Fish Catching Travel
January 20, 2012
Of course I was headed to the Gulf for some fishing today, but changed plans with a forecast of 15 – 25 mph. So off to Coleto. Coleto Creek is always a great standby. There are very few days you can not fish no matter what the wind.
I started in a large cove off the lower end of the main lake that is one of the first places I seem to find fish early in the year. That cove has produced white bass, bass, and for some reason, blue cats. It was calm on the good side for a change, so out came the topwater. I caught 4 or 5 on top midway back in the cove. As it was early, and still cool in the back end of the cove I switched to the jerk bait and caught several more. Then the big bite, another blue cat. I am not sure why they like lures in there, and I am not sure why it seems to be the one cove they move into first, but either way there is nothing like a blue hitting a lure, it seems when they decide to they whack it.
He was about 8 and I let him go. By time I fished the whole cove, I ended up catching 10 out of it. Not a bad start. The fish have been on that topwater now for over 3 weeks. Our weather is fairly stable and warm, and the fish have springtime on their mind. As soon as that next moon, if we get no real cold snaps, there will be fish spawning.
The wind was increasing so I head to a windy bank and immediately caught 5 buzzing a spinnerbait. I am using the white/silver tandem with a #5 willow leaf blade. That combination allows me to make a big wake while running it as slow as possible.
It was still windy and cloudy when I moved up lake. Anywhere it was calm with grass I would catch one on topwater. Now today was not fast by any means, but the fish bit until I quit. In fact, they finally ran me off when one about 5 tore the eye hook and the treble right out of the topwater. That is the only problem with balsa baits, ultimately if you catch a lot of fish they will come apart.
A good Coleto Creek fatty on topwater.
Excuse the camera on my head, I actually filmed the whole thing and when I finally figure how to attach video to my blog you can see how it was actually done
The topwater technique the last little while has been much more productive with a light balsa bait. Just twitching it along, pulling it under just a little way, and then letting it rise, then twitching it again. It is actually a very subtle way to fish. And when doing it, remember how a shad flip looks, that is the name of the game. Flip, twitch, flip, flip, twitch. I would estimate about half of them hit it right under the surface. You can often see a boil and it is time to set the hook. If you miss them, chuck it right back in, and do it again.
On the way back down lake there were gulls working a windy point, so I stopped and tossed a crankbait and caught 4. One of those if the gulls are there it not only means bait, it often means fish tearing shad up, for both the gulf and freshwater. As a 2 Cooler told me, believe your eyes. Now he was talking about the locator when drifting for blues, but the same theory applies. If there something going on, be sure to work it over.
So all in all not a bad day. I caught the one above, and three more a little smaller than that, all on topwater. I ended up catching 23 bass and 1 catfish. It has been a great time with them on topwater this early. If the weather holds we are just about there, and some of the best fishing for big fish is just right around the corner.
I am headed to Coleto to camp out this weekend and run jugs and trotlines. So hopefully a big sack of fresh filet’s is in my future. It will also be nice to spend some time with my friend Jeff, his girlfriend Jessica, and their 2 kids. My wife is even going, which is nice. She actually has an excuse if she didn’t. Her family camped all over this country when she was growing up and she is flat camped out.
Next week it will definitely be some gulf time. I will be duck hunting a day, and hope to wear those trout out. So keep stopping in, I appreciate you reading my stuff. And one other thing, I am about to post another reader comment. So folks, do you have a story you’d like to share? Send it to me and I will put it on Fish Catching Travel. Thanks.
Good Luck and Tight Lines!
