Posted By Kris/ In Castaway Lodge Fishing / Sunday, February 21, 2010

Back Lakes Notes From A "Brown Meltdown"!

Scouting ahead of late week trips with Capt. Steve Boldt on Thursday proved to be “an explosive” adventure working Brown Lures in Texas Gold Rush; Amber; and, Plumtreuse over mud/grass in the back lakes and near bay lakes. The tide was ripping in all day and we were on “extreme low water”. Focusing on deeper “fallout” pools, mouths, cuts, etc. had us “bowed-up” from start to finish. Redfish limits came easily on Plumtreuse worked slowly with 1/16th oz. Truloc jig heads. We spotted the fish on the fly in our Air Ranger airboat after helping some folks get their Shallow Sport off dry ground on a nearby flat. There just wasn’t much water anywhere and the fish knew it. After plenty of Redfish CPR, we started working on Trout angles and Capt. Steve was the first to get them “dialed-in” along the windward edge of back lake grass line. It wasn’t a smoker, but between the two of us we had 8-10 before changing venues.

Working a bay mouth found more Trout in the 16 to 18” class holding near grass lines over soft mud before taking it back to the ramp. All fish were pictured and released.


Pools and Depressions

Back lakes that seem as flat as a pancake will have a “bowl” or “pool”. Big tide fluctuations will pull the fish into deeper pools in the back lakes and congregate them. This isn’t an opinion, it’s just an observation from witnessing it over hundreds of days in that environ. It’s like “clockwork” and the results are pretty much always the same. Fish can sense water level changes and corresponding temperature changes. Some species respond differently than others. Redfish will tend to stay calm and “stick” to an area experiencing a big water fallout. I’m sure you’ve heard stories of them piling up in a location more or less trapped by low water. Black Drum are just the opposite and are a marvel to observe. On big water pushes, Black Drum will run into an area and forage hard. Sensing the slightest water level decrease, they will abandon the entire area without a trace.

Slough Mouths

If you’ve ever been blasting into a slough only to run smooth over a bunch of fish, you have witnessed some of the results of a “falling water pattern”. Contrary to popular misconceptions, their collection in these locations isn’t a result of fish leaving an area and collecting at the mouth of a bayou drain. Most saltwater species feed into a current and Redfish are a prime example. Rather than “thinking” the fish are moving toward deeper environs on falling water, they are actually moving into the flow and heading shallower in some cases. A great example of this would be the East shoreline of Hynes Bay. This is a big expansive shoreline that gets inundated with Redfish. As the tide is coming in, fish in the upper reaches of Hynes will actually forage toward the lower end of the Gaudalulpe Delta. Flip the tide to falling and just the opposite occurs. Fish toward the lower end of the Delta and along the Southern part of the East shoreline will begin moving toward the upper end of Hynes Bay which is much shallower.

Trout tend to work these areas the same as Redfish, actively feeding as the water is dumping out but tend to relocate as the tide wanes. Redfish will linger longer probably due to full bellies.

Working sloughs, mouths, pools and depressions is “timing oriented” and we recognize these conditions quickly from witnessing the marvel of fish patterns and condition changes regularly. If you can establish some water level benchmarks on your home turf, your ability to "read the conditions" faster will hopefully get you to the fish faster.

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Capt. Kris Kelley
Castaway Lodge, Inc.
109 W. Austin
Seadrift, TX 77983
1-888-618-4868 Office
361-785-4487 Fax
361-648-3474 Cell

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