Fish Catching Travel
With cloud cover here today I decided Coleto was on tap. Of course the wind was blowing, but that only helps with bass fishing. I got a late start, but that did not seem to affect the fishing at all. Nothing like perfect conditions.
I headed to a main lake flat with grass close to the island. The wind was pounding on the bank so out came a spinnerbait. I use the Strike King Pro, and love the pre-attached trailer hook. When you are buzzing a spinnerbait really fast a trailer hook definitely adds a few fish.
Here is the first guy. A nice tournament fish.
I caught 4 right off the bat. They were just smashing it as it left a big wake. I know it can be a tough technique to master, but when the wind is blowing and they are shallow, it is the ticket. It is one of the many techniques that have gone by the wayside, but it has a time and a place.
That is a little more like it!
After fishing that bank, which had the wind blowing right on it, a move to a big cove to fish a topwater was next. There are fish in the coves right now, but today the topwater just did not produce anything to talk about. But this time of year on Coleto I always throw it some. Over the last month the biggest fish I have caught have been on the Bang O Lure. Right now I have 3 things tied on my rods, a spinnerbait, a Bang O Lure, and a Strike King Swim Jig.
While I was fishing that cove my phone rang and my friend Jeffish called and said he could fish a while, so I headed to the ramp and picked him up. Then it was up lake we went. I stopped at the first bank and he caught 3 right away on the swim jig while I continued to try the topwater. And then….minor disaster. The trolling motor decided to only run in reverse, crazy. And of course without the right tools in the boat we headed back to the ramp. After a quick fix we were back in business.
From that point on it was a Swim Jig kinda day. I threw the blue/black with Rage Craw and Jeffish threw the one I modified last trip, a brown with red glitter. We tipped them with the Rage Craw in the summer craw color. From then on it was bites all day.
Starting to work on a pretty good tournament stringer. Notice anything in the background?
The best banks of course had submerged grass on them, and it definitely helped if there was reeds or grass cover on the edge of the bank. But no matter what you want that grass. Today there was no doubt about the brown being the best color. Jeffish had twice as many bites out of the back of the boat, they really like brown colors right now. Jeffish noticed what he called a water cricket at the ramp, which was the same color as the jig. Who knows, maybe a match the hatch thing right now. Probably it is the color of the crawdads right now.
No real big one today, but I will take a limit of this size anyday!
So basically it was a cover ground and move that swim jig pretty quickly. I actually saw 2 fish hit mine as it came to the boat, to give you an idea how fast we were reeling it. Jeffish had a hard time getting the hook in them. As you throw it remember they usually are coming from behind and just sucking it in as they swim with it. His hooking percentage went way up after he started reeling them just a little ways when he felt them peck it. That is why you need a high speed reel, not for how fast you reel it, but to catch up to them and then make a good hook set. He lost several nice ones, and after catching 15 or so he finally put a real one in the boat.
He lost a couple of more like this, then he got the hang of setting the hook.
And then I finished the afternoon with this one.
The fishing on Coleto is good right now. There are fish spawning and in pre-spawn, making for a pretty consistent bite. I love this time of year when you can fish what you like or are good at. We have noticed several thing right now, when you catch a good one, there seem to be more there. You can often catch a couple of more by just changing presentations. The little ones are everywhere and catching them really does not tell you much.
Lake Fork
Tomorrow it is off to Lake Fork. Having somehow never fishing it I am really excited about going. Of course having my friend Aaron to fish with is a real plus. He has fished it for years and has a place on Fork. Of course the possibility of catching a big one is the real lure for Fork. And since it is a big bass tournament giving away 7 trucks and a boat does not hurt anything. Tackle and rods and reels are spread out all over the place as I get organized. So wish me luck.
Again I want to thank you all for reading my stuff. I try to keep it fresh and hope you occasionally learn something you can use on the water. And for those of you who email me asking what platform I use, it is WordPress. As far as other technical questions, I do not have an answer for you. I am a fisherman who has a blog, and am definitely not a web master by any stretch. But I love your comments and emails, so keep those cards and letters coming. I will do my best to answer what I can. Thanks.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
