FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

****************

Weather

93/77.  Partly sunny and humid with a 40% chance of a thunderstorm in parts of the area.  Wind  ESE 7 – 13 mph.

Lake Level

Today  98.18 msl.  A week ago   98.33 msl.

Bite Time

Major  5:27 am to 7:27 am.  Minor  11:51 am to 12:51 pm.

***************

The Wade Right Fishing Belt and the new Madre Sling.

For all your wading needs.

***************

The sun was not up when I made the first cast, of course with the buzzbait.  Over the next hour 4 took a really weak pass at it and did not come anywhere near hooking up.  So headed up lake and was happy to see the color is rapidly improving.  Stopped at one of my favorite buzzbait banks and finally boated one.  Then another small, which turned out to be unfortunate as I stuck with it to long, not another bite.

Square bill and Buzzbait.

Spent the next hour throwing plastics at wood, one bite but no hook up.  But most of it was cranking the chartreuse square bill, which still gets bites.  I casted until around 10:30 and caught 4 and one big perch.  And on that note, lots of the perch were following the square bill to the boat.  There are definitely more in the lake than there has been.

It may be slow but at least you can catch a few.

So at 10:30 decided to make an hours worth of trolling and then call it a morning.  That ended up putting 7 or 8 small bass in the boat.  It was funny though, not a white bass or catfish, and I worked that area over pretty good.  Most of the stuff I was seeing on the graph was a little deeper, on breaks falling from 10 foot on down.  So with a light rumbling in the distance I called it a morning.

There were a couple of interesting observations on a fairly busy morning at the lake.  First, there are obviously some fish on the drop and structure in front of the big island as there ended up being 4 boats on it.  One of the signs I am getting old, in the “good old days” that just did not happen.  If you were on it another boat would never come over, but times change but I am just not interested in fighting that kind of crowd.  Must be a club tournament this weekend of some sort.

Second, there were several folks fishing way up lake, which is a good sign.  Looks like the fish are biting up there some as I have not seen anyone up there in a while. And I did catch 2 up there this morning.

And last, when I headed back down lake I went by 3 different boats crappie fishing.  Of all things 2 of them were actually hauling one in, and the one looked real big.   So they are still biting if the number of folks chasing them is any indication.

As far as results it is still slow, but it is possible to catch some fish, actually several ways.  The Boss wants to give her Yak a try one day next week and while she paddles I am going to catch a few catfish for a fish fry.  Picked up a couple of walleye crawler rigs with a small spinner, which should do the job.

**************

And this from Rusty on his way to the promise land.

Sitting in Minneapolis airport waiting on next flight to International Falls on the US/Canadian border. Tomorrow, driving across the border and 5 hour drive north to Nunguesser Lake Lodge. So pumped to wet a hook and some cool weather. Got a sack of KnockinTails as well as some of the new prototypes to try on walleye and northern pike. Not a doubt in my mind they will hammer them. Hope to get some good photos!
Bay Sport Marine in Victoria did a good job on my 130 hr maintenance as well as fixing a few odd and ends that needed done. Fair price too
Fayette lake is good early in the morning ( bass chasing shad) for about two hours then bite is extremely slow. Have a good trip to Colorado!
Tight lines
Rusty

Not a bad report on Fayette, it is the heart of summer.  At least there the average rarely disappoints.  And good news on the maintenance report by Bay Sports, especially the fair price.  Over the years it has been hit or miss, and occasionally basically a rip, so it is good to find a regular mechanic.  One of the Boss’s friends at work has his done somewhere where they have a 5 hour minimum.  That is nuts.

But best of all, you are almost there and I could not be any more jealous.  I can visualize the smallmouth smacking the snot out of the Knockin Tail, seeing the line jump!  How it goes with the Knockin Tail and the walleye will be real interesting.  I managed a couple in Arkansas so it should be good.  And I assume the fish where you are going have basically not be harassed to any great extent, hopefully it will be your usual killing.  So stay safe and can’t wait to hear your report.

***************

And this from SA Joe.

The one trip I just did not get done this year, mostly due to the boat being in the shop almost 4 months, was Grand Isle, La

While your in Colorado, I’ll take out your boat to Grand Isle to keep it warm, for you, ….hahahahaaaaaa. Had to put mine in shop Merc200, 1 cylinder down to 75 compression, found out it was just the rings—WHEW..Glad i didnt blow it up..

Also NICE KAYAK, care to share the price on that. Never thought they make one that can stand up to a beating….Type? Website?

Thanks

Speaking of motors sounds like one of those good news bad news things.  The bad, it’s  going to cost a buck or two, the really good, it is still together.  Plus, as long as they are in there if there is something up they might find it, saving money in the long run.

The kayak is a Star Pro 1.  It was under a grand and seems to be quite well made.  It has 2 main chambers and then the separate floor.  The bottom of the yak has holes, is not inflated, and is self draining.  How it works it you inflate the floor, which is separate, and it really makes the yak rigid and keeps you rear end out of the water.  It comes with a big pump, gauge, and it not a real killer to inflate.  We have a pump that runs off the truck so it will be a breeze.  We just will have to wait and see how durable it is, but it comes with a repair kit just in case.  It is definitely not a cheap inflatable.

The funny thing was they had one lower model left in the store in Fayetteville, and a guy from Mtn. Home, my old stomping grounds, was coming to pick it up.  The owner was telling us he has a good relationship with the main distributor and there was one on the way on a boat, and his name was on it.  When it got here he told us it was the only one in the country right now, so guess we lucked out.  As you will see when you look, they are on backorder everywhere.  He was telling us that his last year he sold kayaks like never before.  Good to hear from you and hope you are back on the water.

STAR Raven I Pro Inflatable Kayak | NRS

******************

Unfortunately I am going to miss out on a trip to the Sabine.  My buddy called and is planning on the weekend near the end of September when of course I am going to be in Colorado.  To bad, I have not fished that area and would have loved to give it a go.  But it was not all bad, we have a weekend in November for FishMass with the Austin boys.  So fall is really beginning to shape up.

*****************

So even though I thought I was taking a break, I did not make it a week.  And next week planning on a couple of days out of POC.  At least the fresh water should be mixing a lot better, and with it better fishing.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines