FISH CATCHING TRAVEL
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At least he caught one.
After basically being house bound last week time to head back on the water. The lake will be first up, and I will be real interested in seeing what affects the cold front had. Not sure what they will be but it probably will not be good. But that is not going to keep me home, time to wet a line.
Weather
47/69. Mostly sunny with a slight chance of rain. Wind NNE 10 – 15mph.
Lake Level
Today 93.66 msl. 12 days ago 93.75 msl. (A slight drop.)
Solunar Times
Major 7:45 am to 9:45 am. Minor 1:02 pm to 2:02 pm.
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The Wade Right Fishing Belt and the new Madre Sling.
For all your wading needs.
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I Should Have Known Better – But I knew what was coming.
The water temp a couple of weeks ago was in the mid to high 60’s, today not so much. It was 53 at the ramp, 59 in front of the discharge cove, and was 53 way up lake. And the water color down lake was poor, better in the plant arm than up lake. But the temp was basically the same. I even stopped at the discharge, made about 10 casts and did not have a bite. There was quite a bit of water coming out, but it was only 61 degrees and the color was terrible. And the real sad thing, the water had been getting into some of the stuff on the bank where fresh stuff was growing, now all of that is dead. And the water has visibly dropped. So the point of all this, you can guess how it went.
To make a sad story shorter, I fished almost every place I have caught a bass in the last month, and not a touch. Both ends of the lake. Not a bite at the discharge, or the bank leading into the intake at the plant, or anywhere elase. They were sucking water and I hoped they might be biting there, but zip. Main lake points, deep pockets, long channel banks, fished them all. Swim jig, deep jerkbait, crankbait, Knockin Tail swim bait, tried them all. In fact around noon I actually ran all the way back up lake to finish the day. The water had warmed to 54 and there were a couple of spots out of the wind with sun shining on it, places that should at least have a straggler. No such luck.
While up lake tried to get the Boss her fish order, and the whites are flat gone. The area that was producing whites was barren, including no shad. When I got ready to quit I trolled out, put lures away, checked rods and line, all the stuff that normally happens at the ramp. And of course the only bite, a white bass about 8″ jumped on. So that says it all about the day.
This front really put the hurt on the lake, and all the progress it was making is gone and we are really back in the winter pattern. It really has become somewhat disheartening. The lake just can not catch a break, but I am not ready to throw in the towel yet.
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Thursday the Boss and I took a drive to a few area ramps to see if we could see dead fish. We hit Six Mile, Keller Bay, the back and of the Powderhorn, and the beach and barge canal in POC. Thank God we basically saw no dead fish. I know our sight line was limited, but at least there were not dead fish everywhere. But there was a major kill in Pringle, and I am sure other similar areas, so we just will have to wait and see what the damages are. And from what I am seeing and reading on Facebook this may be pretty bad on many areas of the coast. We will just have to see what the final word is from TPWD. And props to the Wardens for collecting all the sea turtles, tough work in that weather.
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And on that note Saturday I got this picture and comment from Steve. I actually hesitated to use it but since it will not get out until Monday at the earliest here you go. (And if you use the following to find fish right now you need to seriously examine your ethics.)
Wow!
This is a shallow sand bar from this morning. I know it is hard to tell, but a mixture of reds and trout with just a couple of sheepshead mixed in. They were extremely lethargic, but the sun beating down on the sand bar was bringing them in. By mid afternoon, most of the trout had moved off to deeper water but the reds were still around. The deeper water is 6-8 feet close by. I don’t think this is scientific, but it seems that the larger fish that moved to deeper water may have fared better than the smaller/shallower cousins.
You are absolutely spot on to what is happening, and what happened all over the bay with this front. Facebook has had a few pictures like this the last few days. In this case they need to be left alone until they fully recover and a few days of sun will do that. (I was really disappointed to see barge traffic on the barge canal. They churn the warm water up off the deep areas and kill tons of fish, as I saw on a Facebook post the other day.) That is why I decided to share this with much warmer weather coming they will have time to get back to their usual haunts. And I just mentioned this phenomenon to the Boss on our drive. Deep water saves trout and the problem with Pringle, they love that warm mud in the winter but once it drops they are toast, by time they cool off they are to lethargic to run. I really appreciate you sharing this as most of us will never see it. Good stuff. And to the rest of us in the words of that “freak” on Brittany Spears – Leave those fish alone!
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I got this comment on putting signs on the cover in Coleto from my buddy Clyde, who was with me from the beginning of the Arkansas fishing adventure 45 years ago.
They have replenished all the piles on both lakes and not marked them due to people stealing the signs ; they are all GPS marked and allow down loading for free I believe.
Wtf is wrong with people? First they are obviously not “fishermen”. I just do not get it, it is theft plain and simple and makes you nothing but a criminal. After dealing with literally hundreds of felons it so confuses me how folks do not understand this makes you no better than the worst, you are right there with them. This is something I never considered but now that you mention it there were very few signs when I was there last spring. And if our fishing does not get any better I am headed that way.
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But while Coleto is a dead sea other Texas lakes are having their moments. O.H. Ivie Lake produce a 16lb + last weekend. That is a big fish on any body of water, and Ivie has produced plenty of big fish.
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And last on the cold snap. It is not the fault of Obama, the Yeti, AOC, The Joker, or the bogey man. They were given a road map to fix it after the disaster 10 years ago which actually messed up Super Bowl Week in Dallas and nothing was done. I do not know who’s fault it is, most in charge are blaming everyone but themselves. But whoever it was needs to be fired, end of story. Growing up in the north country this was just a blip on any day, no big deal. And don’t bother to give me that unforeseen crap, stupid argument. So just fix it. What are we paying you for?
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Tomorrow I have to buy a new lawn mower. Nothing like the occasional “tariff” of home ownership. As Rosanna Rosaana Danna said; “If it is not one thing it is another.” After watching the weather Wednesday looks good for the bay, so that is the current plan. The Boss is headed out of town next weekend for a few days and I am watching the weather in 3 or 4 places and plan on going somewhere for a few days, fresh or salt is yet to be determined. 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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