Fish Catching Travel

Buy more baits, KVD is down to his last million!

With a 3 day trip to the Upper Laguna Madre coming tomorrow I decided to hit the lake Monday.  My buddy Voe was back in town for the week finishing up a few things on his house as they wait for the right offer so he went along.

It was cold, and I mean cold when we got to the ramp Monday.  The wind was blowing out of the north at 10 mph+ and it was blowing cold, about as cold as I care to be out fishing.  We headed up the arm to fish the channel banks in the area of the plant.  I got this report from Billy on Sunday, and it definitely affected how I fished.

Good luck on the Baffin trip. Love that place.
As for Coleto, went again today. Was absolutely shocked at the water temperature. Never saw anything below 58 and it got up to 62 in a couple of spots. Was expecting much cooler temps. Fishing was slow again. Each caught about five or so, all on soft plastics. All fish caught on points and sloping banks. Nothing in the coves.

Thanks for the report, and the last one you sent which was basically the same.  Your reports are exactly what I have found the last month.  I took your reports to heart and did not pick up another bait all day other than the senko.  It was plastic, plastic, and more plastic.  We ended up fishing near the plant for quite a while.  I went 4 for 8 bites there, and I think Voe missed one.

This is basically the size of the ones we did catch.

We ended up fishing way up both arms and a couple of main lake places in between, but the wind was blowing hard and cold out of the north and some places were too rough.  And we found the water temp to be in the range you did, maybe a degree or two lower here and there, but it is fairly consistent over the whole lake.

Up lake we found the same thing, a bite here and there, on the main body of water and not in coves.  Though we had bites off and on during the day, other then one flurry in the mouth of a small cove, it was never more than one or two bites in a place.  Voe did throw a couple of other baits, but as Billy found, and I have found the last month, plastics are still the ticket.  While the ones we did catch were just “ok” we did not catch any real small ones, the sure sign things are about to get hopping in the spring.

Now that will be changing, soon I hope.  The fish we did catch are getting the big belly, and as soon as the water begins the slow warming trend pre-spawn will begin.  I wish I could give you a good guess as to what is to come, but we will just have to wait and see. My biggest hope is the grass and vegetation get a chance to grow back this spring.  That will be predicated on clearer water, and it is slowly clearing a little more each time I am there.

Most bites came somewhere near a point and we had several do the swim away with it thing.  It was one here and there as we fished, but we never did establish a real pattern other than points and plastics.  Before it was over I caught 5 or 6, but did break my line setting the hook on a couple of them.  I do that occasionally and I think I figured out why today.  I was tying mono leader to the braid, and I was using line off another rod to make them.  When I pulled the knot up on one of the connections the line broke.  Looks like the line on the rod is old or brittle, not sure which.  But it does mean that when I get ready for the Laguna today I will be replacing line on lots of rods.

For the day I think we caught 7 or 8 which is just enough to want to go again, and not quite enough to make me want to fight those 32 degree mornings.  As usual was had a good time,but there is fine line to that good time when it is cold and blowing out of the north.  Voe will be heading back to Nevada for a couple of weeks and hopefully when he gets back the fishing should be a lot better on the lake than it is right now.

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Voe has a good buddy our in Nevada who he fishes with fairly regularly.  They fish those desert lakes like Mead and Mojove, which have super clear water.  Most of the lakes out there are way down thanks to a drought and massive water usage, I think he told me Mead is down like over 150 feet.

One thing those lakes out there have is a great stiper population that provides lots of consistent fishing opportunity, and they catch quite a few while they are bass fishing.

Roger with a nice 15lber from their last trip.

A nice 4.5 lb. smallmouth.

Cutting my bass fishing teeth on the highland lakes of North Arkansas I have a pretty good feel for fishing that deep clear water.  It is a world of difference from the fishing in Texas and many other places.  So be sure to send us plenty of pictures when you get back.

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I got this comment from Glen, one of those that reminds me that not everyone knows exactly what I am referring to at times.

I am a novice coast fisherman. Usually we wade fish with live shrimp on popping corks.
You always talk about baits you use but being a rook don’t know what they are. Could you please include some pictures of these lures. Thanks

Thanks for your comment, I need to hear that occasionally to remind me that not everyone who reads this is some died in the wool fishing fanatic with a lifetime of experience who has the basic knowledge of what I am writing about.  So tell you what, as soon as I get done with Baffin this week I will try to sit down and spell it out with pictures as far as baits and basic rigging.  So stay tuned for that one.

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I got this comment from Jim.

Thanks for posting the Fayette report. It is timely indeed as I am heading there Tuesday. I have a new boat and am in a learning curve with the Lowrance electronics. I am going to idle the length of the dam using the new structure scanning to see what I can see and hopefully catch. I’ll get you a report after.

Good luck with Baffin Bay. I look forward to seeing some “big momma” pics.

Being freshly retired I couldn’t wait to start fishing any day of the week Monday through Friday avoiding the weekend crowds and by fishing based upon the best weather days. And I have to say it has been awesome! About the only time now that I will have to deal with adverse weather will be during pay-to-play tournaments where you just about fish no matter what the weather is. When watching weather trends I like to use weather underground as it shows a 10 day forecast for conditions, temperature, precipitation and barometric pressure.

Again, good luck this week and tight lines!

Jim

As you are finding out being retired really helps the fishing success.  Picking your time and days based on weather and traffic will significantly increase your quality time on the water.  And of course nothing like a new boat, heck that is even better than a new wife!  And be sure to really stick with the practice as you get more familiar with your electronics.  They are definitely not just there to just tell us how deep it is.  The first time you really locate some deep fish, and then lay the smack down on them, will make you feel like a pro.  Remember folks, there is no such thing as a bad report.  Your fishing day is what it is, and we can all learn from them no matter how your day goes.  So thanks for the update and let us know how it goes.

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I think that catches us up for the day.  Now work on the list begins.  Getting cameras and video together, we are going to shoot some video the next 3 days.  (Not sure if that will jinx us or not.)   Rod and reels, line, baits, all have to be checked and organized.  All the wading gear checked along with spare waders, boots, clothes, the pile grows.  Then checking air pressure in trailer tires, making sure the flares and all the safety equipment is up to snuff.  One thing we have learned over the years traveling and fishing, you can not take to much stuff with you.  You just never know.

So the Shoedog and I will be out of here really early in the morning to make the 125 mile drive to Bird Island Basin where we will put in every day.  The weather looks as good as we can hope for this time of year, lows in the 50’s and highs rising each day until topping out in the high 60’s by Friday.  The wind is forecast to be in the 10 mph range, but you know how that goes.  And it looks like clouds will be the order for each day, perfect.  I will try to get something up each day while I am gone.  The planning is all done, the preparation complete, nothing left to do but see if we can get it done.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines