Fish Catching Travel
We decided wind or no wind to go back to POC and fish. Yesterday turned out ok, so the plan was to hit the Oil Cut first thing. And with a 20 – 30 mph wind, it was a place we could fish in spite of the wind. Which was good, as the wind was 2o plus right out of the south, and would only increase as the day wore on.
With the flats boat in the shop we were limited to the Carolina Skiff. I do love that boat, and have had it for almost 15 years, but when it is windy that boat slides right along being a flat bottom. Combine that with the tough wind, I fought the trolling motor and wind all day to keep us in good position. In spite of that hassle, we managed to catch fish pretty much all day.
One of the 2 keeper reds for the day, out of the 6 or 8 reds we caught.
It was pretty apparent unlike the day before, that the paddle tail was clearly the bait of choice. We threw a Sexy Shad, and some brown and blue colors, in both the 3 and 4″ sizes. As long as it had a paddle tail it caught fish. Fishing the side channels of the Oil Cut usually produced 3 – 4 every pass, and we fished a couple of them twice. The main channel had white caps, love it when that happens in a protected area, so we would fly down the bank, and though the fish were there, it was just really hard to feel them.
Shoedog’s best trout of the bunch.
We kept making passes in the Oil Cut and caught just enough to keep it interesting. In fact, there was probably only an hour lull in the action, but otherwise it was consistent. Just hopping that jig and plastic along and most of the ones that hit jumped it. One of the keeper reds came on spinnerbait, which we should have thrown more with it so windy and the water slightly off colored, but paddle tails were definitely the bait of choice. I am not sure how many fish we caught but it was several. Added to the small trout and a couple of small flounder, we did have a couple of close encounters with black drum. Shoedog lost one in the Oil Cut, mine came on the way back to the ramp.
We decided to fish Mitchell’s cut on the way in, and I put a keeper red in the box, and we caught another small trout or tw0. We moved over to the boat dock side and as we drifted down a school of black drum in the 20lb. plus range swam right under the boat. Then Shoedog had one follow his spinnerbait and not eat. I hopped a piece of plastic and felt one thump it. Setting the hook I could tell it was a big fish. As it ripped out line I told Shoedog to start the boat. Before that operation happened he spooled me. I never saw it, but I can tell you it was one big fish.
We have seen those big drum both days, so if you are inclined to catch a big ugly, now is the time. So on that note we called it a day. We kept 5′, and with the conditions we were proud of that.
The obligatory dead fish in a cooler picture. They don’t look nearly as good in the cooler as they do in the pan!
Besides getting spooled, which is always something when it happens, we had one more outdoor experience that made the day. Shoedog saw a coyote walking across a dry sand flat, and then that “dog” came down to the edge of the pocket we were fishing and poked around a while. It was a big coyote and it was cool to watch him mess around and not be to concerned with our presence.
Arkansas is calling.
I will be fishing on Bull Shoals and Norfork for about 5 days next weekend, and John and Clyde have been sending us pictures to whet our appetite, like it needs it.
My old buddy John and a nice Norfork hybrid.
If you have never fished for hybrids and stripers at night you are missing out. There is something about hooking a big fish, especially on topwater, at night. It seems they pull harder and you just never know. Add the possibility of a big walleye and you have everything you need for a cool night of fishing. And according to Clyde the points close to deeper water in Big Creek have stripers on them. I can’t wait, they better hold for me, I need to scratch the big striper itch. It has been many years since I caught a 20lb. striper, and it sure would be nice to get that job done.
A Few Reader Questions
Of course you know I do not post many of the thousands of comments on the site unless the writer approves them and they fit the current topic. I do get lots of blog questions, some technical, others more general. The most frequent involves how much trouble is it to start and maintain a blog. It is easy and hard. If you have ever thought about doing it I can not recommend HostGator more highly. While they are more expensive than other hosting, the support and information they provide is the only way I could do this. Of course it helps to have a good friend who is a computer guy. So if you want a website check out HostGator.
The real issue to running a blog is content. Are you willing to write regularly? People want fresh content, end of story. If you do not update ALL THE TIME people will stop coming immediately. Find a niche, and then figure out how to find others who share your interest. Are you willing to promote your site somehow? People have to know about you to read your blog. It isn’t easy, but it is also rewarding when it all comes together.
I want to say right now, anyone who wants to use my content, and gives me credit, is welcome to use away. I appreciate it if you let me know, but I share this information to try and help folks catch one more fish, so please spread it around. So quote me, link me, pass me around like a bottle of Ripple, this site has grown due to sharing. If you know someone who likes to fish, send him the link, I appreciate it.
One thing that has puzzled me is that while I know that most of my readers are dyed in the wool hardcore fisherman I get very few reports. Folks I love your reports and pictures, you do not have to pinpoint on the map where you caught them, just letting us know how you did is great.
I really would like to hear from a saltwater fisherman who fishes regularly and would like to blog on a regular basis. Is there anyone out there who would like to have a weekly saltwater column? With over a 100,000 visitors last year, and we are easily going to surpass that this year, you will be read and heard over a great part of the coast. So if you think you are that guy or gal let me know.
And that goes for someone wanting to blog about freshwater. Have an idea? Let me know, it never hurts to ask. So what will you get out of it? The same thing I get- nothing! But we are growing and have not marketed the site yet so who knows. Folks love to read real stuff, from real folks, and I would love to share your stories and techniques with others. It is a good feeling when you hear from people who thank you for sharing something that works for them. It is what this site is trying to do.
So what is next? Who knows. The weather looks good but coming in yesterday there was occasionally some kind of noise coming from underneath the truck. Owww! So it is at the shop, we will have to see what that amounts to. Catching a few in the salt has my salt itch scratching again. The fish are healthy, and the reports are slowly picking up. and with this warm weather it can only get better and better. We were actually surprised that there were not that many trucks at Froggie’s, I guess that was a comment on how windy it was. With the holiday weekend coming next weekend POC will be up to it’s neck in fishermen. So if you are joining the mess next weekend, be nice.
It was a pleasant surprise the last couple of days how polite folks were. Idling by you when they could have been hauling butt. Not moving in on you, it was great. It was regular folks like you and me fishing, no fancy wrap with a 300 hanging off the back roaring by you, refreshing. So keep a cool head next week, share the water, and think about how you would feel if someone did that to you. It is like the old poker saying, if you do not know who the sucker at the table is, it is you. Well if you do not know who is the a$$hole acting the fool out there this weekend, it just may be you. Thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
