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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Hope this finds you all safe and sound. We, like all of you, are adjusting to the current reality. Now the Boss, in compliance with the CDC recommendations, has to have a dedicated entry to the house that I don’t get near so she can keep any exposure to me as low as possible. I tried to just get her to crawl in a window in the shower but for some reason she is not having it. On a good note Victoria after having 3 cases yesterday did not have another today. There is hope, but times are still way tough in some places and this is going to last a while. What a crazy world we are currently living in. But enough of that, there is actually a little fishing going on.
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Order some today!
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The Knockin Tail at Work in Arkansas
My buddy Clyde, who I just fished with in Arkansas, is catching fish on the White Ice Knockin Tail Lure. We fished it when I was there and caught some nice fish, and he is really getting into fishing the Knockin Tail. He caught this big crappie and one thing that is consistent about the bite, they eat it, which I have been finding. All you have left for a picture is the jig head sticking out.
A nice Bull Shoals Crappie on the White Ice.
He says the water temp was around 52 degrees and is coming up rapidly flooding the brush, some as deep as 15′ like the high water they had last year. A couple of years of that and the fishing will get even better, and it sure isn’t to bad right now. That place is a fish factory.
But what he wanted was to share it next to a “Kentucky” he caught on the White Ice that was 15 1/2″. What he wants to know, and I am somewhat puzzled, is it a hybrid of some sort?
Kentucky? And now you can appreciate the size of that crappie.
If anything it looks like a smallmouth/Kentucky cross. The upper mouth does not go past the eye so no largemouth. It has the cool Kentucky lateral line markings with more of a brownish smallmouth color, along with a little slimmer form from the usual Kentucky shape. A Kentucky that length is usually a fatso. So I go with your vote for some kind of hybrid. If you think about it you have seen how many Kentucky and smallmouth in the last 45 years? Thousands? Probably, as you passed hundreds sometime in the 80’s. So thanks for the share, maybe another person or two will take a stab at it. (If it came from down here I would almost think a Guadalupe Bass.)
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Fishing may be 0ne of the best social distancing options out there, and Tommy sure took advantage of it.
Hey Mr, Doug, hope all is well. I just wanted to say thanks for letting us know coleto creek closed. I was actually heading there today, but I went to Rayburn due to the closure. Got on em today. All fish were on crankbaits in about 5 to 7ft of water. We had a total of 52 fish today. Released all fish but 2 which died on us, not much I could do.
Be safe, Tommy Vinas.
That is the kind of fish we all have been hearing about coming from Sam Rayburn this year, and looks like you smacked them again. Glad I saved you the trip over here and all is well, thanks. And as far as losing a couple, no big deal. Think about how many bass you caught and released this last year, much less your whole fishing career, you have done your part just as I do on a daily basis. Plus, we like to eat a couple occasionally, and while catch and release should be the daily norm, there is nothing wrong with eating a few. In fact most places need a few taken occasionally for a good balance, it does not hurt populations in the least. So stay safe yourself, but no reason we all can’t keep on fishing. Appreciate the pictures.
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Like said in my POC post I have always struggled a little on those flat tide days. Well take a look at the Matagordo Bay Entrance Channel (POC) tides for Friday.
| Fri 3/27 | High | 5:07 AM | 0.9 ft |
| Fri 3/27 | Low | 7:04 AM | 0.89 ft |
| Fri 3/27 | High | 8:11 AM | 0.89 ft |
| Fri 3/27 | Low | 9:32 AM | 0.88 ft |
| Fri 3/27 | High | 3:58 PM | 0.97 ft |
| Fri 3/27 | Low | 11:56 PM | 0.13 ft |
It sure does nothing for a falling tide lover like me. Heck you may not feel the water move at all Friday. I keep trying to understand tides since I have moved to Texas but my knowledge is sorely lacking. You take what you get when you can go, but for me falling tides are the easiest to figure out.
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Damn Good Fishing Guides.
Besides my daily restrictions (What do you mean I can’t wander around Bass Pro?) the virus just scored its second hit on our travels. First it was Phoenix to see Rage Against the Machine, and despite being born in Arizona I have never visited and was looking forward to it. Now it is the brother and sister-in-law cancelling their plans to visit their son in South Texas and then us. We had a house rented in Rockport next month and the big plan was the guided fly fishing trip for redfish. I really wanted him to catch one. Well we cancelled the house today, they were great about it, but I am not cancelling the guide trip. It is a month from now and as long as I am not on a vent I am going. Really looking forward to getting poled around all day.
And speaking of fishing guides, if you want to do a little day dreaming while you are hanging out check out Captain, just click on the logo. A cool site, it is a wish list for the traveling fisherman. Great site and a quality way to hire a guide, that is where I found the one in Rockport, and then Captain handled the rest. It is a simple process. Plus, they do reports on customers trips, live interviews with guides from all over, and lots of other cool fishing stuff. And best of all it is a local Texas company.
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I have been cruising the internet, which is keeping many of us company in some ways, looking for places we might visit and have found a hodge podge of regulations and closures. Some lakes, most controlled by power plants and water districts with limited egress, are closed. The Feds are keeping most parks open, even waiving the fees in many cases. The ramp at Bird Island Basin is open as is Aransas Wildlife Refuge. (But I did find a major federal exception, Amistad, and I mean the whole park and lake including ramps are closed.) I appreciate that they have kept many of them open, in fact will be at one of them tomorrow. And other than pumping gas, use gloves, you can take a day trip like that outdoors and keep within good practices. So when you finally get fed up, and we all will at some point, get outdoors, it will do you good. But if you do be sure to do a little research, it can save you a big surprise.
And here is a good resource concerning some parks and ramps in our area. Looks like Fayette is open. Should hear from Rusty at some point as he knows folks who fished it yesterday.
https://www.lcra.org/Pages/Park-Alerts.aspx
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That is it for today. The Boss and I are headed to a park for a long walk and some photography. She had such a long stressful run the last couple of weeks in the ER and deserves a break before she is back at it. Remember how stressful it is for your providers. They keep going to work in spite the risk to them and their loved ones. So no matter who you pray to keep them and everyone else working stores, restaraunts, truckers, first responders and a host of others safe. We will get through this. I will be back on the water next week, there are some hungry trout out there wanting a diet of the Knockin Tail. So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
