FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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I finished up installing batteries, dropped by the marine shop to pick up DFI oil for the Opti, and had a shot of hydraulic fluid in the trim which was working a little to hard at the top.  So with everything done, hopefully, I decided to drive down to Garcitas and the Lavaca and see what they looked like.

If  you are a hard core fisherman you know what this means.

Garcitas looks sorta ok.  There was one truck and trailer at the ramp but I did not find anyone to talk to.  So I headed on down the road to the Lavaca.  When I got there I saw a boat using the trolling motor headed to the ramp.  He was having engine trouble and did not get to fish.  He said one day last week he caught 3.  Then another boat came in, and they had caught 2.  I asked about the water color, it was poor at the ramp, but the other boat said it cleared up down river.  So weighing it all it will be Garcitas in the morning.  And if it does no work out I will put the boat on the trailer and hit the river.  Nice they are close to each other.  Time to catch a couple for the pan.

Weather

71/48.  Sunny with 0% chance of rain.  Wind  SW 5 – 10 mph.

Solunar Times

Best  5:00 am to 7:00 am  and  5:22 pm to 7:22 pm.   (Neither of which I will be out there.)

Tides

High   3:09 AM     1.2   Low   5:35 PM     0.6  (That is POC, it will be interesting to see when the water moves that far from the tide station.)

*******************Redfish Candy!

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I had something I wanted to see on tv this morning so it was around 10:30 when I got to Gracitas, which is fine this time of year with a warming day.  It really is a special place and I always enjoy fishing there.  The water at the ramp was really dirty and the tide was almost out.  So I made the first good choice of the day, and it only got better from there.  It made sense to head all the way down and find clear water, it turned out there is none, and see if the tide was moving or not, maybe a right place right time thing.

These are real redfish!

When I got there the water was just barely moving out.  Starting on one side of the river I tossed a Controlled Descent Paddle Shad in Pumpkinseed/Chartreuse Glitter on a 1/4 ounce swim bait hook and the DOA Cal in a lighter color on a 1/4 ounce jig head.  That first one above just ate the Paddle Shad, but since the Boss ordered trout I stuck with the smaller bait.  It was real important to get it on the bottom and hop it up and let it fall back.  I felt very few, and when you would lift it up was just soft, but the trout were cooperating.  The first bank put a 17″ in the box and 6 or 8 shorts.  I did not take a picture, I thought I would get a few more keeper trout.  But the redfish just kept jumping on.

A couple of them were real studs!

I re-fished the bank without catching another trout.  The water had totally stopped moving and stayed that way the rest of the afternoon. So with her trout in the box it was time to work the reds over, and for the next 2 hours it was thumb ripping, rod bending, redfish mayhem.  And I made the second good choice of the day, a popping cork.  With the color sucking and the redfish biting it made sense.  I used a leader around 2′ with a 1/4 ounce jig head with a Rage Shrimp in a white with a chartreuse tail.  And they loved it.

And these are just the good ones, lots of rats and big shorts.  I finally got an exact 20″ for my supper.

They wanted it popped pretty hard and then rest.  They were eating it and often the cork would just start moving sideways.  With the water temp around 60 they were feeling mighty sluggish, and it was just a matter of reeling it tight and game on. A couple of short trout jumped on, and if I were guessing popping cork would catch the snot out of them if the water was moving.  When I finally quit at 3:30 they were still biting right along.  But I wanted to fish a spot half way back up to the ramp.  It is my favorite bank for trout, and not a bite.  The water is a lot dirtier up river and my thought is that it is just to fresh for the trout.  But one bank is not enough to know but it seems that way.  And the only other thing I could not determine, is when the tide is coming in full blast does it move more trout in with clearer water.

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When I wrote my report on last Wednesdays fishing things were really looking up.  I fished 3 days in a row on the lake and the fishing got better each day.  Then the weekend and we were out of town when the weather went to crap, then Sunday night it started to howl.  The wind blew out of the north for 3 days, some of it well over 20mph for most of it.  And we were below freezing for a couple of days, setting a record Wednesday morning.  I was really confident in how the fishing was going, the water color was clearing, the level was stabilizing, and the prediction was for some of the best fishing in a while.  Not so much. I made a trip out there Wednesday afternoon to take a look and it was ugly.  The whole lake was brown and most of it had dropped 16 – 20 degrees.  It might be a little while before they recover from this.

Lake Levels

Today 98.24 msl.  Thursday  98.28 msl

Water Clarity

One Week Ago  Clearing rapidly with the whole lake fishable.  Today  The worst I have seen it.  It was ugly at the ramp, completely cold mud up lake, and the rest of the lake sucked.

Water Temps

Ramp  55  (Wind was blowing right in it.)  One Week Ago  77

Up Lake  55

Bridge  59    One Week Ago  80

Outflow  68

Big Island 60

Plant Arm  63

There was one bright spot, I saw 3 big bald eagles.  They were riding the wind and it always means winter is here.  A few are always around the lake and it was good to see them back.  I always wonder what happened to the one I saw last year with a hurt wing who ran up in the woods.  It is tough out there.

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Emotional Support Peacock

As we waited to get on the plane last weekend there was a woman with a chahoohoo that had a dress, a tutu around it’s neck and little booties with a big sign – Emotional Support Animal.  My only comment – If you are so fragile, so emotionally unstable that you need a peacock, or an alligator, to get on the plane it bothers me.  Sorry.  But if you are that “whatever” and an emergency does arise, and my life, that of my wife, and the other passengers is in danger, you are going to respond how?  Please do not sit anywhere near the exit doors and keep your emotional support animal to yourself.  Sorry again, but I just don’t get it.

(This may not be very sympathetic but as a people it seems we are getting softer.)

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And I want to say a few words about Garcitas.  I normally post on facebook where I was, but in the case of Garcitas Creek I don’t.  It is not that big a place and most of the fishermen are locals.  Lots of jon boats with the occasional canoe or kayak.  So if you go please do not run like a mad man.  Idle by other boats.  Respect it, and other fisherman, for the small water it is.  As long as folks are considerate it is a great place to fish.  Running 60mph shooting a rooster tail is for the big water.  This is a “creek.”

So what a day.  It is nice when every decision is a good one, and you get to catch fish all day.  And when you add some serious redfish no complaints.  If I had gotten out earlier the trout fishing might have been pretty good.  To bad our weather is apparently going to crap again.  What is worrisome is that the weather dude says it may rain from Sunday night until Friday with expected up to 4″.  If that happens it will just muck things up further and drive more freshwater into the rivers.  But that is what makes our sport so interesting.  Everyday is a new day and I am just glad I get to take advantage of it.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines