Fish Catching Travel
With the holiday weekend looming I decided to slide out for a quick morning trip to the Powderhorn. Winds were supposed to be ok for the morning so that played a big role in why I decided to go there.
After putting the boat in I headed down the Powderhorn Ranch shoreline to give it a go. As I had not fished there in quite some time I wanted to throw topwater so I was there by 7:00. I started slow, and it stayed that way until about 8:30. I worked it from the bank in real shallow water to out in the 4′ range without any great success. In fact I only boated one small one.
Since there was plenty of bait, and grass with potholes, I knew there had to be some there. Well it was one of those deals, I looked out and happened to see a big slick in about 3′ of water so I headed that way. I used the trolling motor and got upwind of the slick and switched to the Caffeine Shad in a croaker like color on a 1/8th ounce head.
I got 4 like this and a couple of smaller ones. Look over my shoulder to the left, see the slick? Remember the wind will blow the slick so it is good to position the boat upwind 2 long cast lengths from it, and work in from there.
It was pretty steady for about a half hour. They were definitely good fish, and there was no missing the ones that bit. My slick to success ratio has never been that high, but this time it worked like it was supposed to. Just remember that a good breeze will keep the slick moving, and often the fish are not right under it.
Of course, after a pretty good flurry, the ladies and the catfish moved in. So since I was not keeping them it was time to chase a few reds. Before I headed into the Powderhorn I figured since I had no luck on the topwater I should throw the plastic shallow for reds. 2 came over the side, none worth taking a picture of, but at least I added a couple of more.
So now it was off to the back end of the Powderhorn. To bad the wind was blowing on over half of it and the water was dirty. Of course, there is a difference between dirty water and off-colored. Redfish do not mind off-colored water and I catch them in it often. But this was dirty. After an hour and a half of throwing spinnerbait without a bite I abandoned the back end and headed half way out, in front of the back lakes and ponds on the south side.
I went to alternating with the Caffeine Shad and the Redfish Magic. Now there are not many days when I can not at least catch a couple on that spinnerbait in the Powderhorn. Well guess what? Today was that day. I fished the mouths and points of all that side without so much as a bite. So off to the area right by the ramp to fish for trout. I wish I could say that that was successful, but it wasn’t either.
So after over 2 hours in the Powderhorn I called it a day about 12:30. Clearly I would have caught a lot more fish if I had stayed out on the ranch shoreline. But as I have said before, fishing is about choices. And those choices start when you leave the driveway, and they continue to what ramp, which way from there, what rod, what bait, and go on and on. Sometimes we get lucky and the choices are all perfect, but the majority of the time we do ok. And that is where we get the exciting part of fishing. You just never know.
Random Thoughts
This report was delayed on purpose. There was no one on that bank when I got there, but by 7:30 there were 4 boats and a wader. Obviously the fish are there. So keeping that in mind, I did not want to affect those folks who were already starting their holiday weekend fishing. It is crowded enough out there, and when you add the holiday, it could only get worse. But the summer is over, and that will be the last time it is that busy until next year, I just did not want to add to the confusion.
I hope every one had a safe and fun holiday. I know in some areas the rain kept things down some, but hopefully if you wanted to hit the water, you did. My wife and I decided to keep it indoors so we headed over the Louisiana to help out the suffering casino industry. And from the looks of things the only thing they were suffering was not having enough slots and table games for everyone. It was crowded at LaBerge, but they handled it well, and since we did not suffer any great financial damage, all in all it was a good weekend.
The heat! I do not know about you, but I have had enough of it. I can tolerate it, but by the end of summer it really takes a toll on fishing. It sure will be nice when the nights really cool off and that water temps begins to drop. I know I will be a lot more motivated.
Part of that is I am dying to get back to Falcon. The timing might be rushing it a bit, but dreams of the DD (double digit) keep me going back at least 2 or 3 times a year. It is one of the few places where you have a legitimate shot a catching one over 10, and then catching another on the next cast. That is the kind of experience that all bass fisherman live for. And as a side note, with the water down like it is, it is much more conducive to my style of fishing. One of the things that was so daunting there was how much brush and trees were flooded. It all looked good, but of course it wasn’t.
I did make an interesting observation after I put the boat away the other day. I always rinse the whole boat and flush the engine after any saltwater use. One thing I did not do was unplug the live well. For some reason the Mako will leak out of the livewell if left full, and it is a slow leak taking hours. So when I went in the garage to turn off the charger there was water on the floor. I got out the fan and put it on, and it took that day and the next to dry. So you might be wondering, what is my point here? My point it you should have seen how much salt was left on the floor from the water in the livewell. It was just unbelieveable! So next time you are to hot and tired to rinse the boat and your equipment remember that pile of salt on my garage floor. So rinse your stuff!
As always I want to thank you for reading my stuff. As fall creeps up on us, the fish will become a lot more active and ready to eat. I intend on being the same way so expect the number of reports to increase. I try to bring you information you can use. So keep stopping in.
Good Luck and Tight Lines.
