Fish Catching Travel
Some days are just meant to be. I got a text from my friend Clyde in Arkansas at 6:00 in the morning, who does that? Worse, I was awake. He wanted to finalize our Canada plans, and to ask what size of that Strike King Swim Jig I throw, which is a quarter ounce. So guess what, I decided to throw it some today.
Look how long she is. That is the skinniest big one I have ever caught. If this is a male he is the king of all males. Love that Strike King Swim Jig and Rage Craw, it catches big fish.
And another interesting occurence is what I wrote in my blog just yesterday about our last 2 trips when Shoedog was here:
“So not a bad couple of days with the Shoedog here. We caught fish both days, in fact probably 70, give or take a couple, but none of them were “big”. But I am not complaining, it is just the prelude to what is coming. For both fish, and fishermen, the next few months will reach a fever pitch. There will be lots of big ones coming.”
The day started out slow, probably because I threw a medium size swimbait for a couple of hours. If you read my stuff you know I have been catching lots of them on Coleto on topwater, but no real big ones. So I thought the swimbait might be a good choice, not. After that I went back to the topwater, and over the next couple of hours, it was slow, I put 4 in the boat. The falling water temperature up lake probably has something to do with it. It was 5 degrees colder than last week.
Finally I committed to fishing the swim jig. The one above was the first one I caught when I threw it. I was pitching it to big grass clumps in 5 foot of water, hitting the tops of the clumps and then slow rolling it off. About a half hour later I caught this girl.
Another good fish succumbs to the Strike King Swim Jig. If the one above had been fat like this one she would have weighed 9!
I caught 4 on the swim jig, and missed another good one. They were tight to grass, and the bites all came after hitting the top and then slow rolling it down the face of it. No doubt that you do not get as many bites on the swim jig as on the topwater, but they sure are better fish. Next it was the cove right above the bridge, where I missed one on the swim jig and caught a nice one on spinnerbait. As I was leaving it, and feeling pretty good about the way it was going, I heard a boat trying to start under the bridge. I idled over and they were having trouble. He was actually on the phone trying to get someone to help.
So my day was over. But you know what, some days are meant to be. Clyde and I talk about the swim jig, and I catch a couple of big un’s. Then I was there at the right time to tow those folks, with the kids, back to the ramp. Over the years I have towed several folks back, and I keep doing it, you never know, it could be your turn next.
This was the kind of day that keeps me fishing. Slow, falling water levels and temps, and still find a way to catch a couple. And to have it happen right in the middle of the day, when it was looking a little rough, was all that much better. I think for the day it was 4 on topwater, 4 on jig, and one on a spinnerbait. Not even a pass on the swim bait.
The weather this week looks like it is going to suck, again. High winds from the north, falling temperatures, maybe rain to make it perfect. So in the morning I will give it a go, hopefully the front will come in later in the day. Then it is off to Baffin on Thursday. Here’s hoping the weather settles down by then. I am having visions of a big trout on a corky. Thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
