FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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This was a really great trip, and not because I killed them, but for lots of reasons.   A couple of weeks ago my buddy Aaron and I decided to take a short weekend trip to Falcon. and then the first of several interesting things happened.  I got an comment from someone who wants to come to Coleto some time and fish some swim jig, which I said cool, so hope they are hitting it then.  I mentioned Falcon, and he and a partner finished first and second in a tournament on Falcon the week before and he gave me a general location and bait.

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Fish On!

So with a little advanced info off we went.  We started about 2:00 Friday in a mid-lake pocket, which is the area I have made hay in the past.  We ended up catching 8, it took us a while to get a clue, but we found them in approximately 4 foot of water around brush, and Aaron took it from there.  We were throwing senko style baits (Aaron stayed with plastics most of the time though he caught quite a few over the weekend on a Chatterbait.) and I of course threw a spinnerbait along with a jig and craw. None fell for the jig, and it became clear the Fluke Stick was the ticket.  It did not take him long to find “the” bait.

Aaron with the first good one.  (Remember he is 6’3″ and he makes them all look small.)

That gave us a starting place for Saturday morning.  This is where Aaron’s fishing experience and knowledge paid off.  We started in the same area, and they were not there, so he headed us further back in and there they were.  Nothing big, but we put some in the boat.  Next it was the Tigers without much success, but he was putting it together so we headed up to the Velano for the rest of Saturday afternoon, and after one unproductive stop we caught fish for the rest of the weekend.  I got to see a real pro start to put a hurtin’ on them.  They moved to the bank area in the evening as the water temp hit 70 and some went on the beds.

                                 The beat down begins Saturday.

So before it was over on the first full day we put around 30 in the boat.  We did not have a bite that day from a real big fish, at least as far as we know.  By this time it was perfectly clear that the pattern was hardwood, and not one stinking inch off the wood.  From that point on he put on a clinic in pitching.  Just to finish on that thought here is exactly what he was doing.  He was using a tungsten 3/8 weight with a worm hook and a Zoom FLuke Stick in watermelon red magic.  (Note:  We went through 5 packs (50) of the Fluke  Sticks.)  And when I said he was pitching, Sunday was really something with a serious 20mph+ wind.  His accuracy was amazing, always right in the heart of the cover from any angle, then a straight drop, a short wait, then a shake, and on they came.  By time we called it a weekend he literally called multiple shots.  It really was something.

Fish number 1 had a rough spawn.  Nothing like those solid Falcon bass.  And look at the water, pool table slick on Saturday.

I on other hand learned I have some serious work to do on my pitching.  It was absolutely critical to barely making a splash, landing it right on their head when they are that shallow without spooking them.  And then not moving it immediately and not much when you do,  just little hops and jerks, leaving it right in their face.  And if you try the Fluke Stick he advised to make sure the forked tail is horizontal, if not it spins and does all kinds of stuff they did not like.  Ask me, I sure found that out.  But the mechanical aspect of catching bass is just part of it.

              Sunday was a clinic.  Falcon Lake has some solid fatties.

The impressive part was his putting together a pattern on a lake he has not fished since an FLW almost 15 years ago, when every ones else we spoke with, including the owner of Falcon Lake Tackle who fished Friday, was struggling.  It was simple, in the morning and evening they went shallow, but later in the morning and all afternoon they went to the hardwood.  We of course eliminated some water that did not have enough hardwoods by not having any success in a few places on Saturday.  But like all knowledge sometimes a negative is just as telling as a positive.  The final word was he put us at the right place, at the right time, as the weekend wore on.  All I have to say is if the wind had not blown us off Sunday, and we had another day, it was headed to epic.  I told him I almost had him meet me there instead of picking him up so I could stay a couple of extra days, and he kiddingly offered back that he would take a bus home.  What a guy.  After fishing with lots of good bass fishermen in the last 40+ years, he is the best I have shared a boat with.  He is also the one who introduced me to the swim jig, fishing with him is always an education.

Turn out the lights he parties over!

We both had a shot at a big fish on Sunday.  His came pitching early, he set the hook and it came up, wallowed big time, and was gone.  One of the few he lost this weekend.  My big bites of course came on a spinnerbait, and I did catch 5 or 6 on it Sunday.  It was the 2 I didn’t catch that hurt.  I finally removed head from rear end and started slow rolling a 3/8 with a big willow.  3 of my top 10 lifetime came on Falcon doing it just that way, a slow roll from the bank out to about 5 feet, letting it bump the brush, then giving it a little jerk when it hits something.  The first one just slammed it and it felt like I got the hook in her but she pulled off, it was a real one.  Then a little later one smacked it again and when it came back she had to have had the whole freakin’ thing in her mouth  It actually closed on itself when she hit, clamping the blade on the hook.  One big mouth.  That is why you go to Falcon, the big bite.  I had 2 and as it will in fishing it just did not happen.

There were several cool things besides the fishing this trip.  First, Saturday you could have played pool on Falcon, I mean dead calm.  Both mornings there were packs of coyotes howling and yipping every where and Aaron being the hunter he is called them and got them going.  We saw tons of ducks, lots of bird activity on shad and white bass, and a big snake headed up a tree in the water for a bird nest.  But the almost best, the best was yet to come, was a big Redtail hawk who decided Coot was on the menu and the chase was on.  That hawk went after about 50 ducks, dive bombing them as they went under, it was right in front of us and an epic 100 yard chase.  Not a Coot was lost, and it was exciting to see.  But there was something else that topped the crazy list.  While I have seen some crazy things in my life, hell I have done a few, but this was right up there.

Since we quit at 2:00 we headed home and at 3:00, in broad daylight, we saw 8 illegals, 2 actually on the fence, who had just been dropped off right before we got there, 5 miles before the Falfurrias INS checkpoint.  Right in broad daylight they are scaling an 8 foot high fence with razor wire on top.  I have heard they walk maybe 10 miles in the middle of nowhere around the checkpoint, then get picked back up again.  We stopped an agent we saw 4 miles down the road and told him exactly where it was, I kept the mileage, and then stopped at the checkpoint a minute later.  We told the agent and his response was an incredulous “You are shitting me!”  We said “No shit”, and that we told the agent we saw a minute before.  He thanked us and we were all laughing.  Like I said, I have seen some crazy stuff but that by far is up there on the list.  A couple of minutes before that 2 cars passed us, probably the coyote with another car running interference.  Think about it, in broad daylight on a Sunday afternoon.

Falcon Lake is one great place and to really fish it would take months.  I have been lucky enough to fish it several times over the last 8 years.  First in the hey day, when catching multiples over 7 in a trip were the rule, and the lake was high.  My 3 personal bests after 30 years of bass fishing on one trip, another a 7 on my first cast with several more over 3 days, and the time my brother caught 3 in one place in nothing flat that totaled 23lbs.  Then the lake went through a few tough years when it dropped some crazy thing like 30 feet and the fishing was tough, we had one trip where we only caught 5 or 6 over 3 days.

Now the water level is what I would call perfect.  Plenty of offshore structure if that is your thing, and lots of cover for shallow fish for folks like me.  And while it got the occasional bad rap, there are more wardens,  (One we talked to on the water had been checking folks all day and said we were doing great compared to other folks.) immigration agents, and assorted law enforcement on the lake than anywhere in the country.  The biggest danger there is from a serious north wind or hitting a tree while running.  If you are a committed bass fisherman like me you owe it to yourself to at least fish it once.  What makes it special is the real possibility of catching a monster every single cast, even if it does not happen like it didn’t this trip.

So the trip was a hit.  Just watching a real pro do his thing was worth the drive.  The things I learned about putting together a real pattern, and then proper presentation, will put more fish on my line over the rest of my life.  And you know what else?  We had a hell of a good time!  There is so much more fishing to come this spring.  And be sure to put the Houston Fishing Show on your schedule next week, plenty of great deals to be had.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines