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.

It was 72 degrees when I headed to the lake at 7:30, and it was 73 when I quit.  They got the forecast about right.  It was heavy clouds with occasional drizzle and the wind was about 15mph out of the South.  The water color has deteriorated some but the water temp was about what it was last week and the lake is stable.

The gators were out in force today.

Weather

56/73.   Thick clouds with a 60% chance of rain.  Wind SSE 10 – 20 mph.

Lake Level

Today 94.34 msl,   Last Tuesday 94.38 msl.  (Hanging in there.)

Bite Times

Major  1:13 pm to 3:13 pm.  Minor  7:35 am to 8:35 am.

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Michael reports that the mold in on the way and they will be available soon.  The Knockin’ Tail catches fish.  See Rusty below.

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Why Bizarro World?  Because of the crazy fishing today, and not because it was really good but because some weird stuff happened.  So lets get right to that.  Pitching the stick worm in an area with lots of brush one jumped on, and it was a crappie.  A few pitches later another one jumped on.  Crazy.

But could I catch one on a crappie jig?  Of course not.

They were eating the 5″ worm and you can just see a little bit sticking out of each ones mouth.  But it was about to get more Bizarro.  I have not tossed the Bang O Lure much yet so decided to give it a go.  And guess what?

That does not happen that often.

Now I kept bass fishing but if you need more of clue how the crappie are acting here you go.  The were all in less than 2′ of water, clearly they are either spawning or about to.  So if you like crappie just head up lake with some minnows and a slip cork and you should be able to get it done.  But wait, there is more.

The bite was slow today, no real pattern to it.  4 or 5 on swim jig, 4 or 5 pitching, 7 trolling, 2 on spinnerbait, a couple on the Bang O Lure, and 6 or 8 slow rolling the Knockin’ Tail.  It was late afternoon, and after realizing the good fish were just not having it, or I made all the wrong choices, time to fish a couple of places I have not fished in a while.  I was slow rolling the Knockin’ Tail when one bumped it and came off at the boat.  It looked like a catfish.  And the small bass were jumping on here and there when another one bumped it.

They were liking the pearl Knockin’ Tail.

The bass like the Knockin’ Tail too!

The day started off with the bass just pulling or ticking the swim jig and just not eating it.  But I stuck with it and caught one here and there.  I also pitched to brush with the stick worm and caught them the same, small and here and there.  Not sure even the ones I missed today were any bigger, it was just a weird day.

I did make a couple of trolling passes to drink my coffee and while the white bass fishing has not been hot, they are still in the upper end.  The Shad Rap on one rod, and the Knockin’ Tail on the other, 7 jumped on in 2 passes before it was back to bass fishing.

The little bigger whites like the Knockin’ Tail slow trolled at 2.5mph.

And all the size I could manage in the bass department.

So what an interesting day if nothing else.  The conditions were good, the water temp was from a low of 63 to as high as 66 depending on where you were.  The wind was blowing and it was cloudy, should have been a big fish day.  Of course I spent to much time throwing spinnerbait, I will never learn, and trying to catch a crappie out of the brush.  But through it all the fish did bite all day and in only one place did I strike out.  And a couple of times throwing the spinnerbait small fry jumped.  With tilapia in the back ends it is probably them, but the crappies can’t be far behind.  I am not seeing any beds, but didn’t really look, but everything will be one them shortly.  In spite of no big fish there was something tugging on the line most of the day and you can not ask for any more than that.

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Rusty in Mexico doing what he does – catching fish.

Michael at Controlled Descent was kind enough to send a few of the new Knockin’ Tail to Rusty to use on his Mexico trip and it looks like it went well.  Rusty sent along this report following his Mexico bass fishing trip and he figures they caught around a 100 on the new Knockin’ Tail.

We arrived at Lake Picachos last Monday.  It was raining and had been for several days straight causing the lake to rise one foot overnight then another foot the next day. That scattered the fish considerably and slowed down the bite.  Next came the worst cold front that they have experienced in 10 years dropping the temp to 48.

   The 2-4lb fish were in 6-15’ and the larger fish 4-8lb fish were in 20-27’ mostly tight to underwater trees.  There’s a lot of flooded timber and with the weather and water conditions,  the fishing was tough.(by Mexico standards).  Still each boat daily caught 40-100 bass a day.  But if the conditions had been better it would have been 100-200 Bass a day per boat.  This lake is not considered a big fish lake(10lb+).  El Salto and Lake Comedero are Ron Speed’s big fish lakes.  Two years it will be in that class,  lots of food and they are growing fast.

     We caught a lot of our fish on watermelon/chartreuse  and black and blue lizards or 10” worms fished deep.  The Knocking Tail excelled as a trailer on spinnerbaits and swim jigs.  It also caught fish Texas rigged and on a drop shot rig.   I really liked the durability of it as I got multiple fish before having to put on a new one.   I hope Michael is considering the watermelon red flake color.  Overall I was very impressed with this lure and plan to stock up on them.

      The fishing camp was the best I have been too in my 30 years of going down to Mexico.  I have been to 6 lakes in Mexico and this lake was gorgeous.  Ron SpeedJr owns and operates fish camps on three Mexico lakes and Peacock bass in Brazil. He’s the best in my opinion.   You should put it on your bucket list!

The Knockin’ Tail strikes again, and again, and again.

Must be tough to have to wade through “only” 40 – 100 a day under tough conditions, I can only imagine how it would have been under perfect conditions.  It sounds like the Knockin’ Tail caught them no matter how you used it, but it does not surprise me that using it as a trailer worked like a charm.   Not only on swim jigs and spinnerbaits, but those of you who fish the Alabama Rig are missing out if you do not use them.  And your comment on durability is what we have found, unlike other plastics they will catch more than a couple!  (I am still using the same one for a couple of weeks on the lake and it is just fine.)  As far as the watermelon flake I am all in, it is my favorite freshwater plastic color and I am looking forward to giving it a real serious go on those Arkansas smallmouth and walleye.  The Knockin’ Tail has a place in any fisherman’s tackle box, fresh or salt.  And last as I have never fished down there your information on the other Ron Speed lakes was informative.  Thanks for the report, but now I am trying to figure out how to make that trip.

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That is it for today.  Dentist tomorrow, which is working out just fine as we will have a little cold front tomorrow.  Then another slow warming and I am going to the bay if it kills me.  But it sure is hard to quit the lake when the bite is on.  And when it is a crazy day like today the only thing better would have been a big fish.  To bad you can not just call those big girls up, but that is what makes fishing what it is.  You just never know.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines