Fish Catching Travel
Originally the plan was to accompany the President of Team Nancy to Austin to a medical conference. A little R&R, a trip to Cabela’s, some good food, all the things you do when you are out of town. Then our dog sitter had a fire at her house and with no place to leave the pooch I elected to stay home.
So with no real plan fishing was on the menu. Now normally I do not fish the weekends, I leave that to the folks that have a job. But with the Gulf crowded with the Wounded Warrior’s I figured a quick morning trip to Coleto was in order. Hit it at daylight and as soon as there are more jet skis than boats head to the house. I was amazed when I got to the lake, it was dead calm. Since I have been catching most of the better fish downlake of course I decided to head uplake. The rational behind that decision was the lake obviously came up with that last rain and I wanted to take a look.
First buzzbait bass.
The water temp was a consistent 80 degrees all the way up. The further up I went the more color to the water. Sometimes that is a good thing, sometimes not. This morning it was not a good thing. Over the first couple of hours I caught one on a spinnerbait, and had 5 or 6 blow up on the buzzbait, they just were not eating it. I also threw a swim jig some, and that produced exactly no bites. So after messing around up lake it was time to get serious about catching a couple so I headed back down to the main lake area.
Just a nice average size.
It was probably around 10 when I got back down near the dam, and of course started catching fish right away. The wind finally came up, and that may have actually had more to do with the fish starting to bite than the location. From then, until I quit at noon, when the jet skis finally started buzzing around like flies, I ended up putting 8 or 9 more in the boat. While none were big, one thing about that buzzbait right now, when you catch one it is usually a keeper.
Of course grass was the ticket. The fish are still positioned around the grass, especially near points and deeper banks. Fishing that buzzbait at a moderate speed, when they decide to come for it there is no doubt. And remember to keep that rod pointed right at the bait, it really helps to hook them. Over the last few years I have learned that Coleto is not always a “first thing in the morning” lake. And that is a good thing. Keep working at it and sooner or later, usually, they bite.
So far a short morning trip it wasn’t to bad. There were lots of folks at the lake, summer is here. As far as the water we finally got a little rise out of the deal. The lake is still down, we will have to wait and see how the fish really react to the new water. Over the years I have seen one of two things generally happen with a rise, they either go with it or they stay put. Only the next few days will let us know how they will finally react to the rise.
And by the way, do any of you know whether there will be a Thursday night pot tournament on Coleto this year? If you know drop a comment, I would love to fish them. When I was eat up with tournament fishing 30 years ago it was a hard at it game. Now I just like to fish with folks and see what comes of it.
The wildlife was on the move today.
While the fishing is not always the hottest on Coleto first thing in the morning, the wildlife viewing is usually awesome. Today it was turkeys running the bank and gobbling, alligators looking for breakfast, pigs grunting and rooting, and deer everywhere. And it was the deer that provided the real excitement for the morning.
Uplake there is a big pasture where I see the deer all the time. As I was easing down the bank I saw a small, and I mean little, fawn come out of the grass and go to his mother who was feeding under a big tree. The fawn got his breakfast, and then like all kids went out to play. That little guy was running and jumping and tearing around that field. Mom was not to happy and had her tail up, trying to keep track of that little guy. He finally took off and mama took off after him. One of those days when I wish I had the big camera.
This coming week will include another trip or two to the Gulf. Depending on the wind I hope to make Keller. With a few days of stable weather the water should clear some and the trout have to start biting. Also the Shoedog wants to fish somewhere we haven’t fished, maybe Bastrop, we will just have to see. So keep stopping in. Thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
