New jig head is a money saver

Brad Deslatte was releasing the third trout that he had caught on as many casts when he remarked, “This is absolutely the best jig head I have ever used. I have been fishing this new softer Mrs. Trout Killer all afternoon and I have only used two tails.”

Now that is heavy praise coming from a veteran trout fisherman that has at least two of everything that has anything to do with catching fish. More importantly, he was talking about a quality jig head that is saving saltwater fishermen a lot of money.

The jig head attached to his 20-pound monofilament leader was a quarter ounce head crafted by Yellowmouth. While it is available in several different weights and is poured on a Mustad black nickel hook, it’s the lead ribs on the shank of the hook that separates the Yellowmouth jig head from its competitors.

It originally earned a spot in my starting line-up last spring when I discovered it would greatly extend the life of a Gulp mullet when fishing for flounder and reds. Once in place on the ringed shank of the hook, it was there to stay and my Gulp bill was reduced by at least fifty percent. If a fish didn’t bite the curly tail off, I could fish with one bait all morning long!

The only rap against Assassin plastics has always been the fact that they were deemed too soft. Every lure they make catches fish and they come in a plethora of colors that will over load a computer, but one pack of tails would seldom last a day. Not unlike Brad’s experience with the softer Trout Killer, however, the Yellowmouth jig drastically extends the life expectancy of the Assassin plastics as well.

The once popular screw lock head was supposedly the solution to holding plastics firmly on a jig head, but I have watched clients tear up brand new tails just trying to screw them onto the shank. A drop of Super Glue on the shank of the hook is a solution of sorts as well, but it invariably winds up sticking things together that weren’t intended to be stuck together!

The bottom line is that I readily second Brad’s assessment of the deadly new jig head. With a Yellowmouth jig you can now fish any tail available and realistically expect it to stay in place longer and weather more strikes. That leaves you more money to cough up for fuel additive!

The water on the east side of the lake was already starting to dirty up some prior to Monday’s downpour, but that is not necessarily a bad thing for the lake fishermen. A little runoff should push some of those trout holding in the ICW and river up on the flats and farther out into the lake.

Both the Stewts flats and the Neches flats have not produced very good numbers thus far for me, but that could change very quickly with more freshwater. Colder water temperatures will be a factor by the end of the week and will initially slow the bite down a little making the afternoon bite the better option.

I talked with Capt. Chuck on two occasions last week after he had hunted the marsh in the morning and he was very surprised at the numbers of redfish still holding in the shallow lakes off Black’s Bayou. He said they were pushing water in small schools and a lot of them were upper end slot fish.

We haven’t been catching as many quality redfish in the river as we were even a week ago, but they are all over the shallow flats on both sides of the ICW. Jerry Byrd said he and a friend caught reds for two solid hours Sunday evening while fishing Traps under terns picking at the surface. They were on their way back to the launch when they found the big school of fish about half way back in the intake channel in Old River Cove.

If cold weather is just not your cup of tea, the Houston Boat Show is a warmer option this week. Paul Brown’s new jointed Corky has been the talk of the show, but I wouldn’t count on finding any more this late in the game. He sold everything he brought to the show on day one and a lot of folks were left hoping that he would bring more this week.

I haven’t talked with anyone that has fished the jointed Corky on Sabine, but it has been working its magic on some really big trout on Calcasieu lately. The hottest new bait on Sabine is still the Maniac Mullet and at least for right now, they are both cheaper and easier to purchase. Daley’s got another shipment last week and as of yesterday still they had every color in stock.