On January 21-22, The Texas Troutmasters held a tournament out of Marker 37 in Corpus Christi. This was a two-day tournament, two speckled trout each day, with live release on the water after the fish are weighed and videoed by the angler.
Capt. Juan Cruz fished the northern end of Galveston Bay and didn't have much to report. Cruz said, "The water up north is off-colored and fresh." Cruz found one little stretch of fishable water, and they landed a couple of keeper trout, one keeper black drum and one over-sized black drum.
Is it worth going to see? I would say yes. It's a great concept of combining both shows, but the boating trade industry needs to up its game.
This coming Saturday at Carver Park Pond in Texas City, there's a Rainbow Trout Kid Fish. This is a free event from 8 a.m. until noon.
Capt. Mike Williams sent me a email mentioning something he calls "The Ice Tray Effect." This is when the shallow water of a given bay system cools the fastest with a passing cold front.
This time of year, the reports can sound like a old vinyl record when the needle on the record player is stuck.
This past Saturday, the West End Anglers hosted their last leg of the Winter Trout Series. The weather was downright nasty, but some anglers weighed in some impressive fish.
In all that nasty weather Saturday, some decent fish were caught, along with one big trout.
There are many written books, articles and even videos on how to catch speckled trout. Lots of the information is excellent and a great resource of gaining knowledge about the sport. True knowledge of how and where to catch speckled trout, though, comes from years of experience pursuing these fish.
A little over a week ago, I posted results from a speckled trout tournament. As I posted these results, a light bulb switched on in my head.
I chatted with Capt. Mike Williams this morning. First, he asked about my health, then our talk turned to fishing. But, before we even got into that subject, Williams brought up the weather. He meticulously has kept records throughout his fishing career of catches and the weather.
Capt. Bobby Hall took some time off from fishing the coast, and ventured to Lake Houston. Hall lives up that way, and he mentioned that the Dogwood and Cherry trees were in bloom. For him, that only meant one thing: crappie. Sure enough, Hall caught 20 nice-sized crappie, which, by the way, make excellent table fare.
There's a lot going on in the next week, especially if you're an angler or boating enthusiast.
The Clear Creek Environmental Foundation is hosting their annual clean-up on Feb. 11 from 8:30 a.m. until noon. Pre-cleanups begin on each Saturday and Sunday starting this Saturday prior to the official clean-up date. This all takes place at the FM 270 boat ramp on the League City side of the bridge.
Capt. Juan Cruz, wife Addie and two of their friends, Todd Brown and Jeanette Zerr, launched from the upper end of Galveston Bay. Using live shrimp under popping corks, they boxed a few keeper speckled trout, black drum, sheepshead and one red. Cruz said, "the tide was low and the water was murky."
In his latest report, Capt. Matt Smith aboard the New Buccaneer with 38 anglers came back to the dock with 55 yellowfin tuna, 207 blackfin tuna, 16 vermilion snapper and nine scamp grouper.
It’s been a fun couple of days around our house. My wife came home Wednesday with congestion, sneezing and runny eyes. Thinking it was an allergy attack, she went to the doctor anyway, and wouldn’t you know it, she tested positive for COVID-19 and Flu A.
Last column, I posted the weights of the recent Spectacular tournament. I went back and compared past years' results to the three tournaments held this year. There's a noticeable decrease in the size of the trout weighed in.
This past Saturday, two fishing tournaments were held, with the weigh-in taking place at Capt. Mark’s Bastrop Bayou Marina. Here are the results from each tournament.
On a recent trip to the Galveston jetties, Jason Witchet and Steve Ingram boxed a limit of reds, seven sheepshead and eight black drum. There was no mention of bait used, but I would assume Witchet had live shrimp in the boat.
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