FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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Today’s Tip  –  It is the Holiday Weekend.

Please be careful out there.  Be the bigger guy on the water and at the ramp.  Wear your life jackets and kill switch.  Always expect the other guy to do something stupid.  Just because you know the rules, or who has the right of way, means squat to some folks on the water so give a little.  It makes you the better man.  Keep the brews to minimum if you must.  Please, please, watch the kids around the water, it can happen in an instant.

And before you leave the house – 1.  Enough life jackets?  2.  Throwable  cushion?  3.  Plates up to date?  4.  Registration current?  5.  Fire extinguisher up to date?  6.  Everything on the trailer up to snuff, tire inflation, safety chains, turn and stop taillights good?  There is plenty to look at so do a walk around, you never know.  Law enforcement will be out in force, and they have plenty to do without you adding to the confusion.  And having had Coast Guard and Game Wardens compliment me on having everything in order is how appreciative they really are when we are all in compliance.  The last thing they want to do is give you a ticket.  So have a great holiday and enjoy what looks like might be a great weekend on the Coastal Bend.

Weather

91/71   Scattered showers.  Wind  ESE 5 – 10mph.  40% Chance of rain.

Lake Level

Tuesday  95.69   Today  95.67

Solunar Times

Best  7:22 am  to 9:22 am.  (Only relevant time today and it was right on today.)

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I decided to get one more morning fishing trip in before the holidays.  I will be leaving it to folks and will not add to the confusion on the water this weekend, probably!  After catching a few on crankbait Tuesday I was wanting to give it a go, so that is what I started with.  When I started at 6:30 the wind was way down and really no clouds in the sky.

They started biting on the Bagley crankbait right away, and with lots of surface activity I also threw a Rapala foil with a black back spinnertail and both caught fish.  Wish I could tell you the good fish bit the topwater and crankbait, but far from it.  For the first 2 hours it was an easy 15, so plenty of action, but none really made the grade.  A couple of big splashes with the topwater, then letting it sit, then small jerks.  Almost everyone hit while it was just sitting there.  A topwater bite is always fun no matter how big.

The Rapala and the size that hit it.  And the Bagley crankbait, to bad I lost it.  And of course the day would not be complete without at least one catfish.

And then in a moment of clarity my mind actually worked.  It became dead calm and the sun was out and bright.  Normally not a good thing except  –  Can you say wood?  I started pitching wood and the bites came.  Always put that in the back of your mind, pitching cover may be slow until the sun drives the fish to cover.  When it does go with them.

It required a good pitch tight to cover.  And again I caught several after repeated casts to the wood.

When you are pitching that tight bad things are bound to happen, and today it did X2.  I had 2 really nice fish, one a real one, get me in the wood and make their escape.  The bigger one broke off, the other just buried up and I could not get her out.  But that is a small price to pay.  Once they moved to the wood it was a couple of hours of consistent bites.

Nothing like the thump when one eats.  I love the hand to hand combat.  The day definitely improved when they went to cover.

Some general info.  I am using a 1/4 ounce slip sinker, a 5″ watermelon red plastic, on a 4/o worm hook.  Braid with a 2 foot 20lb fluorocarbon leader on a medium heavy rod seems to work best.  It is important to be sure your weight corresponds with the depth you are fishing, you have to feel the cover.  And one mistake I see many folks make is not setting the hook soon enough.  When you feel any tic or bump, they have it, that is what it feels like when they eat.  No need to get into a feeling contest, usually you will lose.  When you feel anything set the hook, you just might be surprised.  The old saying – “It does not cost nothin’.”

From about 8:00, and for the next couple of hours, they were on the wood.  If it was in at least 3+ foot of water about half the wood had a fish on it.  Most were small, but I am happy to work my way through them to get to the others.  It was a really good bite and they were eating.  As the morning went on all of a sudden they would tic it, and not be there.  I finally quit when around 5 in a row hit it and did not eat.  It was interesting to watch the bite get going, and then slowly fizzle.  But no complaints.  Any time I can boat 20 on a flat calm summer day I consider that a win.

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I hope you all have a great weekend no matter how you spend it.  But please be careful, folks will definitely be out in force as will law enforcement.  The old saying that New Year’s Eve is amateur night applies to this weekend.  So enjoy your weekend, and if you do fish, sack them up!  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines