Fish Catching Travel
Sorry for the late report, I got caught up in doing stuff this week. I had the good fortune to be able to fish with a 2Cooler Monday at POC. POC Lance was down to his house for a couple of days and our schedule worked out so we were able to fish together.
I decided to bring my boat as he was interested in doing something different from his usual, and I was happy to oblige. We had a long 2 tide day, and though the chart showed it would be a fairly high day, we were both surprised at how low it was, and continued to be all day. With the low at 11:45 I hoped we could catch both a morning drop, and an afternoon rise. The morning drop worked out, but by time we quit about 4:30 the water had still not started to rise, and was basically flat all afternoon.
We started in Big Bayou, and he started with a Zara Super Spook and I started with a Redfish Magic spinnerbait. Fishing the grass edges over fairly shallow stuff he put a nice 18″ trout in the box, and I managed a 23″ redfish. We alternated the rest of the day with assorted plastics as it seemed they just got off the other stuff. I wish I could be a little more helpful with colors on the plastics, but we caught on about every size style and color we threw, they just did not seem to have a consistent preference. It was one of those days where you wonder if you just did not stick with one bait long enough. I think it is still more a matter of location, and as soon as the trout move to a more stable fall pattern the fishing will improve.
So since I was the captain for day, I took him around to my go to spots, and it was one of those day where you would catch a keeper here and there, and of course adding short ones to the mix. We also caught a lot of “bait”. Now for some reason I did not take any pictures of fish but one, but since I rarely catch one of these on lures, I wanted to show you what good bait looks like.
One crazy looking fish!
I have only caught a couple of ribbon fish in my life, and this was the first one in a long time. And while he did not go in the box, I loved catching this bizarre fish. They are just plain cool.
We ended up fishing Big Bayou, Barroom, Oil Cut #1, Army Cut, and a couple of places in the Saluria. It was definitely a hunt and peck day. I have no clue how many we actually caught, but I know we kept 2 reds, 22″ and 23″, and 5 trout, 18″, 17″, and 3 15 – 16″. Not gang busters by any stretch of the imagination, but enough for a fry. His Zara Spook accounted for the bigger trout and one of the reds, the rest came on plastics. It seemed the lighter colors were best, but like my last trip, I just can not find that one bait that they wanted more than any other.
It looks like the trout are doggedly staying in their summer time pattern as our air temps got back in the 90’s again. So even though it was spotty, we did catch fish everywhere we fished. The couple of times we either put down the power pole, or fished in a spot a little longer than just moving down the bank, we just could not catch more than a couple in a place.
But the good part of the day was my fishing partner. What a good guy to spend the day with in the boat. We had a good time telling stories and talking fishing. This may have been our first trip together, but it won’t be our last. In fact, he gets to captain next time, and I am sure there will be plenty for me to learn. He is very experienced on the coast, and he only got hung up one time all day, now what more could you want in a fishing partner.
So sorry there are not any more pics. We had a good time, and I just never got into the documentation mode, we just fished. As our water temp keeps slowly dropping, combined with the days getting shorter, our fishing on the coast will improve. And judging from what we caught, the fish are ready for the big topwater, and it should only improve. This is still a great time for bull reds at the jetties, and he has been taking his son there and whacking them. And there are still reports of tarpon at the jetties. So if they are on your list better get there quick, fall is here.
And as always, thanks for reading my stuff. I am so ready for “real” fall. For me, both the lake and the coast seem to be stuck between summer and fall, and consequently the fish are not in a stable pattern. And right around the corner is my trip to Falcon. The reports there are also seem to not have a real pattern to them, more of a matter of catching them on this and that. So maybe the weather will cool off before we head that way in 2 weeks. So keep those cards and letters coming, I enjoy reading your comments and try to keep up with answering them the best I can.
One last thing….watch this, it rocks!
Good Luck and Tight Lines
