Corpusfishing.com

[Permit]

I'd like to here some opinions. What do ya'll think the best LURE is to catch big trout on?
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CONSERVATION IS KEY

[ArtificialB8]

Large topwater lures.

[Big John]

My biggest trout came from the surf on a 3/4 oz silver spoon.

Second largest from the upper laguana on a red glitter with white paddle tail bass assasin on a 1/4 white jig head.
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[Fish0157]

My personal best which isnt that great(26'')
was on a tequila sunrise plastic. I love thos things

Kevin

[galvbay]

Big surf speck at Surfside.....from the Houston Chronicle

Joe Doggett




May 9, 2006, 11:13PM
OUTDOORS
Big trout out there for the catching
Warm temps have surf wading season here ahead of time


By JOE DOGGETT
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

The surf wading season has started along the upper Texas coast. George Speicher of Houston might claim that is an understatement.

"I knew when the trout hit it was a big fish," he said. "Four of us were wading the surf Sunday near Surfside Beach. The water was really rough but 'trout green' all the way in. I played the fish up and down the bar and when it got close I couldn't believe it — no way to get a good hand-grab across the shoulders, so I backed up to the beach. I waited for a wave surge and slid the trout onto the sand."

The huge sow measured 32 inches and weighed 10 pounds, 1 ounce on digital scales at Freeport's Beach Bait and Tackle. Honest 10-pound class trout are rare, rare, rare on the upper coast — based on tournament results and reputable reports perhaps one every two or three years.

"It was my career trout," Speicher said.

Speicher, a veteran plugger, used his favorite big-trout surf lure, a nose-rigged chartreuse-and-gold MirrOLure.

"The sargassum weed has been bad in the surf, so I removed the middle treble," Speicher said. "It seems to work just as well with two sets rather than three and doesn't hang as much grass."

The other anglers bellied up to the bar — the waist-deep sandbar — were Robert Hibbert, Kevin Herndon and Jim Oden.

"We only caught 10 trout between us, but they were all good ones," Hibbert said. "The smallest was maybe 3 pounds and we each caught one or two big ones. I caught a 6- or 7-pounder, really a great fish, and figured I had the 'trip trout,' then Speicher hooked up."


Timely catch
The session occurred between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., as the incoming tide was piling onto the beach. Most experienced surf waders prefer the incoming stanza, and an advantage of early-season wading is the fishing can break loose at any time. During the hot, calm days of summer, high-noon surf fishing (regardless of tide) often is slow.

"We weren't at any special spot," Speicher said. "Basically, we were looking for green water close enough to reach; the farther up the beach we drove toward San Luis Pass, the sandier it got. So we picked a good-looking stretch and waded out. The odd thing about it was we didn't see much bait. I guess the school of big trout was just moving through and we were there at the right time."

And, on the subject of "right time," surf waders got a bonus. Water temperatures warmed ahead of schedule along the upper coast. Mid-May usually is regarded as the start of the "wet wading" season (no chest waders) but comfortable currents have been within reach since late April.

Surf temperatures during the past week topped 80 degrees, well above seasonal norms. Beachfront piers start seeing isolated trout once inshore readings top 70 degrees, but the fishing usually is not consistent until currents hold in the mid- to upper -70s.


Wind also a factor
Wind direction is another important element in surf wading success. The onshore east/southeast wind that prevailed last week kept the water clear despite rough surf.

Freeport tends to hold better clarity than Galveston (and, for sure, High Island) under a strong onshore flow, and pockets of "trout green" water pushed along Follets Island. As a plus, wind pumping across the open Gulf produces tides that encourage surf runners to prowl the inshore guts.

Conditions aligned Sunday for opportunistic surf waders to take advantage of an early-season bounty. A predicted wind shift to the south might sandy the midweek surf, but, when Old Man Gulf decides to cooperate, it will happen again. But don't bet your best "killer bait" on another 10-pound trout any time soon.

Joe Doggett covers outdoors for the Chronicle.

joe.doggett@chron.com.

[Damo]

My biggest from the surf and the bays have been on a 52mr18 Mirrolure.
Probably because that's all I used to throw for a long time and I had lots of faith in it.
Damo

[MJ]

My personal best was a 26 1/2 incher and I caught it on a live shrimp about 3" long. I used to fish with a man named August Brandl who passed away not too long ago and he boated many a big trout. He caught them on topwater, corkys, spoons, mirrolures, and soft plastics. I asked him once what his secret was on catching the big ones and he said, "I was lucky enough to cast in the right place, at the right time, and she was hungry enough to hit my lure."

[FLOATING CABIN]

THE BIGGEST I CAUGHT WAS ON 07-04-05 AT THE HOLE 29 3/4 INCHES USING A LIVE MULLET APPROX 3 TO 4 INCHES LONG UNDER A ALEMEDA POPPING CORK. APPROX 1 MONTH AGO MY UNCLE CAUGHT ONE UNDER THE LIGHTS AT THE HOLE USING A KILLER LURE.( 3 INCH STORM WILDEYE SHAD WITH THE PADDLE TAIL ,PEARL BODY WITH A CHARTRUESSE BACK. STRAIGHT LINES TO YA.

[the Poolguy]

Soft plastics are my favorite. And using soft palstics in the surf... bring it on

the Poolguy
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Catch 'em all!

[the troutman]

Over the years I have landed alot of big Trout from down south over 29, the biggest being 31 1/2" and a little over 11 1/2 pounds. Topwater, big Topwater, has been the ticket on the artificial side. Lots of them have come from live Shrimp under a popper as well due to brown tide conditions over the years. I've seen large Trout caught on just about everything down there and location is far more important than lure selection. Of course, Cathead in February demands large topwater baits over the rocks. Just too much fun and an easy bait to wade with. Biggest surf runners have been on either large spoons or mullet.
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Later,

The Troutman

Love em and leave em, otherwise known as Catch and Release!

[Capt Mike Singleterry]

Must agree with the troutman, February is the month. I've caught them on everything but the most consistant over the past 6 yo 8 years has been a Corky, wade fishing Cathead, the Badlands, the Summerhouse and the South Shoreline in Baffin. Like troutman said it isn't easy and you might not get very many bites but it can be very rewarding.

Mike

[Lat22]

I'd have to cast my vote for a Super Spook.

[Big Ed]

Best I have done in the surf is 28" on about a 3" whiting. Have caught several 27" in the surf on Top Dogs (bone) and one 27" on an old yellow with red head mirror lure(can't remember the # of the lure). Largest trout has bee 32 1/2 " fatty that weighted 12.5 lbs in the laguna (Rocky Slough) on a blue and chrome Redfin broken back.

Big Ed
San Antonio
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Big Ed
San Antonio

"A word to the wise ain't necessary. It's the stupid ones who need advice.", Bill Cosby

[Gib]

Surprisingly, one of my biggest trouts was caught on a spec rig.

The others have come on soft plastics.

[sundown brown]

The best bait in my opinion is not a legal bait because it is a small trout. Trout will eat there own. Fishing on the pier one night and was reeling in a small 16 inch trout when it got swallowed by atrout that was over 30 inches. Nothing but the tail was sticking out of its mouth. It ended up getting off and I still had the original trout hooked. So I measured it and it was 16 inches long. Luckily my and dad and one friend were there becuase there was no way that they were going to believe me. Other than that I saw a Super Spook is the best.