Simple Surf Specks

I was mostly at the beach to capture coastal scenes and for the sake of finding proper backdrops for some needed lure photos, but of course I had to make a few casts in the best looking spots. I found two spots that held extra promise, and one of the two delivered.

The first was a short jetty with a nice tidal flow washing across the end and a couple of solid eddies. It looked great, but I was unable to make anything happen. The second was a steep section of beach right at the inlet that looked like it should be notably deeper than surrounding waters and that formed a big back eddy. It was toward the low end of an incoming tide so a lot of stuff that looked like it could be good at times was high and dry, making the deep hole seem extra promising.

On either my second or third cast, my Paradise Popper X-treme shot out of sight, and I set the hook into what turned out to be a 13- or 14-inch speckled trout. Knowing trout are seldom alone, I repeated the cast and got the same result, except with a slightly larger fish. Although it didn't turn out to be an every cast thing, I caught five or six and missed about the same number over the next hour or so, despite changing things up a few times in hopes of getting other types of photos. Eventually the bite died, which I attributed to the tide having risen quite a bit.

The following morning I did some kayak stuff in another area, and when I finished that I realized it was close to dead low tide. If I scurried back to my spot at the end of the island, I could catch the incoming tide right from the front and possibly extent the bite. It worked perfectly, with the fish biting about twice as long and me catching about twice as many trout.

None of the trout were huge, but that was fine with me. There's just something fun about fishing alone on the beach with very simple gear, identifying a spot that seems like it should produce and finding success.

Southbound Fishing Travels

My most recent blog post spoke about ice fishing and my odd interest in traveling north to fish during the winter. Still no ice plans in place for this winter, but tomorrow I'm hopping in my car and pointing it in the opposite direction, and I'm pretty excited about prospects. Plans include coastal fishing near Jacksonville for speckled trout and redfish with Bomber pro staffers Nathan Johnson and Chris Holleman and then moving slightly inland to catch bass with Tim Mann. The picture above is of Tim, from Lake George, earlier this year. Tim has a few ideas about stuff we might do, and all sound really good. We'll likely start at Rodman, which I'm really excited about, because it's spectacularly beautiful and one of finest bass lakes in the nation, and I've only been there once. Stay tuned!

Texas Calling

Today's a packing day for Nathaniel and me because tomorrow, right after Asher's Little League tryouts, we point the Expedition toward Texas and begin the long drive. We'll spend a week or so in the Lone Star State, fishing for everything from speckled trout to rainbow trout. (Yep. They have those in Texas.) Rough path is slated, but we'll fill in most details as we go.

I've enjoyed some really good fishing in Texas, including time on acclaimed lakes like Falcon, Amistad and Fork and wading out of Port Mansfield. It's been a few years since I've been there, though, and next week plans don't include any places I've fished before, so I'm really looking forward to getting back down there and to discovering new stuff.

Better get to packing, I suppose!

#CatchFishAnywhere

Working for Them, Southwest Louisiana Style

Captain Bryan Branch of Calcasieu Charters felt like we really had to work for the fish we caught on Sunday, and he wasn't overly impressed by the bite. By day's end, though, the cooler contained 25 specks and reds and about the same number of white trout, Spanish and flounder, and we probably released nearly as many fish as we kept. I suppose it's all relative, because what's considered "working for them" at Lake Calcasieu would be an absolute banner day of fishing catching action almost anywhere else in the country. On more than a few occasions, three or four rods were bent to the weight of fish at the same time during our tough day!

The amazing this is that it is not just talk. Really good days on the Big Lake, as Calcasieu is commonly called, produce limits of trout and/or redfish for everyone aboard. On great days, the trout are all big, and all the action comes from one or two spots. We covered quite a bit of water, picking at fish from a fair number of few schools, with weekend fishing pressure and wind that grew through the day creating challenges for staying with the fish.

So I suppose we did work, by Southwest Louisiana standards, but I'll take that day of work any day. I'll also take the cooler filled with fillets that came as reward for our efforts!

Learning from the Birds

I've "fished birds" many times before, and seagulls have helped me catch many fish of many kinds over the years. I've also long known that while resting birds suggest areas fish have been using, diving birds suggest more interesting activity below and a greater possibility of fish-catching action.

Today I learned more. Much, much more. While spending a great day in the boat with Capt. Bryan Branch of Calcasieu Charters, I learned how to interpret much more of what the birds are saying by their behavior, how to aim casts based on the activity of specific birds and how to work around a flock of birds without spooking the fish that are causing the birds to circle and dive.

We spent the larger part of today fishing around groups of birds and only a handful of the 80 or 90 fish I'd guess we caught were not specifically associated with a group of seagulls other birds. Often, Bryan would tell us before we hooked a fish whether we were likely to catch redfish, speckled trout or white trout, based on how the birds were acting, and more often than not he was correct.

Bird watching is only a small piece of the fish finding and catching story, but at times it can be a very important piece, and studying the birds' behavior at various times and watching what follows with the fish can help you catch far more fish.