FISH CATCHING TRAVEL
Coleto
Since I was taking the Mako to Victoria Marine for new hubs I decided to hit the lake for a couple of hours. This first picture tells it all, then we will get to the fishing.
They were waiting for me to finally give up the ghost.
The first thing I noticed this morning was the lake is finally starting down. It looks like a good couple of feet. It was pretty easy to see on the bank where the water had been, and I mean in the last couple of days. So it will be easy to blame the fishing on the falling water, and a water temp of 90 degrees surely did not help. nd when you combine that with the high pressure system we have been under for weeks, conditions are not the best on the lake. All fishermen have good excuses for not catching anything, and I am right there with them.
I started up lake on a channel bank, figuring the fish will be dropping off bends and be on the outer points waiting for the water to stabilize. Shows you what I know. Fishing the lizard deep was just was not happening. From daylight until around 8 only 3 came over the side, and they were all small. In fact not even worth pulling the camera out of my pocket.
So next it was to a flat with a good drop in about 8 foot of water. It still has brush and grass on it and on my first cast with a buzzbait I got the curse, I caught one. So now sticking with it a couple of more made a pass at it, again all small. The only good bite I had really blew up on it, but missed it by a mile. The water color is still brown up lake, but not muddy, if that makes sense, so it was time to head down lake and fish clear water.
The first cove did not provide a bite, even with good cover, so I grabbed the popper and of course caught one right off the bat, rats, double cursed.
Here is the big fish, and I use the term lightly, for the morning.
So with just an hour left I stayed with the topwater. The next 2 were smaller than this one until I had what I thought was a big bite.
His eyes were bigger than his stomach.
Growing up in Iowa as a kid we caught lots and lots of these nice bluegills, many of them ice fishing. They are great eating and if you get into enough to make cleaning them worth it they make a great fish fry. I just might give them a go next week, it is making my mouth water thinking about it.
That was the last fish I caught and around 11 it was time to head to the ramp and take the boat in. The only thing I can say about today is I am a little confused why I had no luck fishing deeper. That surely is the answer, guess I just did not stop in the right place. So though 9 cooperated, 3 on each bait, it was hardly a good trip. Now if you catch 9 while in Major League Fishing you might be doing ok, but clearly not up to Coleto’s standard. So it was off to see Bob at Victoria Marine.
Warning – Warning.
Though the fishing report ain’t much, there is something important I wanted to show you, it could save you thousands.
Look at the white flakes.
See those things laying over the prop on the mat? That is the liner from the inside of the grey fuel hose, which was not all that old. Here is what you need to know. With the advent of ethanol eating the old fuel lines the companies decided if they lined the hose it should solve the problem. The only problem was the ethanol slowly dries out the liner, and all the flakes you see I shook out of that hose with 2 shakes. That liner turned to chips, and think about it, it is headed for your carbs and engine. When you put it between your fingers it just disintegrates.
Look inside each of the 3 hoses, they are all coming apart.
What had been happening was the old black hose would actually get almost like gum on the inside, should have taken a picture of that too, sorry. If you look at the grey one you can see the brown, that is the liner. There was about a foot of that hose that was opened up, so see the bag? That is what came out of that hose! Apparently it can really accelerate when the boat sits a while, and with little or no gas in the hose it starts drying rapidly. Now if you look at the white and blue hose, the liner is actually staying together, sort of, but is completely separating from the hose. What a mess. I was lucky a couple of years ago that Bob at Victoria Marine checked my hose, the liner was separating, so he replaced it. Who knows what might have happened if it did not get caught.
Now Bob just basically replaces all the grey hose and most of the others. There is a company making a hose that reduces this risk and that is the only one he uses. Sorry again, should have got the name of the company. But be warned. If you have not changed your gas hoses time to take a look. The cost of a hose is far cheaper than having them open your engine to get this crap out. So there you have it, as we all say: BOAT = Break Out Another Thousand, and this happening is a quick way to get there.
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Before I sign off I did want to report on the other fishing on Coleto. The crappie are biting on minnows fishing the isolated wood. Many of them are not as deep as you might expect and the folks I talked to this morning caught a nice mess of crappie. And I know the gentleman I call Mister Crappie has been catching them right along. Speaking with another boat today who was jugging and limb lining, they have not done all that well, but they are catching a few. So hot or not there are fish to be caught on the lake.
So today was not a total loss. If one person finds out their hoses are doing this it is worth it. With the cost of engines and repairs, good maintenance is mandatory. My first real boat was a bass boat with a 70hp on it, and it cost $3000, that probably will not even get you a power head these days, much less have it installed. That is actually why I am replacing the hubs. They are going on 7 years old so I am replacing them with galvanized hubs and stainless steel Bearing Buddies. Then will keep one of the old ones for a roadside spare, which it never hurts to have. When you tow thousands of miles you have to expect trouble at some point. I actually had a galvanized trailer frame break going down the interstate at 70mph. Stuff happens and there is no such thing as to prepared.
That will do it for today, next up is a little wading. I have not been to Keller in a while and as long as the wind is right that is next. First I have to make the old trip to Cabela’s tomorrow. I have a bunch of points and like a little kid they are burning a hole in my pocket. I am not even sure what I need, or if I even need anything. But funny how when you stop at a tackle store and stuff spontaneously just jumps off the shelves and sticks to you and just won’t come off. At least that is the best excuse for the Boss I have come up with yet. And one last apology for yesterdays post, it was off topic. But now we are back to the reason for the season, fishing. So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
