Fish Catching Travel
May give the old KVD topwater a workout tomorrow.
We are fishin’ now. I picked up Voe at this house and off to Coleto we went. It poured almost all night so we didn’t leave until around 8. All the creeks, ditches, and rivers were flowing hard with the heavy rain. When we got to the lake it had just stopped and did not rain the rest of the day. Before I get to the fishing here is some really important issues I need to cover at the same time before I forget.
When we backed in it was readily apparent the lake came up big time since Monday. We met a guy at the ramp who said it came up a foot since he fished the day before. It is just about over the piers at the ramp. We are talking way high and rising as the water poured in the pockets and creeks. If you are going to fish when you round the big bend in the left hand arm a huge mud/trash flow is coming down from the rain a couple of days ago. When you head up the other arm the mud/trash flow starts right above the bridge. We went a little past each point, but there was no sign of clearing.
In fact it appeared to be moving down lake fast, and on the way home we found out why. Now I am not sure whether they were letting water out, or it was going over the spillway, but when we crossed the creek on 59 headed home it was a raging torrent, flooding big time. So my observation on the water flowing out is no wonder the fish are kind of messed up right now. Charging up, charging down, muddy, trash everywhere, tons of bank and brush being flooded rapidly during part of the spawn, it is crazy. So with the new water pouring in there is probably another mud inundation coming down both arms, and it is supposed to rain big time from Friday night until Sunday sometime. Before it is over the lake should be chocolate from one end to the other. Stay tuned, it could get ugly before it gets better.
So what does that mean for the fishing? It is still spotty. Where I caught them the other day I could not get a bite. Voe tried lots of different baits and I stayed just with the Swim Jig and I caught 8 or so more than he did. Until close to done and he caught a couple on a blade jig, we caught only on the Swim Jig.
A hair over 5 this is the best bass Voe has caught in a while.
We just could not find a consistent pattern. We caught this one on the main lake, we caught a couple in the back end of pockets, some in off colored water (though that was not the best) and some in clear water. In only a place or two did we get more than one bite. And again like it has been, it is just inconsistent.
Voe added this one to the live well.
As we headed out of one cove Voe broke one off and not a minute later I broke one off. That is the third one I have broke in 3 trips, such a rookie mistake. There is a fine line with the drag as some of them hit it right close to the boat with little line out. I wish I could be a little more specific, but it is just different right now. It is going to take some time to straighten out, but there are a couple of things to take away from today.
The bite gets better as the day goes on, only half of the lake is not muddy, there is tons of new cover, and our best bites were in the clearer water. I really think it is about to be flippin’/pitchin’ fishin’. It may be a matter of slowing down and working the back ends of these places when the water stabilizes and clears some.
I did have a specific order for some fresh fish from both the Captain of Team Nancy and my buddy Jeffish. So I kept my limit today for the fry pan. Voe added one and I turned 6 into fish fingers. And I can tell you the first couple tasted great tonight!
I call these food!
Before some of you bass addicts go insane at the sight of a couple of fish headed to the fry pan, these are the first bass I have taken from the lake in a couple of years. And the bigger point, it is legal and we have plenty of fish. So all the folks who will eat on them the next couple of days will be smacking their lips and happy to have them.
So that was it for today, not bad, not great. I probably broke off the only big one I had today, and I did miss another 4 or 5 I should have caught, but that is fishing..
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I did hear from my number 1 reader Faye.(Hence her comment.) She and her husband Steve made it to POC and though they struggled some they did put some fish in the boat.
Good morning,
Sorry for my radio silence.
First I thank you for my award. I found you by accident and think it was not to long after you started the blog. I look forward to my email updates each time you post.
We finally got down to POC last week. It was cold and rainy Thursday and a bit slow. I did lose a nice trout at the boat in Big Bayou on Thursday. I told Steve “no net – I’ll just pull it over the side.” Big Dummy – haha. Our one and only good one of the day.
Friday was a beautiful day and we headed out about 8:30. It was very crowded and we were “the bigger person” regarding a Big Jerk that zoomed past and blew the bank on us as we’re trolling motoring a bank in Big Bayou. We hit all our usual spots except we didn’t head over to the back of the island due to wind. Not much was happening. It was about 3 and Steve says, “let’s pitch soft plastics around the docks & cement along the ICW on our way back to the room.” Good decision!!! We boated 2 and lost several that wrapped around dock piers in less than an hour. Here’s one of Steve’s. They were nice sized trout.
Well….. debating heading back down this week for a couple more days before spring/summer work projects set in.
As always, we look forward to your posts
!!! Thanks, Steve and Faye
Steve with a Keeper.
It is always good to hear from you and I hope you get to slip away for a day or two before you guys are jammed up at your business. I really appreciate you and Steve’s support from the beginning. Keep in touch.
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And I want to send a shout out to my father-in-law Jack Mellinger. I think he is being held against his will in the hospital up in Iowa. I sympathize with you but just grin and bear it. (So to speak.) You will be back on your feet soon so just do what they say. And a real big thanks for the filet knife that came today. That thing is just as sharp as I figured it would be. It really is a nice piece of work. Thanks.
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As far as the we are fishin’ now comment, tomorrow it is off to the Gulf for some wading with my buddy Chris. Warm temperatures and light winds should make for a good day. I really have not decided where we are going yet, but we can figure that out in the morning. For now I am tired and ready to hit the sack. It feels good to be back in business. So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
