Fish Catching Travel
One of the great things about writing a blog is that you have the majority of your fishing trips recorded. And that you gives you a great advantage, just go back and look at what you were doing last year. So I decided to review, and last year at this time I was fishing the Lavaca River. Now I had thought about going there the last couple of weeks, but was not sure if it was time as it has not been as cold as it was last year. So I loaded up and headed that way, and one look at the trucks and trailers parked at the ramp let me know the fish were biting.
I headed down river about half way to the bay and started on a bank with good sand bars on it and immediately started catching fish. I probably put 10 or so in the boat on the first bank. Plastics were the bait of the day. And from my notes of last year I threw that purple Gobi imitation, which they liked, and a Chicken on a Chain 3″ plastic paddle tail, both on a 1/16th ounce jig head.
Nothing like winter river fishing. Though I was not keeping fish, I caught a limit over the morning, most in this size range.
The fish were bunched up, and just easing down the river bank, tossing the bait to the bank and hopping it off the bottom back to the boat was the way to go. Most of them seemed to come about 3 foot deep. Some would absolutely smoke it, others were just there when you lifted up. Watching your line really helps and occasionally you would see it jump.
It was pretty clear how bunched up they were. That is not to say you can not catch one here and there, but usually if you caught one, you caught several, and it was well worth working that area over using the trolling motor. As far as the type of bank, the only thing that I noticed was sand seemed to have fish on it, but it was not a given. It was simply a matter of drifting down the river and working it off the bottom back to the boat.
I did head up river, and though I caught a few, they were not the average size those down river were. Also, I did not put a red or a flounder in the boat, though I talked to a couple of guys who have been catching some nice flounder there. So all in all a good day. It should remain pretty stable for a while, as long as the weather does, and we do not get a gully washer that floods the river with fresh water.
One word of caution. There have been several break ins at the ramp. Be sure to lock your car and hide anything worth anything. No sense in tempting the maggots.
A short video of the plastics.
So I will be headed back to the river in the next day or two. And for those of you who will email me telling me not to talk about the river, I am sorry. My purpose here has always been to inform readers, and maybe even help them catch a few more fish. I get emails all the time from people who do not want me writing about “their” spot. Well folks if I do not write about anywhere that is someone’s “spot”, I would have nothing to write about. When I asked my readers about whether they wanted me to not be so specific, it was hands down no. People want to learn The water is more crowded, and the use of GPS and maps have expanded everyone’s range. So as fisherman we have to evolve, and learning to catch fish and deal with the pressure is just part of modern fishing.
Who would have thought that when I guided my first clients out of a 17′ cigar bass boat with a 70 hp on it that people would have 24′ cats with a 300 on it. Or that the cool flasher unit I had would be replaced by 3D plotting graphs? And I remember when a put my hands on my first Fenwick graphite rod, and now look at the stuff we have today. The world is changing, and we fisherman have to change with it.
I would personally like to thank everyone who reads my stuff. Thanks. And I would also like to thank the following websites who are kind enough to let me post a link so that you can read the whole report. Several sites have basically accused me of trying to somehow steal people from them when I post a link to a report, which is flat out ridiculous and could not be any further from the truth. I am not selling anything, nor am I competing with any site. My goal is to try to help you catch more fish. So if you have not been to any of these sites please go, they are the best. They want you to catch more fish.
http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/
http://www.fishingtexasonline.com/
http://www.fishingtx.com/forum/index.php
http://www.strikeking.com/forums/index.php#1
http://www.austinbassfishing.com/forum/
http://4reelfishing.com/videos/
http://www.theworldwidefishingclub.com/
There maybe others, but these are my favorites, and they have your interest at heart and not their own.
And here is a couple of pics from friends.
Sunrise at Coleto Creek.
A nice Nebraska moose.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
