FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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Looking at the numbers for tomorrow it has potential.   Hopefully when I get there at daylight the water will be running hard.  I have not seen a low tide in the last few trips so tomorrow I will fish until dead low.  And as a side note, Monday the fish bit pretty hard on topwater in the wind, so if my first place or two does not pan out I may give the wind a try again.  The basic plan is to fish the island tomorrow.  With Monday’s results  I am really anticipating a good day on Wednesday.

Weather

91/71  Partly cloudy becoming cloudy in afternoon.  20% chance of rain.  Wind SE 10 – 15 (No wind to speak of.)

Tides

High   1:21 AM     1.3
Low   2:50 PM     0.7

Solunar Times

• Best Times      1:20A – 3:20A
•                           1:43P – 3:43P
• Good Time      7:32A – 9:32A  (Oh yeah.)

Bite After Bite!

It was flat calm when I dropped the boat in water at Froggie’s before daylight.  There were a few trucks in the parking lot and no one off loading.  As I headed down the barge canal the water was not moving, it was slick as glass.  Today it was straight to the area on Pringle shoreline I like to fish.  And I will admit to opening it up a little and flying across the dead slick bay.  It was beautiful out there and I was having one of those “You are a lucky SOB and it is great to be alive”.

It was like glass.

Bite number 1 – 6 steps from the boat.

I want to get the picture thing out of the way.  These are just a small part of what I caught today.  Some days it is just your day, today everything was absolutely perfect.  2 or 3 jumped on the topwater right away as I worked my way to the drain.  And low and behold the water started moving out, and there were rafts of mullet getting worked over.  Sometimes it is as good to be lucky, and my timing was perfect.  I tossed the topwater a few times over the deeper part of the drain without success.

Switching to plastics, I would toss it across, let it hit bottom and then hop it, letting it drift with the tide down the center of the channel, and it would be a bite, and a bite, and more bites.  There is no way to guess how many I caught without moving a single step.

                  Keepers, small ones, and a bunch in between.

As the tide began to really flow the water really started clearing.  I saw lots of small reds, plus a couple of hooters, along with sheepsheads swim by me.  The Cocoons let me see a couple of trout roll over as they ate something.  It was clear.  I stood in that one spot and whacked them.  After a while for something different I threw the twitch bait and caught 4 or 5 on it, still in the same spot.  The only thing that did not cooperate was a flounder.  We probably need the next moon and just a little cooler water to get that going. Finally I left them biting right along, it was time for a little topwater.  As I keep saying, the Wade Right belt lets me carry all the crap I need, and again not having to go back to the boat made a big difference.

                                        Probably a dozen this size.

I keep giving the Chug Bug a chance, and though I caught a couple small ones it was back to the Bagley Knocker B.  Not sure why they went nuts for the Chug Bug a couple of weeks ago, but they are not having it now.  From probably 10 until they quit at 1 it was a steady, not spectacular, bite.  Both trout and reds were scattered on the flat and were willing to have a go at the topwater.  And you have to give redfish credit, when they really want it they want it.  One of these exploded on it in one of those bites that keeps me throwing it.

I just can’t put that topwater down.  If they keep hitting it I keep throwing it.

Everywhere you looked you could see water moving, bait jumping, everything was active.  They kept after the topwater, and while I know I could have put more on the end of the line with plastics, I just love having them blowing up on it.

           The shore line was loaded with some really small reds.

The reason I showed you the little guy was that bank had lots of them on it.  I caught 5 or 6 and missed that many rats.  I could see them with the Cocoons, and when I would see one roll over I would toss the plastic and get a bite.  It was quite the school of what must have been first year rats.

So I moved out to about thigh deep water and would fan cast the area, then move 10 steps and do it again.  The water was dropping and clearing to flat gin clear.  On this particular bank I catch them in the potholes when the water drops, but today they were not related to anything particular.  Some were shallow and some were out in about 3′ of water.  They did want the topwater fairly quickly in a walk the dog retrieve.  Finally about 1 the water quit moving, the bait disappeared, the fish quit, and so did I.

All in all it was a great day of fishing.  If I had just stayed in the drain throwing plastics until the water quit moving it would have been really ugly.  It was one of those days when there is no counting, they just kept coming.  And though I did not stick the big one today, it more than made up for it in the sheer number of bites.  I have not had that many bites in a morning since last spring some time.   And the redfish are getting ready to go nuts.  Some cool nights and it will be on.  And it was good to see the number of small rats, it takes small ones to make big ones.

Again, like Monday, they bit the towater until at least noon.  Today it was a slight ripple and gin clear water, Monday it was blowing, rough, and had some color to it.  My only comment on that, they are biting.  End of story.   If you can get a falling tide in the morning there are plenty of fish to be caught.  So I will be back out there soon, and I do mean soon.  The only thing that did not happen was since they kept biting I never did get back in the boat, or move and try another spot.  But you know the old saying, “Don’t leave fish to find fish.”  So next trip I will try a different place, and I can think of several places that might be loaded.

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When I posted that you all should send me some deer, I know you guys are out there, Austin Aaron came through.  I actually figured I might hear from him as I knew he was a committed hunter.

Hey Doug,

I’ve been following the blog but haven’t had much to report lately.  Looks like you had a great day on Monday.  I spent some time on Mustang Island with the family last month and fished the Wilson’s Cut area for the first time.  With no knowledge of the area I didn’t expect much action but actually had a great morning with three nice reds (including one at 32”) and plenty of small trout.  A bull red can really pull the kayak a long way!  It was fun to fish some new territory.

I can smell the backstraps sizzling in the pan!

I’ve been anxious for bow season to roll around and opening morning didn’t disappoint as I connected with a nice buck I’ve been watching just west of Austin on a small low fence property that’s adjacent to some neighborhoods.  Glad he piled up after 40 yards because the grass is high and full of chiggers!  Gross 138 for those that like scores.

I hope to get down to POC later this week if work permits and will let you know how it goes.

Aaron

Nice buck!  And taking him with a bow only makes it all that much sweeter.  And it is always fun to fish new places, doing that over the years has been an adventure.  I will always look back on my first trip to the Everglades/Ten Thousand Islands.  I towed all the way there, knew no one and nothing, and it was an adventure.  Fishing new places always makes us  better fisherman, and helps keep us out of a rut.  Good to hear from you and will be looking forward to a report if you get down this way.  The fishing is really improving so good luck.  And the rest of you – whether you catch it, shoot it, spear it, we want to see your pictures.

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Killer Deer

And speaking of deer, I read an interesting Washington Post article the other day.  I did not know they kill more Americans than any other animal.  Deer are involved in 1 million accidents that kill 200 people, the average repair claim is $4000.  In Texas we have a 1 in 288 chance of hitting a deer.  So time to thin the herd, when you were hunting you didn’t realize you are actually saving lives.  So whack em’ and sack em’.  Nothing like a little backstrap.  Yummmm.

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I got one of the most interesting question concerning tides from Steve in Waco.  I was going to answer him from my experience in general terms and then I got to reading online, both articles and fisherman comments, and realized there is lots to digest.  Before I was done yesterday I had over 9 pages of notes, with a little more reading to do.  It kind of reminded me of researching the law, I want to give the best answer I can.  Reading what I have so far, I really am learning something.  And I also found a couple of sites that can help make an intelligent choice on where and when to fish.  So Steve, I am not ignoring you, in fact it is just the opposite.  In the next few days I will distill all the information I researched on tides into something we can all learn from.  So thanks for your question, the answer is on the way.  The topic will require it’s own post.

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So what a day.  Both days this week on the bay have been good.  It sure makes it worth it to get up early and be in the water at daylight.  And it has been nice to not have to move.  Fish a good bank with cover, grass, a drain, some bait and the  fish are there.  It makes me excited just thinking about the next couple of months.  Big fish time is coming and it will be back to trying to break 30″.  Tomorrow it is off to Coleto with my buddy Bobby.  As good as it has been going maybe a big one is in my future.  Nice to have someone take me occasionally.  Fall fishing is on and I intend to keep after it.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines