Don't Sleep on This Tournament

Capt. Dickie Colburn

For The Record

The S.A.L.T. Club will host their 3^rd annual “KIDS” tournament on October 1st and now that you know about it, there is no good reason for not getting there with your youngster.In fact, the only reason that it has not grown faster than it has over the past two years is that it somehow slips by under the radar.

While the convenience factor for the parents and grandparents alone makes this a “can’t miss” event, it’s the grand prize that is the icing on the cake.Every youngster between the ages of three and sixteen that weighs in a single fish will be eligible to win the drawing held at the end of the tournament.The winner of that drawing will receive a Lifetime Fishing License donated by the club!

Trophies and cash will also be awarded for the largest croaker, piggy perch and crab in the 3-7 division, redfish, black drum and crab in the 8-12 division and redfish, trout and flounder in the 13-16 division. While a youngster may or may not place in their division, the key is simply entering something at the eleven o’clock weigh-in.

Aside from the fact that it is a wonderful way to spend the morning with the kids, the club has gone to great lengths to make this the user-friendly event of the year. Even a college football game is no excuse as Ancelet’s Marina will take care of lunch with hotdogs and drinks at the weigh-in and you will be back home for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.

But wait……It gets even more convenient. There is no pre-registration, no entry fee and you can fish anywhere you wish starting at 7:00 a.m. as long as you are at the clubhouse on Pleasure Island for the weigh-in.“Come on……a crab could win your youngster a lifetime fishing license and it costs them nothing to fish!”

For more information phone Max at 626-2501, Stan at 963-0433 or Roger at 920-5225.

If you are a bass fisherman you have to be ecstatic over the current bite and lowering of the minimum length, but if you are a speck fisherman it just might be time to panic.They continue to be impossible to figure out for some of the very best fishermen between here and Houston.

I stopped by Ancelet’s Marina Sunday evening and talked with two groups of very good Houston anglers that had limits of redfish, but had caught and released only three keeper trout all day.They started the day wading before daylight and fished from East Pass to Blue Buck the remainder of the day!

My reports as to what is happening in the Game Reserve are always second hand as guides cannot fish that area, but the catching in the Reserve has been much better than the main lake lately.That includes numbers of small trout, but the flounder and redfish are getting the most attention.

The problem, even for the recreational angler, is that the Reserve will close the 15^th of next month.Until that happens, I would recommend targeting that area as there are a world of canals and back lakes to fish so crowding should not be a problem.

Jason Sands said that he and a different partner on each occasion have limited on reds and flounder their last four trips. He said they could have gotten it done with Gulp, but have also fished finger mullet as well.He added that they were fishing their way through a lot of smaller flounder, but have not had to keep a flounder under the 16-inch mark.

A number of folks fishing that same canals said they cannot concentrate on the reds and flounder because of the bass.“Most of them are 12 to 15 inch fish,” reported Kyle Leger, “but it is a non-stop bite and the redfish just add to the fun.” They have been catching their fish on weedless spoons and plastic frogs.

It will be an entirely different game for the BASS CHAMP pros when they host their tournament out of the public boat ramp October 8th and 9th . The reduced size limit will make a huge difference in the number of bass weighed in and they will be both pleased and surprised by how well the bass population has rebounded.

I am hoping that a couple of cold fronts will change things on the saltwater scene, but until that happens the bite could remain a struggle.Good or bad, you just have to go to know!