FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

“SAVE OUR WATERS”

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The Wade Right Fishing Belt

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Folks it is flat hot and looks like the week is not going to get any better.  By time I quit at 11:30 it was completely calm, humid as all get out, and just plain hot.  We really are in the middle of the Texas summer doldrums of August.  It is hard to get to excited when you know it is going to be seriously hot, so nice to have the lake right down the road for short trips.  But I am ready for fall.  With the Boss ordering up a fish fry for tonight time for another short morning.

Weather

75/98.  Mostly sunny and very warm with a 10% chance of showers.  Wind NNE 6 – 15 mph.

Lake Level

Today  93.75 msl.   Friday   93.78 msl.

Solunar Period

Major  1:38 pm to 3:38 pm.  (No way will I be out there then!)

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The Knockin Tail is the perfect trailer for the swim jig.  They smack it!  

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It was dead calm at daylight when dropping the boat in.  The water color is stable, the water level is stable, and the temp continues to be 89, give or take a degree over much of the lake.  As usual started with a buzzbait for the first hour until the sun came out and the shade left.  4 small ones jumped on and then a really big fish just blew up all over it and never even touched it.  So I grabbed a swim jig and tossed it in, she ate, and before I figured that out she let go.  There is no excuse for missing a throwback like that.  All the fish were around wood, and as it has been not all wood is created equal.

This was a good one.

After having every buzzbait bite next to wood it was time to put that down and get back to the pitching.  Today it was the 4″ Berkley Power Bait Pit Boss in some darker color.  They claim the fish will hold on to it 18X longer, and while I do not know about all that, they definitely do hold on to it longer than other plastics.  And that is actually what makes it all that for pitching to cover, especially thick wood.

It was a tug of war to get this one out.

It really helps when you are pulling it against branches and your line comes tight.  The question – fish or wood?  Because they hold on to it a lot better than regular plastics just hold your rod steady, don’t move it at all, and give it a second.  If it is a fish it will almost always start swimming off or you will feel a light tug.  If it is wood you can often ease it over without getting hung.  I have been using it for over a year and it has proven to be a first rate pitching bait, and also works just fine fishing deeper.  And pegging the tungsten slip sinker keeps it nice and compact and the fish don’t care.  Generally for shallower cover the Pit Bass with a pegged 3/16 or 1/4 sinker works best with a 4/0 hook.

After catching the ones above along with the usual smalls and close to measure, time to make sure I had enough fish for the Boss.  With 2 small legal bass in the cooler I headed down to where the catfish and crappie were the other day.  After trolling that area it was apparent they were not there  (They do have tails you know.)  so I started working down to the dam.  It took a little while but I finally found a little more shad and caught a keeper crappie, a couple of white bass, and several largemouth.  That is the first whites I have caught this summer, and they were both small.  Never have quite figured out why Coleto has no really big white bass, but who knows, maybe next year.

So Deja Vu all over again.  The fishing on the lake has been nothing if not stable.  Results just depend on tossing it to the right piece of wood.  And trolling as it does will put fish in the boat.  I talked to a couple of guys who put in when I did, and took out when I did, and they caught over a dozen in the 15 foot range, which is actually where I am seeing fish trolling.  There are several ways to skin the bass on the lake right now and the crappie are definitely biting.

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It has been a while since I have seen a good ramp fiasco, but this morning produced a real extravaganza.  There was a big fancy Skeeter putting in in front of me as I got the boat ready and as they backed down I think the driver got it turned some almost hitting the pier so he put on the brake and bam – half off the trailer it goes.  It is now sitting on the skeg and one corner, about half way down the hull on the end of the trailer, so the nose it almost sticking straight up in the air.  It took a little banging and clanging to finally get it in, and the engine did some serious dragging on the ramp.  But looks like the only damage was to the skeg but it sure was painful to watch.

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By the end of the week should have some new stuff to try and will start the bay fishing.  Until then when it is this freakin’ hot it is to hot to fish all day  (Not as mad at em’ as I used to be, plus hunting season is coming.)  and to far to drive for a few hours so will wait until then.  And with the Boss headed to an 8 day stretch will probably stay at POC a couple of days, hope this heat wave will be down a little by then.  But it will be nice to have some new stuff to fish with, it all looks good.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines