Tracy's Big Trout

We were in for a short weekend, so after my volunteer activities at the nature center and dinner at Spoonbills with our new neighbors, Tracy and I spent a little time fishing under the lights off the boat slips. There was some stormy weather inland and we got chased off the water by wind and lightning. The rain pooped out before it made it to our location but some areas got some much needed moisture.

After the storm, the morning was cooler and pleasant. We decided that since we were going to leave after lunch we would just fish from the bank in front of the trailer. The topwaters didn't seem to draw any strikes so off we went to get some live shrimp.

Though we weren't seeing the big trout due to the lack of clarity in the river there were some big schools of mullet heading upstream. We could see a flash from time to time and my guess was that there were some predators down below the mullet school.

Tracy confirmed our suspicions when she hooked this big girl!

This was her biggest trout ever and the 22-1/2" speck matched the biggest trout we have caught in the river. Our neighbor Stephen had a picture of his big trout (29 - 1/2") caught a couple of weeks ago in the same spot.

This big yellowmouth had already spawned and came in without too much of a fight. Tracy is getting pretty good at handling fish on her line and she kept the big trout busy while I scampered off to get out long handled net.

I managed to find a couple of undersized reds under the mullet school.

Not long before we had to pick up, I finally caught a trout of my own.

My 19"+ trout looks small compared to the big girl.

Mine still had her eggs so she was a little more filled out but Tracy definitely had bragging rights.

I like to think her success is related to the fact that she has a great guide.

Fish On!