Call upon the weather forecasters or your favorite weather app or the Farmers Almanac and you may get similar answers to your questions of “what is the weather going to be like the first week of December 2017?” Almost unbelievably, we are experiencing weather right now that reminds me of the skies and temperatures we get in March. I guess since December is really the beginning of our “winter” and March the beginning of our “Spring” around here in the middle coast of Texas it makes sense. It’s hard to imagine the reality of our fellow Americans in Washington, Idaho, North Dakota and Ohio and what they go through this time of year, but then that is why we do not live there!
Today’s trip with three gentlemen in the agriculture business around these parts was an almost unusually perfect weather outing for anyone. Temperatures began in the middle 50s and quickly rose to the low 70s as the sun beamed down upon us and gave rise to countless downed corks as we were offering live shrimp on popping corks, with two foot leaders and a number five kahle hook.
The bite has been hit and miss lately which also reminds me of the fishing in March. As the water both cools and warms in and out of the 60s the Speckled Trout must be standing by with a thermometer of their own which tells them it’s time to feed here or there. You can be, as one of our fellow guides put it the other day, ‘on the fish and if you aren’t, you are off them!’ Now that makes me say something along the lines of “ NO KIDDING, REALLY?’ in a smarty sort of way. But he is right and that’s the way it has been. If I am 50 yards from you and your crew in a very similar reef pattern, let’s say, and we are getting bites on every cast of solid keeper trout and you are sitting there with your guys catching all smalls, you are probably looking at us thinking ‘well I’ll be!’ Why is it that 50 yards makes that much of a difference when we all know conditions around the reef like depth, current and water color are the same? It’s because we are not fish and the fish know what they want and where they need to be at that particular time of day and tide movement. How do they know that then you ask? These keeper trout recently have figured it out over time and that’s why they are beyond the 15” minimum and are actually a bit larger than the trout you may be catching. Today we had trout in the 19” range being the norm! Granted I will not turn my nose up at 15.75” trout any day of the week but when you stick the ones closer to 20” you have to be impressed, and appreciative of them and the fact that you have found a formula on where other similar good ones will be for this time of the year.
By the way our bays are uncrowded and there is plenty of room to spread out and FIND YOUR OWN FISH so come down and do it your way, don’t stop on a reef or flat just because there are other boats there. Heck they may not know what they are doing and have stopped just because one other boat was there. Trust what you know over time and figure it out for yourself and I promise you will enjoy your success more and gain confidence on the water.
