FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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Chad and Pops on Keller Bay

As I surmised when I got the picture at 4:45 am yesterday of the Hogie that Chad is using on the bay, he was headed out fishing.  And even better his “Pops” was with him.

Doug, i really like what you had to say about boats, and gear, name brands. And how many people act that have them. I am blessed to have a fishing partner with a great boat, a 22ft gulf coast. Myself I own a 14ft flatbottom. I notice a big difference in how people talk and treat me at the ramp. All I can say is 60,000 dollar rigs dont catch fish, people do! For me they are simply a water taxi.  Now lets get to the fishing, I cried last post about little trout, but with the water temp dropping back down. The good fish showed up.

We left the dock and idled over to the shell mouth to make a drift waiting on the sun.  And on the second cast my dad ( aka) pops hooked an oversized red. No need for sunlight, when you got adrenaline! We anchored and bail out. Woo wee it was chilly! We all own waders but, we knew it was gonna warm up. The trout bite started and ended quickly, so off to next spot where we put ten in the box, 19″ was the big one for the day. After a few wades we decided to drift and boated a few more. As we were headed to the ramp we did one last drift. Pops hooks another monster, so after 45 min of wondering , we finally see the mighty jack crevelle.

They are probably the best catfish bait I’ve ever used. The meat is bloody and oily and has texture that doesn’t turn to mush when you bait a limb line or jug line. The big blue cats love it. So it was an eventful day . Oversized red, 25lb jack fish, 14 nice trout, only burned $8 worth of gas. Lol.  Now you got me wondering about the duck hunting at lake gonzales. Hummm woodys and mallards oh boy, gonna have to look into that. Thanks chad

Funny you should mention mallards on Gonzales.  My buddy Jeffish mom’s boyfriend John and I were talking hunting last night at a birthday party, and that is exactly what he thought.  John is a big time hunter and fisherman who says he knows you.  He was telling me about your interesting approach at times to duck hunting the Keller area.  I won’t give out your secrets, but your approach to things is a little different than most folks.

Sure is great you get to fish with your “Pops”.  Not everyone is fortunate enough to get that pleasure.  And Jacks get a bad rap from some folks, my only complaint is they take so dang long to get in on trout gear.  But pound for pound they are right up there as far as fight.  Heck my wife and I both got a blue marlin to boat side and tagged quicker than you can tame a big jack.  So congrats to him for landing that one.  And I am glad to learn how good a catfish bait they are.  I like to occasionally drift fish for blues on Coleto in the late winter with cut bait.  Guess I will box the next one I catch.

Looks like your trout were really solid, I will take that average any day.  You can just tell right now, they are dying to come shallow and get to feeding.  And when you jump over the side first thing in the morning you can feel how much the water temp in that shallow water has dropped overnight.  Good things are coming and I look for an epic winter.

And last your experience at the ramp is my experience.  I fish out of a Mako 18LTS with most of the bells and whistles, and a 16 year old, rode hard and put up wet Carolina Skiff, about equally.  Not only is there a difference in how people view me at the ramp or cleaning table, but also on the water.  As you know I am a lifetime bass fisherman, it is still my first love.  I really hate to say it, but it is the truth:  There is a huge difference in the way bass fisherman treat me, and other folks on the water.  In my skiff, get cut off.  I hate to diss my brother bass fisherman, but they really are the worst.  One of my buddies from Arkansas started Champion, Hawk, and Viper boats.  I owned the 4th Champion ever produced, the old pad boat, and then upgraded to one of the first 16.8 that would blow the hair off your head.  My tournament partner was the production manager for Ranger Boats and always had the best of the best.  Additionally Mtn Home is the home of Bass Cat Boats.  So I have been there, done that.  One day when I was mowing the grass at home I had to laugh, the boats and trucks in the yard costs more than my house.  Not telling you this to toot my horn, but to illustrate your point.  Believe me, showing up at the dock in your buddies latest and greatest Ranger boat fresh off the line sure gets you treated differently.  Unfortunately it has absolutely “freaken” zip to do with who is the better fisherman.  In so many cases it is simply who can make the biggest payment.  And once I got down here I found it was exactly the same.  I can not tell you how many times folks in the big fancy boats run me over when fishing the bay out of the skiff.  After cleaning fish at Froggie’s over the last 8 years I have learned this simple truth, the boat is definitely not indicative of fish caught.  You said it best, a boat is simply a water taxi, once you are in the water things equal out immediately.  I really appreciate your reports, and contributions to the discussion.  (If reading these comments and observations irritated you, time to look at yourself.)

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Masked Flounder Assassin

I got the following from the Masked Flounder Assassin.  Not sure of any specifics but I knew they were headed out gigging last night, looks like it went just fine.

Some good eats!

Now if they would just clean themselves.

These guys do some serious gigging.  But whether gigging, or rod and reel, the fishing is getting better by the day.  I can only imagine what is coming the next couple of months.  Thanks for the pictures, enjoy the fish fry.

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One Good Story Deserves Another

I got this cool memory from Jim after he read my POC post from the other day.

Doug,
I was just sitting here on my back patio enjoying the awesome weather, watching college football and reading your blog and all I can say is life has s good! While reading your blog I suddenly remembered you mentioned Mule Slew in passing in your last writing. It back memories of a fishing trip there with my salt water fishing buddy a few years ago. On the way down to POC he explained that would be fishing in a place called “mule slew”. He said being fall that the redfish should be in there. Now let me tell you that the closer we got to POC the heavier the fog got. When we got to the ramp you couldn’t see past the front of the boat. I was shocked when my partner said let’s go. Now let me add it was still dark! I immediately asked him if he was crazy? He assured me that we would be ok and that he knew where he was going. Now let me add to the story that he had no gps or other electronic mapping to utilize so I started to write a note for my wife when the authority’s found us. Away we went into the dark fogginess. Now as any fisherman knows, fog brings out a certain increase of senses but with the dark mine was pegged!! I sat in the front of the boat to serve as a lookout as we putted across the water. After what seemed like hours and biting all my fingernails off he announced that we were at mule slew. How he knew I had no idea. All I could think was “thank you lord”! About that time it started to lighten up and I could actually start to see water. When we stepped out of the boat it was only shin deep. He told me to tie on the biggest chrome colored Zara spook I had which turned out to be a chrome/Chartreuse beast. We fished in mule slew for a few hours and it was a thing to behold. The reds were in there and would periodically show themselves with an emergent tail. Just cast that big plug past them and walk the dog back past them and hold on! We both ended up with limits of 3 to 27″. I would venture to say we each caught 15-20 reds each. It was by far the best topwaters redfish action I ever experienced.

So that’s my Mule Slew story. Thanks for reminding me of it in your blog.

Great story.  I have been in some fog in my life, but one afternoon at POC topped them all.  The sea fog rolled in about 2, I started getting nervous, but my fishing partner said no problem.  By time we finally headed back to Froggie’s it was ugly and scary.  A mistake I will never make again, it was not only foolish to stay, but dangerous.  The next day when we pulled out to head home we stopped at the car wash.  While I was washing the boat he talked to a woman who was there with her husband washing their boat.  She said they had the “pleasure” of sleeping all night in the boat waiting for it to clear.  She was not a happy camper.

My best fog story is years ago from Lake Norfork.  My tournament partner and I headed down lake and when we got to the creek mouth it was a huge fog bank.  This was long before GPS, but I knew that lake like the back of my hand so the famous no problem.  At the mouth there were 2 creeks running side by side.  After slow motoring in I finally said we should stop and fish as I was not sure where we were.  Turned out we entered the wrong creek and were around 10 miles from where I thought we were.  I sure have learned my fog lessons and treat it like any other inclement weather, with caution.

Last, redfish smashing topwater like that is a thing of beauty.  And that period is upon us.  For the next couple of months we will have our best red fishing of the year.  Visions of that kind of fishing is what motivates me in the fall.  So in my wildest dreams we will have a day like that.  And one final word, I think Mule “Slough” might be right, but I had to look it up to be sure. Like I have said in past, we do not give a hoot how you spell it, or if you have a clue where a comma might go, we just want your stories.  As usual thanks for your long running participation.  I always say it what makes this blog what it is.

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Yesterday my Hogs laid down and died, right after the kick off.  They got spanked with a 2×4.  The Aggies went from contenders in the first half to pretenders by the final gun.  It all goes through Alabama, especially after Ohio State losing, which always warms my heart.  Today the Cowboys have a bye, depending how things go with other teams in the division they could actually improve their current run.

But most of all – The Cubs!  My family and my wife’s have been Cub fans for a lifetime.  I admit I had given up, but no matter, it happened.  All I could think about during the game was Ernie Banks, Rick Monday, Kerry Woods, Jose Cardenal, Don Kessinger, and the cast of hundreds who went before for this current bunch.  And for the old guys like my Dad and father-in-law Jack, fans for over 80 years who never gave up hope, this is for you.  4 more wins and this season will go down in history.  GO CUBS!!!!!

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Just thought I would drop these couple of comments while they are fresh.  I love getting your reports and pictures, they really add to this deal.  So keep them coming.  And if any of these subjects moves you drop me a comment, just because I rant my opinion here does not make it right, and any side of the story adds to the discussion.  Next I need to get to the bay and do a wader repair test, and maybe catch a few.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines