West Bay San Luis Pass Area

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West Bay San Luis Pass Area

Post by TroutSupport.com »

Caught 12 trout to 25 inches and 2 mid slot reds.

Started out with bone one knocker fishing mud and shell near a sand bar. Had 5 strikes on the one knocker ... all missed. Nope not me, just the fact that a topwater does not have a 100% hook up ratio.. I think we all know that; especially this time of year, trout hit topwaters with an almost closed mouth trying to capture small forage in a closed lipped fashion. I switched over to the TSL and it was game on.. 5 misses with a topwater and then an immediate hook up with the Pink TSL. I did finally catch one trout on the one knocker as I love topwater blowups like the next guy. Went back to the TSL after that and especially with the midday sun coming on. Hit a south shoreline area with some slicks popping and it was game on. Ended with 12 trout to 25 inches (all CPR) and 2 mid slot reds.

Trout were where I found glass minnows and I saw a trout slick and new how to approach it.. just like the Limits DVD on how to work trout slicks. Also, it pays to park the kayak and use it like a boat sometimes.. get out of it and wade during the spring and fall when fishing for trout.. find an area with key sign and if you catch one trout park the yak on the shoreline and get out and wade it. This will have you fish higher percentage areas more thoroughly. The trick is knowing when to get in and when to cover water. That comes with knowledge from many sources and time on the water. I prefer to wade as I can control where i'm fishing much more. Approach to an area is also very important as well. These fish weren't far off the shoreline and had I been in the yak I'd have been in the boat right where they were. In the end one little stretch of shoreline produced 11 trout, mostly solid fish from 18 -23.. one that was just a hair over 25. Reds were nice mid slot fish.

I was working the bait in anywhere from thigh deep water to almost chest deep. I've found that fishing this area with the bait is best with a slow retrieve much like fishing a plastic worm for bass. But the fish were nailing it. I start with a slow pull with the rod and then at the top I add a couple twitches to make it walk then reel up the slack and repeat over and over. The fish were hitting it on the slow pull mostly and that was great because I could really feel them thump it hard.. I have video of several of the strikes and if I can get to it I'll slow down the speed of the clip to slow mo and you can literally see the rod vibrate with the thump. Very solid hits. The key with this bait, and all weedless rigged baits, is to no set immediately but instead reel down the line while pointing the rod at the fish, do this to take up slack out of the line, but don't let the fish feel the pressure.. you don't have to take up a lot of line.. just a couple of turns of the reel, then set the hook hard. As a note, I start with a tighter drag .. almost to where a 5lb trout could barely pull the line out if I couldn't back the drag off in time. With the drag tight and the slack out I set the hook sharply and hard. I've only very rarely had a 'skin tear-out' with a trout as the swimbait style hooks are setting mostly into bone and cartilage and not right beneath the skin. As soon as I set the hook I back off the drag. With this method my hook up ratio is in the 90%.. probably a little higher with redfish. This is the same hook up ratio I have with jig heads and topwaters. It works. Bone Diamond and Pink did the best. I did catch some on Chicken on a chain on Saturday .. half dozen fish on saturday on it as well.
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Last edited by TroutSupport.com on Thu May 10, 2018 2:47 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: West Bay San Luis Pass Are

Post by TroutSupport.com »

more pics
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Re: West Bay San Luis Pass Are

Post by TroutSupport.com »

last pic I'm working on putting all the clips togther.. but truth be told it's not the best capture I've done.. LOL. enjoy the stills.
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stuman
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Re: West Bay San Luis Pass Area

Post by stuman »

:clap: Nice Work Tobin! Your DVD's are the Bees Knees. I have been meaning to pick up a couple packs of your lures. Any retailers in the Houston area stocking them?

-Stuart
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screwston420
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Re: West Bay San Luis Pass Area

Post by screwston420 »

better off ordering from tobin hes quick with the orders
FishFreak
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Re: West Bay San Luis Pass Area

Post by FishFreak »

What time did the bite turn on?
CoachFlex
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Re: West Bay San Luis Pass Area

Post by CoachFlex »

Wow. Awesome info in this post!

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Re: West Bay San Luis Pass Area

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Actually this was a btter mid day bite. There was a morning Major that was lack luster with a couple fish, but I think it has more to do with that I finally found the fish. I had to hunt for them. The fish can't 'turn on' if there are no fish where one is casting ;-) I hit a 'spot' for my first wade and historically it's great this time of year.. had 4 blow ups there, even had a trout almost take the rod out of my hand with the one knocker and still didn't get a hook in it. Switch to Pink Grass Walker and immediate hook up. That was it for the first wade of the morning, they were pretty thin there. Hit another bar that also historically has had big fish, and it had more of what I was looking for... but only one fish. Finally hit the last area based on what I saw instead of hitting a 'spot' LOL.. even I have to go hunt them down sometimes.. move move move and move faster if it's not happening. yes you can do that to some extent with a kayak as well. Even walk in waders have the option, I know it's counter what our senses tell us to do, especially on the walk in wade, but I've gotten back in the truck and move a 1/4 mile and done loads better. By the time I got to the third spot it was 11 am and I waded it until 2. I went and checked a forth spot after the limit of trout and it was still happening at that spot.. caught a fish on the first cast but decided to leave them since I was taking a buddy in the morning. He and I started there and caught a half dozen trout. Really I'm doing nothing different than what's in the limits dvd from April to Nov.

in houston available at Anglers Anonymous in Katy. Ya'll call Buckees and tell them ya'll want them.. he's already approved them but he's stalling.. he's going to miss the window. Call Buckees corporate and Ask for Stacy Stewart. Call K6 Island Sports on the island too and ask for Karla. Tell your local shops you want them to carry it.
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