Fish Catching Travel
Here is hoping you had a good time this weekend no matter what you did. And if you were brave enough to hit the water, I hope the fish gods were good to you. I on the other hand spent the weekend at the house lazing around and watching some football. With the weather somewhat sketchy today it was off to Coleto. And it was the right choice as it started to rain and blow around 11, and as I write this it is raining at the house. Our forecast has a pretty good chance for rain the next 4 days, hope it comes down in buckets.
The lake is still falling fast, it looks like over 3 feet and dropping. Fishing was ok this morning, in fact it felt like deja vu all over again. Heck, I even had the same clothes on as I did last trip. Of course I started with the frog, and after an hour the bites were hard to come by, which means none. I was fishing near the ramp and it was just not happening. So it was time for a move.
One thing that has started to be somewhat of a pattern with the frog is the isolated patches of grass off the bank, especially if it is completely surrounded by water. Another thing that has been happening is when you get some bites, you get more. I am not sure if it is a timing thing or they are moving. I am getting very few random bites right now. No matter what the bite on the frog is early and seems to be over around 9.
Bite number 1.
The patch I went to was surrounded by 5 foot of water and the fish were there. I got maybe 4 bites on one end, and 4 on the other. Basically they were on the points, like they have been for a while.
A little fuzzy. This was number 3 in the boat.
I caught them by either hopping it back to the boat or with a 4 or 5 hops then stopping it. Of course I missed several, and did have one big one come off. It happens with the frog and it just comes with the territory. But I sure love the hand to hand combat in the grass, and some of those big ones are going to pull off no matter how careful you are.
The best of the morning.
It was around 9:30 when I had that little flurry, and just as it has been even though I re-fished it, nobody was interested. I probably should have switched to the swim jig, and will try that next time I find that many fish in one place.
Next was a steep bank, and though it had grass along the edge, that has not been the kind of place where the frog is working. So it was the swim jig next. I caught one right off the bat and then paid the price. It is amazing how often you catch one after a lure change, and then can’t get another bite. Today it probably had more to do with the fact that either the fish quit biting or I made some poor bank choices. Either way it was over.
I just love that Strike King Swim Jig.
At this point in the morning the wind was starting to blow and the clouds rolled in. Now one would think that would help, but it had exactly the opposite effect. They quit biting, period. They did not want the senko, spinnerbait, the swim jig, or the frog. And so after about an hour and a half with exactly zero bites, I called it a morning.
I think I caught the 4 pictured here and one or two smaller ones. One thing that can be said about the bite right now is it is consistent, at least for me. You need to be there at daylight and make the right bank choice, because you have one shot at it. I am sure there are more ways to catch them, there always is, but I just have not found it.
********************
Last time I looked there had only been 3 tagged redfish that qualified for the CCA Star, in spite of the fact that they even put some more in so that they could give away the boats. I think last year not all the boats were won, but this year there has been several caught by folks who did not enter. If you fish the Gulf it pays to enter the Star. Those 7 or 8 folks who caught a tagged red lost somewhere between $25 and $50K. Ouch!
Those of you who read this regularly know that when TPWD began discussing lowering our trout limit to 5 I was basically ok with going to 5, hopefully that will end up with us catching bigger trout. But if it had stayed at 10 I was also ok with that, the biology and the surveys indicated we have a sustainable population at the current catch rate. Well the day is here. Will it help? Only time will tell, but we should really be able to see the difference 2 years from now. What I hope comes with the new rule is a larger population of big trout. I have broke 29″ twice, and hopefully one of these days before I croak I can break the magic 30″ 10lb. mark.
And speaking of a 10lb. mark that has also eluded me, a big bass is on the list. A few 9’s have come over the side, but the big girl has just not happened. I lost one 3 years ago at boat side that would have easily smashed 10, but she just pulled off. Right now in Texas Lake Austin is the place to be for that kind of big fish and big strings. It will be interesting to see where the next big bass explosion happens. TWPD is currently trying to determine where the fish have gone in both Amistad and Falcon. They are both down approximately 60%, hopefully it is something they can potentially identify and fix. Being on Norfork and Bull Shoals for 25 years I have seen first hand the highs and lows a reservoir goes through. So there is hope, the fishing on those Arkansas lakes is better there now than it was when I left 9 years ago. I am thankful I was lucky enough to fish Amistad and Falcon when times were good, and will fish them both again no matter what.
If you caught some fish this weekend let me know. Folks love to hear how others are doing, it gives us all a way to judge whether we are on the right track or not. Summer is still here, but the traffic will be down on area waters, and cooler nights are right around the corner. The last piece of the puzzle would be a couple of days of really good rain. Next it will be the Gulf, the weather will dictate when. So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
