FISH CATCHING TRAVEL
“SAVE OUR WATERS”
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The Wade Right Fishing Belt
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The rest of this report was written yesterday before I decided to fish. Since we will be out of town a couple of days thought a lake trip was in order, especially with the wind forecast, which turned out to be right on.
Weather
80/96. Partly sunny, breezy, humid. 24% chance of rain. Wind S 15 – 25 mph.
Lake Level
Today 94.20 msl. 10 days ago 94.47 msl. (The steady decline continues.)
Solunar Time
Minor 9:48 am to 10:48 am. (Could not tell.)
Dropping the boat in as it barely cracked daylight the lake was obviously dropping. The water temp was 88 – 91 depending on where you were, and there is some color in the coves which is probably due to the falling water.
First up was a consistent point with a buzzbait, and 5 jumped on and missed a couple, all seriously small. So up lake and to the places they were, and except for a couple of brushy deeper banks, it was few and far between. I ended up catching 3 more on buzzbait, but again all small. So time to pitch to wood, which is also slowly going away as the lake drops and the water warms
Needed a couple more like this. Beaver style bait.
Covering lots of water 2 things became apparent. First, there has to be some deeper water really close or they are not on it. And they seem to have deserted the more isolated simple stump type wood, so look for brush. Second, I can tell I have not been fishing as much, I missed as many as I caught, which was 5 on plastics.
Knockin Tail White Ice. Stick worm.
One thing about pitching lighter weights and baits, if you feel anything you have to set the hook. Do the “see if they are on there thing”, and they drop it. Catching those just comes with fishing a lot. By about 10:00 the wind came up so there were 2 places I wanted to fish with plastics, the discharge and a long point.
The discharge gave up 3 and again I missed several. But it was not quick so made a long run to a deep point with some wood and did not get a bite. As this point the wind was blowing so I decided to make my fishing stand cranking, so I did. Sticking with the 5XD in a sexy shad, it was 3 long deep channel banks with the wind pounding 25 mph on them. One would think an occasional one would jump on but it did not happen. All 3 banks were a bust so at 11:15 I called it a morning. If the wind had laid some I would have stuck it out a while longer but after 4 places without a bite it was not looking to good.
This morning the deer were everywhere, and if the number of fawns on the lake is any indication the deer had a good year. And today I saw 3 little gators, and I mean small. They love that buzzbait or a frog. Mean little guys.
The buzzbait was as big as him.
I did notice shad still seem to be everywhere, some are really small, and some about the size of a rattle bait. So next trip will give the White Ice Knockin Tail a good go, along with a Rapala Shad Rap crankbait. So not a bad morning, just a little tough, but not totally unexpected considering it is 100 in the shad. As always good to be back on the water.
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The World is Plotting Against Me
As I always do I stayed home all weekend, no reason to add to the holiday confusion. So the plan was to be on the water first thing Monday – but noooo! Friday afternoon the AC just craps out. Great. Good thing was I have a smaller AC in the tackle room which we put in the bedroom to keep it and the living room cool until Joe Cool Heating and Air could come Monday morning. Turned out better than I thought.
Here is a blatant plug for Joe Cool. He is the 5th AC service we have used in Victoria and is the first honest one who has not ripped us off. How could I possibly accuse all 4 of them of ripping us off? Every single one, every year, on the annual check said we needed expensive freon. Interesting as they never “fixed” anything but every time, by all of them, it needed freon. The last 3 years we have used Joe Cool guess what? No freon needed. Hmmmm….. And to add to things he comes when he says he will, responds to calls, and has a smile on his face. He fixed us first thing for a fair price and it is all “Joe Cool” again at my house. Nice to deal with an honest service guy and I can not recommend him any higher.
So now it is Tuesday, and I am not fishing. Why not? Off to the ENT guy to have the ear checked. More on that when I get back in an hour. So one more round of meds as I have made some progress, then a hearing test. Looks like hearing aids are in my future. After watching my parents struggle with theirs at times I have decided on the big over the ear one, less chance that I will lose it. Or at my age, forget what I did with it while it is still in my ear. Hell getting old.
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The Knockin Tail, swim bait, jig trailer, or Alabama Rig, it will put fish in the boat.
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Random Pics
Hollowed ground I was fortunate enough to visit!
It puts you in your fishing place. Think you are all that, not so much. These folks were pioneers and the fish and records in the club are mind boggling. Much of it done on gear that was primitive by today’s standards.
Lee Marvin’s Grander. I hope some day to return and give it a go, a true bucket list adventure!
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Got this from Rusty our Fayette guru. You know you are having a bad day when………….
What is that thing out there on the water?
Man I hate it when that happens.
This is the comment his friend sent with the pictures from the Park Prairie Ramp on Fayette.
The ramp has a lot of algae and moss on it. The truck was in Park and slid into the lake.
Not a cheap wrecker call either.
I have had a close call at that ramp, it can be really slick, and my brother had to sit for a half hour with his foot on the brake before someone gave him a tow because he could not pull out due to algae. Why I put in at Oak Thicket Park. And my condolences to whoever’s truck that was. Tough break hope you had good insurance.
Over the 8 years or so I lived at the boat dock we saw that kind of thing at the ramp often, though looks like this was not his fault, that ramp can be slick. We did see boats fall off trailers, had a brand new Bronco slide down the ramp and into the lake, even had a guy actually get so mad trying to back the trailer in he coded and died right on the ramp.
And as a side note Rusty reported New Mexico not only instituted mandatory 14 day quarantine when visiting from out of state, the motels are supposed to call the cops if violated. Add that due to the virus spike Americans are being banned in many foreign countries and you have a mess.
What made that relevant is we were looking to head to the mountains somewhere west this week but decided not to make the trek. Most of the places in Colorado were booked and New Mexico has been one of the tighter states since the virus. Last time we were in Colorado it was all folks from New Mexico because even fishing was closed. So by time you read this we will be headed somewhere to do something. But this whole virus thing is getting old.
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And our TPWD wardens report 45 Boating While Intoxicated charges filed on the water this holiday weekend. My response – If you are that freakin’ stupid to not only drive a boat while drunk, but do it on a weekend when every law enforcement officer in the state is out looking for exactly that, then you are one bad criminal. (After respresenting hundreds of criminals I know criminals that are bad at it.) You might want to try something else in the future. Sorry no sympathy here, and yes you are a criminal. (Maybe the hand cuffs and ride in the back seat would tell you something.) To our Wardens – thanks guys we appreciate what you do keeping us safe out there.
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It has sure been interesting, and I use that term loosely, in the tackle business. Fishing has been on the upsurge since the virus started and getting stock, whether lures, parts, rods and reels, has been tough on retailers and manufacturers. (One I heard about is so swamped he can just not keep up.) Many shelves are bare in Academy and last time I was in Cabela’s there was only 1 bag of 3/0 worm hooks, period. Long manufacturing times on baits, regular shipping delays, it all affect the fishing world. Just buy American made when you can and support our local guys. When it comes down to it Academy or Wal Mart does not know you, or care.
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Coleto Creek Bassmaster June Tournament Results
June winners at Coleto Creek:
1st place: Boo Knezek 12.43 lbs
2nd place: Brad Wright 11.15 lbs
3rd place: Zac Reihs 9.99 lbs
Big Bass honors: Trent Thrasher 7.82 lbs
This is exactly what I have been finding. You can catch a limit but they might not weigh a ton. But a big one is always possible, and 7.82 qualifies, so congrats to Trent. At least they are biting.
(Tip of the day: Anchor at the discharge and stay there all day. If Groundhog Day is your thing you will get bit.)
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On the fishing front I will be back on the lake in the morning, but overall just giving it a rest right now. But my favorite season is coming, hunting season, and with that a huge drop in traffic on the bay. Combine that with the beginning of the mullet run, and the reds starting to really gang up, and it will be time to get back to it. And with a new toy coming to try can’t wait for fall.
This week we are headed out of town for a few days after the Boss finishes a long stressful stretch. She has earned a little R&R and it took a while to find something acceptable for the long weekend. But no matter what it will be face masks and hand sanitizing. Just making sure we live another day. So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
