Hooked Up: July 2025

Calm winds, mosquitos imploding on foreheads during predawn boat rides, and clients bringing more bags on the boat than a single mom dropping off three kids at summer camp. We are in the full grasp of summer and if it seems like I’m complaining I’m really not. The consistent nature of the bite far outweighs any of my pet peeves.

To the untrained eye all seems pretty normal as we head into July, but as mentioned earlier everything seems to be running a little behind schedule this year. Early summer gave us lots of bites and some big trout. Usually, by this time we would be seeing a bit of a slow down due to oppressive heat that blesses us every year. However, this hasn’t happened yet and I see no reason to believe it will happen soon.

The greatest evidence of a bait migration appeared in early June, about a month later than normal. Currently, just about every shoreline in Baffin is flooded with forage and trout are taking advantage. We are witnessing a bite pattern that runs deeper into the morning hours and I believe that is because there are just more fish here on this delayed migration of both bait fish and trout. For me, this is a much-welcomed sight as we are getting far more quality trout action later in the day than we are accustomed this time of year. I’m loving it and the smiles on client’s faces is all the reassurance necessary to keep eating mosquitoes on dark boat rides.

Deep grass lines and sharp bottom contour lines throughout the bays have been the tried and true pattern that keeps on giving. It’s hard to pass up a shallow morning start, and I rarely do, but the deeper structure has been producing not only numbers but quality to boot. Many of these wades are responsible for one hundred hookups, albeit most of them are 14- to 17-inch fish. Just about the time you think there is nothing larger in the area someone in the wade line will pop a trout over 27” and sometimes one over 30”. That’s just the nature of the beast down here and I have witnessed it a thousand times.

I firmly believe that trout are just like us when they get their belly full. Find a quiet and comfortable spot where there is not too much activity and only eat if it is served up in my face; where I don’t have to expend much energy to get my hand around the cookie. I also believe that deep breaks are where they do this, especially in the summer when water temperatures can easily exceed 90°. When I feel like the day has progressed to this point, I tie on a heavier jighead and my trusty Bass Assassin to glide my presentation across the bottom, hoping to entice laid-up, midday fish into taking one more bite.

There are so many good lures on the market today; from twitchbaits to topwaters to suspending and even vibrating, and they all have their place and time. But a fish with a full belly, resting in 4- to 5-feet of cool water will rarely get off of her plump rump to chase it down. One of the biggest mistakes I see clients continually making is trying to make fish eat a type of lure that is not relevant to their mood. I get it, as it’s hard to have all of those beautiful and expensive new plugs in the box and not throw them. I’ve been very guilty of that myself, but the pressure cooker of keeping clients on a bite will keep you humble, and force your hand at catching them their way. When it’s tough, go back to basics and keep it simple.

In closing, our numbers of trout are rebounding at a phenomenal pace. The sheer numbers of trout my boat is catching speaks volumes for the effectiveness of our currently more conservative limits. Considering the number of boats on the water and number of lines with lures or live bait, this move by TPWD has had its doubters, but the truth is it had to happen to maintain anything like our historic fishery. Mother Nature is pretty good at taking care of herself, but the human affect was not built into her resupply equation. I’m applauding all of y’all and Coastal Fisheries for helping right the ship before it sank. Still a work in progress but the trout are finally gaining some serious traction.