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It isn’t every fisherman who will look back nostalgically on the Spring 2008 fishing season – but there are a few out there who will smile fondly. Despite that, most anglers are just glad it’s over. Spring 2008 was the windiest that has been seen in decades; there was just one baitfish which salvaged these horribly windy spring days for many middle coast guides and anglers.

Summer is the season the surf rolls in, fall is the migration of shrimp, but the annual arrival of the almighty glass minnow is the highlight of springtime. Moving by the thousands, the silver and flashy prey arrive to the shallow flats. The buffet ushers in the birds which will feed for weeks on end. In an all-at-once attack, the speckled trout and redfish will hang near and then suddenly strike. Be patient and wait it out as it will significantly improve your chances of capitalizing on the frenzy.

Along with Captain Kent Sabin, I was guiding a group of fishermen from Dallas and Austin that spring on what turned out to be one of, if not the windiest day of the entire season. From the word go, we were experiencing a 20mph wind from the south; which then turned around on us with a 30mph wind out of the north! The wind was making every bit of fishable water available to us muddy and we were left wondering exactly what we were going to do.

When we were heading out of the water, Sabin and I were ambushed with recommendations by other guides to cancel instead of attempting to wade in the blown out waters. Instead of sending them home from a fishing trip that did not even involve a boat ride, we opted to give our customers a fighting chance at catching a fish.

Pelicans slammed the water with high dive assaults in a wide cove on the south shoreline. The waist deep western bank was full of bait that was situated over thick grass. We lined up within casting distance of the baitfish school and affixed our wading boots in firm mud. I was confident the fish would move in despite a falling tide and decreasing clarity. We matched the glass minnow’s darting features with Brown Lures’ glow and chartreuse soft plastic lure which are perfect for this situation. Undersized fish were drawn in by Dark Strawberry and White. Then I threw in a miniature chrome topwater and a cruising redfish soon felt the hooks. Up until there was minimal sunlight, the bite remained as slow as I have seen it so many times before. Then the fish filed in in real numbers.

A patch of bait that was previously the size of a swimming pool quickly became tightly confined. Minnows flipped and bounced on the surface like popcorn. Trout were seen jolting clear out of the water in pursuit. The surface of the water boiled as piranha-like predators furiously attacked glass minnows like machines.

Usually, you’d reel in quickly keeping the lure over the surface of the water to get trout interested – but this cove was so full of them that we did better with a slow reel. To give you an idea of how well this trip went, we all caught our limits of redfish!

If you’re still waiting for the right time to get out on the water, stop waiting; but don’t be afraid of the dark – after dark can be the best time of all!

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