Fish Catching Travel

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Weather

75H/L65   Wind 10 – 20 SE   Cloudy  Chance Rain 20%

Tides

W   16      Low   6:48 AM    -0.2
16     High   7:39 PM     0.6

Solunar Times

• Best Times:
• Good Time:

• Best Times    6:10A – 8:10A
•                         6:37P – 8:37P
• Good Times  11:57A – 1:57P  (Very close today)

Buzzbait Time

If you read my stuff regularly you know I look forward to days like today.  This set of conditions is perfect for Coleto in the spring.  Warm all night, warm day, wind not to bad, and drizzle.  And this time of year one thing that is nice is the bite is usually sometime during the day as opposed to first light.

So I started about 9:00 and caught the one below in the first cove I fished.  He smoked that buzzbait and I was thinking here it comes.  Well a few hours later I was wondering what I was thinking.  I fished from coves near the dam all the way up lake and did not have a fish.  Of course part of that was the choice I made, to go way up and see if it was clearing.

 First bite.

I basically threw the book at them as I worked my way up with no luck.  Finally when I was way up, almost to Shrader Bridge I caught a couple of one place throwing the watermelon red senko style plastic. It seemed like the water up there  is finally clearing some, but it is way up.  After not catching anything for a while I thought it was time to pitch it into cover, and though I got these 2 it never did happen.

Before 2:00.

The water up lake is still really a funny color, and just did not feel right.  But they had to bite, it was the right day and the right time.  So with that motivating me I ran all the way back down to a cove right near the dam and grabbed the buzzbait, and the bite was on.

After 2 – The bite begins.

I started on the point and before I made it all the way around the cove I caught 7.  So I kept going, hitting coves and points.  Basically I was searching for clear water and finding it gave me confidence, and the fish sure liked it.  When one hit it they blasted it.  And wind on the bank did not hurt anything, in fact the best place had the wind blowing right in it.

They were flat out smashing that Strike King Buzzbait!

From about 1:30 until I quit at 4 they bit, and I left them biting.  It was the kind of buzzbait day I wait for all year.  They were really shallow and you had to throw it way back in the stuff and have it moving when it hit the water.  While I never hit another real jackpot like the first place, I caught fish or two everywhere I fished after that.

For 2 hours it was crazy good.

I was reeling it moderately slow keeping the rod pointed right at the bait.  When combined with the braid it really lets you get a hook in them when they blow up on it.  My personal preference is a heavy action rod, seems like if you get the hook in them they are going nowhere.  There really wasn’t a defined locational pattern to them, it was just keep it in the water.  Casting and winding, every once in a while one would commit in a big way.  It definitely was one of those days where making a perfect cast resulted in a bite.

Amazing what a difference a couple of days make.  Monday it was hot and sunny, and they were not having it.  Today they were on the move.  I have a feeling if I had stayed in the clearer water in the lower end all day I would have boated a lot more, and started catching them a lot earlier.  But no complaints.  Whether it a bass, trout, muskie, or redfish, when they are hitting topwater I am all about it.  And if you do not take the time to check stuff out, and keep trying different areas, you will end up knowing nothing.  We really can learn almost as much not catching them.  But who knows what I missed fishing up the river all morning.

Now the big question is whether I am going to do it one more day.  I often say do the thing you need to be doing when you need to do it.  I have a feeling staying with it all day should produce a big fish if a person keeps after it.  Besides, the lake came up just a tiny bit more and we have lots of cover in the lake.  As it clears it will only get better.  And I have to get to the Gulf, there should be a pretty good bite there too, depending on the wind.  I really appreciate your comments so feel free drop one anytime.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines