San Marcos — When planning a distant fishing trip, timing is everything.

If you live near the site, you can just pick your days. If the weather is a mess, then wait and go a couple of days later. But distance changes the equation. Schedules have to be cleared, motels must be booked and travel days planned. So the date gets set in stone.

Each spring we travel across the big state of Texas to the Sabine River on the Texas/Louisiana border.

The best white bass spawning run in Texas is on the Sabine. Huge numbers of white bass migrate out of Toledo Bend Reservoir up the river to lay millions of eggs.

But numbers aren’t the main draw. The whites on the Sabine are the largest in our state. Whereas the average bass we catch on the Guadalupe above Canyon is less than a pound, the average fish on the Sabine is about two pounds. Some fat females exceed three pounds.

Normally, the spawning run on the Sabine peaks late February and through the first week in March. So, many months ago we booked a cabin at River Ridge Campground near Tenaha for March 3-6.

But we didn’t count on one of the coldest Texas winters on record. That cold hard fact totally upset the timing of our trip.

Local retired fisheries biologist, Harry Bishop and two friends fished the Sabine with guide Jane Gallenbach during the last week of February. They didn’t do well. It actually snowed on them.

We had hoped that an extra week would make the difference. It didn’t. The water temperature in the river was still 48 degrees.

One of Gallenbach’s guides said to me, “When that water temperature reaches 51 degrees the show will be on. Until then the bite will be slow.”

Not a good forecast.

Next morning, my life-long friend from Little Rock, Wayne Smith and I launched my skiff in the swirling waters of the Sabine. The water was extremely high, out of the banks and flooded into the woods. But that didn’t concern us. One spring, Bobby Whiteside and I fished the river on very high water and caught 300 whites in two days. But the water temperature wasn’t 48 degrees.

We fished hard; hitting all the submerged sandbars and creek mouths where I had experienced great success on previous trips. By mid-afternoon we only had three fish in the live well. At least Wayne caught one near three pounds.

“The fish are in the river,” Gallenbach lamented. “They’re just not feeding or spawning because of the cold water.”

True to her prediction, none of the fish we cleaned during our two-day stay had anything in their stomachs. No crayfish, no minnows, no shad, no perch — just empty bellies.

The next day was warmer and Wayne’s wife Nancy fished the morning with us. We caught seven bass on our little Roadrunner jig-spinners. Most of them were big.

That afternoon Wayne and I went back and anchored in the mouth of Murvall Creek. This big creek runs from the Sabine to Lake Murvall. It’s usually full of fish. We got five more big fish. Our total of 12 fish was the best of any boat that went upriver from River Ridge.

The best catch that day was made by Ron and Glenda Carnes of San Marcos. They fished with one of Jane’s guides named Simon. A couple of days earlier, Simon’s party landed a two-person, 50-fish limit.

As we left the ramp to zip upriver, Ron and Glenda went about five miles down river toward the lake. Simon put them on fish that would bite. But it took live minnows. They caught a lot of fish.

When fish are not active, live bait can change the equation. When a fish hits a lure it is out of quick reflex. Otherwise, he just lets the lure flash on by. But when a live minnow stays in one place and keep slapping the dormant predator in the face, often the mouth opens. Gulp. Fish on the hook.

Yesterday, Keith Taylor and I were up the Guadalupe. The early bites on jigs and Roadrunners were good. We put about 15 fish in the live well quickly. Then the bites slowed.

A couple arrived late and began fishing with live minnows. We fished right beside them while they boated at least 10 fish while we caught only three more.

I would love to be on the Sabine next week. It’ll be dynamite. But too late. We’ve already spent our time and our money.

Jim Darnell is an ordained minister and host/producer of the syndicated outdoors show God’s Great Outdoors. His column appears every Thursday in the Daily Record.