Fish Catching Travel
Now is the time for throwing the Swimming Jig with a Rage Craw.
I was fairly confident it was going to be a good day on the lake when I put the boat in at 7:45. A light breeze, clouds, and occasional showers were the order of the day. First stop was a spawning cove up lake near the bridge. I threw the Swim Jig most of the cove with a topwater thrown in occasionally without success. It was fairly off colored in there so I headed back to clearer water. So it was another cove back down lake, again with the same results.
I probably spent to much time trying to get the fish to hit a spinnerbait, buzzbait, and topwater but I wanted to be sure I wasn’t missing something. It was around 10:30 before I got my first bite, and it was back in a pocket on a topwater. One or two more fell for it in the next couple of coves, though they were all small. At that point I stuck to the back ends of pockets and coves, throwing the the Swim Jig.
This one really attacked it.
When I caught this one it was a main lake pocket, on the shallower side with the scattered vegetation. The lake has come up so much there is tons of water behind assorted grass and reeds. It seemed the outside bend in the pockets held the fish, if that makes sense. It may be a year for more flipping and pitching with our level this high. I do not believe I have seen it this high in the 4 years I have been fishing there.
Today it was the Bluegill color Swim Jig with a watermelon Rage Craw.
Over the years I have been underwhelmed by the real early morning fishing on Coleto, and it was true today. It really has more to do with the water temp staying stable and no real heating in the day right now, so the bite is late. But when you find them get ready to catch several. When I had my best run I caught 3, missed one, lost one, and broke on off in about 15 minutes.
Nothing like one this size knocking a foot of slack in your line.
After about noon they were pretty much in the back of anything. Then it was just a simple matter of easing along slow rolling the Swim Jig. It was not a great bite, but they were there. This is probably the only time of year I specifically target any wood in the backs of these places. Run that Swim Jig by it, maybe ticking it lightly and hold one.
I was hooking them right in the top of the mouth. Of course them smacking it like they meant it probably had a lot to do with that.
It rained off and on all day, finally easing up around 2:30. The wind was negligible and was not a factor today. I really think the fish are just coming up with this raise and it is only going to get better. If you are shallow water guy like I am there is a lot to look forward to on Coleto this spring. For the day it wasn’t fast by any means, but once they started biting it was a matter of finding that sparser cover in shallow water, back in a pocket. That is about a specific as I can get. The only difference was they seemed to want the bigger craw.
The Coleto Bassmaster Bass tournament is April 11 and it could be really good. The unsettled conditions have kept it somewhat slow for spring, but by the same token the good bite will last a little longer. And with this high water will come a good spawn, with lots of cover to hide in which can only bode well for the future.
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The Shoedog called and he had a pretty good day on Bastrop. For the amount of time he fished he caught some nice fish. So that report will be posted here shortly so check that one out. And I just picked up the newest Lone Star Outdoor News and there are lots of big bass being caught right now. If you like to bass fish this weather is perfect so if you can, go, you just might catch the biggest fish of your life. So this morning the boss and I are figuring out the weeks entertainment, and fishing is a big part of it. Our weather includes lots of rain so exactly when I get to the Gulf is up in the air, but it will be the first fishable day. So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
