This is the time of the year that I would normally say to start getting all your fishing gear cleaned up and ready for the first trip of the year. However, we are only in the middle of February and the water temperature is only around fifty-six degrees and the speckled trout are already starting to show up. They are not plentiful yet, but they are showing up in places where they should not be this time of the year. If you remember last year we had a very mild winter and the trout stayed in the marshes the entire winter. This year around the middle of January we had two arctic blast that made it all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. That wintry weather drove the speckled trout out all the shallows to the deep water in the gulf. With the cool temperatures we are still having I did not expect the trout to start showing up in places where they are showing up in. That is a great sing that this will be another good year, just like the one we had last year. Now look, you still must get all your equipment out and clean it up, so it will preform for you when you get out on the water for the first time in the spring. The last thing you want is to get a day off work and can spend a day on the water and get on a good bite and start having trouble with you rod-n-reel. Get last years gas out of your fuel tank and change the oil in your four strokes out board motors. I have already had two reports that folks are catching some speckled trout not far from the village we live in.
This winter I totally revise my live shrimp tank. We now have a climate control system that has state of the art technology. The water temperature will be maintained at a temperature that is perfect for keeping live shrimp in captivity. It is one thing to sell live shrimp that is still alive, but on the border line of being sick because of the water temperature. On the other hand, I hope to have a healthy live shrimp this year that will be alive and healthy when you go into your live well at the first fishing spot. The livability rate should be much better this year due to the cool water they will be in when you buy them. A lot of through was put in to the revisions we made to the tank this winter to accomplish our gold. Having the right bait is imperative to the success of a fishing trip. We are capable of housing somewhere around sixty thousand live shrimp this year.
Now for the red fish update report. This year was no different than last year and the year before. The red fish that were caught this year around the village was plentiful and beautiful. Kayak fishing this winter was like no other I have ever seen. I have fished these waters my entire life and believe me I know where to find the reds stacked up. I can’t get into the shallow broken marsh like the kayaks can and boy did I see those guys come in with limits of red fish that I would never have bet they would have caught where they did. I heard stories from them that the red fishes back was sticking out of the water swimming around in six inches of water while feeding on the ditch minnows during the chilly winter months. The color of the red fish was dark indicating they been feeding in clean water. Those of us who fish out of boats that can’t get into the broken marsh would be surprising to see just how far those fish go into the shallow grasses areas.
The log cabins this year also was giving some attention as we built two new piers in front of two of the cabins. Replace a few boards here and there to get everything back to a safety standard that will be right for everyone. I am happy to say that we are siting on Getty up go for another season of fishing. I look forward to seeing everyone again this year and meeting as many new people this year as I met last year. That is one aspect of running this fishing lodge that I love so much. Meeting folks from all over the United States that come from different back grounds and used to fishing in various places. I find it interesting to talk to people that fish the cold-water rivers from up north, as well as some of the lakes we have on the northwestern seaboard. It is a much different environment than what I am used to fishing. You can always learn something from every person you talk to about a topic you think you know everything about. I love to fish, but more than that I love to take folks fishing. Watching people have fun and building memories while on my boat is something that is hard to describe. As the day unravels and the kids are catching a bunch of fish and the parents are trying to tell them how to set the hook, reel them in and most of all how to land the fish once it arrives at the boat is worth the ride out there. You always here me talk about building memories while on the water, I can tell you that part of taking a group of people out on a fishing trip is my favorite part of the hole experience. I love it when we get back to the camp and they start telling stories about who caught the most and who caught the biggest one. I always like to take lots of pictures of the day while we are out there. I will e-mail the photos to them and when the get back home they have something to remember how much fun they had while on the fishing trip.
