Fish Catching Travel
I do not know about you, but I am flat sick of this 30mph wind. Yesterday it blew over 30 at times, and seemed to get stronger as the day wore on. So with the forecast for just a little less, I was up before daylight and off to Coleto.
It was already blowing pretty hard when I got to the lake, and it continued until I quit around noon. Today it was just hitting places as I moved up lake. I fished banks from near the dam to all the way up lake. It was hard to find any calm water, and most of the time it was howling right down whatever bank I was wanting to fish.
While topwater had been working pretty well, today it turned out to be Swim Jig and spinnerbait. Of the first 8 I caught, 6 were on topwater, but they were just not measuring. The only fish I had that measured came on spinnerbait. Find a windy point and buzz that spinnerbait past it, that is the ticket with the high winds we are experiencing right now.
When you could get them to hit it, they were smoking it.
As the morning wore on I started throwing the Swim Jig, and actually had some really good bites. The kind of bite where they were really jumping on it.
A good keeper on the Strike King Swim Jig.
For the rest of the morning I alternated between the spinnerbait and Swim jig. The Swim Jig put the most fish in the boat. It was simply a matter of throwing it to the bank and reeling it at a moderate speed and they were jumping it.
This size was eating the Swim Jig today.
So whenever the wind got to high I would pick up the spinnerbait and buzz it right below the surface at a pretty quick pace, and when one decided to eat it, they would smoke it.
The best of the day. Ate a buzzed spinnerbait halfway back to the boat.
Actually not a bad morning for a short day and a howling wind. I would have stayed a little while longer, but since I forgot my phone I did not know what time it was when I quit. The fish bit better as the morning dragged on, the usual for Coleto. They were on shallow grass in 1 -3 feet of water. Topwater in calm water = lots of small bass. Swim Jig in moderate chop = best bite and most fish. Spinnerbait when it was real windy = biggest fish. One of those days when you had to pick up the right bait at the right time.
With the biggest (I think) tournament of the year this weekend on Coleto, what I caught today got me thinking it should be interesting. My biggest 5 were probably about 12.5 lbs give or take a little. I lost the biggest one, or my weight might have touched 15. It should take more than that. The wind is surely going to lay down soon, opening more of the deep water bite. No matter what there is no way there will not be a few really big fish brought to the scale, so lets see who can add the big kicker.
Arkansas
This may not be the best picture in the world, but it is the thought that counts. Here is my old buddy John with a couple of stripers caught the other night. Norfork Lake has lots of nice stripers, and over the years we caught the snot out of them in the 10 – 20lb range, so these 2 are not a good representation. What matters is they are biting, and I will be there in 2 weeks.
Thanks for the pictures, and nice to know the water temp was 51 degrees on the main lake. It is tough not to get excited when it is only 2 weeks away, we should whack them.
April Fools
It was nice to know that a few of you actually thought for a second I might be calling it quits. No way that is going to happen. I love to hear myself talk, and what better place than this. I get to to do all the talking, and can interrupt myself all I want. It was nice to know that at least some of you are actually paying attention.
Great Videos
I am sure some of you have seen these videos. There are several of both on youtube, and they are hilarious. I just got to thinking about watching them again since there have been a couple of wrapped bass boats on Coleto this week. So take a look at them, they crack me up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dbkP_hVJeI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzwF72B2F2w
And last but hardly least…..
Tomorrow is our 25th wedding anniversary. Nancy is a great wife, and anything I am, or have, is because of her. She is my buddy, wife, partner, and all around girlfriend. To have someone who is kind enough to let me be me, and not kill me, is an honor. And I am honored to have her for my wife. When we hooked up all those years ago she came into this fishing thing with eyes wide open. I never made any bones about it, the fishing came first. And for her to let me pursue my passion without complaint makes her one of a kind. So Nancy, thanks. You rock, and if I don’t tell you enough here it is one more time – Love you.
Next Week
The reports coming from the Gulf are rapidly improving. With the high tides the last few days the reports are coming fast and furious. Topwater is really starting to take off with a warming bay, and some reports have the water approaching 70 degrees. So wind or not, Shoedog and I will be spending several days trying to get our spring trout fling on early next week.
Thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
