Sabine Lake fly and conventional tackle fishing reports & photos

Major thunder storms in the AM

2011-07-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

Doug Taber and his sons booked a trip for Tuesday morning a week ahead of time . At the time the forecast called for light winds and a 20% chance of rain. The day they drove in from Dallas the forecast went to 60% with heavy Tstorms and lightning. For once the weather man got it right. 6:00Am saw really bad storms invade our area. We called it off until 8:00Am as the cells were moving towards Houston. We still stayed close to home most of the day in case the cells redeveloped. Apparently the fish didn't like the storms either as we struggled all day. We did catch a few under sized fish but it was mostly casting practice the majority of the day. I made a complete circle around Sabine lake and never saw any signs of feeding activity. The only sign was when we 1st hit the lake at 8:20Am with gulls working the east pass area. As soon as we got with in casting distance the birds and fish disappeared, we didn't get a single strike!

The end of the day ended with 2 nice slot sized Red fish taken on a popping cork and Texas roach shad tail. The saying is " A bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work", well if your a guide this doesn't apply but it goes with the territory. Some days you win some days you loose, that's why they call it fishing!

The bite will improve no doubt as the conditions improve.

Tight lines, Mike

Hot conditions and Trout Green water, Oh Yeah !

2011-07-03T19:34:00.000-07:00

James Smith called a day ahead of time to see if I had an opening for this weekend to fish. Saturday was wide open so we left the dock at 6:00am with his wife Heather. The forecast called for light winds and hot temperatures. We thought we would get an early start and be back before the sun got to hot, that didn't happen. The tide was bottomed out when we left the dock but the forecast said it should be moving back in soon, that didn't happen either. We struggled early on but managed some small trout to break the casting practice and a few gafftop catfish to boot.

We moved around the upper part of the lake and found tons of bait along the Louisiana shore line but still no keeper sized fish.Finally at 12:30pm with just 2 keeper trout in the box we found the fish as the tide started moving back in. The South end of the lake was full of beautiful trout green water. We spotted a few birds and soon saw shrimp skipping across the surface fleeing the nice keeper sized trout below. We had 2 limits of 17 inch trout by 2:00Pm but stayed a while longer and tried to box some Red fish to round out the day. We only managed one slot sized Red but caught and released more keeper trout. James got out his fly rod and tied a nice fly on that his daughter had tied for him a few days before. It wasn't long before a healthy keeper trout ate the fly and made our day. The bigger fish seemed to like a Storm wild eyes shad under a popping cork but Texas roach and glow /Chrt. shad tails caught fish to. A silver Hogan AR is what the Red bit.Heather was a trooper and tuffed out the heat with us. She caught so many fish she had a blister on her cranking hand finger. I've worn out a thumb bass fishing but she one upped me his time.

We all had a great time on the water just remember to bring twice the water you think you might need. On another note your Louisiana fishing lic. expired July the 1st so it's time to renew, here's the link for online sales I use. https://www2.la.wildlifelicense.com/start.php?Licensing=1

Tight lines, Capt. Michael Rector

The winds have subsided and the fishing is great !

2011-06-05T21:00:00.001-07:00

Well the pattern has played out true again this year. It seems the pattern for several years now has been, after Memorial day the high winds lay and we get into a more favorable light wind pattern for the rest of the summer. Well it was true again. Saturday was beautiful and the high winds of the last 3 months subsided. Preston and I made a scouting trip out this weekend. As we cleared the mother rig at East pass we found gulls working over shrimp about a mile South. There were several flocks working so we ran to the ones that didn't have any boats on them, there was plenty to choose from. The 1st cast netted Speckled trout, a lot were under sized but we did find bigger trout under them using a bigger soft plastic tout tail. We only fished about 2 hrs. and the catching and releasing was steady. The bigger trout were in the 17" range but we did land a few closer to 20". I tried to see if there were any Red fish under the trout with a HoganAR but I could only catch bigger sand trout and 2 croakers. The Sandie's were a nice eating size but the croakers were smaller. So where were the Reds? Beats me but another boat I was near said they had seen a few mixed in with the Specks but they weren't in our area in numbers. I'm sure they were around but maybe with another school of trout.

Any way the fishing is wide open and the fish seem to be working all over the lake. Soft plastic is the most popular bait but top waters and crank baits are working to.

Give me a shout if you want to take advantage of the good bite and conditions!

Capt. Michael Rector, http://rectorsguideservice.com/

Sunny Blue Bird Day

2011-05-15T17:28:00.000-07:00

The wind hasn't given me a break over the past month and a half. It seems every time I get a chance to fish the wind's blowing 20 mph out of the North or South. Preston has been after me to take him fishing for a while so I decided to give it a shot today after church. North wind still blowing with Blue bird sky's and a very low tide weren't my idea of ideal conditions but we went any way. I had flown over the lake Friday with my brother and noticed Coffee ground cove was very clear with clouds of bait easily seen from above, so that's where we headed. The corner of East pass was kind of protecting us from the wind so the casting was easy and the water was still clear with lots of small shad swimming about.We fished for about 2-1/2 hrs. but the bite just wasn't on. We managed a big Gafftop catfish and one nice slot sized Red and missed a few short strikes. The popping cork with Texas Roach soft plastic was what got bit. Preston and I threw some other baits but the popping cork proved it's self again.

A word of caution. Preston and I wade fished a short time in knee deep water and saw several small Sting Rays as we moved along. I guess they were about 8" across. Even being small they can inflict a painful sting if you step on one. My advice is to do what we call the Sting Ray shuffle. Just drag your feet across the bottom as you move along,if you cross a ray it will swim away when you bump it. When you step in the middle of one is when you get popped!

If the wind lays the fishing has been good all over the lake on most any bait you have confidence in,how ever I did observe from the air Friday the Louisiana shore line at Willow bayou on down to the Causeway was muddy. The West side of the lake was clear from Pleasure Island marina on up to the North end.

Hope this helps, Capt. Michael Rector

2011-03-10T17:59:00.000-08:00

3/10/11 High Barometer,Low water, Tuff conditions

I fished a party of three today.We

we were one of 4 boats in the group fishing trip. We knew the conditions were going to be ruff but Steve,Lester and Richard gave it their best shot and came up with a nice box of fish by the end of the day.The trout were scattered but still were willing to bite if you got your bait in front of them. We took a break from the wind and ran up river to fish the cuts feeding the marsh flats. We picked up trout and Flounder and managed to stay out of the wind for a while. Around noon the wind had decreased some what so we ran back out to the lake and drifted 4 foot of water fishing Texas Roach shad tails on 1/4oz. jig heads. We picked up more trout and Richard boated another nice Flounder. we only had one Rat Red today but some of the other boats in the party had 2 limits of larger slot sized fish. If you don't own a drift sock you need to get one if you try to fish on days like today.By slowing down your drift speed you can make a more through coverage of the water your trying to fish that equals more fish in the boat. The best colors were Texas Roach and Chicken on a chain shad tails. The popping cork I love so much didn't pay off today either? The fish were up in the water column but didn't like the presentation. The fishing is heating up, don't miss out on a good bite, Go Fish!

Tight lines, Capt. Michael Rectorhttp://rectorsguidesrvice.com/

2011-03-05T11:20:00.000-08:00

3/2/11 Beautiful Day on Sabine lake

I got a call from Dan Oko inquiring about the upper coast of Texas , specifically the Sabine lake area last week. He was writing a story for Texas Highways Magazine to high light what the area had to offer in terms of what to see and do.

I was thrilled he wanted to fish and get an insiders view of the our area. The bite was slow to say the least from daylight until 10:30 AM. The tide wasn't moving then but was starting to move later in the day. The Red fish started doing their thing right on time . The 1st fish weren't real aggressive but shortly after they showed their real colors and gave Dan a good fight with aggressive strikes. I attribute feeling the 1st subtle strikes to the combination of a CastAway graphite rod and PowerPro braided line, the sensitivity is unreal.Dan had brought his photographer Ben Desoto along to document the days activities thru the eye's of his camera. I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished shots he took during the day. I learned several things during the day just watching how he used camera angles and lenses to get up close to the action.

We had 7 Reds in the boat and 6 of them would keep. The Specks were camera shy and never showed them selves. I new of a spot where the Flounder should be this time of the year so we ran over to the marsh where the tide was falling out off the flats. Sure enough we barely got the trolling motor down when small shad were basted into the air right off the shore line. One cast and Dan had a nice 15" Flounder on the way to the boat. We picked up 3 Flounder from that spot, 2 of them would keep.

All in all we had a great day on the water with good weather ,fair winds and hungry fish. Dan and Ben were hungry so we stopped by Peggy's on the bayou for Po Boys and Burgers on the way back to the boat launch.

All except one of the Reds we caught ate Chicken on a chain sea shads pinned on a 1/4 oz.jig head. The other came off a Pumpkin/Chrt. assassin under a popping cork.

I threw many different baits, top waters, crank baits, several colors of plastic but they only liked the Chicken color. All the Flounder liked the Chicken color to. When I cleaned the fish I found they were feeding on small crabs the size of a dime, dark back & white belly.The chicken on a chain must look like the crabs in the fishes eyes. I wonder if we would have done better trimming down the size of the sea shads to match the hatch?

All in all Dan was pleased with the fishing and what the area has to offer. His dead line for the article is March 10th . Hopefully we will get to see our area high lighted in the pages of Texas Highways magazine in the near future.

Tight lines, Capt. Michael Rector

http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2010-10-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

10/16/2010

Very week tide and a very early bite.

Preston and I were fishing for Flounder to donate to TP&W today for the Sabine Flounder round up.

We were very disappointed that the tide was moving at a snails pace and never had a Flounder on in 5 hours of fishing. We were very happy to find schooling fish at the 1st stop. The gulls were wheeling and screeching with joy as the trout and reds were pushing shrimp to the surface. Most of the trout were small but Preston had a Strike King Red fish magic spinner bait on and that's just what Mr. big Red wanted. After a lengthily battle Preston landed a 27" 7 -1/4 pound Red beauty. The sun had just got above the horizon which made the red that much more colorful.

We boated a few more fish before the birds left and got back to trying to catch a Flounder.

I guess we should have stayed with the schooling fish but we want the Flounder stocking program in Sabine lake to be a success so we left.

Glow/ chrt shad tails and HoganAR's are what we caught fish on. The bite was very early as we never really saw much activity all day. Preston had a soccer game at 12 noon so we only fished until 11:20am.The afternoon bite may have been much better as the tide fell but we had other things to do.
Tight lines, Capt. Michael Rector

2010-09-06T17:55:00.000-07:00

Don McMurry

.....................

Bill Heugel
Marsh to the lake, fishing was tuff
But we got it done!

Bill Heugel and Don McMurry booked 2 days with me this past week, the bite had been good most of the summer so we gave it a shot, one day in Bessie Heights and one day on lake Sabine. I pre fished the marsh the day before and saw good numbers of Reds and clear water.Dickie Colburn said they struggled in the lake a few days before but I thought the bite would come back by Friday. There was an abnormally high tide Thursday as we headed to the marsh, even higher than the day before. We didn't see the numbers of fish I had seen the day before but Don and Bill did manage to put a few fish in the boat, keep in mind that they only use fly fishing tackle so the odds are in the fishes favor from the start.
Friday the tide was even higher than Thursday and the N/E wind was blowing a good clip unlike the weather forecast had led us to believe. Fortunately Coffee ground cove was protected enough Don and Bill could use their fly rods. I had several blowup's with conventional tackle but just couldn't make contact with the hooks. Don and Bill had a few blowup's also but the fish just weren't hungry.We had bait all over us and the water was the clearest I've seen in a very long time but the fish just had lock jaw. We moved around working our way South. Bill boated a trout and I stuck a few keeper Flounder. The wind kicked back up so much the fly rods were useless so we ran back to the North side where Bill set a new fly fishing record for my boat. He landed and released 3 Needle fish with the fly rod, possibly a Sabine lake record?
I managed a few Trout and a nice Red fish so we did have fish to eat at the end of the day.
The fishing was tuff but the sun was really ruff. I think we drank 18 bottles of water along with a few sodas that day.It was good to fish with seasoned anglers and renew old friendships.I fished the old tried and true DOA popping cork rig attached to a Browns Red glitter devil eye threaded on a 1/4 oz lead head. I was using a CastAway 7' Skeleton light spinning rod which allowed me to make very long cast and cover a lot of ground and put the bait in front of more potential strikes.
Tight lines, Mike

2010-08-07T18:58:00.000-07:00

8/7/2010

Finally something new !

Preston and I have fished a few times lately but had nothing to really report. Most times we fished the wind kept us from fishing where we wanted, that wasn't the case today for the most part.

We fished the annual O.C.A.R.C tournament today in hopes of catching a 27 inch Red.

27 inches is the maximum length of Red fish that can be weighed in. This really tightens up the contest at the scales. We caught red fish most of the day with a few nice 16 to 18 inch Speckled trout mixed in. I came really close to a tournament sized Red fish but it was 1/4 inch to long, it weighed 7LB. and that is usually in the money but no dice today. Preston caught several keeper Reds today but nothing close to a weighing sized one. There were many small rat Reds working schools of shad with some of their bigger relatives. Preston had a nice multi. spot rat pictured above. The water was beautiful all over the lake but the best water was on the North end and that was where the bait and fish were. We never caught a fish South of the Rainbow bridge.

All in all we had a great day. we didn't keep fish but if we had we would have had 4 limits of Reds and 8 keeper trout. Hoganars did a number on the Reds with spinner baits and soft plastic under a popping cork coming in 2nd. glo/chrt. shad tails, Red glitter Browns Devil eyes and electric chicken spinner baits were the colors we used.

Hopefully I will have more time to post reports in the near future.

Tight lines, capt. Michael Rector

2010-05-31T18:49:00.000-07:00

5-31-10
Memorial day in the marsh
Preston and I made a quick run in the marsh this afternoon on a scouting trip.
The flats were quiet with some bait moving but no predators working. The water clarity was fair at best with some pockets of cleaner water here and there. The moss is growing in some places but there are still large areas with just a mud bottom. Preston missed one Red that was after his Ribbit frog and broke off another one fishing a curl tail and legged lizard.I thought we did fairly good for only 2 hours on the water. The water was to murky to sight cast and the wind was giving us a hard time so all Preston did was blind cast the key points of the grass line and pockets. If we had spent the day we may have done fairly well but we were just looking at conditions this evening. Hopefully next weekend we can spend more time on the flats.
Tight lines, Capt. Michael Rector
http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2010-05-29T18:09:00.000-07:00

Saturday 5/29/10

The boys had a great day on the water!

Dennis Moore and his son Trace wanted to spend some quality time on the water this Memorial weekend. My son Preston is the same age as Trace so we all went out to look for Specks and Reds. We struggled at first as the moon was full and bright with a falling tide at night. The fish probably fed all night and weren't hungry at 1st light. We managed a few gafftops and small trout.

I figured if things were going to pick up it would be around noon, I was right. The tide was coming in strong and the bite was on. The trout and reds started busting shrimp all around the boat. We caught fish on DOA glow/chrt shad tails under popping corks, chrome/blue rattle traps and the always reliable HoganAr's. Naturally the reds liked the hoganar but the rattle trap boated some nice trout also.We had to leave at 2:00pm while the trout and reds were still working but we did have 11 trout that were most all 16 to 18 inches and 3 slot sized reds.

The best water clarity was in the mid lake area on the N/W side. The LA shore line was muddy from one end to the other and the reef area was muddy also.

We all had a great day, hope to see Dennis and Trace again soon.

Tight lines :) Capt. Michael Rector http://rectorsguideservice.com

2010-03-05T09:24:00.000-08:00

3/5/2010
Great time at the Holder show.
It's not to late to get over to the George brown convention center in Houston.
The Holder outdoors show will be going on until Sunday.
CastAway rods has a booth set up with some really sweet deals on the entire line of rods they make. I found several HG40 graphite Skeleton series rods " Coastal wader special" Marked at $120 normally they go for $145 to $150.
They also had a new model rod out that was 8' long and weighed and amazing 3 OZ.! The should be available to the public next month.
It was great to hear all the anglers that came by the booth to say how many CastAway rods they had and how well they hold up. I had several anglers tell me they had several rods that were 10 to 15 years old and still going strong. Customer satisfaction and their loyalty is what CastAway is all about. Being located in Montgomery Texas is a big plus, by just being able to drive to or call the place they are mfg. and speak with the staff if you need a repair or adjustment that the store you bought it from doesn't want to work with you.
Any way, if you have time stop by and talk to the people that make the product, they are a wealth of knowledge and very easy to talk to.
The fishing on Sabine lake has been hit and miss as of late but a few die hard anglers are still catching Specks, Reds and Flounder. As the season starts to warm up the fishing will only get better.
Tight lines, Mike
www.rectorsguideservice.com

2010-02-07T16:04:00.000-08:00

2/7/2010

Cold Water Reds

The weather was beautiful this morning as I drove to church. I just knew as the sun warmed the shallows the Trout and Reds would be moving up on the flats about the time services were over.

I had to stop by my Dad's after church for about an hour and then made the mad dash to get the boat in the water and out into the lake. As I was launching the boat the sun started to get dim as an over cast was moving in and the East wind was picking up. Preston and I made a run for the Louisiana shore line in hopes of catching at least the end of a bite.

It wasn't 10 min. before Preston hooked up with a Rat Red in 2 foot of water. The little Red ate a Browns Big eye soft plastic. That bait had produced well for me all summer long and now it's still earning it's place in the boat. We must have just caught the end of a bite because it was the only bite we had for the next 2 hours. The wind got stronger and the sun got dimmer. We fished all the way down to Madam Johnson bayou but never found any mullet activity. The water had good visibility from Bridge bayou all the way to Madam Johnson but no bait showing with a surface temperature of 52F. I fished a Catch 5 and soft plastic to no avail. Preston One and Dad Zero! Thank God for Red fish, I was thrilled Preston caught some thing and we had a good time. Looks like the Reds are going to be back in good numbers this year. I'm looking forward to a great season, and Lot's of time on the water cause the house repairs are done!

Either way it was good to get back on the water with my son.

Tight lines, Mike

2010-01-09T11:20:00.000-08:00

1/9/2010

Freezing temps. roll in with the new year.

Well the new year has started and the cold weather has moved in. I finished blowing insulation in the attic last week end. The new additions to the house from hurricane IKE only had sheet rock ceilings with nothing else. This is the last phase except for very minor items needed to complete the house after the storm. I got it installed none to soon as the temperatures dipped into the upper teens last night. The boat slip behind the house was iced over to our surprise this morning. Preston like any 11 year old boy couldn't stand it and had to get the Kayak and go Ice Yaking. There was no way I was going to give this a try,even though I had been scuba diving in January in my younger years. Thick wet suits were used then, now dry suits are the norm.

Sabine lake had been producing some nice 7 and 8 LB. trout prior to all this clod weather moving in. The shallow flats near deeper water were holding fish later in the day as the water warmed. Bigger suspending mullet patterns, Corkys, Catch 5's, K2000's and Corky Devils. The Red fish are still in the lake and taking soft plastic and the suspending baits also.

I should be able to dedicate more time to fishing this year baring any major weather events.

CastAway rods will have a booth at the Houston Boat show"January" and the Holder show at the George Brown convention center in Houston"March". Stop by and check out what they have to offer. They usually have a good show price special on their products and are happy to answer any questions you have about their products.

Tight lines to you and wishing everyone a happy new year,

Mike

2009-11-19T15:06:00.000-08:00

11/19/2009

Sabine lake still producing

Even with the enormous amount of run off we got from Toledo bend dam the lake is recovering quickly. From East pass to the Neches river the water looked good, from there to mid way of the North revetment wall it was sandy, from there on it was chocolate milk.

The birds were working at day light from mid way of the lake up to the North end. Specks and Reds were feeding on shrimp.

Bill Heugel and Don McMurry fished their fly rods most of the day and had steady action from the many Specks working shrimp. Don fished a spinning rod for a while to put some fish in the box but went back to the long rod after we had a mess to keep. They landed several nice keepers on the long rods but the smaller flies drew much attention to the multitude of 14-1/2" trout. It had been almost a year to the day when they last fished with me, last year they had horrible conditions as a strong front was blowing through, but not so today.

The best conventional tackle was soft plastic, clear body with red and black glitter and a Chart. tail under a DOA popping cork. Flies in chart and white got bit all day.

We ended a beautiful day with 11 keeper trout to 1-1/2lb. and 2 nice upper end slot Red fish.

The weather and fishing were great and the company was better, it doesn't get much better than that.

Tight lines, Mike

2009-10-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

10/28/2009

Just a quick note, I had a coworker email me some pictures of his friend that came from the Sabine jetty's this past week end. Looks like the Bull Reds are doing their thing . October is the best time of the year if you want to catch a really big Red fish. Look for this activity to continue for another week or Two. The full moon and a high tide like we have been having as of late really turns on the spawning activity. This bite won't last for ever so if you want to go now is the time.

Tight lines, Mike

2009-10-25T18:28:00.000-07:00

10/24/2009

No wind for a change !

Dell and Arlend came in from California this week to visit with friends and to sample what Sabine lake had to offer. Well I think it's safe to say they were impressed with the abundant supply of Red fish and Speckled trout Sabine lake had to offer. They had a ruff day Friday fishing in the wind with another guide friend of mine in the big waves but they still caught fish.

Saturday the weather was totally different. Clearing Sky's and a very light Easterly wind with a low of 52F. The ride out was a bit cool but pleasant. When we reached the lake we saw smooth water and Gulls working as far as we could see in most all directions. Reds,Specks and Sand trout working shrimp on the surface made for a thrilling start to the day. We found many trout just under the legal size but we moved out and south in the lake and found some that would keep. The Red fish made their selves known after 10:00am with a few over sized ones making an appearance and testing our tackle. Arlend "on the Left" boated this beautiful 10 pound 30inch Red using a popping cork with a swim bait 24"under it. In the center is me with a 32 inch 12 pounder that ate a Hoganar bounced off the bottom. Dell "Right" boated this 22" 5-1/2 lb. Red using a Brown's big eye under a popping cork. We could have easily had 4 limits of Reds today.

We finished the day with a nice mess of Specks, Sand trout to 15" and a 2 man limit of slot Red fish.

The bite is on right now so if you want to catch more than you fish during the day give me a call to book a trip.

Tight lines, Mike

2009-10-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

10/17/2009
Conditions looked bad but the out come was great !
A front blew in on Friday, the wind and fishing was bad on Saturday. Sunday didn't look to be any better at day light but as we rounded the corner of East pass into Sabine lake Paul, Ray and my self saw birds working all over the North end of the lake.The wind was from the North so that helped some to keep it from being not as ruff as it could have been. The only problem was most of the fish were under sized by 1/4". We worked our way South and found some keeper sized Trout and birds working in the white capped waves. It was a struggle just to keep from falling out of the boat much less casting and landing fish. I ask Ray to get up on the bow with me but he refused for fear of falling out, Paul was happy in the back of the boat this time.
We fished all day catching many Trout and Reds. Around 2:45pm. the wind began to lay and the bite got really hot. Reds, Specks and big Sand trout were all over out Rattle traps and Hoganar's. Soft plastic in Bone diamond and pumpkin Chrt. assassins put fish in the boat also but the traps and hogans were steadily bit. We ended the day with 15 keeper Specks, 15 Sand trout up to 15inches and two limits of Red fish up to 23 inches. Our rattle Traps got bit so much most of the chrome and Blue paint is missing. I thought it was cool to feel the Trout bumping our lures as they fell through the water column, fishing with a Titanium CastAway rod and braided line really puts you in contact with what's going on down below and will put more fish in the boat at the end of the day. It just goes to show you, if you don't go you'll never know.
I have Two trips booked for this coming week end. Hopefully the bite will be as good or better, I just hope the wind isn't as bad.
I would have posted pictures but I managed top leave the camera safe and sound on the shelf right by my fishing clothes.
Tight lines, Mike
http://rectorsguideservice.com
http://castawayrods.com

2009-09-20T14:42:00.000-07:00

Red Fish Still The Main Ticket

I had the fortunate opportunity to introduce a young man to the salt water scene Saturday. John Parsons Jr. "JD" had only fished fresh water so far and wanted to see what a Red fish had to offer compared to a Bass, well I think he's got the Red fish bug now!

The day started off with a heavy fog and a N/W wind before 1st light but the wind was still light enough to allow us to fish where I wanted to. I started "JD" off with a bone/chrome she dog working along a grass line on the North end of the lake. It wasn't long before JD had his 1st ever Red fish blow up on the she dog. He made a good hook set and a determined battle ensued. When it was over we slipped the nice sized slot Red into the boat and JD was grinning from ear to ear, " Man these things fight! " he exclaimed. The weather wasn't looking any better and the tide was almost bottomed out as we ran further South to fish some submerged grass in hopes of another Red and maybe some trout. We managed a few small trout but the Reds weren't doing their thing so we went looking some more. We fished around waiting for the tide to start coming back in. JD also got to see why we call gafftops "slime monsters" still he was impressed with how hard a 5 lb. salt water cat can pull. We wound up on the South end of the lake near Blue Buck point when the tide finally got right, about 1:30pm and the bite was on. The lake had slicked off and we could see Reds and Trout chasing shrimp on the surface. We switched to glow/ Chartreuse shad tails and had a blast catching fish on most every cast some times. I took the picture above of the Two Reds we had hooked up at the same time. The water was trout green with an easy 2 to 3 foot visibility. We actually saw several of the fish swim up and eat our plastic. JD didn't want a chest full of fish so we only kept a few for the grill, we easily would have had 4 limits of slot Reds but we only caught a few Specks that would keep. I think it's safe to say JD will be back for more in the near future as he has a new found admiration for the hard fighting Reds of Sabine lake. I caught one nice keeper Flounder today early on fishing soft plastic under a popping cork in shallow water along a grass line. We weren't targeting them but it was nice to see a keeper sized fish in one of my old Flounder spots I used to always fish.

If you've been thinking of booking a fishing trip to Sabine lake now is the time to go if you want to catch a mess of Reds.

Tight lines, Mike

http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2009-08-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

Red Fish Steal The Show !

We had one heck of a day on Sabine lake today. We left the dock before day light and had a beautiful ride out to the lake under a full moon shining in a star filled sky.

The bite a 1st light was disappointing to say the least but the day was just starting. Around 8:00am we were working a shore line on the North end of the lake with top waters and soft plastic, then just like turning on a light switch the Red fish bite was on. At one point in time We had 3 fish on! By 9:00 am we had a 2 man limit of Reds in the cooler and were still catching solid slot sized Reds. The other boat in the party was very near their 2 man limit of Reds along with 4 keeper trout. We fished a Father and Son trip today with the Dads in my boat and the Sons in the other. Terry and Mike fished with me and Dickie had the sons Jacob and Colby. We started to target Trout as we were limited out on Reds. We still caught a lot more slot Reds but the keeper Trout were few and far between. There were tons of 14 inch trout caught today but only a few would keep. Soft plastic on lead or under a popping cork , Glow/ Chrt shad tails, Mr. Browns Chart, green Devil eye lures worked best for us on the trout. As far as the Reds went Bone/chrome she dogs, Chrome rattle traps, the Devil eye plastic and Glo/chrt. shad tails worked for us.

Tight lines, Mike

2009-08-04T20:28:00.000-07:00

Lots of fish weighed in at O.C.A.R.C tournament.
Preston and I fished most of the day 8/1/09 but couldn't get any weighing sized fish in the boat. We had a great early morning bite with several solid keeper sized trout but the 26 to 27 inch Red fish we were looking for weren't there. The wind kicked up around 9:00am to a 15 mph blow and pretty much ruined the rest of the day for us. I like to fish artificial and know using bait would make a windy day more productive but I'm just not a bait soaker, no offence intended.
The weigh in saw more reds weighed in than ever before in the 22 years its been going on. 7 1/2 lb. took 1st 71/4 was 2nd and 7 lb even got 3rd. Big speck was 6 1/4 lb.
I think 360 anglers were entered and only 10 short of last year.
The fishing is great right now on lake Sabine when the wind allows you access. Specks and Reds with a few nice Flounder to boot being caught on a regular basis. Top waters, soft plastic are taking most of the fish along with live bait. I'll down load a picture of a red Preston caught Saturday in the next day or so. We are moving back into the house finally! and I'm kind of strung out the past few days..
Tight lines, Mike

2009-07-26T21:32:00.000-07:00

Another Hot Day On The Water 7/25/2009

I fished with Jimmy Carrow today and got a lot of laughs out of him. Jimmy's sense of humour isn't what you run across on a daily basis. The bite was almost non existent the 1st half of the day for us as the tide was nearly bottomed out when we left the dock. We managed a few small trout and gafftops but just couldn't find any thing going on from one end of the lake to the other. Jimmy was discouraged but I insisted if we hung in there the bite would turn on after the tide started moving back in.I did manage one nice 4 lb. trout around 11:30am but it was the only one around. After pictures we released her back to hopefully spawn again and keep her superior genes in the pool.Around noon we picked up two nice reds along a grassy shore line that had a lot of bait working along the edges. Shortly there after a few Terns started working an area of the lake near by and the bite was on. I landed another nice slot red and keeper trout. Jimmy all the while is only catching small trout and gafftops. Finally Jimmy stuck a solid fish and the drag started squalling. After a few trips around the boat we landed a nice 27" Red that went 6lb. We finished the day with a limit of Reds and a few keeper trout.Glow /Chrt shad tails under a popping cork worked for us.

While fishing earlier in the day, I traded rods with Jimmy and he immediately started casting up into the marsh cane. He exclaimed"whats going on I'm casting like I've been doing all day and now I'm casting 20 foot more with the same effort"? The difference was the rod. He was now using a CastAway HG40 Titanium graphite rod. You can catch a fish on any rod but with a really good rod casting more distance with less effort will put more fish in the boat at the end of the day most every time.

Tight lines, Mike

2009-07-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

I got to fish two party's this month so far. The house is almost complete and I'm ready to get back to fishing. The bite has been great the last month as the wind has laid down and the Trout and Reds are easy to find feeding on the surface. The catch to keep ratio isn't that great some times but there are some nice keepers mixed in with the small fish. Soft plastics under a popping cork is the only thing you need right now. Glow/Chartreuse D.O.A. shad tails on 1/4 lead heads are what's doing the best for me. When Carroll and Tom fished with me we had the privilege of seeing several Dolphins heading South from Pleasure island marina across the calm lake waters. It's kind of awe inspiring to see these beautiful creatures effortlessly move through the water column.

Don't forget the annual O.C.A.R.C tournament is coming up the 1st weekend in August. $25 gets you a shot at $250 for the biggest Red, Trout, and Bass. There are 3 paying places in most categories. CastAway has donated two nice graphite rods to be raffled off for $1 a chance during the event.

Tight lines, Mike

2009-04-21T18:58:00.000-07:00

Finally getting contractors started on repairs.

If you want to fish I'm still available. The season hasn't really kicked off on the flats yet and Sabine lake is a big mud hole right now. But some nice Flounder are being caught In Bessie Heights. I might be slow on Email right now so give me a little time to get back with you or call on the phone. Were packing every thing out of the house tonight so the computers going in a box for a few days until I get a chance to hook it back up.
Tight lines, Mike

2008-11-20T13:58:00.000-08:00

11/18/2008 Blown Away Again by 8 mph wind, HA!

Well the weather man was wrong again. What was predicted to be a nice 8 mph wind turned out to be an 18 mph blow. Bill Heugel and Don McMurry were in hopes of fly fishing the bird activity on Sabine lake and taking advantage of the user friendly bite but that wasn't the case. The strong East wind was blowing right down the lake and had the Louisiana side of the lake all muddied up. We fished some in the gale where I had caught some nice fish the week before but the wind was just to much for the fly rods and we headed back up North in hopes of finding some shelter from the wind. We found some very nice clear water in coffee ground cove that was some what protected. Bill stayed with the fly rod but Don joined me and fished a spinning reel.Don landed a very nice 17 inch flounder on a D.O.A. glow/Chrt. jerk bait and I boated a hefty Five pound trout on the same bait. I released the big sow trout but Don wanted grilled Flounder for supper so we kept it. My hats off to Bill , he's a die hard fly fisher and never gave in to the wind and stayed with the long rod all day! 99% of the day was casting practice but we still enjoyed the time on the water. We saw a lot of ducks and Loons on the lake with Geese in the air along with some brilliant Scarlet Ibises working the marsh flats. We did run up the Sabine river and try a few spots but the water was very muddy and the bite was no better. Today was one of those you pay your dues days. Hopefully the next time the weather man will get the forecast right.

Tight lines, Mike

2008-10-30T17:30:00.000-07:00

10-30-2008

Back on the lake and Catching Fish !

I took a day off from cleaning up hurricane debris, and other things I should be doing and fished.

I had Harry Chesser along with me today. He was hoping to put a few fillets in the ice box and we did just that. The birds were working the North end of the lake but almost every one was 14 -3/4 inches long. We moved to the east shore line to try and get some relief from the stiff East wind and found more birds working over some very nice sand trout. We boxed several that were 1-1/2 pounds! Looks like the lack of shrimping in the river and lake has helped out the size of the sand trout. We fished South down the Louisiana shore line and boated several nice keeper speckled trout. Harry put this nice 5-1/2 lb. Red in the boat using a CastAway Skeleton spinning rod and a spinning reel spooled with Power Pro braid. It was his 1st Red on light spinning tackle and he had a blast fighting the fish. The bite played out after 2:oopm and we were tired so we called it a day after catching many fish. The best color was Glow/Chrt. D.O.A. shad tails and the longer 5 inch split tail caught less but bigger fish. We tried a popping cork and other colors of plastic but the glow did best. Watch out for the debris left over from Ike. The lake is still littered with floating timbers and plywood.

It's back to reconditioning the house tomorrow so ti may be a while before I get another chance to fish, Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguidesrvice.com

2008-09-15T18:37:00.000-07:00

9/15/2008

Finally got to survey the damage at home from Ike

I knew things were going to bad butI didn't realize just how bad it was until we turned into our neighborhood. There are cars that floated out in yards, walls of bricks collapsed, windows blown out all from water and wind, mostly water. I think the worst thing I didn't consider is the silty mud that is every where. I knew there would be some but this stuff is 6 to 8 inches deep almost every where. In the house it's about 1/2 inch deep.The stuff in the house has floated every where, it's curious how things floated . The dining room table floated to the back room, a drawer from under my bed was close to the back door and some plastic steps from the front bathroom were in the computer room down the hall and to the left, strange things were going on. The water got between 4 and 5 foot deep in the house. The Kenner survived in the boat shed. I was afraid it would get pushed thru the roof but it must have just got right up to it, at least there was some good news. I will try to publish pictures but this Internet connection is not very fast.

2008-09-13T20:18:00.000-07:00

9/13/2008 We survived IKE but the house didn't

We moved inland 5 miles and stayed with my parents and rode out hurricane Ike. I'm glad we didn't stay at our house. I got a call this morning from my neighbor that has a 2 story house. He said our house had at least 6 foot of water in it and the tide was still rising, one of our neighbors house had water to the eaves. Stacy, Preston and I left at noon yesterday and the water was already up on our boat dock walk way and the storm wasn't even here yet. Stacy and I tried to get to our neighborhood today about 1:00pm and only made it 2 miles down hwy 62 south near hwy 105 and all we saw was water. The coast guard and local rescue workers were removing people from their roofs that got stranded, normally this area is farm/rural areas. The water rose at my dads house and needed about 2 foot more to get to their house but fortunately the water started to recede around 4:00pm. I took the GatorTail with me and left the Kenner at home. Preston and I ran the GatorTail over my dads hay pasture today just for grins, it's strange knowing we bailed hay on it 2 months ago. It looks to be a very long recovery for us and the Sabine lake area ahead. I'll try to post more pictures as I get them.Fortunatly my mother has a sattelite internet connection and I have my lap top, Tight lines, Mike

2008-09-11T19:13:00.000-07:00

9/11/2008

Fished this morning prepaired to evacuate this afternoon.

This may be the last report for a while. The tide was rushing in this morning up the Sabine river at the Burton's ditch weir and was above average on my boat dock behind the house already. I fished about 2 1/2 hours using artificial baits only today and managed two bass and one Speckled trout. They all liked the Red fish magic spinner bait. I got another report from a local angler that did better on the Red fish on the West weir of Burton's ditch using live bait. The weather service is predicting a 20 foot storm surge in the Sabine pass and lake area. If that's so the water will be up to the roof line of my house. Hopefully it won't happen but I got a feeling I'm going to get water in the house one way or the other. Rita didn't get in the house but came close. This storm is different and pushing a lot of water. If this happens the fishing in the marshes will really suffer. The water grasses are just getting another foot hold around here and all the salt water will kill it off again, bad for me and the marsh.We also had a big fish kill after Rita, hope that doesn't happen again either. I know this scenario has been played out over the eon's and this one of the prices you pay for living on the coast. Mother nature will heal it's self but I wish things like this didn't happen. What was shaping up to be a really great October on the lake and flats may be washed away, we'll have to wait and see. Any way pray for us and the others that will be effected to make a speedy recovery. Tight lines, Mike

2008-09-06T17:59:00.000-07:00

9/6/2008 What a Beautiful Day !

We finally made it out on the marsh flats today. It seems as of late every time I get a chance to fish the flats some thing gets in the way, wind ,rain, hurricanes, work. Today was cool in the morning and not real hot during the mid day hours with a light N/E wind. The fishing was very slow 1st thing in the morning but around 9:30 am. things started getting more active as the tide started to fall. We boated 8 fish today and broke one off , 4 were in the slot. We saw 15 or more fish today. They weren't stacked up together but they were there. We had to work for the fish we caught as the bite wasn't real aggressive except for the fish Preston caught. It nailed his Horny toad and put a heavy bend in his CastAway "Speck and Red special" Titanium rod . We have fished a lot of rods over the years but this rod is just what the doctor ordered as far as I'm concerned.It can handle light baits as well as heaver top waters and spoons. The tip is light and the butt section of the rod has a strong back bone to turn heavy fish. I have 4 of these rods and they are great. When spooled with PowerPro 30# braided line and a 2 foot fluorocarbon tippet the combination is unbeatable! The gold spoon was the best bait today, Dale proved that but the Horny Toad got bit also. The water was cool and clear in some places but was stained in most of the areas we fished today. Looks like the marsh is shaping up for a great October. Hope the other hurricanes don't spoil it and stay away like Gustav did.

Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com

2008-09-02T09:51:00.000-07:00

9/2/2008 Gustav had little effect !

Hurricane Gustav was more of an inconvenience than any thing around here. The local authorities closed the Rainbow bridge and called for a mandatory evacuation, I've been in worse thunder storms this summer than Gustav. I see the big picture now, it's a money thing! If they call for a mandatory evacuation it frees up money from the Fed's. the local entities can get to. If they don't the money isn't available, that seems to be the bottom line to me. We choose to stay, I've lived here all my life and only in the past few years have the emergency management teams started the mandatory evacuations. Yes if a big Category 3 or bigger storm has headed right for us I would leave since I live right on the water, tidal surge is my biggest fear,the house will stand a very strong wind. Then there is the problem of being locked out of my county or city for a week or more. I have every thing I need to live on and take care of my self and family, camper, water, fuel, food, generators ETC. I don't want to live in a hotel away from home or have that extra expense. So that's why we choose to stay if any way possible. If you don't have these things then yes stay away until the public services are back on line.
Any way hopefully I can get back on the water by this weekend. There was little rain and not much wind to stir things up so the water should be in good shape in a day or two.
Let's pray that this is the only storm that comes our way. Also keep the ones that were really effected by Gustav in our prayers and hope they make a speedy recovery.
Tight lines, Mike

2008-08-17T15:16:00.000-07:00

8/17/2008 The rains have moved in

I'm still alive but I haven't gotten out as much as I have wanted to. Preston and I fished the O.C.A.R.C tournament 2 weeks ago but couldn't put any weigh in sized fish in the boat. The lake looked great but the new moon and a dead tide all day made conditions tuff. Last week I was on call and didn't want to chance getting called to work about the time I got out to the lake. with these gas prices I try to make the most of the fuel I have to burn. This weekend the rain came down hard most of the day. Sunday after church Preston and I made a short trip up the Sabine river just to check on a few spots. The water had about a foot visibility but that dead tide was still there. It seems as of lately every time I get a chance to wet a hook the tide is at it's transition point from low to high or vise/versa. If you know any thing about fishing the Sabine area you know tide is every thing. Hopefully the tropical storms in the Atlantic will stay there and our area will settle back down into a summer time pattern. It won't be long until the 1st fronts start to come down our way and set up the fall fishing season. I have scheduled two weeks in October just to fish so If your looking to fish in the prime season give me a shout and we can set up a date during the peak season. Tight lines, Mike

2008-07-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

7/25/2007 Remnants of hurricane Dolly make for a challenging day!

Terry Morgan,his 10 year old son Scott and Todd Safford made the trip down from Lufkin Texas. They had never fished Sabine lake before and wanted to test the waters. The birds were working early on the North end of the lake over schooling Lady fish and trout.We went through a lot of under sized fish but Scott started off the day with a nice 3-1/2 pound trout while fishing a swim bait under a popping cork. The wind was predicted to be 7 mph but it was building with the Sun as it rose higher in the sky. I wanted to take advantage of the shad bite that was going on in the mid lake area but the white capped waves hid all indications of bait or feeding activity. We ran to the Louisiana shore line to seek relief from the wind and found beautiful clear water near Garrison ridge. It wasn't long before we found some schooling trout with Red fish mixed in and put a few more fish in the boat with most being just undersized. The tide was starting to gain momentum so we headed South of Stewts island and tried to drift some live bait in 6 foot of water. We were rewarded with Two heavy trout and a few Gafftop catfish. Scott had a blast doing battle with the 5 pound cats that really tested his drag and stamina. The drift we wanted to make was hindered by the wind and tide. The tide was falling but the wind was blowing the opposite way. The end result was we would hardly cover any ground, it was almost like having the anchor out. The wind and waves were getting to the point of being unfishable so we ran up the Neches river and fished some cuts off Bessie Heights marsh. There we caught some more heavy trout ,Todd broke the Red fish drought and put a nice slot Red in the cooler to finish the day. Coming back to the marina was a very ruff ride to say the least. The waves coming off the lake into the intercoastel canal were big and steep. I'm glad we weren't on the South side of the lake and had to make a run across to get back home.

The guy's took home a nice bag of fillets and a lot fun memories. I know I had a blast watching young Scott really put it on the older fellows, way to go Scott!

We caught most fish on a Storm swim bait but Glow/ Chrt. D.O.A. shad tails caught fish also along with live Shad and Mullet. Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2008-06-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

6/26/2008 Red fish and Thunder storms

Daren Rubink and Mark Myers braved the weather today and made the drive from Houston looking for Red fish on the flats. There were many more thunder storms than Red fish today. We were fishing at daylight and made it to 11:30am before the 1st big thunderhead moved in. Daren made a great cast to one of the only Red fish we saw showing it's back today before we retreated to the ramp. It weighed 3-1/2 lb. and ate a spoon fly. Mark had a Red blow up on his Dalburg diver at 1st light but the hook missed it's mark. We took the boat out and went to eat lunch while the big storm passed through. After lunch we went back out and fished some more but never got any more shots at fish. Another big storm is moving in from Beaumont so we called it a day as the weather was rapidly deteriorating.I think one of the big factors in the poor bite today was that the tide wasn't nearly as low as predicted and never had any movement until around 3:00pm, it was high and dead still most of the day. Daren and Mark were great to fish with and really hung in there & never complained. They are welcome in my boat any day!

Tight lines, Mike

http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2008-06-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

Big thunderstorms Saturday morning
Got up at daylight so as to catch the low and falling tide but the thunderstorms were already on top of us.I finally left the house at 9:30am and got on the flats but it was to late. The tide had already bottomed out and was dead still,"not a good thing". The tide really didn't do much of any thing so I called it a day about 2:30pm with another line of thunderstorms on the horizon. I saw a few fish but it was just plain dead on the flats. There is this certain sound the flats have when the bite is on. I guess it happened at daylight because it sure didn't happen when I finally got out there. But as we say," you never know until you go"
Tight lines, Mike

2008-06-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

6/20/2008
Been gone on vacation
I haven't posted in a week and I'm finally getting back in the groove. I took my family to Yellowstone national park last week. Stacy and I had been there around 22 years ago and now it was time to take Preston and revisit. Some things have changed but for the most part the park has been well maintained. The weather was diverse to say the least. Two days of partly cloudy Sky's and a light rain then the clod weather moved in. The snow set in and stayed for 3 days! Some of it was light but one day it really got with the program.Preston had never been a real snow and got to experience a 6 inch snow flurry. When it first started the visibility was down to 75 yards at the most but it soon thinned out. We were on a trail ride, scheduled to be on horse back but was changed to covered wagon due to the bad conditions. When the Snow fall lightened up we were treated to a beautiful scene, that of a soft blanket of pure white snow covering the whole valley we were riding through. The Bison had snow on their backs and a Black Wolf ran across the trail silhouetted on the pure white back ground as we leisurely moved on. We were also treated to a visit from a Black Bear during our Cowboy cook out at the end of the ride. We really had a great trip even with the colder temperatures. We saw all manner of Flora and Fauna, it was also a treat to see some of the new born animals playing with their siblings. I got to fish for a short time and managed to catch Two nice Brown Trout in the 10" size. I really liked the Orvis 7 piece 5 wt. frequent flier travel rod matched with the Battenkill mid arbor reel. The set up packs neatly in your carry on luggage. The fly I used was an Elks hair Caddis pattern, about a size 12 or 14, I'm' not sure because I hardly ever use a hook smaller than a size8 on any of my flies I use on the coast. Any way I will try to post some pictures soon from our trip. Looking to getting back on the water this week end. Hopefully the Red fish will be on the flats and the wind will be light.
Tight lines, Mike
http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2008-05-31T15:21:00.000-07:00

5/31/2008

Beautiful weather for a change

I had the privilege of fishing with Steve Robinson his son Regan and his friend John today. We got an early start but the Trout didn't really do any thing until around 8:00am. The bite was sporadic with birds working then moving off as soon as we got close. The trout were moving fast also and wouldn't hold in one area very long so it was mostly run and gun fishing. D.O.A. root beer/chart. shad tails caught a lot of fish but Bone/diamond, glow/chart. and Texas roach colors worked to. There were a lot of other boats in the area so we had plenty of company on the South end of the lake. We witnessed one temper flair "water rage" I guess you call it, as the angler ran his big motor right through the gulls we were working. He then made an obscene gesture to the boat next to us as he headed East. If you can't take lots of boats close to you you don't need to fish the birds. Most of us understand the game and if you approach the flock on your trolling motor every things OK , just don't run your big motor right up to the birds and expect to be welcomed in. We caught a lot of small trout today and lost a few keepers right at the boat. The tides weren't in our favor as the tide didn't really start to fall about the time we had to leave. We did however manage a nice mess of trout fillets, I agree with Steve, Trout Almonddean!

Tight lines, Mike

http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2008-05-24T20:39:00.000-07:00

5/24/2008 More wind than predicted

Bill Heugel came down today and gave the Red fish a shot with his fly rod. We had hopes of 10 mph winds or less as was predicted but that wasn't the case. I checked the local weather stations along Sabine lake this evening and found 15 mph gust and steady 13 mph winds were recorded. We fished the Louisiana side marshes in hopes of getting some relief from the wind but it was still a struggle. Bill managed to put 2 reds in the boat along with one small Speckled trout. The water was in good shape but there wasn't any feeding activity going on. Another set back was that the Sun didn't break out until about the time we called it a day making sight casting even more of a challenge. Bill is one tuff fisherman and had to blind cast all day in the wind and poor fly fishing conditions but his persistence payed off. The large fish we were in hopes of seeing never made an appearance but with the tide being as high and rising as it was we were happy to catch what we did. Catching fish is what we go for but it's the other things that make just getting out that much more enjoyable. For example we were working a grass line when we saw this birds nest nestled down in the Bull rushes, I assume it was a Red wing black birds but I'm not sure, the egg looked kind of big to me. Then there were the many Alligators we saw along with the variety of birds that live in the marsh. It's a whole nother world out in the marsh most people never see. Tight lines , Mike

2008-05-17T20:14:00.000-07:00

5/17/2008

No wind for a change and clear water!

The weather man was wrong about the temperature but was right about the wind. I had to go to Lake Charles Louisiana this morning to The gulf Coast Council fly fishing conclave until noon as a guest fly tier. As soon as I left I had an after noon fishing trip to run. Jeff Gamble and his son Casey met me at the house at 2:00pm. and we were fishing by 2:30pm. I felt there would be an afternoon bite and I was right. We started slow with a few small Reds and a keeper Flounder. Around 4:30pm we got on another school of small Reds that were 19 inches. We started working our way back up the lake from the Greens bayou area and crossed the lake to find gulls working over Specks and Reds. We caught fish up to 7:00pm, the Specks were solid fish with several going 21 inches. The Reds were mixed but there were several nice slot sized fish. We ended the day with 12 Trout, 6 Reds and one Flounder. Casey claimed the big fish title today with his 27 inch Red. Root beer/ Chart DOA shad tails and Assassin, Bone/Diamond Sea shad tails on 1/4 oz lead heads along with a chrome, blue back rattle trap caught all the fish. Not bad for a late start!

Looks like things are starting to kick off. Now is the time to book a date if you want to catch some fish before the hot weather gets here, Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com

2008-05-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

5/10/2008 Windy day to say the least
Preston and I had our minds made up Friday, we didn't care what the weather was like on Saturday we were going to fish one way or the other.We got out on the marsh flats about 8:00am this morning in hopes of fishing a very low tide this morning and maybe catching the slack wind as it was predicted to change around to the North some time today. Well we got to fish the low tide but the wind never got any lighter and never changed direction from the South. I didn't get to fish much from the platform as I was fighting the wind most of the time. Preston had his own battle going with the strong gusty winds that always seemed to blow his cast off course when it really counted. He had one Red on and had another large fish short strike and missed at least 4 more due to bad casting. I had one fish that looked to be in the 25 inch class nail a horny toad but I didn't get a good hook set and lost it. I was happy to see at least a dozen fish today. We saw most early on but as the tide rushed in with the wind we had trouble seeing them. The water clarity was poor to say the least from one end of Bessie Heights to the other? The grass has come back some what in several areas but it hasn't cleared the water yet. Hopefully the winds will calm down some and allow the silt to settle out in the next few weeks. When Preston and I got back to the boat ramp we noticed the water was teeming with small white crabs about the size of a nickle. If I was going to fish Sunday I would be casting something that resembled the crabs we saw. I'm sure the Reds and other fish will key on the swarm of forage that is flushing out into the larger bodies of water. As far a Sabine lake report goes the reef still seems to be producing on an incoming tide and when you can find birds working there have been catches of Trout coming from under them. Soft plastic in dark colors seem to be doing the best.
Tight lines, Mike

2008-04-26T18:53:00.000-07:00

4/26/o8 Tricked by the weather again
I expected to wake up to gale force winds and rain this morning but that wasn't the case. The wind was almost non existent but there were threatening rain clouds and a heavy over cast. I checked the local radar and saw there were a few showers over Sabine lake but not much behind it. I decided to hold off for the showers to pass and went to get gas so I could top off the boat gas tank. Well by the time I got ready to leave the wind had picked up and the clouds looked even worse than an hour earlier. Preston and I decided to give it a shot any way. As we reached the Sabine river the waves were already white capping up the river. We decided to seek refuge from the strong wind and fish Blacks bayou. We fished Blacks with out any success for 2 hours. Preston had the only close call today, an Eastern King bird saw his Horny toad splashing across the water and swooped down to try an catch it, we got a good laugh out of it. The tide was high and rushing in. The positive side was the clarity was fairly good for a change and we did get to see a lot of bird life.
Later today Preston had a baseball game at 4:30pm. Right before the game the wind laid and the sun came out, just our luck. I wish I had gotten up at day light now and ran to the Louisiana shore line and fished until the wind picked up. Oh well the weather man strikes again. I wonder if the forecast will hold true for Sunday and rain like crazy or will the sun shine?
Tight lines, Mike

2008-04-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

4/20/2008--Preston is still the Bass Master

Later this evening after my initial post Preston noticed some feeding activity behind our house in the boat slip. He got out his fishing pole and tied on a 1/8 oz. beetle spin dressed with a sparkle beetle body. He told me he had noticed a ball of small shad near our boat ramp that had gotten pushed to the surface. Preston told me he remembered me telling him how feeding fish will round up bait and push them to the surface, apparently he does listen some times! Any way he matched the hatch and caught this small bass after the 1st cast. I came over to see what all the shouting was about and made a few cast with the sparkle beetle my self. I had one short strike but that was it. Preston rules with these small bass behind the house. Try as I might I only catch one on rare occasions. Hey, we did get fish on our hands today after all!

Tight lines, Mike

2008-04-20T11:53:00.000-07:00

4/20/08 Work, Work and more over time.
The is our plant shut down time of the year for me. 12 hour shifts and unscheduled over time has been the norm for the last 2 weeks. Then there is the clean up that follows. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully there will be more time to fish until next years plant turn around . I got an uplifting fishing report from a good friend,Dickie Colburn. He and Gene Lock caught a mess of 2 to 3 pound trout on the Louisiana shore line last Thursday and Johnny Cormier caught some on Wednesday. Looks like we maybe turning the corner on Sabine lake finally. I guess it was good timing for me since the fishing had been poor to say the least during my extended hours at work. Hopefully next week I can get back in the routine and spend more time on the water than at work.
Tight lines, Mike

2008-04-05T16:07:00.000-07:00

4/5/2008 Poor Conditions but I just had to go

The wind is blowing from the North at 15 mph and forecast to increase to 25 mph. There is a heavy blanket of clouds keeping the sun from shining through but my son Preston and I have the itch to fish so we headed out any way. I figured we would just fish the old Cow bayou section from the power lines out to the river and stay out of the winds as best we could. We fished Horny toads and a Red fish magic spinner bait dressed with a Root Beer D.O.A. shad tail. Preston had a fish strike his Horny Toad but the hook missed it's mark. I switched to the spinner bait and found it to the liking of the Bass and Red fish. We never boated a keeper fish but we did manage several Bass and a couple of Rat Reds to our pleasure. The water has warmed up some but is still very muddy. The marsh cane helped break the high wind today and made fishing the poor conditions a little bit more bearable. The sun tried to break through later in the day but didn't show until we were back home. There is some water coming down the Sabine river from Toledo Bend Res. in the next day or so. Hopefully it will flush some of this muddy water out and allow the conditions to improve. I haven't gotten any good reports of Trout from Sabine lake as of late but if the water clears up some that should change soon.

Tight Lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2008-03-22T18:35:00.000-07:00

3/21/2008 It's my week end to be on call :(
I will be on call from Thursday evening until Monday morning so fishing won't happen this long week end. From what I have heard big lake is the best bet for Trout and Reds. If I was going to fish Sabine I would try drifting the reef on the South end of the lake.
Happy Easter and remember it's not just about eggs and rabbits.
Mike

2008-03-15T17:57:00.000-07:00

3/15/2008 Water is still muddy !
I went and checked out the marsh ponds and flats on the Louisiana side today. The wind was blowing but I didn't care, I just had to get out and enjoy the warm sunny conditions. The water in the bayou, lake and river is still badly off color and I thought I might find some cleaner water further back in the marsh. I was disappointed to find the water was no cleaner 4 miles back in the marsh than in the river it's self ? I got back into some pockets that most people never see, way off the beaten path and still couldn't find any clean water. I guess with all the wind and rain along with warming water temperature's is what has the water turning over. I also noted there was a lack of under water vegetation. I know for a fact this has a negative effect on water clarity. I hope the grass was just out of sight in the muddy water even though I never really got fouled with grass on my lure. I only had one blow up today and missed it. I got a short glimpse of the fish and it looked like a small marsh bass. I pushed several more fish that probably were Red fish but I never saw any color to be sure what they were. I had spooked several gar fish today but a Red makes a different boil in the water when it runs. I was really amazed at how many ducks there were in the marsh. I jumped several flocks that could have had fifty or more in it. I'm not sure what kind they were but they were big ducks, I did see several Green heads mixed in today. I was also surprised at the lack of Alligators I saw today. I only saw one swimming around and saw two more slide off the bank as we rushed by in the boat. I figured on a warm day like today there would have been a lot more out? I know it's still early for flats fishing and hopefully with these warm days it won't be long before we start seeing Red in the marsh.
Tight lines, Mike

2008-03-09T17:15:00.000-07:00

3/9/2007 Illness still plaguing us
Well I didn't get to fish again this weekend. My wife woke up Saturday morning crying with an ear ache and a sore throat from Hell. We got her to a Doc in the box and she was given some antibiotics and was told she had a strain of the flu. Nothing was mentioned about Strep throat thank goodness. Hopefully the medicine will work fast and get her back on her feet in a few days.Until then I get to play nurse maid and take care of my Angel.
Word is the bite on the South end of the lake over the reef is starting to gain momentum. Soft plastic bounced just off the Oyster shell while drifting is taking some nice Trout and a few Reds along with an occasional Flounder. Dark colors worked last week but that can change with the tide so bring along a selection of colors and different lead head weights. As far as line choice30# Power Pro braided line http://powerpro.com/ will telegraph the slightest bite and put more fish in the boat at the end of the day. I always add about 2 foot of 15# Fluorocarbon tippet to the terminal end of the line. This allows you to break off the line if you get fouled on the reef. The braid is tuff to break and will cut your hand like a knife" I speak from experience" if you wrap it around your hand and pull to hard. I hope this was the last cold blast of the year and things will start to come into line for a good Spring pattern, I'm really getting the fever to spend more time on the water.
Tight lines, Mike

2008-03-01T16:35:00.000-08:00

3/1/2008 The world is a changing

Preston and I decided it was time to get back out on the water together and see what is going on around Sabine lake "our world". As soon as we reached the Sabine river we could see the LNG pipe line work going on on the Louisiana shore line. We headed South towards the lake and were saddened to see that one of our favorite swimming and fishing spots has been obliterated due to the construction. The spot was the subject of a recent school writing assignment Preston had. He referred to it as point island due to the fact there was a large grove of tall pines that grew on the point of the island. I knew it as the pines or community hole. Well it's history now. The shore behind picture of the barge with the pipes is now a flat work site where the pines once stood. I could feel the hurt in Preston's voice when he spoke of the good times we had had there over the past 9 years, "I hate progress some times". As we motored on out in the lake we could see the big drag lines mounted on barges digging their way across the lake. There has been pilings driven along the route of the line from one end of the lake to the other. Caution is needed when running in limited visibility conditions as it seems there is a new navigational hazard popping up every day. We started fishing on the North end of the lake in coffee ground cove with water temperatures at 66F and very muddy, we had no strikes so we headed South in search of cleaner water. We stopped near Garrison ridge to find the water still muddy but maybe not quite as bad. There were some small blue fish destroying the millions of tiny shad that were in the area but we still couldn't find any trout. We rode around some more enjoying the sunny and mild conditions as we worked our way back towards home. We stopped and fished the barrier islands on the North end and were blessed with a nice slot sized Red fish that ate a Catch 5 in about a foot of water. The water there was the warmest we had found all day at a scorching 77F. I really thought the trout would be around or at least some more reds but we couldn't draw another strike? I really enjoyed the quality time I had with Preston today on the water. I really didn't care if we caught fish today or not we just wanted to get back out on the water together and enjoy the beautiful day we had been blessed with. Looks like Sabine lake will need a little more time to clear up. Hopefully the pipe line won't be a factor in the water clarity this year. From what I have heard Big lake is the better choice right now for trout.

Tight lines, Mikehttp://rectorsguideservice.com

2008-02-25T09:29:00.000-08:00

2/25/2008
16 hour day at work Saturday and obligations Sunday leads to no fishing
I didn't get out on the water this weekend once again. Saturday was a double shift on a reactor turn around. Sunday was church, by the time I got home I figured I had better do some spring cleaning around the house with the good weather at hand. The water in the bayou still looks like chocolate milk but the water in the lake and marsh could be better, either way the fish have to eat to stay alive so I'm sure the die hard anglers that fished this week end managed a few fish.
Looks like we will get another cold blast Wed. and Thurs. so the spring like conditions were short lived. Hopefully March will bring more stable conditions and warmer weather.
Tight lines, Mike

2008-02-17T17:21:00.000-08:00

2/17/2008 Either wind ,Rain or both at the same time
Well last week end spoiled me. This week end just disapointed me. Saturday had some of the worst winds I have seen in a while then the rain set in with it. I wanted to participate in the crab trap clean up but the high winds had the tide pushed way up high. It's hard to find unmarked crab traps in deep water. I was hoping for a low tide so we could see the abandond traps on the flats. I know there were a few in Bessie heights, I saw them last week end when the tide was so low. Sunday morning was nice but the wind was was kickin out of the West, Oh well it was nice at the open air Cowboy church this morning, cool but not to cool. If you have never been it's diffrent than the traditonal style church. We have services in a big barn with horses, cats and dogs close by. Western wear is the most prominate but camofloge or bib overalls fit in just fine.
We have a country western band that plays gospel style music. If you get a chance look up the Cowboy church of Orange county, you might be glad you did.
Hopefully we can get some better weather next week and let things settle out.
Tight lines, Mike

2008-02-09T16:32:00.000-08:00

2/9/2008

A great day on the water
Things finally came togather this weekend. I still have a little congestion left over from the bug I had last weekend but I am feeling great, the weather finally worked it's way into a beautiful day, the tide was moving when we were fishing, the wind laid down to a light breeze and the fish were hungry! My buddy Dale and I made a run into Bessie Heights marsh just to see what was going on and what the conditions were like. We started on the South end and found muddy looking water on the flats and in the river. There was a lot of mullet in the shallows closer to deep water. We Fished the flats and along the channel that runs through it but couldn't draw any strikes. We decided to run to the middle section of Bessie and fish this deeper cut that the flats run off into. The tide was really ripping out as we fished the deeper water structure of the cut but still couldn't find any fish. I decided to move closer to the flats and the shallower warmer water that was spilling into the cut. I started casting a rootbeer/Chart. D.O.A. shad tail pinned to a 1/4 lead head onto the flat and draging it off into the deeper water. It wasn't long before I got a solid thump telegraphed up the line through the rod that produced a solid 2-1/4 lb. Speckled trout. We fished the break that was about 100yards long from 2:00pm tp 3:30pm and boated eight trout up to 3-1/2 lb. This 3-1/2lb Sow had only one eye. She must be a real surviver to make this size with only one eye. We only had one trout that wouldn't make 15 inches, the rest were mostly 2 lb. We also boated 6 Flounder using the same lures. The only thing was the Flounder were in the 10 inch size but it was good to see so many juvenile fish in the system. We thought for sure one of us would get a Sabine slam but we never had the 1st Red fish on? The bite shut down as soon as the tide started slowing down. The tide looked to have dropped 2 foot today. I have to brag on the GatorTail motor. We had ran across the flats that were already very shallow to get to our final fishing spot. Instead of leaving the long way back to the ramp I ran back the short way we came in. As we exited a very narrow cut that leads to deeper water I was startled to see only mud and no water for about 100 yards before the water even started! I held on to the poling platform and pointed the boat in the right direction. We skated right across the mud flat like a Penguin belly sliding on ice! Those guys at GatorTail have really done their home work. I'm almost convinced if it rained for 2 weeks and my yard was real soft the motor would push the boat across it! I really got a kick out of going muding in the boat and catching those nice trout today, I'm still grinning.

Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2008-02-02T17:48:00.000-08:00

2/2/2008
Fly tying in Houston and the Flu or some thing like it!
I Have been fighting some sort of flu bug the past week. I had an elevated temprature last Sunday and a sore throat. That passed by mid week and I thought it was over. I started to loose my voice Friday night with the soreness coming back.
Well after today at the Texas fly fishers tying Fest. it's totaly gone. I was able to visit with the patrons most of the day but by 3:45 pm it was history. I had high hopes of making it out to Bessie Heights marsh Sunday around noon but the way I feel now I'm not sure it's going to happen. I had gotten a reliable report about last week end from my friend "Greg Leblanc" AKA CROPO. He had caught over 30 Red fish on an incoming tide using soft plastic. He even had a few small Flounder boated to boot. The Reds were just under the 20 inch mark but this time of the year I would be glad to do battle on light tackle with them. I'm really getting my hopes up for the Heights this year. The past season saw good numbers of juvenile fish in the system with several becoming legal lenght by the end of fall. Greg proved the numbers of Reds occuping the estuary are still there.
Tight Lines, Mike

2008-01-27T18:23:00.000-08:00

1/27/2008 To much Rain and Racing

The water in the bayou looks like Dutch chocolate milk. The sun came out around 1:00pm today and warmed things up a bit. I thought about hitting the lake after church this evening but the tide was falling. We have the best luck fishing an incoming tide this time of the year after the sun warms the shallows after noon. With the muddy conditions and falling tide I decided not to burn the fuel and save it for better conditions. I was told by a reliable source the lake was badly off color due to the large amount of run off from the recent rains.

Saturday was a cold gloomy day. I'm glad Preston's cub scout event was indoors. It was race day for the Pine wood derby. We had our car ready except for adding a few thumb tacks to weigh in just under the 5 oz. weight limit at the tech. inspection. This was our 1st time to be in the derby and weren't sure if our car we had made together was fast enough. If you have ever tried some thing new you know there is a learning curve you have to get around. Most of the heat races were won by a good margin but after several elimination rounds the races got a lot tighter. When it was all said and done Preston took 3rd place out of 10 cars in his pack. We thought for a 1st try we did OK.

I will be at the Texas fly fishers fly tying festival this coming Saturday 2/2/08. Here's a link to get the information on the event. It's a very big event and I always learn some thing new every year. If you get a chance make the drive, you won't be sorry.

http://www.texasflyfishers.org/

Tight lines, Mike

2008-01-14T14:37:00.000-08:00

1/14/2008

Survived the boat show

Well we finally got home last night around 9:45pm., boy was I tired. I was at Reliant center at 11:30am and closed the place down at 6:00pm. ,then things really got interesting. If you have ever attended the boat show in Houston there are dozens of individual booths all over the center selling their wares be it Tee shirts,guide services,Charter boat trips, Jewelery, Nautical art, Rod manufactures, food, you name it and it's probably there.Well most of these booths have a back drop and shelves along with a counter top and all the printed material pertaining to the type of business they do. Some of these are fairly elaborate. Well come closing time the ant hill really came alive. Every vendor started dismantling their booth. Cordless drills, hammers, wheeled dollies of all sorts appeared out of no where and then it was a mad dash to the loading dock doors out back. I had never seen this side of a big event like this. I would have liked to see how they got all the boats out but I didn't want to hang around that long. Any way I had a good time at the CastAway booth talking with the many people that stopped by to check out the new rods CastAway is offering. I really liked the new Skeleton Titanium series rods. I was told with a Shimano Chronarch Mg reel mounted on them they weigh a mere 8 ounces. The reel seats have been opened up to allow for 2 to 3 fingers to come in contact with the rod blank under the reel . This alone really increases the sensitivity of the rod. The lower handle has a fighting butt on it with the mid section totally bare exposing the rod blank then just behind the reel there is a nice section of cork that fits perfectly in the palm of your hand. The rod handle looks unconventional but is really functional. Talk about a technical rod this ones it. I can't wait to get one on the water. If you go to http://castawayrods.com/ you can see what they look like along with all the other models they make. I also learned that CastAway will make a custom rod for you if you like. All you have to do Is contact them,tell them what you want and they can take it from there.I got to know some of the CastAway staff a lot better on Sunday and was impressed with their enthusiasim and dedication to their products.
Tight lines, Mike
http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2008-01-12T16:02:00.000-08:00

1/12/2008 Right place wrong time
I've been looking forward all this past week at getting out on the water again. The weather was nice but the wind was steady out of the East. The white caps were just showing so the conditions were bearable. I waited until after 10:00am to launch the boat waiting for the shallow flats to warm up in the bright sun light. My 1st stop at East pass had a water temperature of 57 F. I fished the shell and a break that dropped off into 8 foot of water but couldn't draw a strike on the falling tide. I fished all the way down to Stewts island in beautiful water but found an absence of bait and fish . The water temperature had risen to 60F behind Sidney island but to my disappointment no trout were in the area. There were some mullet in the area that got my hopes up but there weren't a lot of them. I almost had a really bad day as I was leaving Stewts island. I had idled a long way out into the lake with the water about 2 1/2 foot deep. Just as I got on the throttle the motor struck some thing that was solid!I killed the motor and looked for the tell tell oil slick from a busted lower unit but was relived to see nothing. The prop looked OK so back East I headed. As I arrived in Coffee ground cove about a half mile further East than I had gone earlier in the day I found the water had risen to 60F. I threw out the drift sock and on the 2ND cast hooked up with a 15 inch trout. I quickly set the anchor out and started fan casting the area. It wasn't long before I felt a tap on the line and boated another trout. I felt I was really on the fish now. A few more cast and I pulled the anchor and drifted another 30 foot and got smacked with a solid strike on the catch 5 I had been using all day. As the drag peeled off the reel I just knew this was a big trout. By the way it pulled it would be in the 4 to 5 pound class. I was really worried the fish would pull off so I backed off the drag and hoped the fish would tire it's self out. Then without notice the line went slack, you know we have all had that sick feeling before and don't want to believe it so we reel even faster in hopes the fish is just running at us. Well that wasn't the case. Even with a super light drag setting the fish still came unhooked. I never got another strike in 1-1/2 hours of fishing after that. I think I just caught the tail end of the bite. I had fished for 3-1/2 hours with out a strike then moved to another area and had three fish in less than 20 minuets. I wish I would have stayed in Coffee ground cove when I 1st got out. Oh well that's my job to get on the water on a regular basis so I can stay on top of where the fish are moving. Now I know what's going on and the condition the lake is in. To bad I won't be able to get back out tomorrow. I'll be working the CastAway booth at the Houston boat show tomorrow. So if you get to go fishing tomorrow a Chartreuse back, white side Catch 5 is what I caught fish on. I threw a K 2000 and glow/chrt plastic today with out any strikes so the bigger sized bait is what they were looking for.
Tight lines, Mike
http://rectorsguideservice.com

2008-01-06T17:12:00.000-08:00

1/6/2008
Well another week has gone by with out being able to get out on the water. We had had some dramatic tide swings several days. The water in the bayou looks like chocolate milk. I'm sure the lake doesn't look much better. I helped one of my coworkers and took his on call duty this weekend. I would have liked to give the lake a shot today with the warmer temperatures and increased water levels but didn't want to take a chance of getting paged about the time I get to the lake. Hopefully next Saturday will be good weather.
I will be in Houston Sunday the 13th at the boat show working the CastAway rod booth. If your there come by and talk fishing with me. I'm not sure but CastAway usually runs some good show specials on their rods at this event so stop by and maybe you can get a good price on a great rod.
Tight lines, Mike
http://rectorsguideservice.com

2007-12-30T15:30:00.000-08:00

12/30/2007
Finally got back on the water !
The holidays are almost behind us. I did my turn working the on call spot through the Christmas holidays for Honeywell. I will still be on call new years eve and day then I'm free until Easter as far as holidays go. The rotation finally caught up with me but it's my turn in the barrel. The weather was nice this after noon when we got out of church so I rounded things up and headed for the lake to wade fish. I slid over the side of the boat at 2:oo pm. the water was 57 degrees with about 2 foot of visibility. I was fishing a Catch 5 in water from knee deep to about 4 foot. I saw one fish caught from a boat that was fishing deeper water that was further than I could cast. To make a long story short I never got the 1st strike. There was some bait in the area I was fishing but no predators except for a single Loon. I have caught Trout around Loons before but not this time. The tide wasn't moving much at all and wasn't predicted to fall until after 4:00pm, that's the time I called it quits and headed to the house. It was nice to get out for the 2 hours and enjoy the nice weather. The forecast doesn't look to good for the next few days. Hopefully it will be nice next week end.
Tight lines and happy new year, Mike
http://rectorsguideservice.com

2007-12-16T18:56:00.000-08:00

12/12/2007

Haven't had a chance to fish lately. I had a booked trip for this past Saturday but the weather blew that away. Trying to schedule a fishing trip a week in advance this time of year is difficult to say the least. The water was completely blown out of the bayou this morning. I couldn't have launched the boat even if I wanted to. By this afternoon there was barley enough to launch the boat. This cold blast and low water should really mix things up for a few days. Hopefully the weather will warm back up and the fishing pattern will stabilize. It's time to break out the chest waders and check for leaks, wade fishing time is upon us. Don't forget that special fisherman on your list. A nice CastAway rod for Christmas would really bring a smile to an anglers facehttp://castawayrods.com/. For the fly fishermen check out the Orvis web site. They have quality gear and clothing http://orvis.com/ . If you want to give some fishing baits that work in our area as gifts then D.O.A. soft plastic shad tails or jerk baits in glow chartreuse will put fish in the boat any time of the year http://doalures.com/. If any one ever has questions feel free to Email or call me, I'll be happy to assist. Tight lines and happy holidays, Mike

2007-12-02T16:35:00.000-08:00

12/2/2007 Riding the waves for Trout, Reds and Flounder

Simon Holt and David Creel made the trip back down to Sabine lake this week end. It was almost a year ago they fished with me, the weather was about 30 degrees cooler then. We set out for the lake about 6:20 am. with the wind already building from the South. The fog was heavy in places but we made good time. When we arrived at the lake the Gulls were wheeling and diving all over the North end of the lake, it was hard to make up our minds on which flock to work. We were disappointed that most of the trout were just under sized so we moved around until we found some solid fish further South. There were a lot of rat reds mixed in with the trout and a few slot sized ones also. The bigger Reds hit a Hoganar. The trout ate glow/ chrt. Shad tails and the longer 5 inch version also. Not as many fish on the larger plastic but fewer throw backs. The waves were brutal but the Gulls didn't mind as they worked up until around 11:00am. Simon managed to put a nice 16 inch Flounder in the boat while we were catching trout. He caught it on a Pumpkin seed/Chart assassin. I guess he had a Sabine slam"Red fish, Speckled trout, Flounder" technically but the Red he caught wasn't keeper sized, Oh well maybe next time.After the bird bite quit we drifted the same areas with out much success. We moved up in shallow and found a few more trout scattered in 2 to 3 foot of water. We ended the day with 11 trout up to 3 lb. and one 25 inch Red along with the single 16 inch Flounder. We caught probably another 20 trout but they were just shy of the 15 inch limit. We were thankful that the front held off until we got our day done but boy that South wind was killer! As a matter of fact I'm still wobbling on solid ground, I haven't got my land legs back yet. Had a good time and some laughs with David and Simon today, hope we can fish again next year. Tight lines, Mike

http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2007-11-24T20:49:00.000-08:00

11-24-2007 Thanksgiving at Caddo Lake State Park

I spent most of my time off this past summer on the water fishing and neglected going on trips with the family. The flats season is over for me this year so I took the family to Caddo lake state park this holiday weekend. The weather was a bit cool on Thursday when we arrived around noon. We made camp and had time to explore part of the park before dark. The old mill pond area is beautiful and easily viewed from the lighted fishing pier. There the beautiful Cypress trees line the shallow lake and many photo opportunities abound.We opted to rent a canoe and paddle around the lake. As we quietly slipped along the clear tannin colored waters we saw several Chain Pickerels, Bass , Sun Perch, turtle's and assorted birds. I wish I had brought my 4 wt. fly rod, the water looks sooo fishable! I didn't bring my camera in the canoe, I had the wife, Preston and Dutch the family pet on board. I trusted Press and Stacy but it was Dutches 1st time in a canoe and I didn't want to take a chance on a cool dip in the pond. Dutch did well and we didn't have any close calls. We did see evidence of damage some Beavers had done to the Cypress tree trunks, about a foot above the water line we could see the chew marks of the Beavers teeth on about 85% of the trees in the pond. I hope TP&W relocated the critters, it would be a shame to loose such a special place that has survived all these years. Friday was a beautiful day also. The sun shone bright and the sky was blue most of the day. We got to hike some more of the parks trails and had many great photographic opportunities. I got this great shot of Preston studying a Peeping Toad he caught in the leaf litter along the trail. If you have ever done much photography you can under stand why I say this picture was the one out of a hundred shots that captured the moment. We had a great time and thanks to modern technology we got to eat microwave Turkey dinners in the camper on Thanksgiving day. If you are ever in the North Eastern part of the state make the drive to Caddo lake and check out this truly special place that seems frozen in time. Tight lines, Mike

http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2007-11-19T14:55:00.000-08:00

11/19/2007 Hiking instead of Fishing

We headed out to Fredricksberg Texas this past weekend to celebrate my Dad's 75th birthday by hiking up Enchanted rock. My Dad had taken us out there when I was a kid and we climbed the huge dome of Granite as a family outing. The weather was cool and overcast so heat exhaustion wasn't going to be a problem. My mother wanted to make the climb to the top but she had doubts near the half way point. With a little prodding she made the last steep grade and joined the family group at the top. My brother and sister had brought their kids along to make the climb with Grandpa. Preston and the other kids set a brisk pace up the rock but Grandpa stayed right with them, it took us a little bit longer to reach the top.

We assembled for a group picture on the summit and enjoyed the view for a while then made the trek back down the weathered face of the rock. We then headed into town for lunch and a nap. Later that day we gathered at the camp ground where my brother and I were staying. Lee cooked hamburgers and his wife Jennifer served a cake to Dad while the family sang happy birthday. As the sun set we visited some more and reminisced of vacations past while the grand children played in the camper.

I hope some day I'll be able to do some thing like this with Grand children.

Fishing reports from other guides in the area say the fishing is good when the weather allows you to get out on the lake. When the weather doesn't allow that the river had been giving up some nice Speckled trout, Red fish and Flounder. The baits their using are live finger Mullet and Pumpkin seed/chartreuse plastic.

Tight lines, Mike

2007-11-04T07:24:00.000-08:00

11/3/2007

Catch Fish / Eat fish

Rob Lord had sampled fishing on the flats of Bessie Heights marsh last month. This time he wanted to check out the fishing of Sabine lake. Rob brought his wife Jamie along this time for the half day trip. The bite for me had been later in the day so I had Rob and Jamie meet me at the dock at 10:00am. As we shut down the big motor and glided to a stop the lake was starting to get slick. It wasn't long before Jamie had a fish on using a D.O.A. popping cork and soft plastic, unfortunately it came off before we got the net under it. It wasn't long before we had a few fish in the boat.Since the tide was a little bit different today we opted to move out into the mid lake area to look for signs of fish. As we came to a stop further out I could hear the tell tell sounds of trout slurping shrimp on the surface. We trolled within casting distance and the action was on. There seemed to not be as many fish holding in one school as the days before so we picked up and moved again fishing the same pattern for most of the time. As the tide got closer to the right point I moved back to our original starting point and soon we were hooked up with solid trout with a few Red fish mixed in. Later that day we got a call of some big Red fish working about 2 miles from our location so we headed that way. Upon our arrival two boats came running between us and the shore line where the big Reds had been smashing Mullet and artificial baits, "She dogs". We waited for the area to settle back down but it was no use. We never caught the first Red fish at this location. The good news was we added to our catch of solid keeper trout. We did catch a few U/S specks in the area but Rob caught the largest trout of the trip on a She Dog there. We finished the short trip with Ten solid Trout and One healthy Slot sized Red. We caught most of our fish on Glow/ Chrt. Assassins fished under a rattle popping cork. The second best bait was a Gold cast master spoon then the She Dog still held it's own.

Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2007-11-02T17:39:00.000-07:00

11/2/2007 Afternoon delight

I pre fished for a trip tomorrow on Sabine lake and started at 7:30am. I wanted to see if there was an early morning bite going on. The birds were working the extreme North end of the lake when I came out of East pass all the way over to Bridge bayou. There were a lot of boats working them but it seemed civilized at the time. I found a few gulls out from bridge and caught one keeper but that was it. I worked my way West and still found a few scattered gulls but only one more keeper. The water clarity has greatly improved over towards the Louisiana shore line since I was over there on Tuesday. The wind started to lay around 11:15am. and the lake was slick by noon. I was still looking around when I found a few gulls resting on the water at 11:45 am. I stopped and watched as a few shrimp began to dance across the surface and the unmistakable sound of trout sucking them down passed through my ears. The bite was on with Red fish mixed in. I was using a D.O.A. popping cork with a glow/ chrt. Assassin threaded on a 3/8 lead head about 3 foot under the cork. Just as I got three trout in the boat a huge Red fish liked the way the cork looked and swallowed the whole thing and tried to run off with it. I finally got it back but it was severely mangled and the lead head was gone also. I guess another fish grabbed the jig as the bigger fish pulled it through the water. I grabbed a rod with just straight lead on it and still caught fish. There were some beautiful under sized reds mixed in with the trout also. I did have one slot sized Red to the boat and ready to net when it came unbuttoned. After the bite quit I was two fish short of a solid limit of 16 to 18 inch trout. I moved further West and found a few scattered trout chasing shrimp and easily finished off a ten fish limit by 1:30pm. The trout were still feeding so I got out the fly rod and caught a few more just for grins. My friend Bill Heugel left me a silver rattle rouser fly he had tied to fish with from our trip at the beginning of the week. This fly fished on a sinking line is deadly!

The bite was slow for me in the morning but really fired up around noon, hope the pattern is the same tomorrow? Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2007-11-01T18:39:00.000-07:00

11/1/2007

Heads and Reds working the flats

I couldn't stand it and had to get back on the flats today after yesterdays outing. I called my fishing partner and we launched the skiff at 11:00am. The bite must have started earlier than yesterday as the fish were very active upon our arrival. Dale took the casting deck and soon had a rat red in the boat. A few minuets later he hooked up with a large Red. After a hard fight the fish came to the net. The fish was 27" long and weighed 8 pounds even, this fish would have been in the money during the local O.C.A.R. tournament. Dale was fishing a flats master gold spoon with a CastAway HG40 Titanium "Speck and Red special" casting rod.http:///www.castawayrods.com

I have fished a lot of rods over the years and this one has to be my favorite. The rod is extremely light and telegraphs the slightest nibble through the rod handle.It has a soft tip but a strong back bone to turn big fish. A recent client made an analogy of the feel," its like holding a live spark plug wire" compared to other rods he had fished. We revived the fish and watched it swim off with the falling tide. It was my turn on the deck and I was on the hunt for a Sheep's head fish using fly fishing tackle. It wasn't long before Dale spotted one feeding just off the grass line in a foot of water. A well placed cast and the fish ate. As I set the hook the fish made a good 30 foot run and had the drag screaming and the 5 wt rod bent over. After a good fight we landed the fish and weighed it, 3lb. even, what a beautiful fish. If you have never seen a Sheep's head up close you just can't appreciate how colorful and well marked these fish are. I have really come to love these convict fish of the flats, their very tuff to sneak up on,will eat the right fly presented properly and most give a hard fight on tackle that's sized accordingly. I was only able to trick one of these fish into eating a fly today and spooked many more, that's why they have been called "Texas Permit" and a challenge on the fly. When the day ended Dale had eight Reds on conventional tackle and I had the one Sheep's head. It was a great outing for just 3-1/2 hours fishing. Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2007-10-31T15:41:00.000-07:00

10/31/2007 McMurry gets big fish this time

Don McMurry and Bill Heugel wanted to fish the flats today. We were on the flats at 7:45am hoping to catch an early morning bite but this wasn't the case today. The bite didn't kick off until around 11:30am when the tide had really started falling along with increasing water temperatures. We had a real thrill when we saw a large shape moving across a shallow flat right for us. At first I thought it was a huge Sheep's head but as it got within casting distance we realized it was a bull Red fish in the 35 inch class. Bill was on the casting deck and made 3 cast to the fish but things happened so fast the fly never really got in the fishes face. As it eased by the boat it had to swerve to miss the push pole and that's when it spooked. All of our hearts were beating 100 mph when it was over. I really was disappointed the fish didn't eat along with Bill and Don. We moved to a back water area of Bessie heights and found several Reds working the grass lines blowing up on shrimp, I guess the cold weather hasn't moved all the shrimp out of the marsh yet. We stalked the fish that Don has in the photo above for 10 minutes and finally got a shot at it and what a shot it was. We were looking at 10:00 off the bow when out of no where the Red shows right beside the boat! Don made a great roll /flip over the boat cast and placed the spoon fly right in the strike zone with out spooking the fish, amazing! The fight was on and the fish immediately ran under the stern of the boat and fouled the fly line in the muffler bracket of the motor. I managed to get it free before the fish had time to break the leader and the battle was still on. Finally the fish came to the net and high 5's were in order. The fish was 24-3/4 inches long and weighed 5-1/2 lb., just the right size for the 8wt. Orvis zero "G" rod Don was using. After pictures and reviving the fish we watched it swim off into the estuary. Bill took the bow and boated a nice rat Red shortly and had two refusals. Later Bill had several more fish spook before he could get a good shot off. Finally Bill got the fly in a Reds face and it ate but Bill was snake bit today. As the line came tight on the hook set it parted with sound of a bat striking a baseball and the fish was gone. We saw at least 15 fish today but it was much later in the day when the activity started, like we saw on Sabine lake yesterday. We boated four or five fish today and had a good time being out in the marsh, witnessing a beautiful sun rise and seeing the diversity of bird and Wilde life in the area not to mention we never saw another boat all day. Thanks to Bill and Don for making my job much easier the past two days. Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com

2007-10-30T19:05:00.000-07:00

10/30/2007

Trout and Reds on the Fly

Bill Heugel and Don McMurry wanted to fish Sabine lake on the fly today and what a day it was. The birds worked early on this morning but most were small school fish. We did manage one keeper. As the sun rose the birds scattered so we moved to the Louisiana shore line to get out of the wind and maybe catch a Flounder on the fly rod. The water clarity was horrible over there and we only had one hook up but it got off before we got a look, Bill felt it was a flounder. As the day progressed the fish hadn't turned on for us yet . We ran back across the lake and fished the North revetment wall of Pleasure island and found a few birds working in the area. We found some small trout under them along with a few keepers. Bill had a silver rattle rouser on and seemed to do better than Don's shrimp/ shad pattern. This was the program for the rest of the day. Look for Gulls working and stay in the area even when the Gulls had left and that's what they did. As soon as we would get within casting distance the Gulls would leave but the Trout would still be there. Near the end of the day around 3:00pm. we worked a few Gulls and connected with some beautifully colored Red fish. several were just under sized but Bill hooked up with a nice slot Red that was 24-3/4 inches long and weighed 4-3/4 lb. It was a good fight on the fly rod. We called it a day around 4:30pm and headed home with 9 keeper trout and one slot Red. I estimate we caught 25 Trout today but 98% of them were under sized, even though it was loads of fun on the fly rods. We Will fish Bessie Heights tomorrow and hope the wind is a s calm as it was this afternoon. Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2007-10-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

10/29/2007 Loons and Trout ?

The wind wasn't blowing quite as hard as yesterday so I pre fished today for a trip on Tuesday. The water on the North end of the lake looks very good even with the high winds and low tides we have had lately. I struggled most of the morning. Blue bird days and low tides have always given me a hard time. I did boat a small Red the 1st 15 min. I was out,that got my hopes up. Later in the day I saw several Loons working an area of the lake with a slick near by. It was a large slick but I thought what the heck. I worked down the length of it When I got to the Southern end I got a strike on the popping cork. I wasn't expecting a 4 lb. Trout but I was very happy to see it. I took a picture and released her. I made another drift and landed another keeper but that was it. The days total, 3 small reds and 3 keeper trout. The wind is forecast to be 8 mph tomorrow. Hopefully the birds will work and things will get back to normal for this time of the year. tight lines, Mike

2007-10-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

10/20/2007

Rat's In The Marsh

Alex Esquivel booked a 1/2 day fly fishing trip with me today. He has fished for Rainbow trout on the Guadalupe river but had never gone out and targeted Red fish in the local marshes out of a poling skiff. This was a learning trip for Alex. Some times your way ahead of the game if you hire a guide to show you what flies and equipment you need in your area, other wise it can be a costly and frustrating experience. We had a beautiful cool morning with a light East wind stirring the flats as the skiff glided slowly across the water at first light. We started the morning fishing a Dalburg diver surface fly. Alex got a nice blow up after about 10 minuets but the hook missed it's mark, any way it was a great wake up call. We fished for a while with out any more interest so we changed over to a "Capt. Tom Hornby" Spoon fly. It wasn't long before Alex was hooked up with a healthy juvenile"rat" red fish that was hanging right up against the grass line. Alex was fishing an Orvis Zero "G" 8 wt fly rod that had a mid flex action. The Orvis store in Houston located on Westheimer carries these flies and rods. The size of these fish are just right for the tackle we were using. The further we pushed back into the marsh the more fish we started to see. The cooler water temperatures seem to have moved the Sheep's heads back onto the flats also as we saw several of them tailing in the shallows. We missed a few fish and spooked a few fish and wound up putting three of the beautiful Rat Reds in the boat. We didn't get any slot sized fish today but we did spook two of them. Apparently they were laid up in the back of a pocket asleep. Alex had made several good cast across the area before we poled in to fish the back side and the fish never moved until I pushed the skiff right up on them. It's amazing that a 26 inch fish can go unseen in 12 inches of water right under your nose even when your looking for them? Both Alex and I thought the trip was a success as Alex boated three fish on his 1st trip and greatly improved his casting skills. I'm looking forward to our next outing. With the numbers of 17 to 19 inch fish I have seen in the marsh this year I'm really looking forward to next spring when these fish will have grown into the mid 20 inch class. Studies have shown that juvenile Red fish stay in the same areas until they reach maturity and head out into the Gulf to spawn.

Tight lines,Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2007-10-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

10/13/2007 Solid Trout in the waves.

As the sun rose on the lake this morning there was a chill of fall in the air.I had high hopes that the North wind had blown some shrimp into the lake. We were going to be looking for schooling activity later in the day. We started out fishing a top water bite that lasted on up around 9:00am. We had a few small trout and small red fish in a protected area on the North end but we wanted bigger fish. We headed West and fished the white caps out from the barrier islands. It was a long stretch before we found some fish, but the ones we found were solid. Tom Hall jr. had never been Speck fishing in his life along with his Dad. Tom sr. had 3 Trout before Jr. showed him how it's done. A well placed cast with a steady retrieve was the ticket for Tom jr's big trout that was right at 5 lb. The fight lasted a while but we finally got it in the net with great relief to me. It's not every day we catch a fish like that. The bone color She dogs kept catching a few fish every time we made the drift over a small flat that had about 3 foot of water on it. A few were under sized but there were some good keepers in there to. After the bite played out we ran across the lake to Willow bayou to get out of the wind. It was calm over there but the Trout action was almost non existent. We did catch one keeper and two throw backs. We decided to go back and fish the ruff water with hopes the wind might have backed off some. On the way across we saw two gulls sitting on the water. I stopped and had Tom sr. make a cast from the front seat, he was hooked up almost immediately. We all got plastic in the water and were hooked up. Greg Procell hooked up with a nice keeper and I think we had a triple going at one time. In the excitement Tom jr. was unhooking a fish and let his jig dangle over the side as he was going to box his catch. To his great surprise the rod kicked up knocked his hat off and disappeared over the side! If you could have seen the look on his face! I threw a bass buoy over the side to mark the spot as we continued to catch fish. There were a lot of small fish there, Specks Sandies and Reds but there were some keeper trout in there. After the bite quit Tom jr. and I tied on HoganAr's and hoped we could snag the reel that was in 8 foot of water. After about 15 min. I felt the line come tight. With great relief to Tom jr. and my self the Shimano Chronarch reel and rod came to the surface. The fish was gone but the jig was still on. I'm glad it wasn't a big Red that grabbed it or we might have never seen the combo. again. We only had 12 fish that would keep but they were good fish and all the action from the small fish made for a fun outing. We called it a day at around 1:15pm.

It didn't matter what color plastic we had on. Glow/chrt., Pumpkin seed, Limetruse they all got bit. I also caught a small Red and specks on the HoganAR when I was dragging for the lost reel. Tight Lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2007-10-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

10/8/2007 Big Trout/ Shallow Water

It's my last day of vacation so I decided to spend most of it on the water. I started off around 7:30am fishing a bone she dog. The 2nd cast boated a small trout but the next one was a nice solid 2 pounder. I kept it for a late lunch when I got home. I fished around the point at East pass and had 2 more fish blow up on the bait but never really ate it. I drifted on across the 3 foot deep flat and headed West. For the next several hours it was nothing but casting.No bumps no blow ups , no nothing! I finally boated 2 small trout in the barrel channel. I drifted across onto the next flat and hooked up with a nice 17 inch trout fishing the she dog. I kept the same drift and had 2 more blow ups and saw one fish make a run at the bait but it didn't make contact.

As I was fishing along I witnessed an Osprey dive into the water and come up with a small tear dropped shaped fish. I had noticed these fish jumping like mullets for a while in the area. I got to thinking, Match the hatch! I have a bait called a catch 5 that looks very close to the small fish. I move back up to my starting point and drop anchor. I get one tied on and make a long cast. BAM!, a hard run and a good fight. 3- 3/4lb. trout in the boat. make another cast BAM! another fish this time it weighs 4-3/4 lb. It's amazing, I had been drifting over these fish the whole time. They wanted a specific shape and the Catch 5 was it. I boated 5 fish from 3-3/4lb. on up to 5 lb. ! in less than an hour fishing in 30 inches of water at straight up noon. The water was so clear I could almost see the bottom. I had another 3 or 4 fish on that fought like the ones I boated but they pulled off before I got a look at them. The catch 5 had a white belly, holographic sides and a dark green back Just goes to show you, pay attention to what's going on around you and maybe you can figure out what the fish will bite. I was scouting for a booked trip on Saturday"hope there still in the area" so I left for the house to cook the one trout I kept for a late lunch.

Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2007-10-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

10/7/07 Just some thing to look at

I took these pictures as of late and wanted to share them with the public. They are a sample of what you can see if you get out doors early and late. God, he's the master artist.

Tight lines, Mike

2007-10-05T15:51:00.000-07:00

10/5/2007 High winds and high waves
My clients knew it was going to be a tuff day as they pulled up in the drive way this morning. The rain started just as they turned down my street and the wind was kicking up with it. Milton and Toby decided to give it a shot any way since a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work. Fortunately the rain was short lived and we headed out to the lake. We ran around to Coffee ground cove to seek shelter from the wind and give the trout a shot. The trout and Red fish were there but they didn't have any size to them except the one that Toby hooked up with but lost near the boat. We pinned our She dogs and headed for the barrier islands along the north side of the lake. The waves were unforgiving but the trout were out there. Milton's 1st cast was a nice 1-1/2 lb. trout and I boated another shortly after that. Toby again hooked up with a solid fish but had it pull off again? We all had light drags set and all the hooks were laser sharp but we still lost several fish. Most of the fish we caught were undersized but there were some solid fish mixed in with the white capped waves. After fighting the waves for an hour we decided to retreat to the marsh and hopefully catch some Reds and Flounder. The tide was super high in the marsh and I had no problem running my 21' Kenner any where I wanted. We lost several Flounder and finally boated one that was 16". We did manage a 19 inch Red fish on a spinner bait. I guess the high water had the Reds way back in the flooded grass. Normally we get more Reds than we did?
We finally called it a day as more intense rain showers moved across the marsh.
My hats off to Milton and Toby. The conditions were horrible but they hung tuff and gave it a good shot when most would have backed out. I took no pictures today. Between the waves , wind,trolling motor and not falling out of the boat I had no time to snap shots.
Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com

2007-10-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

10/2/2007 Red fish and Flounder

I got a very late start today and didn't wet a hook until 8:15 am. I missed the early morning Trout bite. When I made my first cast I had a good blow up on a She pup but the hooks didn't bite. After that it was dead for me. I moved around the lake and caught a nice 2 lb. 16inch Flounder and a Red fish that just made 20 inches. I released the Red just to be on the safe side. Later in the day I came across a school of over sized Red fish just breaking the surface in 7 foot of water out in the open lake. The size of the Reds was astounding! I could see Reds that would push the 40 inch mark cruising just below the surface. I cast out the HoganAR and hoped for the best. I hooked up with a strong fish and got it to the boat, it's a slot fish at 25 inches. I boxed the fish and cast for another. This time I hooked up with a much stronger fish. I fought it for about 15 minute's and finally got it in the net. It wasn't one of the big boys I had seen but it measured 30 and 1/2 inches long and weighed 9 1/2 lb. What a great fight on light tackle. The Red had battle scares around it's mouth from being hooked in the past. There was even an old hook still in it's lower jaw with a short piece of monofilament attached. I removed the hooks photographed it and released it to fight again some day. I lost the school during the battle and couldn't find them again so I called it a day. I did get a few bird photographs today. It's good to see the Brown Pelicans are making a come back in our area. When I was in High school back in 1977I don't ever remember seeing a Brown Pelican around here but now I see them most every trip.When I was leaving my boat slip this morning I has greeted by a Gaggle of Geese eating grass in the neighbors yard. They are tame Canadians that live in a lake near our house. Over on the Louisiana shore line the marsh had burned and the white Ibises were feeding in the open areas.

It's not just the fish that make a good day, it's all the extras thrown in with them that make a day on the water so special!

Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2007-09-22T15:10:00.000-07:00

Speckled Trout OnThe Move

9/22/2007 I am on call this weekend but managed to fish the North end of the lake with out getting paged today until after noon. The top water bite was there but slow. She pups in chrome sides/ blue back, Bone/silver sides and a spook jr. pink nose /white body all got bit. I lost a trout that felt to be in the 4 lb. class on the bone pup. After the sun got up we moved to plastic on lead. Bone /diamond, glow/chrt., morning glory shad tails caught fish. Morning glory seemed to get bit more. Fish were in 3 to 6 foot of water. The West wind had the lake to ruff to fish for me so we fished the Leeward sides of the islands. We had 6 Trout that would keep by noon, 4 throw backs and lost 2 more really solid fish. The beautiful sunrise this morning combined with the cooler temps. and trout that we got made for another good day on the water. I did keep the fish this time. My wife makes a great "Trout Almondine" . Sounds like supper I hope, Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2007-09-15T13:19:00.000-07:00

9/15/2007

Humberto didn't hurt flats fishing!

Rob Lord had scheduled a flats trip with me this past Tuesday to fish on Saturday. A few days later we were looking at hurricane force winds.We weren't quite sure if we were going to fish by Thursday evening but I told Rob to wait and see what Friday brings. There wasn't that much rain associated with the storm and by Friday evening the tide had fallen to normal levels. I drove out to the marsh West of Bridge City and the water looked great so we decided to fish the next day. Now my concern is the wind forecast that went from Northerly @ 7 mph to Northerly@ 10 to 15 mph. I am so glad we didn't cancel the trip. We boated 8 or 9 Reds and had 1 Flounder to the boat that might have kept this morning. We missed another 4 or so Reds during the trip. All were rat Reds from 12 to 19 inches except for one 26 inch 6 lb. beauty Rob caught early on in the trip. The wind was light in the morning with a beautiful sun rise but kept building after 10:00am. The Reds didn't seem to care as we caught fish from right after day light up until around 11:00am. We called it quits around noon as the bite had slowed way down. We may have caught another bite around 2:00pm when the tide should have really started falling but we didn't. The fish hit Zoom horny toads in the morning but after the sun got up we switched to a Strike king spinner bait the rest of the trip. Rob had brought his mother Patsy along so she could enjoy the scenery and maybe catch a fish or two. The Red she caught had several beautiful spots on it's body.I had to work until midnight Friday and was worried about being tired, it's funny how a good bite can rejuvenate the soul. I really had a good day with Patsy and Rob and was glad to see the marsh survived the Hurricane. Tight lines, Mike

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2007-09-15T12:34:00.000-07:00

Hurricane Humberto pictures

Finally got a chance to post the few pictures I took of the damage. WE were fortunate and had power restored on our street by 7:00pm the same day Humberto blew in. Mostly downed tree limbs and power line poles. All of the chemical plants on chemical row in Orange TX. lost power. The safety functions kicked in and all the gasses went to the flairs lighting up the night Sky's. They were still burning a day later at some sights. We have been on 24 hour coverage at the plant where I work so that's why I just got to post. Mike

2007-09-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

WOW, What A BLOW!
Woke up this morning at 4:00am to hurricane force winds. The rain wasn't very heavy though there was some very full ditches in places. The wind had the tide up and wasn't letting the ditches drain. By this evening the water level had dropped in the bayou about 10 inches. I am posting from work and can't download the few pictures of the damage around Bridge City I took. The damage isn't even close to what Rita caused but we don't have electricity. Word is it could be 24 to 36 hours to get Bridge City back up and running. I guess the worst damage is the downed power lines, 2nd is the few tree limbs that broke off. I did hear of one death in Bridge City. I was told a car port blew over and smashed an unfortunate soul. Hopefully the system blew through so fast the marsh fishing should still be possible by the weekend. The big factor is if the water levels drop quickly.I pray we don't get a fish kill with all the leaves that were blown into the waterways like with Rita. Maybe I can post some pictures on Friday, I'm stuck at work until midnight on stand by for now.
tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com

2007-09-08T15:56:00.000-07:00

Curse of the fly rod
I had high hopes of fishing the lake today with my fly rods. The past few days had calm mornings then the wind and thunder storms build after noon. I loaded up 4 fly rods along with my conventional tackle and headed for the lake early this morning. As I broke out in the lake through East pass I could see the white caps glinting in the early morning light. I was in hopes the morning wind would lay but it only got stronger so I never got the fly rods out all day. The tide wasn't going to fall until after 2:00pm. but hey you have to fish when you can fish. I did manage 7 Red fish on the spinning rod today, only thing they didn't quite make the 20" mark.
I don't think I would have caught 3 of the fish if it wasn't for the CastAway HG40 Titanium rod and the PowerPro braided line I was using. The sensitivity of this set up is unreal. I think if a fish breathes on the bait you can feel it through the rod. Some times the bite is so suttle you need all the help you can get. I only had one Trout bite early this morning on a She pup but after 3 blow ups it lost interest. I threw a soft plastic back in but it was ignored to. A big thunder storm swept right down the lake today but I managed to run around the North side of it and only got sprinkled on. The water had calmed down on the back side of the storm and I found rafts of shad working the North end of the lake. I only caught one Red a Gafftop and a black drum from under them on a Hoganar. I tried soft plastic with out a strike? Looks like the best bite was on the Louisiana shore line for me There are more storms building and the tide hasn't gained momentum to stimulate a good bite so I called it a day.
I guess that's why they call it fishing, Tight lines, Mike
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2007-09-03T13:30:00.000-07:00

More Sun and a later tide today

I had the pleasure of fishing with Mr. John Landrum today. John and I hit the flats about 6:45am. this morning. The fog that we had yesterday was gone and the conditions were much brighter and earlier than yesterday. I think this had some thing to do with the lack of fish feeding early on in the morning. John kept on blind casting a Gold spoon fly until he finally hooked up, with a nicely colored Rat Red that put up a good tug on his Orvis 8 wt . fly rod. As we worked along the grass lines for about another 20 min. John was again rewarded for his persistence with another beautiful Red fish. Finally around 11:30am the tide started falling and soon after we spotted a 26 inch class Red fish tailing in the shallows and stalked it waiting for a good shot at it. John made a good effort to get the fly in front of the fish but it realized some thing was up and vanished right from under our noses in less than a foot of water? I think those Red fish have some kind of cloaking device that makes them invisible. The thunder storms are building right on schedule so we worked our way off the flats and still got rained on before we reached the boat ramp.It was a beautiful day on the water for the most part and the fish we caught made it even better. Tight lines,Mike

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2007-09-02T13:10:00.000-07:00

Red fish & Love bugs!

My buddy Dale and I went and prefished for a booked trip on Monday. We finally had some lower water levels and a falling tide around noon. I noticed the water temperature felt a bit cooler also. The combination seems to have moved some fish back on the flats. Dale and I caught and released seven fish today and saw several more. Most were healthy rat Reds but we boated two that were 25 inches and weighed 5-1/2 lb. We saw a few more in that size range but we didn't mess with them. Hopefully they will show tomorrow. The overcast conditions didn't help with the sight casting but we still were able to sight cast at several fish. We only fished with Horny toads today. They work great fishing the thick moss and grass with out getting fouled all the time. I don't know if any one else is having problems with love bugs while fishing. The stinking things started swarming around the boat. They were all over the push pole and that caused me to smear several when I would make a stroke. That invoked even more to swarm the boat! Before long Dale and I had bugs crawling all over us. Take it from me , they taste as bad as they smell! Any way, the thunder storms built like clock work after noon so we called it a day before the rain started/ NOT! we caught the tip end of a shower not 300 yards from the boat ramp. Oh well it was a good day any how. Hopefully tomorrow will be as good or better. Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2007-09-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

Preston went along with me and Dutch today and did some scouting. We checked the marsh flats on the Louisiana side of the Sabine river, in the Burton's ditch area. The weather conditions were less than optimal. A heavy over cast and some light drizzle persisted for most of the morning with a light Northerly breeze blowing. The tide was slack when we first got on the flats. There wasn't much activity but Preston spotted this beautifully colored rat Red pushing across the shallows. A well placed cast with a horny toad and a few cranks of the reel resulted in a loud strike and a hook up. Dutch wanted a closer look after we got it in the boat. We poled around for most of the morning and only spooked one other Red and lost another when it spit the hook out. We fished around different flats until noon then called it a day. The water was very clear in 90% of the water we covered today with healthy moss and eel grass concentrations on most every flat we crossed. I don't understand the absence of the Red fish? We did get to see a lot of wildlife as we moved around the marsh. We found the Terns pictured above taking a break and preening them selves on the remnants of an old duck blind as we slipped across a pond. The Red fish are a great bonus to catch but there not the only attraction when making a trip out into the area marshes.

Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2007-08-26T15:09:00.000-07:00

8/25/07 I decided to give Bessie Heights a visit this morning with my buddy Dale. He hadn't run his flats boat in a while so we took it. We couldn't leave before day light because his running lights don't work so we got a little later start than usual. We had a high incoming tide this morning and for most of the day. The water depth made it hard to sight cast even though the clarity was good over most of the marsh so we mostly blind cast with top waters and spinner baits. The spinner bait saw the most action of the day. The only problem all of the Reds we caught were under sized. I had one good sized fish pick up the spinner bait but the line broke when I set the hook? I did catch one keeper Flounder and had two more under sized ones. It's good to see the Flounder numbers coming up. For several years past I have caught far less Flounder than say 5 years ago. There was hardly a breath of air moving around noon but we stuck around until about 1:15pm. and decided to call it a day. The fish bite was very slow and we were burned out and threw in the towel. Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com

2007-08-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

Made the run across coffee ground cove this morning and fished the game reserve. It had been 2 years since the last time I checked out the flats in that sector of the reserve. The moss that was super thick before Rita is coming back but still has a long way to go. There are still large areas that are flat mud bottoms. There was a lot of bait fish washing onto the flats this morning as the high tide was only getting higher. Finding Reds with their backs out of the water was going to be difficult at best. Preston saw this nicely colored rat Red working a shallow grass line and made a great cast to place the horny toad he was using right in the path of the cruising fish. We would have had the bait in the picture but it got lost in the battle. Shortly a big storm cloud rolled across the horizon in our direction. To our surprise a funnel cloud appeared out of it. Thankfully it went back up and we only got a little rain out of the event.

I had been blind casting a small spinner bait most of the morning and finally hooked up with our only keeper fish of the day. The Red was 26 inches long and weighed 5-3/4 lb.

After noon the activity seemed to slow as the temperature rose. Preston boated another beautifully colored rat Red on the Toad as did I on the spinner bait also.We almost had a disaster as we started to leave. I had taken off my shirt about an hour earlier and laid it on the poling platform at my feet. I got down to do some thing and decided to move to another spot. I forgot to get the shirt down! About an Hour later we decided to call it a day. I got to looking for my shirt and it hit me! I had my DL. credit card, health ins. card money clip and cell phone in the pocket of the shirt. The water was shallow and a bit murky but I had to go look any way. I told Preston I hoped there was some air trapped in the sleeves and maybe we could see it. I back tracked about a 1/4 mile thru the flats and low and behold Preston spotted some thing floating on the surface. Whew! it's my shirt with every thing in it. Of course the cell phone is a goner but that's easily replaced, it was the drivers lic. and cards I was concerned with. One other thing I hated to loose was the money clip. I had bought it about 12 years ago in Cozumel Mexico during a dive trip with friends, it had sentimental value. Oh well, it was a good time on the water with my son and we got to enjoy the great out doors together. I forgot to mention we got to see five Otters fooling around in a small pocket of the marsh for a short time.It's not every day you get to see Otters in the wild.

Hopefully I can get out on Sunday and do some more scouting.

Tight lines, Mike

http://rectorsguideservice.com

2007-08-14T19:02:00.000-07:00

Prospecting after work

Preston and I went scouting after work today. We were just looking for clean water and feeding activity in preparation for a guided trip Saturday. The 1st stop on the North end of the lake had 1 1/2 foot visibility and bait swimming along the grass lines.The predator fish were making them flash out of the water. A DOA shad tail under a DOA popping cork produced this nice slot Red that went 5 1/2 lb. on the Boga grip weigh scale on the 3rd cast. We had a few small Trout and lady fish bite also. We only fished a few minuets and headed on around the lake to check more conditions. The water started to get sandy near Willow bayou and only got worse the further South we ran. We crossed a big school of lady fish down towards Garrison ridge but couldn't get any Trout from under them? There is a big thunder storm passing over the extreme North end of the lake and the waves are getting ruff. We put on the slicker suits and headed home at 7:00pm.

Tight lines, Mike

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2007-08-11T18:56:00.000-07:00

I'm out of pocket this weekend so I can't give a fishing report. The water in the bayou is clearing up and the tide is making a good swing again. The mullet and shad are working in the slip behind the house so the fishing conditions are improving on this end of the world. Hope fully by the next weekend the fish will have moved back up on the North end of the lake. I hope the water levels on the flats in the marsh have gone down some also by then so sight casting for Reds can be done.

I have openings for guide trips the 1st week of October. If your wanting to book a trip let me know so you have 1st choice of the days you want.

Tight lines, Mike

http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2007-08-04T19:37:00.000-07:00

8/4/2007 Another Hot One !

We were fishing at 5:45am this morning. The tide was high with a northerly breeze blowing. The feeding activity was absent on the flats this morning. Around 8:00am the shad started schooling up along the grass lines but the Reds weren't there with them. We started moving around in search of some sort of activity. Finally around 10:00am I finally got a fish on. It was an undersized Red but an ice breaker just the same, it was another hour before I got bit again and it was another u/s Red. Preston and Dale had each caught undersized Red fish also but we were still in search of a tournament winning fish. At 11:30am. the wind slacked off shortly and three tournament sized Red's started tailing 30 yards West of us. I poled us into casting range. Preston had the 1st shot but came up short as did I. Dale made a well placed cast that landed right on top of one of the tightly bunched Reds and it was all over. They didn't spook that bad but they knew some thing wasn't right and disappeared. We left the area and came back 1/2 hour later but we never saw another Red after that. We finally threw in the towel at 3:30pm. When we arrived back at the ramp I noticed that the tide never fell as it was supposed to today. The prediction was incoming in the morning then falling around 11:00am for the rest of the day.

I am sure the lack of a moving tide is what killed the bite for us today. We found lots of bait and clear water but that was it. From the way the marsh is loading up with small Red fish barring another hurricane Red fishing on the flats next year should be great, keep your fingers crossed.

Tight lines, Mike

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2007-08-03T20:24:00.000-07:00

8/3/2007 The O.C.A.R.C. tournament started at 5:00 pm. today and ends at 4:00 pm. tomorrow. We elected to fish the Louisiana marsh this evening after work and see if the Reds had moved in the area yet. We boated 8 Rat Reds, none of them legal sized. They need about 4 more inches to be keepers. Most ate gold spoons but Horny toads and Terminator spinner baits got bit also. I am very happy to see the numbers of healthy young fish working their way back into the marsh flats. Hopefully next year we will see a nice crop of 26 inch fish. The water and marsh was in great shape but we are looking for a 27 inch fish. We will give Bessie Heights a shot and hopefully get that one fish that weighs between 7 and 8 pounds.They are there but not in great numbers so it's going to be a grind but that's part of the game.
Hopefully I can get some pictures tomorrow.
Tight lines , Mike
http://rectorsguideservice.com

2007-07-26T17:45:00.000-07:00

7/26/2007 - Tuff conditions and bad weather

I had the pleasure of guiding Bill Heugel and Don McMurry today on their 1st trip to Bessie Heights Marsh. The weather man said bad weather was coming but we thought we could beat the weather and get a days fishing in before it happened. Well we did beat most of the weather but we had to run from a thunder storm around noon but went back out after it passed.

Don got the first Red in the boat shortly after sunrise, it was a Rat Red but a Red none the less.The activity was extremely slow with no real feeding going on except for the small lady fish and small specks. We moved around and Bill caught a small Lady fish so we moved to another area of the marsh. Around 10:00am Bill hooked up with this nice 23 & 3/4 inch Red that weighed 5 lb. on the Boga grip. The Red ate a Capt. Scott Sparrows"mothers day fly". It's a shrimp style pattern. Shortly after Don hooked up with another Rat Red. After releasing the fish we saw a huge thunder storm heading our way so we beat it back to the boat ramp and waited for it to pass. After a short wait we hit the flats again with the weather deteriorating rapidly. Don hooked up with a small black drum on a similar pattern as Bills. The thunder and lightning is heading our way and the rain in coming down hard so we call it a day at 2:30pm.

Bill and Don are great fly casters and practice catch and release.They were a joy to fish even in the less that favorable conditions. My hat's off to them for hanging tuff.

Tight lines, Mike

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2007-07-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

7/22/2007 Tuff day,but we did catch!

We were fishing at first light today.The tide was almost slack and there wasn't much activity going on. The marsh has a certain sound and feel when the bite is going on and the feel wasn't there. We had a few blow ups from small Speckled trout but the baits we were using were just to big for the smaller fish to eat. To make things worse I clipped a submerged board and popped the trolling motor mounting screws out of the front deck. It sounded bad but I should be able to fix it with out much trouble. Most of the Red fish activity we saw today didn't start until around 10:30am . My good friend Dale Beaty boated this 26 inch 6lb. Red at about 11:45am. The tide was very low and the Red was pushing a good wake as it moved across the flat. This fish would have been a good target with the fly rod but Dale only does conventional tackle. Dale was fishing a soft plastic called a Horny Toad he swam on the surface about a foot in front of the Red. The strike was unmistakable!

I fished the fly rod early on when we had the trolling motor with no strikes. I switched over to the spinning rod after that because I can fish and pole the boat to. I had one Red on but I didn't get a good hook set and the fight was short lived. the Red ate a D.O.A. shrimp that I swam in front of it as it was moving across a shallow flat. Dale did have one other Red chase his Horny Toad but it wasn't hole heartily after the bait and backed off after a short chase. We ran down South and found the water very muddy compared to the North end of the marsh and called it a day about 1:30pm.

Hopefully the tide will be moving next time I get out in the marsh. By the way the other picture in this post is the marsh restoration project going on South of Hwy 87 West of Bridge City. There is a lot of work going on down there and the area is closed to the public so fishing there is out for the next year at least. The North side of the hwy. is still open to fishing until Teal season opens.

Tight lines, Mike

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2007-07-21T19:50:00.000-07:00

7/21/2007--- Fished Toledo Bend lake Today

Got and invite to come up to the lake today and meet a group of fresh water fly fishers.

We fished a few hours then returned to Bill and Connie Heugels home and had a great lunch.

Lots of fish stories and recipes for fly tying were exchanged.

On conventional tackle I caught a few small Bass and one Bream but I couldn't get a bite on the fly rod? The lake is 2 foot over normal pool level so the fish have more places to hide but the water is very clear. The weather was partly cloudy with lots of sun and no rain at all.

I got to try out my new 100 to 400 zoom lens today, a few shots came out good but I need some practice hand holding such a strong lens. Hopefully we will have good conditions tomorrow for Bessie Heights marsh and a few good pictures also.

Tight lines , Mike

http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2007-07-20T09:34:00.000-07:00

7/20/2007 - Another Low Pressure Weather system just hanging around.
The weather just won't seem to give us a break here on the Texas coast. I thought last week would see improving conditions but here we are again in a rainy pattern.
I have cancled my week off again in hopes of getting better weather conditions. I have plans to fish this week end rain or shine. A good guide friend of mine" Capt. Dickie Colburn" reports the bite on the lake is very slow and has cancled several trips this week due to the bad fishing conditions. Hopefully the marsh hasn't suffered the same fate as the lake with all the fresh run off water coming down the Sabine and Neches rivers. Either way I'm going to find out what Bessie Heights marsh looks like.
Tight lines, Capt. Michael Rector
http://rectorsguideservice.com

2007-07-10T15:40:00.001-07:00

7/10/2007 The SUN Returns !

Looks like the weather is going to give us a break for a few days and allow us to dry out some. It did sprinkle yesterday morning but it wasn't enough to make any difference.

The water level has gone back to normal in the bayou behind the house and we are actually getting tide swings but the water is still muddy but clearing more every day. I was working on the boat dock this past week end and saw a Bass feeding on small shrimp not 10 feet from me. That tells me the water isn't as fresh as I thought it was. Another local guide reported the river is in good shape. The lake is off color up North but down South the water clarity is much better. Hopefully the marsh will settle out sooner with the submerged grasses filtering out the sediment a little faster than the open water.

I rescheduled my week off for the the end of July. July the 26th is booked but the rest of the days are open. If any one is interested in booking a trip shoot me an email, there is a contact link on my web site.

I plan on hitting the flats this week end and hopefully the Red fish program is under way again.

Tight lines, Mike

http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2007-07-04T10:01:00.000-07:00

7/4/2007 Rain Rain go away!

It has been raining for over a week now. the water is high in the bayou behind the house and muddy . I wanted to fish the marsh today but I just can't get excited about fishing in the rain with the hi water and muddy conditions. If the rains stop now maybe the water will clear up enough to fish next week. If it doesn't I plan to reschedule my vacation along with the trips I have booked for next week to a better time.

Happy fourth to all and may God bless America!

Mike

2007-06-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

6/30/2007 I had the pleasure of fishing with Lee Forsythe and John Burpee today for their 1st salt water fishing trip. They drove in from Dallas Friday so we could get a early start this morning. We left the boat ramp at day light and had our lines in the water before the sun broke the horizon. As we cleared the Bull Rushes we were happy to see a lot of feeding activity on the flat we choose to fish first. While John fished the spinning reel from the middle of the boat Lee took the bow first and had a strike on the 2nd cast.The hook didn't stick ,but a few minuets later he got a solid strike and was hooked up with his 1st Red fish ever.After a good battle the fish was in the boat. It was 24 1/2 inches long and weighed 4 1/2 lb. on the Bog grip scale.After pictures we released it to fight another day. About this time a rain shower passed through but left a beautiful rainbow just west of our location. John put 4 rat reds in the boat on a 1/4oz gold spoon then gave the fly rod a shot. The bite was starting to play out and it took a while for him to draw a strike but when it happened it was thrilling. I had noticed a large fish charging bait near a clump of grass as we worked our way down the grass line. John made a well placed cast and as soon as the fly hit the water the red exploded on it. I think every one on the boat jumped when it happened. The line sped off the deck and the Red made a hard run then turned back left. As suddenly as the fight started it ended as the hook came loose from the fish. The bite had stopped so we moved around with out much success. The weather started deteriorating and a funnel cloud appeared out of the clouds and started moving to the ground! Luckily it never got to close to us and it went back up. We had a shot at two nice 28 inch class Reds after the clouds left when the sun came out. There was a minor difficulty when the fly line balled up on the rod and we missed the shot. About 10 minuets later we had another shot at them but it wasn't meant to be as they spooked and blew out of sight. A bigger thunder storm is closing in so we called it a day around noon. All in all we had a good day on the water, hopefully next time John can even the score with the Red fish and catch one on the fly.

Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2007-06-29T18:16:00.000-07:00

6/29/2007 Well Jim Wilkerson and I finally got to give the Reds a shot this morning after having to cancel last week due to the weather. As luck would have it the rain and thunder storms fired off very early this morning. We had fished maybe an hour and had to run for cover due to a fast moving thunder storm. After it had passed we got back out on the flats and boated this healthy rat Red on a gold spoon fly. The water was much higher than the last time I was on the flats and the Reds just weren't showing them selves in the deeper water so we did a lot of blind casting today. As the day progressed the storms got more numerous and we called it a day around noon due to the heavy lightning working our way. Going to give it another shot tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will hold off and the fish will show.

Tight lines, Mike http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2007-06-24T20:26:00.001-07:00

6/24/2007

Went out to and scouted Saturday for an upcoming guide trip. We were supposed to fish Monday but the weather men say it's going to rain so we were shooting for Sunday before the weather moved in. I was very happy to see at least 14 reds moving around the flats while I was out. I wasn't fishing so I shot a few pictures of the wild life.

This night heron was looking over an area where several Reds were moving through. I got a shot of several Reds working the shallows, as in the upper left and center photos. There was no doubt what kind of fish this was. The water is fairly clear and sight casting would have been a blast.

The sun never broke through the clouds the whole day and it started sprinkling rain around 11:30am. so I called it quits. I was still on for Sunday but my client called to say it had rained all day in Houston and he was afraid it was going to be a repeat on Sunday so we canceled the trip.

I got up this morning"Sunday" to falling rain so I went back to bed. When I got back up at 8:00am the sun was shining and the rest of the day was beautiful, go figure! Oh well we will try to make it out this coming Friday, weather permitting!

Tight lines, Mike

http://rectorsguideservice.com/

2007-06-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

6/16/2007
Terry and Danita Roe drove in yesterday evening in hopes of getting a day of fishing in on Sabine lake Saturday before the thunder storms came on shore. Well that wasn't the case today. We did manage 4 hours on the water with good conditions before this tremendous black cloud came in from the South.It covered the South end of the lake and then proceeded North. We first thought it may take a more Westerly track but it started moving North East and forced every one to pack it in and head for shelter.
We fished top waters, popping corks and straight lead. Terry had a nice trout on a Chrome she pup but lost it near the boat. I had a hard strike on a pearl/ chrt she pup but it didn't stay hooked for very long. Danita had a few short strikes on the popping cork and I had a 14 inch trout eat a DOA shad tail in LSU colors under the cork.I wanted to be in the mid lake area around 10:00am but we had to leave due to the storms. We knew it was going to be a gamble but the Roe's are real troopers and gave it a shot any way. Hopefully next time the weather and fish will cooperate.
Tight lines, Mike
http://rectorsguideservice.com

2007-06-15T09:21:00.000-07:00

6/15/2007
Just a quick note for any one thinking about booking a trip in the near future.
I will be on vacation from 7/7/07 until 7/15/07.
Right now all of these dates are open.
The fishing and weather conditions have been great so far this season so don't miss out.
Tight lines, Mike
July the 11th is now booked.
July the 10th is now booked.

2007-06-14T16:11:00.000-07:00

6/14/2007

I had the pleasure of fly fishing with Bill Madison and Robert Shook today. The conditions were drop dead perfect at first light this morning. The steam escaping from the refineries was going straight up and the tide was rising with it. Bill was after his first Red fish on the fly today. We took care of that situation within the 1st 20 minuets we were fishing!! Bill made a great cast to a nice 25 inch 5 lb. Red that was busting shrimp in about 8 inches of water, it doesn't get much better than that. Congratulations to Bill for a great first catch. By the way Bill had also tied the deer hair fly that he was fishing with and that makes it that much better. After the high fives and pictures Robert Shook took the front of the boat. We poled down the cut out onto a large flat and found a Red working shrimp on the edge of the grass line. Bob made a good cast and hooked the healthy young Red pictured above. It wasn't quite the Red Bill boated but it was a Red on the fly none the less. Bob was fishing a Mylar tubing epoxy fly with a rabbit fur tail. The tide started to slow and so did the bite but we still managed a few more rat Reds over the next few hours. We did find two 26 inch class Reds working together along a grass line pushing shrimp out of he submerged grass roots. Bill made another good cast but missed the hook set and we lost the pair. We moved on up north and boated another rat Red and 3 or 4 under sized Flounder on a conventional spoon and a spoon fly. I didn't photograph them but they were beautifully colored with dark olive colored bodies and white dapples scattered over the them. We were fishing a shell bottom and the flounder were camouflaged with this pattern.

A huge thunder storm is building to the South and I have one more spot to fish before the day's up. We took a vote and decided to give it a shot as long as the lightning wasn't showing. We hit the spot and Bob took the front to try to beat Bill's Red from earlier in the morning. Three cast later and he was hooked up with one that was the same size or maybe a little bit larger. The Red ran off several yards of line and we thought we had another fish but as Bob's luck would have it the epoxy fly came unpinned from the fishes mouth and flew back almost to the boat! Bob had a problem with keeping fish connected today even with a razor sharp hook?

The storm has really kicked into high gear with straight down lightning getting really close. We made it back to the boat ramp just in time to miss the hard rain but we really cut it close. If Bob had boated the fish I don't think we would have made it in time.

We had a great day and caught a good many fish even though they were mostly small.

Looks like Bessie Heights is finally on the road to recovery from hurricane Rita.

Tight lines, Mike

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2007-06-10T17:43:00.000-07:00

6/10/2007

Started just after day light this morning in Bessie Heights. The tide was almost bottomed out and that isn't a good thing fishing the flats. There was little activity but I did spot 2 Reds working the edge of a pipe line cut the 1st hour I was out. I covered a lot of ground today, from the South end up to the North end of Bessie. I found several Reds working a small cove thick with grass about 8:30am. Yesterday the activity started about the same time. I moved on down to another spot that has held fish in the past and low and behold there were 3 small Reds working shrimp in this pocket. I was scouting but I couldn't resist casting a spoon fly in the activity. I hooked up with the 12" Rat Red pictured. The little guy put up a good fight on the Orvis Zero G 8WT. mid flex rod. I hope these small guys take up residence in this area and get to be big boys by next year. I left the Rats feeding and moved on North.The tide is still flat and nothing is moving except the thermometer. Finally around 1:00pm the tide started to come back in. I found several more 26 inch sized Reds working a shallow ridge where the current was flowing over it. A big thunder storm is building in the East so I cut over and fished the incoming tide of the main Bessie canal. The specks were working shrimp to the surface so I got out the spinning rod and popping cork and caught several schoolies and a few just legal Trout. They liked an LSU color DOA shad tail on a 1/4 oz jig under the cork.I have to say the popping cork jig set up has really paid off this year. I cast a chrt. clouser to the specks but they didn't like it.

I did loose a nice sized Flounder right at the boat earlier in the day that hit he clouser. All in all it was a good scouting trip. I saw approx. 14 fish that could have been sight cast to without much effort. Hopefully they will still be there Thursday!

Tight lines, Capt. Michael Rector

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