WTF – OMG -LOL !

Well what more can be said.  What The Frick – Oh My God – Laugh Out Loud.  I have had some rough trips, and I mean some stinkers, but our trip to Falcon Lake was the WORST TRIP EVER!  The reports had been very spotty, in the words of one website “some folks are struggling.”  In fact the guides are reporting 7 – 10 fish a day. I wish to God that it was simply a matter of struggling.  So sorry I did not post any reports, but when you read the following you will see, there was nothing to report.  The only thing after this trip was to laugh or cry, so I choose to laugh.

We got down there Wednesday about 8:30 and were fishing by 9.  We headed down lake from Beacon’s Lodge and stopped at the first big cove below the Velano and Jeff put the first fish in the boat in the back end on a spinnerbait.  What reports I read, spinnerbait shallow was the ticket for the few being caught, so we stuck with it.

The next cove we hit I had one over 4 on and instead of lipping or netting him, I tried to flip him in the boat, and off he came.  No big deal right?  There would surely be more to come, NOT!  Now folks neither I or Shoedog claim to be KVD, far from it, but we have caught our share of bass from Canada to South Texas.  We have caught them in cold weather, hot weather, creeks, power plant lakes, you name a bait and we have caught some on it.  But it was not to be.

To get to the point, Shoedog had 1 bite on Wednesday, 2 bites on Thursday, and no bites on Friday.  I had 1 bite on Wednesday, 5 bites on Thursday, and no bites on Friday.  Slow would not even describe it.  The water level was good, we fished places we have caught them before, and before it was over we deep cranked (no bites), flipped (no bites), plastics (no bites), deep (no bites), shallow rock (no bites), and everything else you can think of (no bites).  The only bites we got were in shallow water, around 2 feet, and they were on spinnerbaits.

So Wednesday ended with the one fish in the boat.  We were not worried yet, there had to be a way to pull it out.  So Thursday with hope in our heart we headed out.  I missed one slow rolling a spinnerbait in the back end of a cove around 10 in the morning, and that was the size of it until Shoedog caught one about 6:30 that evening.  That was his second bite,  around 18 hours of fishing later.  Then I buzzed one off the bank way back in shallow water and one of those Falcon giants smoked it, and I broke my line setting the hook.  Ouch!  Shoedog missed another one, then I hooked one around 3 and before we could get to him he tangled in a thorn bush and was gone.  I missed another one, and the day was over.  So Shoedog caught his second, I still had not boated a fish.

I can not believe I am posting this one.  But it beat anything I caught, and it least it proves we were fishing.

Friday we gave it another go, and we did not even have a bite, not even one.  We fished until 1:30 and called it a day.  Folks I did not boat a fish in 3 days.  Are you kidding me?  Talk about getting put in your place, I am humbled.  I might feel different if I had not fished Falcon 6 times and caught lots of bass over 7, some 8’s, and one over 9.  Last trip Shoedog put 3 in the boat in one place that weighed over 23lbs.  So what is the deal?

I think it is several things.  The owner of Falcon Lake Tackle attributes it to the huge number of monster gar in the lake, and he is convinced that they are eating everything in sight.  I would like to add a couple of other factors.  As Shoedog put it, the bass have been subjected to the biggest high tech assault by the best bass fisherman in the world over the last 8 years or so.  The pressure has been nothing short of super intense.  Add to that the number of bass that have been taken out of the lake, and it has to be a factor.  And before all you hardcore bass fisherman get your panties in a wad with the we don’t keep them, do not underestimate the huge number of fish that have been taken out of that lake.  On one of our trips a big group was staying at the same motel we were, and they had tons of fish, including big ones, all headed to a fish fry.  And that happened every day and if you do not think so you are kidding yourself.

Also with the wild fluctuations in water level the spawn has not provided the high recruitment necessary to keep the numbers up.  There are just no little ones around, in fact in our experience there weren’t many fish, period.  And finally, the Mexican netters.  I refuse to believe that they do not catch a sizeable number of bass.  The netters were all over the lake, and we hooked old nets on the US side like we have every trip.  So say what you will, until there is a real way to gauge their impact it would be hard to convince me that it is not a factor.

So was our experience different from other folks, not the guy who was staying at Beacon’s.  He was with a bunch of guys who have fished it for years, have a camp there, and had been fishing for 4 days.  He boated 1 fish in 4 days, 1!  They never boated over 3 any day they were there.  They were so sick of it they were heading to Amistad to try to save their trip.  They had decided they will not be back.  To bad the reports from Amistad are the same.

Is it over?  Experience has shown us over the years lakes tend to have the big boom, then a decline, until they seem to stabilize.  Is this Falcon’s path, or is there something more troubling going on?  I do not have a clue. but something is wrong with Falcon.  The lake that made the dreams of hundreds of bass fisherman come true is suffering.  The question remains, is this an anomaly and the fish will start showing up again, or is it over?  Only time will tell.

Would I go back?  Not anytime soon.  Would I tell folks to go, not on your life.  If I had plans and could cancel, I would do it.  And if I was one of those fisherman driving hundreds of miles chasing a dream I would try another lake.  It is sad.  A huge lake like that with tons of cover and places for bass to hide and thrive is declining at a rapid pace.  According to the owner of Falcon Lake Tackle TPWD does not appear to give a damn.  To bad.  I am not sure what the answer is, but it is sad to see such a fabulous fish factory produce such a poor result.  For the folks at Zapata who make a living off Falcon, good luck, you are going to need it.  The Days of Wine and Roses appears to be over.

Random Thoughts

On a much better note I heard from one of my regular readers, Steve Deckard, who has been fishing a bunch of different places.  He hit Texana and had a good day of crappie fishing.

“I fished Texana for the 1st time today. Finished with a limit. all fish came from less than 2′, some as shallow as 10″. Used a 10′ pole, red/chart solid body tube type jig, dabbling around wood. I was there a little late for the spawn, most of the fish were males, the females were spawned out or almost so. Lots of bumps and short strikes, finally had to pinch off about 1/2 of the tail to get hook ups.”

Thanks for the report Steve, sounds like a good day.  We have lots of water in our area, and each has it’s own character and it pays to make use of them all.  So if you want to catch a few crappie, better get there fast!  I love to post reader’s reports, so send them to me, we all like to hear how others are doing.  Thanks again.

Another reader I hear from regularly is Faye.  She and her husband are fishing POC this weekend, and if I was not at Falcon I would have tried to meet them.  All I have to say Faye is good luck, I wish I had been at POC the last few days and can not wait to hear how your trip went.

Joe Gest sent me a note, cursing the Coots on Fayette, I feel your pain Joe.  He was headed to Coleto this week while I was at Falcon, to bad I was not fishing with you on Coleto as it sure would have been better.  Drop me a line and let me know how it went.  And yes Coleto is not nearly as crowded as Fayette.  One thing about Coleto, the way it lays it fishes a lot bigger than Fayette.  So thanks for reading my stuff.

And Jeremy, I really appreciate your offer to take me poling on your skiff for reds with a fly rod.  It is on my bucket list and I have saved  your contact information and will definitely be taking you up on it as soon as our spring winds die down.  My casting is still at the level of below basic, but I will practice more so when you put me on them I might not clutch to bad.  It is kind of you to offer and we will get that done.

And on that note, I try to keep up with all of you as best as I can.  To get this article written and respond to you all I had to sort through over 400 comments from just the last 6 days alone.  I do get behind, but I promise I read them all.  So please keep commenting, it show me that you are out there somewhere reading these ramblings.  I am so thankful for each and every one of you.

If the winds are liveable this week it will be off to the Gulf for a couple of days.  The flats boat is headed in for it’s annual check so it is the skiff for a couple of weeks, which limits my ability of cover miles of open bay.  Luckily we have lots of great places like Keller where you can find a place to fish on some of those high wind days.  Then it is off to Arkansas to my old stomping grounds for a week of hardcore fishing.  It has been 10 years since I fished Bull Shoals and Norfork, and I am really looking forward to getting there in the middle of April.  Hard to believe it is only 3 weeks away.  Visions of big smallmouth, bass, trout, and maybe even a striper or two, are already dancing in my head.  Looks like I will finally have to give that Alabama Rig a serious go.  It should be awesome.  And it definitely will be a better trip than Falcon.

Thanks for stopping in and reading my stuff.  The site has grown thanks to you.  If you get a chance share it with someone else, we love new readers.  We try to tell it like it is the best we can, no matter how the fishing is.  Who knows, you might even learn a little something, I know I have.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines