Fish Catching Travel
Woulda – Couda – Shouda!
If you read my stuff you know that I have had a pretty good run on the Gulf the last couple of months. Trout have been good, and reds basically whenever you want to catch them. But as always the fishing Gods will get their revenge, and it happened yesterday. The title of this post says it all.
The wind was projected to be 6 – 15 out of the Northeast. Well they did get that part right, there was wind. In fact, the wind was blowing right down the barge canal and it was white capping, are you kidding me. And the tide was low, and I mean real low. Sometimes you get certain signs that maybe you are about to do something stupid, and we got the first one at the ramp. Chris and I normally are the first ones out but we waited due to the cool morning and got to Charlie’s at about 9:00 or so, and there was a couple of guys already taking out.
They had been catching reds on the back side of Dewberry but the wind was pounding on it and had muddied it all up. They also told us that the cut at Charlie’s leading into the bay had almost no water in it. In fact it was blocked as there was a boat stuck in the cut it was so low. When we pulled out at 4 it was still there, stuck right in the middle of the cut.
My original plan was to head to POC and fish the deeper channels. Over the last month almost all the trout I am catching have been 3 foot and deeper. It is one of those patterns that when you find them, you catch them. I think if I “woulda” gone there it might have been considerably better. How bad did my day go? Better than Chris, I actually caught 1. yes folks, that is a one! And Chris had the pleasure of catching none.
Chris wanted to head to South Pass and wade some reefs, so down the canal we went and out in the bay. The wind was blowing pretty good and as we rounded the corner we could see some birds working pretty heavy just outside the entrance to Shoalwater. We stopped and made a drift without a bite, though they were working it pretty hard.
Then we did a drift out of the bay and did not have a strike. About half of Shoalwater was muddy, the rest had no water. It was flat low. The tide projection was for a small tide later, but by time the water started moving I was done.
We then started hunting and pecking, we waded 3 reefs at South Pass, where I managed to catch a red. How small? I thought I had a small trout. That was the only bite I had all day. We drifted the mouths and drains of a couple of back lakes past South Pass without success. Then we found some more birds getting after it, and again did not have a bite.
Now at this point here is where I made my second mistake of the day. Checking out the reefs and South Pass was ok, but I “coulda” moved. In fact I “shoulda”. At this point in the day there was still time to make the long run to POC and fish were I planned to. There are always trout in Big Bayou in the winter on those deep banks. With the super low tide and the 38 degree temperature it was the perfect set of conditions for that area. But instead we called it a day.
So if you were hoping for a good report on POC today, it did not happen for us. This was one time where it was truly operator error. We should have realized after the first couple of places it was not happening shallow. Now it was nice to wade those reefs and get a good look at the passes, but even throwing plastics across the channels did not work. The weather combined with the poor decisions led to a real crappy day.
Now I have had some bad days on the Gulf, but this one was the winner. When something like this happens on the water it is almost always because you make bad choices, and we made plenty. But you know what? It just makes me want to work all that much harder next time. Never forget though, just when you are thinking you are all that the fishing Gods will put you in your place!
So today it is off to Houston for the fishing show. A new wading belt, a net, and who knows what else, is on the agenda. The show is a big boy shopping extravaganza and who knows what will follow me home.
So thanks for reading my stuff. Tomorrow is another day, and I will be out there slinging baits with renewed hope. That is what seperates fisherman from other folks, that sure feeling that we are going to whack them tomorrow. So keep stopping in and keep those comments coming. Who knows, I may have a great fish tale tomoroow.
Good Luck and Tight Lines.
