Coleto Creek 5/13/16.

FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

Boat Decal

Home of the Bang O Lure.

The Beatdown Continues

(First thanks to all who replied.  I guess when the blog platform updated it changed the picture program some way so that it cause some incompatibility with my laptop.  I think I got a handle on it so thanks everyone who let me know the pictures are fine.  Now it is time for the story.)

Since we are headed to South Padre this weekend for 3 days I thought I would squeeze a quick morning trip to Coleto before I headed home to get ready.  I knew from Jim that there was going to be a tourney this weekend so there would be folks practicing.  When I got to the ramp it was busy.  It was foggy when I got there at 8 so I am sure folks were waiting it out some.  But it was clearing so in the water I went

The water temp was 80 and has fallen just a little, but it is really clearing and there is still lots of shallow cover on most banks.  One quick word on that.  Though I am still not seeing deep grass I did see 2 big clumps growing shallow up lake, so who knows, we may have some grass yet this year.

Since it was a quick trip and I knew I would be quitting by 1:00 I decided to stay with the topwater.  Today it was walking the dog with a big KVD topwater in the Sexy Shad.  I fished a couple of places down lake but had only a couple of half hearted bites so I committed to heading way up lake.  It was clearing fast up there so I figured it would be right, and it was.

041

This was a really nice fish and she smoked it.

I was way up lake in the Coleto arm and wanted to start on a bank up there that is basically a medium sloping bank with good cover.  We caught a few on it last week with plastics and I figured if it cleared enough they should eat that topwater, and they did.  I put 4 in the boat in about 20 yards and besides the nice one above lost another one the same size.

042

They were on the chew.

It was probably about 9:00 when I got into them so I committed to staying with the topwater.  It was important to get it right next to the bank and then walk the dog with a moderate speed.  Most of the fish came within 5 feet of the bank, and they were wolfing it.

047

My limit had some weight today.

They were on the more sloping bank with cover, small points, and big flats with grass that had deep water close by.  It was important to throw it up in the grass on those flatter places.  Yea it got that green slime on the bait, but it sure was a beautiful thing to see one explode on it in water less than a foot deep.

050

An easy 5 , this girl must have just got off the bed, she was all beat up.

The other place some came from was the wood.  There was also the beginning of schooling action on the lake and I did catch one chasing bait behind the boat.  1 of the biggest fish came off a tree in 8 foot of water.  So at that point I was just covering water and tossing at any likely looking spot.  And any big point with good water on both sides definitely held fish.   It would be really efficient to keep a rod with plastics handy so that after you throw the topwater over wood you could come back with the plastic if they don’t hit the topwater.  Trust me, those fish are on that wood.

052

Nice solid fish.  These were the 5 biggest.

So a real productive quick trip.  They really were eating it in a big old boil and it was probably about 15 for the morning, not bad.  I had to change rods as the one I initially used was to light, as was the line for the cover I was fishing.  I changed to a medium heavy with braid and a 20lb fluoro leader and started hooking them up a little better.  It was by far the best topwater bite of the year and there is no reason it will slack off for a while.  And the number of fish I saw chasing shad there will be some schooling activity.  So if you are on the lake early in the morning be watching, they just might come up in mass.

*********************

I have some great comments and reports I want to share with you but it is time to load the truck and head to the beach.  I love driving the beach and if that southeast wind will lay just a little I will get in some topwater fishing at daylight when the boss takes her walk and then later when we spend our afternoon in the sun.  I will get the other stuff up in the next day or two.  Hopefully the Shoedog will be down next week for a couple of days of wading and trout catching.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

About Redfishlaw

I am a retired attorney who just loves to fish. I was a freshwater guide for about 20 years and now have moved to the salt. I am not the greatest fisherman, but I am committed. So if you love fishing, and want to learn what little I have to offer, stop by anytime.
This entry was posted in Fish Catching Travel. Bookmark the permalink.