FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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The First Day of Fall!  Thank God!

THE POC SURF

The Mad Trout Fisherman is at it again.

Poc surf at 6:30 am and I was already sweating as we ran out pass cavo. The gulf was flat today, too flat for my liking if there is such a thing. Bite started off good in the first gut and as the sun started to show they moved to the second. A convoy of boats blew by about 8:00 am, must of been ten boats. By 9 am we had our ten trout and 2 sharks .

With a livewell full of croaker what to do? Tried a few more spots in the surf but only one rat red. So we headed for some coolness in waist deepwater by cityslicker shoreline. No luck so we hit bayoucus shoreline, no reds there just more trout.

So we hammered down to fishpond and broke out the plastics. Nope, more trout. So I dont know if the reds won, or the sun. We had a healty box of trout 1-24″ 2-23″ 2-22″ and some 19-20″ ers and 2 blacktips so we called it a day.

We saw some tarpon and lots of jacks blowing up the mullet. Didn’t bring the big rods or I would be really hurt. Tides were back to normal after being extra high for two months. Stay blessed , chad

Nice mess.  If you had some bait left it must have been one of those get a bite, catch a fish days.  Sounds like a rough day when you move and those pesky trout won’t leave you alone.  I in spite of my best interest would have taken a shot at the tarpon, of course with my trout stuff.  That would have resulted in a battle like some I have had with big tarpon in the past, most lasting less than a minute.  Reminds me of my first bite on a Zara Spook in the Everglades.  I saw the tarpon coming out of the mangroves in a big hurry.  He smashed that Spook 5 feet from my rod tip, jumped and looked me right in the eye, then under the boat.  One more jump on the other side of the boat and he was gone  Looking that fish dead in the eye is still one the most exciting strikes I have ever had.  But no matter what, it is always exciting to see them, they are one magnificent fish.  I feel your pain with the sweating thing, it was rough out there and it ran me off after 3 hours the other day.

And I want to make one more comment, the average size of our trout is definitely increasing.  I was a big proponent of the 5 fish limit for purely selfish reasons.  I eat my share but since most of my fishing is done for pleasure, and since I have caught a couple fish over the last 60 years, I wanted bigger trout and I think the rule is working.  And while I might occasionally rail against the TPWD, they are also get credit where credit is due.  As usual, love the reports.   Drop us a note anytime.

(If the pictures are not oriented properly let me know. Thanks)

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Ken and his wife Cindy have been at POC this week enjoying the water.  Ken is part of the loose bunch I call the Austin Boys.  Now I am not sure they are enjoying this week’s temperature, but they have caught a few fish and love their time down at POC.  Dedicated participants, they are looking forward to the beach clean up this Saturday.

                      A great sunrise.            Cindy starts the beach cleanup early.

Ken (notice the Wade Right) with a couple of nice reds.  Happy Birthday!

A Sea Robin, one crazy fish, and a nice slam headed for the fry pan.  Funny how the only other Sea Robin I have seen at POC was caught by one of the Austin Boys.

Our forecast for the coming days is a slight cool down with a pretty good chance for rain beginning tomorrow lasting through the weekend.  Hopefully it will hold off until later in the day Friday.  My plan is to join them at daylight and get a guided trip.  I love it when the Austin Boys come, I get to hitch a free ride.

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And I was glad to hear from my buddy Bobby.  He has a case of the fishing Jones, but is alive no matter how his comment reads!

Here I am stuck at the Morgue and you are out fishing and catching!!! Your killing me smalls….But I always find time to read the reports…

Not sure whether to be depressed, or impressed, when folks in the morgue are reading my stuff.  I was just thinking about our talked about fishing trip to Fayette County yesterday.  It is getting time.  So the ball is in your court.  Get a day and lets go, but don’t bring any of your work with you, they are not all that great conversationalists.  A trip to Fayette is always quick way to get right with the fish Gods.

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If it was any more possible to be in a hurry for fall to get here I don’t know how.  This stretch of weather has been the hottest of the summer, and our summer was hot.  I have been almost obsessed with visions of schools of redfish streaming out of the back lakes and cruising the shorelines, or feeling a big trout thump a plastic on the Lower Laguna.  Wading on nice cool days, big fish smoking a slowly worked topwater, and huge flocks of Redheads filling the sky on the Texas coast, I can see it now.  What is not to like about that?

To me it does not matter, fresh or salt, late fall into early spring is my favorite fishing time of the year.  More big trout and big bass are caught over those approximate 4 months than the rest of the year combined.  And for those of us who are hard core fishermen, we appreciate it when all our hard core hunting brothers leave the water and hit the field.  One of my favorite trips ever was to Falcon Lake opening week of deer season.  It felt like we had a giant lake all to ourselves.   But no matter what your outdoor pursuit is, do it safely and introduce a kid to your sport.  The future of hunting and fishing depends on it.

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B.O.A.T.

Every time I think about simplifying my life by selling the 2cnd boat I get all nervous.  Heart palpatations, sweats, tremors, it makes me real nervous to even think about it, much less do it.  Having 2 boats saved me several times when something broke, or one was in the shop for annual maintenance, and plans were already made.  So as I head out to buy a new trolling motor battery for the Skiff I got to thinking about the old saying  – “Boat means Break Out Another Thousand.”

In my case, other than a few big breakdowns over the decades I have owned boats, it really is more a break out another $100.  Batteries, running lights, gallons of oil, replacing life jackets, the occasional prop, new bunks, trailer tires, and on and on.  Minus the prop I have been fortunate enough to get to buy everything mentioned above in the last couple of months.  Owning 2 boats, and keeping them both in a condition where you can get in either on a moments notice and head out, takes effort not to mention the $$$.  So today I may sell one, or maybe tomorrow, or maybe never.  Plus, nothing makes my lovely wife happier than having a driveway full of boats, drying wading gear, the smelly fish cooler, along with a host of other important fishing stuff.  To bad I don’t have a junk car up on blocks.  Perfect.

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First I want to thank the guys at Coastal Fishing Gear for letting me work with them.  I will have the pleasure of testing a couple of new products next week, and I am excited about that.  And they have been kind enough to extend a 15% off promotion to any readers who do an online order.  If you have been thinking about a new wading belt now is the time, you won’t be sorry.

I am bored today and seriously wishin’ I was fishin’.  After having to go buy a dryer on Monday I am now sitting around Thursday waiting for delivery.  This is one time I miss the pickup truck because I would have picked it up the other day and be on the water today.  Funny how life continues to intrude on the important stuff like fishing.  I now wonder how I ever got everything done when I was working.

Finally the real deadly heat is coming to an end and I am looking forward to POC in the morning, of course weather dependent.  We have a 50% chance of rain or thunderstorms so it will be hard to guess how it will be in the morning.  And again depending on the weather this weekend I hope to take Jeffish and his son Korbin somewhere to catch something.  Then according to the weather service the highs for next week are going to be in the low 80’s.  So fall really wasn’t that far off and that is the kind of weather that keeps a guy fishing all day.   So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines