FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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I hope, if it is not completely pouring, to fish Coleto in the morning.  Our weather is going to deteriorate over the next few days, in fact it seems to be coming a little quicker than they even forecast yesterday.  But in better times this is the weather I loved to fish in the winter on Coleto.  I have a couple of thoughts on what to try tomorrow so we shall see how it goes.

Weather

63/74.  Mainly cloudy with a 50% chance of showers in spots.  Wind ENE 10 – 15 mph.  (Since I wrote this Tuesday morning our local guy says we will be in the upper 50’s and it did not make that today.)

Lake Level

5 days ago  93.74 msl.  Today  93.75 msl.  (Keep going up!)

Solunar Times

Major  11:51 am to 1:51 pm.

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The Wade Right Fishing Belt and the new Madre Sling.

For all your wading needs.

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Amazing how many of these I catch in the spring, and then they are gone.

I was up real early and watching the radar.  The showers were coming through and kind of dying out along 59.  It was 54 degrees, and as a side note it was 52 when I took out.  So at 8:00 I finally decided to put on my big boy pants and head out.  The weather is not going to get any better for almost a week so the time is now.  Once I got to the lake it was blowing around 15 out of the northeast and it never varied all day.  The day was flat nasty, windy and drizzling or raining.  To start it was a good cove in the plant arm to give the jerk bait a go.

The water color in the plant arm is fairly murky, not near as nice over the rest of the lake.  Starting with the Lou’s Lures jerk bait over the first hour or so 4 jumped on, nothing to big, but at least they bit and they were real shallow.

Feeding them the Lou’s Lures jerk bait.

To find better color time to head up the main arm.  Stopping along the way here and there did not produce a bite, nor did the last 2 places on the way in, all near the dam.  For some reason there does not seem to be any fish shallow at the lower end.  Once I got up lake I kept after the jerk bait, catching 3 more.  Another came on the green pumpkin swim jig with a Knockin Tail, but I stayed true to the jerk bait.  The best bite all day, and he slammed it, was the tilapia above.  The few that hit lures smack it.  I thought it was the “big’ one.  (Be sure to gill em’ and kill em’.)  With the wind again blowing right down the pike I fished down, and then trolled back up.

The Pearl Knockin Tail continues to smoke them.

Like I did the other day the Pearl Knockin Tail and the Bang O Lure were the bait of choice, with the fish preferring the Knockin Tail as they have been.  One thing that was interesting was as cold and nasty as it was, they wanted the bait higher up in the water column.  So I moved the rod holders up so they were both running maybe 3 feet at most, and the bite was on.  Several doubled up and it never took to long to get a bite.  They are staged to spawn in that area, and why they have not done it yet, or moved, is beyond me.  But I do not look a gift fish in the mouth, the white bass bite will be over soon.

As far as the bass, they were right on the bank, and it was nice to have a shallow running Lou’s jerk bait.  They wanted it fairly fast but other than the tilapia who whacked it, the bass were just there.  The few that I did catch were in small guts, or flatter places, and nothing on deep banks.  And though the water temp is in the mid 60’s in the coves up lake, they are just not there yet.

For some reason, often because I catch big bass on days like today, I have never minded fishing in these conditions.  In Arkansas we called it spring, in Texas it is a norther.  Either way it was a fairly good day considering, now it will be hunkering down and waiting this weather out.

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Tomorrow, 2/11 at 10:00 central time, Mercury Marine is making some kind of big splash.

Join Mercury for the unveiling of an outboard that delivers unrivaled freedom, luxury and power to pursue your passions on the water. A video detailing this historic product launch will drop on the Mercury Marine Facebook homepage Feb. 11 at 10 a.m. CST.

As a life long Mercury guy I can not wait to see what they have to say.   Do not have a guess so will be interesting to see what comes.

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I now have a second friend who bought an East Cape Fury poling skiff.

This is a real poling skiff.  Shallow running, easy to pole, limited hull slap, the bells and whistles, can’t wait to fish out of it.  David has been wanting one and is excited to get on the water.  Since I have the redfish flyrod some kind of potential fiasco is coming to a bay near you, and I can’t wait!  I love being poled around.

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It will not get above 47 for the next week, with a day in the 30’s.  And even better, the wind will blow out of the north up to 20 mph and above the whole time.  Whatever progress the lake was making will be set back.  Next up as soon as possible will be the bay.  I definitely want to improve my wading results, so it might be an overnight and a couple of days in a row to see if I can figure them out better.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines 

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A Great Deal From Four Horseman Tackle

If you fish a popping cork and have not tried the Four Horseman popping cork, or even if you are currently using them, here is a GREAT DEAL.  They have been kind enough to give my readers a discount. It will be a 20% discount so get them while the getting is good.  What a deal.  Use the code 4H6 at check out to save some serious bucks.  No better time to stock up.  (I will leave this up for the time being, you never know when you will need some new corks.)

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