Fish Catching Travel

Strike King Lure Company – the only baits we needed to have a great day! 

Sometimes you hit a run of bad luck as a fisherman, don’t make the right choices, lose the big ones,  get rained out, all can lead to a little fisherman depression.  There is a cure!  It is going to a slot lake, do what has worked for you in the past, and then just hold on.  We flat wore them out today, or maybe it was the other way around.  Fayette is one fun lake to fish.

The forecast was for a 20% chance of rain, so this spring being what its been, you know it poured.  It started to look ugly north of Schulenburg, and it got worse from there as I drove to the lake.  By time we both got to the ramp at 6:45 it was raining like crazy with lots of big lightning and thunder.  We ended up staying in the trucks and it was 45 minutes before we were able to launch.

We have had some big days in the past on jerk bait, and I knew we were in business when I caught one on the first cast with the KVD Jerkbait.  Now that can be a good thing or a bad thing, but in this case it was a sign of things to come.

The first of 10 or more in the boat on the Strike King white Swimming Jig with a Caffeine Shad paddle tail trailer.

It really did turn into a Strike King kinda day.  The punch line is we tried to stay in the 6 – 7 foot deep and throw the KVD Jerkbait.  For me it was the 3 hook version in silver with a light blue back.  Shoedog was using the 2 hook one, and it did not seem to matter.  We started jerking the bait the minute it hit the water in a steady but not fast jerk – jerk/jerk, always letting it pause.  The key was the grass which was in 2 -4 foot of water.  It seemed to be perfect to start out over the shallow grass and go down to the outside edge where they would often whack it.

We put at least a dozen in the boat on the first bank, and from the first place, until around 11:30, we put an easy 40 in the boat and quit trying to count.  I finally could not resist using the Swimming Jig.  I would let it sink to the bottom and then slowly reel it trying to hit the grass then giving it a hop and letting it fall, they would just be on.  I felt very few bites, they were just there.  And as far as size goes, it was the better bait for the good fish.  But if you wanted to catch fish, which we did every place we fished, it was that KVD Jerkbait.

It was this size all day long.

Some of them would be there when you went to pull it, and a few tried to jerk the rod out of our hands.  And it was best if you worked it all the way to the boat as we were rarely over 9 foot deep and we caught several close to the boat.

What we lovingly refer to as a “Fayette Fatty”.

As far as specifically where, they were not as good on the points, but midway in the coves had fish.  Rarely did we not catch 2-3-4-5 in a stretch, and we even re-fished a couple of spots and caught fish by turning around and re-fishing, or by coming back later.   That lake is such a joy to fish, and like the times in the past when we have whacked them, there has been a good shad spawn.

No rhyme or reason to which ones we took pictures of but you get the point.

I threw a 2.5 some, but did not have a bite.  That was probably because it was the red one I was to lazy to change with the jerkbait bite the way it was.  Shoedog threw a 1.5 late as we were getting ready to quit, and had one knock the crap out of it.

That squarebill will catch anything.

The only other tilapia I have seen on a hard bait, and I mean a bite as opposed to foul hooking, I caught on Coleto last fall, and it was on a squarebill.  And what happened next?  Of course.

One of the hardest bites I had all day.

Right after that I even caught a gar, definitely a sign to quit.  As we got to the ramp Shoedog caught the last bass.

The last bass of the day on a 1.5 Squarebill.

It would be hard to figure out how many we caught, but it was basically nonstop from 7:30 until we quit at 2:30.  Our hands and backs were starting to feel jerking that thing.  We have only been fishing Fayette about 4 years, but one thing we have been able to do is catch fish there under lots of conditions.  It is amazing how often the fish are super shallow, and the jerkbait always seems to work.  One thing we have not done the last few trips is jerk that shallow running balsa Rapala in silver and black.   With all the shad it would have done its part today, and if you throw it on 8bl test and a spinning rod it could be ugly.  Another thing, for you swimbait fishermen that should work like a charm right now with the fish positioned like they are.

It is so nice when you call it a day because you have caught all you need, or want, to catch.  Who knows how long that pattern will hold, but it should be a while.  Especially with the air temp not smoking hot and the rain keeping the water temperature down.  So if you want to catch a bunch of fish get a KVD Jerkbait in a silver with a blue or black back and go to jerking.  We did see folks catching on plastics at a pretty good clip, but for us that is not the same as having one smack a jerkbait.

One thing you do have to do on Fayette is just get used to people cutting you off and bass boats ripping around like they are in the Bassmaster Classic.  Since we fish out of Shoedog’s lake boat I think we get cut off a little more than if we had a Skeeter.  But the key to Fayette is just fish, no matter what the traffic, because once you figure it out you are in business.  We fished behind folks all day and it was not a problem.

All I can say is boy am I glad we went.  After fighting the off-colored water on Coleto it was nice to fish some clear water.  Actually it was surprisingly clear.  Not sure what is next, but the forecast is for 5 days of rain.  Those of you not here in Texas trust me, it is only a big rain or two in lots of places for it to become a bigger disaster than it already is.  So best wishes to those of you who have lost loved ones or homes.  We are thinking of you.  The rest of you keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines