Felt Like a Trout Day

I was eager to get on the water after the cold front that blasted our coast earlier this week lowered the water levels and water temperature. The water levels have been running a little high lately, which has scattered the fish and made them hard to see. Tony, a friend of mine, wanted to go fishing and was looking someone with a truck and hitch to pull his boat because his was in the shop. Being the good friend that I am, (I really just wanted to get on the water) I jumped on the opportunity to the leave the kayak at home in exchange for a faster, drier ride.

After talking to Tony, he wanted to check out some new water and target trout, our game plan was to check out a few new areas and then run to familiar water if nothing worked. When I woke up yesterday morning and checked the tide charts and stepped outside to feel the brisk air I still wasn’t fully enthused at the idea of chasing fang-toothed yellow mouths. The tides were still running about a foot low and there’s no place I would rather be than in the marsh at low tide plus the water temperatures didn’t seem quite cold enough yet for chasing big trout. I usually only target trout during the coldest part of the year, late December through February. 

When I arrived at Tony’s house to pick him up at the wee hours we both commented how cold it felt that morning. The ice on his wife’s windshield reinforced our observation. It was starting to feel like a trout day. We got to the ramp right at sunrise and were greeted with lower water levels than we expected. The tide was way out (see pictures below). We weren’t sure if we were going to make it out ramp because we could see the mud bottom in the channel but we decided to launch anyway. We puttered out of the channel using the trolling motor until we got to deep enough water where we could use big motor.

With the water as low as it was, we didn’t know if there was going to be enough water at any of the spots we wanted to check out see we ran straight for familiar water. It was a chilly ride; the kind that goes straight to your bones and gives you the chills just thinking about. It really felt like a trout day by this point.

We arrived at our location and Tony was throwing a Corky Devil and me a Gambler Flapp’n Shad both in morning glory. His first few casts he hooks into a solid fish. The kind of bite that doubles your rod over and feels like you hooked a rock. He loses shortly after the hookset but a few casts later he landed the biggest fish of the day a 26″ 5+ lb trout. I think we both knew then that we made the right decision to chase fangthoothed-leviathans instead of bronze brutes.

We ended the day with 30-40 trout up to 26″. All of them fat wintertime fish. We had probably 10 fish over 20″ and 3 between 24″-26″. Not a bad start to winter pattern fishing. Deep water near mud and shell was the ticket.

We caught fish on a Corky Devil, Gambler Flapp’n Shad, BA Sea Shad, and a TTF Flats Minnow in various colors including morning glory, liquid shrimp, roach, and Matagorda magic. Color didn’t seem to matter even though the water clarity was excellent until the tide started ripping back in. Small paddle tails outfished other lures undoubtedly, which probably has to do with the fact that the fish are still eating shrimp. We sat a lot of shrimp in the area and I kept and fillet a handful of smaller trout for fresh ceviche. All of the trout were packed full of small shrimp and nothing else.

We caught most of our fish well before noon at the end of the outgoing tide, during slack tide, and during the first of the incoming tide. Once the tide started moving in strong the bite slowed down considerably and the water clarity deteriorated. Winds were light all day and started out of the NW and switched to SW later in the morning.

I’m a redfish man at heart and it takes a lot to convinced leave the marsh but big trout. Although we didn’t catch any “gators” this trip we caught plenty of solid fish that’ll make any red fisherman, myself included, think twice about chasing tail in the marsh this time of year. Sure there will still be some stragglers left behind in the marsh the next coming weeks but what I saw yesterday was enough to get me out of the marsh for a majority of the time until spring.

Big fish of the day

Low tide at the ramp

Tony trying to find the gut

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.

  • Galveston Bay Fly Fishing
    Galveston Bay Fly Fishing
  • Photo of the Week…Nature’s Canvas
    Photo of the Week…Nature’s Canvas
  • Superline Shootout
    Superline Shootout