# Still Big Trout Time



## troutsupport

Fished Baffin Saturday and Sunday with a couple friends of mine, caught probably about 30 trout in various sizes while specifically targeting where the big girls live. Yes, small trout do swim where big trout do, but big trout don't always swim where little trout swim. In areas where big trout inhabit, the big trout will many times eat small trout. We did manage 2 big trout within the 30. One of those trout had a huge mullet tail sticking out her tonsils, she went 9 1/4 lbs and was caught by my friend Roland Altinger. I caught an 8. The only downside of the trip was that my other buddy didn't catch a big trout. We're going to have to go back I guess. We caught fish on TroutSupport TSL - Grass walkers (Pink, Roach, Houdini), floating fatboys in Texas Chicken and Pearl, and on SoftDine XLs in a gold base, had a few strikes on tops but just not quite going off on them yet. I talked to Capt Les Cobb and he did say he's caught a few lately on tops when the water was above 70. Water color this weekend was ok although I tend not to let that bother me, I've caught many of my trout and redfish in water that had less than an inch of visibility. Caught the fish in areas of shallow mud and grass with the tide just a little low.. Sunday tide was even lower and we didn't catch any big fish although we still caught some keepers. The big fish will move in and out of areas based on tide height.. want to catch a big trout? target their specific habitat on average to higher tides in shallow mud and grass (structure). Once they move out during a lower than average tide they become hard to target.

The bait you use will be dictated mostly by the environment you are fishing in these circumstances.. some areas like this it's hard to fish a jighead due to the moss and grass so you're better options are slow sinking baits and weedless baits and topwaters. I'm fishing specific areas where big trout live and there is bait present and usually acting certain ways that you can learn to read. We're not getting hung up on if we don't catch anything in these areas because we might only catch 1-3 fish in one of these areas. We're not targeting where numbers are, although we'll catch several small trout we're just not worried about it. I see a lot of guys fishing where they should to get numbers of trout and the odds are not in their favor to catch a real trophy (maybe by happen stance but not specifically targeting them).

There are some areas that have big trout that don't have any grass at all as well (no oyster or rocks either, just mud). If you want to know the specifics and you don't already have the the TroutSupport.com Big Trout DVD https://troutsupport.com/, consider getting it... there's still time.. in fact the biggest fish will be caught over the next couple weeks and then many more big fish will be caught in these areas all the way until about June, a few or more will be caught between June and Dec as well, but you have to know what to look for and understand it. I see a lot of frustrated anglers out there fishing and hoping instead of fishing where they need to focus. Invest in what you love and let me help you elevate your game I'm always available for questions too.. just want to see you guys catch some fish (and not just small ones either). Good luck guys. Cheers! Ya'll all congratulate Roland!!!


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## GSMAN

Wow! Sounds like a great trip! Those are some big girls!


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## Aggieangler

Nice


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## SaltwaterSlick

Tobin, that last pic is really a nice shot!! That's one fat girl!
Congratulation sir on some fine fish for you guys!


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## 3rd Coast Angler

Good stuff Tobin!


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## troutsupport

Thanks Guys!!!


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## pocjetty

Those are some beautiful, healthy fish Tobin. I love it when they're fat, and the tails are all intact like that. Big predators at the top of their game.

Your lures are effective in a lot of situations, but in that annoying heavy grass I don't think there is anything to compare to them. I always favored a weedless spoon for heavy grass, and I still like them. But your lures let me finesse and spend more time in the strike zone (or what I hope is the strike zone.)

As always, you give some great advice. You make a great point about stalking big fish. Probably better than half of the really big trout I've ever caught were the only fish, or one of a very few for that day. I got yelled at here for suggesting that big trout don't school, but "schooling" is more than just having a few fish in the same area. It's a behavior for either improving the fish's hunting, or defense. My belief is that big trout simply don't hunt that way. I guess there are exceptions to every rule, but if you are into numbers of schooling trout, you aren't likely to catch a trophy fish. You guys were clearly targeting big fish in favor of numbers, and I hope that people who dream of catching that trophy trout will get your videos to give themselves more of a chance than hitting the lottery.

I do believe that big (big-ish) trout will sometimes sit out at the edge of a group of smaller schooling fish, and pick off bait fish that are blindly fleeing the school of smaller trout. The problem is that taking advantage of that fact is difficult. But I think that accounts for a lot of the "accidental" catches of big trout.

[Edit: Here's a little bonus thought. Tobin talked about catching some of his biggest fish in water with one inch visibility. When the water is dirty, the big girls feel more at ease. But most people really feel like they are flying blind in water that dirty - just throw it and hope. And that's true, unless you can narrow your search way down and throw to areas most likely to hold that big fish. Tobin's consistent success tells you that it's more than just coincidence, and that you can drastically improve your odds of success. Buy the videos - they're better than anything on TV, and you will learn to catch more fish.]


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## Rack Ranch

Nice, I saw Peterek caught a 31' 10.5 this morning.


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## troutsupport

Chad is solid!... knows his stuff as well.


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## troutsupport

Was a fun trip. Wind forced me to learn some new stuff and get out of my comfort zone. Caught some trout wading with winds in the 30's.. semi protected areas, not completely protected for sure. Supposed to have some wind next week as well.


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## sharkinaggie07

Tobin,

If you don't mind me asking...when your throwing your TSL's, are you using weighted hooks or does the body of the bait provide enough weight to cast and/or sink with a non-weighted hook?

Thanks!

-SA


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## 1fisher77316

Chad is consistent with the "Big Girls". He knows the water and more importantly where the real sows feed.
Tight lines


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## troutsupport

sharkinaggie07 said:


> Tobin,
> 
> If you don't mind me asking...when your throwing your TSL's, are you using weighted hooks or does the body of the bait provide enough weight to cast and/or sink with a non-weighted hook?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> -SA


The body of the bait does have plenty weight to cast it, and probably most importantly is that it stays true when cast. (with an unweighted swimbait hook the total weight is 1/4 oz. .. ask POC Jetty he can tell you how far it cast. It stays pointed in the right direction and doesn't turn sideways or have appendages to catch the wind. I'll use it weightless in shallow grass, or with a lot of floating grass. The only time I add the weight is if i'm casting up or cross wind. A lot of the guys sight casting with it right now are using a weighted hook (Owner twistlock 4/0 with 1/8th oz. ) in case they see a fish off to the side and having to keep the bait down with that wind catching the line. I also drop the rod tip to the water in this case to get the line out of the air so the wind won't catch it. But either way works.


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## Shalor96

I like inserting small 1/16 or 1/32 oz nail weight to get it down just a little but without killing the action.


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## Firetigr

Shalor96 said:


> I like inserting small 1/16 or 1/32 oz nail weight to get it down just a little but without killing the action.


I like it weightless 5/0 hook. Pic from last Saturday on bone diamond. 4# Released!









Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## troutsupport

Shalor96 said:


> I like inserting small 1/16 or 1/32 oz nail weight to get it down just a little but without killing the action.


Hey Craig, can you show a link to the nail weight you are inserting for everyone.

Good job Firetgr, solid fish!


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## ctsa

As always, you’re the man Tobin! If you haven’t tried the TSL lure, it’s a must. I throw it consistently and consistently get terrific results. Still chasing that 30” on it so he’ll put me on his homepage of his website (haha).

Caught and released several 27-29” in Aransas bay last week. All were on tops (water was warm at 74 degrees and it was evening). Trout were over mud/grass with a shell reef protecting the area. Couldn’t agree more with your synopsis Tobin! I have seen the trout go to prespawn routines in Baffin where it’s warmer earlier lately on hard sand when the tide is right but a lot are still in the above conditions. I imagine they will transition over the coming weeks if weather continues but we will see.

Great fish my friend.


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## Rack Ranch

Best report I have heard out of any bay system the last couple weeks. Congrats!!


ctsa said:


> As always, youâ€™re the man Tobin! If you havenâ€™t tried the TSL lure, itâ€™s a must. I throw it consistently and consistently get terrific results. Still chasing that 30â€ on it so heâ€™ll put me on his homepage of his website (haha).
> 
> *Caught and released several 27-29â€ in Aransas bay last week.* All were on tops (water was warm at 74 degrees and it was evening). Trout were over mud/grass with a shell reef protecting the area. Couldnâ€™t agree more with your synopsis Tobin! I have seen the trout go to prespawn routines in Baffin where itâ€™s warmer earlier lately on hard sand when the tide is right but a lot are still in the above conditions. I imagine they will transition over the coming weeks if weather continues but we will see.
> 
> Great fish my friend.


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## Shalor96

Not sure how to link a website onto this reply. But they are the 1/16 oz or 1/32 oz eagle claw lead nail weights on academy.com. I insert into the nose after I put spring(screw-in) part of the hook in.


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## Blowup30

Very Nice!


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## pocjetty

troutsupport said:


> The body of the bait does have plenty weight to cast it, and probably most importantly is that it stays true when cast. (with an unweighted swimbait hook the total weight is 1/4 oz. .. ask POC Jetty he can tell you how far it cast. It stays pointed in the right direction and doesn't turn sideways or have appendages to catch the wind. I'll use it weightless in shallow grass, or with a lot of floating grass. The only time I add the weight is if i'm casting up or cross wind. A lot of the guys sight casting with it right now are using a weighted hook (Owner twistlock 4/0 with 1/8th oz. ) in case they see a fish off to the side and having to keep the bait down with that wind catching the line. I also drop the rod tip to the water in this case to get the line out of the air so the wind won't catch it. But either way works.


They cast amazingly well for a weightless bait. With the wind, it's amazing how far they fly. Into the wind, they don't flap around like most plastic, and they don't deflect nearly as much with a side wind as most plastic. Throwing out half my spool isn't going to help you catch fish. But because of the way they cast, I can get the lure where I want it with a lot less effort and flailing of the rod tip. And that really helps a lot with accuracy. When I see a fish or a swirl, I can get the bait out past the spot, and right on line for getting it in front of the fish. Or I can put a moderate-length cast right up against the grass line. Distance is fun, but casting accuracy is seriously under-rated in saltwater fishing.

They can be difficult to work with a harsh side wind. It helps to sling your cast low, so the line doesn't billow as much. I will thumb my spool before the bait hits the water, so that it pulls some of the bow out of the line. And on the way in, it's really necessary to hold your rod tip low, so that the line doesn't catch the wind and make the lure ski. If the wind is stout enough, you may just have to go to something else. You can use it weighted, but the real beauty of the lure is the way it pulls weightless.


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## Sgrem

The above is perfect and exactly what i do. pocjetty put it to words better than i ever could. The above should be printed on the package as the directions for how to fish it.


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## Gigem2010

Very cool! 
Defiantly some good info on a great lure and some nice pics to back it up!


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## troutsupport

Thanks Gig'em


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## groy

*TSL ?*

Where can you buy TSL's? How do you work them?


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## troutsupport

They are available at 
Katy - Anglers Anonymous
Bay City - Salt Swag
San Antonio - Mathews Reel Repair
Harlingen - Hook Line and Sinker

if you can't hit one of those they are also on my website TroutSupport.com

Here's a little youtube on the options and specifics of fishing with it.


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