FISH CATCHING TRAVEL
Interesting how it happened. The wind blew for days, then a fairly calm day on Friday when I smash them, then Saturday the wind blows gangbusters, now today the gusts are forecast to hit 50 mph! Unfortunately, Monday looks like more of the same with winds to the mid 30’s. It is so time for us to break out of this pattern. So back to the lake in the morning and for the rest of the week we shall see.
Weather
72/83. Breezy in the morning; otherwise, rather cloudy and humid with a 10% chance of rain. Wind SSE 15 – 36mph.
Lake Level
Monday 96.79 msl. Today 96.68 msl. (We need rain badly!)
Bite Time
Major 9:35 am to 11:35 am. Minor 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
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The Wade Right Fishing Belt and the new Madre Sling.
For all your wading needs.
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It was cloudy and the wind was blowing a good 20mph+. The air temp was 75 when I dropped in at daylight and the lake temp is as it has been. I headed up lake to where I caught them the other day and unlike the other day the wind was pounding right on the bank. The obvious choice was a spinnerbait and in a couple of passes I ended up figuring it out.
When one this size stops a high speed spinnerbait it is a thing of beauty!
I put 7 in the boat in nothing flat on the windy stretch, but they were all small. Then I picked up the swim jig and Honeydew Knockin Tail on a little calmer stretch and got one bite. It was a good fish so I stuck with it a while. But not another bite so I switched to the spinnerbait and decided to stick with it until I quit. Conditions were right so I kept throwing it. Once I figured it out it was game on.
They were hitting with bad intent! How bad, the spinnerbait is now trash.
I was running it right on top making a big wake. It was a tandem with a #5 willow blade on the back so you can move some water. I was not doing it super fast, just getting it up on top as soon as it hit the water leaving a wake. Most of them came about 1o – 15 feet off the bank and flat stopped it. When doing that it is so important that it runs straight up and down. Basically imitating a fleeing gizzard shad. It generally attracts bigger fish as you can see.
My favorite technique by far. To bad it only happens a couple times a year and now is the time.
The pattern ended up being classic. They were on the inside of the point coming out of the cove with the wind blowing on it. It was basically one or two good fish per place, and I lost several and missed several. They are full of piss and vinegar right now and were doing some serious jumping. But the best piece of advice, do not take your eyes off it!
The only one on swim jig and Honeydew Knockin Tail.
I fished from daylight until 2:30, which is a long time buzzing a big spinnerbait. It is work and not for light tackle. It is the best bite in bass fishing as far as I am concerned. That they can catch it reeling it that fast and then blow up on it is just to amazing. So thanks to Mac, Dick, and a few other guys who taught me this technique almost 50 years ago. (Yikes!)
Another stellar day.
Not sure how many I boated today but if how sore my hands are right now is any indication it was a great day. The wind was a hassle until I let it work for me, while some places were just too rough it was simply a matter of sticking with the pattern, midway in a cove out to the point with good cover. Get the speed right and hang on!
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Texas continues to pump out bass over 13lbs. This year there were 24 over 13, the biggest year since 2005. And O H Ivie produced 12 including one over 17lbs, the biggest bass caught in Texas in the last 30 years. What really blows me away is one over 17lbs barely gets you in the top 10. Wonder how many of these were, if any, direct descendants of a prior ShareLunker? No matter what it is a testament to habitat and TPWD.
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One side of my hull was making a slapping noise in rough water so I took the rub rail off and the rivets had worked themselves out on much of that side of the hull. My initial impression was typical Bass Pro shoddy manufacturing, which it was (Don’t get me started on how shoddy the boat was put together, or just how flat incompetent Katy Bass Pro is when rigging a boat.) but now I see online some fairly new Skeeters have had the same problem. Not that big a deal to fix, just new holes and new rivets. At least I do not have to worry the cap will fly off in high wind. That would sure be something.
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Wish I could fish tomorrow but got some things to do so I will be responsible, plus knock the list off and it will back to fishing. The weather looks great for the bass and I am just hanging waiting for a calmer day to hit the bay. There are a couple of things I want to work on with the trout and just like fresh water a little cloud cover never hurts anything. So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
Off Topic
On the way back from Biloxi there was a big billboard wanting to buy catalytic converters. It would seem that these folks are part of the problem. The billboard says to the average POS – steal some. Obviously, no shame on their part.
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Legal Stuff
Congratulations to the most experienced and qualified new member in the history of the Supreme Court. Ketangi Brown Jackson has trial and actual experience that no other nominated Justice has ever had. I listened to much of her confirmation hearing and she kept her cool when being trashed by attorneys who can not carry her water. Her record was continually and slimily misrepresented. I never thought I would see the day when attorneys (And I use the term loosely.) would attack any attorney for providing a defense to a client when she was appointed by the Federal Court. Guess they missed the class on Professional Responsibility and since they did why not cough up your client in Federal Court and see what that gets you. She will be an asset to the Court for decades and they will end up being nothing more than a bug on the windshield of life.
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