Casting Tales: Should Have Been Here Yesterday

It was hard leaving to go back to school earlier this week knowing the conditions were going to be great for the remainder of the week and the tides had finally aligned for a late evening bite. I only had one class this week on Tuesday and while in class all I could think about was how good the fishing should be. Less than 24 hours after making the trek to San Marcos, I decided to head back home and fish around Galveston for a couple days during peak conditions.

My prognostication proved to be accurate because the fishing over the last two days was outstanding, especially the late afternoon bite. On Thursday after a few hours of rest, I hit the water at sunrise and managed to scratch out 9 trout and 3 flounder before noon at my first destination. I packed up and went elsewhere to catch the evening tide. From the time I made it to my second destination until just after dark the bite was fast and furious. I got bites on nearly every cast and caught a few limits of trout up to 23" as well as a stray redfish. Finished the day with 1 red, 3 flounder, and at least 40 trout.

The conditions on Friday morning were superb and I had intentions to fish that morning but overslept due to a lack of rest. I met up with Chris and Judson to see if we could muster up another afternoon bite. We fished hard for several hours with only a few bites and fish to show for our efforts. Judson has had his share of bad fortune lately so we started to question whether bringing him along was such a great idea. He also mentioned that the day was a prime example of the "should have been here yesterday" karma.

About an hour and a half before dark the bite picked up. We got bites on nearly every cast the remainder of the evening and into the darkness. Chris and Judson both managed to string a limit of trout and 1 flounder. I guess Judson's luck wasn't too bad after all. We finished the night with 1 flounder, a few reds, and at least 60 trout up to 23" between the three of us. Didn't catch as many quality fish over the last two days but the numbers were definitely up. Up to this point the bite had been extremely soft but the bite the last two days was the most aggressive all winter long.

Now to the particulars. All fish were caught deep in areas with a muddy bottom and scattered shell. Slow incoming tides later in the day have been the ticket. Water temp was approximately 65 degrees yesterday, which is quite a bit above normal for this time of year. There has been plenty of bait all over the flats adjacent to deep water and I wouldn't be surprised if the fish start to move shallow with the higher tides and warmer water. Baits of choice (pictured below) were Corky's (copper top), Corky soft plastic (pearl/ chartreuse), MirrOdine XL (chartreuse top and bottom/ silver side), Skitterwalk (blue and chrome), TTF Flats Minnow (liquid shrimp), and a Gambler Flapp N Shad (morning glory).

We need another cold front badly to blow some of the water out of the bays and lower the water temps back down to winter levels. I didn't think I would say this at all this winter because before two week ago this winter had been an extremely cold one. Another front would help stack the bigger fish and baitfish deep. It seems like the smaller fish have move in and are extremely aggressive. The water and weather lately have looked more like fall or spring than the dead middle of winter.