Robin the Barber on her day off with Captain Ed Campbell. Slinging live mullet, or as Ed likes to say, “Ed Wigglers”.
Capt. Jeff Larson

This Spring has been riddled with high winds and numerous cold fronts which has made fishing unpredictable. The only constant over the last month has been a fisherman’s desire to catch fish. Some want trophies others want freezer bags full of fish. Is your desire to catch fish stronger than the daily weather pattern? If so, communicate with your guide give him/her a call and ask him what is the best plan for your goals. It is best not to just show up without knowing his/her strategy based on the current weather predictions.

Guides make it happen, usually their way but with changing weather patterns it’s best to make some calls to prepare yourself. So you might have to gear up and trust your guide. If he suggests wade fishing then by all means do what it takes to wade with your guide. Not every fisherman wants to wade, most every guide wants to wade. Wading or stalking your prey is an exciting and productive way to fill stringers. Once you ease into the zone its game on. If you want to catch a Trophy Trout wading is a MUST. Oh it can happen on a boat you may break a personal record but easing into the water and stalking those spring time flats, combing the areas that hold big trout, even on those questionable weather days like we been having lately is by far the best way to catch a Monster Trout.

Remember when trophy trout fishing you are looking for 1 Big Bite not a bunch of bites. You will know these things with preparation conversations with your guide. He has the plan and knows what baits you will need to throw to catch that Lifetime Trophy.

If you have called me lately, we would be talking Combat Redfishing. Back Bay Skinny Water find em, feed em and catch em. This style of catching has been very productive for some of us that guide out of airboats in the back bay skinny water marshes. We make memories and fill coolers.

As I’m working on this report, we are experiencing pre frontal high south winds waiting on another north wind to hopefully hurry up and pass through so we can start planning our next trophy quest with decent weather.

Most of my guide buddies are getting ready for the Rojo Tourney while I’m headed out to Kentucky to meet my Buddies for some Spring Turkey Hunting.
Good Luck to everyone fishing the tournament and the others sharing the bay system. Watch the weather and be careful.

This April has given us a wild weather ride and good fishing. Some days were better than others. The best trips have been mid day or late afternoon. This time of year you don’t have to beat the heat. Waking up, drink coffee and have breakfast is usually the norm for this time of year. But, beating the wind has been the best strategy to get your day started on the water. Getting to the Jetties or across the Bay before the wind kicks up makes for a more pleasant experience so prepare accordingly and think about your return.

Fishing will remain good thru April, May will be just as good if not better. Croakers are already available and being sold to the fishers who love that THUMP. I use em but haven’t tried yet this year. Topwaters are tons of fun and I throw em every chance I get. Then there’s those days we want to smash and grab with soft plastics.

Yesterday evening, Veteran Mike Kopecinski and I went out for a Wicked Tuna type Redfishing Trip. We left late morning just before the wind went to whipping status. The Airboat wheeled through the marsh until we started marking reds. We found a pond with 5 or 6 upper end slot reds and sat ‘er down. I slung some shrimp and mullet out for the reds to have brunch. They never bit. We called it quits after a couple more strike outs. I told Mike the fish are here lets take a break and come back later before dark. We went back about 5:30 and by 6:30 we were having 2 and 3 take downs at a time. It was definitely the right call for that day. Fish have to eat it’s just when are they?!?!?
That’s where Billy can help you with booking your next trip at Saltwater Lodge. His number is (713) 907 4796, just give him a call for Lodge Availability. We have a team of guides that meet your fishing goals and needs.

We hope the weather stabilizes, the tides rise and you make it out this spring.

Captain Jeff Larson
(281) 217 0399

One of the best ways to catch more trout is to wade the shallow flats of Port O’Connor. Capt. Robert Sloan specializes in wade fishing charters in West Matagorda and Espiritu Santo bays.

The unique thing about wading is that it’s a total escape from the real world. Once you get away from the boat you are on your own. It’s you, the water and the fish.
Veteran waders know from experience that gearing up for hours of comfort in the water is not as simple as you might think. The intriguing thing about wade fishing is that you are on your own, but to do it right requires some forward thinking and gearing up with the right stuff.

From about May through October most waders go wet. But there are some that wear waders year-round due to the presence of a flesh-eating virus call Vibrio Vulnificus.
With over 40 years of wading the Gulf coast behind me I’ve found that stocking foot waders are the best way to go. They are comfortable and when combined with a pair of wading boots can be worn all day. Lightweight chest waders are best. They can be worn up over the chest or rolled down and secured with a belt around your waist.

My favorite waders are made by Simms. They are compact, lightweight, and comfortable. Plus, they easily convert to waist highs. Good waders will easily cost over a hundred bucks and can jump up in the $300 to $600 range. One thing is certain about waders – you get what you pay for. Custom fitted waders like Simms are worth their weight in gold.

Wading boots vary in quality and comfort. When selecting a pair of wading boots remember that you’ll need to get them two to three sizes larger than your street shoes. That‘s because you’ll be wearing socks, plus you’ve got to factor in the thickness of the stocking feet on your waders.

Wearing snake boots while wade fishing might seem kind of wacky but believe it or not they actually function pretty well on the flats. You see, most snake proof boots are also stingray proof. Contending with rays is something we have to do year-round. That’s especially true from the middle to lower Gulf coast where the water is usually warmer than the upper coastal areas in Texas.

The most popular wading boots made are Ray Guards by Foreverlast. They offer full protection from the knee down. They might be a little bit pricey but they completely take the worry out of getting hit, enduring big time pain and heading to the ER.

Part of the wade fishing line of gear is the belt. Used to be we would strap on an everyday belt around our waist and head out. On the belt might be a knife, a pair of needle nose pliers and a stringer. Over the past couple of decades wading belts have improved 100 percent. They offer back support, a tackle box pouch, a rod holder, a stringer clip, tool pouch and a D-ring attachment point. Some of the belts allow accessories to be moved to different positions for easy customization. A belt with a back-support system improves comfort during long wades. My go-to wading belt is the G2 by Foreverlast. It comes with everything but the kitchen sink and has great back support.
It’s the accessories that make a belt worth its cost. You definitely need a secure stringer holder that can easily be removed for stringing fish. By the way the latest and greatest stringer is called a Fish Slick Original. The 12-footer is best. Fish go on and come off easily thanks to the plastic finish on the leader. A tool pouch for a pair of needle nose pliers is mandatory. I like a wading belt that allows you to move the tackle box compartment around for easy access.

One last thing you’ll need is a floating landing net. It will put a lot more fish on your stringer.

Remember, always buy the best wading gear you can afford. It’ll last for years and the comfort of quality is priceless.

Capt. Robert Sloan is now booking wading trips from May through October. For details call 409 782 6796 or go to sloan288@aol.com, also check out www.luckystrikeguide.com.

Sheepshead Gold Cap & Hook

If ever a fish needed dental work, it would have to be the barnacle-crushing Sheepshead. I never thought I would actually catch a Sheepshead that seemed to already have had dental work done but the 2nd week in March proved me wrong. I had a hard time finding fish that day but tried to convince a new teenage angler on my boat that POC did have an abundance. When we finally got into some Sheepsheads, I warned her to keep her fingers clear of the mouth as a bite from one of these fish would definitely get her attention. As I was demonstrating how to remove a hook from her first fish of the day, I saw something shiny in the fish’s mouth. It appeared he had a gold cap on one of his back teeth. Between the fish’s fight against my lip clip and the fact he had swallowed the hook, I decided to put him in the cooler and figure out the gold cap when he was a little more docile. Once we got back to the boat dock, I decided it was time to check out this peculiar catch of the day. After prying his mouth open, there was indeed a gold cap on his back tooth. With my needle nose pliers, I was able to remove the cap. It appeared to be the brass from a firearm but I just wasn’t sure. I figured
Donny at POC Rod and Gun might be able to help me out and, after examining it, Donny identified it as a primer from a 410 shotgun shell. So, this is how I imagine it went down… While fishing, an angler fires a round out of his Taurus Judge revolver. The shell is ejected into the water and the primer cap is dislodged. A Sheepshead swims by and, loving shiny things, decides that this object must be super tasty. The Sheepshead slurps it up and before swallowing it, chomps down just right so the cap covers his back tooth perfectly. Now the Sheepshead thinks it’s terribly annoying until all the ladies start noticing and think his new grill is super cool. Unfortunately for him, he hits my live shrimp, gets thrown into my cooler and, well, the rest is history

Leah and her Sheepshead

This may be hard to understand for some fishermen and it’s not entirely true about me. I will try to explain it the best I can. When I started fishing at a young age, I wanted to catch lots and lots of fish. In my late teens and early 20s, I wanted the same, plus big fish. It seemed to me then, that you judged the success of your trip on how many and how big! Not to mention the competition side of it. It seemed that getting skunked meant that the whole trip was a failure.

Gradually, my outlook changed. I realized that even though a trip didn’t produce a lot of fish, I started noticing there was so much more than just the fish. When I go wade fishing, all my friends know that I am in the water and casting 20 to 30 minutes before the sky starts getting that faint glow off to the East.

All of these sunrises I have seen over the years are gifts and extra bonuses. I have seen hundreds and more likely, thousands of these sunrises in my life. Never one the same but always unique and beautiful. Ducks flying so close, you can hear the wings and swishing through the air. A porpoise busting up a school of trout in pursuit of a meal. Just the sites and sounds of everything coming to life along with the rising sun is something else. All of these and many more are out there.

I no longer have a failed or bad day. I will tell you the truth, I usually always caught fish, but Capt. Mike had those days when the fish had total lockjaw! Even the best will tell you that there will be those days! Nowadays, If I am on the water casting and watching everything around me, my trip is a big success even before the first hook up! I will never grow tired of that tap, setting the hook and the head shake and tail dance of a nice speck trying to spit your hook. Only now there is so much more to add to my love of fishing.

I wrote a book and wanted to get a sunrise picture for my cover. My nephew is a photographer and took the picture. We left the dock at 5:10 am and got to a fishing spot in the East Pocket of Powderhorn Lake. A friend and I got in the water and started slingin’ assassins, my nephew close behind with tripod and camera. Ended up getting a great picture with me in it and fighting a good red fish.

The title of my book is “Fishing the Golden Waters of the Texas Gulf Coast.” I named it that because of the gold shimmering across the water as the sun rises. I always tell people that this our version of “On Golden Pond.” Only, we have a very big pond.

Mike at age 19, with shark he caught off Henry Apostolo’s shrimp boat.

About Michael Fossati.
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I was born and raised in Victoria Texas and still live there today. From a very young age, I loved fishing. My grandfather had a house in Port O’Connor. We loved going down to Port O’Connor. My cousin and I fished on the old pier that was there in the sixties. We also fished Boggy Bayou and other places. I just got to where I loved fishing so much. I would fish salt or fresh water, didn’t matter.

Grandpa’s house in POC was on second and Madison. It was almost leveled in Hurricane Carla, but rebuilt and today is owned by my cousin. My mom and dad were good friends of all the Apostalos in POC. I remember Alec, Henry and Tony Apostalo. I just recently came across John Apostalo on Facebook and hadn’t seen or talked to him in over 40 years. I remember going on Henry’s shrimp boat with my dad. Later on when I was 19, I caught a big shark off Henry’s shrimp boat.

As I got older, my roots took hold in the saltwater and is where they remain today. Don’t care much about fishing fresh water. I have fished the POC area all my life and also the Indianola/Magnolia Beach area in the last 25 years. My mom and dad built a house on Powderhorn Lake. I have fished the back bays of POC and offshore. I have guided some, but now I just like to go with family and friends. My book talks mostly about fishing in POC and Indianola.

My book, “Fishing the Golden Waters of the Texas Gulf Coast”, can be purchased by contacting me at 361 308 0613; by email at mikefishing4fun@gmail.com, or on my Facebook group: Texas Strong Coastal Fishermen.