Ever sat in front of the TV and watched professional bass anglers
go at it on the water, their attention to detail and the speed at which they
make decisions is amazing. As they scan
their depth finders and study the ground contours, water depths and
temperatures, they quickly put together a game plan and go to work. With a dozen rods neatly placed on the deck,
endless amounts of tackle stacked and organized in compartments throughout the
boat leaving them thousands of options to comb through every second, their
minds are racing through a constant checklist of the next lure to try, the next
stump to 
attack, color changes, weight changes, line changes, the options are
endless. While some people watch these
shows and fool themselves into thinking that they too would catch big fish if
they were fishing exclusive bodies of water, another group of viewers think,
man, if I could have one day on the water with a pro, I would ask questions
about every cast, bait choice, target choice, and anything else they think
might possibly give them an edge up on the fish and on surrounding anglers.
Well this month I got to put all of those questions to rest
when I had a ride along with a local professional. Captain Matt McCabe of Pro Edge Fishing is a
local saltwater charter captain that specializes in chasing speckled trout
throughout the Lake Pontchartrain and surrounding areas, but what a lot of
people don’t know about Matt is that he spent 12 years on the pro bass fishing
circuits competing in the Bass Master Southern and Central open divisions. Matt’s knowledge of the saltwater was limited
growing up as his focus was always on the prized largemouth bass, but since
leaving the tour in 2009, Matt quickly turned his education to speckled trout
and that turn has earned him a successful charter business. What Matt may have lacked in youthful trout
knowledge was outweighed by his attention to detail and desire to be
successful. 
Our trip started well before the sun even considered waking
up, as we rolled out of Southshore Bait and Marina, the 300 Yamaha was purring
and just waiting for the throttle to hammer down and push the 24 foot Skeeter
on its way. As a cold front had just
rolled through and the temperatures plummeted nearly 20 degrees and the wind
was blowing a solid 20 knots, I knew the day was going to be a tough one, but
in the back of my mind, I knew I was with a captain that had endured these
types of fronts in the past. Finally the
hammer fell and we were off through the darkness and up the intercostal
waterway to battle the elements and conquer Mother Nature. On a cold New Year’s Eve day, I originally
thought we were going to fish the “great wall”, but as we passed under the
famed “green Monster” I knew we were going into unchartered waters for me. As Matt eased up on the horses and the
Skeeter began to come off plane, he was constantly glued to his depth finder,
not his GPS, but his sonar. He quickly
pointed out we were in 40 feet of water and to watch the bottom as it was going
to gradually come up. At the point of
about 30 feet he shut down the engine, dropped the trolling motor and gave me a
play by play of what the bottom contour was going to do. As he walked me through the play by play I
was constantly glued to the screen, until he mentioned that we could start
fishing. He followed that up with, “we
can catch a few fish here, but where they really sit is about 150 yards up
where a small cut out of the ledge is sitting.”
I looked at the shoreline and the rocks nearby, but nothing to my eyes
could explain a cut out in the ledge.
Matt didn’t know exactly what created the missing section of the ledge,
but he knew where it was and he knew there would be fish there. As we worked the drop off and the deeper flat
above jigging Matrix shad on 3/8 and ½ oz jig heads boating a few fish here and
there we approached the “spot”. Matt
turned and said, “Watch this,” and with his next cast boated a nice trout that
went between 3 & 4 lbs. He was
right, he knew where they would be stacked up, and as we drifted over and
around the area, it was clear as daylight on the sonar, it was one of those
things you just wouldn’t come across if you’re not familiar with your
electronics. 
Electronics is one of Matt’s greatest assets; he is a big
believer that in deep water and waters with any type of contour or cover
underneath, that your electronics can help result in either filling the box or
just covering the bottom of it. Matt
uses a Lowrance touch screen model because their system is user friendly and
their commands stay the same from one unit to the next, but taking his
knowledge of sonar use from his bass fishing days over into the saltwater arena
has really allowed him to learn things that a lot of other anglers just overlook. Matt can actually run his trolling motor
until he finds the fish on his Lowrance, turn the boat around, choose a lure
weight that falls to his specifics, and count it down until it’s sitting face
to face with a speckled trout, and while some people that are not knowledgeable
on sonar units may not believe this, I actually witnessed it. It can be done, and Matt can do it. 
Matt is a big believer in fluorocarbon line and if you need
convincing he is happy to oblige. Matt
landed 4 trout in the boat before I landed one.
I knew he was a flouro guy and so am I, the only difference was he uses
pure flouro and I use a flouro 7 foot leader mated to braid, well needless to
say after being shown up for nearly an hour, I decided to start using one of
his rods that was spooled with straight flouro.
We actually did a little test prior to my hard headed transition and it
turns out that my lure was falling several seconds behind his lure, we chalked
that up to the buoyant properties of braid vs sinking flouro. These are the little subtleties that many
don’t ever grab hold too, and that’s just one of the advantages to getting into
the boat with not just a charter captain, but with one that’s spent a decade
competing for a living; this guy knows the little things that make a huge
difference.
After a few spots and the temperatures and wind continuing
to drop we decided to call it a day, after all it was New Year’s Eve and we
both had plans. Given the conditions and
the amount of fish in the box it was more than a good day, it was a great
one. Captain Matt is a true professional
in both knowledge and people skills, he does what he does to make others happy
and he has a great time doing it. It’s
not every day you find someone that loves his job, but when you’re with Matt;
it’s obvious he’s one of the few. 
Q&A
What’s your favorite way to fish?
Drop shot, I learned
it on Smith Mountain Lake in Georgia and it’s landed me more bass than I can
count. Bringing the drop shot into trout
fishing has really allowed my clients an exciting way to fish without watching
a cork.
What was your biggest challenge transitioning from Bass
Fishing for a living to Saltwater fishing for a living?
Learning the tidal
ranges, figuring out when and where to be on falling tides and rising tides in
different areas of the lake
Who was your biggest influencer or mentor when you
transitioned to trout fishing?
Chas Champagne was a
big mentor for years, he was an educator and a friend that really helped me
move forward learning speckled trout habits.
Who is your mentor now?
Mike Gallo of Angling
Adventures of Louisiana, Mike has been a teacher, a coach, and a business
professor. He has taught me all about
the saltwater industry and the business side of it all. I am not sure I would
have grown to where I am today without Mike in my corner.
What’s the best part of being a Charter Captain?
The kids, it’s all
about the kids. Getting a kid on the
boat and teaching him about more than just video games and seeing them smile
holding up their fish is just a pure joy to me. I take part in a lot of
charities and kid events because it’s the kids of today that are going to stand
up for all of us tomorrow.
Do you still have
sponsors that carried over from your bass fishing days to your chartering?
Well, Dockside marine
is my greatest supporter, but I am also on the pro teams for Skeeter, Yamaha,
and Seatow. I support a lot of products like Matrix Shad and Boss Outdoors, I
stick with companies whose products I believe in and actually use. 
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