FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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Don’t Leave Home Without It.  I don’t!

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With the winds supposed to be off the chart on the coast it will be a lake day.  Just not interested with potential gusts to 30mph.  At least at the lake you can find a hidey hole and if it gets to be to much of hassle just call it a day.  Plus Tuesday and Wednesday look good so it will be back to the coast.  Just might try to catch a red while I am at it.  So just have to see how tomorrow goes, I am due for a big bass.

Weather

82/65.  Partly cloudy with a 20% chance of stray shower.  Wind 15 – 25 mph.  With higher gusts possible.

Lake Level

Today  98.07 msl.   Monday  98.11 msl.   A super slow drop.

Solunar Times

Best  6:18 am to 8:18am.  Day is classed as poor.

******************Fresh or salt it has a place in your arsenal.

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Good Timing This Morning

The lake is down just a hair, you can see it, the water temps varied between 70 and 77, and there are still some off colored coves.  One of my favorites for some reason is ugly, and in places like that it would only be a bite or two.  As you can see above it was almost calm when I got there, but by 10:00 it was blowing like crazy, making fishing a little tough.  And it never let up a drop all day.

Finally stuck a good one.

First up was a big cove with grassy areas.  I started with the pearl Controlled Descent Jerk Shad and had several bites, and landed maybe one small one.  I wondered if it was a hair to fast for them, or maybe my rod is to stiff and I am jerking it out of their mouth before they get it.  They just were not eating it so time for the Bang O Lure.  And first one jumped on it, then the one above.  She flushed it the minute it hit the water with one of those boils we all know and love.  It was one of those bass that are big from one end to the other, she was solid and the biggest bass I have caught this year.

From that point on I kept after it with the Bang O Lure and the Jerk Shad.  It was never fast by any means, and with the lake white capping there were some places off limits for that style of fishing.  The best places are still in the coves, and I fished one long stretch of main lake stuff without so much as a sniff.  Once the wind was up for a couple of hours time to give the spinnerbait a go, and while I did catch a small and miss another, it was not happening.

This one smoked the pearl Controlled Descent Jerk Shad.  That’s the tip of it barely sticking out of her mouth.

After noon the bites were slim but sticking with the coves most produced at least one bite.  And the one above hit it halfway back to the boat and there was no missing her.  One thing that is pretty apparent, they are not chasing squat, at least not for me.  Plus, to make them eat the Jerk Shad it has to be walked perfect, and if it is to fast it seems like they tend to hit “at” it.  Slowing down with the Bang O Lure gave them plenty of time to look at it.  And I did catch one pitching to a piece of wood when one missed the Bang O Lure.  I flipped back to it with a small creature style bait and caught one.  Of course that fooled me a little so I turned around and went back through flipping wood, not a bite.  For the rest of the day it was fast enough to keep it interesting and it was nice to boat a couple of good ones.

The best places, coves with grass.  Most of the bites are coming right on the bank, but as usual with these types of baits the big fish may come way off the bank, especially with the BOL.  The best bait?  To be determined but we might be heading to topwater, like now.  And one thing does have me a little puzzled, none of the 13 or so I caught today had any evidence of spawning activity.  The first good one had a belly full, which really added to her weight.  So who knows, no matter what it was nice to catch a couple of nice ones.  A little more like it.

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And SA Joe dropped this comment on my suggestion that we have the cleanup every year of lines left out.

Doug,

Awww shucks my fishing line got stuck on those ” forgotten limb lines, jugs, and trot lines”. Out comes the knife to clear my line and collect any lines that I can. That goes for the pond, creeks, lakes that I fish around San Antonio. There are miles of abandoned lines. I look for names, tags and dates. When I dont find. I take them down. People should be more responsible when they put them out. I wonder how many people got hooked swimming and ran into these.

TPWD: Trotlines in fresh water must be used with a valid gear tag. Properly marked buoys or floats qualify as valid gear tags. Gear tags must be attached within 3 feet of the first hook at each end of the trotline and are valid for 10 days after the date set out.

Spot on.  Maybe I really did have a good idea.  No reason for that stuff to be hanging everywhere and doing nothing but  hurting wildlife and fishermen.  Just might send the suggestion to TPWD.  Thanks for commenting.

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The Boss and I hit the Aransas Wildlife park Thursday for a hike and a little wildlife viewing.  The wind was howling and the birds were not moving around like usual but got some good shots of Whoopers and the gators were enjoying the sun.

Still getting used to the new camera.  You can reach out a long way with the 600 lens, but it requires a steady hand.  The Sony is completely different than the Cannons I have used for years.  But the Whoopers above were way out there and my favorite shot is the face shot on the gator above.  Hope you enjoyed a couple of them.

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The last 7 days have been great around fishcatchingtravel.com.  Big Bend, the lake twice with finally a big fish, and a nice mess of trout, not to mention the trip to the Aransas Wildlife area.  I expect next week to be more of the same.  A big cold front with rain is coming tomorrow, and will last into Monday.  They are talking a high in the 50’s with rain Sunday.  Who knows what that will do to the fishing.  But no matter what I will be out there.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines