FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

It is time to put the fishcatchingtravel.com year to bed.  Like all years it had both highs and lows, but this year sticks out for several reasons.  The mountain house, some big snook in the glades, big stripers at night, salmon and bears, catching browns on the fly, ICAST, what more could a fisherman want?  The Boss and I traveled the miles together and now we look forward to our new adventure.

January

It was a busy month at the lake when the fish started to bite.  While I only caught one big fish that month it was throw it and they will eat it.  And the A Rig with Knockin Tail trailer bite was on.  The only hitch in our git along was our trip to Panama did not happen thanks to Covid, which finally started to settle down as the year progressed.;

And the Kentuckies, which are not in Coleto started to show up.

February

It was simply a fish catching month.  The lake was on fire and I made it to the gulf and had a pretty good day.  Mix in a trip to Big Bend and it was one great month.

We saw a big herd of Audad on a 10 mile 4wheel drive through the desert.

What funny creatures the Javelinas are.

I absolutely hammered them on Coleto this month.

And when I did go to the Gulf some nice solids came over the side.

March

I went to Arkansas, and it was a beat down.  If you like big fish stripers on Lake Norfork in Arkansas at night are the ticket.  We toured the Smokies looking for bears but did not see a one.  But the elk sure cooperated.  And while the lake was a little slower, I still managed a few good ones.

I had 5 nice stripers in one evening trip.  If you fish stripers and hybrids and are not using Knockin Tails you are missing out.

If you are a bass fisherman slow roll the 5″ Pearl Knockin tail and hold on, it catches big spring largemouth.

No bears but 2hat is there not to like in the Smokies, fun trip.

April

Lets put it this way, I beat them up pretty good on the lake.  A trip to Travis resulted in some nice crappie.  And I had on great day on the bay.  All in all a great month of fishing.

How’s that for back to back!

Just a taste of the big bass this month, it was good.

Went to Lake Travis looking for whites and caught some really great crappie.

A great Knockin Tail slam.

May

This is the kind of month I live for.  Big bass smashing buzzbait, I will never get tired of that.  And swimming the Knockin Tail played a big part in my success.  All I can say is the pics speak for themselves.

And I slid out and caught a nice limit of trout on the Knockin Tail of course.  But the lake was where the action was.

Not sure how many big bass this month but it was plenty.  When big fish are literally smashing a buzzbait right in front of you it does not get any better than that for me.

June

Alaska and British Columbia were the easy highlights of our month.  The first morning we were fishing on the Keni a black bear with 3 cubs made 2 runs at our stringer.  Started the morning with a moose roadside and then a wolf riverside.  Alaska was a bucket list trip.

My best rainbow and Dolly Varden. 

The Boss getting it done.

She was wary even though we were across the river.  Cool watching her and her cub try to catch Sockeye.

The  Boss and her nice rainbow on the fly.  What more to say, a trip of a lifetime everyone should take at some point.

The float plane was another bucket list thing for us.  The Boss claimed shotgun.  BC was beautiful and there is just something about Grizzly bears that we love.

July

It was all about Florida this month other than one good day on Coleto.  ICAST with Michael and his family followed by a trip to the Glades.  I have made that trip in the past and this time caught my personal best snook.

These were some big snook.  My thanks to Michael for the fishing trip in the Glades, made my year.

ICAST – with Michael and his great family.

Mark Davis – Big Water Adventures.

Tom Roland – Saltwater Experiences.

ICAST in Orlando was a bucket list trip for me.  Every company and big time fisherman you could ever want to see.  If you are in the business and have never been, GO!  It is a fisherman’s extravaganza.  And a big thanks to Michael for letting me tag along as his company grows.  Knockin Tails catch fish.

And I did add a fatty before the month was out.

AUGUST

It was the lake this month but the highlight was our trip to Colorado or as we call it our “Happy Place.”  The more time we spend in the mountains the more we love it.  Hiking, fishing, photography it has it all.  More on our Happy Place later.

The lake had its moments, but Colorado was top on the line this month.

The Boss on our 3 mile hike to over 10,000 feet.

A nice mule deer buck.

A Rio Grande brown trout.

Marmot.  You never know what you will see in the Rockies.

All that is right about the outdoors!

Now that is an elk!  What a beautiful animal.  

And I could not be any luckier to share it with the Boss.  Love you buster.

September

This month the buzzbait bite on the lake was insane.  It only lasted an hour or two but when it was on it was on.  And I did slide to the bay to catch some redfish in one of my old haunts on Keller Bay.  Then back to Colorado.

A big fish month.  A sample of the daylight fishing on the lake.  Hard to quit on this kind of fishing. 

Here are a few from the first couple of days waiting to meet the Boss and her sister and bro-in-law.  It would end up being a defining moment in our life.

OCTOBER

The Colorado trip ended up being epic.  Then the Chandeliers with the boys where we sacked a couple of hundred and the bite on our coastal rivers and creeks began.  And we took the plunge.  Live bravely, it is the only life you get.

As I repeatedly say this is out happy place.  And after years of going there it happened.  You work hard to build a life, and like all couples you have dreams and one of ours has come true.  In just a few days we head back to Colorado to close on our dream house, and we could not be any more excited.  There is only one question to ask yourself; How bad do you want it?

The Boss has been looking at real estate for years and found this place but unfortunately it has just been sold.  She really loved it.  But life can be funny, their sale fell through, and it came back on the market while we were there.  She wanted to look at it up close so we made an appointment, it was love at first sight so we made an offer a couple of days later.  Finding a reasonably priced house out there is not easy but patience and a little luck was the key and we scored.

In South Fork our backyard is literally millions of acres of National Forest, and the house is 3 blocks from the Rio Grande River a brown trout factory and the San Juan one of Colorado’s gold medal rivers.  There are probably 30 lakes within a couple of hours of the house, and endless wilderness to explore.  A small town with maybe a couple of hundred folks there in the winter it has everything we love about Colorado.  From bears to turkeys, mule deer to coyotes the yard has lots of visitors every year.  As we toured it a flock of turkeys came down the hill to the back yard, definitely an omen.  With the Boss retiring in a couple of years the dream will come true.

The Wade Right Boys, a bunch of really good fishermen.  (Just ask them!)  A great bunch to fish with but keep a close watch on your women!

It never gets old!

And the creek gave up some good numbers on Knockin Tails.

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The Wade Right Fishing Belt and the new Madre Sling.

For all your wading needs.

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NOVEMBER

Had some good days on both lake and several trips to the bay and ended up fishing quite a few days.  This is my favorite time of year to fish no matter what or where I am.  I fished more this month than any time all year,

It was a Knockin Tail beatdown on the river every trip.  And it was nice to land several slams this month.

The lake slowed as the month went on but this is what I get up for.

DECEMBER

I can honestly say that I have basically checked out for the rest of this year.  We are getting ready for the house closing first of January when our new adventure begins.  The Boss will be out there a week or so, I on the other hand will stay a while.  How long that will be who knows but long enough to get things in order.  Buying a house which of all things comes furnished with great stuff that requires no real moving on our part is sweet.   (I promised after the move to Texas I would not move again, and this house meets that.  Should be a hell of a garages sale here when the Boss retires.)  So, while I fished both fresh and salt I have just been killing time.  The salt stayed fairly good and the lake was spotty.  And we made our annual trek to the Aransas Wildlife Area to see the whoopers.

Just did not stick a big one this month on the lake.  It was tough most days.

The salt remained consistent.  If you could throw a Knockin Tail you could catch fish.

Roseate Spoonbill.  One of the most beautiful birds on the coast.

Whooping Cranes.

Always worth the drive to the Aransas Wildlife Refuge.

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I am always amazed when I do these yearly reviews.  You forget things and having this written record allows me to relive those great experiences.  We were lucky enough to visit Alaska and spend some quality time in Colorado.  And I fished a little more than it seemed looking back on it.  Hard to say which is better, salmon on the Keni, giant snook thrashing, or big stripes eating Knockin Tails at night.  While I often complain the lake is slow, it produced plenty of big fish this year.  And though I did not fish the salt as much in the past when I did it produced.  So which experience was better is really a moot point because in the end none of it is any better than the other.  It is not the results; any jack wagon can catch fish.  It comes down to this – It is in the doing.  In the end the results will take care of themselves.

I could not be any luckier than getting to share much of it with the Boss.  Looking back 20 years ago and who would have thunk it?  Life has taken us on a wild ride that continues today and I am so thankful.  And a big thanks to those of you who read this, and to those of you who have been here since the beginning.  I often say I do this for you but I have come to realize that I also do it for me.  It is so awesome to look back, which as you get older you really appreciate.  So I will keep plodding on with the blog, but it will be different as I will be spending plenty of time in Colorado.  So thanks for coming along on our adventure.

Good Luck and Tight Lines