1/22/23 Port Mansfield Day 2

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wittich
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Joined: Fri Jan 21, 2005 6:36 pm
Location: Kyle, Texas
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1/22/23 Port Mansfield Day 2

Post by wittich »

The conditions on Sunday were horrible for speckled trout. High barometric pressure, high boat traffic, zero cloud cover, high winds and dirty water. The chop made it difficult to locate the bait on the flats. We caught a number of trout early in the morning on topwaters, but the action soon died down. It was very different from the previous day when we had had thick cloud cover. From 8-9 only a few fish were caught. We decided to drift to cover more ground. We went an hour without a bite. AT 10:30 we had a choice to make. We could give up and head back early, we could keep throwing the same Manfield Knockers and Corkies that the fish stopped biting or we could give the trout what they wanted to eat.
Gordon started digging around in his tackle bag for a popping cork and a gulp shrimp.
At this point all the guides starting calling each other.
Guide #1: Bro, you catching any?
Prado: We have not had a bite in a while.
Then a few minutes later the phone rings again.
Guide #2: "Where you at? Are you catch reds or trout?"
Prado: "No one is catching anything. The bite is slowwww. My client is about to start fishing with gulp."
Guide #2: "Gulp! that is cheating. We don't use gulp on my boat. You might as well throw be throwing dead shrimp."
Meanwhile Gordon has the rod rigged up with a popping cork in his hand. He gets his cast ready and says: "I am going to catch a big trout on this cast. I can feel it". He launches his cork in the air, it sails by one of the boats we are drifting past and lands in a sandy pothole. The second it lands the cork gets pulled under water.
Prado: Cork Down! Cork Down! Set the hook. That is a big trout. Someone get the net.
wittich
Posts: 142
Joined: Fri Jan 21, 2005 6:36 pm
Location: Kyle, Texas
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Re: 1/22/23 Port Mansfield Day 2

Post by wittich »

Gordon trout.jpg
mwatson71
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Re: 1/22/23 Port Mansfield Day 2

Post by mwatson71 »

Looks like you found a decent sized trout after all.
wittich
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Joined: Fri Jan 21, 2005 6:36 pm
Location: Kyle, Texas
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Re: 1/22/23 Port Mansfield Day 2

Post by wittich »

It was 25 inches. It was a good fish, but not the giant we were looking for. I thought shrimp under popping cork would only catch the dinks, but Prado says he has caught a lot of big fish under a popping cork during windy conditions.
mwatson71
Posts: 552
Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2016 2:03 am
Location: 77005

Re: 1/22/23 Port Mansfield Day 2

Post by mwatson71 »

Given what sounds like terrible conditions, I’d say it is a pretty nice trout, especially from a boat. But yeah, it is kind of a drag catching a 25” trout when you know there are a bunch of bigger ones out there. The spoils of Port Mansfield.
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