Rockport Reds - December 27, 2008

My friend MD called and asked whether I was available to accompany him and JBM on a a trip with the same fabled mid-coast guide I had fished with in mid-July of this year. I quickly cleared the calendar. We launched from GISP into Southerly winds blowing at 15 knots. The water temperature varied from the low to mid sixties. BM began throwing a topwater, while MD and the guide decided to start with Bass Assassins in Pumpkinseed/ Chartreuse. I opened with a pearl body / pink back Corky fatboy. The guide hooked up on his third cast and the rest of waded the first spot and caught a few rats. I caught and strung one keeper on a mossyback Corky Fatboy.

We moved West a bit and found a color change. Rather than throwing into the clear water, the guide instructed us to throw in the off-colored water. The bait swims into the off-color water ant the predators follow them. I threw a regular pearl Corky and the guide threw a regular glow Corky. With the 15-20 knot winds at my back the Corky flew a long way. The guide quickly caught three rat reds and then tied on a Bass Assassin in order to preserve his Corky. I caught another keeper red but lost him and my Corky when he rolled and the bait twisted free of the Norton twist lock. Oh well, I should go heavier than the #14 twistlock.

JBM, MD and the guide were frequently catching fish and I switched over to a tail. Unfortunately, I didn’t change the weights on my reel and backlashed. I cleared the backlash as I made my way back to the boat and switched out rods for a whippier tail rod. I caught two reds as I made my way back to the wading line, but the guide was catching three fish to our one. The guide cut my bait off my line and tied on a Bass Assassin 1/16 oz jighead with 2/0 hook rigged into the belly of the Pumpkin Seed/Chartreuse 5 inch Bass Assassin. That did the trick. I quickly caught three reds and the rout was on. The guide caught a nice five pound trout in addition to a dozen reds at that spot. Both MD and JBM caught near ten reds each.

We moved to one last spot where the water was more trout green. I switched to the the mossyback Corky fatboy and caught two reds and a 3.5 pound trout. The guide caught two 5 pound trout on a Bass Assassin 1/16 oz jighead with 2/0 hook rigged into the belly of a Plum 5 inch Bass Assassin.

Just as I learned a couple of things from the guide back in July, I learned a couple of new things. (1) In the winter, always target bait. All the pinfish move offshore leaving only mullet in the bays. If you find mullet, you’ll find fish.
(2) Also, the old saying “big bait equals big fish” isn’t necessarily so. A big baitfish is difficult for a gamefish to digest, so a smaller bait may work. In the winter, mullet are around and the size usually dictates that the predator eats a big bait. When a smaller bait is available, the predator may prefer it.
(3) In a strong wind, the bait fish will swim into the wind in order keep from bunching up. The predators will face the wind as well waiting on bait fish to pass by.”
(4) When fishing mouths of little lakes, reds and trout alike will stack outside of the mouth on a falling tide as bait fish are carried into the bay. On a rising tide, the reds will be inside the little lake but trout mostly will not follow the reds in as they find it difficult to feed on the bait back in the grass.”
(5) We caught far more reds than trout today because the water temperature was in the mid sixties. The colder the water temperature is, the more likely the trout fishing is better. Redfish seem to withdraw and the trout will hang over mud and shell.

Conditions: New moon, South Winds at 20MPH. - in advance of a cool front hitting at sunset. Water temp 64.6
Guide, JH, JBM, MD

Nautical Twilight 6:17 am
Civil Twilight 6:46 am
Sunrise 7:13 am
Moon Rise 07:26 am
Sunset 5:30 pm
Twilight 5:58 pm
Nautical Twilight 6:26 pm
Moon Set 05:47 pm
High Tide 7:15 pm 1.02 ft

Low Tide 10:27 am -0.48 ft
Inshore Fishing Forecast 9

New Moon Fish caught: Redfish, Trout
Baits: Bass Assassin in Pumpkinseed/ Chartruese, Bass Assassin in Plum, Topwaters, Corky Fatboy in Pearl/Pinkback, Corky Fatboy in Mossyback, Corky in Pearl

Currently Reading: Big Woods: The Hunting Stories by William Faulkner