Fish Catching Travel

Can’t wait to try KVD’s new Tournament Buzzbait.

Weather

76/60  Wind SE 5 – 15  Cloudy with a 60% chance of rain  (They got the forecast dead right.)

Tides

Th  17      Low   8:10 AM    -0.2
High   8:22 PM     0.5

Solunar Times

• Best Times     7:00A – 9:00A
•                          7:26P – 9:26P
• Good Times   12:48A – 2:48A

Sorry you salt addicts, but with  perfect weather (drizzling rain) it was back to Coleto.  Now before we get to the fishing something happened today that I have never seen.  Whether it was walking up on 2 cheetas taking a nap under a tree on the African plain, having a whitetail fawn try to get in my boat, or the gobble fest that was happening around me as I fished, nothing made a bigger impression on me that what happened today.

I headed down the windy side of a big cove near the dam and when I got near the back end there was a big alligator laying right next to the bank on the other shore.  As I got even with him he raised up on all fours and roared.  I mean bellowed full throat twice.  His body was pumped full and he looked as big as a 50 gallon drum.  The water was foaming around him as he roared.  Wow.

That thing was fierce, primeval, and as big as any I have ever seen.  He did not seem to notice me and then his head swiveled around and he looked right at me.  Folks trust me, he was worked up.  Being around them for years they do not scare me, I just have a healthy respect, but this one had menace in his eyes and it was one impressive display of male hormones run amok.  The great outdoors is just that, great, and I got to witness something that will stick in my memory for a life time.

(I wanted to know about the water frothing on his back so I read this, very interesting.     http://www.wired.com/2011/05/alligator-mating-physics/)

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The Beat Goes On

As conditions stayed perfect for a bass assault I could not help myself.  When you love the visual bite as much as I do I wait all year for this, the time is now.  And as the bite has been in the middle of the day there was no hurry so it was 9:30 before I backed the boat in.  It was lightly drizzling with the wind out of the SE at about 10 mph depending on where you were.  First stop was the cove where I put the smack down on them.  Primarily it was to check and see if they were biting there earlier.  I started on the point with the Strike King Bleeding Buzzbait and had a one about 5 crash it and immediately in a pile of stuff he went.

Bigger fish?  Fish the buzzbait.

Unfortunately he pulled off before I could get to him.  That was a sign of things to come in there as I proceeded to miss 4, or they missed me, it was a group effort.  With them being somewhat tentative I threw the Swim Jig and of course caught one right off the bat.  But with my love of the visual bite I either wanted to keep force feeding them the buzzbait or give the topwater a go, and with a light wind topwater seemed logical.

Without boring you there is a big punch line here, almost the back end of anything midlake down has bass in the back end.  Twitching that balsa minnow on top produced tons of bites in those back ends.  Now most of those were small fish, but plenty were keepers.  I am noticing one thing, you have those that are just going on beds with full bellies, and those that are done and look like they have been in a knife fight at their local drive bar.

As I worked any clear water it was throw the buzzbait anywhere there was wind, especially on points.  The best place for the topwater was anywhere there was brush off the bank.  And if you could find bushes in deeper than 2 foot those fish are there.  One problem I experienced with the small Rapala balsa minnow is the hooks are so small and I had a problem with a few pulling off.  In the best cove I fished I think I went 3 for 10 or so.  And polarized glasses are mandatory.  With the heavy cloud cover the yellow Cocoons lightened it up enough to see those fish roll, without them my hook up percentage would have been in the dumpster.

Twitiching it just under and letting it pop up, and then twitching it under again, you could see them roll over on it.  So the plan is next time to take the 3 hooks off and put 2 bigger ones back on trying to keep the weight the same.  In the 7 hours I fished I had lots of bites, and while I caught fish, it is hard to estimate the number who were on for a second and then off.  Basically a simple problem easily rectified.

Fishing is consistent, almost great, right now.  There are lots of folks at the lake due to spring break but the rain kept lots of them inside.  Plus, the balsa minnow technique is a great bait to use when it is busy.  Subtle, it will pull those fish out of cover when other baits won’t.   How do I know for sure?  I fished a cove completely with the buzzbait and had one bite, so I just turned around and re-fished it with the topwater.  That was the place I then went 3 for 10.  The fish were exactly where I knew they were, isolated deeper bushes, but they were  not interested in chasing anything.  But twitch that bait next to the deep brush and out they came.  Another lesson learned.

And beds, oh the beds.  If you are a bed fisherman, not my thing, you should be in heaven on Coleto right now.  Besides the bass, the tilapia are at it full swing and I saw them in most every cove I fished today.  Guess I need to get my buddy Jeffish and do a little bow fishing for them.  They are literally everywhere.

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I got this comment from my buddy Voe, who fished with me Monday before he left town.

It figures, your next time out you wack em.
They look nice.

Life is not fair, especially when it is lived with a fishing rod in your hand.  The old should have been here yesterday, last week, last month.  But as usual we had a good time anyway, so let me know when you will be back and we will give it another go.

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I am starting to get excited about Arkansas.  The final plans are close to made, just a questions of when I decide to go, but it is in the next week or less.  The Shoedog is already up there with his grandson and by time I get there he should have a pretty good idea on what we need to be doing.  Normally when we go it is not a real meat hunt, but in this case some crappie, walleyes, and stripers in the freezer will be a good thing.  Before that I hope to make it to the Gulf a few days.  I have not forgot about you salt guys, but it is hard to stop chasing nice bass on the buzzbait.  What a bite.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines