Many years ago when I felt invincible or was simply too irresponsible to make the safest of decisions when dealing with Mother Nature, I seldom if ever gave a clap of thunder s second thought.Even when our line would levitate above the water following a cast we failed to acknowledge the warning sign.

In 1972, while fishing on Toledo Bend, a very young Mother of two, was fishing alone less than a thousand yards from us when lightning struck her aluminum boat and killed her. It had been thundering all morning and could just have easily been us.

Monday, the black clouds were still well to the north when my line suddenly would not settle on the water following a cast.Without hesitation, I quickly retrieved my lure and we headed to the house.Just as we pulled up to the dock the bottom dropped out, but a little wet is way ahead of a little dead!

A short while later, while bragging about being proactive and getting off the lake immediately, my wife was quick to point out that not going in the first place with a storm forecasted was an even better example of being proactive.

In spite of the recent flooding, the water clarity in Sabine Lake is still good and the salinity apparently did not take as big a hit as feared.Having said that, Jared Lee and Tom Decker caught two reds, seven bass and four channel cats fishing live finger mullet in Black’s bayou Saturday afternoon.Tommy said they also released four undersize flounder and a world of small reds.

We fished the mid-lake area and found small trout almost everywhere we tried.When we realized that nearly every trout was going to be less than fourteen inches in length, we swapped the casting gear for ultra light spinning gear and enjoyed every bite.Mason stuck with a chartreuse tube jig and I used a watermelon Sea Shad the entire time.

We got abused by a pair of oversized reds that unexpectedly crashed the party, but they were fun as well for a little while!

The fish hit virtually everything we offered them before switching to ultra-light.We caught them on plastics under a cork, three-inch Usual Suspect Swim Baits and a bone Chug Bug.This was the first time in a long time that we stumbled up on a good bite drifting 3 to 4 feet of water well off the shoreline.

Cheniere hosted their 8^th annual Wounded Warrior tournament last weekend and once again it was a huge success.Cindy McGee and the folks at Cheniere rolled out the red carpet for 80 entrants, 29 of which were Wounded Warriors from three different programs.This tournament annually honors this special group of folks that made great sacrifices for our country.

The tournament was divided into two divisions (Kayak and boaters) and thirteen of the Wounded Warriors elected to fish the Kayak Division.Nine volunteers hosted the rest of the boaters and one of those volunteer Captains was a Wounded Warrior as well.

Brian Boone a warrior representing the Warrior Bonfire Program bested the field in the redfish category with a solid 8.42-pound fish.Blake Lormand and Jeff Johnson of the OATH program took home first and second place money in the black drum category and Lormand cashed the third place check in the croaker category as well.

Once again, a tip of the hat is in order for both Jim Morrissey and the S.A.L.T. Club weigh-in team. They get the first call for every saltwater fishing tournament in this area for good reason.They long ago ironed out all the kinks and their final numbers are seldom if ever disputed by the fishermen.At the same time, Morrissey meticulously documents everything from the weight and length of the fish to how many hot dogs were served at every event.

If a fishermen in the area is blessed with a new baby there is good chance that the S.A.L.T. weigh team will be on hand to make sure the weight is accurate and Jim Morrissey will be there as well to record it.Great bunch of folks that take the worry out of a difficult task!