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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Taking a Break

Just wanted to check in and let you know I am still out there.  Things have been quiet around here this week as far as the fishing goes.  And no, no problem, I am still alive and taking nourishment.  I simply have been taking a break from all of this after suffering a slight case of fishing and blog fatigue.  So I decided to not fish this week, not a hard choice with the wind, and recharge my old batteries.  These times come occasionally, wondering if I should keep it up.  It is a labor of love, but don’t get me wrong it is work.  But with Montana, and then Louisiana, it is about to crank back up around here.

But the hiatus has let me accomplish a few things on the boats and in the tackle room.  Since we leave for Montana in a week, and then I turn and burn the next day to Louisiana, it was good to go over every bit of the saltwater stuff to be sure I have it all and put new line on the reels.  You never know what you will need, the only downside, a 50lb tackle box.  And with POC in next weeks plans it is good to be organized.  But we sure do not need any more wind!

Tuesday the wind was howling.  Wednesday was up to 25, gusts well over 30mph.  The temperature is fine and there was a hint of clouds today, but this wind thing is getting depressing.  Thursday forecast set to blow 35 plus, and it did every bit of that.  In fact, Thursday when we were watching the weather Bill said the wind was 12mph, as it was shaking the house!  Try sticking your head outside weather dude.  It is now Friday and it is starting to crank up again, man it is getting old!

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

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SA Joe sent along this comment after his trip to Travis.

Your last trip(s) to Lake Travis. Did you catch alot of small fish? I spent last friday all day there and I got 33 bass. Nothing over 2lbs. But they acted like they was over 5lb. Hit and run. Dang near lost my pole a couple times not paying attention. Nice to hear you caught em at Falcon !!!

A Travis bass from 2017.

Thanks for the Falcon comment.  The trip was the old “make chicken salad out of chicken shat”.  Conditions weren’t the best but I soldiered on and day 4 it all came together.  Last time I fished Travis I caught quite a few good fish shallow, but from what I hear this year it has been a lot tougher.  My buddy Aaron and his friend fished it 2 weeks ago and did fairly well but they caught fish deep using the side imaging to find them on deep ledges.  This has been a different year in South Texas on many bodies of water and Travis is no different.  Have never used the side imaging but they have to be somewhere!  Who knows, it might help my Coleto production right now.

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And congratulations to Clayton Heldt of Victoria  (Don’t know him.) and his partner Chad Kallina for their 13th place finish out of 156 teams on a tough Lake Belton Skeeter Bass Champs tournament.  36 teams blanked to give you an idea how tough it was.  Always good to cash a check.

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The Old Interweb

A Texas store was advertising freshwater stingray for sale on Facebook.  Wardens went to the store which was unaware that it was on the Texas Prohibitive list and they should not sell it.  And I just read an article out of Louisiana where wardens regularly check social media for violations.  I told you it was a dangerous place, so before you hit “Post”, engage  brain.  Some folks never learn.

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If you are a dove hunter TPWD has set the seasons, along with some other hunting regulations, so check it out on their website.  I love it when they set the hunting seasons, let the bay fishing begin.  It really knocks back the traffic and is my favorite time of year on the coast.  The only downside, no fresh doves for me.

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I am having the same trouble with the handle on my minnkota trolling motor I had with the last one.  So today instead of taking it somewhere I took it apart, surprise!  I found a broken part that controls the tension on the handle, keeping it from turning on when running down the lake.  So no problem, I have the old trolling motor.  I had it fixed once at one dealer, but no Bueno.  Then I took that one to the place in Edna where they supposedly fixed it after having it a month, charged me $100, and it started acting up again almost right away so I just bought a new one.  But hey, great, the part I need is in there.  Surprise!  No wonder it did not work properly, they just did not bother to put that part in!  Now I am no mechanic but what a rip off.  I have heard some really bad things about that place, and this just confirms it.  Shoddy plain and simple.  It is a .55 part and it is on the way from minnkota.  Took me 2 minutes to find the problem, 1 minute to order the part, and it should be good to go after about a 5 minute effort.  Guess I should pay myself $100.

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At this moment both boats are about 98% ready to roll, at the same time amazingly enough.  As I type this it reminds me of what else I need to fix on the Carolina Skiff to have it 100%, so as soon as I hit post out I go.  I really use it more in the summer due to less wind, and though it can “handle” the stuff, a bath is coming when it is to rough.  But it is about to be 20 years old, I have abused it over the years and it has been a work horse.  If they made the same boat in a v hull I would have bought a new one long ago.  The thing is a tank.

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You can tell it has been really windy as the number of Facebook posts from the bay is way down.  With the holiday weekend that should pick back up and the wind looks like it might slow a little.  I am ready to hit the water and plan on doing it several times in the coming week.  So keep stopping in, there will be some fishing, and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines