Fish Catching Travel
Maybe I Should Have Stayed in the Boat?
I am not sure about the second choice I made this morning, but I do know the first choice was a bad one. Occasionally I go off half cocked and this morning was one of those times. The wind was to blow somewhere between 7 and 25 mph out of the SE, and when I got to Keller it was already blowing pretty hard. I know better than hitting Keller with that wind direction, but here I was. So no matter, I have fished it in all conditions and it almost always comes through.
So across the bay and to the first place, the SE bank, which was protected from the wind. I let the boat glide in once I passed the rig, and the anchor was out in 2 foot. The plan was to fish the bank down to the little high bank with the oyster bar/point on it, for both reds and trout.
So I get one boot on and look over and here comes a school of fish. So I grab a rod, flip a plastic in and wham, a nice 16″ trout about 20 feet from the boat. So of course no picture, time to hurry up and get the stuff on and in the water. It is somewhat calm there so topwater is the starting bait, and other than one hit, nothing was happening on top.
Next up was plastics, and while I caught 3 more, none of them were keepers, or even remotely picture fish. I ended up working that whole bank from knee deep to over my waist, but not a keeper showed his face. It took about 2 hours to wade that whole thing properly, so it was back in the boat and around the corner to my favorite redfish banks.
Unfortunately the wind had already muddied that up, and I did not even get a pass. At this point the wind was really blowing, coloring the water in a lot of places so I thought maybe I could head back in and fish the stretch past the docks. It is almost impossible for me to fish that stretch and not catch something.
He wasn’t much but I was happy to have him.
The problem of my own making was I waited to long to head back there. The wind was blowing all the way down the bay and things were mudding fast. In spite of that I stayed with the spinnerbait a while more when I finally got another bite.
He was the lucky one today, I wasn’t keeping any.
I ended up fishing a mile or so of that bank with a spinnerbait but these were the only 2 fish I put in the net. The reason I like that bank so much is it has a wide variety of grass, oysters, sand, clay, brush, you name it and there is some of it somewhere. But today with the water getting more off colored by the minute, and tide flow at a standstill, it was just not going to happen there. By this time it was noon, over a 100, the wind was blowing, and the fishing was not getting any better so I called it a day.
The total for the morning was only 4 trout, 1 red, and 1 flounder, hardly the results I expected when I headed out the door. Looking back on it today the first bank I chose was a poor choice, and by time I headed to my favorite redfish banks it was to late. When combined with the wind direction there were some better choices all the way around. And it does not help we do not have the flats boat back, once that wind kicks up the skiff is limited in what bays it can cross, and a major move was out of the question yesterday.
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Speaking of the flats boat, initially it was maybe in the 2 week range for repairs, it has now been 3 weeks. Not complaining as I did think the initial time estimate was just a little optimistic. I stopped in to check on it Thursday and was told the glass crew said last Friday it was almost done, and would be done in a couple of days, which would be this week. The lower unit parts are in and the repaired prop is back, all they need is the boat. So I am not sure where that whole thing stands, but either way we do not have the boat. As the old song goes, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” Hard for me to complain, I’m the knucklehead who was driving.
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On a completely different subject I am finally going to take a fly fishing lesson. We will be in South Padre near the end of September and I am taking the plunge. The gentleman and I have traded emails and it should be interesting. Plus he guided fly fishermen in Florida and since I have fished quite a few places there over the last 25 years there is bound to be some stories told. I basically know where the reds are, it is just a matter of learning how to get the fly to them. Plus I have an offer to be polled around some at POC, so I want to be at least marginally competent and practiced when I take him up on that trip. Like I told the guy, I hope to at least achieve beginner status. So stay tuned, story to follow.
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The Shoedog is still whipping the bass in his community lake. Nothing like being able to drive a couple of blocks down the road and put a nice dozen in the boat almost any time. Looks like he will be down for a couple of days next week, hopefully we will get the boat back.
Another buzzbait bass. We love that thing.
And Faye, one of my most loyal readers, and her husband Steve will be in POC this weekend, so it will be interesting to see how they do. I think there are several tournaments down there and it will be busy. We are all faced with increased traffic on our fishing holes, it is just a matter of doing what you have to do to catch fish and not letting all the traffic get in your head. So good luck Faye and let me know how it goes.
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Lots of things will play into the next fishing choice, including whether the boat is done, what Shoedog wants to do when he comes, and how much the wind blows this week. No matter what it is slated to remain brutally hot. I still want to try some topwater fishing at night when the moon is full. So stay tuned and keep stopping in. Thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
