FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

This one pulled a little bit!  Smoked the Pearl Limetreuse Knockin Tail.

I was excited to be headed to the water so it was easy to get up and get gone.  I got to Froggie’s  at 6:15, the parking lot was half full, and there was a pretty good crowd for a Monday.  The water looked like crap and was 83 degrees, which was the temp over most of the places I fished.  The wind was a steady 10 mph out of the SE and it was hazy on the horizon.  First up was my favorite daylight topwater bank, and it turned out to be a mixed blessing.

Weather

79/86.  Partly sunny with a thunderstorm in spots in the afternoon with A 40% chance of rain.  Wind  SSE 10 – 15mph.

Tides

High  11:39 am   1.39 ft.   Low  11:50 pm  -0.12 ft.

Bite Times

Minor  8:54 am to 9:54 am.   Major  3:51 pm to  5:51 pm.

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The Wade Right Fishing Belt and the new Madre Sling.

For all your wading needs.

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At least 6 made a pass at the Skitter Walk.  Half were reds, they were just a little bit behind, the others trout doing the knock it in the air thing, and none hooked up.  I did re-fish it with a spinnerbait but they were not interested.  So I tried one more place with the topwater and with no more bites I put it up.  From then on it was Knockin Tails in assorted colors in assorted ways.

A 10 spotter on the Heavy Metal Knockin Tail.  One of the 2 on a 4 Horseman popping cork and the Pearl Limetreuse Knockin Tail.

Only one fish came on the deeper banks that normally are a no brainer right now.  In Big Bayou the side with the wind had floating grass, the color sucked, and not a bite there are in that kind of color all morning.  The water was super high, which was no surprise as it was coming up from when I started until quitting at 1:30.  I readily admit to not being the best rising to really high tide bay fisherman, much prefer the fall, but you can’t always get what you want.

Other than the 2 below only a couple of more trout jumped on all morning, and they were not worth a pic.  It was definitely slow after the sun came up until I finally had a moment of insight.  If that many hit the topwater early, maybe they are still there.

The first one slow rolling the Red Shad Knocking Tail.  Number 2 on the Pearl Limetreuse Knockin Tail.

The color on that bank was slightly off, but perfect for redfish.  I put on the 4 Horseman popping cork and old reliable, the Pearl Limetreuse Knockin Tail.  Since the bank is very shallow I put it on a 24″ leader.  I started right where the daylight bite was and ended up catching 5, 2 trout and 3 reds.  When they hit they pulled it under and took off.  Ended up wishing I had spent more time on the shallower places with the popping cork, especially with the color in most places.  I hit one more bank with it, missed a flounder near a dock, and called it a day.

The fishing could best be described as slows, but as it has been a month since I fished the bay I can live with it.  The water is super high and there were lots of folks cruising the back lakes.  Not sure what is up with the trout other than the fresh water has them a little messed up, and when combined with some poor color it is not surprising.  Today the best places had a touch of color along with being loaded with bait.  It was good to be back on the salt and next trip time to get out the waders.  In the end catching redfish never gets old.

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How Much Rain?

There is water everywhere as you get close to the coast.  The ground is so saturated that it is not sinking in.  It definitely was over the road in a couple of places on the way.  Here is a couple of the local rainfall totals over the last week, and a little more was added to that.  To bad we can not send some of it out west.

Rockport  –  18″

Port Lavaca  –  14″

Victoria  –  10″

Saturday I decided to take a little ride out to the lake and fork over the $250 for the annual permit.  (Now that is nothing short of a total ripoff.  GBRA told me last year it was for upkeep, which the road and  ramp sorely need.  But that is another story.)  But I basically did it then to see what the water had done.  It almost went completely over the piers and into the lot.  The real sight was when I crossed the creek bridge on Hwy 59 on the way out there.  All I can say was they were dumping water like mad.  What it has done to the lake fishing I will not know until I go.

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The current plan is to be on the lake at daylight.  Not a clue what might happen, but might as well start getting my $250 worth.  If they do not come to the stuff now it just might not happen until fall finally gets here.  And will be headed back to POC soon, maybe stay the night and hit it hard.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my sruff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines