FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

 Home of the mighty Bang O Lure!

We are still at the lake enjoying our time with the grandkids.  The weather is great and we have been swimming and tubing, and they even did a little kayaking today.  The house is great but the walk to the dock down the bluff is a little much for a lazy old man like me.  As they all take a nap I thought I would take this time to share a couple of things with you.

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The Mad Trout Fisherman is at it again with another good report.

Well the surf on friday would of been great if we would of had a surfer on boad. After stopping at a couple spots, we headed for greens with a couple of prime time hours gone bye i was hoping to find some reds. Our first wade was not bad we put 3 reds and 2 trout in the box. Due to the extremely high tides we weren’t able locate rafting mullet, and at our go to spot the porpoises beat us there coming down the shoreline blowing up the water. So a bit disappointed and aggravated we headed to good ole cityslickers were we found a consistent bite of 16″-18″ trout . What a relief it was to finally be on a good bite as the four of us burned through our croaker with double and tripple hook ups. I didnt trust my guts this morning when they said go there first. So i decided to burn alot of unnecessary boat gas. We boxed our 4 man limit of trout and released many more. Again the trout were right off the drop off. After seeing the big ole green fish you been hooking , i may have to use my annual pass that i buy every year for coleteo. Looks like the wind will be switching back to the se this week. Thank god ! Thanks, chad

Your report puts emphasis on something I truly believe is important in fishing, especially if you fish a lot  –  Listen to your gut or that little voice in your head that is talking to you when fishing.  It is often the way to go, and that little voice is telling you what your mind knows.  So you still got there and got it done.  And you are still catching most of them deep on drops, which will be changing more and more every day.  As far as the lake goes, it was a tougher than usual summer but things are changing fast.  Thanks for your reports and keep them coming.

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It was really good to hear from my old buddy Voe.  In the time we fished together before he moved back to Las Vegas we became good friends, and actually caught a fish or two together.

That’s some nice fish my friend. I am still reading your reports and enjoy doing so. The short while we got to fish together I came to know a wonderful man and I feel blessed for that. As for my fishing I have been sidelined, I fell off a ladder while trimming a palm tree and shattered my funny bone (not so funny, so I keep hearing). Had surgery on the 23rd and in for a long rehab according to my doctor.
Great Fishing and Tight Lines!!!!

Wow that is a tough break, no pun intended, as that is a bad place to break.  Kinda hard to cast, which is never funny.  So as you know, do what they tell ya, take it easy, and you will be back in action soon.  We will be looking forward to seeing you holding up some of those big desert fish, if there is any water left in those lakes out there.  And if the Boss and I get out that way for a little adult fun we will holler at you.

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Just a quick note on Lake Travis.  It really is pretty and reminds me so much of the highland lakes in Arkansas where I made my fishing bones.  Of course it is a holiday weekend and there are boats every where, but we expected that and it is nothing we have not dealt with on lots of water over the years.  So we got out early with the grandkids and did some tubing and swimming today, and will get back out on the water again tomorrow.  One thing I know is I will definitely be back sometime in really early spring.   Looking at the map I think I know where to find those pre-spawners.  Can you say early season jerk bait fishing.  And I forgot how nice it was to leave the boat on the water instead of trailering every time.   So stay tuned for that one.

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And we are continuing to follow Jay’s trophy Blue Cat adventure.

Doug,
Well, I went out and drowned cut skipjack today. Wind howling 20mph up the river from the west, current flowing east… I set up drifting main channel ledges and holes in 35-60 FOW. Took me over an hour to realize that wind blowing from the west pushing the boat east does NOT present bait in a natural presentation against current. Yes bait swims up river, but catfish tend to hold on the base of ledges or scour holes to catch what flows down stream… Had a bunch of big marks on the Graph, swimming up, take a peek or a sniff and swim right back down. May have been my problem before with the threadfin shad…..
Got turned around, but controlled drifting with 4-6 rods out, 3-5ft off an inconsistent bottom contour, in a 20mph headwind is not an easy task. Folks think catfishermen drop cut bait, sit on their duff and wait. HAHA! I was running around my 18′ boat like a longtail cat in a roomful of rocking chairs. Constantly adjusting bait depth. Nothing like getting 5 baits hung up in a trotline in 55FOW. Try breaking off 85lb braid with a 50lb mono leader!
Discovered another problem. Had several really good takedowns, as in MedHVY rods bent in the water and fish coming off. Plastic rod holders do NOT provide good hooksets on 8/0 circle hooks…. Too much flex. Have some Heavy stainless ones on order.
Fun trying to selfie with a 7lb blue cat. No idea how I’m going to do a 70lber. Guess I need to charge up the gopro and remote and figure out boat mounting.

Of course, after I’m out of bait, I go graph some more water and find the attached.

Now that is a wad of fish!
Next trip.
Enjoy reading your stuff. Can’t wait to get back down to Perdido Bay by Gulf Shores, AL and try some of your salt techniques. Thanks for running a down to earth fishing blog!
Jay

Oh, BTW, watch out for these guys if you get on a river. They come around the bend quicker than you think! Talk about a scramble getting 6 rods in, trolling motor up, big motor fired up and run out of the way!!

My first comment is if a person has never tried this on a river they really do not have a clue how hard it is to fish efficiently.  And of course the wind can play havoc.  I know when I have drifted for Blues on the lake it is not easy to keep a bunch of rods at the proper depth and speed, much less when I tried it on the Arkansas River.  As you said it is not as easy as soaking bait.  Catching trophy fish be it catfish or marlin successfully is not just dragging bait around.   Presentation is everything.  There is nothing like watching as a heavy rod slowly bends over as the circle hook takes a bite.  You never know.  And while you did not score the one in the picture looks like supper to me.   At the rate you are going it will happen, and when it does it will be out of the blue like it always is when we catch a big fish.  And have a great time at Perdido Bay, we were there last year and though I did not get a chance to fish it looked great.  And there is a great lake/bay right behind Gulf Shores that had a great ramp as you drive down the coastal road and the guys I talked to there were putting in to catch flounder and reds.  So have a good time and we can’t wait to see that first trophy Blue.

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Wooooooo Pig Sooieeeeeeeee!

Even though this is a fishing blog we will be talking some football this fall.  I always tell folks that it cost me a hundred grand (Law School) to be a fan, and by God I am going to stick with them to the bitter end.   As I write this Oklahoma is having a meltdown, losing on day 1 is a killer, just ask the Hogs last year. Miss State just joined the beaten by a nobody club, it is shaping up to be  a tough day.   Here comes the Gaggies on the field, for Sumlin’s sake they better play some ball.  Oops – nice fumble dude!  And my buddy Todd from Austin is at Lambeau Field in Green Bay to watch his #5 LSU Tigers play the Badgers.

 Ripped this off my Facebook page.  Hope you guys have a great time!  Even an old Chicago Bear fan like me knows that Lamdeau is hallowed ground, in spite of the stinkin’ Packers. 

It turned out to be a tough day for several folks, especially LSU.  I know from Todd’s Facebook page even though it was a tough loss he had nothing but great things to say about Lambeau and the fans, who were very welcoming.  Over the years if the Hogs were not in a bowl we have always rooted for those coon ass Tigers.  But I do have to comment on the late hit at the end of the LSU/Wisconsin game.  That was a dirty play, not just a cheap shot, but a dirty play.  And then when Wisconsin players came to the aid of the fellow player that dirty player from LSU was taunting them.  Miles needs to set that knucklehead down for a couple of games.  The question is if he is smart enough to even understand that type of play does not get it.  That was just plain crap.

Congratulations to the Aggies, they were favored by 3 over #10 UCLA and they got the job done.  It wasn’t easy but maybe this years team will keep it rolling.  And in the case of my Hogs they squeaked it out by the skin of their teeth over La Tech.  Now that may seem like it was a bad thing but it wasn’t, last year we had a terrible run early before we figured out how not to lose.  So the season begins.  We are still at the lake and after some fancy supper tonight it will be Texas vs. Notre Dame.  I really hope Strong gets it going and survives the inevitable calls for his hide.  He came in and did something that should be done more often in college sports, get rid of the jerks and knuckleheads that do not know how to act or appreciate the chance they have been given.  More colleges should recruit on character than do.  Hey I love to win as much as anyone, but I am not a win at all costs guy.

And speaking of that general subject, when I took sports law in law school there was quite a discussion of whether college players should be paid and how little or how much.  There were several D1 athletes in the class and they talked about how much time athletics took and of course the discussion was also about how much the colleges make off their play.  I really was against them being paid.  A full ride at a major college now runs around $120,000 give or take a buck, and then a degree adds somewhere between $250,000 and a million over a lifetime, adequate compensation as far as I am concerned.  Of course part of my perspective is my wife and I paid every last cent of the cost of our educations and paid back every cent we borrowed in student loans.   Just saying, or whining.

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So there is a quick holiday report.  I hope all of you are having a big time.  There will be no fishing on this trip, time to spend it with the kids who we do not get to see as much as we like.  So be careful, be nice, and have fun no matter what your choice of activities this holiday.  Keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines