Fish Catching Travel
Well the fishing this week was a bust. I expected to be sitting here after fishing a day at the Gulf and a day at the lake. The best laid plans were way laid when I got a snot slinging, throat hurtin’, coughing, fever, feel like crap cold. The first day I felt it coming on, day 2 I went from the couch to the chair, and then the chair to the couch. Day 3 I actually did laundry and made supper, but that was the size of it. Yesterday afternoon, sick or not, I finally could not stand it anymore so I ran out to Coleto.
I had to stop for my friend Aaron’s electric fillet knife that he left at Coleto Creek Cabins. I not only picked it up, but got a little advice about the bigger fish right now. There have been some big fish caught in the last week. As I have been saying points are the key, but the good fish are coming from 15’+. Red stuff on a Carolina Rig during a high sky has been effective. So if you are looking to catch the better ones, or you have a tournament coming up, this is the way to go.
The weather has been in a stable pattern for about a month, that would be a cold front every 3 to 5 days with a north wind and high skies. It has backed the better fish off, though the small ones remain. Of course did I head out to deeper water? No way, right to shallow water I went.
I caught one on top and one a Strike King Swim Jig on a deeper bank with grass. Those fish have been there a month, and so I left them in search of more. Over the next hour I probably had 5 or 6 just pull on the craw and not get the bait. Then I had one of those slack line hits as I reeled it, and promptly set the hook and broke my line. I just put that 14lb on, and that is the 4th I have broke off in the last couple of trips, so off it will come.
The TV fishing report said crawdad colored crankbaits were working so I tied one on and went to catching them. One thing I will say about that bait, there was no doubt, they smacked the crap out of it. But the problem, they were all small. I hunted and pecked as I headed down lake, and could catch one or two on almost any point. So right now you need to back off and fish deep. These fronts are keeping them staging and waiting. So while a shallow water fisherman like me can catch lots, the real money is deep.
After about 4 hours of it I still felt like crap, and was fishing the same way, so I called it a day a couple of hours before dark. I just did not have it in me. So here I sit getting ready to check the weather and tides. It is time to get in some serious fishing.
Random Thoughts
We are now in the early spring wind pattern, one that plagued us last year until June. And early this week the forecast is for more wind. It gets real depressing when that forecast keeps coming, so it turns into one of those put on your big boy pants and get over it things. The wind is going to blow and you just have to deal with it.
How do you tell when your love of fishing is potentially an obsession that may need treatment? The 3 days I spent pent up in the house were only made tolerable by the fishing shows that were on. I watched bass fishing, tournament fishing, fly fishing, crappie fishing, Canadian fishing, and anything else that was on. In my case I do a lot of fishing, i mess with my boats and tackle a lot, I write about it, and then I sit down and watch hours of it. I guess I need to see someone about that. NOT!
Speaking of messing with stuff. This is what the captain of Team Nancy calls the Man Hole. I finally have a room dedicated to fishing tackle, and I need it. When all else fails I can always go out to the Man Hole and mess around. And it is amazing how keeping it a little more organized helps keep the boat mess to a dull roar.
The Man Hole.
The real reason I went in there this morning was to show you my favorite topwater minnow. Ever since I saw Bill Dance wading in lake Seminole in Florida, and just killing huge bass, I have been a fan. And then about 10 years ago this particular bait seemed to disappear. In fact, I was at the spring fishing show at Bass Pro and asked the rep about them and he was actually kind of an a-hole who needed to work on his customer skills. Of course we have them, and I will take you over to the shelf and show you. And so we went across the store and there was not a one. Since that time I have found them here and there, and always bought them all if I found some. I never did understand why that Bagley Rep was such an a-hole to one of his biggest fans. But you know what, in spite of that experience, I still love them.
Bagley Bang-O-Lure.
I have caught bass, redfish, snook, speckled trout, and god knows what else on this bait. It is light and the foil gives off great flash. Being balsa it is very easy to twitch it either on top or under the water. For bass I usually twitch it on top and then pull it under a couple of inches, and that is when they hit it. I have really enjoyed great success in Florida on speckled trout. There I just real it down and go to twitching extremely erratically. It is amazing how often they would follow it where you could see them flash it. Then it was a matter of tricking them by twitching it just right. A really fun way to catch them. So if you like topwater, get one, you will not be disappointed. And if you fish Coleto, they will hit it from now until June.
So that is it for today. As usual I want to thank you for reading my stuff. I am itching to get back to fishing. The only question is tomorrow or Monday. I am taking a guy from Academy this week. I intend to keep fishing with new folks. Take some time to spread it around. Fishing is a great sport that deserves to be shared with others.
Good Luck and Tight Lines.
