Don’t be afraid to branch out and find new water to fish by following these tips.
Story and Photography by Robert Sloan

One sure fire way to have a better success rate of catching trout and reds is to be aware of your surroundings and be able to make changes or adjustments that will put you on more fish. The last week of April 2018 was a perfect example of what I’m talking about.
We had cool fronts moving through every few days. One day the wind would be out of the north, the next it would be howling out of the south. A hot spot on one day would be toast the next, and muddy enough to walk on. However, we managed to catch a lot of fish that month. In fact, limits of trout were easy on most days.
Towards the end of the month we were on plenty of reds and trout. It was fun fishing, but it was not always easy to find fish.
On high tides we were finding a good number of solid trout, fish in the three to four pound class in the grass and sand pockets on backwater lakes. One area that came through with numbers of trout was Pringle Lake. It’s located just south of the old Army base on Matagorda Island. Getting into that lake can be a trick. But once you are in the drift fishing can be world class for both reds and trout. It’s a favorite place for fly fishing guide Tom Horbey.
“During late spring and early summer, it’s not unusual to find trout in the six to seven pound class in Pringle,” he says. “But the fish are often tough to reach. If you go into some of the shallow ponds located on the north side of Pringle there are holes that hold good trout. It’s not at all unusual to find tailing reds.”

READ MORE: continue article»