Fish Catching Travel
The original plan was to head to Keller Bay but after seeing the wind report I changed plans and went out of the Indianola Fishing Marina. It was just cracking daylight when I put in at the ramp and headed down the Powderhorn Ranch Shoreline.
The tide was fairly well up, it was set for high at 8:30, when I jumped over the side in waist deep water. It was easy to see the tide was higher than last trip, because where I anchored the boat was quite a bit deeper than last trip. There were clouds in the east that kept the light low until almost 9, and the wind remained calm. I expected the topwater fishing to be great, and it wasn’t.
First I waded out into water over my waist were I could reach 4 foot, and besides 7 small ones on plastics, I did not catch a trout worth talking about. I did not have one take a pass at the topwater, it was to late in the tide. So with the tide that high I headed for the bank and a grassy area looking for some reds on top. I did catch one about 18″ on top, but it just was not happening on top. By now the water had gone from not moving to slight out, so it was back in the Powderhorn to catch a red on the falling tide with the new rod.
First red on the new fancy rod, and of course it was throwing a spinnerbait.
I started way in back on the north side which had a little bit of wind on it. Before the one abovr made the net I lost a pretty good one. The only problem was I was a day late and a dollar short. The water really began falling out, and with the wind blowing on it the water was begining to really color. Before I left the back end I managed to put one more in the boat.
The Redfish Magic puts them in the boat.
The water fell out to the point I had to pole off the bank, which was unusual since the skiff floats in 6″. Last it was off to the big cove close to the dock. As usual I put a rat red in the boat there, but that was it for the day. It was only about 1:30, but it was hot and the fish were definitely on break. And when I got back to the ramp the 3 trucks that were in the lot before me this morning were all gone. Guess it took me a little longer to get the message, they were not biting.
So not a great day by any means, but I did catch 7 trout and 4 reds. Unfortunately for me, but great for them, none of them made the grade. So after a pretty good run of nice trout the last couple of trips it was not to be today. The tide was to far along at daylight, so I missed the good period, but it will be perfect near the end of this week. And with the moon on the way I am ready to try some night topwater fishing. Sounds like fun as soon as you get over the thought of a sea monster coming out of the darkness and dragging you off.
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My buddy Chris sent me some pics from the offshore trip he made the other day. From what he had to say they caught fish everywhere they stopped. And before it was over caught a nice variety and some good eaters.
Folks that is a big red snapper anywhere in the country.
A nice cobia. And I am sorry I did not get the boat owner’s name.
A nice king, fun to catch but not that great on the plate as far as I am concerned.
They caught most of the fish on wells and wrecks, all on live bait. Chris said they had encounters with a really big barracuda, and several cobia and snapper. So a great day for them and thanks for the pictures. And it was killing me when I could not make it, and seeing the pictures just made it worse.
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Seeing the tarpon pictures from POC, pics from Chris’s offshore trip, and the good trout we have been catching wading, it is clearly time to go fishing. No wonder Charlie’s ramp has been packed. And with several tournaments this weekend it should be a real mad house in POC. But hard as it is to believe, summer is almost over. There are kids headed back to school in 2 weeks, we are about 3 weeks away from the last holiday of the summer, and dove season is right around the corner. Hard to believe how quickly this summer has gone.
For me that is a blessing. While I am known to pick up a gun occasionally, fishing is my passion, and I am so happy when hunting season rolls around. It is like someone turned off the fisherman switch on the bay. There will still be crowds on the weekend, but nothing like summer. But with the fishing the way it is right now it is easy to understand why everyone is pounding it. So get out while you can, summer is fading fast.
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Those of you who read my stuff know that last year in the Shark A Thon Chris and I billed a sailfish in the surf. Looking back on it who can believe that? I have always wondered was it sick, a catch and release, or just passing by in a foot of water? We will never know, but it ranks as one of the cooler things that ever happened to me in the outdoors. That all came back when Chris had a picture of a couple of guys and a swordfish, allegedly caught from the bank while shark fishing recently. I tried to look it up online but could not find anything other than a discussion about a similar incident last fall. So if any of you know about this swordfish catch from the bank let me know.
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That is it for now. It has been catch up on the skiff, there has been some little things needing repair and I hope to finish those today. Next, it is off to the repair shop to check on the Mako. It has been 3 weeks and I have left them alone so it is time to go see what the deal is. I really hope to get it back before the tarpon leave the area. I have never jumped one in Texas but would sure like to. So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
