FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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Here I sit, completely bored, boat ready to go fish a rainy day, and it is just not going to happen.  It is really pouring, and I mean buckets.  In fact, I have been up the last 3 mornings at 5:00 in an attempt to go, but it has been back to bed.  We were 11″ down but that is rapidly being replaced, but flooding will soon be a real issue from Brownsville to North of Houston.  Some areas have had 5 – 10 inches in the last day, with one area south of Corpus that got 6 inches in a little over an hour.  Our house is on a high point in our neighborhood and we have lots of standing water in the front yard, which is a sign it is getting pretty wet.

Lake Level

5 days ago  94.98 msl    Today  95.43 msl    (That is a half a foot since it started, and the really heavy rain is here with more coming over the next couple of days so the rise may be epic.  I just checked it 2 hours after I initially started working on this post and it is now 95.58 msl.  It is on the rise bigtime.)

It looks like our drought may be over, but it is a tough way to get there.  The last year we have experienced some of the most extreme weather I have seen in the 10 years we have been here.  Just think, Harvey, then snow, and now major flooding in the last year alone.  But one thing you can say about Texans, they just keep on rolling.  So with 2 more days of steady rain to go only time will tell what the end result will be.  No matter what it will be a big change to both fresh and salt.

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On the fishing front, TPWD has come out with new regs that I assume  (I am not sure.) will become law when the book comes out, but if you fish any of these lakes, and there are a bunch, you might want to check the list.  The regs change some slot lakes to the statewide limits, and one in particular in our area, Fayette and a couple of others, will change from a 14″ to 24″ slot to a 16″ to 24″.  So whenever it goes in affect you can keep them up to 16″.  That is a good change that will only help.

One thing “bass fisherman” are guilty of is NOT taking a few to eat.  As long as folks primarily practice catch and release the resource can take it.  There is no doubt that catch and release over the last couple of decades definitely made today’s bass fishing what it is, and that is thanks to bass fishermen.  (This is from a guy who before real length limits won a bass tournament with a 10 fish limit that weighed 9lbs.)  But the time to release everything caught has passed.  The fishing is as good as it has ever been, keeping a few bass for the plate is good for the resource.  Remember that our lakes, no matter the make up, can support so many pounds of fish per acre, so taking the small ones only helps.  Now I have to admit I have been willing to criticize TPWD when I feel they are wrong on an issue, but at some point we have to trust the biologists recommendations.  If they think we can keep a few more we need to trust their judgment, if it turns out to be wrong it won’t take long to figure it out.

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And speaking of Texans I have a question.  How long before a transplant can one call themselves a Texan, if they ever can?  My daughter was born in Arkansas after I moved there.  Now according to her she is an Arkansawyer (Actually correct.) and I could never be since I was not born there.  What in ingrate!  Should have taken her to some other place to be born, like Mississipi.  (Just kidding about Mississipi, but not the ingrate.)  Just wondering.

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A cheater, or a poor excuse for a fisherman, was caught cheating  (How many times has he done this?  And if he has any past wins they should be taken off the books.)  in a kayak tournament, it is the reason no matter how much fun fishing tournaments can be I have fished very few in the past years.  Any tournament that relies on the honesty of tournament anglers with no checks in the system is suspect.  And that is sad.  About the only way a tournament can be as reliable as possible is team tournaments with a draw or mandatory polygraphs.  With partner tourneys each team has 1 boater and 1 no boater.  I know it won’t work with kayak tourneys but is easily applicable to other tournaments.  Then they draw another team and the no boaters fishes with the other boater as a safeguard.  My only comment is it should not only have big penalties for cheating, including fines and jail time, it is theft, but a lifetime fishing and hunting ban.  It may not deter all cheating but it will remove some of the slime balls from the sport.

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One thing I really enjoy about soccer, the devastating injuries.  These guys take flopping to new heights.  A guy is bumped and he falls to the ground, flops like a bass on the deck, moans and groans, and then looks out of the corner of his eye to see if he will get the call.  These guys make basketball players look like tough guys.  I am not sure yet of what the contact rules are and why some is a foul and some isn’t.  (Oh No.  While I am actually typing there is a guy suffering  horribly and rolling around, but wait, like magic he is headed down the field at full speed.  A miracle!)  But I am thankful that after they suffer such a serious injury they are able to hop up when they don’t get the call and run on downfield.  Brave competitors.  (Can you tell I am bored yet?)

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And since I am rambling on some unrelated issues, let me comment on a couple of commercials on the radio that drive me nuts.  They are both from companies that will help you make a settlement for less than you owe on both taxes and credit cards.  Now before some of you go all cranky on me I know stuff happens.  Life does throw some people curves resulting in money issues, it happened to us in the past.  My problem is that you had the $$$ when you did not pay your taxes, and you enjoyed the use of your credit cards to buy lots of stuff that you could not pay for, and now you don’t want to pay it all back?  Sometimes it is just necessary to except responsibility, realize you messed up, and it is your duty to pay it back no matter how hard it is, or how long it takes.  By shirking your duties you make the rest of us pay for your irresponsibility.   Sorry, but sometimes I just do not get “it”.

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I have just seen the video posted on facebook of Port Aransas where it is really starting to flood, and the rain keeps on coming.  Those folks have had enough, many places are already not re-opening, and some are still repairing or have just opened.  If anyone needed a break it is those folks.  Looking at the forecast the end is not quite in sight.  All I can say is give those poor folks a break.

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So that is it for today.  I am going in the morning and I could give a heck whether it is raining or not.  I can only imagine what the lake will look like and I will head up both arms and give you a fresh report.  It obviously will be really muddy, it will just depend on far down each arm it is, and what the water temp is.  Then Friday it is off to Corpus to meet Aaron as we head to Bird Island Saturday to lay the smack down on the trout he has been whipping on.  As far as fishing goes the coming days will be interesting.  This is a lot of rain and there will be changes, it waits to be seen what they are.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines