Fish Catching Travel
If you read yesterday’s post you know I was excited about going today. A nice warm day, high tide, little wind, and the day did not disappoint. I have read some really good reports on nice size trout lately, and I was looking forward to getting down to POC. All I have to say about today, is I hope this is a sign of things to come.
I had big plans to fish Big Bayou first and then head over to the Pringle area, but that did not happen. The fishing was so good I never left the bayou all day. I caught lots of reds, and some good ones, and some really nice trout. I started on a deep bank near the last island and was throwing a MirrOLure paddle tail in the electric chicken on 1/8th ounce Strike King jig head. I missed one that felt really heavy, and then this happened.
This picture does not do her justice. She was over 29″ and heavy as a son of a gun!
Here is the only other picture I took, I wanted to get her back ASAP. It is tough to get a big girl in the picture when you are by yourself.
I never felt her hit, in fact almost all the good trout I caught today were just there when I lifted up, you only had an instant to set the hook. I took 2 quick pictures then let her rest until she got her wind back and swam out of my hand. I love watching a big fish swim away no worse for the wear after some CPR. I continued to work all the deeper banks in the bayou and they were here or there. But when you caught one, you usually caught another. I also managed to catch some on the shallow side, it seemed the trout were up and biting. And while this was the biggest, there were several good fish coming before I quit at 4.
It caught about 10 like this today and it was really nice to release them.
I hit Mitchell’s Cut and they are in there also. In fact, the hottest place I found was near the point going into the cut. Most of the fish came from 3 – 6 feet deep using a Texas Two Step double hop and drop. It seemed they wanted it hopped off the bottom, so on those deeper banks you had to be sure to let it fall down the drop. I did notice that the smaller ones whacked it, but the good ones like the one above were just there. Unfortunately I managed to mess up another pretty big fish. I am not sure why she came off, but she was in the same class as the big one. It was nice to catch a bunch of trout and it looks like it may be one of those years, only time will tell.
Here are the unlucky four that made the plate tonite, and boy were they good! That is my 19″ board, look how fat they were.
Once I caught a bunch of trout it was time for some spinnerbaiting. I am still throwing the Strike King Redfish Magic in the croaker. I am convinced that the blue tail on the grub which mimics the lit up tail of a redfish turns them on. Since I started throwing that color the last month they have just tore it up. And today was no different.
It was simply a matter of fishing grass lines and shell banks. Then a steady crank and hold on. I put at least 6 in the boat and would have had a nice limit if I was keeping them.
They were smacking that thing!
I did have one break my line today. It was a riot. I reeled it out from under a dock and he knocked the crap out of it. I set the hook, and the reel fell off the rod. He came at me, the reel hit the deck, and I grabbed it trying to get it back on the rod. While this was going on the breeze blew me into the dock, and when I finally got things together he was under the dock, out the other side, and I promptly broke him off. Nice to be having the kind of day where something like that is nothing but a thing, and I was out there laughing my butt off. As my old friend Tad would say, “With your superior skill you managed to screw it up.”
I did catch one small flounder today. I was hoping to catch a keeper to round out a nice slam, but there is no sense looking a gift horse in the mouth. The only thing that I wish was that I fished a few other areas, it would be nice to know if they were that active all over. But no matter what the reports of some really good strings of trout are true. After not really catching to many the last couple of months, this was a welcome change.
I did throw a topwater some without any bites, and when I tried a couple of other colors in the plastics they were not having it. It could be me, when you have confidence in something it is funny how you catch fish on it.
So what a day. I am tired, hot, and a little sunburned, but I just may have to get up tomorrow and give it another go. When the getting is good it is time to get them. If I do I will hit somewhere else and see if the bite is the same there. But either way it was deep banks or shell banks. And if you could combine both, there were good fish on them. This was the best day I have had in a while. When you can put a limit of trout and reds in the boat and still quit at 4 the fishing is good.
So thanks for reading my stuff. The countdown to Belize has begun. I even dreamed about it last night. I am not to excited. So keep stopping in and I will try to keep the reports coming.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
