Fish Catching Travel
Since the Gulf is on tap tomorrow it was off to Coleto this morning. It was warm with a South wind at 10 -15 mph as I headed lake. As there was a pretty good chop a spinnerbait was up first, but after and hour without a bite it was time for a change.
One bait that is so consistent in the fall is a crankbait, with a Strike King Square Bill being my bait of choice. The 2.5 runs 3 – 5 deep depending on line size and speed, which makes it a great bait for submerged grass that does not come to the surface. With the spinnerbait not working in the grass flats the next choice was deeper channel areas. I caught a small one, then the one below.
A Strike King Square Bill is a good choice for fall.
With a wider wobble the bass seem to prefer it in the fall when they are not super active. So on Coleto it is a matter of keeping it right over the tops of sunken grass, and then when the bait hits grass, give it a little rip. One, it often cleans the grass off, but more importantly, it triggers the strike. It is a matter of feeling the bait in the grass and then finding the happy medium where you cast it out, and when it reaches the running depth, you are hitting grass. It takes some feel, but is worth the effort. We all get frustrated when our bait continually catches grass. But remember, grass it your friend. It provides the cover that makes the fishing what it is. So if you have not tried the Square Bill pick one up and give it a go. While I throw the whacky color above a lot, you can not go wrong with one in the Sexy Shad. It catches bass anywhere.
I kept with the crankbait for a while longer, and probably caught 4 or so on it, when passing a point with grass on it and no wind I tossed out the Bang-O-Lure topwater minnow. One hopped on it the first cast, then one of the third.
The Bagley Bang-O-Lure was definitely the bait of choice today.
So though I was catching a couple on crankbait I started looking for calm water to throw the topwater. With a pretty good breeze out of the South there were not a lot of calm water out there, but where there was, I would catch a couple. In fact I caught a couple out of 3 different coves. They were small males, but a couple of better fish rolled underneath it. It just got my pre-spawn clock running. From about 10:30 until I quit at 2:00 they bit fairly consistently anywhere there was calm water.
You may have read it here before, but lets take a little time and talk about topwater minnows. Lots of folks make topwater minnows, but I have been fishing them for over 30 years and one thing is clear, balsa minnow baits are better. The Bagley Bang-O-Lure and the Rapala both have the foil sides, critical to the flash, which is key to using them in clear water.
Over the years I have learned Bass will hit it just sitting there on top, but that is not how most of them hit it, especially the better ones. The old “let it sit until the rings go away” thing does work, at times, but it is only a small part of the time. To use it, twitch it a time or two on top, letting it set just a second, then pull it under while you twitch it 3 or 4 times in small jerks, it will go down about a foot or two. The balsa, with the foil, flashes and flutters, and that is when lots of them eat it. As you learn this technique you will be surprised at how many fish are below it, And if you see one roll on it, toss it right back in there and jerk it real erratically and faster right through that same area and you can often get that fish to bite. And good polaroids are a must.
This was a quick primer for a bait that will really come in to it’s own in the next month. And it really gives you a tell as to where the fish are as far as the spawn goes. So keep it on your line and give it a chance when the wind is not blowing. First will come the small males, and right after that the big girls. And by tossing it some from early spring on, the time will come and the big fish will just be there. I love that pattern and just can’t wait for next month.
So for the day it was 12 – 15, not bad for this time of year. But tomorrow it is off to the Lavaca River with Todd and Ken from Austin. With what looks like a real big time cold front coming somewhere between 9 and noon we will just have to wait and see how the day goes. So thanks for stopping in and reading my stuff. This is my favorite time of year to fish, and as long as the weather is halfway reasonable I will be out there.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
