FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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With the way the week fell there was not a whole lot of fishing around here.  Today I had the pleasure of replacing the boards and carpeting on the skiff’s trailer.  This year has been a true Break Out Another Thousand.  Seems like it has all happened lately.  But the best thing, everything is basically up to snuff so I am ready for the fall and winter fishing to come.  And as soon as I shake lose from a family visit it is going to be some serious fishing.

David last year at Fishmas, which is right around the corner.  We smacked them pretty good.

It should be an interesting day tomorrow as I am headed to Fayette County to fish with a couple of the Austin Boys.  David is a bass guy who has just started in the salt the last few years.  He has been fishing the lake for years, and I have a little, so we shall see how it goes.  No matter what it will be a good time.  And I appreciate not having to bring the boat!

Weather

85/68.  Sunny with a few clouds.  10% chance of rain.  Wind SE 5 – 10 mph.  (If you add both the 5 and the 10 plus a couple of more!)

Solunar Times

Best  1:51 pm to 3:51 pm.   Good  7:39 am to 9:39 am.

*******************Redfish candy!

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The best laid plans of mice and men are not always realized.  I met David and Joey at the ramp and we were on the water by 7:30.  Joey and I started with jerk bait, and not a one took a pass at it.  David was throwing a senko and though he had 3 or so bites, he only got the hook in 1 and it jumped off.

                                          The best we could do today.

As the morning went on we just could not find them.  At this point the wind was blowing straight out of the South and it was pushing his bay boat all over the places.  I threw the swim jig a while but did not get a bite so I finally went to crankbait.  I missed the first 2 and then lost a good one before I finally boated a fish.  David stuck with it and also boated one on crankbait the last pass.  All came on a bank and cove with the wind pounding in it.

Joey lookin’ good!

The bites were spread out all over the place with never more then 1 in an area.  We should have boated several more, but sometimes they just come off, and today was one of those days.  Finally about 2:30 we called it.  They are staying at the cabins and will be fishing tomorrow so maybe we learned just enough to help them have a good day tomorrow.  And as usual I enjoy fishing with David and the retelling of the big tarpon story from last years Fishmas got us all looking forward to this fall.  So while the fishing was slow the day was fun with plans made to give it a go later in the fall.

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After fishing hard for 45 years I am truly beginning to appreciate the time spent sharing the boat with friends and appreciating the simple pleasure of being outdoors.  So much of fishing is being corrupted by the must sack a wad mentality.  I’ve had that pressure and it detracts from the true experience.  Larry Dahlberg is probably the best multi-species fisherman on the planet and I love what he said about fishing.  First you just want to catch a fish.  Then you want to catch a lot of fish.  Then you want to catch a big fish.  And then the day comes when you just want to fish the way you want.  So true in my case.

I am so fortunate that the Boss has been at my side while I pursued my dreams.  Marlin on the Great Barrier Reef and the coast of Puerto Rico, sailfish in Costa Rica, tarpon, bonefish, and permit in Belize, I have been lucky enough to experience some great fishing in great places.  From guiding for stripers, bass, and crappie off and on for 20 years on the highland lakes of Arkansas, rainbows and browns on the White and Norfork, and catfish in the Skunk River in Iowa, it has been a trip.  The Everglades, the Keys, Pine Island Sound, Falcon, South Dakota, Louisiana, Colorado, Missouri, the list goes on and on.  The thrill of watching a musky eat a bait at boatside on Lake of the Woods, a tarpon hitting a topwater and launching at boatside, my first carp on my Zebco 202, all memories permanently imprinted in my brain.  I remember each and every bite.

Maybe with age you begin to realize what is really important in this world, and the size of the stringer at the end of the day ain’t it.  Seeing an alligator smash a duck, a giant sunfish off the coast of Peru, a fawn trying to get in my boat, thousands of dolphins following the boat, all memories which have squat to do with how many I caught that day.  Fishing is what we make it, to each his own.  In my case being lucky enough to do so many things, and now doing them my way, makes me the luckiest guy on earth.

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I am going to give it a rest for the next 10 days, a break is needed.  Time to give fishing, the blog, and my brain, a little time to rest and recharge before the serious fall fishing begins.  There are many more adventures waiting to be had, and whether it is bass, trout, crappie, catfish, or blue marlin every day with a rod in my hand is a blessing and I never take it for granted.  So see you next week.  Keep stopping in and I can not thank you enough for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines