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Fish Catching Travel
Today is a getting my stuff together day in anticipation of a stretch of serious fishing. The boss starts a weeks rotation, and then she is on the big bird and gone to visit her family. For me that means I have about 10 days with no responsibilities. And with the weather shaping up, the Shoedog shaking loose a couple of days, it will be one of those periods where I make up for all those days I didn’t fish in the last couple of weeks. Plus, spring is just peaking its head up and it is time to let the real fishing begin.
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Joe dropped me line concerning using drones and brought up a few uses I don’t have a real problem with.
And you didnt go fishing in Austin??? Whats wrong with you ???
Drone concern, I’m thinking it would be a good tool if you can fly a line to an area like a spillway for some catfish that is roped off, or over a break wall. Release the line be in business. I’ve been thinking of a remote boat to do the same thing.
But on the other hand too many flying around could cause a problem. It goes down and your screwed. Its almost the same as people using cameras and feeders to get deer and hogs. But using a drone to find places to fish or hidden coves could be of use.
So I’m 50/50 on the drone issue.
I don’t have a problem when folks use the radio controlled boats to get baits to a tailrace, so that is a good point. The same with using one to fly over and area adjacent to big water to look for out of the way places you might otherwise miss. But for me it comes down to the slippery slope, one use is ok and another isn’t? Thanks for the comment Joe, how about the rest of you, any opinion?
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While we in South Texas are getting ready for pre-spawn bass and warming flats with big trout, folks up north are still in the midst of winter. For outdoorsman who live in the north country it just means you have to get at those fish another way.
Went ice fishing at Davis Creek Saturday and had a great day. We caught 66 Croppie 11 to 14 inches and 10 white bass. Also one 15 pound catfish that was a pretty good tug. We caught a lot of the Croppie’s on teardrops and wax worms and jigging raps. Anywhere from 15 feet to 25 feet. Most of the lake was covered with 12 inches of ice. Davis Creek is one of the most dangerous lakes to ice fish because of underwater springs. But the weather has been so cold for 10 days that it had a good ice on it. I’ll send you a couple of pictures of the fish we caught.
Shoedog’s good buddy Terry Roth from Nebraska sent me this comment along with a picture of the results.
Can you say fish fry!
Nice bunch of fish, looks like you guys had a great day. The only thing I have to add is you need to get done here some time and let us put you on some redfish. Once you go red you never go back. Thanks for the story, always good to hear from you.
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With family visits, the holidays, and his ongoing construction project, the Shoedog has not gotten any fishing in the last month but he finally slid out yesterday and sent this along.
“Back on the water- Finally!
Between rotten weather and remodeling projects at home I have not been on the water in weeks- so sunshine, 60 degrees and it was time to get out there.
I finally decided to hit Lake Somerville as it is close by and full of water. Hadn’t been there in a while- last couple trips were disappointing, but, hey- it has fish and I have had some good trips in the past. I put in at the state park ramp down by the damn and marina. Got on the water about 1 pm and it was a beautiful afternoon. No wind- unusual for Somerville for sure.
I headed out past the island just outside the marina cove where a couple boats were anchored crappie fishing and went to an area between the island and the shore that we have caught some in the past. I started out in 12-15 feet throwing my #10 gold Rapala Husky Jerk- fished it for a good hour with no bites. Moved back around the other side of the island and started working back around it to see if I could catch some. I switched to a larger #12 husky Jerk in silver- probably backwards of what most people would do- smaller and slower in cold water. But I was jerking and twitching slower than my usual speed.
Half way around the island I finally got a bite- had some wight to it and one of those funny pulls that you can’t tell what it is at first- felt like a big catfish or a drum but it turned out to be a real nice bass- around 5 pounds I guess- that I hooked in the back as he hit at the bait. Still a nice fish- it had that pure Florida strain look to it- compact, short tail and SOLID!
Anyway, I let him go and was talking with a couple gents anchored off a bit crappie fishing and my next cast I caught a nice channel cat- right up on the bank- let it go and on the next cast I caught another nice catfish! 3 casts- 3 fish- after an hour and a half of nothing- that’s fishing for you!
I finished out the area and left to go and see if I could find some white bass and hybrids, so I headed across the lake to a reef area with some deeper water near that has produced in the past. I trolled a Strike King Redeye Shad for a bit with no luck. I went out in 25-26 feet where I was marking quite a few baitfish and some larger fish as well to try some jigging. Gave that a while and nothing.
So I tried trolling a deeper bait- an old Storm Deep Thunderstick Jr. that has produced a lot of fish for me over the years, but again- nada. I went back over to the area where I caught fish earlier to finish out until dark but had no luck.
So- all 3 bites in 3 casts- otherwise not a bite all afternoon. I guess that’s why we call it fishing and not catching! But it felt good to be on the water- tomorrow it is painting time inside our new building- oh boy! But looking forward to Monday and Tuesday on the water with fishcatchingtravel.com. Stop in and see what happens.”
I think I have fished Somerville with him 4 or 5 times, and other than white bass and hybrids, have not had any real success catching bass there. But when the whites are biting there 50 fish days are not that uncommon. And nice jerk bait bass, seems like those in that class really like that jerk bait. And lastly, when you start catching catfish on lures in the spring the good fishing is right around the corner. Last spring a bunch of them fell victim to the Strike King Swim Jig on Coleto.
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Today is the day, the first warm day in a while, and I intend to use it by emptying everything out of the boat and washing it all. It is always interesting to see what you will find when you do empty the boat. And it is the only way to get the compartments clean. I remember when we bought the boat the ad said it had watertight compartments. Of course in a boat such a thing does not exist. In the words of an old plumber – “The only place a water will not get is up a frog’s butt.”
Then it will be take all the tackle and rods and reels to the tackle room for a good going over. It kind of feels like preparing for a long trip, making sure everything is working and in order. In a way that is exactly what it is, spring is here and we are about to get after it. And of course it won’t get done once we get to fishing. First it is the Shoedog for a couple of days, then I think I might make a Baffin trip later in the week.
This $1.80 gas is a thing of beauty. I know it might have some adverse affects on the economy. but it is nothing but a positive thing for fishcatchingtravel.com. Gas is by far the biggest expense in fishing, and when you fish by yourself a lot it ain’t cheap. So for the foreseeable future we will take advantage of it. At least that is as good an excuse as I can come up with to fish more.
So now I am headed out the door. As a side affect of power washing stuff I am going to set up a real wash station in the carport, something I have been planning on doing for a while now. It will be so nice to pull the boat under and be able to flush the engine, powerwash the hull, and clean fish, all without messing with moving hoses. So next time you stop by there will be a report, with many more to follow. I really do feel like I am preparing for a long trip, because I am, it is called spring. And if you fished this weekend hope you whacked them, cause I will clean up behind you this week. So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
