We can’t afford to fish stupid anymore!

The heat wave continues here along the Middle Texas Coast. Water temperatures are nearing 90° on the shallow grass flats by mid- to late-afternoon in the Rockport area. Winds are light most mornings, and then picking up to 15 to 20 mph out of the SE most days. This is a typical summertime pattern and requires leaving the dock early with good intel for selecting ones starting point and game plan.

I know that late summer is not the best time to catch upper-slot trout in my bay system but I continue to focus my efforts on quality trout more days than not. It is true that redfish are day savers for me at times, but over the years I have built a very loyal clientele that prefers to fish for trout more of the time. The best thing about late summer is that fall and winter fishing for big trout gets closer with each passing day.

You know what I struggle with most at this time in my career? The lack of intensity and the mindset from some clients that seems to suggest success is guaranteed because they are fishing with a guide. I understand the thought process that could lead one to believe that their odds of success are greater with someone that spends 250 plus days a year on the water. However, what so many overlook is the individual that is doing the fishing. I have always told my clients that the beauty of wading and lure fishing is that the act is all about you. You select the area, the lure and the action. You make each cast, create the action on the lure that draws an instinctive strike, feel the bite, set the hook, and place your hands on the fish. It’s all you!

In my earlier years I was totally focused on the numbers of fish caught and to a certain extent I still am, but today I place more emphasis on developing skill sets that enable each angler the opportunity to catch more fish on a more consistent basis. The more successful one becomes, the more you are going to want to fish. And the more you fish the more you continue to support the fishery.

Many professional guides often detract from the advancement of their own sport in an indirect way. This is accomplished by suggesting to the client that it is way less expensive to hire a guide that will provide boat, tackle, bait, fish cleaning and all the expenses that go with owning all the stuff that comes with fishing. While there is some truth in such statements, the overall loss of revenue to the fishing industry is tremendous. All the tax dollars on boats and motors, trailers and fishing tackle find their way into the fisheries budget, so it is important that we keep that in mind. I have always believed in encouraging my clients to become good enough fisherman that they will someday no longer need me.

When this happens, these clients become active advertisers for me and the fishery. This has been a win-win situation for me in my career and the winning continues in year forty-eight. There is no doubt that I have capitalized on this thought process and profited from sharing my daily fishing experiences with those willing to pay for such a service. This is the true example of the business. I hope that through sharing there has also been some learning. Not just about how to catch fish but how to be thoughtful of fellow anglers, conscious of the importance of conserving the habitat and the bay’s residents.

For many years I was not the best at teaching clients to conserve trout or redfish. It was very ego driven and not a good influence. Over time, I have changed and for at least the past twenty or more years I have promoted more of a conservation-minded message to my clients when on the boat and through the pages of this magazine. With this said, I have been impressed with the catch and release efforts that I see so many practicing these days.

Over this past month I’ve really had to get my guys to stay focused and concentrate on every cast. Water temperatures this past week surpassed 90° shortly after midday and this sends many of the trout we were trying to catch into deeper water. Deep is relative, so 3 ½ to 5 feet of water is considered deep in most of the areas that I fish here in Rockport. Understand this, though, not all the trout seek deeper water. Some of the largest trout I have seen this month have been in water so shallow and so hot that, had I not seen this with my own eyes, I would not have believed they would act in this manner.

This act is not uncommon actually. However, catching them under such conditions is nearly impossible with conventional tackle. I know the best fly fishermen can shine under these conditions and often do. Ben Pascal’s trophy trout skills are at the top of that list. Despite the clear water and the lack of wind or water movement, we are able to dredge out some nice trout in the deeper pockets and deeper grass beds if we allow the lure to get down and stay down.

Yesterday around the noon hour I eased into an area on a windward shoreline and positioned my guys offshore in about belly-deep water when we were on the sand bars and near chest-deep once we stepped off the grassy humps. My feet have taught me what the bottom contour feels like and with our clear water I have been able to differentiate slight color changes that are associated with these small yet deeper areas. These are the areas that hold the trout during the months of August through September. In such situations it is important to understand that any type of bite proves that fish are present and willing to eat. Over a period of about an hour to an hour and a half we released over a dozen trout from 18 to 24-inches. It was a nice save for an otherwise uneventful day.

Downsizing from the Lil John XL to the original Lil John proved to be productive during this period. I try to instruct my groups when fishing with smaller lures in deeper water to focus on feeling the bite and then instead of instinctively trying to immediately set the hook, reel into the bite and allow the rod and line to load, and the trout to turn to the left or right. This is why many times the bite is extremely light during the heat of the day. And on top of this, water depth can absorb some of the feel if one does not own a super sensitive rod.

My recommendation is to spend most of your money on a high-quality rod. I use Henri Custom Rods, but Waterloo, Sarge, and Laguna are top end rods as well and rods that I see on my boat. There are lots of reels that will do you well that are not terribly expensive, like the Shimano SLX 70 HD. This is a must in my opinion but that’s another article.

When we don’t feel the initial take and we pull against the unknown take, the fish charges towards the weight, creating slack. With slack in the line the fish can easily swallow the lure as it charges you. When you feel the take and react by reeling into that take and loading both rod and line before striking, the fish will typically turn against the weight allowing the hook to be set in the corner or hinge of the mouth. Once the hook is securely set, it’s hard to lose one and easy to quickly release the fish. Quick easy releases are critical to survival, especially in the heat of the summer.

One’s fishing gameplan should include shallow areas of preferred bottom structure for the bay system you are planning on fishing. The shallow area should include quick access to deeper but very similar bottom structure. A food source that is constant is also important. It is important to note that many times the bait is active early and easily observed, but later in the day the same bait source will move to deeper water and hug the bottom, becoming invisible to us for the remainder of the day.

Make mental notes of areas where you see mullet or menhaden jumping or flipping on a consistent basis. These are areas where game fish are present and even though the trout or reds may not be eating the bait fish, the bait fish don’t know this – so they react by jumping or flipping when they enter an area where predators are staging.

I depend on these types of sightings to keep me confident and on the proper line during downtime between feeding periods. We can never pay enough attention to everything that is going on around us. All of this has meaning, and we just must be able to decipher its meaning. We can’t afford to fish stupid anymore.

May Your Fishing Always Be Catching -Guide, Jay Watkins