Fish Catching Travel

Baits for all your fishing needs.

I am headed out to fish some this afternoon with my buddy Todd and some of the yahoos from Austin on the bay today but before I leave I wanted to share a couple of comments from 2 loyal readers.

I got this interesting comment from Johnny and hopefully I can answer his question.

I have been fishing with buzz bait, but the fish just laugh at me. Any suggestions on how to improve my chances? Hoping to learn from you.

In two weeks I’ll be heading to Fayette. I’ll let you know how the fishing is up there.

Thank you

There are a couple of very important points on buzzbait fishing on Coleto right now.  Normally what makes it such a great buzzbait lake is all the grass, much if it in that 3 – 6 foot range.  That keeps the fish in position where they can attack that thing way off the bank, often coming up over halfway back to smash it.  Unfortunately that is not the case right now.  Almost every one I have caught in the last few trips has been right on the bank, and none have come over 5 foot off, if that.  First, when the few fish that are willing to hit it are there you need to make you bait land as close to land as possible, and I mean close!  Next, it must be moving when it hits the water, it is a real reaction strike.  Since I cast right handed and then hold the rod with my left over the years I transfer the rod while the cast is in the air so that the bait does not sink, even a little, it must be moving to get them to strike.  I know this is not easy for folks who do not transfer the rod in mid cast, but it works.  I can not stress the importance of the bait moving when it hits the water.  And additionally I normally reel it at a moderate speed with a 7-1 reel, to fast and it does not seem to attract those reaction strikes.  When the fish are more spread out in the water column, or in the grass, I let the fish tell me the speed to reel it.

Second.  Keep the trolling motor on and cover lots of bank.  Pay attention to any slot, hole, or trash on the bank, and make a precision cast, they are just not willing to chase it.  A foot either left or right and no bites, it is that tough right now.  This may be simplistic answer to your question, but it is what is working right now under our current conditions.  So thanks for the question, we can all learn from each other, and it gives me a chance to act like I know what I am doing.  Just kidding as the next report shows.  And we will be waiting to hear your report on Fayette, I will probably be there in the next week or two myself.

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Speaking of different ways to catch fish, and how much I know right now, I got this great report from Joe and I wanted to comment on it.

Love your blog. Been following for quite some time. A buddy and I were at Coleto on Sunday. We were fishing the wood with little success. The wind was blowing pretty good out of the north but at about 10:30 it died a bit and the fish came alive. We were sitting between 2 main lake points when I caught one on a crank. As I reeled to the surface another was trying to take the lure from the one I caught. We backed off and started fan casting between the 2 points when we found them. At one point we caught 13 in 15 casts. We stayed there and was able to move with the school we found and probably caught 30 fish. Most were in the 14-16 range but we did manage to a couple of nicer ones. We ended up somewhere in the 35-40 range today.
Look forward to your posts. They are very informative and extremely helpful. Thank again!!

Awesome report Joe.  It really shows that there are different ways to catch fish, and obviously I have not devoted enough time to crankbait.  Not only is it a great search bait, but when you think about it it may be the perfect bait on Coleto right now with shad being their primary forage.  A side note to that is I stopped and talked to a couple of guys doing a shocking survey for GBRA and they told me that the lake is full of gizzard shad, not to mention threadfin.  It is telling and I just did not “listen” and apply it to my search.  My experience that last few weeks kept telling me that the fish were ganged up somewhere.  Without our grass to spread them out they are just acting differently this year due to conditions, and it is my bad for not doing more experimentation.  Like all fisherman I get caught up in the same old, same old.  So the result is I have been catching just enough and not really thinking about where the main bunches of fish are right now and what I should be doing.  Thanks for reminding me that there are lots of other ways to skin a cat.

And as far as the wood right now it really can be tough to find them.  They are not on all of it by any stretch, it seems to have to be the perfect set up.  That is in 4 or 5 feet of water, but they do not seem to be in all that standing timber areas.  So for me, fishing the lake so much I know those little isolated wood that has been holding them.  It is a milk run, but I have been getting bored with that.  That alone should have make me fish alternative methods, my loss.  So thanks for the great report, it must have been awesome!  And the rest of you, think about his report on the location, it is telling and we are lucky to have a guy share that kind of information with us.  Thanks Joe.

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I read an article by one of the local “famous” guides in one of the saltwater magazines and I wanted to comment on that based on where we are going to fish today.  He used a term that I find extremely derogatory and elitist – Potlicker.  It implies that he is the only one who ever fished any place first.  It implies that anyone, including a grandpa who wants to catch fish with his grandson is somehow a lessor person for seeing boats in an area catching fish and then fishing it later.  It implies that he learned everything there is to know about places to fish all on his own without help from anyone.  It implies that he is so superior to the rest of us that his “places” are “his” places.  It implies that if you fish certain areas that you are a lessor man than him and his superior skill and intellect.  Having guided for 20 years I know guides like this.  Instead of sharing and helping others he is beneath that.  Because he has a 24 foot hydro blaster with a 500hp motor and a wrap that he is all that.  They begin to think that they have superior rights to the water and fish that belong to all of us.  That attitude is what is wrong with fishing today.  It make me sick.

The reason I am commenting on that article today is we are headed up the barge canal to catch some trout.  He specifically referred to it, and they people who fish it, as potlickers.  Somehow fishing where you know you can catch fish makes you a lessor fisherman than him.  Of course if he did not fish where he could catch them he would be out of business.  Most people do not have the luxury or time to fish as often as they want, and any inference that people would want to maximize what little time they have to fish by going to where the fish are is just plain wrong.  So I am a potlicker, and this blog is a actually dedicated to that very thing!  I want you to potlick my places, I want to give you information that puts you in a place to catch more fish.  If I can help anyone catch a fish by sharing places and information I am happy.  So from now on I declare – “I AM THE KING OF THE POTLICKERS AND PROUD OF IT.”   So I will get a report up tomorrow, and every other day I can to help you be a better potlicker.  Kinda got worked up over that didn’t I.

Off to the barge canal to potlick up a storm.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines