The Port Arthur News
June 10, 2009 09:40 pm
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(This is part 1 of a two-part series to be concluded in the Sunday edition. In the next installment we will talk about two of the most abundant offshore species, snapper and sharks)
“Big 5”.
That title is usually reserved for Africa’s most dangerous game: lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and Cape buffalo.
The Texas coast however has its own “Big 5”, species that provide serious recreational opportunity for anglers and in the case of us in Southeast Texas, they are all biting right now. They are not all dangerous but their reputation as sport fish earn them plenty of respect nonetheless.
Let us start with speckled trout.
Live shrimp fished on a Texas Rattlin' Rig, Mansfield Mauler or similar popping cork/treble hook combo can be deadly on specks at the Sabine Jetties.
“During the summer, the specks will sometimes just almost shut down completely to lures out at the jetties and you have to adjust your game plan. A popping cork and shrimp will allow you to ‘see’ what you’re doing and adjust the depth at which you’re fishing easily. Depth is very important,” said popping cork fishing expert Steve Walko.
Walko said pitching a live shrimp along the jetty wall and letting it float down could be exciting and nerve-wracking experience.
“Seeing that cork go down always gets you. Sometimes it’ll bob just a bit and come back up and then sometimes it will just dive straight down. It’s a lot of fun,” he said.
Moving into the bay systems like Sabine, East Galveston and Calcasieu, soft plastic shrimp and menhaden imitations are tops but topwaters and lipless crankbaits are also catching fish. Look for diving gulls and emerging slicks to lead your way to the specks.
For anglers targeting reds during the summer months, the open bays are the best bet.
During hot, calm days, redfish begin to school up and offer up a feeding frenzy that has to be seen to be believed.
“What anglers need to do is to start out fishing when everyone else is going home,” said former Sabine Lake guide Capt. Skip James.
“When we get the mid-day ‘slick-offs’, these reds bunch up in the middle of the bays and start chasing around menhaden. Sometimes you see them feeding like piranha or something on the surface and then sometimes you will just see a hint of bronze below the surface. But when you find them, the results are all the same: intense fun.”
The veteran guide recommends anglers use their trolling motors to approach these reds quietly and then cast with soft plastics on heavy jigheads or use ?-ounce gold spoons.
“You want something you can cast pretty far because sometimes they will spook easily,” James said.
There is also plenty of action for big reds at the jetties.
Anglers should use long surf rods baited with cut mullet, live croaker or blue crab. When using crab, pop off the shell and rig through hook through the joint of the back paddle-like leg. It’ll hold good there.
Chunk this bait into deep holes and around the boat cuts to find reds anywhere from 36-50 inches.
Summer is the slowest time of year for catching flounder, but they do not shut down completely.
Most of the action is in the big, flowing cuts in a bay system like Chocolate Bayou in the Galveston complex and Johnson Bayou on Sabine Lake.
Fish incoming tides in the first 100 yards of any of the larger cuts with a curl-tailed jig tipped with shrimp or live mud minnows fished on a fish finder (Carolina) rig. This consists of an egg shaped slip weight rigged about a 12 to 18 inch leader finished off with a hook. Drag it slowly and when you feel a “thump”, count to 10 and then set the hook. With lures cut the wait down to about two seconds.
In the cuts, incoming tides are best for good numbers of flounder. Along the cane-lined shorelines, however, the first hour of a falling tide is best. Roseau cane has a very intricate rooting system and baitfish hide inside it on high tides. Flounder have figured this out and lie in ambush when the waters recede.
There are also a fair number of fish around the passes in the summer. In these areas, live mud minnows or finger mullets on a fish finder rig are best. Some anglers are starting to wise up to the fact that they can set out several rods with live bait and as flounder move through, they can get more action with more rods.
Anglers fishing around the Pilot Station in Sabine Pass often employ this method and tend to catch some of the biggest flounder in the area.
Chester Moore, Jr. is the Port Arthur News Outdoors Editor. To contact Chester Moore, e-mail him at cmoore@fishgame.com. You can hear him on the radio Fridays from 6-7 p.m. on Newstalk AM 560 KLVI or online at www.klvi.com.
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