FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

Brought to you by

The Wade Right system, the best way to wade!

**For a super deal on your Wade Right use promo code FCT15 and get 15% off on your online order!**

The eagle encounter yesterday took the fun out of the day, and I never did recover.  It was impossible to keep my mind on my business.  Tomorrow will be another story.  It is supposed to really warm up and be sunny, which might help the fishing.  I decided to hit the lake because of the weather, and with the rest of the week looking rainy it will be some trout fishing.

Weather

77/59  Sunny with a 10% chance of rain.  Wind WSW  5 – 10

Solunar Time

Best  11:31 am to 1:31 pm

Lake Level

97.04 msl  (No change.)

************************************

I took the skiff today so no water temp, but it has cleared maybe just a tiny bit.  And I am so not on them.  There have been some slow periods since starting to fish Coleto, but this fall takes the cake.  Whatever the plan is the one I am following is just not working.

The plan was to head way up lake and see how it looked.  It is obviously a little more off color, and colder.  So starting with the swim jig made sense, and over the next 3 hours they bit, though not a one was worth a hoot.

Half smaller then #1, none bigger than #2.

About half were right on the bank in some form of cover, the other half came off the bank after a slow crank out, then a big hop, and they hit it on the fall.  7 fell for the crawdad color swim jig with a watermelon red trailer.  One totally slack lined it, usually the bigger fish, and I just flat missed.  I hate missing that kind of bite.

Occasionally I would toss the stick worm with a 1/4 ounce slip slinker Texas style at isolated wood.  A small one ate it, and there was one miss, but other than that they were just not interested.  So next it was time to try a crankbait.  First problem, absolutely no wind, which is the kiss of death usually.  Of course the opposite happened, I caught a small one on maybe my 3rd or 4th cast, and that definitely was the kiss of death as I did not have another bite fishing it on several types of banks.  Both square bill and medium diver bumping bottom in 7 – 8 just did not produce.

Now it is about noon so down lake I go, and it went from tough to impossible.  I fished main lake stuff down lake, coves, channels, etc and had exactly no bites.  Not even a nibble.  I even drug a football jig around and jerked a jerk bait some on a deeper bank, nothing.  But no quitter here, so it was 3:30 before I called it a butt kicking with me on the losing end.  Talk about tough, today was it.  This is a continuation of a rough fall where I have just lost touch with them.  I know it is time to keep changing places and techniques, but this is ridiculous.  All on me though, there is a way to catch them.

And speaking of not catching them, today was big gator day.  I saw the monster, he is easy to pattern, and in another cove the other big boy with a smaller one.  What made it different is usually you can slide right up and get a good pic, but not today.  Even knowing they would be, I had the good camera ready, but the minute they saw me it was that explosive entrance back in the water.  They would not let me get anywhere near them today.  Usually when they are laying in the sun like that in the afternoon they are feeling pretty lazy, not the case today.  So no picture, but seeing them smash the water like that is cool.

********************

It is never to late to send along a comment or report, and it was good to hear from Aaron who has been a long time contributor.

Doug,

It’s been too long since I dropped you a line but your story about the eagle on Coleto really bummed me out.  We see that pair of nesting eagles on Coleto from my parent’s house year round (my parents own the small floating dock on the far shoreline right there across the lake from the discharge… the only dock on that shoreline).  They have a huge nest up in a tree way back on the hot water side of the discharge (other side of the dam).  What a sad story.

I haven’t sent many fishing updates this year because I didn’t get out as much as usual.  Some good days around POC over the summer and fall but nothing remarkable.  Hunting out by Fredericksburg was really frustrating this fall.  The good deer just disappeared at the beginning of October when the acorns started dropping and left me baffled for two straight months.  Didn’t even get trail cam photos of the one I was after for over 60 days after regular appearances all summer.  My luck finally changed the first weekend of December when he passed through at first light (pic attached).  He’s a base 10 point with split brows and a 20” spread but he knocked off his G-3 on one side (and a good chunk of each main brow tine).  His right side looks pretty funny without that G-3 so I have it getting repaired by the taxidermist.

On the ground!

As always, I enjoy the blog and hope you and the family have a great Christmas!

Aaron

It really is hard to describe how much it bummed me out.  I stayed fishing waiting for the Wardens, but my heart was not in it.  All I could think about was how he would not make the night.  I will always feel bad about it, and if I had it to do all over again I would have followed him in the woods and kept an eye on him no matter how long it took.  Live and learn.

And your fishing experience this year mirrors mine.  With being sick this summer, and gone a lot, my fall was like that.  A couple of great days and some so so.  But like we all do we keep on throwing.

And congrats on the great deer.  I am actually a fan of “different” looking deer, and a big fan of nontypicals.  It has been a while since I chased them but I like eating them a lot more than shooting them, which kind of makes it hard!  You seem to put a good one on the ground every year, it is all about going.

So thanks for the report and same to you and your family.  I so appreciate your support.  Merry Christmas!

*****************

And speaking of Christmas day I want to say a little something about the Boss.  Over the years she has graciously worked Christmas and other holidays so that her co-workers can spend time with their kids.  She does that out of the goodness of her heart and I am the beneficiary in a round about way.  This Christmas morning, like so many others in past decades, I will be heading to the water as folks are opening their presents.  I love that day, not a soul around until the first folks start sneaking out, it is my present to me and I look forward to it every year.

Now my Christmas story, or, let me tell on myself.  It was 6 or 7 years ago about 8:00 Christmas morning as I ran up lake.  Not a soul in sight, freezing cold with barely a car on the road.  So in my little pea brain that must mean I can go ahead and ignore the no wake buoy on the Coleto bridge and just run on through.  Now if you know me I strive to keep the breaking of all boating and outdoor laws to an absolute minimum, like none, but that day the little devil on my shoulder took over.

As I ran on plane under the bridge I hear a Whoop Whoop, and low and behold there is a game warden, on Christmas morning, in uniform, hitting the siren as he crosses bridge.  I slow to a crawl, wave, and head up lake.  I worried about that all day, and it makes me nervous thinking about it now, why did I do that?  I never do crap like that, and that encounter is the very reason.  So be nice to folks this Christmas, don’t break any laws, and  remember, they could be watching.  Plus, respect the game and fish laws and the folks that enforce them.  My bad!

********************

Not so sure what to do about all this no bass thing.  Obviously whatever I have been doing is not the way to go.  I am sure fishing smaller plastics on light line would probably boat more fish, so that will be next trip.  Unfortunately I find that style of fishing boring, though if it is your thing have at it.  There is something different going on this year, and apparently I have not adapted.  But there is one fairly sure way to get out of a fishing slump, hit the Lavaca or Garcitas.  And the potential benefit will be a fish fry, nothing like counting the fish before they are caught tomorrow.   So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines