no bait movement that I could see. No mullet jumping no schools of bait moving around but we stuck to our plan. If fishing turned on around 8:12 AM then Prime Time would be right-on again.
Prime Time was off a bit. Our first trout came to hand at 8:15 and then we just watched in awe as the bait started moving, the pelicans started dive-bombing and the trout went into a feeding frenzy.
It's really hard to describe unless you've experienced it and I know some of you have. But in plain terms, the fish just "turn on" and go nuts feeding on anything and everything in sight. We caught fish literally on every cast from the start, well not me but more on that later; not keepers mind you but a trout on every cast for well over an hour. We had our 5-fish limits in the box in about 30 minutes, crimped the barbs on our jigs and caught fish until they quit. We lost one good trout that could have been as long as 28 or so, but the box of fish we kept ran 16- 22 inches which is just perfect for what we had in mind for the fillets.
There were no nibbles, light taps or barely detectable bumps during the time that the fish were feeding. Oh no, they slammed those red and white soft plastics we threw to them. Mostly we found our hooks embedded in the solid part of the jaw or deep inside of the mouth. Point is they were hungry and active at the time that the solunar chart said they were supposed to be.
This magazine has a GREAT solunar table but if I have no copy handy I simply use an online version and there are many to choose from. Just Google "Texas prime time fishing" from your phone or computer and find one you like. One of the really good ones wants latitude and longitude for precise times and your UTC which for Central Time is -6.
The next morning the solunar prediction said the major was from 9:10 to 11:10 AM so again we found an empty boat ramp as we unloaded the boat around 8:20. (Yes, the parking lot was full). We ran to the same spot where we had success the day before and found the exact same scene that greeted us the previous morning. No bait moving, no mullet jumping just more or less dead but pretty water. The solunar table was off again as the first fish nailed my bait right at 9:00 and buddy it was on.
It was a repeat of the morning before but the undersize to keeper ratio was running around 5 or 6:1 for every decent fryer we landed. But oh what fun it was to sit there and catch fish after fish until you just said okay that's enough, it's getting hot and my arm is tired. About the time I sort of hinted that I was ready for a cheeseburger at the Pelican Pub, Sterling set the hook on what we originally thought was a really nice trout but turned out to be a Spanish mackerel which took us both by surprise. Another surprise was that the reds that were all over the place on previous trips were absent this timewe never caught a single red.
Solar and lunar activities affect fish and game in different ways. The sun they say has the most influence in fish and game and the prime solar periods are dawn, midday, dusk and midnight. But in my mind the moon is the biggest factor in the feeding times of fish.
The moon is the primary influence on tides and tides move game fish and bait around. Storms affect tides as well, but the moon is the king of the rising and falling tides. For me the best time to fish the moon is an hour before to an hour after when the moon is directly overhead. Experts speak of the period when the moon is "underfoot" meaning that it is on the opposite side of planet earth and according to them that period is just as major as when it is directly overhead.
Having said all of that I believe in the solunar tables as they have proven to be right on the money as far as the best time for catching fish. Much more so than seeing a bunch of cows up and grazing in a pasture but even that has a ring of truth to it, since the moon has a huge affect on all living things.
I have to let you guys and girls in on a little tip. On the first morning Sterling was kicking my butt catching fish while I struggled a bit. We were both throwing red and white soft plastics with 1/16 ounce Hogie screw-lock heads but I was getting maybe one fish to his three. What I found out was that he was using the Mirrolure scented 4" Soft-Eel. Now I don't know if the "scented" part had anything to do with it or if it was the incredible action that these baits have due to the split where the hook comes out, but they work. I switched over to this bait and on the first cast I was hooked up.
We both caught all of our keeper trout on this bait both mornings and the bait is still in good shape. I can't say that there are many soft plastics with good action that can stand up to the many fish that we caught over the two mornings.
We have been testing a product that won us both over. We have been wearing fishing balaclavas for a while now but we've found one that we won't ever be on the bay without. It's made by Gillz, LTD the makers of Breath Like A Fish Apparel. Their balaclava which they call a BLAF Gillz Element Mask has a UPF rating of 50+. It is moisture wicking, anti-microbial, stain resistant and has gill plates on the sides that tunnel air down to your neck and down your shirt and a mesh-panel breathing port that reduces sunglass fog. I highly recommend this product and you can get them at http://www.breathelikeafish.com/Element_Masks_s/1817.htm.
We ordered ours on a Monday and had them on Wednesday so their shipping is fast–go getcha one.
Be safe,
Martin