FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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Weather

102/75.  Sunny.  Wind S 10 mph.  Chance rain 0%.

Lake Level

Today  95.24 msl.   Week ago  95.54 msl.

Solunar Time

Best  7:59 am to 9:59 am.

With temps to hit over a 100 degrees it was out early.

It was barely daylight as I headed up lake.  The plan was simple, go up and flip until 9:00 or so then back down to do some more trolling.  I figured it would be plenty hot by noon so it was definitely a short day.  And it turned out to be an interesting day.

     That was one hungry catfish.                 And the average size these days.

6 small ones jumped on the watermelon red stick worm at the first place, including a catfish.  As far as this year goes I have caught more catfish than any year, ever.  And a little later the weird continued.  The fish are still around the cover, but as the lake falls there is less and less of the good stuff.  But it is still simple, toss it right on the cover, let it drop straight down, and give it some twitches.  Today none of them came off the cover.  Close was no cigar today.

         A 4 lb head on this skinny fish.          At least they are willing.

The first pass this morning was 6, from there it was back to one here and one there.  And I strictly stuck with the “good stuff” and there are still a few fish coming to it.  But as I have learned the last couple of trips trolling, the mass of them are in the 14 – 20 foot range.  After catching 10 or so pitching it was starting to warm up a little so down lake I went.

Crazy, it smacked the crap out of the crankbait.  That is one big tilapia!

Starting on the big flat point that separates the ramp cove from the fishing pier cove it was actually slow for a while.  I worked it the long way on both sides, made several passes over the tip, and just kept it in the water.  Finally I found the shad, and most of the fish, which were in that 15′ to 20′ range.  They were on the damn side of the point, and were easily visible.  And when the tilapia above hit it there was no doubt.  After a pretty good tussle, I am leaving 50′ of line out, I finally put it in the boat.  The same thing goes for the tilapia, I have caught more of them on lures this year than ever.

Just little guys, but I sure like catching them.

The white bass were harder to find today.  I caught 5 or 6, and none were as good as some of them the other day.  They, along with the bass, were clearly visible near large schools of shad and I was actually counting down from 10 as I passed the shad, and many times it was fish on.  But today the bass were jumping on the crankbait far better than the whites.

The 2 best of about 10 bass trolling.

Though the balsa shad bait was the better bait the last couple of times I tried trolling, today I put out a hard plastic shad bait with rattles in it that ran about 12′ deep, they liked it.  Once I found the fish it would be 1 or 2 on every pass for around a couple of hours.  Get it in the perfect depth and get a bite.  And one quick observation, several fish coughed up shad on the way in, exactly the size of a medium crankbait.  So say what you want about trolling, I like catching fish, and not the same fish the same way all the time.  And when you can boat an easy 25 in a morning trip I will take it.

A really good morning considering.  And if I had a crappie rod with me I would have run to a couple of quick spots and caught one just to add to the take.  Think about it, today could have been a nice little fish fry if I was keeping.

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Get inhaled!  

There is something innovative and new coming!  

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I got this comment from first timer Ron.

Worked at Alcoa in the 70’s and fished under the lights at Powderhorn. Caught many specs. Wonderful days.

I am sure it was so much different than today, and probably better.  And I have heard that back “in the day” during winter the beach was lined with Snowbirds and their campers.  But there are still plenty of specks, reds, and some really big black drum caught from the marina fishing pier.  I have often thought of interviewing folks who have been around and documenting the changes that have happened on the coast.  Lots of cool history that will be lost.  So thanks for reading and a great memory.

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And this comment came from Matt on the POC weekend.

A couple comments. Sunday after Poco is a good day to fish. Most have pounding headaches and are leaving town as soon as they can.

Also, you can’t beat the Tackle Box. Great people.

Funny how events like this lead to a certain amount of over indulgence.  A good time will be had by all, but it sure can make the drive home a chore.  And those poor fish, they will probably have their own “hangover” after this weekend.  But all will be back to normal Monday, including me getting back on the water.

And it is nice for folks like me who do not mess with reels to have the Tackle Box.  They are pretty quick on the cleanings, which is nice if you have lots of reels, which I do.  And they know what is biting and what is selling which can help with lure selection depending on the time of year.  I appreciate your comment and feel free to comment any time the spirit moves you.

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A big congratulations to the boat Smooth Move with a big marlin, 720 lbs to win Poco Bueno.  There were 5 marlin over 443 lbs, which are some good fish.  And the ACY63 Tenacious for their first place catch and release.  There is just something about catching a marlin, and if I had to pick one fish in my life it would be my first marlin.  The waves crashing over the transom, diesel smoke, the marlin jumping right at the boat, it does not get any more exciting than that.

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A RANT

I try to avoid politics on this site but there are times when I just can not help myself.  I am very concerned with something I read in the small paper The Island Moon, which we picked up on North Padre Sunday.  4,200 acres of land UNDER Choke Canyon is going up for lease for oil drilling.  Now do not get me wrong, I agree with my Land Man buddy Aaron, if you don’t like drilling go home and turn off your house.  But this is to freakin’ much!  No matter how safe they try to be there is always the potential for a spill or accident.  Rigs and drilling on the lake is completely counter to the great outdoors.  Not only is it a good fishing lake, it is the drinking water for Corpus Cristi and the surrounding area.  And that is bad enough but what struck me in the article is this ………….

“However, a government policy issued in January now  requires the Bureau of Land Management – the agency in charge of oil and gas leasing – to offer industry nominated parcels for lease…..”

What is scary about that?  That the industry will be deciding where they can drill and the BLM will just stand back and let them have free reign.  Sorry if you are in the oil business, many folks here are, but letting any industry make their own rules will only lead to abuse at some point.  What’s next?  Big Bend, under the park downtown, in your yard?  All because they nominate a place?  This is a bad idea.  I hope it is not that easy.

Another example is the government opening the Anwr in Alaska to drilling, I have a problem with that.  We need to protect places like Anwr and they should stay that way.  If you have spent as much time in the outdoors as I have it is clear, there are more folks using the outdoors.  It is getting more crowded every day and there should be some places that remain off limits for all time.  There just needs to be some places in this world that are protected and unless we are in a national emergency they should stay wild.  And to drill under Choke Canyon is just plain wrong.

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I am sorry but when we are topping 100 degrees I am just not that mad at them.  Fortunately it looks like it will temper some with the slight chance of rain mid week.  And the wind is definitely down so with it being cooler on the bay it is time to enjoy those little cooler temps in the water.  It is a little tougher for me in the doldrums of summer catching trout on lures, but after saving the day on a drop at least I have some kind of a pattern to start.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines