Fish Catching Travel
We were supposed to get a little rain and wind on Monday so I decided Coleto was a better choice than the Gulf. Our weather is a little unstable now, so if there is a storm or wind chance, Coleto is the place to be. My plan was to fish the power plant arm only, and hit some spots I have not fished in a while.
I headed out first thing and was on the water by 7:00. The lake is still falling and is as low as I have seen it since I started fishing there. One of the good by-products is that a lot of the grass is on the bank right now, and the rest is matted up. The bad is that as long as the water is falling it will have an adverse affect on the fishing. And as we experienced last week, the fish were right on the grass edges. How right on, I mean within a foot.
I went right behind the island and fished the outside bank leading into the first cove, and then down the bank and past the second cove on the right. Of course I started with a spinnerbait, and it turned out to be both a good and a bad thing. Within 15 minutes I put 7 in the boat, including a couple of nice ones. It was so good I actually thought about putting the video camera on my head, but didn’t, may be I should have. Because after those 7, I only caught 6 more until I quit at 1:30.
I caught this guy about 11:00. Notice the big blades on the spinnerbait.
Of course I was buzzing the spinnerbait, but it was a little more than that. One of the interesting things I have notice over the years is that in the fall bass seem to like the blades flopped out on the water near the bank, and not just buzzed at a steady rate. Kind of the fleeing shad effect I guess. When you cast it to the bank, or grass edge, pull it out of the water a little, in a kind of skip. They will often blast it right then. One of the disadvantages of doing that is you miss a few more, or maybe I should say they miss you. But either way, give it a try.
And if you noticed the big blades on the one above, the first one I was using had the small Colorado blades. Making it much lighter and easier to skip. After they apparently tired of that I switched to the big blade, better to make a big wake. You may not catch as many fish, but the better ones sure like the big blades waked.
I also caught 3 on a Strike King Swim Jig, in the bluegill, with a craw trailer. Those all came off one deep point in a grass bed about 6 foot deep. They ate it, though I did miss a couple. If I had had it on the right rod it probably would have hooked them. When you throw the worm or jig in the grass you need a stiff rod to both set the hook, and then horse them out of the grass.. I for some reason had it on my crankbait rod, which is softer and more forgiving, not a good choice for a jig. So when it was all said and done, I am sure I could have caught more fish on the jig, but after the start to the morning I put down the spinnerbait way to late.
I ended up fishing lots of places all the way to the power plant. The best fish I caught, and a big one I missed, all came in the middle of the day from water less than 2 foot deep. I ended up fishing coves, main lake, points, grass, and timber. Topwater did not do anything, crankbait even less. I just did not find any place that had a bunch of fish after the first run. But you can tell, it is about to get started. If we get a few more cool nights it should really take off. And the good thing, pre-spawn is only about 8 weeks away, where does the time go?
Random Thoughts
If you read my stuff you know that I preach about civility on the water, turning the other cheek when someone does something stupid, you know, all that nice stuff. And I got a chance to practice what I preach yesterday.
I was fishing a grass flat up lake, sitting in about 8 foot of water throwing the Strike King Square Bill over the tops of grass when a boat headed towards me. Now I will give him credit, he did slow to an idle, when he went between me and the bank. He could see which way I was fishing, and I was a long way from the bank, but he went between me and the bank. Which was stupid since the channel, and a whole lot more water, was behind me.
Now that was stupid. If you approach a boat and it is narrow, take a look at what they are doing. Do not go in front of them where they are casting. It is just common sense and courteous. So was I irritated, yes. Would it have made one bit of difference if I had said something? No.
So next time you have one of these little hitches in your day, take a breath, let your blood pressure come down, and chalk it up to one of those things. Remember, in this case I had no idea why he did that. Maybe it was his first time on the lake and he was unsure where to run, who knows. But letting it go, and not letting it ruin my day on the water, was the best way to handle it.
Cleaning The Boat
You are hot, tired, and you have been on the water all day. Not only did you get up at 5 a.m., by time you got done cleaning fish, and loading the boat, it was almost 6 p.m., and the last thing you want to do it rinse off the boat and flush the motor. And maybe you are going tomorrow, so you take the easy way out. It happens. But I want you to look at the picture below. Stare at it for a good long time, and then lets talk about it.
What you are seeing is my garage floor. Look closely, did you guess what those things were? They are salt, big hard crystals that have dried. My boat has a slow leak in the livewell, no big deal until you forget to empty it after a day on the gulf. So I put the boat in the garage, put the charger on, and did not go back in there for a couple of days.
When I did there was all 12 gallons leaked out on the floor. So I put the fan on it and dried it out, and this is what was left. And the picture is only of about half the salt. Think about it, that is what is on your boat, in your engine, and on your equipment. And when it dries, this is what is left. If you want your stuff to last, and retain some value, flushing the motor and rinsing the boat is the minimum. So take a minute every time you put your boat in the salt, a little effort will go a long way.
So thanks for reading my stuff. Fall is here and I am ready to hit it a lot harder. So tomorrow it is up early and off to catch a few fish.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
