Powerboat success at John Wayne Cut!

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Dandydon
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Powerboat success at John Wayne Cut!

Post by Dandydon »

I told you yesterday that Shoffer and I would hammer the Speckled Trout ...

We launched his Stumpnocker skiff 6:20am this morning at the San Luis Pass County Park. Kinda crowded for a Tuesday because the word was out about big Trout!

The N 5 wind had flattened and calmed the surf, so we motored out past the toll bridge to see acres of silver shad snapping and popping all around us. There were groups of seagulls and terns crashing the water to get at them.

All that rowdy action led us to believe there were gamefish attacking the shad from below, but we fished the area hard for an hour, hooking up only two large Spanish Mackerel that jumped like crazy and got off our hooks. No Specks, no Reds.

That scenario has played out many times in my fishing career. Does anybody know why those shad get so worked up but yield no gamefish? It's a mystery to me.

Shoffer then headed us back into Cold Pass where we fished a few slicks along the southern shoreline with no success. Then he got to John Wayne Cut where Churchill Bayou feeds into Cold Pass. There we found more gulls and terns crashing the water. Only one other boat was there, fishing the canal mouth with live shrimp. Those poor boobs caught nothing while watching us land 20 specks.

It was ON like a GONG. Under those birds the specks started hitting our beloved 4" white glow Down South paddletails. It wasn't "instant hook-ups" like most bird action; we had to let the lures hit bottom, then start slow jigging the retrieve. BAM!

In the hour from 8am-9am we landed 20 Trout and six were fat, healthy keepers. No worms. We threw back 14 fish that didn't hit the 16" mark. At one stretch we both landed fish on 4 consecutive casts. Our two biggest trout were 19" and 20". That's good action after these past several months of gnarly winds and incessant rains.

Shoffer knew I had promised some friends a Fish Fry, so I got all the keepers. Thanks, captain. We have no dead fish photos because I filleted them at the launch ramp under time pressure.

The two fishing parties at the cleaning table had limits of big Trout to 25". They were throwing 4" Down South paddletails in green glitter color.

It was obvious that most fishermen were pounding the specks all up and down the coast. The old salts said that might last one more day before the waters muddy up again.

I tried to invite you to join us! Image

On the way back Shoffer dropped off his powerboat for some fuel line repairs, then in Kemah we almost got sideswiped by some deranged drunk in a gray Honda. He flew by us, colliding with 2 cars and knocking off all the outside mirrors.

Two miles further, we saw about 4 fire-trucks and 4 police cars with blue lights flashing. It was the same crazy putz who had crashed his car. Shoffer ran over to THROW OUT HIS NUMBER, but the scene was too chaotic and dangerous. We ate two delicious cheeseburgers at Tookies and safely wound our way home.

And yes, the trout action is fast and furious all up and down the coast. Hope to see you next time.
Image

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shoffer
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Re: Powerboat success at John Wayne Cut!

Post by shoffer »

That's what happened. I was there.

Couple of things I noticed. First, something big chased my lure in the surf, and hit my pole hard, and immediately cut it off. Likely a shark; I also had a 2-foot blacktip follow my topwater to the boat also. We also saw a baby blacktip in cold pass.

Second, when we were catching the trout at the mouth of Churchill, another boat motored right over our spot while our lines were in the water, but we still got bit as it was happening -- and thereafter. I guess hungry trout don't always get spooked by boats whizzing over their head.

And the guy who caused the bad wreck I believe was high on bath salts the way he was driving. It was not like a drunk driver, but more like a crazed, doped-up bastard.
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YakRunabout
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Re: Powerboat success at John Wayne Cut!

Post by YakRunabout »

Congrats on finding the action and the fish. There was a lot of activity when I was there a while back.
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Re: Powerboat success at John Wayne Cut!

Post by Crusader »

Dandydon wrote:The N 5 wind had flattened and calmed the surf, so we motored out past the toll bridge to see acres of silver shad snapping and popping all around us. There were groups of seagulls and terns crashing the water to get at them.

All that rowdy action led us to believe there were gamefish attacking the shad from below, but we fished the area hard for an hour, hooking up only two large Spanish Mackerel that jumped like crazy and got off our hooks. No Specks, no Reds.

That scenario has played out many times in my fishing career. Does anybody know why those shad get so worked up but yield no gamefish? It's a mystery to me.
I think it is a bunker shad (Atlantic menhaden) -- when they move in large schools water is literally boiling from these pops. They are probably feeding on smaller creatures. And casting to them yields nothing. I did it on Monday at SLP -- got really excited, paddled over to the action. Not a bite...
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Dandydon
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Re: Powerboat success at John Wayne Cut!

Post by Dandydon »

Thanks for the info, Crusader. Your explanation makes sense. It's a phony gamefish frenzy. No pay-off fishing those shad boils.

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Re: Powerboat success at John Wayne Cut!

Post by Crusader »

Here, found a good video -- you could see how menhaden school looks like normally and how it looks like when something is chasing them. I saw precisely that at SLP when incoming tide sucked in bunch of clear water into the bay (alas, no feeding).
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kickingback
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Re: Powerboat success at John Wayne Cut!

Post by kickingback »

A power boat report is just as good as a kayak report! Thanks for sharing and for the detailed info! Those loser boaters that pay no attention to other while on the water will get theirs like the crazed monkey driver. Well done Captains!! :clap:
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Re: Powerboat success at John Wayne Cut!

Post by Dandydon »

Thanks for your kind words, Charlie.

Since TKF now gets about ONE fishing report per week, I thought a local powerboat report from the Hobie Navy would spice this board up.

Next week we'll be fishing some nighttime lights in the kayaks. Watch for our fishing report.

Here's sunrise over Cold Pass last Tuesday from Shoffer's skiff... Image

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Ron Mc
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Re: Powerboat success at John Wayne Cut!

Post by Ron Mc »

sorry I'm late to the party - Great report, and thanks for the nice photos.
The beauty of a power boat - easy to run to try different spots.
With a kayak, you're always stuck with the plan for the day.
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Dandydon
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Re: Powerboat success at John Wayne Cut!

Post by Dandydon »

On our first 3 powerboat trips Shoffer & I caught only a couple of legal gamefish. But practice helps, so now we're learning where to go given the weather and current conditions.

It's a whole different mindset from kayaking where you're confined to maybe a 5 mile search radius.

In the skiff we can target fishing spots all over the bay. And I gotta admit that my old muscles aren't as sore with a powerboat on our team.

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TexasJim
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Re: Powerboat success at John Wayne Cut!

Post by TexasJim »

DD: My powerboat report's short. Like the one trout I caught. It was 16", and rather than put it on ice, I wanted to keep it on a stringer, hoping to replace it with a few 18"-20"-ers. I moved up to my forward seat and looked back at my shrimp box and saw a four-foot fish zoom close by my boat. I saw the tail and it had a black streak on it. Uh-oh! I lifted my stringer and I had a trout head. Black-Tip 1, Jim 0. And my friends ask me why I don't wade-fish! TexasJim
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Dandydon
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Re: Powerboat success at John Wayne Cut!

Post by Dandydon »

I feel your pain, Texas Jim!

At least you landed that legal Trout, fed a shark, and were in a relaxing powerboat. Summertime is hard on kayakers.

Looks like the local sharks are now out in force. Last Tuesday in the SLP surf, Shoffer and I got hit by a couple of black-tips.

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