FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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Shallow Wood and Cover

After what seemed like forever I got to take that simple step, one I have taken for granted, and hitched up the boat around 4:00 and headed to Coleto.  It was 97 degrees on the truck temp gauge and I was a little concerned not having been on the lake for 2 months, the longest stretch in years.  I wasn’t worried, just happy to be there, but it helps when you boat a big one.

This one started it off and 4 or 5 of the dozen were like this.

The wind was blowing 15 – 20 out of the SSE and it was hot.  The lake is clearly down and has a tint of color to it which slowly gets a little milkier as you go up lake.  The water temp was 94.8 at the ramp and 92 up lake.  The ramp is getting shallower, and while the lake needs the water we sure don’t need what may be coming.  But to just take a boat ride, the old wind in the hair thing as I headed way up lake and it felt great.

24″ of big girl.  Great way to get back in the groove.  And as side note, they are full piss and vinegar right now and fight like crazy.

This may seem funny, but I had a good idea what I should throw, but I just had to start with a buzzbait.  After just a couple of quick places and 2 half hearted bites, it was clear, stop it.  Next it was both a white and then a crawdad swim jig, and not a one took a pass.  One thing that is helpful with the blog, just search this month in years past and you have a pretty good starting point, and this month the senko style bait (A note to those of you just getting into fishing:  A Senko is a trade name and when I use it I use it generically, it is simply a 5″ stick worm with no twister or paddle tail.)  in watermelon red has been a consistent producer in the past, and guess what, that was the ticket.  I was throwing it on 30lb braid with a 20lb fluoro leader and a 3/16th slip sinker on a 5/0 worm hook with a short hop and drop retrieve.  And a word on the hook, even though I throw it around cover and wood I personally prefer the finer wire, easier to sink the hook and I rarely lose one in cover, though I did today.

I got a bite on my second cast, and until I quit at 8:00 they bit consistently in most places I tried if it had wood cover.  They tended to be around wood, or what little heavy shoreline grass there is on the deeper banks, and the deepest fish I caught was maybe 5 feet.  It was surprising how shallow they were, from way up lake to coves close to the ramp.  Before I quit it was an easy 10 – 12 fish with around a 15lb limit, it would have been a lot heavier except for the other nice one I had on came off in a bush top and another one that broke off when I set the hook.  They were quite a bit shallower than I would have guessed.  And the bite was different in that I only felt a couple eat it, most were just swimming with it when I lifted it up.  It took a little while to get back in the groove, and I missed several due to the funny way they were biting, but considering things I actually fished fairly well.  And for a short evening trip it was great.

One last one for the road.

As it got a little later I went back to the buzzbait just to see if there was a late bite, and while there may be, I did not find it.  With the wind there were some places that were to rough for the buzzbait and I finally called it a day.  I was pleasantly surprised how shallow they were and how many bites I got.  Today was a short trip that I would have been happy with anytime, but it was particularly satisfying today.

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Now it was not all roses and rainbows out there.  It has always amazes me how a boat just sitting there that ran perfectly before it got parked can bring out the gremlins.  First it did not want to start, somehow the nut on the battery was lose.  Then when I dropped the trolling motor in the water nothing, so back under the console and again somehow another nut worked it’s way loose.  Crazy.  Then I managed to idle in to the bank and hit the bottom, it really has dropped, but no harm no foul.  And there are many more deep tree tops coming up so be careful if you go.  Then when I got in the truck to put it on the trailer one of the bunks came half off, somehow a couple of the screws came out of the bunk.  I hate it when that happens.  Luckily I have tools with nuts and bolts for all occasions in my travel supplies to it was a quick fix.  Shit happens but being so happy to be there none of it was a big deal.  These are the moments when you can get frustrated, but after my long lay off nothing was going to get me down.

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The Boss is taking off for Iowa for the weekend I was looking forward to 3 days of fishing, but looking at the weather that is not going to happen anywhere in this area.  We have not had a major hurricane event in a while and it is looking like we might have one this weekend.  It is not to often that the forecast, ours for Friday, has the wind projected to increase to 40 to 60 mph, then Saturday it will blow in the 25 to 4o mph.  Holy mackeral!  It will be a matter of sitting back and letting it play out here, but after recently touring the Gulf Coast as far as Mississippi, it is already saturated from constant rain and it could be really ugly in Houston and New Orleans.  So hope for the best, those folks have already had enough this year and we sure do not need a direct landfall.

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It is good to be back and it was nice to boat a few fish.  Guess I have not lost what little touch I had.  Today it is going to be in the high 90’s but I will be out there later today after I do a complete going over of the boat.  It was easy to not get excited with the boat gremlins yesterday, but time to make sure none of that happens again.  As far as the rest of the week it will be a wait and see proposition.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines