Fishing action getting interesting

[KFDM COOP]

Fishing action getting interesting

It’s the time of year when the fishing action in Southeast Texas starts getting ìinteresting.

    If you keep up with our weekly reports you will notice a lot of species, particularly in saltwater that are not caught most of the year. I’m talking sand trout, Gulf trout in the bays and Gulf and striped bass in the rivers and the north end of Lake Sabine.

    One certainly can’t call this time of year the best time for the glamour species like speckled trout or largemouth bass, but there is always something out there to catch.

    Now onto the report:

    North Sabine — Speckled trout are fair to good on live bait fished around the islands. A few anglers have reported bird action with scattered trout and reds. Black drum are good in Old River Cove on dead shrimp.

South Sabine — Sand trout are fair to good around the causeway on shrimp and cut bait. Speckled trout are scattered on the main lake with some action under the birds mainly in the afternoon. A few scattered sheepshead have been caught from along the channel.

Sabine Pass — Very few reports from the pass at mid-week.

Sabine River — Striped bass are fair to good between the Navy Base and the Dupont Outfall Canal on live bait. Middle and East Pass are producing small stripers and yellow bass.

Lake Calcasieu (Big Lake) — The Hackberry Rod and Gun Club reports fair action for redfish on the north end of the lake and in West Cove on live bait. A few anglers are taking some nice trout around shallow flats on topwaters in the afternoons. Very few reports otherwise.

Rayburn Lake — Guide Roger Bacon reports largemouths are good on lipless crankbaits in orange and red colors. Try to work the inside edges of the grass near creek channels in the backs of major bays. Buck Bay, Veach, Miller and Harvey have all been producing well. Very few reports of crappie and catfish.

Toledo Bend — Holly Park Marina reports largemouths are slow. Crappie are good around the Chicken Coop area on shiners. Big shiners are also taking some flathead catfish around brush piles.

Hunting — Guide Shane Chesson reports slow to fair duck hunting with teal, gadwall and pintail making up most of the bag. State waterfowl officials report half-limits have been the norm in the marsh near High Island and Anahuac. Goose hunting has been solid in hot feeding fields. Goose hunters are having to deal with muddy conditions in plowed fields for the first time this year. Most geese are moving to fallow fields with fresh green growth; the rain that fell last week gave a boost to wheat fields and freshly plowed fields, sparking new growth. Still, lots of sandhill cranes in Zone C, but few hunters have reported taking the wary birds. Prospects are fair to good.

#

LAKE LEVELS

TOLEDO BEND: Normal Level: 172.0 Current Pool Level: 168.05 (Was 165.22)

[duke2559]

hey coop not to be sarcastic but i disagree on the idea that its not a great time of year for bass. This time is the best time if you want a shot at those big ones. They are getting nice and full of eggs while preparing for the spawn. those 5 pounders are now about 6 or 7 and when you find them they are stacked together. The reason people think that its not the good time of year is because they are scared of a little cold weather and its not as easy to catch them as it is in the spring when a lot of want a be anglers show up on the lake and hurt the fish population by taking out those volnerable fish that are spawning and even a blind man can catch. Remember in the spring that catch and release is the only way to go.

[tvc184]

It is a great time for a big bass. It is a lousy time for the fisherman.

One of the best trips that I ever made was on Rayburn the third week of February. Three of us limited three straight days with 30 bass (back when it was a 10 per day limit) with the smallest being close to 3 pounds.

It sure was cold though.....  brrrrr!!!  Catching all of those bigger fish made up for it.

[duke2559]

Hey Tvc i bet yall kept those fish back then too didnt you. just think 30 good fish off the lake. and they wonder why are lakes cant keep up with those of cali and bama and others. Yes we have some big fish but we used to be the big dog on the street and now just another lake people like. people need to take fish sparingly. like taking those 14 or 15 inchers and leaving the big ones. remember big fish breed big fish just a fact of nature.

[tvc184]

Hey Tvc i bet yall kept those fish back then too didnt you. just think 30 good fish off the lake. and they wonder why are lakes cant keep up with those of cali and bama and others. Yes we have some big fish but we used to be the big dog on the street and now just another lake people like. people need to take fish sparingly. like taking those 14 or 15 inchers and leaving the big ones. remember big fish breed big fish just a fact of nature.

You betcha. They were quite tasty. We caught about 140 and but only kept the limit. If I remember correctly, the old limit was 10 bass with a minimum of 10".

While the limit is much more restrictive now and that is a change for the good, what we did was quite acceptable at the time and I sure don't have any guilty feelings about it.

[PNG Proud]

Good for you tvc!  I do the same.  I play strictly by the rules, but you can bet when I do get lucky enough to catch fish, I eat them too.

And I get lucky ALOT!

BTW,  you can bet that if I catch a real biggun...that puppy will be hanging in it's reserved spot over my mantel.

[duke2559]

I wasnt challenging what you did but people now like pngproud keep those big fish and in the future that wont be good. I keep fish too but if im catching them i put back the big ones and keep those that are 14 - 16 inches. If you catch a good one you are thinking of putting on the wall it is better to get some measurements and pictures and let it go. A replica is cheaper and last a lot longer. You cant tell the difference. But do what you will I think more and more people are doing the right thing and taking care of our lakes and their fish populations. I m going this weekend and ill make sure i let yall know about those bigguns i catch and let mother nature have back. Good luck and may the lakes be calm for you.

[tvc184]

I don't think I would ever mount a fish now. I would just take the pics and get a replica if it meant that much to me however I might eat the thing. I would not waste the meat on a mount but eating it is not a waste.

The state has severely restricted many species of fish as far as size and bag limits. I completely agree with those restrictions. If a fish is in danger of being depleted, they state comes in and stops it.  They completely stopped redfish from being kept and stopped all saltwater seines. Then the made slot limits as the fish replenished. Then they allowed one oversized bull. Now they are up to two a year. I don't think we have wiped out the redfish population and the current regulations have had the desired effect. I can go to the jetties or the beach in the summer and catch bulls almost at will. It seems like there are more of them now than when they were being overfished commercially when blackened redfish became the hot item on the nation's menus.

I trust the state to stop or restrict species from being caught that are having difficulty in populations. If they don't want me to catch large fish, the toss in a slot limit and I will comply.

[Hupernikomen]

The purpose of the slot is not to save the species, but rather to give the species a chance to produce trophy fish.  Sportsfishing is good for the state economy and is one of Tesas' better attractants.

[tvc184]

The purpose of the slot limit is obviously not to save a species. If a species was endangered, fishing for it would be stopped, not slotted.

There are two types of slot limits. The slot where you can retain the fish (like redfish) and the slot where you cannot retain the fish (like bass on some lakes).

In the case of redfish, the slot was to replenish the fish. With the slot being at 18-28 inches for keeping the fish, it helped to insure a viable population of breeding age fish. That is because female redfish normally doesn't spawn until about 4 years of age and about 32 inches in length. That is the reason for the redfish slot, not to produce trophy fish.

That is not the same as in bass fishing. In that case, the slot is to produce trophies and then only on certain bodies of water. For example, a place like Lake Fork where you cannot keep a fish between 16-24 inches is obviously to keep people from catching bass until they because huge and it is not to replenish the species. Of course, a person could catch the lower end of the slot and retain 5 bass that are 8" long if they wished but I doubt that people fish Lake Fork to keep 5 baby bass. Fork is a trophy lake and the slot is to keep it that way.

So in a way, we are both correct. Bass are slotted to help insure trophy fish on some bodies of water and redfish are slotted to help insure breeding age females.

[BIGDADDYDAVEHJ]

One of my buddys went out to sabine saturday i think and caught 51 keeper trout!! that aint bad at all!

[PNG Proud]

Duke, actually I replied the way I did because you seemed to be attacking tvc because he kept fish and ate them.  The fact is I'm much more interested in a replica then the real thing.  They're not only prettier, but they last longer too.

I'm 100% behind conservation.  However, I REALLY question some recent changes in the red snapper laws.  The lawmakers are grossly misinformed and the commercial lobbiests are getting the results they hoped for.  Too bad the sportsfishermen don't have the clout that they do. 

[duke2559]

I agree with you on those issues but i got married three years ago and gave up salt water so that i could concentrate on my family and bass fishing. Always seems like they are trying too hard to come up with something new for rules on saltwater. liscense for this tag for that and so on. Ill stick to my lakes for now and thats really a shame cause i grew up in port acres and used to stay at sabine lake or the beach. Good luck on those snapper. By the way i still wont eat a big bass just my philosophy. Beside the smaller ones tastes better anyway.