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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This guy hangs around a trail were the hogs come down to drink.

This year started off with a bang.  Not because of the numbers, but every once in a while you get a “real” bite.  It has been years since I caught a flathead and today a nice one jumped on.  They are basically live bait eaters and I guess I hopped the plastic just right because he smoked it.

Weather

50/70.  Times of sun and clouds with a 2% chance of rain.  Wind  S 5 – 15 mph.

Lake Level

11 days ago  94.31 msl.  Today  94.22 msl.  (The slow but steady dropping lake level.)

Activity Periods

Major 8:05 am to 10:05 am.  Minor  1:52 pm to 2:52 pm.

That was a tussle.

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The new Knockin Tail Lures are coming soon.  

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The water temp was 62 at the ramp when I put in, the fog was lifting, and the wind was dead calm.  The drop continues, and as I have not fished there in a couple of weeks it was real evident how far the lake has dropped.  There was only 2 plans today, first was to check and see if the white bass are there yet, then try some new places.  I got both done.  First was up lake to pitch to a couple of good places, then troll for white bass.  While it is a little early, they are coming.

A couple of nice ones.  Stick worm and Pit Boss.

The Bass were not having it early so I started trolling.  The area the white bass normally go is now only in the 6 foot range and after trolling with Shad Raps I finally got a couple of bites farther down the creek.

Not big but telling.

I spent more time doing that than I should have but did not want to miss them if they were farther down.  Making a couple of passes about a mile long, from 4 foot out to 15 foot the only bites were quite a bit farther down than normal, which  I suppose may be a function of the water level.  So while they did not add up to much it won’t be long and every time I am out I will check them because I love catching them in the spring.  And you never know, crappie and bass hit the Shad Rap so something is usually tugging on the end of the line.

The wind came up and from then on it was hunt and peck.  They would not touch a spinner bait, a couple jumped on the bl/bl swim jig, the others all came on either a stick worm or the Pit Boss.  And I finally fished a white swim jig but not a touch.  Next time it will be back to the bluegill colored one as even in plastics dark colors has been best.  But the Pit Boss has been the most consistent for me and will get bit almost any bank you fish.

The best bass for the day.

For me the wood is still the ticket, but of course not all the wood.  And with the water dropping which piece of cover has fish changes each trip as things  get shallower.  Over the rest of the morning until I quit at 3:00 it was same old, same old, a bite here, a bite there.  Then one thumped it pretty hard and when I set the hook it felt like it was caught on some brush, and then it started moving.  It was real apparent it was a big fish so I took it easy, kept it out of trouble, and then put the Boga to it.  Flatheads are one cool fish.  Huge mouth, they love live bait.  I had a run a few years ago in Arkansas where I caught quite a few one summer on crankbait, though most were small.  It sure was fun catching a big fish no matter the flavor.

So not a bad day, just real spotty.  This warm weather is not helping things along, and when combined with the ongoing drop it is just not “spring” yet.  If the water temps stays in the 60’s, 61 was the lowest I saw and it warmed though out the day, we might have an early spawn.  And the white bass are probably a little confused but the next moon will get things going.  It was around a dozen fish the hard way today, hopefully it will be a little better in the morning.

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For the last 8 years I have done a resolution/plan for the blog in anticipation of the year to come.  Not happening this year.  Of course there are travel plans, new places, and hopefully some new faces.  But there are a couple of goals, but as I get a little older the nature of those goals has changed significantly.  Here is my hope for this year.  Nobody dies, the boat keeps running, and I remember every day on the water is a blessing.  The big adventures we will do this year will take care of themselves, it is the little things that make every day a success.  But most of all the simple plan – Stay happy to be alive and getting to spend it outdoors.   (It has taken me many years to realize the fish will come in spite of my worst efforts.)

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I had a deja vu moment watching Major League Fishing this weekend.  They were on the mighty Bull Shoals Lake and the fishing was good.  The winner was throwing a buzzbait most of the day, I cut my buzzbait teeth on Bull and Norfork, and it brought back tons of memories.  The biggest – When they got ready to take off the comments were “I can see bottom clear as a bell” in what is considered deep water in Texas.  Mid summer it often looked like you could see a dime in 20 foot of water.  And to add to the Bull Shoals moments this week one of my Facebook friends caught the heck out of them there.  Since I am going there early spring it got my blood running.  Throw in a little fly fishing for trout on the White and you have a perfect multi-species trip.

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The only holiday regrets are I was hoping to fish with a couple of folks, one was gone then we were gone, the other I had things to do.  So hopefully that will get remedied fairly soon.  I will be fishing up a storm the next couple of months.  It will be back to the lake tomorrow then Wednesday I have to hang around waiting on the new stove.  And after that it will be back on the water.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines