FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

The Wade Right Fishing Belt

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The New Bait

First let me say that under normal circumstances there is no way I would have fished the bay today.  When I say it was blowing, it was howling 20 straight out of the north when I got to Froggie’s, and the water was mud from POC to the island with big rollers.  It was flat ugly.  And there was no way I could get to the places I wanted to fish, but as usual it was just a matter of putting on your big boy pants and making chicken salad out of chicken stuff.  But I promised Michael the owner of Controlled Descent Lures that I would give his new prototype of the Knockin Tail Lures a serious go, so I did exactly that.

Weather

79/68.  Sunny, breezy, pleasant with 0% chance of rain.  Wind ENE  15 – 20mph.

Tides

High  3:54 am   Low  4:39 pm.   (My favorite falling all day.)

Solunar Times

Major  8:24 am to 10:24 am.

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The new Knockin Tail Lures are coming soon.  Now I am really excited about the new bait.

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It started off with a bang and continued until I quit at noon.  While I tried to fish from the boat down the first bank it was just moving me way to fast.  But they were biting in that area so a change of tactics was in order.

They flat loved it!

Today was not about catching big ones, but of course I broke off a big trout right off the bat.  While I would not have minded catching a wad of big fish that was not the point.  The only question was do they like the new Knockin Tail Lure, and the answer was a resounding yes.  So after trying to fish down a bank with trout on it the wind was pushing me like a freight train, so time to move to a nearby drain that had at least a “little” protection from the wind.  Today the Power Pole earned it’s keep.

The mantra is “Get Inhaled” and the new bait had them doing exactly that!

Now keep in mind that conditions were tough.  Fishing it on a 1/16th jig head on 8lb line resulted in a big bow a lot of the time, but they were eating it.  It was trout after trout without moving.  While most were small, these pics are just to let you know they liked it, and that was the important part.  What also was telling was even though fishing a small drain I caught and released a bunch, they kept biting.  Unusual as normally when you catch a bunch and release them in one small area they often quit, but not today.  It was a tribute to what looks to be one killer bait.

Ok that is enough pics, I have lots more but you get the idea.

They were positioned on a bank with the wind pounding on it, and as I have said before when it is like that, fish it like you are fishing a river.  The tide was way up, and while it should have been falling the wind was keeping it up and moving, pushing it into the drain.  The way to handle that is to cast straight across to the shoreline, then short hops letting it fall naturally down the bank with the current.  They were right on the little drop and while I felt a few, many were just there when I lifted up, others smacked it.  It was an easy 25+ and I can only imagine what it would have been if I could have fished anywhere I wanted.

I would like to tell you a little more about the new bait, but it is still being refined, and it is Michael’s place to do that.  But suffice to say he sent 3 colors and they liked them all.  As my fishing career winds down it is things like this that motivate me.  I have caught my share over the last 45 years from Australia to Canada and all places in between, but doing something new gets my fishing blood moving.  And doing something with a purpose gives it extra meaning, nothing beats participating as a new bait is developed.  So thanks Michael, I appreciate being a small part of what you are doing.

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Were you an Asshole before, or did that come with the Majek!

Online you see guides whining about potlickers, folks who cut off their drift, along with a multitude of sins against them.  But today, like has happened to me several times in the past, a guide treated me like I was nothing but in his way.  The drain I was fishing was small, just an easy cast across, and not a marked channel by any stretch.  Then here comes an idiot, no offense to idiots, in a big fancy Majek with his customers.  I had made a cast and he runs full blast between me and the bank, and I mean about 30 feet or less from me.  I guided for 20 years so I know how things works, this is not “your” private water.

This type of behavior happens fairly regularly at POC, which leads to the poor reputation some guides have.  Additionally, running that close to an anchored boat is against the law, look it up.  All he had to do was idle past me, there was plenty of depth, and it would not have been an issue.  So as usual the “I am the guide with a big boat and my shit is more important than regular folks” reared its ugly head.  As I continue to say – Be nice.  None of us own the water.  In all fairness you also see this type of behavior with bass fishermen, one of the symptoms of what is wrong in all areas of fishing.  This water belongs to all of us and the continued decline of curtesy is sad.

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What fun.  As I have been saying this is my favorite time of year to fish the salt, and this is just the beginning.  I do not know if you have looked at the weather but the next few days is going to be ugly, winds are projected to blow up to 35mph as a front moves through on Thursday.  So while I may not be out any in the next couple of days, we shall see, but the salt is on the program.  Nice to get a little motivation back.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines