The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

Well the hot weather we generally associate with this time of the year appears to have finally taken over and ushered the last of those fantastic cool days off until we see the first fronts show back up in October. Nothing says good morning like 80 degree temperatures before the sun comes up and it’s just now getting started so the “best” is yet to come. It’s taken quite some time for the weather to resemble something normal as far as temperatures go and hopefully the wind will fall into line next.

These big gusts have pinned down most anglers and made them feel as if they were in jail looking out of a window at the free world. Just knowing that the fish were out there and doing their thing and you weren’t able to reach them due to weather is akin to being tortured using cruel and unusual punishment.

The big majority of Sabine Lake has actually held up well in spite of all the rain we had previously and all the wind it seems like we are getting daily.

With just a little bit of a break in the current conditions there will be all sorts of options for local fishermen opening up and they should be really good.

Right now most folks are hiding in protected water along the bayous or protected shorelines of the lake.

This program works well during the week when traffic is light but the weekends are a whole different animal as you can imagine.

Take all the boat traffic and shove it into a small amount of protected water and you have a miserable existence to say the least.

A few of the early risers have begun to take advantage of the bite down at the jetties as the calmest part of the day happens before the sun comes up.

This next full moon should be wild down on the rocks as that pattern holds up almost every summer.

Throwing a topwater plug in the dark on the rocks is not for the faint of heart because the strikes are beyond vicious and you never know what you will run into.

I have been surprised the last few trips to the south end of the lake that more people have not taken advantage of the bite that’s still going on down there, especially considering the conditions. The big reef at the Causeway offers up a great opportunity to escape some wind and get on a good bite, plus you are just minutes from the jetty if the winds die down and its’ nice to have a backup plan.

The constant South or Southeast wind has put a dent in the fishing on the west side of the lake, especially near the revetment wall and the mouth of the Neches. Bank anglers had been just wearing out the fish for a few weeks along the rocks but that pattern appears to be winding down as the winds crank up. Look for that water to clear up soon and the big pods of baitfish to show up the tide changes really help that area. It’s amazing how few people actually spend much time on that side of the lake; it gets minor pressure compared to Louisiana shoreline but produces some really good fish.

On a recent scouting mission to go look at two new ponds for duck season I noticed the vegetation in the marsh is way ahead of schedule and everything looks incredibly lush right now.

The health of the marsh is the lifeblood of the whole bay system and judging by the looks of it Sabine is in great shape.

Perhaps the best sight of the trip was all the shrimp I saw, it won’t be long before they hit the lake and the fishing really goes nuts.

Chasing birds in the summer on a flat calm day with shrimp skipping across the surface just ahead of hungry trout is exactly what local fishermen are waiting on.

Until they dump out in the lake and the wind dies down I guess we’ll all just continue to stare at the flags blowing in the breeze and hurl insults at the weathermen.

The good stuff is right around the corner.