A Good Report Way Over Due

“Meet Bill and I at that little boat ramp in Bridge City at 3:00 and bring your waders. ”I didn’t even know who sent the text, but the unexpected message merited a return call at the very least.”

“Hey man, this is Marler Cal and I have limited on trout up to four pounds twice this week wading the north end of your lake and today looks perfect.” I hadn’t waded in over a year so in agreeing to meet them for a quick trip, I had no intention of exercising that option. On the way to the ramp I also recalled that with Ty and Cal, night time is often not synonymous with quitting time. That was a scary thought, but I could always just say hello and wish them well if that was part of the game plan. Both of them were Houston based clients that had fished with me for

years prior to Harvey, but grew tired of my dismal reports since then. “What if I told you the first ten trout we catch will probably all be keepers,” he bragged through his mask. “We haven’t caught a trout over five pounds, but our average fish has been close to three pounds.”

That statement got me in their boat, but I told Cal that I would be as happy watching as catching when they promised to quit at dark. We had less than two hours to fish when they buried the power pole and climbed out of the boat. They never waded any water over thigh deep and just as predicted, eight of their first ten fish easily eclipsed the two pound mark. Every catch and release was consummated with an ear-piercing whistle and a “told you so” smile. Had the trip lasted another twenty minutes I would probably have caved and accepted Ty’s offer to use his waders. I didn’t, but I had enjoyed witnessing something that I wasn’t sure would ever happen again. These were quality trout and it happened in a hurry!

Ty had to time to try only two lures and they worked equally well as far as I could tell. He alternated between a pink slow sinking Corky Fat Boy

and a morning glory Corky Devil while his partner clipped off his bone She Dog only to occasionally eliminate frayed line. Ty probably caught

the most fish, but only because Cal spent more time taunting me with each release. The spot they chose was less that a medium cast off the Intracoastal. “We have been on shallow trout since Laura came through,” said Ty, “and we have fished the same pattern from Garrison’s Ridge to Sidney Island. For some reason our average trout has not been as large the farther south we fish.” I have never taken for granted the number of calls and emails that I receive each week regarding a fresh fishing report and invariably they fall into three groups. Easily number one is, “Just trying to help you out…don’t tell anyone.” I have no problem honoring that request and understand their reasoning. Most of these are folks that I readily share information with on a regular basis. The second group is, “Just want to help out folks that don’t get out much, but please don’t use my name. ”These reports are golden for the occasional fisherman. These generous fishermen just don’t wish to share an exact spot they have worked to find.” Then there is the “Just spell my name right under my picture” reports and they seldom if ever are accompanied by any useful information. I love

looking at the pictures, but a picture doesn’t tell you a hell of a lot about conditions, ect. Now you have the inside on why so many of the fishing reports that I feel comfortable in passing along are seldom accompanied with the fisherman’s name. If you can’t do more with the information than the fisherman’s name then you need to reassess your approach to fishing!

It is also important to remember that any report you read is at least a day old and most bites seldom last longer than a single hour. For that

reason alone, you should incorporate as much of the report as possible during a major of minor feed. The best fishermen are not boat riding

during a major of minor feeding period. Those better trout made my week and it should only get better. The semi-drought has improved both the salinity and clarity and both factors make it much easier for the fishermen.

Be safe and I hope you celebrate a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!