Fishing with Capt. Stephen Boriske

The past couple weeks have been more about finding a safe and protected area to fish out of the 30 mph blows than anything else.  Interestingly the fish haven’t seemed to be that thrown off by it and we have been boxing some fair numbers of larger trout and solid redfish while focusing on both clean and stained water color.  Now that the end of May is here the wind has calmed down at least for a short time and the catching is going to go wide open.  The main reason for this is we will be able to fish more of our spots on a much larger section of water out in the open.

There are those of us who are still using live shrimp with the corks and catching trout, drum and redfish, even flounder and sheepshead but as for me I have gone full on “Croakerin’!”  Once upon a time I frowned on the use of Croakers for bait because I thought it too deadly and easy to catch trout and redfish and was worried about depleting the resource but that was total ignorance on my part because there is nothing easy about working these babies right and it’s definitely not a given you will catch a good fish with them.  It’s what I say each day to kick things off…”there is my way of fishing Croaker which I will demonstrate and help you with and there is the wrong way, and we are going to do it my way because if not instead of catching trout you will catch crabs and trash fish all day and will wonder why it didn’t work.”  That statement raises a lot of eyebrows and heads and gets the ball rolling in the predawn hours but really it’s with the intent of helping my anglers catch the fish they want, maybe the fish of a lifetime, and helping them become better at it.  Once they “get it” though look out!

That said there are times when no matter what you do the fish just are not going to eat.  What helps me with accepting this reality is to check the solunar charts which you can access easily online and see when the prime times will be for the month.  Going out prepared to catch some good fish is what everyone wants to do but you have to apply some sense and use information and advances in technology gathered for years as to what is really to be expected that day on the water.  Of course every day fishing is better than working but it makes more sense to the angler to apply logic and science on one of those ‘bad’ days.

I always say go fishing when you can and keep an open mind, don’t put so much pressure on yourself ‘we have to catch that biggest redfish’…’our buddies put in x amount for the longest trout’…sure that stuff is fun just don’t take it and yourself too seriously.  You can’t make them eat and there is a lot of luck in this beloved sport so remember the main reason you are out there with us is to have fun, relax and enjoy the great outdoors.

Capt. Stephen Boriskie
Bay Flats Lodge, Seadrift, Texas, 888-677-4868