FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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The mornings have been carbon copies of each other the last month.

Weather

94/76  Partly cloudy and hot.  10% chance rain.  Wind SSE 15 – 25.

Lake Level

Today  95.70 msl   5 days ago  95.80 msl.  (On a slow decline again.)

Solunar Times

Good 6:01 am to 8:01 am   Best  11:49 am to 1:49 pm.

It was almost dead calm when I hit the water at daylight.  The water temp at the ramp was 86 degrees, as was most of the lake.  The water color has stabilized in both arms.   So I headed to a bank with lots of cover and started pitching.  And it was just as it has been, lots of smalls.

As you have seen the last month these are the run of the mill.  Looking kind of skinny but they are willing.

Of course the buzzbait got a little workout, and while it caught 3 later in the day in clear water they were definitely small.  I had one good one smoke it, while I had the phone pinned between my shoulder and ear talking to the Boss and casting.  Think about that for a minute – I can’t even stop casting 1 freakin’ minute to take a call.  You would think by now I would be ready for a good bite, that is just the way fishing is.  And the swim jig got tossed a little but with most of the fish tight to cover it is not the best choice right now.  I also fished a couple of banks with crankbait when the wind was up but obviously my bank or lure selection was not any good.

The best of the morning, I never felt her at all until she started swimming off.

But most of the morning, I quit at noon, it was pitching.  Today in honor of the Oregon State Beavers kicking my Hog’s ass I pitched a beaver plastic for the heck of it.  The green with red flake was a little better than the more red watermelon.  One thing about pitching it, they seemed to hit it a little more aggressively than they have been hitting the senko.  But of course the one above just started swimming with it.  There is still about a 40% chance that you will not feel the bite.  How they do that I do not know with so little line out, tricky.

Also today I lost 2 good ones in cover, it comes with the territory.  As I get a little more confident pitching more and more I am tossing it right in there.  Your bait has to be straight with the barb lightly stuck  back in the plastic so it will come through stuff and you have to be work it easy so as not to stay hung up.   The brushier the cover the better the chance there is a fish.   Additionally I even caught one on the 5th cast to a bigger piece of cover.  Just had to get the right angle to work it properly.

The wind finally came up and was blowing pretty good when I called it a day.  As it has been it was 10 or so pitching and several on buzzbait.  So while the good ones are few and far between there is fish to be caught.  And again I actually saw folks catching, not just fishing, for crappies.  If you want a great dinner they are biting.

*********************Get inhaled!  

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It was good to hear from Aaron A.  He sent along a rather long post and in deference to his summer trials and tribulations with 2 small children we will get right to the good stuff.

Aaron with a nice river bass.  He catches his share.

I did manage to score a decent river bass on topwater earlier in the year (22”) and a good trout down near Rockport last weekend that matched my personal best (25”).  In  Rockport I was fishing with a buddy that had a boat.  You know I’m a kayak guy so this was a new experience.  All the water in the back of the shoreside bays was stained and fresh so we hit the mid bays rigs with croakers.  I’m also an artificial guy so croaker fishing took a little practice.  Seemed like all we could find was unders so they finally dropped me off on some shell to do my thing with artificial while they headed off to pop some shrimp under corks. When then came back an hour later I had a couple 22” trout, a great 25” trout, and a black drum.  I could get use to fishing with the benefit of a boat!

A nice solid!

Saturday the wind was terrible and we had a hard time finding any fishable spots but we still fared better than the boat we saw that had run into an artificial reef near Goose Island SP (see pic).  Talk about a bad (and dangerous) day.

That sucks, plain and simple.

One of these days I’m going to think ahead enough to give you a shout to buddy up on a trip.

I hope you’re doing well.

Good to hear from you and looks like your summer is going ok.  The Saturday you are talking about is when we fished the Upper Laguna and had a tough time, and it was rough.  But nice job pulling it out on the wade, that was a good string.  Nothing better than getting in them and making it happen wading.  But do try to avoid getting bitten by the boat bug, it is a incurable, expensive, disease, trust me.  Since you get down here fairly regularly just drop me a note, maybe we can work out a day.   And good luck with the kids, they will be fishing, chasing girls, and driving before you know it!  The Boss and I are doing well, thanks for asking.  Keep in touch.

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SA Joe sent along this comment after I posted Tony’s best 5.

Was that 5 fish limit done on Coleto ??? What lake?

Just got back from my month trip thru Hot Springs and Chicago. Caught alot of fish in both areas. Thumb needs a long rest after lippin so many.. YEA RIGHT !!!!

Stopped at Lake Nanoniche, caught about 20 there and the lake has so much standing timber and laydowns. Dont know where to start and being in a kayak I stayed to the left of the boat launch. Very nice area and lake.

Tony did not say.  As you know if folks want to tell some, part, or none, it is their choice.  I am just happy to get the pictures and honor my word about keeping quiet.  No matter where he caught them it is a massive string, Falcon or Fork like.   And there are actually some fish in the Hot Springs area.  I fished it a lot when at the horse races, fish Hamilton in the morning and race in the afternoon.  In fact the Boss and I got married at the Little Wedding Chapel across the street from the track by a guy from Auckland NZ in a purple hounds tooth suit.  It was a touching little ceremony.   And Naconiche has an off and on again reputation, though I have not fished it there have been some big fish caught there.  As usual good to hear from you.

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4th of July

Here comes my speech.  Time to check all the paperwork on the boat, make sure the trailer lights and tires are up to snuff.  Bearings grease?  Life jackets?  If you are headed out on the water be prepared.  Keep the brews to a minimum.  Don’t be “that guy.”  Law enforcement will be out in force, along with about a million other folks.  Remember about a third of them do not have a clue so be patient.  Be the bigger guy, be ready at the ramp, be courteous.  It will be a 5 day weekend for some folks and it will be busy as the weather forecast is great for the holiday.  There were multiple deaths and boating accidents Memorial Day so be careful, be safe, and have a freakin’ good time!

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On a personal note my 65th birthday is in July.  I have never taken unemployment, food stamps, or any other benefit other than SSI on retirement.  So starting next month Medicare begins.  To bad the government has squandered all our money we have paid in over a lifetime.  I feel for the folks coming along later, talk about getting screwed, good luck.  The money will be gone.

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This weekend will be a little trailer and boat work on the skiff.  There is always something that can be fixed, replaced, or changed.  It seems that once I start on something other things just follow.  It will keep me occupied until Monday, when it will be back on the water.  I appreciate all your comments and suggestions and all of you feel free to comment anytime.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines