FISH CATCHING TRAVEL
“SAVE OUR WATERS”
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The Wade Right Fishing Belt
Brought to you by
The Best Wading System on the planet.
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It just does not get any better than this!
It is interesting to me that when I get the pleasure of fishing with a group I call the Austin Boys it really is like a “fishing trip” to me, even though we are fishing my home waters. I don’t post or keep track of much, take few photos, and actually fish and have a great time, and this trip was no different. In fact most of the pictures on this post are from the guys. I really did slack off and enjoyed every minute of it.
Of course the weather held up its end of the bargain by giving us the wheel of conditions. Thursday morning had us heading to Greens’s Bayou for some wading. With the big cold front coming in the afternoon we decided to only fish until around 2:00, then head back to Barroom for a wade if the weather would let us.
Fishing was not fast by any means, though all 6 of us caught fish, with Pete having the best morning. A few fish were caught on topwater, but plastics ruled the day. And with 6 of us fishing there was at least that many different baits being used, it was hard to tell what was working best. We had a big run of shorts, both trout and rat reds. At one point 4 of the guys had a bunch of reds cornered with at least a triple. They were definitely shallow and the big flats were bare of fish. But as it was for me last trip, we were lucky if 1 out of 10 were keepers. Just handle that by catching 30 and it all works out. But at least the action was good enough to keep it interesting and the boys got a nice bunch of filets to start the trip.
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The new Knockin Tail Lures are coming soon. Now I am really excited.
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Pete with a good stringer!
We headed back to POC early and on the way there was a little thunder coming, and we say one lightning flash. We headed to our wade but the front was coming fast, the lightning app on Todd’s phone was lit up, so discretion being the better part of valor we called it an early day and headed to the house for crawfish pie. Of course no day is perfect without a brain fart, and I had one. John fished with me, and we had the rods standing up in the rod holders, which I never do, when I backed in under the house. The only casualty was my $29 two piece rod which is a travel rod that for some reason I have been using. It could have been a lot worse with 5 high dollar rods bent over, so we got lucky.
Crawfish Pie. Todd’s cooking makes the trip!
That night was pigging out on Crawfish Pie. I can barely describe how good it was. Todd is from Louisiana and a great cook who appears to actually enjoy feeding all of us, and his cooking never disappoints. As a side note his breakfast casserole was a thing of beauty. Then from around 4:00 that afternoon until 5:00 the next day it blew, and blew, and blew. An easy 25+ it was humping along and raining pretty good, with a temp drop in the 30 degree range before it was over. It was nasty. So knowing the wind was going to blow we decided to head to the creek, at least we could hide. Interesting that Ro and his crew with a couple boats got to their rental and then decided to go ahead and take a run at the bay Friday in spite of the wind.
John, Pete, and John. Fish cleaning machines. (Which I tell myself is the justification for me not helping, I would just be in the way.)
The next morning we slept in a little and around 8:30 started getting our stuff together and headed out. Pete and I were a little behind Todd and the boys when we crossed the back end of the Powderhorn. Right by the bridge I glimpsed what I though was a reel that someone had thrown away after fishing there. No big deal. When we get to the river John comes up and says he lost 2 rods and reels out of the boat. Unfortunately nice Shimanos and a Waterloo and some other nice rod. Wish we had stopped but as we all know stuff happens. The only redeeming quality of that event, John commented he only had one rod left. And forever more will be known as One Rod John. But that is a tough blow no matter how you shake it.
The fishing was ok, the wind really worked against us as it was howling out of the north all day. We all caught fish again, with plenty of shorts providing constant action and some nice keepers. We had some keeper reds and both boats caught rats. The trout were good and it was an all plastic day. (Side note: They are still eating a topwater on the Lavaca.) Though not all were keepers I managed a river slam with a trout, red, flounder, and black drum. Again everyone caught fish and we had a respectable total. We basically drifted using the trolling motor to keep position as best we could, but the wind was still blowing right along. At least it did not rain on us until we quit around 5:00. So considering the conditions a productive pile. The water temp was 63 to 65 and the color was good, we were worried about both of those, but the rain and front did not affect it much.
David. There are some great days to be alive and we were lucky enough to share one of those on the water.
That night we went over to Ro’s where he cooked up an awesome Mexican supper, and there was German Chocolate cake and assorted cookies and a few adult beverages. They reported a pretty good day considering, most caught on plastics, though I am not sure where but I believe they were drifting. We headed back to the house hoping to have the best for last, and it happened.
The next morning the wind was still out of the north and the water temp had dropped as low as 58 after a 65 high on day 1. Todd, and Ro’s bunch, joined a veritable flotilla that is Pringle Lake this time of years on the weekend. David and I went to wade my favorite drain and it only took an hour to see that the 7 degree temp drop, the falling air temp, combined with a 15mph north wind blowing right in the drain, that they were just not having it. So we discussed what to do next and I said time to go back to my old stomping grounds and boat fish. That is something I never do with them as they are wading nuts. David who is a bass fisherman was definitely down with the program. It turned out to be a rip roaring success.
Last call as John puts one in the boat!
David and I headed to the oil cut and from that point on, then to Big Bayou, they bit, and bit, and bit. It slicked off, the sun was bright and hot, and as the day wore on they got after it as the water warmed. It was very interesting as we started to catch them they were really hinky. They wanted to eat but were just a little stunned. Barely pulling on it, bumping it, tugging a little, it took patience to hook them. But as it warmed so did the bite with some of them absolutely jumping it. We boated a bunch of rats and a couple of short reds, but the trout just kept on coming. One of those days when it all comes together, and we lost count, real fun big or small, but a nice solid limit. After Pringle the boys dropped Todd off, an LSU alumni who would not miss the game, which left him a happy camper. The boys came over to Big Bayou and we finished out the day. We sacked a bunch and with a great sunset in the background we called it a successful trip. Nice trip when it gets a little better each day and ends with a bang.
It was either show you one of the dead fish pictures or these crazy animals would kill me!
The last night Ro and the boys came to our places for supper, Todd made awesome corn chowder, and they also had a really good day. They actually stayed in Pringle all day drifting and caught them until they quit. In our bunch Pete was the man this weekend, he caught them. I did not fish all that well day 1, but got in the groove the next 2. Of course it was boat fishing, which I do admit I am pretty good at. That is the bass fisherman in me, threw a lot of grubs on light line in my day. All and all it was good to see those guys, who as a loose configuration I call the Austin Boys. They fish hard, party hard, eat like kings, and it is always a great time. And other than a couple of rod disasters nobody got hurt and no big shit got broke. Always a good trip when that is all that happens. As they do not get to fish as much as they like it was time sack a bunch of trout filets to feed their families and they got that job done. Thanks guys for including me, hopefully we get to do it one more time before Christmas.
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And I got his comment from Lee.
Thanks for the reports Doug! Always appreciated!! I have hit a season of life where it’s just tough to get out with kids and three jobs, but I can always count on living vicariously through you.
Great timing on your comment. I am humbled and have gotten that comment a few times in the past. Not a byproduct of the blog I would have guessed when I started doing this. But there may be no greater result from the blog than that. In my earlier days with a job I too lived vicariously through TV and magazines to keep me sane until I could go. And now as I get older my trips mean much more than just fishing. Hanging out with the boys, being happy to just be on the water, the results are really nothing more than a pleasant side effect. (Though it is still about results, it just becomes easier to deal with when they don’t happen.) When the results are so important that they keep us from enjoying the simple pleasure of getting to be outside and fish, it is time to take a step back and look at why you fish. Fishing is way more than a stringer. Thanks f0r reading
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Of course nothing got washed on the boat for 3 days, and it got rained on a time or two so clean up was a job. Everything out, power wash the boat, open bags and boxes to dry, clean clothes, it turned into a couple hour job. Finally it is back in the garage and I can watch a little football and maybe take a snooze.
Next up I hope to get some fishing in tomorrow on the lake. We have a “real” stretch of weather coming Monday afternoon when showers start. Tuesday is supposed to not get above 48, blow up to 25mph then a freeze forecast that night down to 29. It will definitely take a couple of days to warm back up. We are now in that weather pattern where cold fronts move though fairly regularly and this one will be another doozey in only 4 days days. If life is good it will cloud up and blow in tomorrow late and I will be on the water hoping for a pre-front bite taking it out on the bass. And that will be it as Colorado looms. No matter where I am the next couple of months it will have something to do with the water. Winter fishing has been some of my most memorable days and time to take full advantage of it.
Of course I am sure I forgot something, but will update when I remember. And there might be a few more pictures out there so will share them with you if they appear. So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.
That is all folks! And thanks Pete for the great pictures!
Good Luck and Tight Lines
