Fish Catching Travel
Sometimes I wonder if I have looked at somebody else’s weather. When I got to the lake at daylight it was cloudy and calm, and it stayed that way the rest of the morning. What good fishing weather for a nice fall day. As fall approaches it is time for crankbait. Though we are a power plant lake, fall is a great time to throw crankbait, and so I started with a Strike King Square Bill.
When looking for good crankbait water rocks are the place to be. The other important factor is deeper water nearby. So I started on a channel bank up lake with some good rock and caught one right off the bat.
Starting on my fall fashion look. I call it the Kenny. (see Southpark)
Over the next couple of hours I put 5 in the boat, and all came from areas with rock. A steady retrieve was best, with an occasional ripping it forward, then stopping it. They were popping it pretty good. But with the great conditions I finally succumbed to the lure of the buzzbait and out it came.
From about 8:30 until I quit at 1:00 they bit pretty consistently, though I never had more than one or two in a place. The lake has come up some, but it still has not pulled the fish to the bank with any consistency. Most of the fish came from the very outside edge of grass, and though they were still on flatter areas, you have to get way out off it to catch any good fish.
This one hit it like they are supposed to – he blew up on it!
Until I quit, I concentrated on deep grass edges and covered lots of water. I am fishing it with a medium retrieve trying to fish points, slots, and isolated patches on the outside edge. When it was all said and done I put 9 in the boat on the buzzbait.
Another nice buzzbait fish. This guy was fat and sassy.
I did fish some topwater, and did not have a bite but only stuck with it a little while so can not definitively say it won’t work. As I am getting ready for friends coming down I did not re-fish anywhere, but I am sure if you would catch a couple on buzzbait, and then come back through fishing slower with a topwater, you could double up on them. I tried lots of places this morning and it seemed it was one of those fish here and there days, so I am not really sure what the pattern is right now. But no matter what, there are fish to be caught on Coleto. My guess you can catch fish on your favorite bait right now, you just have to locate them.
Random Thought
Sometimes the pressure to catch fish seems to blind me to the other things that fishing has to offer. Over the last year I have had a deer try to crawl in the boat and seen a duck get blasted by gator to mention a couple. Being outdoors a lot gives you a real chance to see lots of cool stuff. And this morning was no exception.
This morning the critters were up and moving. Lots of gators were finishing their nightly prowl, the hogs were out along the bank, and I saw several deer. Lately I have not taken the big camera with me, and consequently have missed some really cool pictures, pictures that should be on the blog. When you have an undergrad degree in photography and journalism there is no excuse for not doing that part of it. I want to share my whole experience, not just the fish.
So this morning I see a couple of turkeys on the bank and they are clucking away. And then out of the woods they come, and I mean lots of them. As I eased the boat quietly to them they were fighting, raising hell, and just generally being turkeys. I really was amazed how many came. So keeping with my plan of being ready here are a few for you to enjoy.
Flying over the fence.
Hanging out acting like turkeys.
High steppin’ to the party.
Wait for us.
Surely this would get a turkey hunter’s blood going. They milled around for a while and finally could not take me this close and off they ran into the woods. While I was watching them I saw another thing that says fall and hunting.
This one was dripping sap. This weather had the bucks on the move.
So just remember to appreciate those great things we all see when we are in the outdoors. We only get one run at this, every cool experience needs to be savored because who knows how many more days we have on this earth.
So there you have a nice Monday. The weather was great, the fishing ok, and the turkeys cool. What more could you want. Next it is off to the Gulf. I have not been to Indianola in a while so that should be the next fishing destination for Fish Catching Travel. Thanks for reading my stuff, I am grateful every day to get this chance to bring it to you. Be nice on the water.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
