FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

Knockin Tail Lures by My Coast Outdoors

It was a beautiful morning, and morning was the operative word as it was still dark when I dropped the boat in.  The water temp was up to the mid 80’s, the wind was really light and the color remains good.  I really had no specific plan today which turned out to be a good thing.  Topwater, spinnerbait, swim jig all caught a few but the watermelon trick worm pitched to the heaviest cover I could find was the hands down best bait.

The gators have hatched.  Saw 3 today and this little one chased the topwater all the way to the boat.  They are fearless, which changes when they learn we are not their friend.

Weather

74/96.  Sunshine along with some cloudy intervals. Hot. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.  16% chance of rain.  (Back to Colorado soon.  Sick of this heat and humidity.)

Lake Level

Wednesday 96.79 msl.  Today 96.75 msl.  (A slow steady decline.)

Bite Times

Major 7:27 am to 9:27 am.

************The Wade Right Fishing Belt and the new Madre Sling.

For all your wading needs.

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Fishing was ok, will get to that in a minute, but that was not the highlight of the morning, look at this pic closely.

The first time that has happened to me in over 50 years of hard-core fishing.

I was alternating today with the works when reeling a swim jig along one popped it.  When I reeled in the skirt was pulled down and my trailer was gone.  That type of bite is often crappie, but I picked up the worm and pitched it in there.  One hop and it was fish on.  It was a small one and when I flipped it in the boat I felt something soft and wet hit my foot/flip.  Guess what?  It was my trailer.  The fish ate the trailer when I missed it, then the worm, and then puked it back up when it was boat flipped.  I have caught bass with lots of weird stuff over the years, but this is the first time on back-to-back casts the same fish hit it while still having the plastic in his mouth.  Chock that one up to just plain weird.

They are just plain chunks right now.

Without any wind until right before I quit I started with the Bang O Lure and mananged to catch a small one and missed another.  But it was just not happening where I started.  From that point on I tried the spinnerbait on what can loosely be called a windy bank without a bite.

Dragging them out of cover is hand to hand combat.

At that point the sun was out and the wind had basically died so time to go to the old standby this time of year on Coleto, pitching the watermelon trick worm to cover.  Though the lakes is slowly falling there is still some hardwoods on the banks here and there.  I was pitching on 20lb momo using a 3/16th tungsten slip sinker pegged at the head with a heavy duty 5/0 hook.

I won the fight, but it was an epic struggle.

It is so important to make a precise cast.  Today it was right in the stuff.  And I mean where you hoped you could get it back.  That is why pegging the slip sinker is so important, helps get through cover so you don’t get the worm on one side of the cover and the sinker on the other.  And keep the point of the hook point skin hooked so it can slide over cover.  And when it does occasionally get stuck you can usually shake it and get it to come off.

A spinnerbait fish.

But it is so important to when you ease it up and think it is wood to just hold a split second.  Occasionally it is a fish.  And other times they hit it as it falls as soon as it hits the water.  The downside, if you can call it that is it can be a real struggle.  The biggest one today got literally all wrapped up.  She was right below the surface in the middle of the tree and was right below the surface and I am pulling hard on the flippin stick.  There was no letting her swim back out, it was a mess so I pulled right in it and the battle was on.  It took me 3 or 4 times to finally get her in the net.  It is moments like this that keep me fishing.

Last one of the morning.  You have to have the wind to catch them on spinnerbait.

At 11:00 it was already getting hot so on the way back to the ramp saw a bank with some wind on a main lake bank so I stopped.  A small then the one above were there.  I reeled it right through a bush and she blasted it.  So even though the worm was the ticket I just cannot stop fishing the spinnerbait.  And with our change of location that style of fishing will be rare unless I go on a trip.  So until the move I will be thrashing them as often as I can.  The big fish right now are few and far between but at least you can put some in the boat in spite of the hot weather.  it was an easy 10 and did catch 3 on one point so they are there to be caught.

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This weekend will be doing stuff to the house and of course watching some football.  But as soon as Monday comes it will be back on the water.  The bite is not hot, but they are there to be caught if you are flexible.  And they sure are fat and sassy.  It bodes well for the future of the lake.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

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The Insurance Companies 

It is amazing how much all insurance has skyrocketed.  It has the making of a gigantic screw job and it remains to be seen whether the American people will stand up to the blatant price hikes.  We have to get over that just because you have to have it nothing can be done.  Write and call you representatives.  Hopefully as it gets worse, the horror stories are everywhere, the government my actually care and look into it.  (Unless they are bought and paid for.)  Just think about what it means to your pocketbook.  Then to drive it home the insurance company that covers our house in Texas sent out an email.  They wanted me to participate in a survey on communicating with your insurance company.  So they attached a non-highlighted link that even copied and pasted was worthless.  There you have it, how they really feel about us.  “We really don’t want to talk to any of you unless we feel like cancelling you for no reason..  Time for folks to really start bitching.  It feels like a rip off to me.

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