FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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I finally ditched that slow laptop for one with more speed, which helps a ton when it is late and I am in a hurry to get this stuff up.  So while I am getting tomorrow’s conditions in anticipation of a day of fishing on Coleto Creek the new computer is getting a workout.

The weather looks good for my usual shallow baits so it will be buzzbait for starters and we will go from there.  The wind continues on the coast for the next few days but it looks like it will subside some later in the week, and if it will relax just a hair I will probably stay a night at POC and give it a serious go for 2 days.

Weather

83/68   Cloudy  10% chance rain   Wind SE  15 – 25mph

Lake Levels

4/28  97.37 msl    Today  97.17 msl   (Slow decline over the last month.)

Solunar Times

• 9:29A – 11:29A   (The only major or minor time today.)

A beautiful day in the neighborhood.

When we hit the water most of us have a preconceived notion, or at least a plan, on how the day will, or should, go.  Today was one of those days, I thought they would bite, and they did.  I thought they would bite all day, they didn’t.  If I had to attempt to explain how the day went, it was the wind.

I made it out at the crack of dawn and there was a light breeze.  The lake is still dropping but has cleared considerably.  Up lake I went and started throwing the buzzbait.  They were biting.  I was still throwing the buzzbait with the toad instead of a skirt, and today they were hitting it a lot farther off the bank.  Obviously the clearing and falling water caused that.  There did not seem to be any bank any better, caught a few in the coves, long straight stretches, and points were good.

The best for the day.

What made it interesting is when the Boss heads to work she usually calls at 9:45, and today she did.  I had counted this morning and when she called I had already caught 13 and missed and lost several.  Nothing particularly big other than the one above, but most looked like the ones below.

          A dozen like this with a few other smaller ones tossed in.

And the punch line, that is when the wind started.  As you can see in the pictures it was dead calm, and they were smacking it.  After 10:00 I only put 3 more in the boat, when it stopped, it stopped.  I tossed a little swim jig and topwater and caught one on each.  For some reason I did not get the hook in a couple pitching the watermelon beaver style plastic.  They were swimming with it and for some reason it did not stick.

There was one other cool thing today, there is a big eagle on the lake.  There was one here earlier and the ospreys were giving it hell all the time.  But with most of them gone hopefully the eagle will hang around.

So after 3 hours without much, and white caps on the lake, I called it a half a successful day.  It really was interesting how quickly they quit, it went from a great bite to hunt and peck.  And of course once the big wind comes the buzzbait is done.  Dead calm to a light chop is perfect, and when it was like that they bit.  The lake is getting to the point where lots of places are about to lose the water, and things will change big time with summer right around the corner.  And with that is the rule, try to be where you should be fishing for what you should be fishing for, in other words off to the bay I go.

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I also got this update from Jim, who I had the pleasure of fishing with on Coleto, and he included a picture of a nice one from Fayette.

Love those Fayette fatties.

Doug,
Thought got I’d drop you a line. Looks like you had a good day on Coleto today. Lots of nice fish. I saw that you went with toads on your buzzbaits, good call. Remember, I owe you a trip on Fayette. So to entice you a little I have included a pic of a solid 5#er I caught there today. My buddy and I boated 35 in 6 hours on a combination of spinnerbaits, pop r’s, shaky heads and of course CR’s. So enjoy your trout fishing trip and let’s get together soon.

Jim

First let me apologize for taking so long to get your report up.  I somehow managed to lose this and finally found it.  I will holler at you soon, would love to boat 30+ any day of the week, and Fayette is just the place to do it.  So as soon as possible I will be happy to learn a little more about Fayette.  Thanks for the report and I had a great time fishing with you.

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My old buddy Clyde from high school and his lovely wife Maria have moved from Arkansas to some place in the middle of nowhere northwest Iowa, the state we originally met in in high school.They call that supper where I come from!

I initially wondered where they might fish but it turns out there are lots of places local, much less they are close to South Dakota, where we fished some in the past, and of course Wisconsin and Minnesota.  So there are lots of walleye and bass to be caught, and they will give that new Lund a work out.   Nice job on the walleyes, the Boss is jealous.

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I had the distinct pleasure and honor of heading to Academy and buying my 2 grandbabies their first real fishing poles.  Baby Wren got a little short one, and Miss Mia who looks like she is really going to be a fisherman, a Zebco 33.  It is how I started and is a good easy to use first reel for kids.  It will be great to teach her how to use it and hopefully when we are at Lake Travis for the upcoming holiday I can figure a way for her to catch a fish.  She spent 5 hours trying at a pond a few weeks ago until she caught one, that is dedication.

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It was good to hear from Faye and Steve.  They had a tough trip, but who hasn’t had some of those. 

Well, we blew in to POC Sunday on a strong north wind, fished two days with hard south winds and arrived back in DFW Wednesday to north winds again.
Day one was really tough!  The winds had shifted back to the south and the water was chocolate milk in most places.  We chose not to beat ourselves up trying to get over to the back lakes.  We spent 6 hours on the water in every location we know that is somewhat out of the wind.  The days net result was one nice trout and one catfish. These came from fishing the ICW just off the 2nd cut in an eddy.  We could pitch to deeper water and to a flats area.  My trout came from letting the popping cork float over the flats area that had grass beds.

Day two was much the same but the numbers were better.  We caught 4 nice trout while anchored in Saluria at the opening of the large drain that has a houseboat in it.  We would pitch out and let the current carry our bait from the deeper water to the shallow opening of the drain.  All the bites and catches were just before the shallow water.  We were using shrimp on light jigheads and popping corks.  The trout were all of keeper size (this trip was a catch & release) and very healthy!  We look forward to making it back down in June.  As always, we enjoy all your posts,

Steve and Faye

I always enjoy hearing from you.  One of my longest running readers, they are always wiling to share their reports, good or bad.  As I know they work really hard with their business it goes back to that old saying; “A bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work.”  We have all been fighting the wind for well over a month, and it looks like most of the week will be the same.  So you are due to have a good trip in June and we will be looking forward to hearing how it goes.  Thanks again for your support.

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Tomorrow and the next day I will actually be engaging in a little more manual labor helping my buddy out.  After that it will simply be a matter of the wind.  They are saying it may lay some at the end of the week, which will work out perfect.  A couple of days at POC is in order.  As usual I appreciate you all taking the time to read my ramblings.  You keep reading and I will keep fishing, I think I am getting the good end of that deal.

Good Luck and Tight Lines