Cedar Bayou Saltwater Fishing Report 9/15/2015

[Pferox]

I got a late start getting to the Bayou ending up actually having bait in the water about 1:30 PM.  But that was ok because the tide forecaster I use stated that there wouldn't be much action until 2ish.  I fished the end of the outgoing tide and beginning of the incoming.

That ended up being a fantastic time to go.  The weather was great! Bluebird skies, the sun had positioned itself so that the little shelters were casting shade on the fishing side, and the wind was a constant breeze with overly frequent gusts.  Water was clear for the Bayou, no mud, just stain and there was close to a foot of visibility.

I fished three rods, one had a carolina rig with a #1 circle hook and 12lb clear Sufix Siege, another had 8lb CXX hi viz a #1 circle on a drop rig, and the last one was the new collapsible rod with a carolina rig and a #1/0 circle with 20lb Bullbuster Braid.

First critter caught was one of Jan's crabs.  He was pretty close to the 5 inch point to point legal size.  He actually got his leg hooked so I had to fight with his waving claws to get him unhooked to get back into the water.  He was the first of about three or four that I caught on this day.



The most abundant species caught were still smaller Gafftop Sailcats in the 3 or 4 inch range.  They are abundant enough to keep you busy and well exercised catching and re-baiting because of them.  I didn't get a picture of one this day, but do have a representative example on file from a previous trip.



I ended up increasing the size of the hooks to a 2/0 on both of the Carolina rigs because some of these gaffes were swallowing the smaller hooks.  Their feeding was so aggressive that they took the hook down to the stomach area.  Facilitating an almost surgical procedure for removal, one which they didn't have much of a chance of surviving.  This is a new phenomenon I have experienced this year, usually any size circle is hard to gut hook.  I noticed it didn't happen with the dropper rig and have devised a theory.  On the Fish finder rig (Carolina) with the wind and excessive line bow, there is actually enough slack line available to allow the fish to "eat" the bait and hook agressively deep before the line tightness enough to set the hook.  Commercially available "fish finder" rigs are basically a Carolina rig build as a tie on accessory.  The addition of the extra swivel before the weight  probably allows a limited time the fish can swallow the hook before the weight hits the swivel and acts as a stop, allowing the hook to move into position and set itself properly.  I have the means and ability to make a few of these rigs, just to test my theory.

The day was very productive, although it was mostly catch and release, I did take a few pictures to represent what species were caught.  Because they were larger in size, most were caught on the 8lb test rod, although all rods saw equal action, including the new 11 footer.

This guy is small, but was a great indicator of water salinity in the Bayou, indicating that the fresh rain water dilution is on the wane.  He measured in a little less than a foot across, but from nose to tail tip, this stingray was a feisty 3 foot long, mostly tail.  The barb is small and hard to see, but it will still put a hurting on you.  Anyway you look at it that critter was a heck of a fight on 8lb test line.  When most fish are turned upside down they will "go to sleep", this is important when dealing with stingrays.  Not only do they calm down, they also can't whip their tail under themselves, although they have occasionally done a lame side to side whip which can still get you, so you have to immobilize that tail as quickly as possible.  They can whip that tail over their backs and are very accurate with it that way so you have to be cautious.



All the croakers caught were about this size which is a good keeper size, this one is about a foot long give or take.



This is my first Sand Trout of the year from the Bayou, they are true members of the trout family, Spotted Sea Trout are actually members of the drum family.  This one had to be a member of the southern strain because it was missing one of it's distinctive front teeth.  It too was a pretty good size at about a foot or so.



I caught a few Hardheads, they are the "Other saltwater catfish" not well loved by anglers, they have become known as "Snot Rockets"  they do put up a good fight, and are said to be edible, just not by everybody.



The drop rig I used is actually on it's 5th or 6th trip and has held up well.  I terminated the 80lb hook trace with a 20lb Coast Lock clip.  When I can get away with it, like here in the bayou where fish tend to be smaller, I like to use a smaller clip, it allows the circle hook to move as needed to get it's purchase, larger clips tend to act restrict the ability of the hook eye to move in a proper way to insure the hook works properly.

The hook trace on my Carolina rigs were 30lb mono, either Ande Clear or BullBuster Pink, I have found that both are good tough leader lines for the Bayou since we don't run into toothy fish very often.  Other than shell and other obstructions, the major abrasion factor here is the crab population.  Since the current here is monodirectional, I use a long trace usually between two and three feet long.

One of the crabs I caught had gotten entangled in the Bullbuster braid. It was wrapped a few turns around his claw. He was quite large and not very cooperative.  I decided I would put some tension on the line and use his locked claw to saw through the line.  After a few minutes of this I realized that this was a futile attempt, although I did see that there was a sawing movement on the line going on.  After finally getting him to open his claw, holding it open with some pliers, I was able to free him and release him back into the Bayou.  I inspected the braid and to my surprise there was no fraying or sign of any damage.  As a precaution I did cut and retie, I'm just kind of anal about stuff like that.

This has probably been the best trip to the Bayou since spring, the fish were biting and there was a much broader array of species to be caught.  And although quite bright and sunny, it was comfortable in the shade.  The number of "eating size" fish was quite good and if I had taken the time to bring a "take home" cooler we would have had quite a diverse selection of fish for dinner.

[Lipripper]

Jim thanks for the great report on both the fishing and your new rod. Hope you feel better soon and can make it back ut for another go around.