Bite continues to heat up with the weather

In all honesty I would have to sit down and think long and hard to remember seeing conditions as good as what we have right now on Sabine Lake. For weeks now the water has done nothing but continue to get clear and green all the way into the Sabine and Neches rivers. The beach front has been nothing short of gorgeous and the jetties are just as pretty depending on the tide movement. In short, it’s about as good as we are going to see it right now and the fishing isn’t far behind.

The “pre-dawn patrol” down in the channel south of the Causeway have really put together a pattern over the last couple of weeks and it's holding steady. Swim baits and topwater plugs are the most popular choices right now as the fish are super concentrated around various pieces of structure and bottom contours. One thing that many anglers overlook right now is how many fish will hold in one particular spot. If you are running shoreline or rocks and get bit don’t leave too fast, you may be running away from a bigger group of fish than you realize.

Obviously, the tide change is the key if you are going to target fish in the channel or near the jetties right now. The incoming tide is preferred but as long as the water has movement you increase your odds exponentially. Long casts parallel to the shoreline with swim baits or crankbaits will be met with vicious strikes when the trout get cranked up and you can always expect a mystery fish to show up and run away with a bunch of line or your favorite lure, that’s always a fun moment when you get near the gulf. The early topwater bite is strong as well with some really solid fish being caught.

If you feel like venturing offshore to some of the short rigs you can make quick work of the trout and they have been great quality fish. Plenty of specks in the 18 to 24 inch class are coming from the short rigs on soft plastics when the wind allows. The Spanish mackerel are also there in solid numbers so be prepared to lose a few baits as they will saw off everything that’s not tied to wire.

Easily the folks who should be the most excited about the conditions are the offshore folks. Pretty water and cooperative weather patterns are exactly what the anglers crave. The biggest problem the offshore crowd is dealing with right now is not weather related, it’s “Washington related”. The price of gas has just put a huge dent in virtually every fisherman’s pocketbook including offshore anglers and guides. Joe Biden’s onslaught on America continues to cripple everyone at the pump. Imagine paying for 100 or 200 gallons of gas right now to make a big run out into the gulf, talk about pain in the tank. Right now it appears as there is no relief in sight from this “America last” administration, in fact they just sold over 1 million barrels of oil to China from the strategic reserve. Remember that next time you vote as you suffer from sticker shock at the pump.

For the time being local fishermen will enjoy some of the prettiest water we could ever hope for as long this weather pattern continues. Most everyone is still really dry so runoff from any measurable rainfall should not hurt the conditions very much. Keep an eye on the horizon as the high temperatures continue to spawn sudden thunderstorms. Remember there is no fish out there swimming worth taking a chance with lightning or bad weather. Enjoy the great conditions, who knows how long it will be when we will see it like this again.