FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

The Wade Right Fishing Belt

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

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When she was good, she was very very good, but…………You know the rest.

This was definitely a trip that had it all, crazy weather, bad fishing, good fishing, some big bites, great folks, and an all around good time was had by all.  And only a few beers died in the making of this blog post.  The lake itself was fairly clear with more color up north and the water temp varied between 76 and 83 over most of the trip.  Saw lots of snakes and the lake is covered up with ducks.

There are no words to adequately describe how freakin’ hard this girl smacked that spinnerbait.  She must have been going the other way.  One of those strikes where they really do try to take the rod out of your hands!

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

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I stayed at Beacon Lodge as I have 3 or 4 times before.  No matter the water level, an issue on Falcon at times, there is a usable ramp.  And when it is busy it is not a hassle like the County ramp can be.  I am not interested in the Hilton.  A good ramp, electric, and simple meets my needs and Beacon is perfect.  This trip I met the owner, his wife, and some of their family, great folks, and more on that later.

Day 1

The simplest way to tell this story is day by day.  When I got to Zapata around 11:00 the cabin was open with keys on the table  (Not many places do that.)  so after a quick off load out I went.  I knew it was going to be hot, but holy mackerel, it set a record for the day, 103 degrees.  There was no wind and the humidity was 14%, so much for it was a “dry heat”.  It was smoking hot.

First I ran up lake to a couple of creeks I have fished every trip and started slow rolling the spinnerbait, but the no wind thing did not help.

A good start for a smoking hot day.

The water is low so I was able to fish them both and only caught one small on a crankbait.  I saw a fish bust shad right on the bank so I tossed it on his head and caught him.  That very thing would play out later.  So after that it was around 3:00 when I headed to the Velano to an area I caught them last trip, and caught the 2 above.  (A note on the area, it is a nice big bend in the channel 10 foot deep with flats on both sides and lots of buck brush.)  Just swimming it near the bottom in 1 – 8 foot of water and they whacked it pretty good.  After fishing that area I headed to a big point and started to feel woozy.  Then I had the pleasure of throwing up.  For the first time in my life I had a little heat incident even though I was on my 3rd water.  At least as a former medic I knew what was up and I wasn’t interested in falling out so I called it a day.  A little nap, AC, and it was all good.  But at least I had a clue, after seeing shad flip and a few getting busted, most near brush.  As a side note I did not catch one bass off rock.

Day 2

Unlike day 1, day 2 brought wind, right up the pike out of the south, and I mean gusting over 30 mph and it was unfishable, no wonder I only saw 1 other boat.  Like day 1 it actually got to 104, South Texas hot!  I did have a bunch of hits first thing that just whacked it and did not hook up, so I was thinking small white bass.  By 11:00 it was just to much of a hassle, no where to hide, and no way to make a big trip on the main lake so with discretion being the better part of valor I called it day.  Believe me the short run back to Beacon on the main lake was no fun.  When I got back there was no one at the ramp so time for another nap.  Beacon has a small bar and as I was sitting on the porch later the owner’s wife and son-in-law stopped by in the old golf cart and said come on to the bar a little later and have a cold one with them.  I did, and learned they are great folks and we just had a dandy time.  The day was not a complete loss.

Day 3

Bite 1.

As they say about Texas weather just wait a minute and it will change, and change it did.  This was one of the more interesting days I have had on the water.  Remember yesterday it was 104, today only 90, but the wind was predicted to switch to out of the north at 25 – 30 during the morning.  In fact, first thing I wished I had a jacket.  What?  One of the few days in my fishing life I can remember the wind blowing like crazy out of one direction one day and completely switching around and blowing that hard the other way.  Nuts.  So with that wind forecast I put in at the county ramp so I would not have to negotiate the main lake.

Today was different as far as the fishing goes.  My second cast the fish above absolutely smashed my spinnerbait.  She is the very reason I go and slow roll the spinnerbait.  They say Falcon bass are the toughest and I tend to agree, they are stout.  Working that bank over completely with the spinner bait I had a couple of those little whacks so I turned around and tossed a crankbait.  The only reason I show you this is that was how big they were, no wonder they did not hook up on the spinnerbait.  I caught 4 or 5 in nothing flat and then another good bite.

They all looked just like this.  Wait until next year, the white bass fishing could be unbelievable.  But it was not all whites…..

Another Falcon good one.  This girl just came off the bed and showed it.

I never felt her hit, it just got soft and muscle memory took over.  Funny how after all these years I sometimes set the hook before I think about it.  She was like so many Falcon fish, big all the way to her tail and it was a tussle to keep her out of the stuff.  By now the wind was starting to just howl again.  So I tried a couple of protected, if you could call them that, banks and it was just to rough.  I headed to the ramp around 12:00 and the same guy who put in when I did was taking out.  There was just no place to get out of it.  Not many days on Falcon is there no one at the county ramp.

So I did another nap thing, a rarity for me.  Around 4:00 the wind dropped to a dull roar, and with the ramp right there I decided to head back out for a couple of hours and try a big cove or two close.  At this point I am still committed to slow rolling the spinnerbait and it did not disappoint.

If you are only going to boat 3 these 3 will do!

So while I lost most of this day it was a success.  Spinnerbait fishing is my first love and while I am sure there were plenty of different ways to catch fish it suits my style.  And though I had lost half my fishing time so far I was learning a thing or two.  The shad were definitely spawning, why I downsized my blades on the spinnerbait, and the fish were on that bank feeding on them.  And the good thing about tomorrow, clouds, and light wind.

Day 4

I launched at Beacon’s and headed to the back of the Velano as it cracked dawn.  With the morning’s forecast it was Bang O Lure time.  The water was clear enough and I knew it would work, and it did, in some interesting ways.  The plan was to throw the Bang O Lure until the wind came up in the afternoon, and I stuck with it and had some interesting results.  I catch catfish on lures occasionally but have never caught 3 in one day, much less on topwater.

The Bang O Lure catches fish!

Falcon is a catfish hatchery.  Talked to a guy who has caught 2 over 50 off the bank.  

One thing became immediately apparent, there were plenty of fish there.  Some were boiling the Bang O Lure and some were eating it.  I caught several that I missed by throwing right back at them.  Funny though none blew up on it, they all grabbed it after twitching it and pulling it under.  A couple grabbed it right next to the boat.  Big fun!

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The bite was on, or maybe I finally removed head from butt.

They cooperated for a couple of hours and most looked like those above with some even smaller, which Falcon does not have a lot of right now.  It became apparent the big ones wanted a bigger bait slow rolled right in front of their face, where some of these guys I could see streaking out of a bush after it.  And what is there to say about catching that many catfish on lures in the same area other than I found the buffet line.  So after a couple of passes I explored a few other places without success waiting for the wind.  Finally about 4:00 it started blowing right on the good place so back I went.  Time to buzz a spinnerbait really shallow.  Good choice.

These were absolute chunks!

I started back on “the good spot” running my spinnerbait right below the surface in spit for depth making a big wake and they were just smashing that thing.  No boils, no misses, just smoking it.  I think I caught 5 or 6 like that and was in spinnerbait heaven.  This was really proof of why I always say 3 days minimum on a trip.  It took that long to finally get it going.  And like the Falcon Lake Tackle guy has been saying if you catch one work that area there may be more, and that was spot on.  This area had fish.

This trip was a trade off in some respects.  Slow roll the spinnerbait and hold on, or catch as many fish as possible, and both happened.  I did regret not taking the 2 silver foil Shallow Shad Raps sitting in the tackle room, the shad looked just like it and with the shad spawn on it would have been a killer.  I take a hundred pounds of tackle but just did not think about those.  Light balsa crankbaits on Falcon is almost an oxymoron.  And due to losing fishing time and travel I did not get to any of the places south I wanted to fish.  But if you do any amount of serious fishing travel things change and you just make the best of it.

My last night is their Karaoke night  (I would sooner eat my own kidneys than sing for any reason, but it was fun to watch.) and they bring food.  The crowd was local and food it was, some real TexMex on the border.  Everyone had a great time and I finally met Speedy, the owner and bass fisherman extraordinaire.  Born and raised in Zapata he knows Falcon as well as any human can.  He was personable and I learned more about the lake in that hour than I could have in a year.  Additionally he is my age so we had plenty in common.  So I would like to thank him and his family.  They were excellent hosts and I count them as new friends.  Perfect, another excuse to head back.  I really do like fishing there no matter how it goes.  I was lucky to fish there during the hey day, then when it was really down, and now with the fishing better than it has been.  The big fish can come any cast there and as long as I can sling a lure I will be back.

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Gage sent along this question, and it is easy to answer.

what is your personal best bass . what lure was it caught on?

Easy answer, all 3 on that first Falcon trip were caught slow rolling a spinnerbait, wh/ch with nickel Colorado blades, just thumping along trying to tic isolated cover.  The biggest was 9.3 and is still my PB that was weighed since there was scale on board that trip.  Now I have caught several easily in that range over the last 8 years on Coleto, but since I do not weigh them it would only be a guess.  Most of those on Bang O Lure or swim jig.  For me a bass is either big or it is not.

As my fishing interests change over the years I subscribe to the following:  First I just wanted to catch a fish, then I wanted to catch a bunch of fish, next I wanted to catch a big fish, now I want to catch them how I like to, and am willing to keep after it trying to catch a big fish.  What Falcon can be all about.   So this trip I will be doing a lot of spinnerbait fishing, but have 6 rods rigged with different stuff and will listen to the fish, they will tell me.  And as all fisherman know, what they usually tell you is what you are doing is not working.  So I will remain flexible.

And one last word on this trip, it will not be all about the bass.  The lake has exploded with white bass and I have not messed with them yet but plan to.  And the crappie rod is in the boat so may give that a little go.  Nice way to break up the day after first thing bass fishing and last thing bass fishing, keeping after it in prime time.  Then chasing some of the others while eating lunch or taking a break.  But no matter what I will be having fun no matter how it shakes out.  Thanks for reading.

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Colby Peyton, one of the best fisherman on the coast, nailed a solid 8lb trout out of POC the other day.  He can catch them and that was a pig.  But the important point, I firmly believe the 5 fish limit is slowly having a positive effect, especially in the POC area where no matter how you phrase it, they get pounded.  The trout are now bigger across the board.  With the increased pressure on our bays the change to 5 is the best thing that could have happened to that fishery.  Plus what has become standard practice on big trout among most trout fisherman –  Catch – Phot0-Release.   And as a side note Colby and his dad are hard to beat on Coleto bass tournaments.  So hey Colby, isn’t it about time to have another Colby Peyton Go Fund Me Coleto tournament?

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And speaking of working the trout over my neighbor Jesse has had a couple of good trips lately.  His last was a late night trip and they put the serious hurt on them.  So congrats to you and your Home Boys, a nice mess.  The fish are definitely biting on the coast, my next weeks plan.

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And this comment from SA Joe on the pending Chandeleur trip.

What are the odds. I just watched a fishing show this weekend about Chandeleurs Islands. And then you post your going. Some of the Bull Reds they were pulling in were HUGE !!!!!! Have a blast, looks like a great place to fish…

Saw the same show, The Obsession of Carter Andrews, and boy did they knock the snot out of them.  Though happily we did not catch that many jacks, thanks have had enough of those to last a lifetime.  On our last trip the first thing in the morning on day 1 I wanted to try the Whopper Plopper and right off the bat had a nice one just explode on it.

What a freakin’ first bite!

I was sitting on the live well lid and when I set the hook it opened and I almost went head over heels in the ocean.  As I posted before I had a reader ask about the trip and he wondered about doing it when we have all of them here, which is true.  But this trip is about far more than that.  Good eats, a few cold ones, great company, and being pampered.  And not a Majek in sight doing a hundred busting the shoreline, no offense to Majek.  What is not to like about that.

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It was another successful trip.  It could have gone a whole lot worse and it finished up with a bang.  There were so few fishermen out and it never made one iota of difference.  I learned some more about the lake and intend to pump Speedy at the next opportunity.  Falcon is a different animal and there is lots I need to learn.  And no internet was nice, along with a few naps, a little reading, and new friends.  The Boss is keeps asking if I kept any fish so time to get her fed.  And speaking of her, as I write this it is blowing out there, but she is in Iowa and it has been blowing 60 mph knocking over semis and pushing her rental car all over the place.  And San Antonio had big hail, what a spring.

Next up depends on the weather but I hope to make the bay early this week.  And I just got the skiff serviced so it needs to be run.  And it is so much easier to mess with after saltwater.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines