Have you ever think why you can?t fish as good as how other people catch fish? There must be some explanations for this. To be successful in catching fish, you must go find the right fishing location, use the right lures (live or artificial), and be perfectly quiet while waiting for the fish to bite the bait. This is very important in fishing.

I tell all my clients that catching fish is a lot like deer hunting. If that big buck hears you, hell just turn the other way. The same goes for big trout or reds; if they hear you they typically will run and hide. Always remember to not slam the lids on your hatches or yell at your buddy who is wading a hundred yards away. Most of the time, bigger trout and reds are caught while wading because being quieter and getting away from the noise of the boat slapping the waves helps to not scare them off.

Another important thing to consider is the location. Locating fish is quite hard most of the time. If you want to fish for more trout, or if you want to catch more fish in just one site, look for the best location to fish. The best location that I can advice you is the one in the off-colored water. I noticed that when I drop the bait at off-colored water, more fish are getting aggressive to feed on it.

Off-colored water does not mean muddy water or dirty water. Clear water makes the fish see you because of their visibility, but on off-colored water, their visibility becomes less, leading you to more hook ups. But I like better the grass flats for fishing.

When I go fishing on the grass flat, I would rather wait for the tides. As the tide rises, the fish will come as well into the flats. On the deeper water, I use the Sea Devils by Brown Lures in the Amber color. Sometimes the Redfish would ignore the lures on the flats. What I usually do is to toss a hook right beside them and once they smell the lures, they will surely feed on it. This was the fishing experiences I have at the Matagorda Bay System.

See you all there this summer.

The first evening trip of the week and I finally had some clients to take out for some windy winter fishing. They weren’t much at casting when they first arrived, but we worked with them a bit and they got good enough to hit the practice targets.

The strong southeast winds were approaching with the front at around 7pm this evening, and a bunch of sea grass was uprooted and floating everywhere, making it hard to retrieve baits and messing with their retrieve. The grass bed had floated over many of the best places and hiding lots of redfish and a few speckled trout. Both species were following the grass covered lures but acted skittish and wouldn?t take the bait! The clients anxiously watched, continuously casting for the fish that wouldn’t bite.

We finally decided to leave the sand and grass beds that were about 18 to 30 feet deep to find somewhere that the winds weren’t blowing so hard. We came across a spot that was similar in depth and bottom that didn?t have the floating sea grass but had some scattered oyster shells, which might indicate there could be some larger redfish holding there, but just not as many, it seemed anyway.

Rigged with a Pink Hologram Devil Eye on a 1/16 oz. TruLoc jighead, we wanted to work the baits slowly with a slight up and down action to start with. I felt that the water was too clear to throw the darker color schemes. Within just a few casts we had redfish striking at the bait. My clients saw the reds pushing water and following the bait, but kept pulling the lure away from the fish. They couldn’t stand it so I had to stop and explain to them what was going on. I told them to relax, and present the bait in front of the fish. No matter what you see, you have to wait until you feel the strike and ONLY then set the hook. They saw the results shortly, as the redfish started sucking their fishing lures down like they were starving to death.

Five of them got solid hits that were hooked deep so they were able to boat their limits of reds in the 24″ to 26.5″ range fairly quickly.

So then we decided to try for speckled trout in another area, since we had done so well with the redfish. A channel near the flats with sand and mixed grass beds provided cover and we tried the same action except the color was sandier here. One client rigged with a Rootbeer Devil Eye and the other with a Strawberry one, were getting all the hits, and there were trout to 21″ and plenty of them.

While there weren’t as many of the larger trout, which were lying in holes on top of the flats, they were some good-looking fish. When we checked out the drop off, it actually had more fish that were smaller, but keepers were holding there. The clients ended up boating 14 speckled trout and the action was hot and heavy, making it a great 3.5 hour outing!

I like the new TruLoc jigheads, the hooks are good quality and sharp!!! We never lost any fishing lures because of the hooks, and only lost the tails on two lures because of redfish sucking them into their crunchers. You just can’t help that, no worm is exempt from that kind of smashing.

When I went out on saturday with 3 clients, the tide was falling pretty good so we took off for the backside of San Jose island to hit the cuts where the back lakes drain into Aransas Bay. Sure enough some redfish where sitting outside the cuts.

While I drifted in front of the cuts, the clients fished from the boat using some different lures before settling on the ones that worked the best-Devil Eyes in Gold Rush and Pink Hologram with a 1/16 oz jig.

The fish weren’t hitting hard so you really had to put the lure in front of them and set the hook, it was just one of those days. Also, the fish were holding on the mud and crushed shell bottom, even though the water was a little warmer. To catch any fish, you had to see some bait food in the area.

Once we found that we started to see some good action and the clients caught 3 limits along with quite a few undersize redfish. Until spring, mud bottoms mixed with shell are where the bait food is and those are the areas where you need to go.

One of the things I notice on the water is people will run by an area, not see any bait and keep going. This time of the year I will stop the boat and take a long look or fish an area for 10 or 15 min. to see if there is any bait activity. I don’t know how many times we have gotten into fish taking just a little time to really look over an area good.

Remember, it is cold, the fish are cold and they are not going to move around like they do in the fall or summer. Also, there are not as many fish so seeing a couple of flicks here or there could make your day.

On Saturday morning I had the pleasure of fishing with Paul Braly Sr., aka “Seine Net” (because that’s what it feels like your fishing behind if he gets in front of you). Dad is a second generation fisherman with his father (my late grandad) being a great surf fisherman.

My dad grew up on the Gulf beach, fishing mainly with bait, and maybe a speck rig every once in awhile, but doesn’t care much about bait these days, when it comes to stocking a cooler full of fish and then call it a day. I make certain to stay close behind him when we are wading together down the same shoreline, so that I might have a chance of landing a fish.

This foggy, Saturday morning, we carefully headed to our fishing hole. We started casting the shoreline, opting for a Pink Hologram Devil Eyes with TruLock 1/16 oz jigs as our rig of choice. It didn?t take but a few minutes of wading until we came upon some 18-20″ trout and Dad, sitting next to me, hooked into a monster after the fish nudged the lure three times first. We grabbed a photo of the 7 pounder before we put him back, unharmed.

Working our way up the shore, we got a few more in the 2 pound range before an airboat buzzed the shoreline and skipped into a lake that lied ahead. That was our sign to move on, since the action stopped immediately after that. About 8:15, we hit our next stop and half the fog had lifted by then so we could relax a bit and not have to worry about another boat running into us in the thick fog.

This time I was the one to get the first strike and I thought I had outdone Dad’s fish for a bit, but discovered I had hooked into a redfish. That was the beginning of a fishing frenzy that netted us 11 more redfish between us with just 20 casts. The redfish wore us out and we hadn?t even waded more than 50 yards.

We normally don’t keep many fish, but with Christmas coming, my brother was coming from Irving and was hoping we could snag into some to have for Christmas dinner, so we kept 6 redfish and the five smaller trout but we set that big one, the 7 pounder, free to get a little bigger for another day.

I?ve never seen any other soft plastic give that kind of results, since we each only used that one lure, all morning. You can go through a lot of lures with 5-6 redfish back to back per person. Dad and I would have stayed on the water later than 9:30am, if we knew we were getting back just in time to get a list of household chores lined up for us to do.

Have you ever think why you can?t fish as good as how other people catch fish? There must be some explanations for this. To be successful in catching fish, you must go find the right fishing location, use the right lures (live or artificial), and be perfectly quiet while waiting for the fish to bite the bait. This is very important in fishing.

Staying silent and quiet during the fishing time is what I have been telling my clients who want to learn fishing. Fishing is just like hunting animals. You must stay quiet and calm if you do not want to startle them and let them run farther away from you. This is also applicable to fishing. If you want to catch big trout or redfish, you would really keep your calmness and you would never do such things that may scare the fish away. Even those people who are with you in the boat should also give importance to silence.

Another important thing to consider is the location. Locating fish is quite hard most of the time. If you want to fish for more trout, or if you want to catch more fish in just one site, look for the best location to fish. The best location that I can advice you is the one in the off-colored water. I noticed that when I drop the bait at off-colored water, more fish are getting aggressive to feed on it.

Off-colored water must not be some kind of dirty water. Just look for unclear water but not with plenty of greens around. The grass flat with off-colored water at the edge could be a better fishing site.

I usually use top-waters on the grass flats, while in some area with deeper water I would usually cast down the Amber colored Sea Devils by Brown Lures. Whenever the reds pay no attention to the lures, I would then fling the Gulp near them so they would be able to smell it and soon they will bite it. This is how I spend my fishing day at the Matagorda Bay.

Hope to see ya on the water.

Well we always hear the summer time complaints, in July and August, that it’s getting too hot to fish. Most anglers are wanting to get off of the water before lunch! Well I am going to give you an alternative, wade fishing the Baffin Bay at night! Let me tell you, this is one of the best kept secrets. The water temperatures are cooler and the Baffin Big Girls have turned into heartless predators. There is nothing more exciting about hearing a massive blow up, while fishing a top-water at night! I am going to go through the how to, when to and where to, one at a time.

There are many bad things that can happen while fishing at night if you aren’t careful. For this reason you should never fish along at night-time. Here are some tips to keep you safe:

* Check that your night navigation equipment works properly, and that you and/or your fishing buddy know the area well.

* While navigating, wear your P.D.F.’s.

* Leave a float plan (where you are going) with a buddy.

* Plan out your trip, including your first several fishing spots.

HOW: Once you are settled in at the first point, lighting is your next thing to focus on. Your boat should have an anchor light, which you need to turn on now. This alerts other boaters in the area, and acts as a guide for you in the dark. You will also want to pick up some LED headlamps from your local sporting goods store (don’t forget batteries!) to give you hands free light while wade fishing.

A glo-stick is another useful item to have while out on the water. Drape one of these around your neck and let it hang off your back to keep boaters (and hopefully your buddy’s lure) away. In case of an emergency or dead batteries you can also use this as a backup light to make your way back to the boat. Don’t get too far apart from your partner, you need to stay within talking distance at all times.

WHEN: I prefer to fish in the time before, during and after a full moon because of the extra light it provides. If you are using a dark topwater lure it will stand out that much better to those predator fish. The key is to use what I call the “Donk’s Tangler”. What you do is tie about a foot of line to the front ring on a top water lure, and then attach a dark-colored soft plastic lure on the back end with a very light fishing hook.

Yes, it sounds crazy, but I promise it works. You work this rig just like you would any other topwater, but will get way more strikes on the trailing lure! If you are using braided fishing line with this setup you will have even more sensitivity for when the fish strike.

Major feeding times, according to Solunar tables, are a great time to fish. I use a 5 hour time-frame around what the tables call these prime times. It’s no guarantee but has worked for me in the past.

WHERE: There are many places in South Texas to go for Trophy Trout. I fish all around Baffin Bay, including Alazan Bay and East Kleberg point. Hopefully these tips work well for you, TIGHT LINES!

Just like a book, fishing can depend a lot on your ability to read. Instead of reading through pages, you are observing everything around you. Pay attention to the weather conditions like wind, tidal movement, surface and water temparature. All of these factors can help make a decision on how to fish, whether that is by boat, kayak, wading or using light tackle.

Now that the basic decision-making is done, you can head for the water to do some more heavy reading. As you paddle out you see all the early morning activity on the water. There are schools of mullet of all sizes and baby shrimp jumping for their very lives up close to shore. If the bait source is running away, they are being chased by something, so that would be a good place to cast. As you look down, there are crabs scurrying across the bottom. What are they fleeing from? Notice their speed and direction, and use that information to figure out where to cast your lure.

Pay attention to where the birds are feeding. I watch especially for the blue heron, pelicans, and gulls. They are always on the fish. Follow them. If you know what to look for you can learn to read the wildlife activity on the water just like a living book. It will tell you where to find fish and what they are feeding on.

Structures are the next most important thing to pay attention to. The physical layout of the area you are fishing can control the movement of baitfish and predators alike. I tend to focus on drains, which are gaps between islands and sand bars where water flows from shallow to deep areas. When there is a lot of tidal movement these areas have a TON of bait fish passing through, with some nice speckled trout and redfish sure to follow.

Once I am settled into an area, I generally start off with a topwater to check things out. This will draw some agressive strikes pretty quickly if there are any game fish in the area. Once the fish are found try switching to a soft plastic fishing lure, possibly weedless depending on your situation. This will help you get that big fish. A few casts in each area of the drain should be enough to scope it out before moving on.

The lure I use most often is the Sea Devil by Brown Lures. Usually the Pink Hologram color works best for me, but they have a bunch of different colors for any situation. This color works well for me whether the water is dark or clear. This is pretty much my go-to plan in almost any situation.

Learning to read this “living book” can give you a real advantage the next time that you go fishing. As always, pay attention to the weather, wildlife and structure to get the most out of your day. Time and practice will teach you what all of these clues mean, so go out and test it for yourself. Good Luck Fishing!

The Lower Laguna Madre in South Texas is a unique hyper-saline lagoon that offers a variety of species from redfish, trout, flounder, occasional tarpon, and a growing population of snook. What separates the Lower Laguna from other parts of the Texas coast? Its the abundance of sea grasses.

One of the reasons that the Laguna Madre contains all of these different species of fish is the grass and algae. These grass beds provide a home and protection to fish as well as structure and ambush points. They are very important to the success of our fisheries.

People who are not familiar with fishing in the Laguna Madre can have a real problem with their lure from getting stuck in the grass, which can make for a frustrating experience. The unique grass beds cover 85 percent of our local waters so there is no escaping this problem that doesn’t exist in other parts of the Texas Gulf Coast.

The species of grass named Thalassia testudinum (aka turtle grass) in particular is all over the place. This turtle grass is a favorite for holding fish, but can also be the most challenging. Whether you are an experienced angler or not, trying to navigate this grass can really ruin your day with frustration if you aren’t prepared for it.

It is important that your lure stays in the key “strike zone” as much as possible. In order to do this you have to keep the lure just above the grass without catching it. What I do to accomplish this task is keep my rod bent at a 45 degree angle, maybe even a little bit higher when the grass is thicker. The next half of the puzzle is your lure retrieval.

This next step can be the hardest to learn, but will make a huge impact on your chances of catching a fish. The key is to keep the lure constantly moving when you are over these grass beds so that it stays on top and doesn’t fall down into the grass blades.

My technique is based on constant motion. My lure is constantly moving up and down thanks to non-stop action by the rod tip. Other people prefer to use a pop motion two or three times and then let the lure drop which can work as well. My method works for me, but can definitely wear your arm out by the end of the day.

Whatever technique you use, the important thing to keep in mind is that the lure needs to keep moving in order to not snag the grass. It may take hours of practice to get this method down but I assure you it is worth it. Also, watch the people fishing near you. If you see someone who isn’t getting caught in the grass then pay attention to how their rod tip is moving and their retrieval rate. Don’t be afraid to experiment and practice different methods, that is usually the best way to get better. In time you can become an expert at working fishing lures over grass areas and hopefully catch more fish.

Let me begin by first saying that this is not the ONLY way to catch fish, but some tips that have worked for me. Spending time and practicing your skills and observation techniques is very important as well. Getting familiar with your usual fishing grounds so that you will be prepared and know what you are looking for can help no matter what the conditions are.

One of my favorite marks to key on are the grass lines, especially those found in the southern portion of Baffin Bay. What you are looking for here is where the grass goes from being very dense to not growing in very shallow water. The transition is usually quite visible as it becomes a sandy white bottom, something to look for on clear and sunny days.

Depth changes are another area to look for in addition to the shallow water grass line changes. These can be a very subtle change as the grass goes from dense to very sparse while only changing in depth a few inches. This transition is harder to spot but can be very productive as redfish love these areas. It provides few hiding places for the crabs and other species that redfish feed on, so you will usually find some quality fish hanging around these areas.

There are all sorts of techniques you can use once you have picked out a target. I typically like to start with a steady and fast retrieve and try to get a quick strike from a predator fish. Sometimes incorporating a “waving” motion with this speed works for me as well. There usually isn’t one right way of doing this, and what works well in one situation may not work in another. This is why you should experiment and try out different motions, retrieval speeds and other variations until you discover what works.

Potholes are another one of my favorite grass line features. These are often small, but sometimes can be several feet across, so be looking for both sizes. Smaller baitfish love to hang around the edges where they can keep an eye on the openings, so there is usually a bigger fish somewhere nearby waiting for the surprise attack. Some times these edges are smooth, but often in Baffin Bay they are steep and rocky, with the rocks sometimes reaching out past the surface and then going deeper than you are tall. This is another situation where some old-fashioned Bass fishing tactics can come into play. Key on these areas and work around the edges, but be careful to not lose your lure on the rocks.

When working a slower technique I prefer to throw soft plastic lures like Brown Lures’ Devil Eyes. These saltwater lures work great in short, quick bouncing motions with intermittent pauses, especially when Texas rigged on a quarter ounce sinker weight. This has been one of my staples since I started saltwater fishing. I find that the technique works whether fishing potholes or those rocky edges because of the “fluttering” motion of the lure which draws aggressive strikes from fish. The large eye on the lure also provides a nice target for the fish to lock on to.

The weather has been very cooperative and the winter fishing looks to be very good this year. We have already seen a few small flocks of teal, while mourning and white wing dove are everywhere. Give us a shout and we’ll “hook” you up for your next Outdoor Adventure.