FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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POC  –  I Hope!

I am getting the weather and other pertinent information tonight in preparation for meeting Ken and his wife Cindy at POC in the morning.  They are down to participate in the annual Beach Cleanup, which they have done for years.  As a side note they have done plenty of camping on Sunday Beach.  Tomorrow might be touch and go whether it is storming or raining to much, we will just have to see in the morning.  Ken is one of the loose confederation of fish catching, adult beverage drinking, good food eating boys I call the Austin Boys.  I have fished with him on the Lavaca River, in fact we got hit by a big norther that day, and I am looking forward to meeting his wife .  Hopefully it won’t be a nice drive to POC, and then back home.  But I sure like the looks of the tides and solunar times.  My prediction – Clouds with light winds and the fish will bite, maybe.

Weather

91/75  Scattered showers and thunderstorms  60% chance of rain  Wind SE 10 – 15  (It blew 15 in the afternoon and we got sprinkled on a minute.)

Tide

High   6:01 AM     1.3
Low   6:04 PM     0.4

Solunar Times

• Best Times     5:16A – 7:16A
•                          5:45P – 7:45P
• Good Time     11:07A – 1:07P

That Ken is a real Boy Scout!

One beautiful morning!

Well my prediction when preparing the days conditions the night before ended up being right  on.  I met Ken and Cindy at their rental around 6 and we loaded up and headed to Fisherman’s Center to put in.  It was partly cloudy and almost calm when we set up on a drain on the Pringle Shoreline.  The water temp was 86 and the tide was way up and the water color was almost clear.  Ken and I were going to wade so we anchored Cindy in the mouth of the drain so she could throw shrimp from the boat.

Nothing like catching one on the Chug Bug 10 feet from the boat.

I hopped out and started with the Chug Bug topwater.  As you know from a couple of posts I have just started throwing that topwater here in Texas.  The first trout of the morning just blasted that thing.  There was plenty of bait, but the water was still barely coming in.  Though we were getting a few bites it was not fast, but we were getting the bites.  Here it is, the shameless plug for the Wade Right.  It was another day where having 2 different rods with plastic and topwater made the difference in my results.

Watermelon Down South on a 1/32 jig head.

One thing that I have noticed the last 3 times fishing the Chug Bug is how many follows it gets.  It definitely gets the reds to follow, often boiling that thing close to me. That water throwing chugging action seems to draw them from a long way, but getting them to eat is another story.  At least for the number of follows the takers have been fairly few.  It may simply be a color thing, we shall see.

Funny how differently the trout want it from the usual way I use a walking the dog bait.  I mean I am using it really fast, throwing water everywhere in a chug/chug/chug pattern, then slowing it down, or stopping it, to make them bite.  I did change to a Skitter Walk for a little bit, only catching one small trout.  The Chug Bug clearly got more strikes.  But there is still some work to be done learning how to make them eat it.  It will be a tough job but somebody has to do it, and I am the man for the job.

Aonther on the Chug Bug, he was one of the probably 4 keepers out of the 13 caught this morning.

Again the Wade Right proved it’s worth.  I took off and waded the flat, fishing pot holes and mullet schools.  I fished the shallow flooded grass out to about 4 feet of water over pot holes in the grass.  I think it was about 5 on topwater before they really started to follow or boil it without eating.  It was great to reach back and grab my spinning rod and throw the Down South watermelon red on the 1/32 without going to the boat.  They bit right along, and if I had to guess it was somewhere in the 8 or 10 range on plastics.

Cindy with a Black Drum headed for the fry pan. (Robbed this from Ken’s Facebook page.)

Ken meanwhile caught a couple of keepers and a small one or two, and Cindy was catching fish right along.  She boxed a drum and maybe a keeper trout, and then a few other rat reds and small trout.  As a group we caught 25 or more anyway, so while not gang busters on the big fish, we caught fish fairly steadily.  Not sure what time it was but Ken said lets head down the shoreline, eat something, and check an area with a drain where they caught a few earlier in the week.  When we got to the drain and anchored the tide was finally starting to move, but the water coming out was definitely to off color for out tastes.

So after eating some lunch, and making a couple of casts without success, it was time for a move.  We decided to fish our way back, with the planned first stop being in the Big Pocket area.  Ken puts the boat on plane and after maybe 1/4 mile we hear the prop bog down.  Both of us knew immediately either we were running in mud, not, or we spun the hub.  Congratulations, you have selected door number 2.

Now we are still on the Pringle shoreline and it is a no-go.  First, I want to say how nice it was to be with 2 folks who took it in stride.  I am thinking oh crap, and their response is no problem.  Second, you know how often I comment on being organized and having stuff, well Ken is definitely more anal than I am.  In the box is the composite prop, the wrench, and the wood block to put between the prop and fin so you can take it off.  No problem.  Organized, the whole process took a second.  So off we go, right?  Well not so fast, it ended up being exactly that, not so fast.

         The proper tool for the job, on with the spare and off we go.

Hard to guess whether the prop was the wrong pitch, or the composite flexed a bunch, it really did not matter either way.  We could just not quite get on plane.  As you can see we are all in the front hoping, and the boat is driving itself.  Funny.

Hauling Butt Now at a mighty 5+mph.  But who was driving the boat?

So we putted along at the steady speed of 5 mph back the Fishing Center ramp, and that was the end of the day.  But we had a big time idling back and shooting the breeze.  Though  it took a while to get back, we got back.  When it comes down to it, he had the goods.  We made it back without calling Sea Tow, or hitching a ride, and it was no big deal and could have been a considerably bigger hassle.  So nice job Ken, you were prepared!

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Then Not Prepared

Early this morning I was working on this post when Jeffish called and said lets take his son Korbin crappie fishing.  We have a big front headed this way, it is supposed to be here around 2, so cool, we can safely get in 4 hours.  So I headed to his house, picked them up and off we went.  First a gas stop and then the Damn Store at Coleto.  And that is where it started, and ended.

There was a sign on the door, On Vacation until Tuesday, and No Minnows.  Dang it.  So we head back to town to a little bait store called Marsha’s, nobody there.  Jeffish called her and there was a minnow problem, and would be none till next month.  Great.  So lesson learned.  First we should have called ahead.  Second, I threw all the other rods, reels, and fishing stuff in the garage so it would not be in the way with 3 of us.  So here we are, no other equipment.

We were hardly prepared this morning.  You can always get minnows, can’t you?  And of course you won’t need the bass stuff at Coleto either.  So with those lessons learned, call on the bait the day before, and take it all, we called boat fishing off.  Both of us had tunnel vision, so here we were 1 1/2 hours later, nowhere near the water.  So with weather on the way, it is thundering as I write this, they decided to go fish off the Indianola fishing pier.  A good place if it is raining, and the tide will be right later in the morning.  So one day prepared and the next day not.  Just goes to show ya’.

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I hadn’t heard from Jay in a while, and he commented on my whining about having to sit around waiting for that dang dryer.

Doug,
You could have just hauled the dryer home in one of your boats.
Then you could be fishing instead of waiting for it
Or still trying to figure out how to get it out of the boat.
LOL!
Jay

I can honestly say there just might have been a time I would have gone ahead and tied it to the top of the bosses’ Lexus, no big deal right?  All you have to do is untie it and push it off.  And then I would have taken the old one out in the yard, maybe next to the junk car sitting up on blocks, the one close to the upside jon boat with the coon dog sleeping on it.  I am from Arkansas you know!  Good to hear from you.

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I will be spending the day watching a little football, all in anticipation of the Razorbacks doing battle with the mighty Aggies.  If both play like they have in their prior good games it should be a dandy.  But if either falls down on the job it will be a long evening.  But for either, 4 – 0 is a great place to be.  But no matter what it still all goes through Alabama.

I really enjoyed fishing with Ken and Cindy.  To bad we couldn’t have hit a couple of more spots when the tide was right.  But no complaint, it could have been a real hassle.  And speaking of the Austin Boys I have a question.  Is the annual December extravaganza still on for the first weekend?  I want to be sure to block out the date on the calendar before the Boss fills it in with something manly like a visit to a Bed & Breakfast and dinner at a  Tea House.

Monday looks sketchy but I hope to be on the water somewhere.  I am all about this cold front and the anticipation of the good fishing to come.  Other than putting myself in the right place at the right time to catch a 30″ trout this fall, I want to catch a redfish on my fly rod.  So maybe this fall instead of just talking about it I can get it done.  The big schools and clear water of fall provide the perfect combination for getting it done.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines