FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

I was not really planning on going but decided to fish today and then take the weekend off.   Probably spend it hoping the wind dies, we do not have any big fires here in Texas, and gas prices fall..  It is awfully dry here and it would not take much.  And to the fat chick at the stoplight this morning who cracked her window and tossed a butt – Are you freakin nuts!  Crazy world we live in.

Weather

Windy, hot, humid, sunny and did I say windy?  And it did not dissapoint!

Lake Level

Tuesday   96.30 msl.   Today   96.22 msl.  (The lake is falling fast and we are losing our cover.  Nice while it lasted.)

Bite Times

Major   10:31 am until  12:31 am.

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The Wade Right Fishing Belt and the new Madre Sling.

For all your wading needs.

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I got to the lake before the dude got there so had a 10 minute wait.  It was cracking daylight, at the ramp it was dead calm, and it stayed that way until exactly 9:30 when it started to blow.  The lake is really falling and we are about to lose all the good cover.  The spawn is probably over except for a few stragglers, and with it falling like this they are on their way out.  But there are still a few left to catch shallow, and it was fun doing it.

Throw the 4″ Pearl Knockin Tail over the right bush and hold on.

Of course started with the buzzbait and got plenty of bites.  Unfortunately they were all small and not even sure a good one ever took a pass at it this morning.  After 3 places with only small fish it was time for a change.  I had downsized to the 4″ from the 5″ to more match what they are eating.  Still using it on a 1/4 ounce swim bait hook and 15lb line.  I headed to a great patch of cover, one of the few left as the lakes falls, and had the best bite of the morning.  By using the swim bait hook and then skin hooking the hook it is possible to wallow it through cover and the bite is usually an adventure.  The one above smashed it as it came over a bunch of trash.

Should have been throwing it earlier.

From that point on until quitting at 12:00 I just alternated between swimming the 4″ Pearl Knockin Tail and the swim jig.  As the fish start pulling out the swim jig should came on, but I only caught 2 on it.  But most of the time it was the swimming the 4″ Pearl through cover, which kept it interesting most of the morning.  From blasting it to barely touching it, each bite was different but almost all came next to something.

And one on the swim jig with a 4″ Honeydew Knockin Tail trailer.

This fish came off my “swim jig” bank.  Usually post spawn they move to it, it has deep wood, and they rest up.  She was right where it was supposed to be and will be pitching it with the 5″ watermelon stick worm soon.  I did catch one small on it, but only threw it at a couple of places.  It was hard to put down the Knockin Tail, my kind of bite.

The first one of 9 smalls on buzzbait.  Another keeper on the Pearl Knockin Tail.

If you note the guts on these girls they are all post spawn.  So the fishing is rapidly changing as we head toward the summer pattern.  For you ledge guys they should be starting to gang up some.  Lots of folks were out today, plenty of crappie fishermen and they are still catching.  Funny how they all fish several of the same spots, one of those first up will catch them. But the highlight of the morning was the 2 best ones smoking the Pearl Knockin Tail.  I would have definitely boated a few more better fish if I had started with that and stuck with it.  While this will probably be the end of the real shallow bite but it sure was fun while it lasted,

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First up was this morning was the gas station.  The boat was needing a drink, but acted more like a juice freak at an open bar.  It had been 5 trips to the lake since I filled up so I was real interested in not how much I used, but how much it costs.  The punch line:  21 gallons = $83.00.  And since I just put $50 in the truck looks like it is costing about $27.00 to go to the lake a trip.  It is up about 100% and you can feel it when you put that much in the tanks.  Not sure what can be done about it but I do know this fact:  “There were record profits for the first three months of this year.  Profits for Exxon Mobil, Shell and more also rose by billions despite significant costs of exiting operations and/or investments in Russia amid war in Ukraine.”   I am pretty sure it was Shell who had the all time record profit for one quarter.  Hope this is not the new normal.  (Funny how as I typing this I have the financial channel on and they are discussing oil.  And one petroleum expert says high prices from the oil companies is “because they can.”

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The last month has really been a good run, but I am starting to get bored.  Next week it will be at least on day on the bay wind or not.  It won’t be long before POC gets real busy so want to spend a few days working on some Knockin Tail stuff.  It has really saved my spring on the bass and it is time to work over the trout and reds.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines