FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

Brought to you by

Fishing Season is coming so get the best wading belt on the planet.

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

The Boss did a night shift so when she got home I got up at 5:00 and got this ready for later.  She is headed to Minneapolis today, where it is a balmy 100 degrees below zero, or something crazy like that, with a foot of snow.  So nothing left for me to do but go fishing.  After today where next will be determined by how it goes.  Next week’s weather also looks pretty good and I expect the lake bite to only get better.  And don’t worry you salt fanatics, the bay is on the list.

I really am excited about today.  Thinking about yesterday has me looking forward to concentrating on those places that are true pre-spawn places.  Though the jig is working, there will definitely be some jerk baits added to the mix on those channel swings leading into spawning coves.  Not sure what effect the clouds will have but there is only one way to know, Go Fishing!

Weather

66/50  Partly cloudy becoming cloudy this afternoon.  Wind E 10 – 15 mph.  0% rain.

Solunar Times

Right at daylight and right at dark.  (Periods do not seem so relevant this time of year.)

Lake Level

Today  96.811 msl    I/8/18  96.91 msl  (Still on a super slow decline, but it has helped the water color some.)

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

It was an interesting day to say the least.  I was up early and on the water at daylight.  There was a light wind straight out of the east and it was colder than snot.  The lake is clearing some, and while it is not the color I prefer, it is definitely better than it was.  To make a long story short I fished down lake, then uplake trying new places, and did not have a bite for 3 hours.  The plan today was to try areas where pre-spawn fish may be staging.  Other than the place where I caught the big one yesterday (nothing) I did not re-fish anywhere.

Finally about 11:00 I caught one, then another, and in one stretch I boated 4, all keepers, in nothing flat.  They all came on the 1/2 ounce jig with the Zoom trailer.  As the jig has a rattle on it I have a feeling that helped a little.

Not a giant but it will do.

They were on a long channel bank, in about 3 foot of water.  Again they were close to a small cut/channel with a little deeper water leading to the bank.  After  catching them I put another couple in the boat in the same general area and then it was time to make a big change.  Keeping with only new places I hunted and pecked from up lake all the way to the plant, except I could not make it to the plant.  Points, channels, bands in big coves, I tried all the places I will be catching them in the very near future, it just did not happen today.

This was one of the main transmission lines where they cross the lake out of the plant and then to Hwy 59.  No marking, floats or anything on it, and no one around.  When I got home I called Coleto Creek, no answer, then the local rep, no answer, then corporate where a guy did answer and gave me the parks number,  (Which I tried twice already.) no answer.  The plant did not even answer.  So suffice to say I left a message but never did talk to anyone.  So what in the hell is someone supposed to do if there is any kind of an emergency related to the park, or maybe some family needs to contact a camper?  Hopefully no one gets hurt running over it, or worse, it is live.  No matter what it is a hazard to navigation.

The only other ok fish for the day.

The punch line was after leaving the area uplake where I put 6 in the boat, other than 3 small ones, the rest of the afternoon I did not find any concentration.  But I kept with the plan, but no matter how much I want them to hurry up and move, it is still not quite time.  Thanks to another boat the water temp is 57 degrees at the bridge, and it is definitely colder than that up lake.

As  the day wore on it clouded up and the wind picked up to an easy 15 straight out of the east.  I think that combined with the clouds just never did get them moving.  Normally I am praying for clouds, but we are just not quite there yet.  I had quite a few less bites today, but the ones that hit the jig smoked it.  Of the 9 or so most came bouncing the jig on the bottom and 2 came on the swim jig.  I tried jerkbait, no luck, and another smaller jig which did not produce a bite.  So about 4:30 I called it a day.  I can live with the results, hope springs eternal, and if it will stay warm, and rain warm, the fishing will pick up quickly.

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

And I heard from my buddy Clyde who lives in northern Iowa and is getting his fishing in through the ice.

And I am bitching about our cold weather.  All of these tasty morsels came through the ice.  He sent along a picture of some big bluegills too but unfortunately I can not get it to load.  Suffice to say there will be a fish fry at the Burchard house.  One thing about us fishermen, we do what we gotta do to get on the water.  Thanks for the pics.

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

It was good to hear from fishfearlarry, a long time reader.

Beautiful bass! I have to pick on you a bit… so what would it cost you to put a temperature gauge on the skiff? You speak of water temperature often in your articles. I would think that would be a very useful tool in patterning bass. Especially during prespawn/spawn time When the water temp plays a major part of their decision to move up? BOAT.. Break out another…. I enjoy your blog and look forward to each new post!

Your comment made me laugh.  Funny how at times I am just to lazy to fix a simple problem.  And even lazier, the Garmin has the transducer with temp gauge mounted in the hull, so basically all I would have to do is mount the transducer on the outside of the hull, not that big a deal.  Really I have been just waiting around until I find a cheap GPS (Maybe the new cheap Lowrance.) for the console, then will move the Garmin to the front.  And you are so right about patterning them this time of year.  I guess I have fished it enough that a quick check of a couple back ends tells me if they are headed that way.  Lets see how it works out today, but it is time to get out the Mako and act like a real fisherman.  Good to hear from you.

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

I was going again tomorrow but my new trailer is done.  That involves taking the boat to Houston and letting them finalize the fit, then towing it home.  Then I will either turn around Saturday or Monday and head back up there to pick up the old trailer.  A little bit of a hassle, but it sure will be nice to have a new trailer under the skiff.

Now that the new trailer is almost under the boat I will be back to fishing far and wide.  I definitely will be heading to the Upper Laguna next week for a couple of days as long as the wind is right.  And either Falcon or Amistad is on the list.  Falcon should be in full swing as it warms and according to a post there are fish headed to the beds.

Thanks to all you folks who keep reading and participating.  It was slow this month, but business is picking up.  And comments, reports, or suggestions are appreciated so if you have something to say send it along.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines