FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

I had hoped to be on the water Wednesday (Yesterday) but when I got up early it was thundering and carrying on.  A look at the radar ended that plan, but since it ended up amounting to not much I will be going in the morning no matter what.  But while we have not had much at the house it was over an inch locally yesterday.  It was enough to raise the lake some, but at this point I do not have a clue what that means.  So will be on the water at daylight and see if I can catch a bass.

Weather

75/88. Mostly cloudy with a thunderstorm in the area and a 53 chance of rain.   Wind E  5 – 10mph.

Lake Level

Today 98.45 msl.   3 days ago  98.37 msl.

Bite Times

Major  11:09 am to 1:09 pm.

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The Wade Right Fishing Belt and the new Madre Sling.

For all your wading needs.

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Yesterday it blew through and was fishable after a while.  So of course the same thing would happen today, right?  Nope.  It is now 10:30 and I am back from the lake after fishing a total of an hour.  Big storms, lightning, and a little rain at the lake, it was just to sketchy to stand up in a boat and hold a fiberglass lightning rod.  And on the way home major power lines down, traffic stalled and re-routed, the Boss said we got 2″ at the house, and the thunder is still rumbling as I finish this.

First place, things were looking up.

The weather was perfect when I got to the lake.  Almost calm, water temp 92, and the color about the same as it has been.  It was drizzling a little and way off I could barely hear thunder.  (On a side note losing hearing in one ear I have a real problem telling which way a sound is coming from.  Which was a little problem today.)

First up was a main lake point leading into a big cove and the one above blasted that buzzbait.  So at this point I am feeling pretty good.  So a quick move to the same type place and though it did not hook up, a real one jumped it and flat missed.  So now I am excited, 2 good bites shallow in places they should be, perfect.

But of course it was not to be.  Then lightning off in the distance.  It was within my lightning rule, if you can see it and it looks like it is heading down, time to head to the ramp.  I go back and sit for a good while, then it looks like it might be slacking off, so time to head back out.  Of course as soon as I get back to the next place the lightning starts up again.  This time ugly and on both sides of me, definitely time to quit.

To bad, but live to fish another day.  The lake is definitely up a little, and when crossing the Guadalupe on the way it was back to really high and dirty.  Funny but we missed that rain the last 2 days, but today more than made up for it.  It is basically the same forecast tomorrow and I will definitely give it another go.  If it will just cloud up and stay that way minus the lightning it might be a good day, and I do not mind fishing in the rain.  I still expect the fish to keep coming to the cover, and that little touch of a rise might just be a good thing.

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I read a great tip for cleaning rods.  Wipe them down with Pledge.  Really makes sense.  Not only does it clean the blank but it leave a light protective coating.  I admit I rarely “clean” my rods other than the spray down, so I just might do a few and see how it goes.  But not a bad idea, and they sure should look better.  So after just doing it to my fly rods  (Prepping for Colorado in September.) not only was I surprised at the amount of dirt that came off, but how nice they ended up looking.  Guess it is time to do the other dozens in the tackle room!

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This year the ShareLunker program produced 270,000 offspring from donated fish.  Most were returned to their home waters and the big fish survival rate according to TPWD was 91%.  While that is a big number, the program at times has had its share of detractors for not living up to the initial projections.  If you will remember there was talk of producing a new world record.  All I know is that Coleto could use a bunch of them, but most are headed back to the lake that produced the ShareLunker. Maybe someday the program will produce the state record, but so far it has failed to do so.  Has it produced some big fish?  Of course.  But the real way to grow big ones is great habitat, end of story.

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I do have a question for you died in the wool Texans.  Why is a state that is so proud of itself such a roadside dump.  Again this week we saw a car toss a bunch of trash out the window.  (I wrote this yesterday and then on the way home today a POS tosses a wrapper out his window.  What is up with that?)  When I see someone do that it just amazes me, do you not care at all?  Hate to see inside your house.  Just look at any roadside that has been recently mowed, there is trash everywhere.  The more we travel the more it is apparent that some folks in Texas do not care.  (Maybe Oregon’s approach: Fines to $6000 might help.  Cleanest roadsides we have ever seen.)  And this from the state where Lady Bird led the charge on littering.  Guess the state needs another push.  But it is just as easy to simply quit littering.

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And last congrats to the Boss on finishing the rehab on her knee.  It was interesting to watch as a medical professional do exactly what she was told to do, including here self rehab at the house.  She was a good patient but did whine some like most of us do.  By time we hit Colorado and the mountains she will be good to go.  And speaking of Colorado, I will be going out weeks in advance and just driving around fishing and animal watching.  Hard not to get excited about that.

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Will try again in the morning.  Really it is kind of a holding pattern around here as I wait out summer.  I am ready for fall and some cool mornings.  Maybe a little elk bugling, rams on a hillside, and a big brown smoking a hopper.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines