FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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Had a nice time at the Houston Fishing Show today.  Got to spend a little time with the folks from Wade Right and the designer and owner of the Controlled Descent Lures.  I have a little stuff to tell you about but it is 9:00 and I wanted to get the conditions up tonight before I head out in the morning.  Not sure what the specific start plan is, but I know this, I will be in the water at daylight.  Heck, seeing all that fishing stuff at the biggest fishing show in the country just makes a guy want to go!

Weather

73/67   Cloudy with 20% chance of stray showers    Wind SE 10 – 15  (Ended up NE)

Tides

Low 9:38 am  -0.3   High 10:54  0.4

Solunar Times

Best  7:55 to 9:55 am

Cracking daylight, time to get after it!

The last 6 weeks I have been on a roll and I was due to have a tough day, and today I did. I woke up way early and it was barely cracking daylight when I dropped the boat in at Froggie’s, perfect.  But one thing was real apparent right away, the wind was blowing out of the ENE, so it was blowing on my 2 good spots, but neither were unfishable.  A drain on the island was up first.  That is where I made my first mistake.

          The occasional sheepshead.   Both liked the Controlled Descent Lure.

I have fished it the last 2 times out, first one day, and later in the day on the second.  Of course I caught them later in the day last trip, so why not pull a bone head stunt and try to fish it first again.  That did not work out.  I only caught 4 to even talk about, and a couple of really small trout all on the Pink Limeade Paddle Shad and topwater.  No redfish, which is unusual for that spot, but it is good they are starting to get after that topwater.

Fishing the cut deep got a fish or two, but they were either not there yet, or not really interested.  A couple of small gulls where working the small bait near the opposite point so I eased that way.  It looked like a good place for the Bagley Knocker B topwater so I gave it a toss and caught one.  Then in the next 10 casts or so 2 big ones just wallowed all over it, and I missed them both.  They were both nice ones and after that I could only catch one more.  So after that one it was time for a move.

                                            To bad I did not catch the other 2.

That was about 10:30 and the water was not moving, so thought I would give a couple of the drains on Bayucose Island a try on the way to hit Barroom.  That went over real big, could not buy a bite on either.  So now I am getting a little irritated, so I head to the milk run bank in Barroom.  And again, nada, not even a touch.  So across Barroom to the other side and made a long wade, and it went just like the last 3 places, not even a smell.  I have somehow made 4 wades without a bite.  Huh?

At this point I am wondering if it was right place/wrong time, or the opposite, or they just weren’t biting.  Basically I think it was just bad choices on my part.  So next it was Big Bayou to do a little  spinnerbait fishing for reds, and that went no where, in fact I did not even catch a small red today.  But as I went down the bank throwing spinnerbait there was a cut with the wind and tide blowing water into Big Bayou and it emptied onto a point.  Tossing the Controlled Descent Lure on a 1/32 ounce jig head got them going.

Plenty of these and smaller.

I stayed there a good half hour and caught them every 3rd or 4th cast, and had a bite on almost every one.  They were stacked where the water coming through the cut hit the point with the wind and tide coming over it making a sharp current break.  They were right on the break and biting.  It was an easy limit of barely keepers if I was keeping them, but you had to wade through 4 or 5 before a landing a keeper.  No complaints,  but the previous 4 hours without a bite was tough.  And then to find a ton of small ones saved the day, but did not leave me satisfied.  So at 4:30 I called it day, but it just felt like I did not fish all that well.  The point as usual is you can’t catch them if you don’t keep after it.  If I had wussed out after a long period of no luck my day would have been a bust.

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The Hits Just Kept on Coming!

I am just about to Froggie’s and here comes the Coasties with blue lights flashing.  From there it was a fairly good going over.  They recommended I replace my throwable device, it does need it, and to keep in mind the fire extinguisher will be out of date at the end of the year.  They were nice enough, and I am a pro at getting stopped.  I have been boarded by the best of them in lots of different places.  The rule is simple, know what the heck you are supposed to have in the boat and look at it occasionally.  One thing you learn when you fish different states is they might have different rules.  As an example Missouri requires you to have a paddle, which I learned when fishing Lake of the Ozarks.  It is also silly to get a ticket when you have the thing in the boat, it is just expired.  So next time you head out check all your papers and required items, you just might get stopped.  And why I keep stuff as up to date as possible is who wants to end up giving them some freakin’ money over a ticket!  Way to much tackle to buy.

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Chris and I headed to Houston for the fishing show.  Thank goodness My Coast Outdoors and Coastal Fishing Gear were there, otherwise we would have been out of there pretty fast.  Don’t take that wrong though, I was just not really in the market for much.  But I love fishing shows and boat shows, always something new.

Chris was wanting to pick up a Wade Right belt.  He wants to carry that extra rod, which is my main thing along with not dunking your reels.  I on the other hand was picking up the new Wade Right Gear Bag.  I used it today and it held all my stuff.  I was finally able to retire the bag I was using which had broken zippers and allowed for no air flow.  This will be a lot better on all the expensive stuff we all carry.  And the new Wade Right Fly Rod Holder is going to finally force me to break it out and see if I can actually catch a redfish.

Tim and Chris at the Wade Right booth.

It was great to hang out with Tim at CFG while Chris got his Wade Right belt.  We got to talk a little, but there were folks stopping in constantly, so after a bit we left him to make some money.  The show is where I first got my belt and met Tim, though neither of us knew our paths would cross later.  His partner was not there but his wife was, sorry I forgot her name.  I told her how long I have had it and it was still good as new.  She said they actually know that, the stuff just lasts and that is how they roll, something other companies could learn from.  I know they will have a great show.

Get inhaled!

Next we stopped by My Coast Outdoors, makers of the Controlled Descent Lures, and met Michael.  Though I had communicated with him via email I hadn’t met him yet.  It was interesting and I learned some really important things.  His tank where he was demonstrating all the options using the Controlled Descent Lures was great and he had some great tips.  Awesome how he could actually make it suspend level and upright, killer.  More on that as I fish this spring.  I picked up some baits, and then we let him get back to work.  He should have a good show, and once you try them you will see the potential, and in my case this week, the results.  And if you go stop by and let him educate you, I think he said he has been fishing and working on these for 4 years, you will be ready to hit the water.  Best of all, both these guys are Texans, and these are family operations.  If I have my druthers I prefer to shop with folks like this.  Of course they want to make money, but they are driven by a passion for their products.

And last, if you are fisherman you need to hit the show, there were some great deals on all kinds of stuff.  My favorite thing I saw was a really cool 14 foot poling skiff that was powered by a 15hp Merc.  And what I really like it was $10,ooo.  Simple to use and keep clean, it was the kind of boat I really appreciate.  A utilitarian boat, it was a redfish hunter. There was also a really cool aluminum duck boat that was well designed, but it was $32,ooo.  With the cost of boats exploding I am surprised that more companies are not making simpler and more basic boats that get the job done without having to sell your first born.  The boating industry is not serving the entry level boater, and the numbers of new boaters will continue to decline as boat prices rise.

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The fishing was great, if sacking a limit of trout was the goal.  Funny how the day left a bad taste in my mouth, guess the last month has spoiled me.  And not catching a good fish didn’t make me all that happy.  So I will reload and fix that as soon as the next couple of day’s bad weather moves through.  I really appreciate everyone who reads this blog, I know there are a few of you out there I have never heard from, so feel free to comment anytime.  Keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines