Fish Catching Travel
The Powderhorn.
This is going to be a 2 story day. First I am going to tell you about today at Indianola in the Powderhorn. I have been whining about the wind for a couple of weeks now, so it was time to put on my big boy pants and hit the Gulf anyway. So even though the wind was supposed to blow 25 I loaded up. Every so often I just have to get my spinnerbait redfish fix. A redfish smacking a Strike King Redfish Magic is a thing of beauty.
The tide was to be high around 11, so I waited until 10 to hit the road. One of the things that happens at the Powderhorn is when the tide is up, and then starts to fall, you can find reds on the grassy banks on both sides of the Powderhorn, you just have to let the wind tell you which side you can fish. The north bank really muddies up on a south wind. When I got there it was white capping in the Powderhorn over the whole lake. Normally you can get out of the wind a little on the south high bank, but not today, it was flat blowing.
So I headed to the back pond on the left with the duck blind in it. When the tide is up there is enough water, and the reds are usually there. And today they were. Of course since it was windy, I started with the Strike King Redfish Magic, which those of you who read my stuff know has been my go to bait.
Always wear Polaroids, and keep a sharp eye. This one came from mud where he was tearing up the bottom.
I was using an avocado color and reeling it at a medium speed. I like to keep it about a foot off the bottom, but the pond is real shallow, so I just kept it up. A few casts later a small one came over the side. And then another nice keeper.
They were knocking the snot out of it.
I ended up catching 3 in the pond and missed one. With the wind howling right out of the pond I just let it carry me down the bank all the way out on the left hand side. That bank is real shallow, but with the tide up it is fish-able if you put the trolling motor just under the water and raise the engine. It pushed me right down that bank, and I just went with it.
A little while later I missed one who had it when I set the hook, then somehow the line got caught on the seat. Of well. As the wind pushed me I would see occasional muds where they were feeding. If you led them just right, no easy task with the wind, they would smack it.
This guy was the third keeper and he fought like the devil.
It was not fast fishing by any means, but they were up and biting. I ended up catching 3 small ones and 4 nice ones. I lost 2 when I got my line tangled setting the hook, and I flat missed 2. I guess I like the Refish Magic so well because it works, and it is a spinnerbait. It was simply a matter of letting the wind blow you along, using the trolling motor to keep a long cast from the bank, and reeling it at a steady pace.
This was a fat slot fish, where are they when tournament day comes?
So after getting my redfish fix taken care of I headed back up to the front of the lake to make a couple of drifts for trout. I wish I could tell you that went well, but it didn’t. In fact I drifted the front a couple times and caught one short trout. They did not like my plastic nor a popping cork. Of course the wind was blowing me right along, but it just was not working. I did not even fish the end of the boat lane where I caught them several times over the last month or so because it was white capping, and just to rough.
So I ended up packing it in early. The wind was just to much to mess with over a few trout. So as far as trout went, I just was not able to fish effectively enough to be sure whether they were there or not.
From the reports I am hearing the reds are still good in the back lakes, channels, and cuts leading into the back areas. Trout have been spotty. Some boats whack them, some have it tough. As it looks like we are about to really have some spring time weather the trout fishing should pick up soon. Hopefully we will get some real calm days with good sun to get them going, and it will have the same affect on me. So expect to see a lot more saltwater fishing on the blog in the days to come.
Lake Texana
Crossing the upper end of Lake Texana on highway 59 I always look out and wonder if it has some good fishing. My friend Aaron has been after me to fish it, so I did some reading and headed out on Thursday. I put in at a ramp at the mouth of one of the big creeks where I knew with the wind blowing I could get out of it somewhere.
There was lots of stuff blown up on the ramp when I got there, and putting the boat in the water was a sign of things to come. I backed a little to far in and got on the weeds and almost did not make it back out. But I finally got the boat in and off I went. I headed up the creek and stopped in the first cove out of the wind.
On my second cast I felt one thump the snot out of that Swim Jig, and the fight was on. To bad it was a big blue cat. So of course I come up with a great plan, just get the camera out of the bag and turn it on before you net him. By time I fooled around with that and got ready to land him he came off. Nice job dude. So no pictures. In fact, there were to be no pictures at all. I never had another bite, not one.
I fished it for 6 and half hours without a bite. I swam jigs, cranked, spinnerbaited, jerked, reeled, hopped, dropped, and anything else I could think of doing. If fished shallow coves, deeper banks, weed lines, timber, and anything else I saw. No I am no Kevin VanDam, but I am not Ronald McDonald either. But it just did not happen. And I am not sure why. I saw lots of cool gators, but I can not remember the last time I went bass fishing where I did not put one in the boat. When the TPW website says bass fishing is fair, they might be giving it a break. All it succeeded in doing was making me determined to go back and try to figure it out. So if you fish Texana some drop me a line, maybe I was missing something and any help I can get will be appreciated.
So this was a tale of 2 days. One good, one bad. The wind was a controlling factor both days but what can you do. If you do not like to fish in the wind South Texas may not be the place for you.
So thanks for reading my stuff. I have assorted plans this week coming up. My real hope is we get a fairly calm day with lots of sun. The Tilapia were everywhere on Coleto last week and I want to shoot a couple with the bow. So keep stopping in, who knows, next week may just be it.
Good Luck and Tight Lines.
