FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

Brought to you by

**For a super deal on your Wade Right use promo code FCT15 and get 15% off on your online order!**

With the Boss being off this weekend, something unusual, we watched some serious college football on Saturday.  Great to have a wife who likes football.  How the Hogs, A&M, and Texas do today remains to be seen.  I spent the day doing the research on a long planned trip this week.  Though I am sure it will be Grand Isle, Falcon is also in the running so the research goes on.  The trout fishing at Grand Isle has been good lately and of course if I go I will spend 2 days in the marsh hammering the redfish.  I went 2 weeks later last year and had a great trip.  So today it is just cleaning up a few things before fishing on Monday.

********************A new bait coming soon!

********************

I got this from my buddy Aaron.

*&%%%$^#*

And that was his comment, easy to get the point.  Hard to shoot a deer with that many freakin’ pigs around.  But Aaron is a big bow hunter and before the season is over he will put a real hoss on the ground.  Thanks for the pic.

******************

And speaking of cool pictures got this one from my buddy Chris.

Now that is nuts!  What are the odds?

Not sure the history but he said it came from a charter boat captain out of Bud N’ Mary’s Marina in Islamorada.  Not even going to guess how it happened but doesn’t look like it did either one any good.  The great outdoors is a wonderful and mysterious place!

*********************

I just want to put in a little plug for my buddy Terry and Trophy Hunter Guide Service.  He is absolutely thrashing the stripers, some really nice ones.  Texoma was noted for an abundance of small stripers but over the last couple of years lots of better fish are being caught, and he has been on them all summer.  So if you have never caught one, or want to take a kid or family, he has a big lake boat that can accommodate a crew, or maybe the airboat on the river, which we did with him and was cool.  You will not be disappointed in the fishing or spending some time in a boat with him.

That is freakin’ ridiculous! 

https://www.facebook.com/TrophyHuntersGuideService/

**********************

I just picked up the LTS and it pays to maintain your stuff. First was just general maintenance, plugs, water pump kit, lower unit grease etc.  And the electronics all checked out fine thank goodness.  The Power Pole had a leak in a hose, the shaft was cracked and ground off some, and it rattled like crazy, guess being almost 10 years old it was just getting worn out.  And I am sure that trailering the boat up the ramp with it down a couple times didn’t help matters.  I was wondering why it was working so hard, turns out the little pin hole in the hydraulic hose was a super slow leak.  So with a complete rebuild it feels and works like new.

I also had them remove the steering cable and clean the tube and grease it, no problem yet but good to go for a few more years.  Keeps it from being hard to turn in the winter and reduces the chance of breaking a cable.  As a result of that they noticed that the 2 top engine mounting bolts had backed off almost a 1/2″, that alone was a disaster waiting to happen.  (Never buy a boat from Bass Pro in Katy.  The worst rigging job ever, total incompetence.)  The Boss always asks when I get home – “Catch any fish and what did you break?”  If I was not laughing I would be crying when I had to tell her the engine was laying on the bypass.  So while not an immediate problem it needed to be tightened, and as it is not on my walk around, who looks at that, I would have never noticed.

It is so important if you use your boat much to have it checked out yearly at a minimum.  The goal is to keep those little problems from becoming real problems.  And who wants to go somewhere and have something major happen?  Easy way to ruin a trip.  But best of all – 600 hours exactly and 125 on all 3 cylinders!  Nice to not have to think about most of this for another year, the peace of mind is worth every penny.  And I can not wait to crank her up Monday morning, and the rest of the week!

(And a boat buying tip:  With the high cost of boats these days if you are looking at a high end used boat absolutely require the maintenance records.  If they have done as they should that will be no problem.  If they can not, or will not, produce them run away.  I have every one and if selling the boat would be happy to have them speak with the marine service.  It will tell you lots, the compression on each cylinder, any fault alarms or warnings, exactly how it was run at what RPM, and just how and when it has been serviced.  If they are trying to sell you a used boat in the $30k and on up they should be more than happy to show them to you. And if they say they did not save them the marine shop will have them and they can easily get copies.  If they can’t/or won’t – there may be something to hide.)

********************

And I got this comment from SA Joe after my Dunlap trip.

Great, Come into my neck of the woods, no heads up to share a beer or two. Dunlap from my house is 20 miles.

Yep, fishing has been tough. The water flow is there but has gone down 2-3 feet. Weekend traffic(wake boats) makes the water fog up with all the sediment from the shores.

When we take the troops from BAMC and put them on kayaks to fish, above the dam in New Braunfels. Even up there the water is murky until the Comal river comes in and help clear it up

There was a very little flow and there was crap, grass, shoes, and bottles among other things floating everywhere.  That was obviously a result of the falling water dragging some of it in the lake.  I did not have a clue about water level, should have looked it up.  So no real surprise the fishing was tough, and I was actually surprised at the number of skiers that day.  But I will be back to the area though it might be Canyon which has been on my bucket list for a while.  Good to hear from you and when I am that way again I will take you up on that brew.

********************

What to say about college football yesterday?  Props to A&M, what a finish, they showed an amazing amount of heart and determination.  And as far as I am concerned the call on the fumble at the goal line was wrong, and to the young man, keep your head up.  Now my Hogs on the other hand were up 27 – 9 and then Colorado State scored 25 unanswered and we went down in flames.  Ouch.  Today the Cowboys start a new season, and here is my homer prediction –  If they stay healthy at most positions they will be a hand full, but any serious injuries and they will be an also ran.

*********************

It is pouring down buckets in South Texas over a huge area.  There has been some flooding around the San Antonio area and as I type this it is pouring.  We so desperately need it and area lakes from Falcon to Coleto to Travis can sure use more water.  And it looks like this pattern will continue most of the week.

Unless it is flat pouring in the morning I will be headed to the lake just to run the boat and make sure all the stuff is working before I head out on Tuesday or Wednesday.  You would think I would have made a decision on where I am going by now but by the end of the day plans will be made.

While things have been a little slow around here the last little while the fishing is about to heat up in earnest.  Heck I am already looking forward to Fishmas!  As usual I want to thank you all for hanging in there with me.  Your comments are so appreciated and we all like reading them.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines