Bluebird day brings plenty of trout, reds
Story by Nate Skinner for Lone Star Outdoor News
At the second annual REEL Lifesaver Invitational catch and release fishing tournament, put on by Getaway Lodge at Port Mansfield on June 4, a group of competitive anglers battled it out while under the tutelage of some of the best fishing guides on the Lower Laguna Madre.
The format included awards for the largest total combined length stringer of one speckled trout and two redfish, the longest individual speckled trout, the longest individual redfish, and the redfish with the most spots.
With help from the professional guides, anglers took time and date stamped photos of their fish on a certified Check-it Stick before releasing them. The photos were submitted to judges via email, who determined the winner in each category.
Speckled trout were plentiful, but redfish were hard to come by for some. About half of the field were able to put together their full stringer of one trout and two reds, while the other half could only manage to land specks.
Capt. Steve Ellis came out on top in the largest stringer category with a total combined length of 78.75 inches, which in
cluded a 23-inch trout and a 28-inch red and a 27.75-inch red. Ellis was guided by Port Mansfield fishing guide, Capt. Todd Grubert of Fairwater Charters.
“We were able to catch some solid trout early in the morning on top-waters while wading a flat that was teeming with mullet,” Ellis said. “After landing some respectable trout, we quickly switched our focus to redfish.”
Ellis and Grubert had both heard rumors of some schools roaming some deeper grass beds in 2.5 to 3.5 feet of water, and had an idea of where they should start looking for them.
“There was hardly any wind, and it was a bright and sunny day, which made it perfect for scouring the flats in search of reds,” Ellis said. “After covering some ground in an area that looked promising, we finally found what we were looking for. We located three different schools of reds with anywhere from about 50 to 100 fish in them, and they were relaxed, holding tight to the bottom.”
Grubert immediately eased his trolling motor into the water when they spotted the schools, and the chase was on.
“We were able to stay on them for several hours without spooking them,” Ellis said. “Grubert put us in the perfect position to sightcast to the reds many times, allowing me to land a 28 incher and a 27.75 incher, along with several others.”
Ron Moon also fished the tournament from Grubert’s boat, and landed a slot red that sported six spots, enough to win the most spots category.
The longest speckled trout category was won by Everett Johnson. He caught a 25.5-inch trout on a soft plastic while with Capt. Ruben Garza Jr. Johnson caught nearly 20 specks during the first hour of the tournament. After landing numerous fish in the 20 inch range, he finally stuck a bigger one, and it was enough for the win.
With just five minutes of fishing time left, Nate Skinner hooked a 28.5 inch redfish on his last cast of the day.
Fishing with Capt. Wayne Davis, Skinner enjoyed an exciting day of top-water action, landing numbers of trout in the 17 to 20 inch range and two redfish, 25.5 and 26 inches. Word was circulating via texts about the day Ellis and Grubert were having.
Davis positioned Skinner on a deep flat with grass beds and potholes, where he continued to wade-fish with the same pink Rapala Skitter Walk he had been chunking since sunrise. Lone Star Outdoor News’ David J. Sams was also wading the same stretch of water. He and Skinner were about 25 to 30 yards apart, having a conversation while trying to get one more bite before the clock struck 2 p.m. Garza and Davis watched from about 100 yards, back in their boats.
Getting frustrated with the floating grass foul- ing his top-water, Skinner said to Sams, “I’ve been throwing this top-water all day. I’m tired of dealing with this grass while retrieving my lure. This is my last cast.”
With that, Skinner fired the pink topwater downwind. After twitching the bait three times, a ferocious blow up caught he and Sams’ attention. His rod bowed and the drag on his reel began to sing.
After playing the fish out, Skinner was able to land the red. By that time, Davis, who had seen and heard the commotion, had idled his boat nearby. They got the redfish measured, photographed, and released by 1:55 p.m.
The last cast red edged out Ellis’ fish by 1/2 inch, earning him the longest redfish title.
Andrea Ramos and her dad, Andy Ramos, also fished in the tournament, guided by Capt. Mitch Richmond, and enjoyed a consistent trout bite most of the day; however, they were not able to land any good sized redfish.
Jeff Hall and Alex Sessums fished with Capt. David Garza. Their best action started around noon along shallow mud flats where they found solid trout and redfish, but they didn’t have enough inches to edge out the competition.
