Fish Catching Travel
Since I had such a good day the other day when the wind was blowing I decided to wuss out from heading to the Gulf and get up early and hit Coleto again, I made the lake around 6:30 and headed way up. I started right off the bat in an area of Lily pads with a spinnerbait and made a long pass, and did not have a bite.
I continued to head up lake with the wind hitting shallow banks with lots of grass. I put 3 or 4 in the boat but it just did not seem to be happening. I hit an area way up that was shallow and covered in grass. 2 managed to blow up on the buzzbait, but that was the size of it. At this point I had managed 5 and it was about 8:30.
I will take this size all day long. She blew up on it.
As the wind was blowing straight up the lake I went back down to the big bend above the bridge and started working grass flats with wind on them. Over the next hour and a half I put another 4 or 5 in the boat buzzing that willow leaf spinnerbait, but they were all small. About 10:30 2 things happened that really changed the day for me.
First, as I tell you a lot, let the fish tell you what they want. I had been using a big willow leaf spinnerbait to make a wake, and that worked ok the last couple of trips. But as I fished I kept seeing really small minnows and fry right on the bank, and so I finally got where I could see – by removing my head from my you know what. So I switched to a smaller spinnerbait with small silver Colorado blades in an attempt to match the hatch.
Second, the wind, which had been blowing, really kicked up and it clouded up for the next hour or so. So I moved to the shallowest bank I could find up lake that was covered in grass, and it was game on.
This was a good fish, and she absolutely smoked it. I had another one at least this big that came right to the boat high speed and I flipped her in, she hit the deck, and out she went.
For the next hour I had some of the best spinnerbait fishing I have had this year. They were up and biting right in the middle of the day. I hit a point with lots of shallow grass and the wind pounding on it, and they were all over it. The water has come up and there is a space behind the covered grass, and the green shore grass on the edge of the bank. That little strip between the old grass and the bank grass was the place to be.
This size was in a full scale feeding frenzy.
They were smacking it right on the bank after a couple of turns of the handle. It was awesome. In one stretch I probably put 10 in the boat one after the other. And then it was over. I fished a couple of other places and did not have a bite so I called it a day. I should have made a video or took a couple of more pics, but it was so good I could not put the rod down, and I am glad I didn’t. I am sure I could have re-fished those places, but why look a gift horse in the mouth.
So what was to be learned today? First, the big bladed spinnerbait would call them up here and there. And like 2 days ago, you could catch them by covering lots of water and catching one every so often. It is a pattern that was working today. Second, going to a 1/4 ounce spinnerbait with small blades really matched the hatch much better. When I found them, instead of catching a couple, I caught a bunch. There are 2 ways to catch them with the spinnerbait, but the smaller bait definitely put more in the boat when you found them.
The ones in the Lily pads were not there today. They were on the outside edge of the pads 2 days ago, I have a sneaking suspicion that the wind pushed them all the way to the bank shallow. And it definitely was a shallow grass day. I was lucky enough to recognize it and change baits to pull out the morning.
The wind continues to blow, but it should start laying down any day now. Summer is here and I can not believe we will not get out of this weather pattern at some point. Which leads me to head to the Gulf. There are still some great trout reports and Shoedog will be down for a couple of days next week and we are going to fish POC for a couple of days. Wind or not, the water temperature is fine for wet wading, and that will be the order of the day.
And one other thing about today, when the fish were biting the wildlife was out and about.
At noon today everybody was eating, including the fish.
Arkansas Walleye
Can you say supper? Clyde caught these yesterday along with some really good bass.
Bull Shoals in Arkansas, my old stomping grounds, has had a real walleye boom the last few years. We always caught one here and there, but never really targeted them. Now they are being fished regularly and are a legitimate quarry. My friend Clyde has been catching them fairly regularly on 3″ grubs about 20 foot deep. And along with them he is putting lots of Kentucky’s and Smallmouth in the boat. His pattern right now is to throw that grub on a 3/16th. ounce jig head, count to 20 and start reeling. Grub fishing has always been a staple in the spring on Bull Shoals, and it must be nice to add these to the bag.
Of course one of the things that brought me to Texas was the Gulf. There is not a redfish within 12 hours of Mtn. Home and the Twin Lakes area. If you have never visited it is a fishing paradise. You can catch big stripers on Norfork Lake, smallmouth and walleyes on Bull Shoals, some of the nicest rainbows and browns in the world on the White and North Fork Rivers, and even do a little floating for smallmouth on the Buffalo and Crooked Creek. And the great thing about that area, it is all within about a half hour of each other. And if you like clear water, both lakes have it.
So thanks for reading my stuff. I appreciate you all and love your comments and suggestions. So keep those cards and letters coming. I try to answer as best I can, and I read every comment and email. And so you know, I do not post the comments that you make on the blog, but they come to my email. So if you have something to say, please say it. I do this for you.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
