Jump to content
View in the app

A better way to browse. Learn more.

Surly Horns

A full-screen app on your home screen with push notifications, badges and more.

To install this app on iOS and iPadOS
  1. Tap the Share icon in Safari
  2. Scroll the menu and tap Add to Home Screen.
  3. Tap Add in the top-right corner.
To install this app on Android
  1. Tap the 3-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the browser.
  2. Tap Add to Home screen or Install app.
  3. Confirm by tapping Install.

Featured Replies

Water was too rough to chum the snapper up for the fly rod but we are going fly fishing tomorrow.  In the meantime a nice little snapper run. I had the biggest…

snapper fishing is almost guaranteed and more fun than you remember. Like a lazy pitch and catch with your son or tennis rally ball with a friend where no one tries to win. Easy, relaxed fun. That big one actually put up a fight all the way up. Cute fish too, almost feel bad for them.  Good eating though and we is the predators so that’s the way it lands.
 

 

1B1462D0-4823-4DCD-BF0C-FB03467A21A6.jpeg

68EE945D-021F-4FCA-8D9A-E03BC9959FC1.jpeg

Edited by troph

  • Replies 3.4k
  • Views 249.3k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Most Popular Posts

  • Ok I have left the building for the most part but I made an exception to come back and say I am THE queen of the fly rod.  It happened! thank the good lord above and all my living right, it happe

  • BearSchlong
    BearSchlong

    By myself, at the Sabine jetty. First time since my dad died in March. Hungry reds and trout. Thank you for the last 45 years of fishing, old man. And for leaving me a nice boat. I've seen you catch

  • MalibuSheriff
    MalibuSheriff

    Fishing trip with my son after picking him up in camp.  Rio Grande cutthroats caught last Sunday evening at an extremely isolated lake in southern Colorado.    

Posted Images

On 9/8/2021 at 10:08 AM, Johnny Chimpo said:

I don’t like surgeons knots very much… I feel like they break off easy. 

Tell that to your gall bladder. 

Skip jacks taking our red fish flies today, breaking off 4 flies on me alone. Thought it was my loop knot but our buddy / guide tied the same and it happened to his knot. You know what held though 5 hours of fly fishing? my triple surgeon’s knot did. 

wind was a bitch today, we fished mostly the cut at port M but we did walk over the jetties to the surf side and - holy shit - I have never seen a clearer surf in Texas. Clear green water to the shore. Waves were really close to each other making it hard to get a rhythm.  We ended up back in some of the coves on the bay side.

was by most accounts a shit day. But whatever my knot held, and my new 8wt saw some action. 

no one comes down here. It’s really great, the appeal is near solitude. I could easily choose here over port A for fishing. 

met some great guys down here at the docks. Good hard working people. Made some chicken fajita tacos for dinner for them tonight, watched a Capitan and a deck hand squeal when their charter gave them $300 each (impressive haul of wahoo, dorado, snapper and black fin), and got to play cars and trucks with the two year old of a hard core fisherman in the cockpit. His daddy runs a bait fish / shrimp boat 6 days a week, crews multiple off shore boats and takes care of my friends Hatteras.  On his off day he took us out on the bay boat today - not a guided trip per se he got to drink a few beers and laugh and not be on the whole time. His wife threw in a line and caught some skips with us too. Guy just works the land old school, so impressive. 
 

I feel like I’ve completely lucked into a pretty cool group of folks who just love boats, water, fish, and want to share it.  Enjoying this big fancy boat and having the access to it and the dock like it’s ours is really something else.

From Orange Beach in June to Port M this weekend to Key West in January !! 


 

 

Edited by troph

Not sure why I love this but my buddy still using the tippet from a reel of it he bought in 1967 apparently.  Maybe he hasn’t fished as much as he should have… 

 

CF2879BE-7AE1-4161-BA41-7E8DDE5E3912.jpeg

When I’m fly fishing I change my tippet at least once every couple years. I find it gets brittle over time. Even with thermal cycling that can come from day and night variations when stored in the garage. 

Figured as much but he’s that kinda guy. Anyway I thought it cool and all vintagey. 

  • Author

PSA that if you got your CCA Academy Coupons on the back of that Deer Hunting Guide, they expire on 9/30.   The $10 one has no minimum, so at the very least go get you a new lure for free.    I signed all the kids up for Star Tournament this year and so I have five booklets sitting here.    Good timing for me.  

 

If anyone is planning on spending $100 at Academy online this week, message me and I will send you one of these online codes for $20 off.  

 

 

 

 

On 9/24/2021 at 10:51 PM, Zwylde said:

Top right trout was 21” and fatter than I’ve ever seen.  Have to wait and see till we cut her open tomorrow if its eggs or a big mullet in there.  Pleasant evening wade with a nice sunset.

 

 

6079F9D4-58D4-47A2-A795-81EE835DDEAA.jpeg

64EAB0AD-EC58-41E7-89EB-E1CA77B6EBC1.jpeg

It was eggs.  Never seen so many in 40 years of cleaning trout.  Don't worry Lower Coast guys, this was Galveston.

 

  

IMG_8611.jpg

 sorry double post

 

 

Edited by Zwylde
sorry double post

19 hours ago, Zwylde said:

It was eggs.  Never seen so many in 40 years of cleaning trout.  Don't worry Lower Coast guys, this was Galveston.

 

  

IMG_8611.jpg

Those would have all my Czech buddies salivating.  Egg eaters. 

  • Author

Waded POC yesterday evening. Bait was all tight to the shore. Popped a couple of solid trout. Largest was 24 1/2 “ Was planning to flounder but the lightening storms blowing in said otherwise.

31a4bdf6cd72c89078691ee3b004e01b.jpg

  • Popular Post

I can add to this thread this week! Took a charter boat out in the Indian Ocean this week. We only went out a couple hours but caught a shark and this jackfish that became dinner. 
8C9E9B47-708F-4AB1-8F7F-3EC55F125842.thumb.jpeg.2a2c480f43e735c684328ceb77692f59.jpeg

4D236F0F-9088-4A1F-B90D-2D0906FB7CBA.jpeg

F15417C1-F16F-4890-A77C-8733D96BFAB9.jpeg

Very cool.

Last 3 weekends have been absolutely perfect. Since the LA marsh is closed Oct 15 through March 15, I've been fishing LA (willow bayou marsh) exclusively.

This is my favorite time of the year, everyone else is either out shooting teal or doing whatever else, but in my last 8 hours fishing I've seen no more than a half dozen boats. 6 trailers at the ramp when I got back.

Easily could have taken Texas limits on Reds, Trout, and Flounder today and the last 2 weekends, within about an hour after sunrise. Probably caught 200 LA legal fish but kept less than 10 fish total.

High tides puts the Johnsons Bayou/deep water ramp dock 8 inches underwater, takes a little extra effort lined up to launch, and the visual of backing down a ramp you can't see is weird, and gotta be careful upon return. That and the water hyacinth is thick, there's a substantial weed line of purple flowers extending out into sabine lake. I'm sure the crabbers just love that stuff, their traps were all tangled.

From last weekend, the barely visible bridge pilings in the photo at the bayou/canal crossing were 6 inches underwater today.

Last Sat I had a hooked ladyfish followed by a 5 foot gar, so idiot me decides to dangle it in front of the gar and wham, now I traded a hooked ladyfish for a hooked gar, on very light tackle. Kinda like the dog who caught the car. I quickly popped the leader.

913d0b5868829036282b827507c0c506.jpg6dd7d2e36e0336609618ec3cfde51991.jpg

spent last week fly fishing near Crested Butte.  Taylor River - 16” brown trout on a dry fly is fun!
36EE5A10-3621-49B7-BFF5-8A16360918C7.thumb.jpeg.1b082e9173ed4763506f3a7d57a298c2.jpeg

Quote

The taylor river is beautiful. 

Agreed.  The Gunnison and Taylor in that area are beauties and great fisheries.  Access is so easy on the Taylor it tends to get alot of pressure which can make the fishing tough....Lots of hogs in the Taylor though....

On 10/4/2021 at 9:17 AM, JCHIL said:

Agreed.  The Gunnison and Taylor in that area are beauties and great fisheries.  Access is so easy on the Taylor it tends to get alot of pressure which can make the fishing tough....Lots of hogs in the Taylor though....

State record rainbow came from the Taylor just below Taylor Reservoir.  Some huge fish in that stretch.  Biggest trout I've ever caught was there.

On 10/4/2021 at 9:17 AM, JCHIL said:

Agreed.  The Gunnison and Taylor in that area are beauties and great fisheries.  Access is so easy on the Taylor it tends to get alot of pressure which can make the fishing tough....Lots of hogs in the Taylor though....

I really wish they hadn't paved Cottonwood Pass.  Now that's the fastest way to CB for a lot of front range people, so it's much busier over there.  Over the pass and through Almont instead of going through Gunnison.

Just now, Chewbacca said:

I really wish they hadn't paved Cottonwood Pass.  Now that's the fastest way to CB for a lot of front range people, so it's much busier over there.  Over the pass and through Almont instead of going through Gunnison.

We could go unpave it....

apocalypse now napalm GIF

  • 2 weeks later...

Nice evening down at Oyster Lake.  Lots of sand trout and a couple keeper specks.  Should be good in the morning. spacer.pngspacer.png

Man the mosquitoes were brutal this morning, before the sun came up.  Was wading chest deep and they crowded my face, think I snorted a few.   After sunrise not bad at all. I haven’t caught that many sand trout in a long time.  Specks were finicky but seemed to like a pink flamingo down south lure the best.  

+1 on the Sandies being thick at times this year. I'll go years without catching them then 10 in a row.

11 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

+1 on the Sandies being thick at times this year. I'll go years without catching them then 10 in a row.

It’s one of those things where I should have decided to keep the bigger ones, most were little, but I could have had at least 8 or so that were 10” or over.  Oh well, I’ll buy fish at HEB and live.  Usually I say screw it I’m not keeping anything, because I’ll end up only catching 3 or 4 decent sized ones.   Wasn’t the case this time.  There were some pretty hefty ones but they all went back because I decided on the first one I wasn’t going to string them.   

Another first down there, we had a visit from a game warden about 9pm, at our campsite.  He was very polite, fortunately we had a clean camp with no trash, we had Willie on Spotify, and told him he was welcome to check our coolers, there were two legal trout, some beer and a bunch of kolaches.  

Edited by Judge Roybeanbag

Had to get wet to get in and out of my camping spot.   Dry land seems to get harder to come by these days.

spacer.png

On 10/15/2021 at 5:31 PM, BearSchlong said:

+1 on the Sandies being thick at times this year. I'll go years without catching them then 10 in a row.

When my Old Man was still alive we would go to Lake Calcasieu every October. We usually had our limits by about Noon. We would then set up on the edge of the ship channel and catch a couple of hundred Sand Trout till we got tired of catching them. They were like perch in a stock pond, you had to have the slack out of your line by the time your bait/lure hit the surface, and just set the hook.

CHIEF

Caught about 30 specks, 10 reds and probably another 20 sand trout this afternoon.

Kept 3 nice trout for dinner.

Not Calcasieu but Keith Lake.

October is the best, but that place produces year round. And with a La Nina winter. . .should be good.

I think I may change things up in month and fish Calcasieu.

The pics ... they're ... they're not showing up. Image server must be down. Please try again, [mention=398]BearSchlong[/mention].
Routine fish, gorgeous afternoon.

097cdd60a4ae4c03eebc7c16314951e4.jpg
2 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

Routine fish, gorgeous afternoon.

097cdd60a4ae4c03eebc7c16314951e4.jpg

Nothing wrong with routine fish or routine pics. I'm in landlocked Idaho, so I enjoy my saltwater vicariously through you guys. You're doing God's work. 🤘

Edited by Braff Zacklin

image.thumb.jpeg.fb2f96b6e023b1211da7ad472a0eaac5.jpeg
 

image.thumb.jpeg.c9bf9b80b5835c096bca09e663e326cd.jpeg

 

Love me some Sunday evenings!

 

Nasty NE wind finally started to lay about 4:00.  Plenty of action but only one solid keeper.  Grilled Redfish for dinner mañana!

Had to get wet to get in and out of my camping spot.   Dry land seems to get harder to come by these days.
FE228-EC1-B72-D-4401-BC14-366-BA84-FBD3-A.jpg
Like the ramp I use in LA, more often than not underwater and challenging to use.

The last 6 months or so we have had electrical gremlins in the boat. Replaced both the 24 and 12 volt battery systems with gel batteries, new battery switch, new starter on the Yamaha. . .today. . .went to drop the minn Kota and no juice, and they stay on a charger in a warehouse between trips.

Dad has been eying a new Xpress and as I was putting the boat back into storage he told me he is sick and tired and fucking with this boat, he thinks it is a lemon, and when he takes it in to the shop tomorrow he might just trade it in.

He said besides spending time with family fishing is his only pleasure and he doesn't want to wonder if the damned thing is going to work correctly. . .if money was the issue I would tell him that I would learn/replace the entire electrical system, and if it was 100% my boat thats what I would do. . .but I'm going to shut up and let him roll with whatever he wants to do, because he has earned that right.

It's the 14th boat he has owned in my 49 years and the most problematic by far. Robalos, Hydra Sports, Whalers, Triton CCs, Carolina Skiffs, custom boats. . .Zero issues like this. This is the first aluminum one, a Alumicraft CC which is more stable than the previous flats skiff but still lets us get in somewhat skinny water.

We shall see.




13 hours ago, BearSchlong said:

he doesn't want to wonder if the damned thing is going to work correctly.

This is where I am at.  Knock on wood I have been very lucky with boats, but if/when ever had more than a one off problem, it’s getting taken down to the foundation and figured out. 

Faulty trolling motor breaker.

Just a matter of time until something else breaks.  Maybe it's the boat, maybe it's Alumacraft, but I'm not going to ever own another one.

Dad bought the Xpress.  Nice boat.

Did not get the SeaDek, I could floor a room in my house for cheaper.

Will be my first experience with a Humminbird in many years, the Helix 9.

 

Edited by BearSchlong

44 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

Faulty trolling motor breaker.

Just a matter of time until something else breaks.  Maybe it's the boat, maybe it's Alumacraft, but I'm not going to ever own another one.

Dad bought the Xpress.  Nice boat.

Did not get the SeaDek, I could floor a room in my house for cheaper.

Will be my first experience with a Humminbird in many years, the Helix 9.

 

I like sea deck in common spots where I'm on my feet a lot. I've got it on my poling platform and casting platform tops. Otherwise I think it looks good when new, but really doesn't age well and as you noted...it's expensive to have to replace every 5-6 years (if it's in the sun a lot). I've replaced my platform tops a few times over the years, and even that's a pain in the ass. I couldn't imagine having to remove the seadek and clean the whole damn boat with solvent to get the goo off. 

48 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

Did not get the SeaDek, I could floor a room in my house for cheaper.

Will be my first experience with a Humminbird in many years, the Helix 9.

Shit is crazy expensive.  You could get a very nice floor in your house for less. 
 

WRTHummingbird, I’ve met several saltwater guys that have moved to them and really like them. They had some fantastic graphics and mapping, plus the 360 deal is sweet.   Those guys put literally hundreds of hours a year on their boats, so if it works for them, I have to trust it should be fine. 

16 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

@justhookit is your boat in Cabo for Bisbee's?

No, but the other boat my captain runs that I fish sometimes went over there for it - Game Plan. There are about 10 boats that I know from Costa Rica and/or Texas that are fishing and all but one are skunked so far. Full day to go, though. Today started slow an hour into it and there’s only been 1 release from the whole fleet.

Edited by justhookit

2 minutes ago, justhookit said:

there’s only been 1 release from the whole fleet.

Wow, brutal.

Monofilament. Serious business.

Noticed the last time I changed out line that it had a lot of spool memory, maybe I got a bad batch?

What is your go-to monofilament for inshore fishing?  I've always been a 10 or 12 lb Trilene guy but I'm looking to see what else is out there.

I use the 1/4# spools of trilene big game for mono. Versatile, cheap, and knots well. I’m pretty liberal about respooling given how inexpensive it is.

I go braid to flouro for 95% of my conventional fishing though. Usually respool the braid every other year or so.

When was the last time you changed it?  I never switched over to braid for casting reels and have just always used 12lb Big Game.  Used to buy the big 1lb spools and change it out like socks.  

6 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

Wow, brutal.

Friend of mine is hooked up right now. Three fish killed so far but one didn’t make weight. Missed by 7 pounds. That boat was in all the pots. The 2 fish that did make weight were caught by boats that only entered the small pots, so there is a lot of money out there if someone boats a 300 pound or better fish in the next hour. Total pot was 9.7 million and I was told 7 million of that was still up for grabs today. Holy shit.

Edited by justhookit

1 hour ago, Masshole Horn said:

I use the 1/4# spools of trilene big game for mono. Versatile, cheap, and knots well. I’m pretty liberal about respooling given how inexpensive it is.

I go braid to flouro for 95% of my conventional fishing though. Usually respool the braid every other year or so.

I go braid to mono on all my conventional gear except the loaner spinning rods, and those get Trilene Big Game 16. I go a little heavy because anyone that fishes with me that doesn't have their own rod is probably one of little Rojo's buddies and has no idea what they are doing. For bait casters I go 30  lb Power Pro and about 8ft of mono topshot. 

Holy fuck. team Pelagic from my marina in Costa Rica. Very good friend of my captain and a friend of mine hooked up 4 minutes before lines out and have been fighting a blue marlin for 37 minutes which almost guarantees its over 300 pounds. If they boat it they are across the board in the pots and I think it will be worth 7-8 million dollars.

The crazier thing is this captain has won the big money twice before in this tournament since 2015 fishing on Tranquilo.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

Configure browser push notifications

Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.