Trout Fishing Methods

Transcribed with permission from the Port Isabel/South Padre Island (Texas) Press Parade -- July 1996

This is the second time this year I will have written about speckled trout. That's because this is shaping up to truly be the "Year of the Trout." In 20 years, I have not seen the sheer amount of fish over 15 inches all the way up to 32- to 33-inch fish.

In the past, I have voiced comments on the 15-inch size limit. Comments such as "Texas Parks & Wildlife are stunting our bay;" "There are too many 13- to 14-inch trout that are one pound being killed and not utilized;" even "There will be a loud shout from Texas Shrimping Association when they find out these schoolie trout are eating all of their shrimp."

Well, shut my mouth! It sure seems that the biologists with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department were working on a long range plant that is bearing fruit.

As I said above, the bay is full of larger trout. Personally, I have limited-out on my charters every day for a month and a half, with trout averaging two pounds or more; with very few throwbacks. If you are catching a lot of undersized fish, just move away from them, with some effort you will find a group of larger fish.

In the last couple of years everyone was remarking on the short, fat trout they were catching. Just about every fish you caught you had to measure to make sure you didn't throw back a 15-inch keeper. True, we had a good trout fishery and the luckier or more experienced anglers usuly could catch a fair amount of good fish.

But this year, with just a little bit of work, you can find trout from 15 inches and up just about in any area of the bay.

Most of the real hot spots are the Intracoastal Waterway from Marker 121 to Marker 89. Then from Marker 67 all the way to the Arroyo Colorado.

Methods on the channel are varied all the way from a popping cork, cheater rig (a lead head jig with a tout attached with a second leader with a #4 treble trailing). But my favorite is just "free shrimping." Use a #7 black swivel about 18 inches of 30-pound leader material attached to a #4 mustard treble hook. Tie this to your line, put on a lively shrimp, throw to the grass line edge of the channel and let the current (tide) sweep it out into the channel.

The secret is to get the piggies (perch) to start eating, then trout will come in and take it away. A short item: piggie bites are very rapid tap,tap,tap. Trout are a single, harder tap. When you feel the fish, then hold on.

It is not unusual to catch your limit in a short time. Trout do not do well when caught and released, so please, when have a limit, stop! And go look for redfish.

If this type of fishing is not your game plan, put on a lure, topwater worm jig or spoon and hit the areas east of Gas Well Flats, behind Three Islands or along the shoreline on the west side from the observation lookout north to Cullen Bay.

If you like live bait with a popping cork, a real hot area is around Unnecessary Island both north and south, usually early in the morning. The other real hot spot is Gas Well Flats, usually around Marker 67, both north to to 57 or south of 77, from the Intracoastal all the way to the color line near the skeleton.

I still think there is a 14-pound trout in our waters that will be caught this year. But you can't catch it if you don't wet your line. Remember, our fishery is great, but it is fragile, so only keep what you can use and save the rest for another day.

Good fishing
Capt. Lou Austin

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