FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

Fresh or saltwater the Knocker B catches fish.

Weather

86/71   Cloudy with gusty winds in a.m. South  20-30   20% chance stray shower

Tides

Low   1:36 AM     0.0  (Talk about a flat tide.)
High  12:56 PM     1.0

Solunar Times

• Best     1:30A – 3:30A
•              2:00P – 4:00P
• Good   7:45A – 9:45A

WIND

It always amazes me how the weatherman can be so right when he projects high winds, and today he was right on as it blew at least 20, and sometimes up to 30.  It was windy.  So why when he projects light winds is he so often wrong?  Just wondering.  Of course I wanted to be on the coast today but that was completely out of the question, as it might be for several days to come.

It was blowing pretty good when I got up and it had rained.  So I took my time, enjoyed breakfast with the Boss and finally made it to the lake around 9.  It looks like it is still dropping slowly, the water temp was 80 degrees plus, and the wind was howling.  Perfect.  So the first place was a cove with at least fishable wind.

This one blasted it in a bush.

With the wind spinnerbait was first up and this one just creamed it next to a bush.  I fished most of the cove and missed another in a bush so it was time to re-fish it was the senko.  Now I am not big on re-fishing an area but there were so few choices due to the high wind, and both bites came right out of a bush, so plastic made sense.

This one swam with it.

I pitched at the green bushes with the most leaves on them, which is were they seem to be.  Going back over them I caught 3 additional bass before moving.  Next it was a main lake bank with a light breeze,  (That is a joke.)  and I boated another one out of an isolated green bush that was furthest from the bank.

This one thumped it.

It was tough enough out there that there were lots of banks that were not fishable.  One of those fish where you can and not where you want.  Kind of reminded me of when I was fishing tournaments in the old days and we went bad weather or not.  I was basically altenating between spinnerbait, senko, and topwater.  The first 2 that hit the topwater as I walked the dog knocked it a foot in the air but did not hook up.

I decided to try a real windy bank with the spinnerbait.  Actually I covered a long way as the wind just blew me down the bank like a leaf.  I made a cast when and where I could, and just tried not to fall out of the boat.  I caught 3, 2 that were small, and the one below.

This one stopped it like running into a brick wall.

Before I called it a day I went to the south side of the main lake near the dam which was a little protected.  I caught another one on spinnerbait, missed one on topwater, then finally boated a good one on top.

Sorry about the no shirt thing, just wanted to show you my 5 best, not a bad limit considering.

I did miss another real nice one on top when I looked away, stopped reeling, and turned the trolling motor.  I did not even see or hear it as it took it off the top and swam right to me and I just could not get the hook in her.  Today would have been a real topwater day if the wind had blown about half of what it did.  Though 5 or 6 came in a couple of coves, the main lake banks produced the big bites.  I really do think if a person walked a bone color topwater, and picked the right bank, a good string could be caught.  I had 5 bites on top and 3 of them were good fish.  It seemed like they were biting better when I quit about 2:30.

Considering the conditions the fishing was ok.  And since I was not able to get on places I wanted to it really wasn’t a total failure taking into account how hard the wind was blowing.  I finally got tired of fighting it and called it a day.  Maybe I am not as mad at them as I used to be.  There was one trailer at the ramp when I went out and 1 when I quit.  Not many folks were willing to fight the high winds, it is just Monday and I usually am more than ready to fish no matter what the conditions.   For a short trip in rough weather it was a success, sure beat sitting at the house and whining.

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I told you I was lucky enough to meet Colby Sorrells, a longtime writer for the Gulf Coast Fisherman.  He was kind enough to show me, and give me a couple, of the trailers he uses on the back of his topwater.  It is a great idea and makes adding the trailer a whole lot easier than my tying on the  feather.

It does not take much to achieve the desired results.

Doug,
Glad to meet you at POC. Feel free to use the flashtails (and information) however you want. I detailed them in the Jan 2010 Gulf Coast Fisherman(didn’t realize it had been that long ago!) I’ll send you a photo with the package of Fas-Snaps if you will send me an email. Texas coastal anglers have been using some kind of tail on their lures since the 1930s. Several lure companies made lures that included a little pigtail made of thin wire to hang a bucktail on. Dan Blanton in California uses a flashtail on several of his flies including his Whistler and he has detailed how they work for him. I just took a little bit of everyone’s ideas and made it easier by using the Fas-Snap which makes it very easy and quick to add a flashtail or remove one. You can certainly tie some up using feathers if they work better for you. I like the plastic(mylar) material because I think it looks very similar to the way piggy perch tails or shrimp eyes and tails look to fish. When gigging flounder at night I always noticed how piggy perch tails and shrimp eyes and tails really shine when the flood lights just barely hit them. I believe fish see fluorescent colors better than we do and I often check both lure and tying materials with a UV light. Amazing what shows up. Best to you and hope to see you again. Colby

Wow.  I can not thank you enough for sharing that with us.  I have already added the couple I got from you to my favorite topwaters and I can not wait to get back to the Gulf this week.  One thing that hit me immediately with your method is that the mylar has lots of flash and it is not necessary to add bulk, which really does affect the action of the topwater.  So I will be tying those as soon as I get to a real fly shop and pick up the mylar and the Fas-Snaps.  And for you folks out there, watch for his writings in the Gulf Coast Fisherman.  And Colby, feel free to add your .02 anytime you feel the urge.

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After big days in your life like marriage, kids, graduations, there is one day that hardcore fishermen do not want to admit is one of the top in their lives:  When they finally get to buy the boat.  You know the one I am talking about, you have looked at them longingly, researched, shopped, and then finally did it, you took the plunge.  Well my good buddy Clyde and his lovely wife Maria finally bought a Lund.  For you Southern guys a Lund is to aluminum boats as Ranger is to bass boats or Majek is to saltwater boats.

Congratulations.  Can’t wait to see it up close in Canada.  It just needs a little pike slime on it and it will be perfect!

Nothing like getting the real deal.  A boat that will actually last a lifetime.  Able to handle big water and solid as a rock, they are the best aluminum boats on the water.  Kind of like owning the Lexus of boats.  My only piece of advice besides do the maintenance exactly like they tell you is to take advantage of that new boat love affair and  put a couple of baits away occasionally.  I know that is a novel concept.  So congratulations again, you guy deserve it.

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That is all for today.  I have some things to get done today so I am freed up the next couple.  One of the things will be spending that free $1o card from Academy.  It never seems to be just $10, but every dollar helps.  And I will start seriously working on the Canada list, it is about 3 weeks from taking off.  I love the anticipation.  Of course the fishing this week will be weather dependent, but there will be some fishing.  I have a good kayak report to pass on and another thing or two that I will get to later today.   So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines