Today I took my son out to finish off the bait left over from the weekend.  We only had about 2 dozen croaker, but the weather didn't look worth investing any more money.  The radar showed some storms moving in this morning and I thought that they would have come ashore before we hit the dock.  Unfortunately I was wrong.  I was barely raining when we got to the dock so we parked under the bridges and let it pass.  Once the sun came up we could see that all was clear so we headed out.

The bite was slow to say the best but by 9 o'clock we managed to put 12 trout in the box with one topping the 23 inch mark.  The bite was strange, if you didn't let them take the bait you missed the fish and if you let them run for too long they would drop it.  I also had a hard time with the topwater lures.  They would come up and knock it clear out of the water but they would not eat it.

Hopefully they will eat more aggressively next time.

Today I hosted a friend of mine and one of his clients to a morning on the water.  The winds were calm and the tide was just about through coming in.  The only problem that I could see was the full moon!  That along with the tide running all night made the morning bite tough.  We managed to scrape up 11 trout and 2 reds with one of the trout going just over 23 inches and 4 pounds, a personal best for Robert, my guest's client.  We called it a day around 12 and hit the bait camp for a cool beverage!  We finished the day relaxing at the Topwater Grill with our fresh Blackened Redfish!

Today's AGC Tournament group ended up shy of our 30lb ambition, but it would not have mattered.  The winning stringer was over 38 lbs.  We didn't catch the trout we intended on catching but we were surprised by a nice 25 incher late in the day to help the total.  Our Redfish came up a little Short as well with a 23 and a 24 in the box.  We weighed in 25 lbs which was enough to finish in the top ten of around 50 teams.

Wednesday morning was a little disappointing.  The bite was not as intense as Tuesday, but we still managed to catch some nice fish in preparation for Friday's tournament.  Today's 5 fish total - 17 lbs 4 oz.  That's 2 days with over 17 pounds for trout.  I'm confident that we can add 2 nice reds to the mix and hit my 30 lb goal.  Tune in and see.   We finished the day with only 8 fish, but we weren't after numbers anyway.

Well, I didn't have a charter today but I still had about 18 croaker from yesterday morning's washout.  I left the house a little later than usual.  I got to my spot around 630 and had 4 fish in the box in just 20 minutes (19, 21, 22 and 24).  By 715 I had 8 in the box including another 24+ incher.  My last 3 baits yielded nothing so I was forced to tie on a topwater and make 'em bite.  It took me around 20 minutes to catch the last of my 10 fish limit.  I went to another spot looking for some redfish but only got 2 blow-ups.  Back at the dock by 9 o'clock.  The five biggest fish, all over 21 inches, weighed in at just under 18 lbs.  Not too shabby.

I'm going back to the same area but not the same exact spot tomorrow with a new rod sponsor to "go shake some sticks"!!  We'll see how many we can get.

Today I grabbed my son out of bed to go burn the left over croaker in the box from Sunday.  We got out to our spot just before 6am.  Within minutes we each had a trout in the box.  the bite was pretty good and by 730 we had exhausted our limited bait supply.

We were heading in with 8 trout in the cooler with one going 23 inches and about 4 lbs when I made the mistake of asking him if he wanted to get a few more croaker and keep fishing.  "Sure" was his answer.

So, we reloaded and headed back out.  just a couple of minutes after setting the anchor it began to sprinkle.  No big deal, we could still see the shoreline so we road it out.  We caught a couple more trout and sat through a few more sprinkles when all of a sudden the rains began to fall and we lost sight of everything,  By the time the storm was almost past us, the lightening started.  We immediately reeled in our lines and pulled the anchor.  We were out of the storm in no time but we could see nothing but rain across the entire bay.  We were back at the dock and dripping wet at 9 o"clock.  Looks like we have a couple more croaker to take out this morning!

Saturday I hosted a great bunch of folks.  We got on the fish right out of the gates and the bite was fairly steady all day.  The highlight was going through a nice school of redfish.  We boxed four and lost one.  All between 25 and 27 inches.  Things came to a screeching halt around 11 as they have been doing, but after everyone headed out, the wind direction and speed changed due to all the storms that were around.  After thinking to myself, Lets call it a day, we had a triple hook-up and before we could all get in the fourth rod bowed up!  We landed three of the fish and managed a couple more before pulling the plug.  We finished with 20 trout and 4 reds.

Sunday was another day.  I picked up my party in Bolivar just before daybreak and headed to a nearby reef.  Our first drift yeilded 3 keeper trout and a 23 inch redfish.  Unfortunately, that was the best drift of the day.  Our second drift came up blank so we headed back to where I fished yesterday.  We landed one trout within minutes and another one a bit later.  Our second drift produced only one trout.  Once again, the wind died and the tide stopped leaving us dead in the water.  We picked up and headed back to the mid-bay reefs.  Our next stopped proved frustrating as the boat was just fluttering around and causing lines to tangle.  Once the storms brewed up we got some much needed shade and some breeze.  We picked up a couple more trout before heading in with just 8 trout and a red.

The 5-10 mph winds that were forecast never came.  I woke up to 16-20 mph winds and almost called off the trip.  Luckily my customers had already scheduled their day off and were not taking NO for an answer.

The trout bite was off from last week, but we had fun anyway catching, and losing, a number of blacktip sharks along with 3 keeper trout.  We retreated to reload on hooks and went for some reds.  We found them in West bay and it was on.  We couldn't hardly keep a bait in the water.  Only trouble was they were mainly 18 inchers.  We finished with 3 keeper Reds with 2 measuring 27+ inches.

Sunday morning I hosted a great great group.  We actually have been planning this trip all summer but we were interrupted by a 20+ mph wind a month ago.  We set out at daybreak and the action was on as soon as our baits hit the water.  Shawn and Erin hooked a double just minutes after we stopped the motor.  Shawn's dad, Joe, followed up and then I threw one in the box.  Things didn't work out so well for Erin's dad, Ray.  Although he didn't help us out in the fish count, he brought along a few of his custom built, Rods by Ray, fishing rods to show me.  I must say, I have seen a few custom rods in my life and these look beautiful.  I can't wait to see what he can do for me.

Wednesday's bad weather could not keep the fish from biting.  Although we couldn't go to my first two choices today due to the rain, we retreated and hit a safe haven only to find the fish waiting.  Before I could even get a bait in the water all three of my guests had a fish in the box.  Then as we turned around we saw a Bonnethead Shark about to grab my bait before I snatched it away.  We caught 7 trout and 2 or 3 reds in just over an hour before we had to run from another shower.  After we returned we finished out the morning with 20 trout and 3 redfish along with 1 oversized red and a few throwbacks.

Not a bad day by any stretch and a great day considering we almost turned around and went home.

The bay is loaded with fish right now.  The only thing keeping us away is the 20+ mph winds we've had.  I cancelled my trip yesterday, although the winds did lay by noon.  A few other captains I spoke with had decent stringers despite the winds.  We are looking at  light winds for the rest of the week so hopefully  we'll be on 'em good.

Our short lived days of calm winds came to an end as they picked up to 15 mph again.  Tuesday and Wednesday we managed to find some protected waters and caught a few nice fish all between 18 and 22 inches with one 26 mixed in.  Thursday's trip was re scheduled to Friday and turned out to be a wise move.  The winds dropped from 18-23 to 11-15 on Friday allowing us to get back into East Bay and fish the reefs.

Although we made a tough day of it, we did manage to get a full limit of trout.  The weather can only get better in the next couple of weeks and hopefully the winds wil be a thing of the past.

Wednesday "Smack Down".  I hit the surf with one of my go-to fishing partners Wednesday morning.  The winds were near calm and the water was flat to the beach.  The water temps are well into the 70's and we have been waiting all year for a day like today.  Unfortunately the trout were nowhere to be found.  However, the water was full of Spanish Mackerel.  Not exactly what we came for, but what the heck.  I did manage to catch the biggest one I have ever come across.  A huge 28 inch fish.  Not much of a fighter, but one for the books anyway.

The forecast is calling for light winds Monday and Tuesday.  If I don't have a party to take out I'll be back for another shot.  I know that we are just days away from the trout making the beachfront.

Another promising day on the water.  Although the weather was a bit less than desirable we managed to catch 10 trout including one over 5 lbs.  All the fish were caught using Texas Trout Killers in a Black/Chartreuse or Plumb/White pattern over shel in 6 - 8 feet of water.  The fish are really beginning to show up and as soon as we can get a good string of weather the bay should explode.  Not to sound too excited but this is the first time in 3 months I have put over 10 fish in the box 2 days in a row.