FISH CATCHING TRAVEL
Brought to you by 
Check them out – the only way to wade!
**For a super deal on your Wade Right use promo code FCT15 and get 15% off on your online order!**
Before I start there are almost no pictures on my part and this story will be somewhat disjointed. Instead of a determined fishing weekend with a story written at the end of each day it turned into a fun trip, so while not my usual report and pictures, rest assured, we fished our ass off and had a great time. I admit I blew it off and just decided to enjoy the weekend, which is nice to do on occasion.
The sun sets on another grind.
My fishing buddies from Austin were down for 2 1/2 days of fishing and a good time was had by all. Todd, Pete, John, David, Ro and his son, Perry, Dennis, David and his buddy Joey, and last but not least Dez and his girlfriend. They arrived at different times over the weekend but everyone got together 2 nights for eats and adult beverages.
All that needs to be said about that before I get to the fishing is Todd (A born and bred Cajun.) may be the best cook alive not working in a restaurant. His gumbo was superb, but the Friday night’s fresh sautéed redfish covered in crawfish etouffee was one of the great meals in the history of the world, and I mean that. New Orleans has nothing on Todd. Dez made a cornbread casserole which was smothered in everything both nights. And to polish it off was a fruit cobbler that flat disappeared. Of course fishing, football and baseball were the main topics of discussion. And as usual it was great to get together with them.
Pete with a few.
I met Todd, Pete and John Thursday about 1:00 at the house, we off loaded and to Froggie’s we went. With less than a half day we decided to do a drift in Pringle, then off to where I was catching them. Pete and John waded the south shore and I drifted with Todd. He was throwing popping cork and shrimp, plastics for me. They struck out and Todd and I caught a couple drifting. From there it was the shoreline where we ended up catching around 30 – 40, with 7 or 8 keepers. (Lots of shorts was the norm for the weekend.) As daylight dwindled I did end up in a little cut in the grass and boated 13 trout and reds without taking a step, with only 2 keepers, but it was fast and furious.
********************
********************
Friday Todd wanted to try some new places, or some places we had not fished in a while. The day turned out to be a grind. Here is a quick list of where we waded and drifted for the day. Powderhorn Ranch shoreline, the airport shoreline on the island, then the shoreline close to the pass. After that we fished Grass Island and finished up in Barroom. We caught a few here and there, with John losing a nice trout putting it on the stringer and I missed a real good one that came out of the water and tried to come down on a topwater. Grass Island produced a dozen or so to the our boat and Perry and Dennis, we then finished the day on the Barroom shoreline where I caught about a dozen with 3 keeper trout. It was really spotty and slow but thanks to Pete we had a few nice reds.
He was doing just fine without a tail.
Saturday saw a complete change of area. We got a late start Saturday morning after a late night when everyone came over for the crawfish ettouffee over redfish. We started in Shoalwater first and Todd and I caught a couple on the drift, mine on topwater, and the boys did not boat a keeper wading. From there to South Pass area to fish Steamboat, where Pete put a nice red in the box and I pulled off the best one of the weekend. As I started to slide out of the boat my pliers on the belt caught on something in the boat and I ended up falling face first in the bay. And then because my waders were full of air my feet were floating and I floundered around before I got my footing. No harm, no foul, but I have to admit it was funny. Last we fished the Twin Lakes/Cedar area and I finally got them going.
Having fished quite a bit the last week I had a pattern and the last couple of hours I stuck with it. It is simple folks – Find a long grassy shoreline, get exactly waist deep and throw in or out, and you will find them. For about 2 hours as I went down that shoreline they bit, and bit. They were a super long cast out, and once I got it down it was fish after fish, including my limit, and the boys also getting in on the act. I did lose a really big one on the Knocker B that broke my line, but fortunately my topwater floated up and I saved it. Before we called it a day for the long ride back in the dark if I had to guess it was an easy 25 – 30 for me. So after a long grind weekend it finished with a bang.
The sunsets on a great weekend.
Baits for the weekend. For me it was Controlled Descent plastics, DOA Cal, another small plastic, and the Knocker B. Todd was using his popping cork and shrimp, and the boys were throwing larger TTF paddle tails and probably their best choice, the Thumping Mullet. As far as color it was dark with chartreuse tails for most plastics. Pete was the redfish guy this weekend, I did not boat a keeper, and all of his came on the bigger bait. And while I stuck with the smaller baits and had to wade through a bunch of shorts, in the end it seemed to work out about the same.
Dez and the folks in his boat on the other hand had a big weekend. Live bait guys they used cast netted mullet in the pass and before the weekend was over they caught a bunch of sharks, a bunch really nice bull reds, and then a big finish. And he put his girlfriend on her first bull red, a 40″ plus. Then last cut bait, last cast, and 7 foot of angry tarpon which they landed. The pass is hot and their weekend sure proved it.
Perry, Dennis, and Ro and his son had a Saturday of lots of shorts but managed to put some nice reds in the box. They were wading a back lake where I was wading the outside shoreline, which might account for more reds for them and trout for me on the outside. It is pretty apparent the trout have not move wholesale into the back lakes, though we caught some in Shoalwater and Pringle, but this little cool front we are having today will help move that along.
It was a grind but few ended up in the cooler each day for the trip back to Austin.
While the fishing was a grind for us all weekend, we had more fun than a barrel of monkeys. We fished from the Airport flats to Twin Lakes and lots of places in between. We had a periods of good fishing and periods of complete strike out. One thing that became apparent, the best bite was definitely later in the day. With super high tides the water moved better as the days wore on, consequently the evening bite when they turned on was good. Back lakes were ok, but main bay shorelines produced the best bites. Towpater had it’s moments, with some of the better keepers hitting it though it was not near as fast as plastics when the bite was on. They will be back for a weekend in November, then the mass gathering of the clan for the December trip now known as Fishmass. So tons of fishing with the boys to come.
The original plan was back to POC this morning with my buddy Chris, but with this cold front moving in the wind was projected to blow up to 30 mph so discretion was the better part of valor. And when I got up this morning the weather channel listed POC as windy so it turned out to be a good choice. The rest of the week is pretty much set. I will be fishing Coleto with Santiago’s boys on Sunday, so I will fish the lake tomorrow and Thursday to see if I can get a pattern down so I can put his boys on some bass. They are interested in bass fishing and have not fished Coleto so maybe I can get them to hook a few, and then hook them for life. Wednesday weather looks good so it will be back to the bay. I am really refining this light line small bait pattern, there is just something about catching trout and reds on light tackle that I enjoy. Remember I am still making up for lost time so it will be fishing until I have had my fill, which may never come!
Occasionally I need to relax and not be so focused on the results and learn to enjoy it for what it is, time in the outdoors with good friends where the results are not measured in numbers, but in fun. It is not all about the catching, though that helps, but learning to enjoy the experience and all that comes with the privilege of being outdoors and sharing good times with friends. So keep stopping in and thanks for reading mu stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
