Robert Sloan's Outdoors column for October 21, 2021.
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Taylor Garcia poses with a trout. She has a green neck scarf and green pants and a white long sleeve athletic shirt. She has a green hat with red text and sunglasses on. There is a fishing pole under har left arm.
It’s a fact that right about now, when the first cold fronts start moving through, reds and trout will be all over Sabine Lake, East Galveston Bay and Lake Calcasieu feeding on shad and shrimp. And they are easy to find, just follow the gulls.
Guide Buddy Oaks, at Hackberry Rod and Gun Club on Calcasieu Lake, says the trout action is very good under the birds, with most being caught on tails. Reds are best in West Bay on topwater lures fished under small groups of gulls feeding on shrimp pushed to the surface by big reds.
Beaumont’s Paul Falgout has been fishing Sabine Lake for decades and says that this is definitely the finest time of year to be on this water.
“It’s easy fishing,” he says. “Right now the bird action is just beginning. But as the cold fronts move through and water temperatures begin to fall lots of shad and shrimp will be leaving out of the bayous and entering the lake. That’s when the reds and trout will feed heavily on them.”
Jerry Norris has been guiding here for over 30 years and knows a thing or two about catching fish on Sabine.
“For the past couple of weeks we’ve been seeing the bird activity slowly increase,” he says. “But the only problem is that they are holding over trout in the 12-to-15-inch range. It’s just a matter of time before the bigger trout will start feeding under the birds. At times there will be huge flocks of gulls hovering over shad and shrimp being pushed to the surface by hungry trout and reds. It’s fun fishing. About the only thing you need is box full of soft plastic jigs and a pair of binoculars.”
Norris uses the binoculars to scan the lake for birds. Once the birds are spotted he’ll run to them, and move in close with his trolling motor so as not to spook the fish.
“Usually, the first boat on the birds will catch the heavier trout,” he says. “That’s when they will actually be feeding on the surface, providing a good topwater bite. A Super Spook Jr. or a MirroLure She Dog will catch the heavier trout. Bone and chartreuse are good colors. But don’t give up when the feeding action slows down. Fish a ¼ ounce jig on bottom and you’ll likely find some reds.”
On the topic of reds Falgout says that using a pair of binoculars to find schools of reds is big time fun. At times, groups of reds will be pushing a wake on the surface as they roam around looking for pods of shrimp and shad. That’s when you’ll see just a few gulls moving while dipping and diving trying to pick shrimp off the surface.
“Once I locate a school of reds it’s just a matter of getting out in front of them and dropping a big soft plastic jig on ‘em,” says Falgout. “I’ll almost always be fishing a 3-inch Deadly Dudley tail rigged on a ¼ ounce jig head. I like to use the shad tails a lot of the time. They have a lot of action and vibration when moving though the water. Since the water on Sabine is mostly a little tea colored the best colors are pink/yellow, silver/chartreuse and brown/chartreuse. There are times when you need to make long casts. That’s when you might want to rig up with a heavier jig head.”
Norris says that the action under the birds will be all over the lake.
“Right now some of the best fishing is on the upper end of the lake. But as the water temps begin to fall the best action will be on the lower end of the lake between Blue Buck Point and the causeway bridge.”