FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

The only thing to do after falling off the horse is to get back on.  Nobody likes a quitter and I ain’t no quitter.  So after cleaning the boat and fixing a couple of things it will be off to the lake in the morning.  Not sure what to expect considering my run of luck lately, but there is no place like home so we shall see.

Weather

58/82.  Mostly cloudy with a 25% chance of rain.  Wind WSW 7 – 12 mph.

Lake Level

8 days ago  93.70 msl.   Today  93.74 msl.   (Keep coming!)

Solunar Period

Major  5:55 am to 7:55 am.  Minor  11:18 am to 12:18 pm.

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The Wade Right Fishing Belt and the new Madre Sling.

For all your wading needs.

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Didn’t exactly get my mojo back, but things are definitely looking up.

They were out today.

I was at the ramp and fishing by 6:45.  The lake was calm, fairly clear, the water temp was in the mid to high 60’s all over the lake, and it was perfect cloudy.  First up was a main lake point that should have fish on it, and it did.  Started with the Bang O Lure twitching it on top and caught 4 pretty quickly.  Now they were all small but that is not the point.  The fact is 9 jumped on the balsa minnow today, a major improvement.

It was slow, but they were biting some.  The Boss had ordered a white bass fry, so I fished my way up lake and once getting to where they were made 2 passes and put 6 in the box and filled that order.  The Pearl Knockin Tail was the ticket as it has been.  There was one little hitch in the git along when something big jumped on the trolled Bang O Lure, was on for a second, and broke my line.  When I reeled it in it was covered with slime, probably a big catfish.  It stayed calm until around noon as I fished my way back down lake.  Alternating between spinnerbait, Bang O Lure, and swim jig, only the Bang O Lure produced a bite when the sun came out.  I can safely say that if I had just fished the minnow bait and not wasted time with the other stuff I would have caught several more.

All 11 were like this and smaller.  But they are about to get after it.

I fished 5 coves and only got bites in 2 of them.  They came in those little side pockets which were warm, and there are a few beds and the tilapia are definitely spawning.  At this water temp my guess is the “real” bass are going to come in really soon.  They are going to spawn, they can’t help themselves.  And as a side note the white bass have not spawned yet, at least the ones I am catching and eating, which is surprising.

A whole bunch of baby alligators.  They were making lots of noise and I am sure moma was close.

I did catch 2 jerking the Bang O Lure under water after I saw them.  A great sign.  And one jumped it when I was reeling in.  Once the sun came out it slowed way down.   The last place I tried no bites, but the back end was full of tilapia so if you like to bowfish now is the time.

So at 1:30 called it a day, and while no big fish jumped on the bite is about to get good.  How good remains to be seen, but the boys came to the bank and the girls will not be far behind.  Feeling a whole lot better about the lake after a tough period and will be patiently waiting on some rain to raise it and provide cloud cover.  The one thing I did not throw today was the Controlled Descent Pearl Jerk Shad.  It just might be the ticket as it has been in the past, and it is sure easier to see.

Not sure what kind of hawk this is but he stuck around and occasionally hits the ground for a bite.

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Whether trolling or casting they eat the Pearl Knockin Tail and usually only the jig head is sticking out.

I did forget to mention one other thing about the white bass on Falcon.  I threw the Pearl Knockin Tail one cast, and caught one.  I never did pick it back up, how many white bass do you want to catch?  It really is a white bass killer!  They flat eat it.

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Am very anxious to hear about Michael’s trip to the lower Laguna Thursday.  The weather looks great and so I hope they sack them up.  The future of the bay is still up in the air until TPWD speaks, probably after their netting surveys.

Michael’s report is better than I would have guessed.  He caught 6 eaters not counting dinks on the Purple Demon Knockin Tail.  And on the Pearl Controlled Descent Jerk Shad  6 from 2lbs up to 6 along with 2 slots reds.  And one in their party did ok on top with a couple of good trout and a redfish.  So the moral of the story, maybe we dodged a bullet on the bay.  Nice job.  And as a side note they only saw 1  dead fish.

And Colton and his bunch won another tournament with a 4 trout bag weighing  16lbs plus.  So the news continues to be looking better for the bay.

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Not sure what exactly is next, though get my second vaccine shot on Tuesday.  And a friend is coming down with his son to fish out of Seadrift and I hope to join them a day this week.  And I will be back on the lake for sure.  Spring fishing is finally looking up and it will be fish till you drop around here.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

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A Better Cork built a Better Way

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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