Fish Catching Travel
You know, Falcon is a great lake. And so is Amistad, Bull Shoals, Coleto, and many more that I have fished in the last 40 years. But one that is fast becoming my favorite is Fayette County. Being a slot lake of course helps, but I guess my favorite thing about Fayette County is the fact that you can fish almost any technique you want or like and catch fish. Now I hope I do not jinx myself, but I have never had a bad trip there, and in fact most have been great trips. Nothing like catching fish, and yesterday was no different.
I met my brother at daylight and we headed to the flat point inside the hazard buoys were we started last trip, and just like last time they were there. Jeff of course was using his jerk bait, I started with a Strike King 2.5 in the red shad. I got him down 5 to 1 in about 10 minutes. Jeff got it going on the jerk bait and from then on we caught them nice and steady, most in about 5 foot of water. We tried to stay in about 8 foot throwing to grass patches. Over the next couple of hours we put well over 20 in the boat, most on the square bill. Jeff switched to a Sexy Shad color and before long he caught up with me.
So early the fish were on those flat points chasing shad. It was interesting to watch his HD graph. We could see the fish over the top of submerged grass about 2 feet over the grass. They continued to show until about 10 am, then they disappeared, probably getting in the grass as the sun came up and they began to back off.
Here is Jeff with a good one, it is the first picture I took today. By time I took this one we had put lots of fish in the boat, including several nice ones.
From 10 until about 1:00 we just hunted and pecked. The wind was blowing pretty hard so we kept cranking shallow windy places, picking up one or two every once in awhile, but it was not fast by any stretch of the imagination. So with the wind we decided to keep with crankbait, though I did catch one good one on a jig, so we switched, me to a Strike King 6D in the chartreuse shad, and Jeff to a Rapala DT16 in a kind of bluegill color.
Then a couple of things happened that surprised me. We fished a few more places, and decided to hit a grass bed on the back side of a windy point. There was no wind on it at all, and the sun was high. We stayed out in 10 foot of water and started catching them. You could see them on the bottom with occasional shad schools. As usual on Fayette, find the shad and there will be some fish. And then the final touch. We had been reeling it right along, and catching a couple when I slowed it way down, and wham. From the on it was game on.
The first of many on this bank.
If I have learned on thing this fall it is that when you find them, stick with them. On Coleto it has almost been a little boring as my great spot is exactly that, and though I keep trying new places and new things, the results are the same. Where they are right now is where they are and it pays to work them over. It was certainly the case here as we re-fished that bank over and over catching 4 or 5 each pass.
One thing I think made a difference was the fact that Jeff was using 15pd test, and I was using 20. Not only did his bait get just a tiny bit deeper, I think the thinner line made a difference. And when I say slow, we used it slow. I fish crankbaits on a 5:1, and I was still cranking it super slow. And when they hit, they knocked the stuffing out of it.
Jeff with a good one.
Just like in the morning, we could see them on the graph. We ended up staying on that bank for several hours, and then went off to try some different places. And our results were the same as the middle of the day, one here or there. We were still catching them but not bunched up like those were.
The swim jig also did it’s part.
So how many did we catch total, we did not have a clue, but it was a lot. Except on the shallow point chasing shad early, all were caught in grass in about 5 to 7 foot of water, with us sitting in 10. And who does not like that bite when your crankbait hits the grass and one smokes it. When they were really going some of them would knock a bunch of slack in it, a cool bite.
This may have been the biggest one of the day. That was one good bank.
There is just nothing like fishing Fayette County. With a little bit of work, and thought, it can be figured out in a day. And once you do, there is nothing like finding a school of good fish, figuring out how to catch them, and then doing it. Now we did not catch a “big” one, but I will settle for this size all day long. Also, I tried to keep the picture total down some, but when the day was done we caught a bunch of nice fish.
Me in the back of the boat. After running the show for years, it is nice to not have to run the trolling motor. I am content to sit in the back and put them in the boat.
So what a fun day. I only get to Fayette about 4 times a year, and she never lets me down. If you have not fished it, give it a try. Of course the weekdays are the best, not near the traffic, and when the fish are biting there can be a lot of traffic. So tomorrow it is off to the Gulf. I haven’t been in a while and am anxious to put a few in the boat, and who knows, maybe in the fry pan. So stop in Friday for a salt report. And Falcon is only a week away! Thanks for reading my stuff.
This is how our day ended. I am sure there is some explanation of this phenomenon, but no matter what it was, this was beautiful.
Good Luck and Tight Lines.
