Welcome to George Rose Guide Service

This blog is simply short events, pictures, and funny things that happen in the day-to-day life of a fishing guide in the ROCKPORT, PORT ARANSAS, AND CORPUS CHRISTI AREA. There's nothing on here that isn't fishing or duck hunting. If you have a question you want me to answer, please email me from my website at http://www.texascoastfishing.com/. I'll answer all I can. Anything is fair game from what kind of boats are best, where fish are biting, you fished with me and hate my guts ( I probably hate your guts too and maybe we can work it out). Anyway, I'll keep up as best I can. Please remember I work a lot and have to answer customer emails, phone messages, and keep boats running. Thanks and I hope you enjoy what you find here.

Please note, you can click on any picture and enlarge it if it's too small. Also, scroll down to see the older blogs. I'm getting emails asking where the stories and pictures are. They are further down. I'm not great at this blogging so keep letting me know if you're not seeing what you want. I'll get one of my kids to fix it, lol. Thanks, and I hope you're enjoying the info on here.






Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Best Time to Fish

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO GO FISHING OR WHAT'S THE BEST MONTH TO FISH AND HOW DO WE CATCH FISH?

I get asked three questions all the time.  The one above, where are the fish biting, and what's the best boat?  I've answered the last two in previous blogs so I'm going to get this one out of the way.  You're not going to like what you hear but it's the truth so here goes.

The best time to go fishing is when the fish are biting.  Simple, easy to understand and honest.  OK, now you ask when are the fish biting?  That's the million dollar question.  If anyone on Earth knew the answer to that question, they would make more money than Bill Gates ever imagined. Can you imagine knowing exactly where to go and what time to be there?  I personally don't think it would be much fun.The challenge of finding fish is what keeps me interested. You would catch fish until your arms fell off, however.  Think of all the electronics invested on boats to help find fish.  Think about all the "gimmick" lures, scents, etc. to get fish to eat.  It's big business.

There are a lot of times I'll see 40-50 redfish and work them for an hour or so and never get them to eat.  A friend may go after that same school a few hours later and crush them.  He got there at the right time.  That's what makes fishing fun is the challenge of first finding fish, getting them to eat, and lastly, getting them in the net.  You can go to a stocked fish tank and catch all the catfish you want for $5.00 a pound if you just want to catch fish.  We're talking about catching  redfish, trout, drum and flounder in a HUGE area.  These fish move around due to tidal changes, bait movements, wind conditions, heat and cold, boat traffic, and sometimes just because they feel like it.

OK, now we realize it's impossible to factor in all these events (they can all occur at the same time sometimes),  and actually catch fish.  Not so.  Sometimes it's very hard, but you can usually work the puzzle out and get a box of fish to be proud of.  The better guides are on the water a lot.  They know where the fish were for the last month (or maybe where they weren't).  Every good guide I know sees everything on the water.  They don't miss a bait fish jump, a guy catching a fish, even something floating in the water that wasn't there yesterday.  They also know that when certain conditions are occurring that the fish should be in certain areas.  Then we look in those areas until we find them.  The hardest condition to counteract is boat traffic.  That's not Mother Nature, that's humans screwing up Mother Nature.  I hate fishing on Saturday.  The boat traffic moves fish from where they want to be.  People are usually sitting right where they should be fishing. 

To learn how and where to catch fish will just take practice.  A lot of practice to be consistent.  You can get lucky once in awhile, but to consistently catch fish you have to practice.  If you don't have the time to practice, pay a GOOD guide to take you.  You'll have a good time, be treated kindly, and most likely catch a lot more fish than you would on your own.

Lastly, the big one everyone wants to know.  When is the BEST month (highest odds) or time to come to the coast?   Other than the obvious "Whenever you can" answer I'm actually going to try and narrow this down.  This is not an exact answer as we're not dealing with an exact science but here goes:

Trout-April-July
Redfish --All year
Drum --  October -May
Flounder--September-December  (late October and November are the best)
Trophy Red fish--last week of Sept-2nd week of November
Trophy Trout --February-April

None of the above is set in stone, it just takes into account some of the factors that come in to play.  For example, you can catch a lot of trout in December IF the weather allows you to get where they are.  Let's say you come down for trout and a cold front blows in.  Then what?  Well the red fish are going to be eating like crazy so we switch gears and catch reds. See what I'm getting at?  You can catch fish all year, anytime, if you're here on the right day.  A good guide will tell you what's biting best as they want you to catch fish.  We don't like getting beat at the cleaning station.  Especially because our customers wanted to catch only trout in a 30mph wind on Saturday, they won't wade and there's no shrimp available.  LOL.  I would have a better chance of finding Big Foot in my backyard than catching 20 trout. 

Well, I hope that helps clear things up.  I know I'm confused now.  I know every day I leave the dock I have to catch fish.  Period.  I have to catch fish or I don't get paid.  If customers listen and let me help them, we'll catch fish.  If not, I'll do my best, but we probably won't do as well as we could have.  Now go fishing and have a good time whether you catch fish or not. Our bays can't be beat for relaxation and fun.

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