Spring Fling trip went well

The Rockport-Fulton Chamber of Commerce recently hosted the 26th annual Spring Fling and I was one of the guides.

Spring Fling is a gathering of various media personalities, outdoor writers, product manufacturers/distributors and local fishing guides who are invited to the area to showcase our fabulous bay fishing venue.

My group consisted of John Goodspeed, chairman of the board for the Texas Outdoor Writers Association; Mike Nischalke, Outdoor Communications; and Jim Van Gilder, Corrosion X. We anchored in a backlake shallow on San Jose Island.

We began free-lining shrimp and the fast incoming tide caused us to change over to Carolina Rigs to keep the bait in the hole. A couple of rods were put out with cut blue crab.

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About an hour into our adventure, Goodspeed was onto a hard hitting fish that stripped line from the reel on several runs away from the boat. Soon it rolled, revealing an upper slot-sized redfish with Goodspeed skillfully maneuvering the critter into the outstretched landing net.

Despite the excellent conditions, the bite was slow and the next fish in was a black drum caught by Nischalke.

Van Gilder had a handle on the hardhead catfish bringing in one after another earning the title of catfish king.

We fished for another couple of hours with a couple of additional redfish coming to net before we decided to drift Allyn’s Bight.

We covered the bulk of the north end with nary a taker.

We headed to clean fish and get ready for our farewell dinner feast hosted by the Chamber.

What’s happening in bays?

Spotted seatrout are coming in  for the spring spawn. Fair numbers have been reported on most flats and adjacent drops.

Soft plastics, top waters and natural baits have all worked well. Try Estes Flats, Little Flats, Super Flats and Steadman’s for some good action on trout with some redfish thrown in for good measure.

The best baits have been live shrimp under a popping cork, or your favorite artificial.

The Port Aransas jetties have been good for spotted seatrout and redfish, as well as flounder coming in from the drops along the channels. Black drum are plentiful in most fishable waters.

Today’s tip

I keep a supply of cable ties at home and on board the boat for when a quick fix opportunity arises.

Looking back on one such occasion, my fishing buddies and I went off a prop in deep water. We had a spare prop, but no retaining parts. We took enough cable ties to rig a spacer, put on the spare prop and use a spare cotter pin to finish the job. The cable ties held for the ride back at a slow speed and got us in without having to be towed. Next to duct tape, this is the best item to have in your emergency kit. You can pick up various sizes, which will work for most applications. They can be strung together for additional length if needed and each can be tightened to a small diameter. Some people use them to attach mullet, pinfish or ballyhoo to a hook thus leaving the business end of the hook completely exposed for unimpeded hookups.

This week’s hotspot

Hit the flats for spotted seatrout and redfish. Try drifting while bouncing your bait or lures in the pot-holes. Good luck everyone and stay safe out on the water.