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The Heat is On!!

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#1 · (Edited)
August 04, 2015

The Heat is On!!

by Capt Craig Lambert

This is typical Southeast Texas August weather. Hot Hot Hot. And it seems that as the years go by the Southwest wind has become our dominant wind in the brunt of summer. This hot weather pattern will keep those fish hanging around the deeper cooler waters of the ship channel but as the month progresses expect a push northwards towards Trinity Bay and the many well pads scattered across that bay system.

Water Vertebrate Shorts Fisherman Sleeve

Great Pic!!
The ship channel area just off of Eagle Point is loaded with all types of fishing opportunities. There are speckled trout, redfish, ladyfish, sharks and a few triple tail have even shown up. The ladyfish are schooled up and tearing up bait on the surface and can be found by just keeping your eyes open and looking. This is a great way to get kids hooked up to some hard fighting fish. No they are not that good to eat but pound for pound they cant be beat for the fight they produce. If you have a shark pole with you then put a few ladyfish in the cooler to use for bait.

Water Shorts Boat Cloud Vertebrate

Nice Redfish!
The redfish have been tough to find this summer. Most of the redfish I have caught have been off of the rocks/riprap with popping corks. I have seen a few schools located here and there in the channel area but it just seems like a slow bite overall for redfish so far this summer. August is typically one of the better months for redfish so lets hope they cooperate more soon. I plan on hitting the redfish hard once they do show up in better numbers. Areas of scattered to heavy clam shell in shallow water seems to be a favorite place for hungry redfish to congregate during late summer. Typically I am looking for them in 2-6 ft of water off of flats near the ship channel where I can find clam reefs.

Water Smile Vertebrate Sky Sunglasses

Toad!!
The artificial bite for trout has been fair to good. Days with decent tidal movement they want plastics but on weaker tides it can be tough to initiate a good bite. I have been using 3/8th oz jigheads when fishing the channel area or when I am in 8 ft of water or deeper. When fishing East bay the 1/4th oz still seems to be the best weight. Nothing fancy on color. Mostly bright colored soft plastics like limetreuse or glo but if the water is dingy or muddy I will throw a red shad or a darker color.

Water Sky Boat Cloud Jaw

The Jinx is broken! He can catch them on artificial!

I have been focusing mainly on slicks. If I dont see any in the area I will keep moving till I find them. But here is one mistake I see a lot of rookies make. They go right up to the slick and start casting at it. Unless you are watching that slick pop up in front of your eyes then there is no need to start chunking in it. Most slicks will have a life span of 10 minutes to a half hour so just use the slicks as a signal that fish are in the area and to do a few drifts up wind/current of it.

Water Cloud Sky Vertebrate Fisherman

Nice trout!
There are definitely a few sharks hanging around the ship channel and well pads. We had several redfish snatched by Jaws as we were trying to reel them in. Having "Shark Week" happen LIVE right on front of you is incredibly exciting. I have also seen a few tripletail hanging around also. Keep your eyes open for what looks like a football floating on the surface. Most likely that football is a tripletail.

Water Shorts Sky Boat Watercraft

RipRap Redfish!

Look for typical late Summer patterns to begin soon as the Northern areas of the bay slowly turn on. Lower Trinity and the scattered well pads can produce a ton of fish on days with lighter winds. Remember to mark every wellpad on your GPS. One day that well head may be removed as they seem to be removing more and more these days. They do not remove the shellpad they laid down on the bottom so that is still an area that will hold fish.

Take a kid fishing!!


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