Houston anglers Keith and Janice couldn’t be happier with this solid jetty trout, a limit of slot reds, along with numbers of sheepshead and black drum. Most were caught on a hard running tide with live shrimp fished on bottom.
Capt. Robert Sloan photo
Patience and a moving tide will more often than not deliver fish when other anglers are scratching their heads on the way from one “hot” spot to another.
Just recently I had charters two days going when patience and a rolling current won the day, and put limits of slot reds on ice. About a week ago I was out on the water with a man and his wife – Keith and Janice. We hit the jetties at about daylight and caught a few sheepshead and drum in a current that was just barely moving. After about an hour of waiting and fidgeting they ask if we needed to move. I politely suggested that the tide was about to turn and the fishing would most likely pick up. An hour lately I slipped the net under our fifth slot red. The husband looked in the cooler stuffed with redfish, sheepshead, drum and trout to about 6 pounds.
It was a reliable spot on that particular tide. It was a gamble that paid off with smiling faces and return customers.
The next day I had three guys on my boat from La Grange. At daylight, per their request, we started casting Bomber Badonk-A-Donk topwater lures along the Matagorda Island shoreline and caught four trout and numerous small reds. That action played out shortly after daylight, so we made the move to the jetties. Two hours later we had a couple of sheepshead and three drum. It was slow, but again we had managed to get anchored in “THE SPOT” about an hour prior to a strong incoming tide. Once the tide began rolling, we dropped down with sardine baited hooks and proceeded to catch nine slot reds in less than 30 minutes – the fish fry was on. Once again patience and the tide proved to be my ticket to an extended stay at the fish cleaning table.
Kings on the run
May is the month when king mackerel begin showing up at the jetties. When the water temperature hits the magic 70 degree mark, it’s a fact that kings will be here and feeding on baitfish like shad, pogies and ribbonfish.
One of the best places to find and catch early season king mackerel is near the mouth of the Port O’Connor jetties and on down towards Pass Cavallo. One of my go-to king mackerel lures is a Bomber Bug Eye Duster King Rig in silver, blue/silver, chartreuse or pink. These 1-1/2 ounce lures come pre-rigged on No. 6 single strand stainless wire, with three 6/0 saltwater grade hooks. You can take a Bug Eye Duster rig out of the package, tie it to your fishing line, drop it in the water and start trolling. It’s that simple, and kings will climb all over it.
That’s your fresh caught fishing report from Capt. Robert Sloan. For details on fishing with Capt. Robert go to www.luckystrikeguide.com, email – sloan288@aol.com or call 409 782 6796
