Fish Catching Travel
Shoedog was in town for his first couple of days of fishing since he retired. We hoped to fish 3 days, but it looks like Friday is going to hell in a hand basket, love that Texas weather. So with only 2 days we decided to start out at POC. The weather was supposed to be ok, with the big fallout on Thursday, so it made sense to fish the Gulf with low wind and sun. We would head to Coleto for bass on Thrusday, the day of the front.
If there was one strike against us it was the fact that there would be 2 tides, none of them of any strength. The wind was not to bad when we got to the ramp, and it was supposed to be fairly warm. Well it did get “fairly” warm, but the wind started to blow harder as the day went on, not helping warm the water as much as it did 2 days ago. The water temp was only 57 when we started, and never got much above 60 all day.
Since I literally whacked them 2 days ago we headed to the Bayou starting in the same drain where I was so successful before. Our first pass we caught 10 or 12 trout, but only one made the grade. We started hunting and pecking after that, but the water was so low, and the tide so weak, it did not have the trout concentrated in any one area.
Though we continued to catch them here and there, the only place we tried where we got no bites was the little jetties, we just could not stick a good one. But one thing happened that ended up making it a great day, sight fishing for the redfish. I have not really had a lot of experience doing that in the winter, but today it worked.
The first bunch we saw had probably 30 in it, and we caught several, including one just under 20″, the rest were rats. We also ran into a bunch on a bank in the Saluria, we could see them rolling over and eating in the clear water. We put several in the boat there. Later we found another couple of bunches, and as with the first bunch, it was simply a matter of throwing to the mud.
Fighting another rat red.
There are no pictures of the rats, they were small. While they would not measure, we had a great time casting to them. There was one constant, calm water, and the reds were there. They wanted that sun to warm them, and the baitfish in the same place.
We kept going back to the trout, but they never did gang up in any of the drains, there was just not enough water being forced through them to get the fish active. But every once in while we would catch another keeper, but when it was all said and done we only boxed 6 for the day. I was a little surprised that we did not have any more keepers than that, considering we caught maybe 20 reds and 25 trout. We also picked up a couple of black drum and 4 or 5 flounder, all of them to small.
These guys are headed to their new home, a freezer in College Station.
While catching small fish can be a pain in the butt, it really was a good time. We had bent rods almost all day. Flipping plastics to cruising reds is a blast. I stayed with either the electric chicken, or chicken on a chain, paddle tails all day. Shoedog has been using Berkley Havoc 3″ paddle tails in dark colors, and the fish seem to really like them.
About 4 we called it a day and headed back to Froggie’s. No matter how the fishing goes there is something to learn everyday. I knew when I checked the tides it would be a tougher deal, and that was surely right. Now I need to learn how to overcome that fact. It might seem funny to be puzzled by a day where we caught lots of fish, but I am sure there is something we could have done to increase the size of fish. By the same token, I never look at gift fish in the mouth. No complaints, just thinking about how it could have been better.
Tomorrow it is off to Coleto. The weather reports say the front will be here some time between early morning and late evening. It will be one of those days when you hope to catch a big feed prior to the front. But with the up to 40 mph winds and a 2o degree drop in temperature, it could be tough. So stop on in, who knows maybe tomorrow is our day. Isn’t that how we fishermen are? The next cast, the next day, the next trip, our glass is always at least half full. With that as the starting point, how could we have a bad day. Thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
