FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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Not preparing anything before I fished today the conditions are basically a summation of the day.  In other words just another summer day on the Texas Coast.  But as usual we had a good time.

Weather

It blew like hell this morning, then really started blowing after noon.  25 mph straight out of the south made it tough.  And it was hot.  What’s new?

Tides

Basically irrelevant there.  The water was up and stayed up the 8 hours we fished.

Solunar Periods

7:45 am to 9:45 am.   (That was right on.)

*********************Get inhaled!  

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Times a wasting.

I met Aaron at Wal Mart in Flour Bluff at 5:20 am to head to the park and put in.  He told me it had been busy the last few times he fished there, and boy was he right.  The parking lot was already 80% full and the boat parade was on the way.  We dropped in no problem and were off.

And speaking of traffic, it did remind me why I try not to fish the weekend.  We saw lots of boats doing some marginal stuff, but as you will find out, we also found some good Samaritans.  And I still do not understand why folks burn the shoreline by running shallow.  Just because you can does not make it right, and when there are that many folks fishing why it is ok for you to burn up other folks areas but then get pissed when it happens to you.

We stopped on a point a few miles down the island, not a real clue where we were.  The bite was slow at first but then it picked up, and up.  The wind was making it a real hassle, but the trout were biting.  The bite was really consistent from about 8 until 11:00.  The only problem, we just did not find the good keepers.  In fact, we only ended up keeping 1, and both us threw back some right on the line.  My rule is it either measures right off the bat or it is going back.  But I digress.  We caught on numerous plastics, and Aaron has been adding a small pieced of fishbites to his.  We also had a couple of runs on reds, and managed to land a couple of good ones.

                         Aaron hooked up!                     Just made the under.

I managed to catch 3 or 4 trout on topwater, but it was just to rough.  If it had blown just a little less the topwater bite would have been good.  I mainly stuck with “pulling” the Controlled Descent Paddle Shad, and my biggest red came on the Pink Limeade.  The last few trips I have been fishing it, and some other plastics, differently than usual.  While it seems the reds like it worked that way more than the trout, if there are reds around they will eat it.  I am using a big rattle inserted with a 4/0, 1/16th or 1/8th ounce, swim bait hook.  Instead of hopping and dropping or reeling I am basically sweeping it, not fast, just pulllll enough to feel the tail vibrate a couple of feet then quickly picking up the slack.  Trying to keep it moving horizontally definitely evokes more strikes.  Something I am going to keep working on, it has caught fish the last few times out.

A half inch over.  This is when the fun began.

At this point in the morning we have boated an easy 30 – 40, mostly small trout and a few rats, and there were a few more to come.  The Shallow Sport is being held with the Power Pole, sort of.  The red above knocked the snot out of the Pink Limeade Paddle shad and the fight was on.  I land him and turn around to show Aaron and he yells, the boat!  And starts laughing and I join in.  Bye!

                               The boat.                                           The saviors.

The boat is hightailing it down the bay.  With a 25mph wind pushing that flat bottom it was gonna be at the ramp in no time.  Now at this point there had been boats running by us one after the other for hours, but not now.  The first one that comes by just does not see us waving.  Aaron starts splashing and waving like a lunatic, no offense to lunatics, and the next boat sees us and comes right over.  Great guys, they they take Aaron to get the boat.  They tell him they are fishing a tourney and their day has not been the best.  They get out and gone then a low engine oil alarm and they can not move.  With none on the boat they have to wait until someone comes and drops some off.  Then for some reason the large burn bar over the console just snaps off and hits one of the guys in the head.  And I don’t think they caught much.  So in our case no harm, no foul.  But we were violating one of my rules, anchor and Power Pole.  That could have been ugly.

The fish were basically right on the drops.  Wade a little to deep and you were in them, to shallow and no bites.  While I said no tide above, the water was moving hard with the wind and the fish were on the windy side drops, which of course made fishing technically sound a hassle.  Basically any little gut with some water had a fish in it.  While I was pulling my lure Aaron was almost fishing his plastics like a worm, slow with small twitches.  But no matter what we did we just did not hit the mother load, and we waded tons of water.  Finally about 2 the water was starting to really color up and we joined the steady stream of boats calling it a day.

The numbers were good, but the bigger trout eluded us.  It has been a while since I had one of those catch a ton of shorts days, and considering the numbers we should have had a few more good ones.  There is just no telling when it comes to fish.  One of the group of reds Aaron was on got busted by a boat that roared by us way to close.  But it was a good day and I always have a great time fishing with Aaron.  All it did was wet my whistle to go back.

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And here is a funny little side note.  I am so used to bringing the boat, and am so happy when someone takes me.  When you have been “in charge” of the boat most of the last 40 years I appreciate not having to think about it.  But guess what?  You can’t take the boat out of me.  On the couple of hours drive home I figure I checked the rear view mirror every half hour or so to be sure the boat was fine, except I did not have it on the back.  Old habits die hard.

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And Billy chimed in on the Laguna.

“chuckling”, for the most part, I’m just giving you a hard time with the grammar/spelling Nazi thing.
So, how did the knew trolling motor handle/work?
I will be shocked if the water conditions in the upper laguna have changed at all due to the rain. From there all the way south to Brownsville, there are no rivers that empty into any of the bays, to bring murky, fresh water.

No problem on the grammer, “eye no eye ain’t the bestest” as far as grammer, or maybe just getting lazier in my old age.  The trolling motor worked fine, but it is a little loud so will use it some more and see if it quiets down, but other than that it pulls the boat just fine.  80 pounds of thrust is plenty for an 18′ boat.  And you are correct.  The water was a little murkier than past trips, but with a 25 mph wind right down the pike it would be impossible to tell what affect, if any, all that rain had.  And let me tell you there was tons of standing water all the way to Corpus.  But I will say one thing, I am ready to go back and fish it again, but during the week!

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On a totally different note I start on Medicare (OMG!) next month.  Being an attorney, not saying I am all that, but I do know how to read.  But my God who thought up all the Medicare alternatives and crazy rules?  I read all the crap and went to the SSI office to get clarification, then got an answer that is no where in the material.  And by the way, is being rude a requirement for working there?  Just wondered, user friendly they are not.  No wonder folks get so confused.  There is absolutely no reason for it to be this complicated.  The only good thing, at least I will get some for all the $$$$ I paid in over my lifetime.  Those younger, you are about to be screwed.  Do not get me started on the government, I might rant for hours!

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The Boss has been out of town a few days doing girlie things so I will slip out to the lake for a few hours in the morning before she gets back.  Don’t tell her, but I miss her.  Then looking at the weather it could be off to POC.  The full moon is on the way and I have always  wanted to do some night wading with topwater, maybe the wind will cooperate.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines