It's been waaay too long since I last had to opportunity to fish. When the semester is rolling it's hard to find time to make the trip down south. The itch was getting unbearable, so I decided to go explore some new waters this morning.
I have been wanting to fish Copano Bay for a while so that's where I decided to head. I had eyed an area I really wanted to check out, but to my dismay as I pulled up to the long dirt road. which seemed too good to be true as far as launch spots go, I saw that it was gated and locked. Pull up Maps and find another launch near by, but not close enough to fish the area I had wanted. I was unloaded and ready to go by 7AM. The wind was ridiculously strong initially, so much so I debated finding a different launch because the shore was getting beat up pretty good. Fortunately, I launched anyways, and glad that I did because the wind had completely turned off by about 8 or 9.
With it being 80 degrees and sunny by noon, I was really stuck on finding some marshy area to try a little sight casting.. I did find the marsh, but the bait was nowhere to be found. I paddled a good mile and a half along a shoreline for the sake of trying to spook some bait to see whats around.
I have been wanting to fish Copano Bay for a while so that's where I decided to head. I had eyed an area I really wanted to check out, but to my dismay as I pulled up to the long dirt road. which seemed too good to be true as far as launch spots go, I saw that it was gated and locked. Pull up Maps and find another launch near by, but not close enough to fish the area I had wanted. I was unloaded and ready to go by 7AM. The wind was ridiculously strong initially, so much so I debated finding a different launch because the shore was getting beat up pretty good. Fortunately, I launched anyways, and glad that I did because the wind had completely turned off by about 8 or 9.
With it being 80 degrees and sunny by noon, I was really stuck on finding some marshy area to try a little sight casting.. I did find the marsh, but the bait was nowhere to be found. I paddled a good mile and a half along a shoreline for the sake of trying to spook some bait to see whats around.
After paddling about 2 miles I find a drain going back into a marsh. I worked this drain pretty good with soft plastics and a spoon with no success. I noticed the tide beginning to move out pretty quick so I break out the cast net and nab a few finger mullet. Of the 3 or 4 I managed to find, each resulted in a crab. They were everywhere, they would drag it off within minutes of hitting the water. A small jon boat went by coming out of the back lake and said it was dead back there. Decided to head back out and fish where the drain was emptying, managed a small trout.
Spent the rest of my time on the water scouting, fishing some shorelines, shell, pilelings, mud flats but not so much as a bump. I really thought that the reds would come up shallow with the sun being out, it's also a possibility that they eventually did. The morning started out overcast, hindsight I should have let the back lakes warm up before going back there. Saw several boats, including the one in the back of the marsh, nobody had caught anything so at least it wasn't just me. For not having been on the water since august, couldn't have asked for a better day besides the slow fishing. Weather was as perfect as can be and got to do some exploring. Note to self: 4 months of not fishing is 4 months too long.