Fish Catching Travel
Before I took a break the last few days I promised myself I would get this post done, it did not happen. Funny how hanging out in Austin a couple of days is not conducive to getting anything done. But the owner of Team Nancy and I had a good time, she did a little shopping (using that term lightly), and I got a couple of new reels. Now it is time to get back to work as lots of things piled up while we were hanging out.
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Monday the dog had a vet appointment so any fishing would have to be concluded by noon, which made Coleto the obvious choice. Of course whacking a big one last Friday helped with that decision. Frog was the bait of choice, and while it was actually a re-run of Friday, it did not include a big fish.
The obligatory picture of the first one. The frog is as big as he is.
Instead of heading up lake I started down lake first and worked my way up. Except for the point I caught the big one on Friday, I only fished places I have not fished. The frog results were the same as last trip. I caught 4, all small this time, and missed 4. I still have not found the mother lode, the most bites I had was on a big grass flat/mat was 3, and by 9:00 it was over as far as frog goes.
I did want to say a couple of things about frogs. Buy a good one! I know the KVD and Spro are more expensive, but they are much hardier, have better hooks, and last a whole lot longer. While I have fished the Scum Frog a lot in the past, they just do not hold up after a bunch of fish. As with some of the cheaper frogs, they stretch and too much water gets in, destroying the action. The frog that Academy sells under its in-house brand is maybe the worst ever made. It is way to hard and the hooks just do not cut it. The thing that makes fish hold that frog long enough to set the hook is how nice and soft it is. So do not confuse soft plastic with lack of durability, I use the Z-Man soft plastics as a perfect example of that. I am hooked on the Strike King KVD frog. The hooks are sharp, they are made of a more durable plastic, and I love the little pee hole in the rear end, which makes getting all the water out easier. Consequently it floats a lot higher and lands with that perfect plop.
Again I stayed with the frog to long so I finally brought out the Swim Jig and of course managed to put one in the boat. That thing will catch fish, and it did get me one more bite before I quit. And a last word about Coleto, it still seems to be better down lake, but until we get out of this 90 degree plus water temp shallow water fishing will still be a little lacking.
The Strike King Swim Jig has become my old standby.
The fishing on Coleto remains consistent, and in spite of our extreme temperatures, you can still catch a few fish. It’s not great, but you can put a few in the boat and still be home by noon. My day was not great, but I boated a few, and I saw lots of wildlife, including this little guy.
About as close as they will ever let you get.
Though catching fish is the ultimate goal, there is so much wildlife around Coleto. Just Monday morning it was turkeys calling, deer, hogs, alligators, an Osprey, and lots of other stuff. When fishing by myself I often slide right up on them before they see me. I am amazed at how spooky the hogs are, as soon as they see you they are gone.
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Speaking of the Swim Jig, while I was fishing Monday morning I got this text from my friend Aaron the Land Man who has been working out East. Aaron put me on the Swim jig, and we have done some pretty productive fishing, both fresh and salt.
A really nice smallmouth.
Another hoss!
At first I did not “get” his written text till he finally cleared it up. I was about to ask if he was becoming a Yankee, but he texted me that his Skeeter was on the back of his truck and he was headed this way. Looks like he is back working this area, but with me being gone the last couple of days I haven’t met up with him yet, but will see him tomorrow to get the rest of the story. I do know one thing, we plan to do some serious mapping and side imaging on Coleto, which I am sure will not only be worth the effort, but maybe answer some questions about summer time location.
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Shoedog’s buddy, Terry from Nebraska, who went with us to Falcon one year, is a big deer hunter, and with fall approaching the quest is on. This is a cam picture taken on their lease. This questions was circulated around to his buddies: “Is this a shooter?” What do you think? Not being a real deer hunter it looks like back straps on the hoof to me!
This is a nice buck, but it looks like it is not fully mature, which I guess is a 4 y/o plus.
I asked about the clearing it is standing in and apparently they cleared that spot with a weed eater. So while I would shoot it, there are surely some of you hard cores who would pass on this one. So what do you think?
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I have heard from lots of you lately and wanted to share a couple of comments I have gotten recently. First I got this from Mac, who is a regular reader:
“Doug, My son and I fished East Matagorda yesterday. I think, perhaps the fall Red schooling is starting up. We saw something I have never experienced in my many years of hunting the elusive Redfish. Shortly after 9 am we encountered a school of over 50 to 60 slot size fish meandering along the edge of (a bayou) in about two ft of water. There were glass minnows all about and before we could make a cast to them, all hell broke out. The whole school chased the small minnows to the bank and the water looked as if was boiling hot water. Soon the fish were even throwing themselves up on the marsh ground themselves. At this point we sent an arsenal of baits into this frenzy. Redfish Magic, spooks,, gold and silver spoons, Mann’s wobblers and others had no strikes. . They were just not interested, but they put on a circus for us both. I am now making it a point to carry along a camera of some type.
We saw little action but a rarity also happened. We saw no other boats other than a single kayaker. I guess the heat has an impact on everybody .
My son saw a red tube tag on one of the fishes dorsal fin and this even made us fish harder–Maybe a Star fish.
We ended up catching Rat Reds and nothing else, but those guys will grow up and maybe make a difference in a youngsters life.
Hurry up fall –It can not be too far off-there were green winged teal about.
It’s so good to see your stories pop up on our screens. Your words are appreciated by many-Mac.”
As I have said so often, it is not all about the catching, it is in the doing. When any of us are lucky enough to see something like Mac and his son did it makes a memory that last a lifetime. And if I had seen that tag I would probably still be fishing there a week later. So thanks Mac for being a loyal reader and sharing your story. And the rest of you folks, we love to hear your stories.
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Whine Time! As I write this the weather is on TV, and it is making me crazy. We have now had 16 days over 100 degrees this month, when our average is 2. Falfurrias, south of here, had a heat index of 135 degrees today, which is freakin’ hot. To further add to uour suffering the forecast is for 100+ the next 4 days with a heat index of 112 degrees. But wait, it gets better. The wind will blow 15 – 25 out of the south, which means 25+ at the Gulf, and the wind is supposed to hang around till a front appears on Monday. We fish hard around here, but it sure does cut the day short. The fish don’t seem to like it any better than I do. Especially after a high morning tide and bite, followed by a low slack tide.
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That is it for today. I have several other comments readers have shared with me, I will try to catch up and get them on here tomorrow. As far as the fishing goes, where next is up in the air. I am sure Aaron has been on Coleto already, later I will see if that may be on the schedule. If not it looks like it will be wading somewhere. It is the coolest thing you can do in outdoors right now. So keep stopping in, keep those cards and letters coming, and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
