What a great time to be fishing in South Texas!! A mild winter followed by a virtually wind-free spring with the beautiful waters that now occupy Baffin Bay have made for some of the most dynamic fishing we have seen in my thirteen plus years on this bay. I don't say that lightly either or for "shock" value. It really is some of the best fishing we have ever seen.
Almost daily it seems that limits of solid trout are coming to hand. We have asked our clients to be ultra-conservative on what fish they would like to keep and which ones they prefer to release. Each group is different (which I find extremely interesting) but there does seem to be somewhat of a consensus. Most of our clients seem to be content with keeping trout under twenty inches for their personal consumption and releasing trout over the twenty inch mark. To a person, all agree that trout over twenty-five inches must return to "make more babies" which makes me feel very good about the example we have set here at Baffin Bay Rod and Gun.
As many of you know, we have been touting "The Class of 2007" for a while now. WE are slowly but surely seeing the tail end of the best recruitment class of speckled trout on record for Baffin Bay. The average life span of a speckled trout is around seven or eight years. But of course there will always be those that live a little less than that and then there are those we seek that live a little longer. Right now they seem to be everywhere we look. Our numbers of really big trout this year are the best we have seen since 2014 when we had 301 trout over twenty-five inches, 15 over thirty inches and some truly monster trout with 6 over thirty-one inches and 3 behemoths over thirty-two inches. Those numbers were for the entire year of 2014. Here we are just barely into May and already we are extremely close to these numbers including two trout caught by BBR&G guides (Capt Sutton Schoonover and Capt Javi Castillo) over the Thirty-two inch mark.
Daily when the winds allow us to fish where we want to fish, we are picking up multiple twenty-five inch plus Big Girls. The greatest thing is the variety of lures and techniques that are working well for us. Topwaters such as the Heddon One Knocker Spook, Yozuri's 3DB, and our always popular Rapala Skitterwalk have been extremely successful. A steady walk the dog motion with an occasional pause has been deadly. Very few things are more exciting than seeing one of Baffin's oversize trout explode on a topwater.
But for those of you who fish the way I like to fish, the "Thump" of a magnum trout on the end of your line when you are slowly working a saltwater assassin Sea Shad, is very tough to beat. I guess it goes back to my roots as a fresh water bass fisherman. I just absolutely love that "Thump"!!
With the trout in full blown spawn mode right now and with the water temps topping the eighty degree mark almost daily, shallow grass is the place to look for these Big Girls. Pick your spots carefully and move into them as slowly and as stealthily as possible. These fish didn't get this size by being dumb. Also, once you have chosen your area, have the confidence to truly fish that area. By that I mean cover it slowly and thoroughly. Don't just sprint through the spot randomly casting and hope that you will have success. Target likely areas such as grasslines, the edges of potholes or any obvious differences in the topography.
One thing I tell all of my clients to look for in particular is the action of the bait. We are seeing lots of mullet which is the primary food source for big trout this time of year but we are also seeing numerous shrimp flipping around the grass and a few menhaden, glass minnows and houndfish (needle fish) all of which are candy for trout. Once you have located an area where there is good bait, work it over slowly and thoroughly before moving through. If you happen to get a hit but no hookup, make note of where your lure was attacked and quickly make subsequent casts into exactly the "track".
Trout are ambush feeders. Once they have located a good ambush point and they have attacked your lure once, they are very likely to move right back into the same hiding spot and await another "innocent victim" to pass by. Make sure that your lure is that next "innocent victim" and hang on tight because it could be a fun ride for the next few minutes.
Redfish have been hanging out in the same areas as the trout lately and are attacking the same lures so it may feel like you have the state record trout on your line but don't be too disappointed if it's a big ol' redfish. They are a lot of fun too.
It's a great time to be on the waters of Baffin Bay and the rewards are well worth the effort it takes to get to our little corner of paradise. If you truly want to experience the best that this area has to offer, be sure to give us a call down here at Baffin Bay Rod and Gun.
Our brand new lodge and facilities are top notch as are our guides and wait til you get a load of our menu. It truly is the Last Best Place on the Texas Coast. So y'all be safe out there and I'll see ya on the water.
Capt. Aubrey Black
Phone: 361-557-0090 (Personal), 361-720-9394 (Alicia, in the office)
email: captblack@captblack.com
www.BaffinBayRodandGun.com
Facebook: Baffin Bay Rod and Gun
You Tube Channel: CaptBlack15
