The birds are working

 

“The fantastic fall fishing that everybody likes to do is on at Sabine Lake,” says Capt. Bill Watkins. “I have similar reports from my friends over in Trinity Bay. In East Galveston Bay anglers are catching 14-16 inch trout all day long.”

On a recent trip on Sabine Lake, Capt. Bill Watkins and party caught – by his estimate – 175  fish, keeping only 50. “The last 20 or so fish I caught, I caught on a lead head with no plastic on it,” said Watkins. “Fish have to be feeding and have to be thick for you to catch them on a bare lead head jig.

“There are fish on the flats, fish in the mouths of the bayous, fish out in the lake, and a few under the birds…kind of scattered all over, typical fall patterns. No big fish, not catching anything over four pounds. Most of my fish are running from 12 to 18 inches in length…just school fish.”

The flounder run is beginning, not the major migration as yet, but Watkins and clients are catching 1-6 flounder a day as a by-catch while fishing for trout. “When I start catching them when trout fishing, I know they are on the move.” There have been scattered limits along the channels and mouths of the bayous.

“We still have lots shrimp up the rivers and bayous. A lot of them are eyeballs and whiskers. Way back up in the marshes, 15 miles, there are some redfish with six and seven inch shrimp mixed in that have not left yet. Every new front should push more fish and shrimp out of the estuaries.”

Best baits: MirrOLure soft plastics. “The Little John has been my go-to in Opening Night and/or Motor Oil/red flake colors. We threw the Opening Night color a lot the last three days and it just worked and worked.” Opening Night is described as kind of a pale, purplish with a sparkle in it

Capt. Bill Watkins can be reached at 409-673-9211, 4097862018@sbcglobal.net, http://www.fishsabinelake.com