COASTAL BEND FISHING

Reported by CAPT. RICHARD THOMPSON

Email Richard Thompson at RandKCoastalOutfitters@gmail.com

Online: RandKCoastalOutfitters.com

The Four Signs of Big Trout

LISTEN: (4 Min, 3 Sec)

I WANT YOU TO PICTURE this, sitting back and remembering some of the biggest trout you’ve ever seen, scrolling on your phone on some of your favorite fishing groups on social media, magazines, and on the bulletin boards at the marinas. What you will find is that most of the time the fisherman is wearing waders, jackets, beanies, and a huge smile on his/her face. This is because this time of the year is the best time to catch a huge Trout along the Texas Gulf Coast.

Most of your outdoorsmen are chasing their dream whitetail buck during this time of year. We saltwater anglers are preparing our quest and journey to find and search for our personal best Trout.

All summer long you have had shrimp, shad, crab, and all your bait fish hanging out, living it up in the back bays and marshes. Finally, the day has arrived, when the first big cold front blows through, that will pull all of this bait out of the back bays as your trout and redfish are staging an ambush to feast and take advantage of the “big drain.” Under these conditions, the back waters and marshes can lose a couple of feet of water in a few hours. Think about the amount of bait that is being funneled out at the mouth of these drains, literally setting up a feeding frenzy. You want to make sure you clear your calendar for this day as it kicks off your Fall to Winter patterns.

One year I was lucky enough that I had clients with me during this event and we truly hit the lottery. Everything lined up perfectly. As we had numerous double and triple hook ups, we literally lost count of five-pound trout that we caught, and a few that were pushing the eight-pound range. The few hours of catching these fish were epic, but being prepared to drop everything when these conditions line up is nearly impossible. However, it’s not an “old wives’ tale” but it is a real event and worth every sacrifice you have to make for this adrenaline packed couple of hours.

This is the beginning of the transition to wintertime patterns. As these fronts start rolling in more frequently, and water temperatures start dropping, your shrimp and pinfish move out of the bay system and it’s time to start keying on your critical signs and patterns.

For us there are four main signs that we look for during this time of year for catching a personal best trout, and they are the following:

The first sign is one of the most important, which will line up the remaining three signs: The bottom. The presence of shells in the mud and grass is the ideal bottom, as it warms up quicker when the sun comes out and it holds warmer water where your bait fish will congregate.

The second sign is mullet, as it they are the prime food source this time of the year. As the water temperature cools the mullet are not nearly as active. Just one flip of a mullet is a good sign that you have mullet in the area and, most likely, trout are not that far behind.

The third sign you have to key in on are your major and minor feeding times which will tie into your tidal movement. Trout typically will feed during these hours of the day, more so during a summer pattern where they will feed the entire day.

The final sign is deeper water access for these fish to seek refuge as the temperature drops during a front rolling through.

In the Port Aransas area, a great Wintertime Trout location that has all four of these signs is Estes Flats. We have pulled some beautiful Trout out of this area as the front has blown through and the fish are seeking the warmer water and looking into getting a great meal much like us during the much-desired Thanksgiving Turkey.

Come bundle up with us this Winter and let’s go chase that personal best Trout you’ve always wanted. We will hook you up!