Now THAT was a cold snap!! It really kind of puts a new perspective on a few things that have been happening lately. Everyone knows all about the arguments over the trout limits lately and everyone has their own opinion as to how our fishery should be managed. But our feeble attempts to regulate anything that we in all reality have no control over are thrown back in our faces and we get a real glimpse of who is in control……….. and it isn’t us!
As I write this, a second round of the really cold stuff is blowing through. Supposedly this round won’t be quite as harsh as the ice storm we went through the first week of February but who knows. For me personally, that was a very tough week. Of course, there was the usual cancellations and re-scheduling of trips that you would expect when the weather turns that bad. But most of all for me and many of my fishing brethren along the Texas coast, our livelihoods were suddenly at stake. We have been extremely lucky for several years dodging hurricanes in the summer and fish killing freezes in the winter. But we have to wonder when our luck is going to run out.
Fortunately, the trend over the past few years amongst the guiding profession has been to allow our clients to participate in the overall experience of the outdoors. The emphasis is slowly beginning to inch away from the old school “fill-the-cooler” trips and more about experiencing the majesty around us, the camaraderie of friends and actually learning about the ways and habits of the quarry we pursue. As my friend Capt. Mike McBride, aka McTrout, says “It’s all about the trip”.
So what’s happening in Baffin? Well, the cold weather definitely put a damper on the trout fishing for a little while. We spent most of the week after the big freeze checking the bay and the Upper Laguna Madre for signs of a substantial fish kill. Fortunately, we didn’t find any. We spotted a good number of dead and cold stunned silver perch and a couple of small trout but that was the extent of our observations having covered well over one hundred miles in the process.
We did manage to sneak out between these two cold spells and do a little fishing and the trout we caught were very aggressive, fat and healthy. Reports from my friends stated that the redfish were very hungry and active almost the entire time during the cold spell.
Original Corkies and Corky Fat Boys in darker colors have been working well around drop-offs and rocks. The extremely low water levels recently opened up many wading spots we don’t normally get to enjoy this time of year and we took full advantage of them. Stanley Wedgetail Thump N Mullet has been a new addition to the arsenal and appears to be deadly on redfish. Because of their weedless or in my case, “rockless”capabilities, I think these baits may work well on big trout this spring. I’ll let you know. Like I said earlier, we have very low water conditions out there so y’all be extra careful and I’ll see ya on the water.
Capt. Aubrey Black
Baffin Bay
