Fish Catching Travel
You remember the old Sonny and Cher song whose words went “the beat goes on”? Well here on the Texas Coast the song goes “the heat goes on”. It is hot. And yesterday was no different than the last couple of weeks. Oppressive heat as the day goes on, really low tides, and dirty water says it all, the fishing remains tough.
We pre-fished yesterday for the tournament this weekend, and while it went better than it has, it is still hard to figure out. When the water at high tide does not even come near covering my 2 favorite oyster bars it is basically winter time low. And of course when all these conditions are combined you get a slow bite.
Chris and I started on a shallow flat at daylight and when we got there the reds were tailing. A few singles were here and there and we also saw 2 bunches with tails up, one of my favorite sights on the bay. We made quick work of the flat and I put a good keeper in the boat, and then we left them. Now I usually tell you right where they are, but in this case I would have to kill you. Just kidding, but hopefully at daylight Saturday we will have it to ourselves, and just maybe put a couple of them in the boat.
I caught the first one on plastics pitching it to a couple of tailers. I think Saturday I will rig a 3″ Gulp New Penny Shrimp on a light 1/16th jig head to pitch to tailers. If you have tailing redfish there is no better bait than the Gulp for pitching. Get it close and then just hop it a little and hold on. No need to remind you not to throw it on them. Nothing like having a bunch of reds tailing and feeding, making a terrible cast, and watching them go from feeding reds to fleeing reds.
A little while later I put this one in the boat on what else but the Redfish Magic.
I only need 3 of these Saturday.
We alternated with different baits throughout the day and only put one more red in the boat. While we were fishing we saw a lot of bait getting worked over so we went over to see what the deal was. It turned out to be jacks and ladys. It was cool as they were feeding on small ribbon fish about 6” long, first time I have seen them that small. Now I really did not want to mess with the ladys, but definitely wanted the jacks. Chris likes them for shark fishing, and last time we went to buy some bait for sharks they wanted $15 bucks for ones like we caught. So we messed with them for awhile and put three in the boat. Kinda made it feel like we just made $45. They are now resting happily in the freezer with a less than stellar future.
Happy with the red potential we did some trout fishing. A couple of things happened. We caught 6 or 7 small ones. We drifted the open bay around diving gulls when I got a good bite. I took it easy as I could feel it was a good one and when he came up near the boat it was a blacktip shark. He took one look at the boat, turned, and the line parted like nothing. Hard to land a shark on 8lb. line.
We fished deeper channels as we continued to look for trout. Chris ended up losing a real good one at the boat, I broke one off, lost a couple, and we both caught a couple in one deep spot. Hopefully they won’t move. We caught on both plastics and popping cork and there did not seem to be any particular bait that they preferred over another. Nor was there a preferred color. With the bite as tough as it is for me right now hopefully we will do a better job of getting them in the boat this weekend.
At least I am starting to find a couple of places with fish. So the outlook for the weekend is a lot better than it was a week ago. But clearly right now I need to do a better job of putting them in the boat when the time comes.
We ended up quitting early, not a bad thing as hot as it was, to go look at a potential duck lease Chris is considering. The place has real potential, and who knows, maybe he might take a friend hunting a time or two. And it sure would beat that 3 a.m. ride across the bay.
Read This Book
Before I sign off today I want to recommend a book to you. I found it at the library, and if you are a lover of all things Texas coast it is a must read. Set in Rockport, it has hurricanes, shrimpers, corrupt politicians, you know, all the things that make the Texas coast so awesome. It has Ayers Bay, the barge canal, Port A, and many other places we know and love. I promise you that if you love the water, the coast, and all the cast of characters that make this such a cool place, you will love this book.
Thin Slice of Life by Miles Arceneaux, 2012.
The Last Birthday Comment
And how about this for a birthday present? I meant to show you this earlier, so here it is. It is the best present I could have gotten for my 60th birthday from the best kid a guy could ever want.
Next time you need to buy a present for your fisherman or fishergal, get them something that will last forever. Support CCA.
So now it is time to put on new line, buys a few baits (like I need them), and just generally get ready to hit it hard the next couple of days. Tomorrow we will search out new places in hopes to expand on what we know. I used to fish a lot of bass tournaments in my old life, and now fish only a couple of tournaments a year, but I still love the anticipation. So win, lose, or draw it should be fun weekend. It’s funny how it is always nice when you win a couple of bucks, but the bigger victory is in catching them when the pressure is on. The goal starts off with just not embarrassing yourself. So wish me luck and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
