Sabine Lake fly and conventional tackle fishing reports & photos
Saturday, November 24, 2007
11-24-2007 Thanksgiving at Caddo Lake State Park
I spent most of my time off this past summer on the water fishing and neglected going on trips with the family. The flats season is over for me this year so I took the family to Caddo lake state park this holiday weekend. The weather was a bit cool on Thursday when we arrived around noon. We made camp and had time to explore part of the park before dark. The old mill pond area is beautiful and easily viewed from the lighted fishing pier. There the beautiful Cypress trees line the shallow lake and many photo opportunities abound.We opted to rent a canoe and paddle around the lake. As we quietly slipped along the clear tannin colored waters we saw several Chain Pickerels, Bass , Sun Perch, turtle's and assorted birds. I wish I had brought my 4 wt. fly rod, the water looks sooo fishable! I didn't bring my camera in the canoe, I had the wife, Preston and Dutch the family pet on board. I trusted Press and Stacy but it was Dutches 1st time in a canoe and I didn't want to take a chance on a cool dip in the pond. Dutch did well and we didn't have any close calls. We did see evidence of damage some Beavers had done to the Cypress tree trunks, about a foot above the water line we could see the chew marks of the Beavers teeth on about 85% of the trees in the pond. I hope TP&W relocated the critters, it would be a shame to loose such a special place that has survived all these years. Friday was a beautiful day also. The sun shone bright and the sky was blue most of the day. We got to hike some more of the parks trails and had many great photographic opportunities. I got this great shot of Preston studying a Peeping Toad he caught in the leaf litter along the trail. If you have ever done much photography you can under stand why I say this picture was the one out of a hundred shots that captured the moment. We had a great time and thanks to modern technology we got to eat microwave Turkey dinners in the camper on Thanksgiving day. If you are ever in the North Eastern part of the state make the drive to Caddo lake and check out this truly special place that seems frozen in time. Tight lines, Mike
Monday, November 19, 2007
11/19/2007 Hiking instead of Fishing
We headed out to Fredricksberg Texas this past weekend to celebrate my Dad's 75th birthday by hiking up Enchanted rock. My Dad had taken us out there when I was a kid and we climbed the huge dome of Granite as a family outing. The weather was cool and overcast so heat exhaustion wasn't going to be a problem. My mother wanted to make the climb to the top but she had doubts near the half way point. With a little prodding she made the last steep grade and joined the family group at the top. My brother and sister had brought their kids along to make the climb with Grandpa. Preston and the other kids set a brisk pace up the rock but Grandpa stayed right with them, it took us a little bit longer to reach the top.
We assembled for a group picture on the summit and enjoyed the view for a while then made the trek back down the weathered face of the rock. We then headed into town for lunch and a nap. Later that day we gathered at the camp ground where my brother and I were staying. Lee cooked hamburgers and his wife Jennifer served a cake to Dad while the family sang happy birthday. As the sun set we visited some more and reminisced of vacations past while the grand children played in the camper.
I hope some day I'll be able to do some thing like this with Grand children.
Fishing reports from other guides in the area say the fishing is good when the weather allows you to get out on the lake. When the weather doesn't allow that the river had been giving up some nice Speckled trout, Red fish and Flounder. The baits their using are live finger Mullet and Pumpkin seed/chartreuse plastic.
Tight lines, Mike
Sunday, November 04, 2007
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11/3/2007
Catch Fish / Eat fish
Rob Lord had sampled fishing on the flats of Bessie Heights marsh last month. This time he wanted to check out the fishing of Sabine lake. Rob brought his wife Jamie along this time for the half day trip. The bite for me had been later in the day so I had Rob and Jamie meet me at the dock at 10:00am. As we shut down the big motor and glided to a stop the lake was starting to get slick. It wasn't long before Jamie had a fish on using a D.O.A. popping cork and soft plastic, unfortunately it came off before we got the net under it. It wasn't long before we had a few fish in the boat.Since the tide was a little bit different today we opted to move out into the mid lake area to look for signs of fish. As we came to a stop further out I could hear the tell tell sounds of trout slurping shrimp on the surface. We trolled within casting distance and the action was on. There seemed to not be as many fish holding in one school as the days before so we picked up and moved again fishing the same pattern for most of the time. As the tide got closer to the right point I moved back to our original starting point and soon we were hooked up with solid trout with a few Red fish mixed in. Later that day we got a call of some big Red fish working about 2 miles from our location so we headed that way. Upon our arrival two boats came running between us and the shore line where the big Reds had been smashing Mullet and artificial baits, "She dogs". We waited for the area to settle back down but it was no use. We never caught the first Red fish at this location. The good news was we added to our catch of solid keeper trout. We did catch a few U/S specks in the area but Rob caught the largest trout of the trip on a She Dog there. We finished the short trip with Ten solid Trout and One healthy Slot sized Red. We caught most of our fish on Glow/ Chrt. Assassins fished under a rattle popping cork. The second best bait was a Gold cast master spoon then the She Dog still held it's own.
Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com/
Friday, November 02, 2007
11/2/2007 Afternoon delight
I pre fished for a trip tomorrow on Sabine lake and started at 7:30am. I wanted to see if there was an early morning bite going on. The birds were working the extreme North end of the lake when I came out of East pass all the way over to Bridge bayou. There were a lot of boats working them but it seemed civilized at the time. I found a few gulls out from bridge and caught one keeper but that was it. I worked my way West and still found a few scattered gulls but only one more keeper. The water clarity has greatly improved over towards the Louisiana shore line since I was over there on Tuesday. The wind started to lay around 11:15am. and the lake was slick by noon. I was still looking around when I found a few gulls resting on the water at 11:45 am. I stopped and watched as a few shrimp began to dance across the surface and the unmistakable sound of trout sucking them down passed through my ears. The bite was on with Red fish mixed in. I was using a D.O.A. popping cork with a glow/ chrt. Assassin threaded on a 3/8 lead head about 3 foot under the cork. Just as I got three trout in the boat a huge Red fish liked the way the cork looked and swallowed the whole thing and tried to run off with it. I finally got it back but it was severely mangled and the lead head was gone also. I guess another fish grabbed the jig as the bigger fish pulled it through the water. I grabbed a rod with just straight lead on it and still caught fish. There were some beautiful under sized reds mixed in with the trout also. I did have one slot sized Red to the boat and ready to net when it came unbuttoned. After the bite quit I was two fish short of a solid limit of 16 to 18 inch trout. I moved further West and found a few scattered trout chasing shrimp and easily finished off a ten fish limit by 1:30pm. The trout were still feeding so I got out the fly rod and caught a few more just for grins. My friend Bill Heugel left me a silver rattle rouser fly he had tied to fish with from our trip at the beginning of the week. This fly fished on a sinking line is deadly!
The bite was slow for me in the morning but really fired up around noon, hope the pattern is the same tomorrow? Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com/
¶ 5:39 PM 0 comments
Thursday, November 01, 2007
11/1/2007
Heads and Reds working the flats
I couldn't stand it and had to get back on the flats today after yesterdays outing. I called my fishing partner and we launched the skiff at 11:00am. The bite must have started earlier than yesterday as the fish were very active upon our arrival. Dale took the casting deck and soon had a rat red in the boat. A few minuets later he hooked up with a large Red. After a hard fight the fish came to the net. The fish was 27" long and weighed 8 pounds even, this fish would have been in the money during the local O.C.A.R. tournament. Dale was fishing a flats master gold spoon with a CastAway HG40 Titanium "Speck and Red special" casting rod.http:///www.castawayrods.com
I have fished a lot of rods over the years and this one has to be my favorite. The rod is extremely light and telegraphs the slightest nibble through the rod handle.It has a soft tip but a strong back bone to turn big fish. A recent client made an analogy of the feel," its like holding a live spark plug wire" compared to other rods he had fished. We revived the fish and watched it swim off with the falling tide. It was my turn on the deck and I was on the hunt for a Sheep's head fish using fly fishing tackle. It wasn't long before Dale spotted one feeding just off the grass line in a foot of water. A well placed cast and the fish ate. As I set the hook the fish made a good 30 foot run and had the drag screaming and the 5 wt rod bent over. After a good fight we landed the fish and weighed it, 3lb. even, what a beautiful fish. If you have never seen a Sheep's head up close you just can't appreciate how colorful and well marked these fish are. I have really come to love these convict fish of the flats, their very tuff to sneak up on,will eat the right fly presented properly and most give a hard fight on tackle that's sized accordingly. I was only able to trick one of these fish into eating a fly today and spooked many more, that's why they have been called "Texas Permit" and a challenge on the fly. When the day ended Dale had eight Reds on conventional tackle and I had the one Sheep's head. It was a great outing for just 3-1/2 hours fishing. Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com/
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