Coleto Creek Last Friday.
Thought I would post these together as I am heading out of town for a couple of days of bass fishing. So look for a report on Friday as we are heading to Fayette County tomorrow and then to Somerville Lake on Thursday.
Friday I headed to Coleto Creek for a few hours of fishing. It was not going to be a long day as my wife and I were going to the CCA banquet in Victoria with friends that evening. And by the way that was a good time, and of course we did not win anything, and we laso exercised great discretion and did not buy anything either. With a trip to Canada and Africa looming financial responsibility is the word right now.
I headed up river as I usually do when I start on Coleto. Of course a buzzbait was first out of the box. After about a half hour, and 1 fish it was time for a change. Last year at this time I could not keep the good ones off it, just show you how things change from year to year. So next out of the box was the Scum Frog.
Not having thrown it since last year, of course I missed most of them. But the good thing was I had about a dozen hits in the time I threw it. Of those I managed to catch 6, so not a bad average, and I did miss a good one. So folks, they are on that frog on Coleto. It should only get better as the grass is growing to beat the band, and it is getting closer to the surface, which is when that frog really shines.
As I got way up, and the sun came out, I decided it was time to do some flipping. Now I am not expert at flipping, this is the first year I have added it to my arsenal. So off to a trashy bank and I caught this one right off the bat.
This was the first one I caught, no giant, but I will take her anyday.
I caught one about 2 casts after this so I figured it was time to put on the video camera. Well you know how the best plans sometimes work out, or don’t. I filmed for about an hour, and when I got home and reviewed it I caught 5 more, none of which justified making you watch.
I am still just easing along trashy banks flipping to any cover I can see. Most of the fish still seem to come out of small grass clumps near cover. Basically just hop it along and hold on. After about an hour, I shut off the video camera, they just were not cutting it, when of course this one came.
I still have the camera on my head, but it was not on, wonder why I did not take it off?
So on again goes the video and I could not catch another good one. I headed back down lake looking for some calm water to throw that frog. While I did not catch another good one, I had enough hits to keep it interesting. Frog time is here, for the amount of time I threw it I got plenty of bites. So start watching for the beginnings of the grass mats. And if you can find a good one with deep water close, you will be in business. While I generally use the Scum Frogs there are lots of good ones on the market, so find one that works for you.
One thing about the frog, the more you throw it the more fish you end up hooking. You just have to remember, give it just a second before you set the hook. I have my best luck actually setting the hook like you are using a Texas rig worm, just drop your rod and reel down and bust them. So next week it I will spend some serious time working that frog, and hopefully there will be some video to go along with it.
I ended up catch about a dozen or so for the morning, not bad, it was just enough that when I needed to hit the road I was not ready to go. But I had some boat cleaning to do before I got ready for the banquet so I called it a day early.
Lavaca River Monday.
I wish this next report had a little more to offer, but it just did not work out that way. Having not been to the river since this winter I decided to head there Monday. Now I have no experience there outside of winter fishing so there were not preconceived notion about what would work.
As we have had not appreciable rain I decided to head down river a ways and start about half way to the bay. The first bank I fished was the one right above the first cut leading to a deep creek. Nothing was happening at all, until I got right on the point and caught a redfish that measured on a soft plastic. So I switched to a Redfish Magic for an hour and did not get another bite. So I headed down to the bank right above the cut leading into Swan Lake. I fished the shallow bank there and managed to catch 4 trout, all of them on that red/pearl paddle tail. As the tide was ripping I used a 1/8th jig head. Of those 2 measured so in the box they went for supper.
Since it was slow, I next tried a deeper bank without success. Since my plan was not to go into the bay, but to see what was still in the river I started working my way up. I caught a couple of more reds, thought they did not measure. Those came on points or a cut leading into a marsh. I kept alternating with the Redfish Magic and plastics, but they just did not seem to want the spinnerbait, though I threw it a lot. I did lose one real hooter on plastics. Every once in a while I have a brain fart, and when they are on it and swimming with it when I lift up, I forget to set the hook, which I managed to do a couple of times.
I just kept working my way along the bank, fishing long stretches basically without any luck. So off to the first bank again, where I caught another red and 4 more trout. Of those one measured, which was fine as I needed 3 for supper so it worked out.
So no pictures, the biggest was 17″, and the other just made it. For the day it was 3 redfish and 8 trout. Now that is not quite what I had in mind, but I did learn several things. First, there are still a few trout in the river, but they were clearly bunched up, none seemed to be scattered. Clearly the farther down the river you go the more trout there are, and next trip I will concentrate in the area where the river dumps into the bay.
Second, there are obviously reds in the river. I am not sure why I did not get more bites on the spinnerbait. That is something I will work on another day.
Third, I did not catch anything on a main river channel bank with a deep drop. Now I am not sure whether that was based on my bank selection or where they are positioned. Most came on slopping banks with the boat sitting in 8 foot or less. So was that important, only another trip will tell.
It was a learning experience for me. My river fishing experience is limited, but it was nice to try something different, and I look forward to trying the river again. So not great wealth of information to share with you, but sometimes we learn just as much when we don’t catch them as when we do. For me it has always been in the doing, but don’t get me wrong, it also in the catching. But every once in a while it serves us well to get out of our comfort zone and try something, and some place new. Fishing knowledge is a cumulative thing and you never know when that change will result in a great day. It did not happen today, but there is always tomorrow.
Side Note.
If you want to see some cool topwater videos from the manufacturer of some very interesting mouse lures visit Aiden James Lures or visit his utube videos. Nothing like an awesome topwater bite!
http://www.youtube.com/user/ajlures
Good Luck and Tight Lines.
