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Sabine Scene: July 2010
Steve Osborne beat the wind with this nice trout!
It is hot, dry, and the wind continues to be a factor most days, but no one is complaining about the fishing here on Sabine. The water clarity is as good as it can get all over the lake and an expanded playing field has reduced much of the pressure.
We are still losing a few days to the wind, but that minor inconvenience pales in comparison to possibly having our entire ecosystem bathed in oil. I say an extra prayer every morning, but I cannot see how our area can escape totally unscathed before this is all over. Another hurricane or major storm could leave us shoveling more oil out of our homes than mud this time.
The trout bite from the nearshore rigs to Lighthouse Cove has been very consistent. Choosing which side of the jetties to fish is a matter of wind direction and water clarity as the fishing can be equally good on both sides. Topwaters and swim baits fished tight to the granite, especially around the washouts, has been a strong program at first light most days.
The redfish are seemingly always there and will hit everything from cut mullet to Gulp rigged on a 3/8 ounce head. There are also some magnum gafftop eating the same offerings most days and they are not to be overlooked with the S.T.A.R. tournament in full swing.
For those more interested in non-stop action than duping a personal best trout this month, look no further than the gulls working over shad and shrimp from Blue Buck Point to the mid-lake area. The shorter tails like the 4-inch Assassin Sea Shad or MirrOlure's new Lil' John will produce more strikes, but the larger fish hanging beneath the schools usually favor the longer Assassin shads or topwater lures.
There is no doubt that a particular color will work better on a given day and I carry a pile of them in self-defense, but there are very few days when you cannot catch our schooling trout with glow-chartreuse or Texas Roach. If there are redfish mixed in the fray, tie on a chrome Trap or a Hoginar and hang on.
Most of the grass has rotted off below the surface, but the submerged root systems are still holding massive concentrations of both shrimp and finger mullet. This relatively new structure is most prevalent from Garrison's Ridge to Three Bayous on the Louisiana side of the lake. The trout and redfish are never far away and these are areas that will hold up throughout the day with even a minimal tide flow.
While the trout and reds will jump all over a She Dog or Spook, they can be a pain to fish over the thicker grass in less than three feet of water. For that reason, we have substituted weedless frogs and non-weighted Texas-rigged Assassins for the conventional topwater plugs. The explosions are just as exciting and you don't have to fight the snags with the weedless offerings. When fishing this technique I eliminate the leader and tie directly to 30-pound Power Pro braid.
The grass is a little thinner at 4 to 5 foot depths and the deeper bite is generally a little better during the middle of the day. A great tool for locating these fish is a Kwik Cork with a tail rigged on a two foot leader. We make long casts and once the fish are located, bury the Stake-Out stick and make repeated casts before continuing the drift.
Locating bait is a key element any time of the year, but we will find most of our big trout this month simply by looking for slicks on shallow flats near deep water. That cooler hour or so at first light is predictably good, but the trout will invariably slick up on a tide change any hour of the day.
I am not so foolish as to ever turn my back on any lure as evidenced by the tackle shop under my front deck, but I have done so well on big trout this past month with only two lures that I have hardly thrown anything else. Every client has his or her favorite, but none of them have enticed me to cut off a MirrOdine XL or a 5-inch Assassin Shad rigged on the 1/8 ounce Pro Elite head.
For that matter, I have seldom needed to even try any colors other than silver with a green back in the XL and hot chicken in the Assassin. Undoubtedly, by the time you read this the fish will want bone Catch V's and red shad plastics, but that's fishing and you best give them what they want.
Never take a day on the water for granted!
We are still losing a few days to the wind, but that minor inconvenience pales in comparison to possibly having our entire ecosystem bathed in oil. I say an extra prayer every morning, but I cannot see how our area can escape totally unscathed before this is all over. Another hurricane or major storm could leave us shoveling more oil out of our homes than mud this time.
The trout bite from the nearshore rigs to Lighthouse Cove has been very consistent. Choosing which side of the jetties to fish is a matter of wind direction and water clarity as the fishing can be equally good on both sides. Topwaters and swim baits fished tight to the granite, especially around the washouts, has been a strong program at first light most days.
The redfish are seemingly always there and will hit everything from cut mullet to Gulp rigged on a 3/8 ounce head. There are also some magnum gafftop eating the same offerings most days and they are not to be overlooked with the S.T.A.R. tournament in full swing.
For those more interested in non-stop action than duping a personal best trout this month, look no further than the gulls working over shad and shrimp from Blue Buck Point to the mid-lake area. The shorter tails like the 4-inch Assassin Sea Shad or MirrOlure's new Lil' John will produce more strikes, but the larger fish hanging beneath the schools usually favor the longer Assassin shads or topwater lures.
There is no doubt that a particular color will work better on a given day and I carry a pile of them in self-defense, but there are very few days when you cannot catch our schooling trout with glow-chartreuse or Texas Roach. If there are redfish mixed in the fray, tie on a chrome Trap or a Hoginar and hang on.
Most of the grass has rotted off below the surface, but the submerged root systems are still holding massive concentrations of both shrimp and finger mullet. This relatively new structure is most prevalent from Garrison's Ridge to Three Bayous on the Louisiana side of the lake. The trout and redfish are never far away and these are areas that will hold up throughout the day with even a minimal tide flow.
While the trout and reds will jump all over a She Dog or Spook, they can be a pain to fish over the thicker grass in less than three feet of water. For that reason, we have substituted weedless frogs and non-weighted Texas-rigged Assassins for the conventional topwater plugs. The explosions are just as exciting and you don't have to fight the snags with the weedless offerings. When fishing this technique I eliminate the leader and tie directly to 30-pound Power Pro braid.
The grass is a little thinner at 4 to 5 foot depths and the deeper bite is generally a little better during the middle of the day. A great tool for locating these fish is a Kwik Cork with a tail rigged on a two foot leader. We make long casts and once the fish are located, bury the Stake-Out stick and make repeated casts before continuing the drift.
Locating bait is a key element any time of the year, but we will find most of our big trout this month simply by looking for slicks on shallow flats near deep water. That cooler hour or so at first light is predictably good, but the trout will invariably slick up on a tide change any hour of the day.
I am not so foolish as to ever turn my back on any lure as evidenced by the tackle shop under my front deck, but I have done so well on big trout this past month with only two lures that I have hardly thrown anything else. Every client has his or her favorite, but none of them have enticed me to cut off a MirrOdine XL or a 5-inch Assassin Shad rigged on the 1/8 ounce Pro Elite head.
For that matter, I have seldom needed to even try any colors other than silver with a green back in the XL and hot chicken in the Assassin. Undoubtedly, by the time you read this the fish will want bone Catch V's and red shad plastics, but that's fishing and you best give them what they want.
Never take a day on the water for granted!