East Flats 4-22-14
Posted: April 23rd, 2014, 1:31 am
I decided to take Mom out for a fishing day. We arrived at the lighthouse ramp at 6:30 and had it all to ourselves. The wind was forecast at 5mph but it was much closer to 10-12. With the high tide at 9:20, I decided to head toward the flat outside of Stoney Bayou.
We started a drift in 3' and 62°water temp, no luck. I moved out to 4' and it was on. Mom caught the first fish, a toad of a trout (18") on a Cajun Thunder with a 3" Glow Gulp and red 1/16" jig. I started with a top water but they were either not interested or the water was too choppy. I switched to a chartreuse (hot bone) thitchin rap and things picked up.
We made a couple of drifts in 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 fishing through the high tide. At 10:00 I wanted to try to find some reds, so we moved into the bayou. I was using a spoon and Mom a 5" nuke chicken jerk shad on weighted hook. We searched many fishy looking areas for about an hour and a half with no results. Heading back out I thought of a flat that has been productive in the past south of Palmetto Island. The magic depth seemed to be 3 1/2 to 4 feet of water. We landed a few more trout with a couple of shorts mixed in. There was a Blue fish caught(Mom) a Spanish(me), two more Spanish cut offs(me) 22 Trout of which at least half were keepers. My best of the day was an extremely upset 21" fat girl of a trout. All the fish were released as I still have a few fillets in the freezer.
The water temp maxed out at 68°. I expect if the weather trend keeps up the magic temp of 72° will be right around the corner. The water visibility was 2'-3' and darkly stained. The fish seemed to be in the clearer water areas. When we would drift through the murkier areas the bite would slow or stop.
All in all a great day on the water and I was glad to get Mom out to catch some fish.
We started a drift in 3' and 62°water temp, no luck. I moved out to 4' and it was on. Mom caught the first fish, a toad of a trout (18") on a Cajun Thunder with a 3" Glow Gulp and red 1/16" jig. I started with a top water but they were either not interested or the water was too choppy. I switched to a chartreuse (hot bone) thitchin rap and things picked up.
We made a couple of drifts in 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 fishing through the high tide. At 10:00 I wanted to try to find some reds, so we moved into the bayou. I was using a spoon and Mom a 5" nuke chicken jerk shad on weighted hook. We searched many fishy looking areas for about an hour and a half with no results. Heading back out I thought of a flat that has been productive in the past south of Palmetto Island. The magic depth seemed to be 3 1/2 to 4 feet of water. We landed a few more trout with a couple of shorts mixed in. There was a Blue fish caught(Mom) a Spanish(me), two more Spanish cut offs(me) 22 Trout of which at least half were keepers. My best of the day was an extremely upset 21" fat girl of a trout. All the fish were released as I still have a few fillets in the freezer.
The water temp maxed out at 68°. I expect if the weather trend keeps up the magic temp of 72° will be right around the corner. The water visibility was 2'-3' and darkly stained. The fish seemed to be in the clearer water areas. When we would drift through the murkier areas the bite would slow or stop.
All in all a great day on the water and I was glad to get Mom out to catch some fish.