The Port Lavaca Main Street Theatre will hold auditions for the annual all children’s production “The Snow Queen” on Tuesday March 3 and Thursday March 5 at 6 pm and March 7 at 10 am at the theatre, 315 E. Main Street. Audition Paks are available at the Cahoun County branch libraries or email plmstheatre@yahoo.com.

Parts are available for ages approximately 5 to 15. For more information call Jody Weaver at 361-649-6116.

Honeymooners Captain Steve & Amy Auld spending quality time on the water. Capt. Jeff Larson

2015! Hope everyone is having a great new year.  The January wrap up for duck season was about the same as last month, mostly redheads but there was an influx of other divers.  Captain Charles Gremminger and his son Carl did some lay out boat style duck hunting. Capt. “POPPA” Chuck reported buffleheads, beautiful common mergansers, and some fully plumage golden eyes.  Plus, talking to various other Captains and Guides in our area, many hunters were lucky and snagged several bird bands.  Several were so worn you couldn’t even get the numbers off of the bands.   The oldest one that was talked about at the cleaning table was 10 years old.  It was on a beautiful Pintail drake.   Do you ever imagine where all they have traveled and landed?

Another side note this season that was pretty cool, was a pelican with a tracking device on his back at the cleaning table, wanting a hand out.  He also had a bird band on his leg and it stayed there on his leg I promise.  Yes,  the thought crossed my mind to catch him and swipe his jewelry. Who doesn’t want another bird band, right? I wanted to be a good steward and report the number. You know, so I could help the biologists with their research, I am sure they would want a report on that pelican; he was doing well in Seadrift, Texas dining at the cleaning table, staying healthy eating fish scraps.  I’m sure the consequences outweigh their need for me to extract the jewelry; therefore, I left the pelican and his bright shining ring, right where I saw him.  Man, I wanted that big ol’ band on my lanyard for next season.   The stories I could tell about that one.

Anyway, January fishing patterns were intact,  I believe things are early due to the mild winter.  The mild temperatures are producing springtime stringers  in February.  What I mean by that is we are seeing nice solid fish and a bunch of ‘em on the good weather days.  February is a tricky month to fish because the weather is constantly changing.  We are still getting fronts; some stall some make it through to the coast.  The good stable weather days are banner fish catching days.  And some cloudy, windy days can be good fish catching days also.  You have to be ready and willing to go grind.  We all know,  now is the time to catch a wall hanger trout.  The majority are caught wading, but don’t be discouraged if you are not a wade fisherman.  There are some guys who have caught their trophy from a boat.

Quick story, My dad didn’t have waders the other day and he doesn’t like to wade fish because he has knee replacements and it’s uncomfortable.   The redfish schools were shallow and out of his reach.  My crew were steadily catching them wading.  Thank Goodness, my Mowdy floats super shallow, so I waded back to the boat, lifted the power pole and pushed the 25 Mowdy right up to the school so he could catch his three.

Two things,  Guides do what it takes to get their customers on fish and wading this time of year pays big dividends.
No matter what your style of fishing is, we are willing and able to get you there.  We have plenty of openings this time of year and we can’t predict the weather, so if you want to be on a call list let us know and we can set you up on a trophy trout trip.  We are dedicated to fulfilling your passion of the outdoors and committed to your needs while you are with us.  Please call Scott to set up your next fishing trip. The Saltwater Lodge reservation line is: 361 – 785 – 3825.

Have a great month and come go fishing, Captain Jeff Larson 281 – 217 – 0399.

Great weather day; Red and Black Drum

Wade fishermen sight Casting to Redfish.

Eric Carr and guest of Midland enjoyed a recent trip to the jetties with Capt Ron Arlitt of Scales and Tales Guide Service. Several species of fish were caught including trout, sheepshead, black drum and redfish. Live shrimp along with sardines were used for bait.

Capt. Ron Arlitt
Scales and Tales Guide Service, LLC
www.scalesandtales.com

TTF flats minnows proved to be best during an afternoon casting & blasting session with Captain’s Harold and Ben Boudreaux. The Todd Carothers party enjoyed success with trout in the 25” class and a mix of reds while wade fishing over soft mud and grass on the windward shoreline of a back lake. The lures were rigged with 1/8 oz. heads while bouncing the TTF lures across the bay floor.
Bay Flats Lodge

Even though our portion of this winter’s arctic blasts appear to be minor in comparison to the rest of the nation, things have still managed to get quite cold around here on occasion.  The amount of cold that we’ve seen along the coastline of Texas has proven to be very advantageous for this season’s duck hunters, but a lot of coastal anglers may not have experienced the same level of cold weather success that the hunters have had.  Why?  One reason is simple, and that is that a lot of anglers probably opt for staying at home by the fireplace when the air and the water turn really cold this month and next.  But, naturally, that’s not the only reason.  A lot of coastal anglers are not able to fish much except on weekends, and that in itself can often turn out to be quite a gamble more times than not.  You can plan a “perfect” trip until you get tired of planning, but the odds are against you in having everything turn out in your favor when you actually get out on the water, especially during the winter months.  You can, however, plan for contingencies in the event you are out on your winter weekend fishing trip and are faced with certain situations.

If you happen to be fishing just prior to the arrival of the next big frontal passage, there is more than a good chance that you may have to deal with a somewhat aggressive wind blowing out of the south.  This is when you’ll need to be extremely careful when crossing large, open bays in order to position yourself within the confines of a protected shoreline.  Those of us here along the mid-coast region of Texas would commonly recognize just such places as being locations like Matagorda Island and San Jose Island, where mile upon seemingly endless mile of barrier island shoreline separates the local inland bay systems from the vastness of the Gulf of Mexico.  Over the years, these shorelines have given up innumerable prize trout and redfish catches, all the while offering coastal anglers the comfort and the protection they need when the south wind is pumping.  But what do you do when the wind stops blowing out of the south, and the north wind starts tearing the flags off of the flag poles?

You probably won’t find anyone (in their right mind, that is) who will recommend you attempt to ride out the onset of a “true-blue norther” as it rips across one of our big bays.  Doing so can be very dangerous, if not downright deadly.  If you wake up on the Saturday morning of your weekend trip and notice a strong cold front blowing through, it’s probably better not to get out on the water.  Wait and see how things look early on Sunday morning.  The north wind may calm down enough by then to allow you to be able to take advantage of some places containing deeper water and that can often offer some protection from a cold north wind.  Such locations in our neck of the woods would include places like the stretch of the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) between San Antonio Bay and West Matagorda Bay, the Victoria Barge Canal which starts near the town of Seadrift, the Colorado River that empties near the town of Matagorda, and occasionally the Army Hole which is situated out on Matagorda Island across Espiritu Santo Bay from the town of Port O’Connor.  Anglers will notice that the bay floor contour in these places will generally have a somewhat steep drop-off in spots.  Tossing a favorite bottom-hugging plastic bait directly up against the bank and then dragging it ever so slowly across that drop-off has proven to be quite effective on the fish more times than anyone can begin to imagine.

Of course, if you’re down for the weekend and everything happens to go “as planned”, meaning that you’ve managed to be on the water between fronts when there’s not much wind to speak of, the sun hen your options (all of a sudden) tend to multiply exponentially, even if you haven’t been fishing in several months.  The shell pads out in San Antonio Bay could experience some of the hottest trout action at any moment, and some of the slightly deeper drains and ditches connecting the back lakes out on Matagorda Island could begin to come alive with the very next falling tide.  And that’s just for starters, because when you have bays the size of San Antonio Bay, Espiritu Santo Bay, and West Matagorda Bay the possibilities become seemingly endless.

Remember to practice CPR, “Catch, Photo, and Release”, whenever possible on trophy Trout and Reds…Guide Chris Martin, Port O’Connor/Seadrift region. www.BayFlatsLodge.com …1-888-677-4868