The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

Anywhere you go along the gulf coast there is an unwritten standard by which all fish are judged, the magic mark that each angler strives to attain. For inshore fishermen the glory fish that causes anglers to stop and take a second look has got to be a trophy speckled trout. A bona fide 30” class or 10 pound trout is the fish of a lifetime for the coastal plugger. Fish in this class take on almost a mythical existence, just ask any serious trout angler about a fish of this magnitude and they will speak in almost a reverent tone that is punctuated with heavy doses of respect. For many years I personally have dreamed of that “trout of a lifetime”, each time I could see myself wading into the fabled Laguna Madre or Baffin Bay and wrestling with one of their famous giant specks. I still have this dream, but now the scenery has changed to our own Sabine lake.

Several years ago Capt. Dickie Colburn and I were fishing on Sabine Lake and our conversation turned to the topic of trophy trout. Each of us grudgingly admitted that we may have to indeed take a trip down south to land the kind of trout we had been in search of for many years. That conversation has now been long forgotten since some of these “super trout” have made their presence felt here at home. In years past it was nearly inconceivable that Sabine Lake would ever be capable of growing trout worthy of trophy status.

For many years anglers up and down the Texas coast have been wade fishing, this trend took off on Sabine after seeing the results. Wade fishing is perhaps the best way to consistently put yourself in range of big fish. The silent approach and thorough manner in which the area is fished helps put some odds in the anglers favor. Some anglers go to serious extremes to keep noise to a minimum, special boats and other gear are part of their arsenals. Since wade fishing became an accepted practice here on Sabine Lake there have been more and more big fish being caught in places that nobody ever thought to fish.