FISH CATCHING TRAVEL
Coleto
I finally got the flats boat back yesterday so it was a trial run to be sure that everything was working before heading to the Gulf tomorrow. The good news, Humminbird has actually fixed the locator/GPS and it worked like it should have. It is real evident that it was never right from the day we bought it. If they had not given me bad information and blown me off it would have saved lots of problems over the last couple of years. But they stood up and made it right and I thank them for fixing it. Better late than never.
The Boss is headed to Iowa next week to see her mom who is recovering from a broken hip and I was ordered to catch a few bass for the fish fry. Now she has crappie and bass, and I will add a few trout tomorrow and she can feed the whole bunch of them. So I got that done today. In fact it was like I was actually fishing a different lake from what it has been the last few weeks.
The first of 15 on senko in 3 1/2 hours.
I went up lake to where I caught them on buzzbait the other day and immediately caught 4 or 5 and missed a couple. They were all small, but it was real clear that the fish were biting. So removing head from rear end I put down the buzzbait and grabbed the 5″ watermelon red senko style bait. Combined with a 1/4 oz slip sinker and a 4/0 worm hook, it is the bait I have been pitching both this summer and last.
Things are looking up!
Basically it was flat banks with cover, and most of the next dozen fish were pretty shallow, in fact this one came from 1 foot of water. I was just pitching to cover and it was one of those days that they were ticking it and then swimming away with it. Of course they weren’t on every bit of cover, but shallow wood definitely had fish on it. A couple I caught came out of shallow wood I did not see until I was right on it and they still ate with the boat right over them. Once I started with the plastic it was really consistent, and fun. I am starting to get my mojo back. And the biggest one who is headed for a fish fry had a red and green crawdad the size of a small lobster in his gut. That might tell you something. And another one had her eggs in her and they were hard as a rock, so she did not spawn this year.
I love catching this size pitching, it is hand to hand combat.
The water is slowly clearing, and while off color up lake it is not muddy, almost a tannic color. And it looked like the lake has not really dropped much this week, maybe the water stabilizing is helping the fishing. That is the most bites in a short trip in a long time and I left them biting when I filled the Iowa order.
I always say it is the little things, and today I did make a couple of mistakes, on back to back casts. As I grabbed the bait to pitch it I felt a nick in the line but pitched it anyway, and you know what happened next. So after I break off a good one I retie, and not checking further up the line there must have been a bad spot further up, and of course you know what happened next. Break off number 2 on 2 casts. One thing about fluoro, once it gets a bad spot it is mandatory to retie immediately. Fishing really is about the little things, and one mistake can make or break a day. Good thing they kept biting. Suffice to say that did not happen again.
So I am a happy camper. Got the boat back, caught a limit, the GPS worked, nothing broke other than a couple of fish, what more could a guy want when it has been as slow as it has been. I will trade out equipment this afternoon and get ready for the Gulf in the morning. I have a friend coming with his dad next week and they want to catch some trout, time to get that figured out before they get here. And with that in mind read this really great report below, it makes me excited just thinking about it.
********************
Trout
I am really thankful when folks give us fresh reports and this is about as good as it gets.
Its august and low winds so it time to hit the poc surf, went towards pass cavo out the jetties. Anchored up at the 3 rd bar and threw croaker in the second gut, right from the start it was game on with incoming tide and rafts of mullet. Had 4 man limits of trout by 8:30am and one oversized red released. It was a day you could be very picky on the trout you wanted to box. 20-22″ was number for us today. I was blessed to take my 11 yr old son taylor with us today . He’s a good fisherman but it was his first taste of surf fishing. So great memories were made. Wire with glass and brass beads really made a difference in the quality of fish caught. It wasnt long and everybody had one tied on. We headed in at 10:00am got more croaker and made a wade for redfish to cool off at coast guard flats . No results so we decided to run out pass cavo and try to catch em in the surf. The results were just more trout. In my experience heres a couple tips: pick a spot that has brown pelicans line up on the bank, or a spot that the waves break real close to the shoreline. Be safe and use lots of anchor rope while fishing the surf. Id post some pics if i knew how. Thanks chad
Wow great report! The wind is finally down a day or two allowing folks to get to the surf and it looks like it is worth the effort. But best of all you were lucky enough to have your son along and I am sure he was having the time of his life with his dad! What could be better than that? And I really appreciate your tips, they are about as specific as can be. And the wire with beads is something new to me so I learned something, you can put what I know about croaker fishing in your back pocket. So thanks for the report, feel free to contact us anytime. And watch your email, send me some pics and I would be glad to post them. And the rest of my readers thank you for this detailed and specific report. I love it.
********************
Let Write a How To!
You all know by now that I am not really a live bait guy, but if there was ever a time on the Gulf it is now. So here is what I need – I know there is a bunch of you out there who fish croakers and I need to know how. I know where to fish, I just need to be pointed the right way as far as tackle and tactics. It is really important to me to put my buddy Aaron and his dad on some trout next week.
Here is what I do not know. What size and style of hook? Do you use the rattle deal you put on your line? Basic weights to use? Slip sinker or heavy split shot? Can they live ok in a cooler that is not round as long as there is plenty of water and aeration and not bang their nose and die like shad? Do you like to fish croaker on casting or spinning rods? Line weight? What is the wire and beads, do you make them or buy them? Anything you can share with us will be more than I know right now!
I really do want to hear from any of you, all of you, who would like to share the basics. We all do things a little differently, there is no absolutes, and what I would like to do is not only learn how, but share it with all of you, experienced or not. So please if you have something to share lets have it. One line or 20, I would love to put them all together and make a primer on croaker fishing. No point is to big or small, no way is better than others, when you know as little as I do anything helps.
So come on folks, lets have it! Help a brother out. Besides educating all of us, I need to figure this deal out in a couple of days, the pressure is on. So thanks in advance for whatever you are willing to share.
******************
K.I.S.S.
(Keep it simple stupid, and not just you Bobby, all of us.)
I got this comment from my buddy Bobby and it brings up several points for discussion.
Just been reading my bass times. Go back to your roots!! Next time I go to Coleto Im going back to my old school lures. My Bagley Tin Foil Shad. Like the article says I have got all caught up in the new stuff. So it is time for me to try something new. I am old and set in my ways but I think it is time for a change!! Thank you Doug for letting me post this here. I just had a thought and had to express it…..
Bobby
Bass Pro and Cabelas have made a stinking fortune on all of us and our desire for the latest and greatest. A perfect example is rods and reels. The marketing arm of the bass fishing industry, expressed by a miniscule portion of fishermen, tournament fishermen, have convinced us that we must have a rod, reel, and line for each and every bait. Look on the deck of most bass boats and you will see lots and lots of combinations, heck I intentionally try to keep mine at 5. Then we need least one bait with big rattles, small rattles, no rattles, shad color, crawdad color, red, blue, green in 5 sizes times each, and before you know it you have 20 different baits in one type. And on and on and on.
Or lets take saltwater, you bet a fancy $250 rod feels great in your hands, but for the love of God, tons of fish were caught on fiberglass rods. I am watching some dude right now on a TV fishing show and he has 5 rods – in a kayak! And the old guys who paved the way on the coast would be amazed, or appalled, at the extent to which boat manufacturers have gone. $60 and $70K for a boat, are you kidding me? 70 mph in a foot of water, for what? High def side scan, in 2 foot of water? A wrap declaring you are the man, in spite of the fact you paid for the right to have it on the boat.
Now do not get me wrong, I am just as guilty as everyone else. But it has gotten ridiculous. I just spent a day replacing a bunch of plastic boxes with new so I was forced to look at my baits one by one. And now I am so organized, but there is an easy $200 worth of stuff laying on the floor that I cleaned out of a few boxes. I do not know why I bought it, did not use it, and will never use it. My Bagley Bang O Lures are a perfect example. I have used them for over 30 years, they caught fish then, and they catch fish now. It is my first and last choice for topwater minnow fishing, so why in the sam hell do I have another 15 topwater minnow baits that I was not using? I am not sure what the equivalent term to “crack head” in tackle buying, but many of us are addicted to the toys.
So to get to your point, lures are tools and nothing more. Many have a run when the fish have not seen them before, but nothing is magic. There are basic lures that have worked for years and still work today as well as they did then. And no matter how great a bait, as they say in real estate, location, location, location, and in the words of Eric Clapton, “It’s in the way that you use it.” Somehow the lure manufacturers have convinced us that it is acceptable to pay $15 for a hard bait that may or may not catch fish. Amazing. The real money shot in this deal is studying and learning all you can about the fish, from there it will fall into place.
One of the guys who gave me a helping hand when I first started fishing down here wades and drifts almost exclusively for trout. He carries 2 bags, and I mean packages, of plastics, one rod and reel, and nothing else, and he knocks the crap out of them. It goes back to that old question – Is it better to do a hundred things so so or a few things proficiently? So back to the basics is a good thing we all could benefit from. Plus, it can add confidence to our day, and when it comes down to it, confidence is the most important thing in the tackle box. Thanks for commenting.
*********************
After a slow month I am starting to feel it. Nothing beats catching a few fish to improve ones attitude. Now I am excited about learning to croaker fish. Some times we just need to do a little something different to revitalize when we get caught in a rut, and I was in a rut. So come on croaker heads, make my day. And to Ro – Saw some of those stripers you have been catching on Travis, I just may give you a call later this month when I am headed to Travis and pick your brain. Nice bunch of fish. The rest of you keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
