FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

I could not catch a big fish no matter how I tried.  But on the other hand I do not mind wading through 25 to get a good one.  Guess it was not going to happen today.

It was barely daylight when I started.  First up was the A Rig with the While Ice Knockin Tail trailers.  2 jumped on the first point and it was looking good, until a little peckerwood broke an arm off.  Then when I tried to straighten it out another broke, so much for that.  Having 4 in the tackle room was no help.  But it turned out to not matter.

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The second bank I did not have a bite, but from then on it never happened anywhere I fished.  They were still biting when I quit, and there are a bunch of different patterns.  At some point the big fish should show up but not this morning.  But the bite was on.

The next point it was 3 on jerkbait, so I re-fished it with the swim jig and caught another.  So why not re-fish it with the crankbait and 3 more jumped on that.  I stuck with the jerkbait until around 11:00 and had another place where I boated 6.  From that point on it was a steady bite the rest of the day.  Best numbers I have had in a while.

Unfortunately, I lost my Luo’s Lures custom painted jerkbait.  One got on then went in a bush and hung up.  Out came the lure retriever and it took a while to get it off.  Finally, it came free with the fish still on when he gave a flop, the line broke, and off he swam with my jerkbait.  So switched to a little smaller blue back Rapala and boy did they like that.  They were not really smacking it, they would just be there when you went to jerk it.  The best was a jerk pause, jerk/jerk pause retrieve at a medium speed, always letting it pause.

Jerk bait put them in the boat today.

Points are atill where the numbers are, but after catching that one on the swim jig earlier I decided to just head down long banks with brush on them.  Switching to a white swim jig with a Pearl Knockin Tail it turned out to be a reaction bite.  I ended up catching 5 or 6 after noon fishing grass and cover.  It was not fast but by covering the water and reeling it fairly quickly through the trash they would jump on it.   Only 1 hit off the cover, they wanted it in the trash and moving right along.  Fun bite.

The white swim jig with a Pearl Knockin Tail.

It seems there are 3 good patterns right now, it is just a question on whether they hold up after this front.  But it was definitely good fishing for numbers.  They bit from the first place to the last.  And there is a fish or two in the coves as long as there is cover, but not near as many as on the points.  And paralleling crankbaits works as well, so today was just a question of what I threw and when.

And another Kentucky.  If they have only shocked 5 in  20 years it would take them 40 years to shock what I have caught this month.  Told you they love a jerkbait.

Most of the fish have been small, some maybe 10 – 12″.  So I looked up the stocking history and in 2019 they put 121,500 fry in the lake.  Looks like they are starting to grow up some.  As we wait to see how the grass re-stocking goes, if it all comes together Coleto could be in for a real explosion in 3 or 4 years.  For now at least they are providing action.

Today they bit jerkbait, A Rig, swim jig, and crankbait.  The jerkbait got the numbers but it did not seem to matter.  Just do the right thing in the right place and you would get bit.  Now it is a waiting game to see what this big front brings tonight, and then how long it lasts.  It may move them out of the cover, but the classic winter spots, points and channel swings will still have them.

Glad I got my rear end out of bed and to be on the water at daylight.  This had a spring feel to it, and some of them were definitely on the fat side.  What happens now is up in the air.  And I hope to get to the bay soon for a couple of days.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines