Chasing Birds and Topwater Surprise

Went searching for redfish this morning on the main bay shorelines of West Galveston Bay. I saw some nervous bait close to the shore and made a ill-advised cast right on top of the bait. As soon as my topwater hit the water my lure went under ever so slightly. I thought I had foul-hooked a mullet because the fish came right in without a fight until it got close. It made one hard kick right at the kayak and then surfaced. My first on a topwater…

This was my first flounder on a top. Quite an accomplishment considering I’m an avid hardware chunker. I put this up there with catching my biggest trout this past January.

Couldn’t locate any redfish but did find trout underneath the birds in 4′ of water over mud and some scattered shell. The trout were chasing shrimp up to the surface and the birds were picking them off, which made things easy. All I had to do was look for the birds working or shrimp fleeing for their lives. Caught between 30 – 40 trout on morning glory paddletails (TTF Flats Minnow and Hackberry Hustler) and a crab fly.

Hustler Down Deep

Retired lure collection gets another induction…

About the author

Jeremy Chavez is a full-time fly and light tackle fishing guide who hails from the Bayou City (Houston, Texas for those of you not in the know). He eats, sleeps and breathes fish. He left (he was laid-off but who's keeping tabs) his career as a bean counter (he has a master's degree in accounting) to chase his dream of becoming a nomadic fish bum.

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