Fish Catching Travel
Put Your Big Boy Pants On!
Some days when you head out to do a little fishing things do not work out quite like you planned. I was so excited yesterday when the weatherman said at both 5 and 10 that it would be a beautiful day. And best of all, the winds would be 5 to 10 out of the NW, turning to southerly in the afternoon. And after a successful duck hunt, and a great day bass fishing this week, visions of trout were dancing in my head.
So off to Keller Bay I went. Now on the way I noticed the flags seemed to be straight out, and it sure didn’t look like 5 to 10. When I got to to the ramp it was blowing straight out of the south at 25 mph. Now Keller is not the best place for that wind, in fact it is one of the worst choices. There were 2 foot white caps coming all the way from the back of the big bay and it was flat out rough.
Now since the weather report was so favorable, and the flats boat is in the shop, I did not even throw the drift sock or my waders in the boat. So there I am at the ramp and I am actually thinking about leaving when I decided it was time to either go big, or go home, so in the water I went. Now if you have ever been out in a Carolina Skiff with 2 foot rollers and high winds you know it means one thing, you are about to get wet and I mean head to toe, salt covering everything, and it did not disappoint.
As I plowed into the wind, headed to the back of the big bay, I decided to drift the east shoreline where I catch lots of trout in the summer. As I flew down the bank, the Skiff is not a slow drifter, I caught my first one. Then another, and another, easily catching around 30 in about 2 hours.
The few I kept for a fish fry. And there is the bait I caught most of them on.
Basically I was flying down the bank so I used a spinning rod with 8lb test and a 1/8th ounce jig head. It was hard to feel them, but they were on that east bank and they were eating it. At one point, during the tide change, I could actually see some of them roll on it and eat it. It was hard to keep it hopping off the bottom with the big bow in the line, but it was a matter of keeping after it.
After a couple of hours of fighting it I left them biting. The biggest was around 20″ and about half of those I caught were keepers. They seemed to be in about 2 – 3 foot of water, and they definitely did not like it where the water was to off color, which was anything less than 2 feet. At best I was able to get about a half a good cast each time. Fortunately the trolling motor kept me positioned where I could throw to where the off color met the clear, and they were right on the color change.
So all in all a good trip in spite of the soaking and the rollers. I have not been to the gulf lately, but this got my blood running again. I can only imagine what it would have been like with about half that wind. So I just put on my big boy pants and made the best of it. When I got there it looked hopeless, and I almost backed out. But I decided to make the best of it and it worked out great. So next time you get discouraged, get your mind right, and fish. It may not be true every single time, but there is a way to make them bite, and sometimes you just have to persevere and get the job done.
Good Luck and Tight Lines.
