Fishing with Capt. Stephen Boriskie
As we turn to September I have to say the second half of August was a huge improvement over the first half. My customers enjoyed solid catches of speckled trout and a bonus redfish here and there. Speaking of redfish we are looking forward to the days when they are back in huge numbers in September and I am sure they are on their way. As the tropics reach the peak of activity this month so too are the water levels on the rise as tides are forced into the bays from these weather systems. This will change the game for both the bait fisherman and lure anglers as well.
I am looking forward to this month for a few reasons as it signals a transition for me personally from the use of live croaker to live shrimp especially later as October comes into view. Another change on the way is cooler air and of course water temperatures because of the tilt of the earth allowing milder air to sink South and cool things off around here. I mentioned water levels already but it’s another change on the way to the Texas coast too. If you add all these events together they start to provide a roadmap to success as we enter the Fall of the year.
Why the switch from croaker to shrimp is still sort of a mystery to me not being of the more scientific community but I can see where the change is a natural part of the bay system cycle. The croaker we have been getting lately are much larger than ones early in the season (May through September) and the fish will begin to change their preferences overall from pounding these guys once the shrimp bite begins. Now of course there are times where the seasons are shortened and also overlap but on average these are the results I’m seeing over the past eight years. I can tell you from experience and limited field research it will happen again like in the past. Shrimp will be king and we all will be catching scores of trout, redfish and black drum again as it has been year upon year.
Get out here and enjoy the bounty of our bay system and see what it’s about. We have eighteen full time guides at the lodge and we are all getting booked consistently so that means to me there are folks coming down each month that are new to what we do here. This is a good thing as more and more attention is payed to these saltwater gems because as awareness increases so too does the effort to help protect our beloved waters and the creatures in them. More focus on the resources means better more healthy catches in the future. As you become less of a newbie and more of an experienced angler we invite you to join in these conservation groups like CCA Texas for instance, and that’s just one of the many who help. Come on these trips with us and let us show you why conservation is important and we can help you become a more learned angler by improving your skills and helping you land that lifetime best fish.
Capt Stephen Boriskie
Bay Flats Lodge, Seadrift, Texas
888-677-4868
