Fish Catching Travel
Having a blog is harder than I ever thought. Keeping up, answering emails, downloading pictures and videos is hard when you have been fishing all day. But when you have a fishing blog the hardest thing is to consistently catch fish, hopefully a big one, so there are some pictures to go along with the tale. So every time I hit the water I try and catch something to show you. So lets just get that over with.
This is one big ass bass. She weighed a bunch and was long enough to not fit in the picture.
I decided to hit Coleto as we were forecasted to have a cold front move in and the wind was going to blow 20+ out of the north. I just did not feel like fighting the bay again after 2 days last week of high north winds. Besides, Coleto has been good. No great numbers, but some really nice fish are shallow, it just been a matter of figuring it out.
After fishing with Joseph yesterday and not putting a big one in the boat, I decided to change tactics. With the front coming, and the wind blowing, I decided to do what I told you when I posted last time that I should have done yesterday, find the wind and fish spinnerbait.
I started on the main lake close to the ramp and caught a couple of small ones right off the bat. They both came off points with grass on them. Then I fished another main lake bank and when I came around the point there was a stretch of calm water. There were several birds on the shoreline with a big grass bed in front of them. I saw one bust so I picked up the topwater minnow and caught 3 right on the edge of the grass.
The first nice one I caught on a spinnerbait.
I kept working my way up lake, mostly throwing spinnerbait. I think I put one more, and missed a couple, on the topwater, but my plan was to throw spinnerbait, so I stayed with it. One thing I noticed today, as the lake falls they are deserting those big flat banks with grass. Today they definitely wanted some deeper water close. And points with deep water and sunken grass were clearly the best.
From a point, out of a grass patch, in 5 foot of water, at the mouth a cove. She absolutely wolfed it. The pattern!
I was throwing a Strike King Pro Model 3/8th ounce white tandem spin spinnerbait with a big willow leaf blade. As those of you who read my stuff know, I love to buzz that bait. And today is the kind of day I like in the fall. The bass are definitely beginning the fall bite, and shad are at the top of their diet. To make it work you have to keep that spinnerbait up and make a wake with the blades, and cover lots of water. It was not fast by no means today, but I still boated over a dozen this afternoon, and a couple of them were good ones.
So now to the big fish in the first picture. Several of the biggest fish I have ever caught on Coleto have come in November at dark on buzzbait. If you noticed she has a buzzbait in her mouth. I had not planned on fishing it at all today, but right before dark I put it back on. In the last hour I caught 5 or 6, nothing big but they were smashing it. Right at dark I hit the point on the right going in to the ramp cove. The wind was blowing on it, and there is some good water and a nice patch of grass. Can you say sticking with the pattern? I flipped that buzzbait into a little crease and missed a nice one. So I flipped it close and the one above just smoked it with 5 feet of line out. I am not sure what she weighed, but it was the biggest fish I have caught in a while. My day was made.
I did have a couple of other things that happened that made for an interesting afternoon. About 3 I had a really big bass just smoke the spinnerbait, thrashed like a hog and came off. But it didn’t come off, the wire broke and the only thing I had left was the arm and the blades.
Then close to dark I was fishing the small island when all of a sudden an alligator about 6 foot just comes charging on his legs out of the reeds, across the sand and almost catches a duck sitting on the shallow point. That is the first time I have ever seen something like that and it was cool.
When I was coming down lake I saw a boat pulling a big net. I immediately turned around and went over to see who it was. I figured it was TPW doing a survey, but it turned out to be a private contractor who was working for GBRA. They were catching lots of nice size gizzard shad. He also said they had netted lots of small white bass, and no crappie. Nice to know that GBRA keeps up with stuff, kinda surprised me that they would be doing the study, but whatever, they have a great lake. And from the number of nice shad they were pulling out of the net it is apparent there is plenty to eat out there.
Looking back on it that last hour before dark has been a consistent big fish producer on Coleto in the fall. I can think of several whoppers that came when it was to dark to really see. It pays to stay, and today it also paid to stick with the pattern. The falling water has them a little skittish, and those places that do not have deep water close seem to have dried up. They even put up a sign on the ramp, the drop off is 22 feet from the sign so if you put the boat in just think about that. Backing off the end of a ramp, which I have done several times in several places, can break something or leave you stuck. That sign gives you a good idea how far the lake has fallen.
Next it is the big shark tournament on North Padre Island. It is a couple of days this weekend and will be a lot of work, especially for Chris as he kayaks the big baits way the hell out there looking for that monster shark. He takes it so far out I have to use binoculars to see him drop it and then reel the rod tight from the fishing platform on the truck. So I will keep you informed of how all that works out.
I appreciate all of you and just want to say thanks for reading my stuff. This may be the best month Fish Catching Travel has had yet. As we hit over 83,000 visits for the year who knows, we may just top a 100,000 this year. And it is all due to you. Thanks.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
