Casting Tales: Hit or Miss

If I was asked to sum up winter fishing here on the Texas Coast in as few words as possible “hit or miss” would be the most fitting choice. Fishing during this time of year can be gruelingly slow at times and fast and furious at others. When the fishing is slow bites are few and far in between but when you get in the right area during peak conditions the action can be nonstop. Fishing throughout the winter is a true test of your patience.

Over the last week I’ve had the opportunity to hit the water on 8 separate occasions from Upper Galveston Bay all the way to East Matagorda and few spots in between. I’ve had my fair share of misses with the occasional hit over that span. Fishing has been on the slow side as far as quantity is concerned but the quality has been superb. Prior to Wednesday, I had caught and released quite a few in the 3.5 – 4.5lb range at nearly every spot.

This past Wednesday was my birthday and I planned to celebrate by spending the entire day on the water. I made numerous phone calls looking for a partner but to no avail after a few back outs and probable’s, I ventured out alone. At the first spot I hit the fishing was monotonous. I fished all morning long with only a handful of bites and three small keeper trout landed. After heading in, regrouping, and getting a bite to eat, I moved locations in hopes of scratching out anything worth writing home about.

I fished the second spot for a few hours without as much as a nibble. With my patience wearing thin and the prospect of catching anything dwindling quickly I set my alarm for an hour later. I decided if I didn’t get a bite within the next hour I was going to pack up and head home. About 45 minutes later and still without a bite the tide slowly started to creep in. A few minutes later like clockwork I got my first bite a solid hit but it didn’t connect. The next 45 minutes the bite was completely relentless. I was getting bites on nearly every cast including many trout in the 18” – 21” range as well a few redfish up to 24”. In the midst of all the chaos I managed to catch my largest trout of this winter a 25”/5.5lb fish.

The bite began to slow down and then I got the bite I had been searching for all winter long. When I felt the hit and weight of the fish I knew it was a solid fish but wasn’t sure if it was going to be the right species. After seeing the big girl surface my heart began to race with excitement. After short battle I subdued the sowbelly and I raced to the shoreline to capture a few pictures of my trophy measuring in at 28.75” and 7.75lbs. The picture quality isn’t the best because I tried to snap the pictures as quick as possible to return the fish unscathed and taking self portraits is not the easiest thing to do.

After releasing her back in the wild to produce hopefully millions of offspring, my reaction was one of pure enjoyment. I just couldn’t stop laughing. There I was standing on a shoreline in the middle of nowhere by myself with a smile on my face so big I could light up the sky. I wore that smirk all the way home and still can’t get if off my face thinking about what happened the other night. I’ve never felt more of a sense of accomplishment while fishing ever.

This is my second winter of seriously chasing big trout and I’ve logged countless hours in that short window “paying dues.” I’m a redfish guy at heart and still am but that big girl the other day brought me more enjoyment then any redfish ever has. I’m not sure if it was because it happened on that particular day or the fishing had been so slow all day prior to the short window of absolute mayhem. Maybe it was because I had been working so hard to get that big bite or a combination of all of the above.

The typical winter pattern of deep water over muddy bottoms with an incoming tide has been producing lately. All fish over the last week were caught and released. My personal philosophy is any trout over 20” goes back into the water if fit to do so. Lures of choice have been Catch 5 (21), Gambler Flapp’n Shad (Morning Glory), and Flats Minnows (Liquid Shrimp, Roach, and Mumpy Glo).

Greg with a solid trout