Here is an interesting note sent to me by Randy(308).

June 14, 2008 - 5:48 p.m.

Hello, anglers!

It seems as though Mother Nature is still mad at all the fishermen and fisherwomen in the Coastal Bend area. Winds continue to blow above normal 24 hours a day, seven days a week without any signs of letting up. Hopefully, calm weather will be heading our way in the not-to-distant future.

I’ve talked to numerous anglers who have fished in the Port O’Connor area the past two weeks with no success. These guys are excellent fishermen who are using croakers but are still not putting many fish on their stringers. I believe the problem is directly related to the wind.

The south shorelines from Greens Bayou to Panther Point have been hammered every week by hundreds and hundreds of fishermen and tournament fishermen. These are the only areas that can be fished during windy conditions because they hold green water and are protected.

There has been so much pressure on these areas that I believe the majority of the fish are gone and the ones that are there are feeding at night. The fish are in muddy, windy water above grass, sand and shell. I’ve had great success the past month in the Rockport area in muddy, windy water.

No one wants to fish this type of water, so there is no pressure on the fish. I think I’ve only had one or two trips where we’ve had less than 20 trout and the trout we’ve been catching have been above average size.

From November to April each year, it is usually artificial lures only on my boat. But this time of year, croakers are the best bait to use when water temperatures move into the 80s.

Surefire solution

There are all kinds of techniques that are used when using croakers. Some just free-line a croaker with a leader. Some use round beads above the croaker while others tie a chatter weight above the croaker. These set-ups all have worked, but there is one set-up that is by far the best and will catch fish when all else fails, especially in muddy, windy water.

Go buy some pink salt shakers. Then get some red 5/0 mustard wide-gap hooks. Make sure they are red and are not smaller than 5/0. Wrap the salt shaker about 18 inches above the hook after you put your croaker on it. Spray it with WD 40 and cast it as far as you can.

Shake your rod tip very aggressively several times every 30 seconds. The silver balls inside the saltshaker are larger than BBs that go in a BB gun and make a tremendous amount of noise. The loud sound under water made from the salt shaker and the strong scent from the WD-40 will draw a strike in the muddiest water.

Good Fishin’,

Capt. Danny

Danny Goyen is a fishing columnist for the Victoria Advocate. Contact him at 361-574-1206 or at sports@vicad.com.