Another trip to the Lower Laguna Madre in the books. Over a week later I’m still recovering from the long, arduous but satisfying trip. Six of us made the trek, five from Houston and one from Corpus. The group included four newbies who had never fished the hypersaline lagoon in deep South Texas or put their hands on the elusive Texas Snook.
Our trek south started Thursday evening. We arrived in Harlingen around midnight. We caught a few hours rest before our first day on the water. Like every other trip south sleep is a scarce commodity. A cat nap is all the rest you’re going to get to rejuvenate and prepare your body for the day ahead.
Day 1:
Friday morning the winds were rough and the water was dirty. We struggled. Between five of us all we could muster up was a few redfish all day. We called it a day early so we could regroup and come up with a course of action for the rest of our visit. After a challenging 2.5 hr paddle back to the launch we weren’t very enthusiastic about the prospect of fishing the next day if conditions didn’t change.
Forecasts predicted the winds would lay for the next couple days. We hoped they held true or else we would be fishing for sheepshead and redfish the next couple days. Not why we made the journey south.
Day 2:
We woke up Saturday morning to flags lying against their support. We all knew this was our window. I didn’t take nearly as long for us to load our kayaks and hit the water as the day before. The possibility of crossing paths with a linesider increased an extra line in the water as Jesse decided to joined in on the festivities. Little did we know how much our chances would increase.
Jesse put on a clinic on Saturday. He landed four snook on Day 2, which included in first ever. No giants by any means but four 16″-21″ fish are snook nonetheless and equally exciting as a 30″+ fish when you’ve never landed one. I also landed a small 18″ snook. Between the group we also landed several redfish, trout and a few large ladyfish.
Day 3
We woke to a repeat of the day before. Glass calm. Regardless of how little sleep we got the night before when we caught first glimpse of the water we felt a boost of adrenaline. It was a rush to see who could get on the water and to our destination first. We were on the water even earlier. Everyone focused in on the task at hand; four out of the group still hadn’t landed a snook. We spread out and started covering water with topwaters as our lure of choice.
Despite the stellar conditions we didn’t do as well as the day before. Speaking for everyone but Greg who was bursting with zeal. He landed his PB and largest snook of the trip. It measured 29″ long. I landed one snook too, but it was the smallest of the trip. Between the group we landed a few reds and trout. We landed 7 snook total on the trip.
I confide that my hunger for a big snook won’t diminish until I grasp my hands around the Leviathan that haunts my dreams. Good things come to people who are patient…and persistent. I’m not going to quit trying.
