FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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OLD MAN MOMENT!

I know I am getting old.  As I got ready to write a little about current lake conditions I went back to check the water temp and found I was missing a report.  Well guess what?  I wrote it and did not publish.  Once we headed to the wedding it never crossed my mind.  And in light of what I learned at the lake today, that will be up tomorrow, it is a new world.  So here it is, better late than never.  I might start sitting and slobbering incoherently if this keeps up!

COLETO CREEK

Weather

86/68.  Cloudy becoming partly cloudy later with a 20% chance of a stray shower or thunderstorm.  Wind S 5 – 10 mph.

Lake Level

Today  98.28 msl.   Yesterday  98.28 msl.

Solunar Period

Best  9:39 am to 11:39 am.  (Only daytime period.)

*******************The bass are eating the pearl silver Jerk Shad!

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It was pretty easy to say it was a good day/bad day.  I caught fish right off the bat, and on 3 different lures during the morning, so no complaints in that department.  The problem was I took the Mako so I would have a temp gauge, and I planned to fish way up both arms today, which I did.  As my facebook friends know I have been mulling over new trolling motor batteries.  It is either AGM or stick with the Interstate lead acid.  I have used both in the past and it is simply a cost benefit analysis for me as I go through batteries with 2 boats.  The point of this is at 10:30 this morning it was easy to tell the batteries were losing power fast.  I was able to nurse them until noon so guess it is time to make a decision. Looks like I waited one to many trips.

But as to the fishing it was an interesting morning.  The water is really clearing fast and I basically made it to the back end of both arms and it is all fishable.  The water temp was 77 at the ramp and 80 near the bridge.  Again I caught fish in most places I fished with the Controlled Descent Jerk Shad in pearl silver being the primary bait as it has been.  But I did catch a few on a couple of other baits.  Though fishing the frog was not on my list today it was actually first up, I couldn’t help it, and several had a go at it.  I think I caught  3 and missed a couple on the first bank but as the sun came out they deserted the frog. From there it was the Jerk Shad basically until in caught a good one on a Bang o Lure later.

 Why I love that Bang o Lure on Coleto in the winter  And it looks like real winter will be here this weekend.

I intentionally fished 2 of the good shallow banks from yesterday right off the bat, and it was clear they were not there like they were the day before.  Though I caught a couple fish in both places the reason I fished them early was so I could check, then come back later in the afternoon and see if it was a temperature change that really put them there.  To bad there was not a “later.”  But the good thing, 3 or 4 nice fish hit the Jerk Shad way off the bank.  Good to see that.  And the one above boiled all over the Bang o Lure close to the boat but missed.  A quick flip back with the Bang o Lure and she ate.

I had another bigger one break my line setting the hook on the Jerk Shad, I know she was a good one when she jumped and tossed the bait.  Oh well, my fault.  Fishing in the really heavy stuff, and hauling fish out, is tough on line and that is the second one I broke off in 2 days.  Looks like I will step up a weight in line for the cover.  But there is always a trade off and you do not want to impair the baits action with to heavy a line.  Then 2 casts later I missed her twin, again off the bank.  The good news, just like the small ones did, the bigger fish made a showing.  I missed another couple of nice ones, so for the morning it was shots at 4 or 5 like the one above, a real improvement.  It has gotten better every day.

A frog fish and a Jerk Shad fish.

Shallow grass is still the preferred cover and bait completes the pattern.  Coves are also holding fish, and if it has some grass they will be there.  And like I have been saying, here comes the rest of them.  Now for some stability in the lake level and water clarity and it will be a stellar fall on the lake.  The Bang o Lure deserves some serious attention as it tends to catch the bigger fish, and when it has been like this in the past it has worked most of the winter.  But there are plenty of different baits that will work, a couple of different topwaters come to mind, Zara Spook specifically.  It was probably a dozen this morning before the juice quit, to bad as the rest of the day held real promise.  But no complaints, it has been 3 days of good fishing with many more to come.

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More boat ads…Or why in the hell would anyone buy this boat?

NO BATTERYS, NEEDS LOWER UNIT, NO KEYS TO IGNITION, SMALL DAMAGE TO HULL ON LEFT SIDE. Been sitting for roughly 3 years Selling AS IS only $20,ooo.  or…….

needs lots of tlc.  or…..

I dont know what year, make or model it is. Not sure if it will float. Has no title. On trailer but not sure what condition of trailer is.  or……….

don’t have title to any of them that’s why it’s so cheap motor needs carb cleaned, motor was never registered in Texas.  or……………..

folks that we got it from, lied about the title process.  or…………..

Wooden floor and carpet need replacement, Light wiring needs replacement.  or …….……….

All need rebuilt or gone thru, Does not run, Been sitting for many years.  or …………..

Boats needs repairs and cleaning, Johnson Motor not working, Trailer has flat tires.

 These are just a few from today’s ads and they crack me up.  Some were way overpriced, some more reasonable, if buying a boat with these problems is reasonable.  I think the problem is there is no place to take boats that need to be retired.  Just remember if you are a first time boat buyer, someone else’s project that did not happen is your new nightmare.  And the ones with title issues, the sellers make it seem a little trip to TPWD and all is good, sure……..   So good luck to the folks above, they are going to need it.

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And to all you Austin area guys good to hear that Travis is reopening this week.  I see it is a couple of feet up over pool and with no fishing pressure for a couple of weeks it could be good.  I had such a good trip there last year it might be time to head that way depending on how the fishing reports fall.  Our Coleto fish took almost a month to start to really adjust to the big raise, it will be interesting to see how the Travis fish react.  Travis closely resembles the highland lakes of Arkansas where I cut my teeth.  I still want to get up there, maybe in January, it looks like it has great jerk bait potential.

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We have a big wedding this weekend so it will be next week before I am back on the water.  As I have gotten a needed recharge on the lake it will be time to put some of those salt fish on the stringer.  We ate the only trout in the freezer so time to sack a few.  It looks like another cold front is on the way which should help fishing on both the lake and the bay.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

(Funny reading it days later in light of our current conditions.  Every day is a new day on the water.  There will be more on the lake tomorrow, it is messed up.)

Good Luck and Tight Lines