FISH CATCHING TRAVEL
It is hard to stomach the forecast. 90 degrees and sunny, sure am looking forward to fall. But of course that will not stop me from fishing though not sure I can last through the major period. And as usual, out early to catch the daylight bite, hope to end up on the right bank for starters. No guess on the water color but if it would clear just a little way up lake things would improve. No way to know except to go.
Weather
64/9o. Very warm with sunshine and 0% chance of rain. Wind ESE 6 – 12 mph.
Lake Level
Today 97.53 msl. Monday 97.62 msl.
Activity Times
Minor 9:08 am to 10:08 am. Major 2:12 pm to 4:12 pm.
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The Wade Right Fishing Belt and the new Madre Sling.
For all your wading needs.
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A TRUE BEATDOWN!
It was barely daylight as I headed up lake. First up my better bank for the spoon and Knockin Tail, and from that point until I quit at1:30 it was a real beatdown. But there is a twist to how that happened.
This girl will be a real giant when she grows up.
From daylight until around 10:30 it was keep the spoon and Pearl Knockin Tail in the grass and be ready. It was not quite as fast as the other day but I got bites everywhere I tried. It was an easy 10 on the spoon and Knockin Tail and a couple on stick worm near wood. In fact only threw it at 2 pieces of wood and caught fish on both.
A couple of good ones.
There was one small hitch in the git along this morning. The fish are still not on long stretches just because grass is there. I have fished a couple the last 2 trips when out of nowhere and real one smoked the spoon and Knockin Tail. I thought I had a good hooks set, got her to the boat and was already taking the picture in my mind when disaster struck. She just came off, no reason, just swam away. But it really has me excited about what might be to come this fall on the lake.
After fishing all up lake I decided to make a run and head up the plant arm and try a couple of places when on the way I decided to stop and troll, eat some honey buns and drink some coffee. 3 hours later my hands were tore up and I left them biting.
What was there? Bass, white bass, and those nice catfish. They were all related to big schools of shad, and once I found the big bunch it was double after double, it was some great fishing. So here is literally a few to give you an idea how it went.
They were smacking the snot out of it.
Basically I stayed in 10 – 20 feet of water, with 14′ being the best, trolling balsa shad looking baits that run about 8 – 10′ deep back about 50′ at 2.5 mph. It turned into one of those guess I will head out after this pass, and wham, 3 or 4 would jump on.
And the bass were there with them.
Once I really got the shad schools nailed down you could see them on the locator, start counting and wham, fish on. And the just kept biting.
A couple of the better ones, along with a whole bunch of smaller ones.
The bass were right under the shad, and were just slamming it. I kept fishing because the white bass were also in the mix.
And there was a whole lot smaller than this.
They were all mixed together, and since our grass disappeared it is definitely a shad based forage. If you look at the catfish they are silver. The white bass were what is good/normal size for Coleto. Why the lake does not have a better population of big ones I have never been able to figure out. But they were cooperating and I just could not leave and head to where I intended to earlier.
So how many? Not a freakin clue, but I had 57 pictures and did not take one of over half of them. This is the kind of day that makes all the time and effort worth it. Catching some nice ones early shallow, having a shot at a big one, then smoking a bunch of all flavors trolling. Really glad I did not bring the cooler today or I would still be cleaning fish.
So around 1:30 I was out of honey buns and coffee, my hands were flat trashed, so I left them biting as strong as when I found them at 110. Today was about as fun as a day on the water can be. Unfortunately I will be out of town for a few days until late next week so they will get a rest.
But if you are a bass fisherman when it clouds up and maybe rains a little it could get ugly. And tossing a crankbait like a 6xd could really sack them up if you can get it below 10′ and keep it there. Fall is going to break out and so will the fishing. So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
