Fish Catching Travel
It seems like I have not been to Keller Bay in quite some time. So with the weather looking ok it was off to Keller. We had some rain at the house, and on the way there were big thunderheads all around Keller, but even though they passed all around, it stayed perfect.
I decided to start on the point at the mouth of the bay. With light winds I threw a topwater, but without success other than a few blowups, most of which looked like small trout. So then it was the bank on the right leading in for reds. The water color was terrible, and when combined with high tide, that bank usually is not productive, and that was the case this morning. It only took about half of that bank before I realized it was not happening. So it was time for a move.
I cranked up and headed for the back end. There is a duck blind that sits in the bay on a small flat where I have caught them on top in the past. I motored past it towards the 2 duck blinds on the bank and stopped in less than 2 foot of water. The wind was light and the drift was perfect so I let the boat drift out towards the duck blind and kept with the topwater.
I had a couple of blow ups on a bone colored topwater but they did not hook up. So I switched to a chrome Skitterwalk and started catching them.
One of the 4 trout I caught there. While I had lots of bites they were small ones.
While I was drifting I was reminded of one of my favorite fall happenings, the gathering of the reds. During the hour or so I spent there I saw 3 or 4 big schools of reds. It seemed like every time they went past the boat I had just made a long cast and could not get the topwater back in time. Then I got a good cast at one bunch, and he smoked it.
No giant, but he was willing.
When this guy came to the boat there was several of his brothers following it. I ended up making 3 drifts out from the shallow water along the flat around the boat dock before I decided to move. But the reds were there for sure, but I had other places I wanted to try so I headed to the north high bank along the big pasture.
That bank has some good deep grass on the far end towards the ramp. I started with a paddle tail and put a couple of small trout in the boat, but they were not what I was looking for. Then the tide started to slowly fall and the bite picked up.
The trout on that bank were a lot better than the ones in the back, or it may simply been a matter of the tide starting to move.
For some reason historically fishing that bank it has always been a pretty good popping cork bank. So with that in mind I put on a 1/16 jig head about a foot and a half below the cork. My favorite bait for that is the Strike King Rage Shrimp in white with a chartreuse tail. And always use the scent that comes with it, it works. And one thing I like about the Rage Shrimp is you can catch tons of fish on it before it comes apart. In fact I have had the same one on for the last 5 or 6 times I have fished the Gulf. Be sure if you use it to break apart the little legs so it vibrates.
On the first pass down that bank I caught 4 or 5 keepers and missed several more. The way that bank lays it has a flat that goes out from the bank and then it drops off from about 2 into 4 feet real quick. The fish position themselves on that small drop as the water falls off the flat on a falling tide. And that is where they were.
And like always there was a particular way they wanted it popped. Today they wanted small quicker pops, and after 4 or 5 pops I would stop it and they would pull it under. When you are fishing it like that be sure to take up the slack immediately so you do not have to much slack so you can get an effective hook set.
Every once in while I would alternate with the paddle tail, but the trout were not seeming to want it the same as they did the popping cork. But I did have a nice red smack it, and they are such a good time on a light rod and 8lb test.
Love those Keller Bay reds!
It was about 1 when I put this guy in the boat. So I tossed him back to fight another day, reached down and hit the trolling motor, and nothing. No power, nothing. The one I have on the skiff is a Motor Guide and since I bought it less than 2 years ago I have had tons of problems with it. I knew exactly what it was, and the day was over. To bad as the fish had really started biting, and I needed it to keep the boat in the perfect position to make the casts to the little drop where they were staging eating bait falling off the flat.
So it was an early end to a pretty good morning. Around 10 trout and a couple of reds will do. It would have been a great day as I had not even gotten to my 2 favorite redfish banks in Keller and the better trout were just starting to bite. With the high tide falling, Keller has a couple of banks that are usually covered up with reds, and with my eternal fisherman optimism I am sure I would have whacked them. I do know that the Keller Bay reds are really starting to school up, some quiet drifting in the back with a light wind and good polarized sunglasses could result in some awesome sight fishing.
So off to work on the trolling motor. One thing about fishing 3 days a week, it is hard on equipment. There is more maintenance to be done on boats and equipment, it just comes with the territory. Plus, if I want to go tomorrow, which I do, it is time to get off my butt and fix that trolling motor.
I appreciate all of you who come here and I am amazed that the website just topped 75,000 visits this year. Not bad since we only had 69 the first month just over 2 years ago. Who would have thunk it! Thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
