Fish Catching Travel

The Bleeding Bait is easy to buzz.

Sometimes when a plan comes together it is all because of fishing reports from others.  A couple of those reports lead me to have a pretty good day.  So keep them coming, we can all learn something.  First here is the one from my buddy Bobby.

Well went to the lake and not a single bite!!!! Water is still in the 80 to 85 degree range. tried the buzzbait and swim jig no luck. And to top it off had to take boat to shop  having some kind of starter issue. Oh well if I get it back soon im going again…

Once I read this I made up my mind to not throw either of those baits.  We all have those bad fishing day, and looks like you got yours out of the way.  Sorry to hear about the starter, I just had bearings go out on one side of the trailer today.  And then came this report from Johnny.

Enjoyed reading about your trip. The pictures were great.

Just a quick note to let you know the fish in Coleto Creek are biting off the rock points and hardwoods.  Also munching on red worms and watermelon brush hogs with a light weight.

He has been catching fish this way for a while and for me it had been pitching the lizard in that same color.  The hardwood thing had me thinking so I put both reports together and started casting a 5″ senko style on a 1/4 ounce slip sinker at trees and brush.  Most of the fish caught on it were in about 3 – 5 feet of water.

The reason this guy made the site is my rod exploded.  I loved that rod.

I caught 2 and missed one on the first stop, and then caught several, lost a good one, and broke my rod at the second.   I break about one rod a year setting the hook.  Why?  I don’t have a clue, it just happens.  Today the first pattern on the plate was wood, and I knew several brushy areas up lake, and the first couple had fish on them.

They were not big fish, but I was catching them right along.

On the second place, it was a long channel bank so I decided to re-fish it with a crankbait and caught the one on the right on a 5XD Strike King shad colored crankbait.  They were eating the senko pretty good, and while I put several in the boat, I did miss a lot and lost a couple of real nice ones.  Since I was up lake and the fish were on wood I decided to add a Strike King Bleeding Bait spinnerbait to the mix, and toss the watermelon red senko at any wood on the way by as I buzzed that spinnerbait.  What a good decision that was.

It was very consistent today. 

Just toss your favorite plastic as close as possible to any wood and hop it as close as you can.  It is usually a tic on the line, or just soft or moving when you lift up.  But if you feel anything set the hook.  I should have boated a bunch more, you have to be quick.  Once it was spinnerbait time about 10, the fun was on.

They were smoking it.

I stayed up lake until noon, buzzing the spinnerbait making a wake and most of them crushed it.  The big fish of the morning smoked it half way back and came off.  So I put a trailer on and that solved that.  And whenever I came to some wood I tossed the senko and could catch one on it every so often

Then it was down lake, and though the numbers were not as high the fish were bigger.

A couple of good ones one on spinnerbait and the other on plastic.

Days like today is the reason I love to share reports.   And their reports let me put the hurt on them.  Bobby let me know what not to do today, and Johnny added a piece of the puzzle I could expand on to add fish to my fishing day.  By time it was over not sure how many I caught, but I was surprised.  One thing though, and Bobby’s report made me think, they really do slack off on the buzzbait and go to the spinnerbait in the fall.  It really is shad eating time.  They are just waiting for an excuse to get with it, and I look for the fishing to really improve in the next couple of weeks.

The one on the left did his best to eat that plastic.

The lake is down quite a bit and off-color up lake.  It did not affect the spinnerbait fishing, but you had to run it right on top as slow as you could and keep it up while making a wake.  Gave them just another second or so to find it.  It is possibly my favorite way to catch bass.  And hit a piece of wood in 5 foot of water and get a bite on the senko, the perfect combo.  Nice to catch a few.

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Now for some comments I wanted to share with you.

Good morning Doug, glad to have you back in the good old U S of A so you can get back to fishing the bays. I have a boating question for you. Are you fishing from a Mako 18’ LTS? If so is it a true flats boat or a kind of hybrid bay and flats. What size motor are you running, jack plate, trim tabs? What’s your over all opinion good and bad? How does it do bass fishing?  I have looked at them many times at Bass pro. I run a Triumph 186 roplene hull, people either love them or hate them. I love it, not 1 oz. of wood or anything else to rot. It’s indestructible; they have a cool website with videos. It handles rough water with ease, but it’s a pig on the flats. Would not leave home without Tow Boat US. I was thinking it’s time to go a different boat direction. The LTS is one of the most reasonable priced flats boats I have seen.
Thanks
Steve

Interesting question on the Mako LTS.  Ours was the first year and we have had it 6 1/2 years and love it.   And describing it as a hybrid bay/flats is a good description.  It does not run as shallow as many of the flats boats, but we have not stuck it yet, knock on wood.   It has a 90 Opti on the back with no trim tabs or jack plate.  You might get a little shallower running, but we don’t run there anyway.   And it is a great bass boat for 2 folks, but it really is a 2 person fishing boat.  It handles rough water ok, and it has to be pretty rough to get wet, but it can be an adventure coming across open bay in 25mph winds.  We had a few bugs in the design but those seem to be all worked out in the new boats.  It does not go over 37mph which is fine with us, but ours is rated for a 90 and the new ones are rated for a 115.  I have looked at the new ones and I like them.  I guess the real answer is I would buy another, yes.  We have used it on lakes, rivers, and bays, and the gas consumption is great and it is an easy tow.  If you are ever up this way sometime let me know and we can drop it in Coleto and you can take a ride.

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And Evan was having a pretty good week himself.

Wow.  You’re so right about vacation!  The family and I are in South Padre this week having as much as we can stand.  Its a bit tough this year.  The red tide is full effect down here.  We’ve been on the beach only a couple times and haven’t touched the water.  The air is a bit too “spicy” for my kids and the water looks like a milky green/brown smoothie.  I miss the clear green warm water the Gulf of Mexico normally has this close to the sand.  (Is any water in the Gulf actually clear? Probably not. But it doesn’t look like this mess.)  The pool has been popular however.  Thankfully the president of my fan club (wife, of course) allowed me to run away for a half day and enjoy the so-far-red-tide-free bay and chase some of the local pescado.  My father-in-law landed a very nice 27.5″ red, which was a first for him.  That’s about the perfect size – big enough to brag and small enough to filet.  At that size no need to tag and throw back.  We were grocery shopping!  That was the only keeper red and went nicely with the half dozen trout.  We certainly didn’t limit out but we went home smiling.  Not sure what tomorrow has for us.  Even during the off season, there’s plenty to do in SPI.  Not looking forward to next week and that after-vacation lag you’re experiencing.  Like a vacation hangover.  I have a feeling POC will be calling my name soon.  Pretty sure your forthcoming reports will substantiate that calling.  Keep writing and I’ll keep reading.  -Evan

Sounds like a fun trip.  Your father in law will be just another convert.  Nothing like catching a red that size for your first one.  And we had red tide one year on our vacation to Sanibel one year and the beach was a mess.  I had to drive about 10 miles to get out of it and catch fish.  As far as the bay, the water has not been to bad, clear during the tide change, but as long as it is not muddy, the fish have been there.  It was a little windy the other day, but I still managed to eek out a few.  Nothing like squeezing in a little fishing on your vacation, along with some serious taking it easy.

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Here is a pretty good Fayette report from Steve.

Fished Fayette today and things are looking up. 17 in a half days fishing, 11 on the dam on wacky worms. Much improved from last Wednesday when I only got 9, and week before when I got 5. Saw some schooling last week, but none today, so probably done already.

Nice job.  It may not quite feel like fall in Texas, but the fish know it.  Anytime you can put 17 Fayette Fatties in the boat in a half day is a good day.  Appreciate the report, keep them coming.  Probably gonna make me drive my butt back up there some cloudy day.

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And last I heard from Rusty, your Fayette-Bastrop hard core bass fanatic.

Welcome back!   You mentioned the new swim swing jig.  I have been using them for two weeks now and have caught a lot of good bass on them. The hook up ratio has gone up for me as opposed to the regular swim jig style  (and I was skeptical about that when I bought them).  The Trokar hook is awesome,  but I wished they would have brought out different size hooks.  I like to down size my lure size sometimes and with the swim swing hook you have to put a full size trailer on and it makes the jig a large presentation.  But it does catch big bass!!  Tight lines!

There are none around here so I am going to have to get a little creative to get some.  I knew the minute I saw them they were a definite improvement.  And there is no better endorsement than yours.  I really do love that bait, and it catches big fish.  As usual your comments and reports are really appreciated,

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That should catch things up with your comments.  Keep them coming, it is the only way I know you are really out there.  Next it is replacing bearings and new tires on the skiff’s trailer.  The joys of boat ownership.  Glad I have a spare, the Gulf is just to good right now.  So it is next, just have to decide where.  And I want to get as many days in before the time change.  Sure is nice to have it crack daylight at 7.   So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines