Want to catch big trout like this one? Then tie on a slow-sinking mullet imitation lure like a Corky or Bomber Mullet. Top colors are chartreuse/bone or red/white. -Capt. Robert Sloan Photo
The first day of spring is March 20, and hopefully by then we will have seen the last of Old Man Winter and his blustery cold fronts. Fortunately it only takes a couple of days of warm afternoon sunlight to jump start hungry trout.
Some of the best fishing for trophy trout out of Port O’Connor will be in the back water lakes, and along islands with a combination of mud and grass.
Some of the best catches of trout during late winter and early spring will be on mullet imitation lures, and one of the most famous is the slow-sinking Corky.
The Corky is one of the most successful mullet imitation lures of all time, and it’s most effective on big trout right about this time of year.
The man behind the development of a Corky is Paul Brown. When he first developed the Corky Brown, he had no idea it would be so successful. But when it was used to catch a state record 13-pound, 11-ounce speckled trout on Feb. 6, 1996, the popularity of this lure exploded.
The Corky craze started in 1974, in a garage. The original lures included a Corky, Fat Boy and Devil in floating, slow sinking and fast sinking models. They are now called the Paul Brown Original Series by the L&S lure company.
Just recently the Corky lure was sold to the MirrOlure Company in Florida. But at the peak of this lures success in the 80’s and 90’s about the only way to get them was to call Paul or his wife Phyllis in Houston and place an order. Credit cards were taboo. And when you sent a check the product was shipped after the money was in the bank. The only other option was to buy them from Cut Rate Tackle.
When Jim Wallace caught a Texas state record trout on a 3-inch long chartreuse and sparkle Corky this lure shot to stardom in a flash. That catch was made on Feb. 6, 1996 on Baffin Bay, south of Corpus Christi. On that day Wallace was fishing with Ed Stedman and Ronnie Sellers. Each had caught career trout that day. Wallace bested the state record with his 13-11 trout. Stedman had a 12-1/4 pounder, and Seller’s strung an 11-pounder. All three trout were caught within minutes of each other in knee deep water. All were caught on Corky lures.
A Corky is made of soft plastic with a core of cork, and holds two treble hooks. The best way to fish a slow sinking Corky is with a very slow up and down movement of the rod. The bite will almost always come while the lure is falling. A Corky has very little action, even at that trout seem to love them.
Flesh eating bacteria kills Lake Conroe fisherman
By Doug Miller / KHOU 11 News, Houston
A fisherman, who suffered a seemingly minor scrape during a Sunday outing on Lake Conroe, died from an infection of flesh-eating bacteria on Feb. 28.
Travis Lee Moore, a 74-year-old retired postal worker and former firefighter from the Southeast Texas town of Chester, succumbed only five days after a fishing trip with four of his brothers.
“It was a scrape on the top of his hand, on his finger,” said his brother, Robert Moore of Woodville.
The infection’s severity didn’t become apparent until two days after the trip, when his family thought Moore was suffering a heart attack. His brother, Robert, took him to a hospital in Huntsville where the problem was diagnosed.
What is the March Equinox?
There are two equinoxes every year – in March and September – when the sun shines directly on the equator and the length of day and night is nearly equal. Seasons are opposite on either side of the equator, so the equinox in March is also known as the “spring equinox” in the northern hemisphere. However, in the southern hemisphere, it’s known as the “autumnal (fall) equinox”.
On the equinox, night and day are nearly exactly the same length – 12 hours – all over the world. This is the reason it’s called an “equinox”, derived from Latin, meaning “equal night”.
The March equinox occurs the moment the sun crosses the celestial equator – the imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s equator – from south to north. This happens either on March 19, 20 or 21 every year.
Top fishing equipment brands for 2013
Southwick Associates’ Angler Survey has just announced the brands and products anglers purchased most frequently in 2013. This list has been compiled from the 18,559 internet-based surveys completed in 2013 by Angler Survey panelists.
The following is a partial list of sportfishing’s most frequently purchased brands in 2013:
Top rod brand: Shakespeare (Ugly Stik, Sturdy Stik, etc.), top reel: Shimano; top fishing line: PowerPro; top soft bait: Berkley Gulp; top spinner bait: Strike King; top wader brand: Hodgman ; top clothing brand: Columbia; top raingear: Frogg Toggs and the top trolling motor brand is Minn Kota.
Want to catch more fish? Here’s how you do it: Call Capt. Robert Sloan at 409 782 6796, email – sloan288@aol.com
