Fish Catching Travel
Add a Swimming Jig to your arsenal today.
Howdy sports fans. If you are saltwater fans just hang in there with me, we will be getting to the Gulf soon. But folks, the bass fishing is just to consistent right now. One of the joys, and smart use of your time, is being at the right place, at the right time, with the right fish. Even though I have fished a lifetime it has taken me a long time to realize that. And the result of that revelation is now is the time to catch bass. It may not be the best time for the biggest bass, but if you like to catch bass, and I do, now is the time to be fishing. All fish have a time, big trout in the winter, spring time tarpon on the bridges in the Keys, redfish bunched up and tailing in the fall, and bass with the urge to merge in the spring. Get em’ while they are hot. So with that said here you go.
One of the folks who I met through the website, but not in person, contacted me about fishing Coleto. If you have read my stuff for a while you know I like to fish with different folks, and in this case Gary contacted me through the site and I was glad to fish with him. We met shortly after daylight and off we went. Wanting to make a quick first impression, and catch some, I hit the spot that I have waxed them the last time or two. Of course we stuck out, how could it be any other way?
I have said it before and I will say it again, Coleto is not the best first thing in the morning lake. And with that knowledge it was not time to panic when we did not catch a fish in the first place or two, it was simply time to stick with the program, 5″ swim bait, a Strike King Swimming Jig, and spinnerbait. We kept chucking and reeling and they slowly started to bite.
Gary with a nice solid keeper. We caught a bunch this size and bigger as the afternoon wore on.
To simplify the report, here is how it went. As Gary had not fished Coleto before I wanted him to see most of it, so before we quit at 3 we fished way up both arms. We both kept alternating between Swimming Jig and spinnerbait. We didn’t do much until we got in the back end of a big cove way up lake, and though we put 4 or 5 in the boat there, they were just tearing the flippers off our Rage Craw. They wanted to eat, but there hearts were not in it, and we ended up missing more than we caught in that cove. After that we headed back down lake and fished a really flat mainlake bank and put another 5 or 6 in the boat, with Gary doing some damage on the spinnerbait.. Things were starting to look up.
As we fished, Gary had several nice ones smoke his spinnerbait, and I finally started to stay with that 5″ swim bait. Around noon they decided to quit messing around and they started to eat. We hit another big cove and they were in there. I have noticed the last few trips that they are still somewhat bunched up, and many have not spawned. So we re-fished some of them and it was better on the second pass. All of a sudden they just started eating it, and we probably put maybe another 15 in the boat before we quit. I even broke 30lb braid on a good fish, we lost several bigger ones, it was just a really steady bite.
Been a while since I showed you a big gator. In the 8 foot range, look at the gut on that thing. You could be next on the menu. I love those things.
Several hit it right at the boat, some hit it in 6″ inches of water, some out of bushes, any good flat point with bushes had a fish on it, it was just one of those fun days. At one point Gary jerked one out on the Swimming Jig and almost hit me in the face with it. Awesome, we were laughing then. In fact, several got jerked completely out of the water today, a function of them hitting with only a few feet of line out, And as the bite picked up some of them were really wacking that swim bait. Now I am not that good at it, but I am learning fast. With this much cover it should remain a good bait for the time being.
Both Gary and I started off with the bluegill color Swimming Jig and finally around noon I went to the all white with a Caffine Shad trailer. And boy they liked that, and it was game on as far as the jig went. As the water warmed, they moved into those flat pockets, and were flat eating that white jig. Thanks John for reminding me. And one last thing, they were not just everywhere today, if you caught a couple they were in the area. But as stupid as it sounds, where they weren’t, they really weren’t. It is just a little different from a usual spring pattern.
I really had a good time today. Sorry there is no more pictures, but I was not willing to put the rod down that long! Gary is a good fisherman, and a good man. His finest quality (just kidding) is he fishes almost exactly like I do. Covered water at a good pace, good boat position, just an all around good fisherman. And it has been awhile since I fished with anyone beside the Shoedog who throws a spinnerbait as much as I do. Though we did not put a big fish in the boat that was probably our fault.
The wind blew some this afternoon, and it looks like we are in for those March winds we did not have the last few weeks. Since Sunday it has been blowing and tomorrow they are talking up to 25+. So with that in mind it will be one more lake day. Tomorrow I will stick with the swim bait longer, and try to fish a little better mechanically. We had the bites, but the big one just did not happen. Tomorrow is another day, and I intend to take full advantage of it. Keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
