Fish Catching Travel
I want to wish you and your family a safe and Merry Christmas. Since my Christmas will be this weekend I was able to slide out for a little fishing. The original plan was to head to the Gulf, but when I got up it slowly clouded up, and by time I got ready to go it was calm and cloudy. After that it really wasn’t that much of a decision, time to go throw topwater on Coleto. Plus, I have been on a lake then Gulf then lake then Gulf kick right now, and since it is working why mess with a good thing.
I love it when I get to the ramp and there is only one truck there. In fact, other than a couple of guys in kayaks, I never saw another boat. So I headed to a big cove up lake where I got them the other day and started there. It was great, 6 in the boat in the first cove, and I missed another 3 or 4.
Nothing like starting with this one. It was the first of well over 20 today.
The fish started up right where they left off last time. They were in the coves and on the points. It was simply a matter of twitching the topwater on top in short jerks, keeping it moving, and watching closely. Like I have said many times, Polaroids are a must. While some hit it right on top, today about half of them would hit it right after you jerked it under. And do not give up on it to early, some of the biggest bass I catch all year come on topwater, many of them well off the bank. In that clear water they can see it a long way, so keep it coming. I did catch one today right next to the boat.
Love that Bang-O-Lure.
Today the fish were a little more active due to the perfect set of conditions. One here, one there, then a run of 4 or 5. It stayed good until about 3, then it really died off. There were a couple of interesting things that happened today. First, I always wondered if alligators in the water would affect the fishing. Well apparently not. There was small grass point sticking out in a cove, a prime spot right now, and you could see his nose and eyes as he was buried up in the grass. It was not that big a point, maybe sticking out about 10 feet, and about 4 feet wide. I caught one on both sides of him, and he never moved. Like I said in the last Coleto post, find an alligator and you will find fish, both of them are seeking that little warmer water.
Another thing I find interesting is that there seems to be a lot more Nutria at the lake. Though they are not real common, I have seen more in the last year than the 3 years before put together. As I eased down a long bank there was something furry on top of a stump. When I got close I could see it was a Nutria sitting right on top of that stump. He let me go right by him and never moved a muscle. Thinking about it now, maybe there was an alligator in the water just waiting to eat him. Maybe he had to choose between letting me get close or getting back in the water. Weird.
On the learning side, they are not in all the coves. 2 of those today had lots of fish in them, and they were aggressive. A couple of more I fished, including my favorite spawning cove, did not even result in a bite. The only thing I can figure is that it was starting to get colder later in the day, maybe they were just done. But one thing for sure, pick the right cove, and you will catch them. And one other point, they really liked the calm water today. Not much was happening where it was windy. And I did not catch a fish on a spinnerbait all day. And I caught them from right outside the ramp cove to pretty far up lake.
They are slowly getting bigger as we approach real pre-spawn.
I really did think I was going to put a big girl in the boat today, but it did not happen. I did miss one that might have made the grade, but the rest of them are males. Like a bunch of guys at the bar 2 hours before lady’s night starts, they are up hoping to get lucky. The fishing is still a month off, but if we get a real warming stretch it should really get good. Just remember to look for those sunny days we have coming, then start looking at flat banks out of the wind. And topwater is not your only choice. A Bass Assassin weedless and un-weighted would probably put fish in the boat right now as well as the topwater.
Not a bad day all in all. I quit counting around 15, and caught a bunch more after that. And it did not get cold until well after 3, and the wind was kind enough to not blow until later. Until then it was a real steady bite. Next it will be the Gulf somewhere. My buddy tmart from Austin is coming down and I hope to meet up with him. It will be nice to let him put me on some trout. Looking back at old posts I really caught a lot of big reds in January last year, so it is time to work them over also. I love this time of year.
I hope you all had a great Christmas, I know I did. And I want to take a moment to thank my wife, who is seeing patients in the ER. I appreciate what you do, it is hard to work the holidays, but our Christmas is right around the corner. I am a lucky man, she is a great wife who puts up with my BS, and still likes me anyway, though I have never been able to figure out why. Thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
