LSONews.com
LoneOStar Outdoor News
March 25, 2016
TEXAS SALTWATER FISHING REPORT NORTH SABINE: Trout are fair to good on the Louisiana shoreline on top-waters and Corkies. Flounder are fair on jigs tipped with shrimp around marsh drains. SOUTH SABINE: Sheepshead, redfish and black drum are good at the jetty on live shrimp. Trout are fair to good around Garrison Ridge and the Louisiana shoreline on topwaters and Corkies. BOLIVAR: Trout are fair to good on the south shoreline on soft plastics and plugs. Black drum and redfish are good at Rollover Pass. TRINITY BAY: Runoff from the Trinity River is pouring in to the bay. Most of the bay is fresh. EAST GALVESTON BAY: Trout are fair to good while drifting deep shell on plastics and live shrimp. Whiting and sand trout are good on the edge of the Intracoastal on fresh shrimp. Black drum are fair to good in the Ship Channel on crabs. WEST GALVESTON BAY: Trout are fair to good for drifters working shell on live shrimp. Sheepshead, redfish and black drum are good at the jetty on shrimp and crabs. Redfish are good in the back lakes on shrimp and Gulps. TEXAS CITY: Black drum are good in are channel on crabs. Trout are fair on the reefs on live shrimp on the incoming tide. FREEPORT: Sand trout, speckled trout, black drum and sheepshead are good on live shrimp on the reefs in Christmas Bay. Black drum are good at the jetties on cracked blue crabs. EAST MATAGORDA BAY: Trout are fair for drifters in the back lakes on live shrimp. Redfish are fair to good on the edge of the Intracoastal on crabs and mullet. WEST MATAGORDA BAY: Trout are good in the guts on Soft–Dines and Down South Lures while wading. Redfish are fair to good on the edge of Oyster Lake on shrimp and crabs. Black drum and redfish are fair to good at the jetty on crabs. PORT O’CONNOR: Trout and redfish are fair on soft plastics over soft mud. Trout and redfish are fair for drifters
working the back lakes with live shrimp. ROCKPORT: Trout are fair to good in Morris–Cummings Cut on free–lined shrimp. Black drum are good in the Lydia Ann Channel on crabs. Redfish are good in the back of Allyn’s Bight on Gulps and crabs. PORT ARANSAS: Trout are fair on the East Flats on scented plastics under a popping cork. Black drum are good in the Shrimpboat Channel on crabs and finger mullet. Redfish and sheepshead are fair to good at the jetty on shrimp. CORPUS CHRISTI: Trout are fair to good on the edge of the spoils on scented plastics and live shrimp. Black drum and redfish are fair to good in the Packery Channel on crabs. BAFFIN BAY: Trout are good in the guts along the King Ranch shoreline on Corkies and top-waters. Black drum are good in the Land Cut on crabs. Trout are fair to good in the Land Cut on live shrimp. PORT MANSFIELD: Trout are fair to good on top-waters and soft plastics around sand and grass. Redfish are fair to good while drifting pot holes on scented plastics under a cork. Black drum and redfish are good on crabs at East Cut. SOUTH PADRE: Trout are good around the spoil islands, channel edges and color changes on artificial shrimp in 3–4 feet of water. Black drum, redfish and sheepshead are good at the jetty. PORT ISABEL: Trout and redfish are fair to good at Gas Well Flats on live shrimp. Redfish are fair at Mexiquita Flats and South Bay on artificial shrimp and live shrimp. —TPWD
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Trinity trout Continued from page 8
It was Dodson’s fish that got the crowd excited, though. “It was my largest trout ever,” Dodson, a teacher and tennis coach who was off for spring break, said. “I had met Adam while fishing, Photo by Adam Tate and he helped talk me through it, he told me to be patient. He saw the fish flash and said I had one of the trophy trout.” After the fish ran, it tried to bury up against the bank. “Finally, he ran upriver — it felt like we fought him for more than five minutes. I had a 5 weight rod with a 4X tippet — I knew I had to take my time.” Tate landed the fish. “It was too big to fit in the net,” Tate said. “The people on the bank were cheering.” Other anglers had shots at the larger fish, but most were unsuccessful. “They broke off,” Tate said. “Most had 5X line. No one was used to catching fish this big — a few of the ones we caught had flies in their mouths.” Dodson’s fly-fishing obsession came after a family trip to Broken Bow, Oklahoma a few years ago. “I saw a guy catch a trout on bait,” he said. “I bought a spincaster and caught some trout.” He was hooked. “I saw some fly-fishermen and knew it was what I wanted to do,” he said. When he returned home, his first stop was the Backwoods store in Fort Worth where he got set up. “I practiced at ponds on bass and made trips to Broken Bow and Possum Kingdom, where I caught a 36-inch striper,” he said. “Last year, I went with my 17-year-old son and we camped and fished for 81 days during the summer break. We fished in Oklahoma, Colorado, Montana and South Dakota — I guess I have a borderline obsession.” Dodson had never fished the Trinity River before the event, but he has since. “The next day after catching the trout, I caught my largest carp,” he said. “It felt like I had roped a bull.” For Tate and Dodson, the event made the new friends fans of the river. “I can’t believe I overlooked this river right in my backyard,” Tate said.