Hooked Up: October 2022

I’m not sure whether we will have received the first real puff of north wind by the time this article reaches you but my fingers are crossed like a bowl of spaghetti pasta that serves a hundred people. Although I’m tall, thin and in pretty good shape, I am also a Type-2 diabetic. The meds and the heat just do not mix well with the disease and give me a good beatdown when I get too much of it. After months of hot weather I’m ready to get back in my Simms waders to chase heavy trout and not have the extra burden of heat acting as a monkey on my back. 

October is a transition month, and not a favorite in Baffin for me, although I fully realize it’s a solid month in the bays farther north along the coast. Here in Baffin it’s still too hot to be too good, and not enough cold to make them into more predictable winter fish.

Looking forward to real fronts in November is where my mind is, with regards to Baffin, anyway. You will certainly catch some fish if you try, but I typically spend more time getting ready for the cold season, giving my body and mind a little rest before the diehards want to blast across the obstacle course of Baffin on cold mornings.

I’ll use the bit of downtime to fine tune my gear from top to bottom. Here’s a checklist of my routine, and one I hope my clients go through before they climb up on the Haynie.

-All Concept reels will be cleaned and serviced. I’ll load a dozen of them with new 40-pound Seaguar Smackdown braid.

-My Waterloo rods will all get another protectant wipe down and shot of oil on reel seats to make sure they run smoothly.  

-My spare Simms waders all get the “swimming pool” test to make sure no leaks have morphed from the cat using them as a scratching post. 

-All my MirrOlure hardbaits with rusty hooks from the past season get replaced by BKK Fang trebles; along with a good cleaning of the baits themselves.

-Bass Assassin plastics get reorganized, replenished, and reordered where needed. I keep them in separate roll bags based on lure color and how it relates to water clarity.

-Cooler weather clothing, neck gaiters, gloves, etc., all get washed and ready to spend the next six months in a dry ice chest. I always have a waterproof bag on the boat loaded with a full set of warm clothes, towel, and extra set of waders for emergencies. You would be shocked how often I have to resort to this bag for myself or clients that get wet due to falls or leaky waders. Cold and wet is no joke…Be Prepared!

Well, that’s what’s in the boat, how about the boat itself? I’m a diehard Mercury man and only deal with Chris’ Marine in Aransas Pass. The service there is like none other and how they earned my business many years ago. No one can touch them in that category. Luckily, for many of us, Chris Coulter also owns Haynie boats. It’s custom, one-stop-shopping for the best of everything when it comes to coastal boats. I begin every season with a full service check, during which all outboard motor systems receive a full evaluation and tuning. Simple things like oil changes, spark plugs, and water pump impellers are too often overlooked by many fishermen…until they go bad. Use the time now to knock them out and skip the headaches on the water.  

Another thing many folks overlook is First Aid in the event of an accident. Nothing really major here, but be ready for cuts, hooks in fingers or whatever, headaches, and even sick guts. My First Aid kit is stored in a waterproof box and includes aspirin and ibuprofen, anti-acid tablets, wound cleansing solution, antibiotic ointment, bandages, and waterproof tape. I also include a pair of angled wire cutters for clipping barbs when removing hooks; should anybody be so unlucky. Anything that cannot be treated adequately with the above sends us to the ER.

I’m giving y’all a head start in October, and I’m good with that. By now, you all understand the importance of catch and release and being good stewards of the bay if you ever want to have a CONSISTENT trophy fishery again. They’ll never reach 31-inches if you kill them at 20! It’s not rocket science.