Redfish and Speckled Trout Fishing Like a Machine

While some may sneer, others will smile when remembering the spring season of 2008. February through May proved to be the windiest season that anyone could remember. Though 20-30 mph winds became a dreaded norm last year, a certain breed of baitfish saved many days for a select few middle coast guides and anglers.

Like the surf in summer, or migration of shrimp in fall, a highlight of springtime is the annual arrival of the almighty glass minnows. Silver and flashy, the darting prey arrive by the thousands to shallow flats. Pelicans and gulls welcome the visit with open mouths and can feast for weeks on the buffet. Speckled trout and redfish will hang near and strike the bait in an all-at-once attack. To better your chances of capitalizing on such a frenzy, be patient and wait out the arrival.

Along with Captain Kent Sabin, I was guiding a group of fishermen from Dallas and Austin that spring on what turned out to be one of, if not the windiest day of the entire season. From the word go, we were experiencing a 20mph wind from the south; which then turned around on us with a 30mph wind out of the north! The wind was making every bit of fishable water available to us muddy and we were left wondering exactly what we were going to do.

When we were heading out of the water, Sabin and I were ambushed with recommendations by other guides to cancel instead of attempting to wade in the blown out waters. Instead of sending them home from a fishing trip that did not even involve a boat ride, we opted to give our customers a fighting chance at catching a fish.

A wide cove on the south shoreline with a waist deep western bank was full of bait that was situated over thick grass. Pelicans slammed the water with high dive assaults. Within casting distance of the baitfish school, we lined up and affixed our wading boots in firm mud. Despite a falling tide and decreasing clarity, I was confident fish would move in. Brown Lures makes a glow and chartreuse soft plastic lure that worked well to produce the initial strikes by matching the glass minnows' darting features. Dark strawberry and white succeeded in drawing undersized fish. A cruising redfish soon felt the hooks from a miniature chrome topwater. The bite remained slow, as I have seen it so many times before, until minimal sunlight remained. The real numbers of fish filed in.

A patch of bait that was previously the size of a swimming pool quickly became tightly confined. Minnows flipped and bounced on the surface like popcorn. Trout were seen jolting clear out of the water in pursuit. The surface of the water boiled as piranha-like predators furiously attacked glass minnows like machines.

Reeling fast and keeping the lure above the surface would draw trout above the water, but slowing down the retrieve produced the most solid hookups. Full limits of redfish were a token of the outing's success.

If spring 2009 awaits your casts, find bait and fish late. The bite often just begins at nightfall.