Fish Catching Travel
After fishing the gulf yesterday with Shoedog, and having a fairly successful day, he decided that he wanted to catch some bass. That surprised me, but when I have the privilege to be able to fish where ever I want, it was fine by me.
We got out at daylight and I figured the quickest way to put a couple in the boat was to head all the way up the lake and throw frog and buzzbait. Boy was I wrong. We fished for an hour without a bite. We fished flat banks, huge grass flats, banks with timber on them, all without success.
Finally I picked up a Strike King Swim Jig and caught one. So I figured since that worked, and the sun was out, it was time to hit the lily pads. We fished almost the whole length, and finally in the area where there was a combination of pads and reeds, Shoedog caught a nice one. Nothing big, but he blew up on it in about one foot of water. But that was it for the pads so I moved further down lake.
One thing I have noticed lately is if all else fails it seems the bigger reeds with water in them are still holding shallow fish. So we started on the first long bank up the river and both were tossing the swim jig. I finally got a decent bite.
One thing I will say about Coleto, if you stay after it you will get your reward! This was a 2 hander.
She came out of a grass patch in about 2 foot of water and smoked it. So we kept swimming that jig, and Shoedog put a couple of more in the boat, and I did too. We were reeling the black and blue with a Rage Craw pretty rapidly, it is definitely a reaction strike. They were coming off the outside edge of the flooded grass, and was saw most of them hit it.
From about 9 until 11 we caught 7, a few of them not to bad, when the weather started coming in. We could hear thunder, and then saw some lightning way off, so we headed down close to the dam just in case. As far as the fishing was concerned, it did not seem to help matters a lick. We never had another bite after we moved down lake. I have a feeling it was the lightning, but who knows. I know we were glad we were close because when it came, there was thunder and lightning, it flat out poured. We ended up soaked before we got it on the trailer.
So that ended up being it for the day. And for his short 2 day trip. We were just getting the hang of it when we had to quit. It was real apparent that they have moved to the outside edge of the deeper grass. As we are in full swing summer, the days of getting by fishing shallow are coming to an end. But I have put several big fish in the boat in the last couple of weeks, all shallow. So as long as they continue to bite there, I will fish it to the bitter end. I am a shallow water bass fisherman and seeing them roll or blow up on it is still one of my favorite bites.
I think tonight I will head to the lake late. The gate closes at 12 and does not re-open until 4:30 so I guess I will let them lock me in and give it an all night go. Of course there is a chance of thunder storms, so it is still up in the air. I spent many nights fishing in Arkansas after dark. It was the main fishing activity for us from April until the end of October, and when you get on them it can be awesome. So we will have to see.
Thanks for reading my stuff. I appreciate all of you and read all your comments. And to David who asked me whether I thought the Zoom Swimmin Super Fluke with the shad tail would work on the Redfish Magic, the answer is yes. But I would put it on a 3/8 or 1/2oz. jig head if I used the bigger one, to provide it with a little more stability to keep it from potentially rolling on its side. The one I would really consider is the Berkley Havoc in a 3″ shad tail. We caught a few good trout and reds on it the other day, and I think it would be a great addition to the your arsenal. It has good vibration and when added to the Redfish Magic should work like a charm. This is the kind of thinking that puts more fish in the boat, so thanks David, I will try it myself.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
