Fished the Upper Laguna this weekend. Weather Saturday morning looked iffy further south so I fished the King Ranch shoreline and a section of the ICW for my hand at a few big uglies.
You can catch oversized Black Drum working artificial baits. Most use sea lice, shrimp or cracked crab....about the only baits these old fish bite. With one exception, a Carolina rigged shrimp flavored FishBite in Chartreuse slow worked on a deep bottom, just like worm fishing for bass, the same can be said for big black drum. The setup is simple, egg sinker, barrel swivel and a super tiny number 1 circle hook. You simply cut and hook a 5-inch strip of shrimp flavored Fishbite at one end allowing it to move like a Pork Rind configuration or a plastic worm. The extra tiny circle hook eliminates snags and is so light, the bait flutters and moves in the water column cleanly.
I ran halfway down to Bird Island and found an area that looked prime for Big Black drum. I found a shallow cut that basically was a small ditch that drained an inside flat down into the ICW. The ICW is sharply contoured going from a foot and a half on the sides down to 16ft center channel. I found a half moon shaped cut along the channel wall that was the drain off for this small ditch pouring out of the flat. I Power Poled in a foot of water, wind at my back and started casting just beyond the mid channel point and slow worked my setup back to the boat from deep to shallow. As usual, Piggy perch attacked the bait but being a man made bait, it survived the onslaught. Roughly 15 minutes into my fish, I feel the bait get picked up and simply let the fish start it's pull against a vertical rod...rod bends down and the drag kicks in - Fish On!
So I ran my PowerPole up and proceeded to go up and down the ICW with a big ugly dictating the fight. 10lb test Ande on an ABU Record 50 with a heavy action 7ft trout rod
I managed two fish with fights lasting around 30 - 40 minutes each before the land and release. A boat full of 3 couples from San Antonio hung around for my 2nd fish, snapping pictures and excited about this fish. So I figured I would give them my setup spot and move off to chase trout. I needed some fresh filets.
Floated the flat out front over to the Ranch. Managed to catch 16 specks keeping 4 for dinner. Most of these fish ranged from 14 - 18 inches, nothing big but fun and tasty!
The Fishbite under the bottom lip of the first fish. Ran a 2ft 20lb test Ande leader from the barrel swivel.
The 2nd fish, photo snapped by the boat with the 3 couples from SA
A King Ranch dink
You can catch oversized Black Drum working artificial baits. Most use sea lice, shrimp or cracked crab....about the only baits these old fish bite. With one exception, a Carolina rigged shrimp flavored FishBite in Chartreuse slow worked on a deep bottom, just like worm fishing for bass, the same can be said for big black drum. The setup is simple, egg sinker, barrel swivel and a super tiny number 1 circle hook. You simply cut and hook a 5-inch strip of shrimp flavored Fishbite at one end allowing it to move like a Pork Rind configuration or a plastic worm. The extra tiny circle hook eliminates snags and is so light, the bait flutters and moves in the water column cleanly.
I ran halfway down to Bird Island and found an area that looked prime for Big Black drum. I found a shallow cut that basically was a small ditch that drained an inside flat down into the ICW. The ICW is sharply contoured going from a foot and a half on the sides down to 16ft center channel. I found a half moon shaped cut along the channel wall that was the drain off for this small ditch pouring out of the flat. I Power Poled in a foot of water, wind at my back and started casting just beyond the mid channel point and slow worked my setup back to the boat from deep to shallow. As usual, Piggy perch attacked the bait but being a man made bait, it survived the onslaught. Roughly 15 minutes into my fish, I feel the bait get picked up and simply let the fish start it's pull against a vertical rod...rod bends down and the drag kicks in - Fish On!
So I ran my PowerPole up and proceeded to go up and down the ICW with a big ugly dictating the fight. 10lb test Ande on an ABU Record 50 with a heavy action 7ft trout rod
I managed two fish with fights lasting around 30 - 40 minutes each before the land and release. A boat full of 3 couples from San Antonio hung around for my 2nd fish, snapping pictures and excited about this fish. So I figured I would give them my setup spot and move off to chase trout. I needed some fresh filets.Floated the flat out front over to the Ranch. Managed to catch 16 specks keeping 4 for dinner. Most of these fish ranged from 14 - 18 inches, nothing big but fun and tasty!
The Fishbite under the bottom lip of the first fish. Ran a 2ft 20lb test Ande leader from the barrel swivel.
The 2nd fish, photo snapped by the boat with the 3 couples from SA
A King Ranch dink
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