Guide, clients land numbers of trout over 7 pounds.
Saturday morning found Capt. Robby Trahan of Johnson’s Bayou scrambling.
He began the day by taking a father and son out for a guided birthday trip to the Sabine Lake jetties. He chose this destination because the lake to the north of the jetties was still receiving the ill effects of rainwaters from the feeder rivers of the Neches and the Sabine.
But certainly he knew there were big speckled trout at the jetties.
For those in the know, the Sabine Lake jetties hold quality trout, especially in the summer – and with much less fishing pressure compared to other jetty systems in Louisiana.
Throwing an H&H opening night cocahoe, he immediately felt the telltale tap-and-heaviness associated with a good, solid bite.
The angler set the hook, and the drag churned as braided line metered out.
A few minutes later, he and his clients were admiring a good, fat 26 1/2-inch lunker speck that tipped the scales at 7 1/2 pounds.
“We went straight to the plastic for numbers at the jetties,” Trahan said. “I caught this big one as soon as we got there. Later, after a few smaller trout were taken – the bite played out.”
But Trahan stayed to his scripted game plan, motoring over to the beach along Louisana Highway 82 just east of the jetties.
“I have a net aboard, and began trolling for live croakers,” the guide said.
Once he also observed what was happening on the beach, he made another decision to stay right there instead of returning to the jetties or Sabine Lake.
“We started fishing on the beach with live croakers Carolina-rigged on our tackle,” Trahan said. “We were fishing in 4 feet of water in the first trough.”
Trahan said the first trout taken by one of the clients measured 28 inches long and weighing 7 1/2 pounds.
“The trout looked like it had just spawned out, and if it hadn’t it would have been over 8 pounds,” Trahan said.
A few minutes later, his second client hooked into another lunker speck — this one measuring 27 1/2 inches long.
“You could tell this fish, too, had let go its eggs, and it would have also been heavier,” Trahan said.
The guide and his clients finished the day with 25 trout ranging from 2 1/2 to 7 1.2 pounds, a great birthday celebratory gift for his anglers.
Trahan said the day was indicative of the promise his area holds.
“Right now we have big fish in Sabine Lake and (on) the beaches, and if the weather holds there will be even more,” Trahan predicted.
He advised visiting anglers to fish birds and reefs in Sabine Lake, and to hold to the jetty system as a good option. Use topwaters like his preferred Heddon Super Spooks early before turning to opening night H&H cocahoes as the morning gets late.
“We’ve just had two 9- pound specks taken on the lake itself,” Trahan said. “The beaches here between Constance Beach and Sabine Lake also have some real good trout, and I’m telling anglers to not pass that bite up,” urged Trahan.
Sabine Lake is a Louisiana/Texas border estuary of 90,000 acres (23 miles long, nine miles across) of brackish water that eventually pours into the Gulf of Mexico south of Port Arthur, Texas.
Road access in Louisiana is via Highway 82 approximately three miles west of Johnson’s Bayou. When launching and landing out of the Causeway Landing or the Johnson’s Bayou Landing (Deep Bayou Road) on the Louisiana side, Louisiana trout creel and length limits apply. If Louisiana anglers launch and land at any of the Texas launches on the western side however, Texas creel and length limits will be enforced.
Texas allows only 10 trout measuring between 15 to 25 inches in length with “no more than one spotted seatrout over the stated maximum length may be retained per person per day and counts as part of the daily bag and possession limit.”
For more information, call Trahan at 337-309-7881 or visit his Web site.
Read more tactical information about fishing the Sabine Lake region in the September issue of Louisiana Sportsman, which will be available soon on the online Sportsman Store.