The old answer would have been Tool Time and just like old Tool Man Taylor Ma Nature has decided to kick things up a notch with the old wind tunnel. I was fishing with new friends the Little Tuna and Ted Lund and the old lady buffered us with the best of the Binford 5000. UUHHHUHHHUHHHHH. And, although I feel like my ears are still ringing and I am leaning slightly forward on the balls of my feet from the constant buffering from behind, the fish are on.
We hosted Pradco Outdoors Brands, Team USA Marine, and a host of writers from Field & Stream to Saltwater Sportsman with me pulling double duty as guide and Shallow Water Angler writer this week. The winds have been phenomenal yet so has the fishing. We are on good upper slot reds in super skinny water and Dad and Teddy are hammering the little green devils with ferociousness. The reds are willing and ready to take tops; however, with the number of folks running the bay shallow, the grass is thick. Next week, after sponsors leave, sorry Jeff and Mark, we will replace the trebles with Kahle hooks to avoid snagging grass. Well, dad and Teddy will, I am off to another writers event in Louisiana, I hope I don't hear banjo music, or the words, 'you got a pretty mouth boy.'
For the event, dad also had Dr. Greg Stunz and his crew down from TAMCC to fill us in on the silting in East Cut. His team is actually studying the recruitment effects the pass has on the bay system. The great news is the silting in has, at this point, very little effect on Red Fish recruitment. His team will begin speckled trout tagging and mapping soon. Lets keep our fingers crossed the data is still out on the 'tiderunner' theory. That is trout that migrate in and out of the bays.
Day Two, we had Dr. Robert Vega and Shane Bonnot of the Fisheries Enhancement Division give a presentation on our Texas Stocking program. Awesome man! If you can give only a dollar to Sea Center Texas or CPL/CCA please do so. These guys are the cutting edge of fisheries management and stocking. They are protecting us and ensuring we continue to have an awesome fishery in our state. They are working hard to get flounder and trout back in our bays and create a progeny our little ones will still be able to enjoy in 20 years or so. Shane also got to stick around and do some in the field research with Ted Lund, the Little Tuna, and me. What a way to have to work.
So now, for the fishing stories'the reds are on the white sand wherever you can find some that does not have a mat of turtle grass floating over it. The trout are holding in deep waist to mid chest high over sand pockets. The winds have really mucked up the water and we are catching trout on darker colored tails with chartreuse or white tails. The more water you can get the bait to move the better.
That's all the news for now. The seas have been too big for comfortable fishing and the shoreline has been blown out. THIS WEEK'maybe Neptune and Ma Nature will crawl back in bed and give us a few days of peace and quiet.