Trout Trip 10/29.

[karstopo]

Launched into one of the greater Jones Creek/Freeport estuaries at 13:00. Tide was I believe just turning to incoming. Water was a pretty clear green. Level was medium. Wind somewhat moderate from the south and east.

Right off I saw some finger sized mullet hugging a bank, but couldn’t find any predators chasing them. Later on after a little paddling I spied some commotion with bait going airborne near the surface out in a 5-6’ deep channel. I tossed a green moon saltwater assassin into the zone and got an immediate hookup on the fall.

That was the pattern. 1/16 ounce jighead, green moon assassin, let it fall and set the hook on the thump. After 3 fish, I moved to scouting for redfish, but never found any. Finished up back where I found the fish and decided to bag two more. Tried a white Ice DSL, but never got a hit. Only the Green moon assassin worked. Caught a 20” trout as my 6th fish and another 15” as my 7th, but those went back into the water. All seven fish were keepers. Gave up after that and came on in, looking for redfish in vain.

[karstopo]

Might have been the fastest catch to cook time ever for me. Really delicious.

I’m giving the rest of the fresh fillets to my folks tomorrow. They love trout, but don’t fish these days.

[Kayak Kid]

I enjoyed that short trip, kartopo, and the shared photos.

I happen to prefer the taste of specs over that of reds.

How bout sharing that recipe (if you don't have to kill me after having done so).

[karstopo]

https://www.food.com/recipe/mayonnaise- ... ish-213403

We love this recipe with trout.

[Kitsune]

Catch and Cook

[Ron Mc]

David, looks like you came out of hiding with the temperate weather.
Thanks for the report. There's a similar speckled trout recipe in Prudhomme's book.

[karstopo]

Feels great to fish again. Super nice to be on the water yesterday. Saw a few power boats mostly cruising, not much fishing I saw.

Cannot wait until the next trip maybe later this week when the wind dies down. Will be watching water levels to perhaps guide me as to where I go.

I think the next trout I get I’ll do it with a brown butter sauce and toasted pecans. Sort of a take on Trout amandine. Found a recipe already and foraged up enough pecans.

Got deer rifle opener Saturday and for once in a blue moon I’ll be in the woods, mostly as support for my kids and my dad, i. e. help clean any deer and possibly camp cooking duties.

If I get out to fish and get some fish Wednesday or Thursday, I know what I’ll cook at deer camp.

[OldTownYakBoi]

Glad to see you active on the forum again, I always enjoy your reports and perspective. I feel like certain times of year certain colors work better than others, interesting you couldn't get action on the white plastic. I'm like you, I prefer to hunt the redfish, but will settle for trout as well. I think my favorite part about trout fishing is once you get on them you can usually catch a number of them and they don't spook so easily as the mighty redfish. Now, having said that feeling the thump and rattle of a big trout on a corky is a whole other conversation. Thanks for posting

[karstopo]

These were bunched up fish so about as simple as fishing gets not having to move around constantly searching for individual fish. The fish were delicious and I had plenty to share with my folks. 16-18” trout are pretty perfect table fare.

The presentation was simple also, let it fall mostly and they’d hit it then. I don’t know if it was the action on the DSL or the color that prevented getting eats, I’m thinking more on action as the colors were very similar. I tried two identical DSL just to ensure I didn’t mess up with rigging, but neither one got a sniff. I tried a few casts with a borski slider, but no luck with that either.

Green moon SA has been a good color in the past. They aren’t very durable though.

[OldTownYakBoi]

I rarely keep a 15 in trout, my favorite size to keep is 17-20, they seem to really start to thicken up at this size, I'm going to bookmark that recipe and give it a try sometime. I never got into throwing the Assassins due to them being so soft, but my good buddy that fishes a lot of big trout tournaments throws nothing but a plum assassin and a pink skitter walk. Some of the best fisherman I know and have fished with keep it simple and don't change baits very much, the focus is much more on finding and reading the sign and presentation. I think presentation is more important than color most of the time. That's the cool part about seeing and fishing lights, it has taught me a lot. There are times you could throw paddle tails, jig rat tails, twitch a top water though a pile of fish and get 0 interest... Tie on a suspending bait and hang it in their face and a lot of times that's the ticket, the DOA shrimp is the perfect tool to sight cast to these kind of fish and I imagine a fly would do the same... One day I'll take on the challenge of fly fishing, I feel like i would need some lessons to get the most out of it.

[karstopo]

Fly tackle can be pretty good on speckled trout. When specks are clustered up in little guts in the fall and it is possible to stake out or set up where you want to cast to them then it can be a fish every cast type of deal. No reeling between casts, strip in a fish or the fly, pick up the line and make another cast, when it is like that fly tackle has an advantage over conventional tackle for speed and time making presentations in the zone. Flies tend to be pretty durable, some of them anyway, and more so than Saltwater Assassin paddle tails. Redfish crack tied with craft fur tails and EP fiber last longer than the hooks might. One of the reasons I got away from fishing and tying deer tail hair clousers is that deer tail hair isn’t very durable facing saltwater predator’s teeth. Borski sliders use spun and packed deer body hair and that holds up longer to the fish’s teeth than a few hairs laid out flat on a clouser style fly.

I enjoyed teaching myself to use and cast the fly gear, maybe that’s not for everyone. Finding the fish and understanding presentations is most of fishing and the fly gear is just another tool to make different sorts of presentations.