Fish Catching Travel

The fish know the difference.

It was an interesting morning.  Besides some really good fishing there was a little excitement.  I have been thinking about putting a “cow catcher” on the front of my 4Runner and this morning just reinforced that.  It was not daylight yet as I headed to the lake and when I got about 5 miles from the ramp a deer was standing on the shoulder and almost bolted in front of me.  What stopped her I do not know, but she started in front of me and turned at the last second.  One of those missed by a hair things.  That possibility always exists when driving at the crack of daylight, I just got lucky.

Next was one of those fiascos.  The sun was still down when I started on the first point and had one smoke the buzzbait, I set the hook, missed, and the line got in the trolling motor.  I got it stopped before it ate the rod tip, so I cut the line, untangled the mess and retied.  The very next cast a really good one jumped all over it and the line broke.  Then the fished jumped and tossed a brand new Strike King buzzbait 3 feet in the air, great.  When I got the line back the knot where the braid joined the mono slipped off.  Clearly my fault, one of the little things that can make or break your day.

The last crazy occurrence happened while I was pitching and the boat bumped into a dead tree branch, it broke off, and here came the bees!  They were after me so the trolling motor went on high and I was jumping around and swatting like a mad man.  How I did not end up getting stung I do not know.  If someone had been watching I am sure I looked like a crazy man.  It sure could have been worse.  Now on to the fishing.

The last few trips the buzzbait has been slow, but not today.  They were biting on the first main lake point I stopped on and unfortunately only one came over the side though I had 5 bites.  From there I just started hopping from point to point looking for deeper grass, and the fish cooperated.

They were hitting it like they meant it this morning.

I ended up fishing main lake stuff from the ramp to way up lake.  After the first couple of misses they started eating it.  They wanted a medium retrieve and as usual when they are in the grass it was slots and outside bushes, though most came from right off the bank.

No real big ones today, but a nice average size.

The buzzbait bite lasted until around 9 or so.  By then the wind was up fairly high, and so was the sun.  I think I caught 11 on buzzbait and it was a good time.  As you all know I love that bite as much as anything.  I kept after it for a while after 10 and then switched to pitching the lizard.  First was a long channel bank up lake.  That bank has a flat that drops into the main channel and there is lots of cover and grass on it.  The wind was pounding and while it made it tough, they were willing to cooperate if you made the right pitch.

A couple of the better ones.

The wind can make it tougher to pitch when you are using a light bait.  While I have pitched assorted plastics the best combination the last few weeks has been a smaller 6″ watermelon red lizard on a 5/0 worm hook and 3/16 slip sinker rigged Texas style on 20lb Big Game.  I am also pegging the sinker to the head to help work it through the grass.

It is real important to make a perfect pitch into any hole or slot. and the fish are real shallow.  And always pitch to the shade, whether it is back in a slot or the shady side of the bush.  Once that sun comes out they love that shade.  Line watching is critical as while some tick it, they will just start swimming with it right after it lands.  If you feel something set the hook.  And once you set the hook keep them coming.  This is hand to hand combat and you need to get their head up and moving away from the cover.  This is not a wimpy rod technique.

Not cutting my teeth on waters where pitching shallow to cover in the middle of summer I am not an expert by any means.  But it really is a fun way to catch them on Coleto right now.  There is no sign of our deeper grass growing yet so the fish have adapted to what they have, shallow cover.  I caught 6 in last 2 hours I fished, and if the wind had not been such a hassle, and I was better at it, it would have been several more.  So take advantage of what is shaping up to be some pretty good fishing right now, but get out early, it is sure worth it.

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On a totally different note if you ever wanted to take a cool trip for some great fishing now is the time.  Airfare has dropped dramatically to both Belize and Costa Rica, I mean cheap.  You can have the trip of a lifetime if it is bonefish and permit you seek in Belize, or sailfish, Mahi Mahi, and marlin in Costa Rica.  The permit I caught in Belize was one of the hardest best fighting fish of my life, not to mention the tarpon and bonefish action.  And putting my first sailfish in the boat was a lifetime goal, not to mention putting 10 20 – 40lb mahi without a break, which was only the second time in my life I wanted to put the rod down and have a cold one.   There are several articles on my site, just search it, it will get your fishing juices flowing.

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Muskie Bay Resort, Crow Lake, and Lake of the Woods is only 4 weeks away, and I am consumed with catching musky, not to mention smallmouth and walleye.  A musky bite is such a ferocious bite that any attempt to describe it pales in the telling.  Along with that I got my first order of musky baits.  I just want to give a shout out to Musky Tackle Online.  I have bought a lot of tackle in my life, from lots of places, but they are the real deal.  Great prices, I checked lots of sites, shipping was free, and it came in 4 days and the order was correct.  So I wanted to give you a look at the first of the baits I bought for the trip.

That is a big dives to 20 Rapala crankbait and regular size buzzbait between the musky baits.

We are looking forward to night trolling for big muskies, but you know me, I love that buzzbait.  We have a spot on Lake of the Woods that has held some really big muskies but going early we were unable to actively pursue them, but they would follow a small buzzbait to the boat.  All I have to say is it will keep me up at night as visions of a real giant smashing that buzzbait plays out in my dreams.  I can not wait.

If you want to see some cool baits, and some great videos, visit Musky Tackle Online.  Just be advised I am not responsible for explaining to your wife why you are packing up and heading to Ontario.

https://www.muskytackleonline.com/index.php?route=common/home

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And while I am plugging stuff just cause I want to say something about Yeti.  As far as their claims about how long ice will last in their coolers in the law it is called puffing.  (In English, stretching the truth just a hair.  A perfect example is:  Our coolers are the best in the world.  Who is to say they are not?)  My experience with several sizes has not been whole lot better than other coolers I have owned.  Ice does last a little longer, but that seems to be all.  But their new cup is another story.  That thing will keep your coffee hotter longer for hours, and I mean hours.  That thing is great.  I was a little hesitant to pay that kind of bucks for a cup, so the boss bought me one for my birthday.  You know me, if it sucks it sucks and I will say so, but in this case it is worth every penny.  Coffee is my drug of choice and I could not be any happier.

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That is all I have to ramble about today.  The Shoedog will be making an appearance sometime and we will do a couple of bay days.  And if he does not make it soon I think a trip to the Powderhorn is in order.  Though the winds have kept blowing some, it is actually protected from our current SW prevalent winds and there are some redfish just waiting.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

The fish know the difference.

(NOTE: There is a reason I do not let you know when I will not write for a few days.  I am sorry that I did not let you all know that I would be gone the last 5 days but there is a practical reason – slimy, ignorant, scummy thieves and burglars.  Reading online that folks are going to be gone has become a method of robbing folks, and with as many folks who read my stuff it is necessary.  It is so sorry that our world has come to this, but it is what it is.  So when I go silent for a few days I will return.  Thanks for sticking with me.)

Terlingua Texas

The boss was off for the week and of course it was another spontaneous trip.  We have really enjoyed our 3 or 4 trips to the Chihuahuan Desert in the Big Bend area and have been wanting to go back.  Having stayed several places we really wanted to stay in the desert itself.  Of all things I found the website for the Terlingua Ranch.  A former ranch, it covers over 200,000 acres of desert and mountains.  It is now all privately owned, but the property owner’s association runs a lodge with campground and cabins on the edge of the Christmas Mountains.  No TV, no cell service, 18 miles off the highway, the last 3 miles gravel, perfect.

It is a nice place, plain and clean.  A good reasonably priced restaurant and a pool, it is a place to really enjoy the desert.  One thing you need to know is you do not have access to all the land.  There are many private roads and a ton of eclectic, weird, crazy, nice, and normal folks living there.  Many are “off the grid.”  That means no electric other than solar, some even have no water or other comforts we all enjoy, but they want to live different, and cheaply.  1o acres can be purchased for as little as $2,500, with 40 acres tracts available in the $12 – 20,000 range.  Rough country, but if you are a hunter or want your peace, this is the place.

Nothing says stop on in and have a cup of coffee like a Road Warrior at the front of your driveway.

Our first walk at sunrise looking back down on the Ranch.

We really love seeing the wildlife.  You can see some driving, but walking in the morning is the way to go.  Being quiet and watching through the brush you never know what you will see.  And the roads at the ranch give you plenty of opportunity to walk your butt off.  On this trip we saw coyote, quail, turkey, mule deer, rabbits, road runners, and even one rattlesnake.  The only things we did not see this time was the aoudad and antelope, which we have seen on our past trips.  Funny how those darn animals don’t appear on command.  Of course in Big Bend Park itself there are still mountain lions and bears, which are actually sighted at times.

They have had a bumper crop of jackrabbits this year.

I had never seen blue quail, and there was a ton of them.  They looked really good to eat and fun to shoot.

We hiked every morning and one morning the javelinas were everywhere.  I know the first one is dark but these guys let us get to within 5 feet of them.  There are 2 in the picture and the big one looked like a pot belly pig it was so fat.  Along with them we saw 5 or 6 mule deer, it was just to dark to get a good photo.  Then when we got back to the lodge a whole herd of them came roaring through and settled under the bird feeders.

We saw lots of them, one weird critter!

We have a lot to learn about the desert, but we really like the plants.  There are so many things foreign to us that we plan on reading up on the plant life before our next trip.

So cool, but like all things in the desert it sticks, pricks, bites. or stings.

On the second morning walk we headed way up a big hill, and besides seeing lots of wildlife, when we got to the top there was this.

The Terlingua Ranch was established in 1860.  Who these folks were, and when they were buried, was probably lost long ago.  Evokes memories of all the cowboy movies of my youth.

But the highlight of our trip was our 4 wheel drive up one of the tallest peaks in the Christmas Mountains.  A 9000 acre tract that butts up on the Big Bend park, there is access from the lodge.  The mountain is somewhere over 5000 feet tall and the track up is a little better than a pig trail.  You have to sign in to get a permit and only one vehicle is allowed at a time as there is no such thing as sharing the road, or even turning around except for a couple of places.  A kind of commit yourself and off you go.  Since my new 4 Runner is a trail edition it is made for this very thing and we were interested in having a go at it.  It performed great and now has the scratches to prove it.  This drive is definitely a 4 wheel drive high ground clearance trip.  In fact on several of the turns on the side of the mountain a long wheel base would be cutting it close.

At the top, what a view!  And so quiet.

Headed down.  Hard to get a real perspective on the drive, but it was right up there with our mountain road adventure in Crete.

The land is owned by the State of Texas and there is another 25 mile drive to a lake hidden in the mountains.  We did not know we needed a permit, so when we got 4 miles from the lake it went from ranch to state land so we turned around.  The road was getting worse and worse, or better and better, depending on how you look at it.  But no matter what this is 4 wheel drive country.  I had so much fun on those drives I can not wait to get back and find others.

One is over 35 miles of desert road, which one of the ranch guys said he did once and won’t do again, so that is definitely on my list.  His advice, take lots of water, which you hear from everyone, and 2 spares.  One good thing about the ranch is you can let them know where you are going, in case of the worst.  Being stranded in the desert when it is 104 degrees like it was our last day would be a hassle, but that is what makes it what it is.

We had a couple of suppers at the Starlight Theater in Terlingua proper, home of the beer drinking goat, who died and is now stuffed with a beer in his mouth.  The food was surprisingly good and Uncle Pat played some good tunes Friday night.  Apparently the menu is only a close suggestion as to what the price of the meal actually is, but that is Terlingua.  We hoped to have a cold one at La Kiva, the famous cave bar, but since the old owner was murdered there last year it is being redone.  They are spending almost a million bucks, which may be the  combined value of most everything in town.

If you have never been to that part of the country it is worth your time.  Big Bend park is awesome and Terlingua is one quirky joint.  Be advised there is no shopping, not much entertainment other than the whole experience.  It is what it is and it is not for everyone.  But if you love the great outdoors, wildlife, and country that is big as all outdoors, that area of the state is not to be missed.  Really gives you a feeling for how big and varied the state of Texas is.

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So I am headed out to the boat to check tackle, charge, etc.  Then it will be to the car wash to get some serious desert grime off the truck. We are going to have some serious heat with a heat index in the 110 degrees all week.  So whether working or playing outdoors this week lots of water and plenty of breaks.  The area ER’s are seeing some heat related illnesses so don’t let it be you.  For me it will be the gulf somewhere, probably several times this week.  The coolest place will be waist deep in the gulf.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

http://terlinguaranch.com/index.htm

Good Luck and Tight Lines

 Fish Catching Travel

The fish know the difference.

Before we get to my morning bass trip I got a couple of comments on my current state of Musky Fever.  John dropped me this and I wanted to answer it.

That musky is gorgeous. I’ve never really fished for them, but I did catch a small one in the Red River in Kentucky once. I was fly fishing for smallmouth!

So how do they fight? I always hear that they hit hard but give up quickly. People say the same about northerns. I’ve always enjoyed fishing for pike and they’re a lot of fun on light tackle.

That one fought like crazy, of course it was caught on a Red Eye Shad and 10lb. line.  It almost got away but luckily we got her in the boat, after she stuck her head through the net and was on the way out.  As far as how they fight I would describe it as hand to hand combat.  To see them swim out and eat your bait, and then putting the hook to them with 10 foot of line out is just to cool.  It is not a prolonged fight like a tarpon, it is more like a wrestling match.   One mistake and you are toast.  So it is not the fight more than it is about the bite, at least as far as I am concerned.

Good Morning Doug
What a great musky, looks like in the 50 inch class. People who have caught a trophy musky are in a special fishing club only shared by a few. The fish of 10,000 cast. I have a 44 incher that came from Lac Seul on a boat in camp trip. One key, I’ve learned is your best shot at a big fish is trolling open water keying on points. Some lakes prohibit trolling so always check first. As a side note seems most huge walleye come on live bait. We caught hundreds of walleye on lures, but the monsters caught were on live large flat head minnows with a bottom bouncing rig almost always in the narrows with a lot of current. I caught a couple of 8 pounders on a trip with Ghost River Outfitters. Lake Marchington is some of the best walleye water in the world.
Looks like the gulf is back right again! After a bad trip a couple of weeks ago, it’s good to see things settling down. I was at the pass and the water was fresh enough to drink. I can’t find the 1/32 or 1/64 oz flats lok jig heads anywhere. Do you have a source? Keep up the good work and I’ll keep reading.
Steve

First I have no clue how long that one was, I was in a state of shock.  It was the fish of a lifetime, which I fully intend to top this trip.  Trolling is actually top of the list this trip.  We can troll both Crow Lake, which is primarily a musky lake, and of course Lake of the Woods.  LOTW has 65,000 miles of shoreline and 15,000 islands, one big mofo.  Paul from Muskie Bay has been on the cover of Muskie Magazine with a double of muskies caught trolling at night, both over 46″, so we have a really good resource.

And from what I have read many of the muskies of LOTW spend the summer suspended in open water on bait schools.  Then at the end of August, when we are going, the ciscoes (a baitfish) come out of open water and spawn near the points.  So your suggestion is spot on for our trip.  Where we put in on LOTW there is Whitefish Bay, and it is a giant, and has many points, humps, and saddles to explore.  And one thing that helps we have caught maybe 10 or so and had tons of follows in that area on both prior trips, so we have a good place to start.

My biggest walleye on our 2 prior trips.

I am not much for the walleye except for our fish fries.  I fish for them to appease the other folks, but for me it is the musky and smallmouth that I love, along with some of those nice big pike if you can get the small ones to leave you alone.

As far as the 1/64th jig heads I found some at Tackle Town in Rockport.  The ones I have been using are made by Bagley, they have a small collar but no loc, but I have also found some other brands that are labeled 1/32 that are about as light, and they work fine.  The more I use them, it obviously helps to have the wind at your back, the more I like them.  First you can fish them really shallow, much better over the tops of grass in a 2 foot of water, and you can fish them aggressively.  As Capt. Black from the Baffin area said in his article it stays in front of their face a little bit longer.  As a result of the slow fall I have found that I do not miss as many, they seem to eat it and not let go nearly as fast.  And I am fishing it on 8lb. test and a long light spinning rod which means I can cast it a mile, which never hurts.

Last, it is amazing after the last  couple of years, when you are done for the day you are not covered in salt.  Some of that water is fresh as all get out, which of course affected the fishing for a while but will provide us tons of benefit in the future.  It was good to hear from you and I appreciate you continued support.

And the rest of you send me comments, suggestions, reports, pictures, bitches, it does not matter, I love to get any and all of it.  It really helps me out and makes the website better.  I do this for you so any help I can get is appreciated.

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The Boss is finally off after a long stretch so it was a quick morning trip to the lake.  I wish there was something to tell you that is earth shattering, but alas, same old, same old.  I caught 3 on buzzbait on the first bank, none worth a hoot, and then 5 pitching a small lizard.

That would be the size of it for today.

As the water temp continues to slowly creep up, and the water lever slowly creeps down, tough fishing is to be expected.  Other than in one little area where there appeared to be some emergent grass barely peaking up off the bottom there is just no deep grass, at least that I can find.   The fish were all in the shallow grass, but the last couple of trips are moving to points, especially near deep water.

 There was no one at the ramp when I got there at 6:30, and no one there when I quit at noon, which tells you something.  It is time to put on the thinking cap and find another pattern.  Those good fish are bunched up somewhere, I just need to find a different way to catch them.

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My buddy Clyde sent me a copy of a story that I thought I would share with you.  My old stomping grounds in North Arkansas included the White River.  I fished it 100’s of times and guided on it for my good lake customers.  And while I caught an occasional nice trout in the winter there has been 2 giant Brown trout caught this year alone.  The latest was exactly 30lbs. and was released alive.  Folks that is one big fish.  Here is the link if you want to check it out.  I hope to get a chance to fish the river before the year is out.

http://www.baxterbulletin.com/story/news/local/2015/07/10/city-man-catches-pound-trout/29966553/

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Today was a sign that it is time to maybe take a little lake break and concentrate on the Gulf a little more.  Unlike the lake the bay fishing is heating up.  So it will be off to the salt in the next day or two.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

Fish Catching Travel

The fish know the difference.

My buddy Jeffish sent me this picture of his mom and some really nice flounder.

Nice job guys!  That is some good eating.

Linda and her significant other John stuck these guys wading out of POC.  Now I am not sure where they got them, but there is a couple of spots you can wade without a boat and get a few.  Back when Carmine’s was open we spent several evenings shooting the breeze with her husband Larry.  He had quite a bit of success wading the beach area right at the end of the point in front of the park.  And other folks have killed some wading the flat on the POC side of the little jetty and around the point.  Just exercise a little good sense and flounders are in your future.

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And speaking of flounder I got this question from Brian so I called the Shoedog to get the specifics.

Curious…how did Shoedog fish the plastics to catch the flounder?  Was he bouncing off the bottom?

Now I am no flounder pro by any means but I have learned a few things the last 10 years.  So to answer your question lets review the set of conditions that faced us that day.  First was the tide.  We had the perfect combination of falling tide combined with the wind blowing right out of a cut leading from a back lake.  The water was hauling and for us that is when we catch flounder.  The fish were basically positioned in the middle of the cut and near the edges.  The water was only a couple of feet deep so he was hopping it along on an 1/8th ounce jig head, usually letting it hit the bottom and they were whacking it.  He caught on 3 different plastics so color was not as important as the moving water combined with the location.

The cuts leading from one water into another are always good places, it just depends on which way the water is moving as to which end of the cut you need to fish.  It is almost always on the moving out side.  There is a couple of other places that are also good for me, but always keep in mind falling water is the key.  First is boat docks, when that water creates a current or eddy they tend to move into the docks to ambush bait.  The other is long deep banks with a grass edge with a good drop.  As soon as the water starts dropping they will move right to the edge of the grass on the drop, waiting for the bait to fall out of the grass.

Now plastics are usually our bait of choice as we are trout fishing and are just happy to take a bonus flounder whenever one comes along.  But if we want to catch a couple a popping cork with a 3 or 4″ New Penny Gulp is a great choice.  Generally a 1 1/2 foot leader on a 1/8 ounce jighead is about right casting it right to the edge of the grass.  It takes a little practice or self control to not set the hook right away.  You will often see the cork just stop, so give it second.

The other method I have not tried yet, but know works, is using the same set up as bass fishermen use, a drop shot rig.  Use just enough weight to keep it tight and use the 3″ Gulp New Penny on a light hook.  My buddy Aaron did it once and had great success.  It is a great way to put it right in front of their face, letting them eat and move before you stick them.  So if you want to experiment a little this could be a really great way to catch them.  With the fish positioned like they were when Shoedog was getting them it might have really been a killing.  So thanks for the question.

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Musky Fever

Probably the fish of a lifetime, talk about making a trip everything you dreamed of.

Folks I am in the throes of musky fever.  It is eating away at me every day now as we are less than 6 weeks from heading back to Ontario and Muskie Bay Resort for a 2 week fishing extravaganza.  I am already getting tackle organized, buying baits, piling up tackle, and reading everything I can about catching muskies.  We have been twice, and caught probably a total of around 20+ muskies on the 2 trips, but this will be the first trip where there are in season and we can catch then on purpose.  The ones we caught the other trips were bonus fish, now we are about to get serious.  That is why I wanted to fish later this year, this will be a giant hunt.

Our trip is going to include the full moon at the end of August and we are going to be able to fish for them intentionally.  We will fish both Crow Lake and Lake of the Woods, 2 of the best musky waters in the world.  Paul, the owner of Muskie Bay Resort is a night fishing guru.  Trolling under the full moon can produce some of the biggest muskies of the season.  So this year we are tackling up and going for the gold.  Whether it is me or the Shoedog that catches that giant I do not care, but I feel like a kid at Christmas, visions of giant muskies dancing in my head are impossible to get out.  I just love the anticipation of taking great trips like this and Ontario is a place fishing dreams are realized!

So if you want to take a look just visit their website.  Of all the places I have visited in my fishing journey nothing tops Muskie Bay, period.  Paul, Chris, Jake, and Ashton know how to run a resort and make you feel at home, and the fishing takes a back seat to no other place.  If I seem to be gushing, I am.  Be it Belize, Costa Rica, Everglades, Falcon, you name it, the fishing is the finest in the world.  So if you ever want the fishing trip of a lifetime this is the place.

(No money or benefit changed hands in the making of this endorsement, lol.  Their friendship is enough, of course the fabulous fishing doesn’t hurt either.)

http://muskiebayresort.com/

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I heard from several of you with birthday wishes, thanks for that.  And it was nice to hear from an old friend, Charles Grinder.  I first met him probably 30 years when he was a paramedic student riding with me.  One of the good guys, it was great to hear from you and I hope you keep on reading.

No concrete fishing plans have been made for the upcoming week, but Shoedog is already wanting to come back and hit the Gulf some more, so those trout, reds, and flounder better watch out.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

 Fish Catching Travel

The fish know the difference.

Before I get to todays fishing report there is a story I wanted to tell you all.  When I was banned from wet wading due to vibro, of all things we stopped at Roy’s Bait and Tackle in Corpus the day we went beach driving and there were some waders on sale.  Well they were women’s.  Those of you who know me know I am a little guy.  The waders were breathable and light, a perfect fit, except they were women’s.  And on the front in pink is Lady’s Hodgeman’s.  Now I could give a crap what they say for $100 off.

So when we got to the cleaning table at Froggie’s there was a couple of old guys hanging out and drinking a few cold ones.  As I was taking my waders off my buddy Chris said nice lady waders.  With a straight face I said well we got the marriage license.  They looked at me like I was crazy.  So we just left it at that.

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Today, the 10th, is my birthday.  How I ever made it to 62 I do not know.  I guess I will sit in my rocker and take it easy, not.  So thanks mom and dad for the card.  And my great in-laws Jack and Joy, thanks for the card and the wad of cash.  I promise to spend it on beer and waste the rest!  And the rest of you, thanks for keeping employed and paying my social security, heck it might even cover the fishing expenses.

And speaking of birthdays my buddy Clyde’s kid Jarvis had his 21st birthday last week.  Now normally I do not say Happy Birthday to a stinkin’ St. Louis Cardinal lover, but in his case I will make an exception.  Happy Birthday to one wacky guy.

And my niece Stevie has her birthday the same day as mine, Happy Birthday Stevie.

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After a couple of days at POC Shoedog had one more day to fish and of course I had to have a bass fix.  So I imposed executive privilege and off to the lake we went this morning.  The good thing was it would be a short trip and allow him to get back to College Station at a reasonable time.  Plus I admit it, I was tired from getting up early and wading miles and miles.

When we got to the lake the water had cleared considerably.  He started with a buzzbait and for me it was flipping plastics.  On the first bank we had 7 bites and boated 3.

Shoedog’s first one.

My first one on the lizard.

As we headed up lake, fishing as we went, we did not catch another fish for a couple of hours.  So we headed back down to more main lake clearer banks with grass.  It has become real apparent they are not interested in chasing anything.  The buzzbait completely quit in spite of Shoedog’s best efforts.  I stayed with the lizard just flipping it to the grass and before it was over ended up catching 5 on plastics, and Shoedog boated only 3 on buzzbait.

I finally boated a good one.

With the water temp in the high 80’s over most of the lake the fish are finally abandoning the coves.  Most came on main lake banks or points on the outside of main lake coves.  I did have a great bite, and a real fight, but it came off at the boat.  It is always a surprise when a catfish hits a lure.  He took off towards me and I did not get enough slack out to get a good hook set, but it was a pretty good catfish and had me thinking I was really in business.

If you are going to pitch it has been working pretty well the last few weeks.  Basically flip it in the cover and hop it about 3 times and reel it in.  Make good casts to slots in the grass, next to the furthest outside bushes and cover, and wait to make a good cast.  They do not want to chase it right now so get it close.  On the deeper banks toss it right on the edge of the cover.  The deeper the water the closer to the bank they are.  And I have noticed that the good ones will start swimming with it, so watch your line closely.  Fishing all those years in Arkansas where come May until October most of our fishing was done at night, it is nice we can catch bass in the hot summer time, in the daytime, on Coleto.

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Our buddy Terry from Nebraska got a chance to fish Lake of the Ozarks and he sent me a couple of pictures.

Crappies and walleyes, can you say a real fish fry!

I actually have fished Lake of the Ozarks several times and it can be a really good lake.  It is really big and has a large variety of structure and lots of crappies.  One time my buddy Randy and I were fishing it and had just started at daylight when I caught a 5 or 6lb bass on a buzzbait.  (Duh)  A boat idled over and it was Game and Fish doing a survey.  They asked me to rate my trip and I gave it a 10.  When they asked Randy he said since I have not caught one I give it a 0.  Thanks for the pictures Terry.  You can tell he is a Yankee (just kidding) by the nice walleyes he caught.  That boy can sack them up.  And I am still waiting for you to get down here and catch a redfish, you have a standing offer anytime.

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We wrapped up the 3 days of fishing at 1 and Shoedog headed home, but we were already planning the next go at it in a week or two.  I hear the fishing is real good right now at Baffin and the upper Laguna, so we may try to make a couple of days out of it down there.  I will definitely be back to the Gulf soon, hopefully the wind will cooperate and die down some.  It would be nice to get back to Keller Bay, the deeper grass beds on the pasture side should really be holding trout right now.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

The Best Lure Company in the World

If it feels good do it again, so we did.  Since the bite was late yesterday we slept in and did not actually jump over the side until after 9.  The wind was blowing at least 20+ when we left Froggie’s and after a bumpy ride we finally made it.  We started on the flat outside the Army Hole and never left.

Shoedog headed into a cut and I stayed out on the main flat.  I caught a small red right off the bat, and since I always tend to take a picture of the first one because it may be the last here it is.

Love the nice orange color of some of the reds.

I made it to the grass line and found some small ones tailing and caught one out of a bug bunch, of course probably the small one of the bunch.  Over the next couple of hours I caught 3 reds like this, lost 2 nice ones, caught another of those drum that will not hit lures, and sacked a nice trout.

A nice keeper, to bad I was tangled in the stringer and dropped him back in.

One thing I have been doing more and more of is using a 1/64 ounce jig head on my plastics.  It is great for shallow water and when there is lots of grass.  You can fish it real aggressively and it leaves it in their face a lot longer.  And another good side effect is they really seem to eat it when it falls real slow like that.

One of 2 2o” I boated today.

Shoedog and I met back at the boat and he took this picture and then pulled up his stringer and had a nice bunch of flounder.  With small ones he landed about 8 and lost several more.

That is what I am talking about.

So after a little break we headed out on the flat and caught some more.  Yesterday we had a big shark go nuts after fish, well the Shoedog fixed that.  As he jerked his plastic along a fin came cutting across in front of him and ate it.  All I heard him yelling was “He is going to spool me!”  Which he promptly did.  But I was ok with that because we did not see him any more today.

My best trout of the day with another nice red for the box.

Basically we kept catching them off and on all day.  It was not fast by any means, but it was steady.  We limited on reds, had a couple of nice trout, and the 5 bonus flounder.  Nothing came out of over a couple of feet of water.  Many came from the potholes surrounded by grass.  If the bottom was bare, there was no fish.

We caught at least 15 trout, but only 2 made it, but they were nice ones.  I caught at least 8 reds and had a fish catching travel good time.  Shoedog caught about 25 assorted stuff, and it was cool to watch him get spooled.

Sacking them up.

So another successful day.  The water is clearing nicely and from what I have seen at the cleaning table the fish are really starting to bite.  I know I had not fished the Gulf much, but it was worth the wait.  So you will be seeing lots of Gulf reports in the next few months.  And there is a possibility of an offshore trip next week, so things are heating up.

Tomorrow we are going to hit the lake.  The perfect way to finish of his 3 days down here is to whack a couple of big bass.  Since I caught some nice ones last trip to the lake on buzzbait I am really looking forward to tomorrow.  So thanks for sticking with me, there is some serious fishing coming and I am glad you can come along with us.  Keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Try some today – they work!

Keeping After It Pays Off

Shoedog finally made it down for a few days of fishing so the Gulf was the plan.  Then my buddy Chris sent me a text wanting to go, so off we went.

The weather forecast was for winds to 30mph so the plan was to head to the island and fish the Pringle shoreline.  It was rough as heck going across, but once we got there the water was a lot clearer than at POC and the wind was not to bad.  Before we started to wade there were lots of birds working so we hit a couple of bunches.  Other than a few small trout and a couple of ladyfish, there was not much happening.

Next it was down from Pringle near a cut we call Bikini Cut.   We all threw topwater first without success, and though we worked the cut hard only a couple of small trout and a small flounder came on plastics, so it was time for a move.

We headed down to the main cut leading into Pringle and tried both shallow and deep.  And again it was only a small trout or two on plastics.  Now at this point it would have been easy to give up, noon and no keepers.  The wind was blowing pretty good and there was just nothing happening.  So up anchor and down the shoreline a ways.  Turned out to be a good move.

We hoped out and the fish decided it was time to bite, and bite they did.

Like the guide at POC told me, you can’t catch black drum on lures.

The first keeper was a black drum on a MirrOLure twitch bait.  I just can not get over the guide telling us you can not catch them on lures.  If you read this you know we had 5 over 25 this spring in one day on plastics.  But I digress.

From about noon until 3 the fish bit.  Plastics was the ticket, and most of them were in maybe 2 foot of water.  I picked up the drum and one 19″ trout, plus a couple of shorts on the twitch bait and then Chris cornered some putting 5 on the stringer without moving.

Chris with the first bunch back at the boat.  That is what happens when a big shark goes completely nuts all around you.

I took this picture of Chris with both stringers when we had to make a quick run to the boat.  I thought I saw a tailing red when all of a sudden out comes some fins and a shark about 6 foot starts going nuts chasing fish.  He was close to both of us and completely in a frenzy.  So we both hoofed it to the boat to get the fish off the stringer.  That shark was hungry, and like alligators, I always give things that can eat me the benefit of the doubt.

Meanwhile Shoedog was up in a cut, and while he boated some small trout and had a couple of reds break his line, the better fish were out on the flat.  I think before it was over Chris caught 8 reds, they were really getting after it.  Then I got a big bite and caught an over.

This guy had to go back, just a little bit to big.

On 8lb test and my trout rod it was a great struggle, and Shoedog was close and did the netting honors.  Since by then we had plenty of reds back he went.  Reminded me I have never tagged an over.  I managed to put another good trout in the net, then Chris caught the trout below, which was well over 20″.  We kept fishing for awhile and finally called it a day.

The last four to the cooler, that was one nice trout.

It was great to have one of those sit on the cooler to close it days.  Both Chris and I had the POC slam, a red, a flounder, trout, and a drum.  He had his best success on a red and white paddle tail, I was using the Up North watermelon red paddle tail.  Shoedog caught fish, but by time he got over to us the big bite was over.

The fish were on a flat with grass patches, sand, and potholes.  When the reds were after it they were against the grass, and Chris sight fished a couple of them.  Then they moved out into a couple of feet of water with the trout.  It was easy to see what they were feeding on when Shoedog caught a croaker and a blue crab on plastics, the old find the bait, find the fish thing  It was a good bite for over 2 hours and once we found them there were all there.  The tide was high at 11 and they bit when the water started moving.

We are about to make pigs of our selves!

I am tired.  By time we got back, cleaned the stuff and the boat, cooked supper and showered, it is time to hit the sack.  Tomorrow it will be back at it again.  It will be rough again, the ride out today was rough, the ride back was worse.  But it all came together.  I am not sure how many we caught, or how many we kept, but it was one of those drag the cooler to the cleaning table days.   So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Try some today – they work!

Hope you all had a great weekend and nobody got arrested or maimed.  We hit the beach on the Padre Island National Seashore for some beach driving and a little sun.  The weather was great, but with the wind blowing pretty hard directly on the beach the water was flat out dirty.  It was ugly enough I had a rod with me but did not even get it out.  So it was little sun, eating, and reading.  We love driving the beach and are lucky to live somewhere you can still do that.  I just wish the pigs (people), no offense to pigs, would quit leaving trash all up and down the seashore.  My guess their yards and homes are stinking messes.  Did you grow up in a pig sty?

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A friend of the boss and her husband have a place on the island out of POC, and do quite a bit of fishing.  Her friend Rhonda is a real fisherman and posted this on her Facebook page.  They have been having good success in the surf right now.

Rhonda with a nice stringer of fish.

If we get a nice calm day, and you can get to the surf, now is the time.  So thanks for the picture.  Nice mess Rhonda.

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I finally bent to the pressure and bought some light breathable waders for use in the summertime.  I have waded wet most summers I have lived here but that has come to an end.  First it was a report on the bacteria levels (read fecal matter) on the beach at Galveston, which at a level above 105 is considered dangerous, and is currently running 145, nasty.  Second is vibro, which has shown itself this summer.  I assume it is logical, if not please educate me, that the influx of the fresh flood waters carrying God knows what is adding to the problem.  For me it is just not worth it.  Plus, I just do not have enough fishing stuff.

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The Boss starts a 7 day stretch so there is some serious fishing coming.  After uneventful couple of weeks it is time to do something spectacular as my buddy Randy used to say.  Just waiting to hear from Shoedog and Voe as to their schedule, but no matter what it will be hard at it.  All my jobs are done and I am actually caught up.  So where I do not know, but that nice string of fish above has me watching the wind closely to see when I can get to the surf this week.  Keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Try some today – they work!

I had something to do Thursday afternoon, so with a short day it was the lake.  I have been catching them pitching soft plastics the last couple of trips so that was the initial plan for the day.  The water seems to be finally clearing some so I headed way up lake.  First it was the bush where I caught 3 the other day, but only one small one ate the lizard.

I kept moving up lake catching a little one here and there on the plastics to I decided with the water clearing why not the buzzbait.  On the first bank I tried this one ate it and 3 missed it, or I missed them.

They were all small until I threw a buzzbait.

Then it was working back down lake as the sun came out.  Alternating between the plastics, which kept producing a small one here and there, and the buzzbait.  A couple fell for it in a big cove that has held fish all spring.  With the water stabilized they have not abandoned the coves yet, some even coming all the way in the back.

All the keepers were this size.

It turned out to be a good thing I was quitting early.  The wind started to blow and the sun was full out.  It finally got to windy to pitch, and they just quit on the buzzbait.  So I gave it up.  I think it was about 10, half of which were keepers, nothing fantastic, but consistent.  Considering it is full on summer here now the fishing has been ok.  They are still related to the grass, at least for me, but it is slowing down some.

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The Shoedog has not been down here fishing for quite a while.  He has been on a multistate tour.  The last stop is at our friend Clyde’s in Mtn. Home Arkansas.  They are working on some music that they will play at a big annual party in Iowa, where we grew up.  Of course it included a little fishing.

A nice Lake Norfork smallmouth.

Lake Norfork is a deep clear highland lake, and as summer comes around most of the fishing is done at night.  With crystal clear water, and depths reaching 200 feet at the dam, the fish go deep most of the summer, and do not reappear shallow until October.  He caught this nice smallmouth on a white spinnerbait last night.   Hope you guys are having a good time and be sure to bring the guitars to Canada.

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Jeffish has been taking his son fishing a lot, and Korbin is loving it.  They have been fishing Saxet Lake, which has had a pretty good bite since the water came up.

Korbin and his big drum.

Korbin is turning into quite the little fisherman.  It is so awesome to see a kid who is spending time in the outdoors instead of in front of a computer or TV.  You can do your kid no greater favor.  Congrats Korbin, this is the first of many big fish coming in your life.

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Please be careful this weekend.  There will be lots of folks on the roads and waterways.  So be nice.  A perfect example of being nice is when I got to the ramp a guy pulled his bass boat out of the lake and parked right in front of the ramp.  It would be easy to say something, but why bother.  No reason to raise your blood pressure, and you never know how crazy some folks can be.  So be the bigger guy out there.   As our waters get more and more crowded it takes cooperation on all our parts.   And make sure you have all your safety equipment and paperwork as law enforcement will be out in force.  Drink responsibly, you can get busted for BWI as easily as DWI.  And one last thing.  Please be careful if you are wet wading.  With the higher fresh/dirty water vibro is out there.  So if you have an open wound that will get wet, or are immune compromised wear waders, it may save your life.  So have a fun and safe weekend.

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Not a clue what is next but with the Boss off this weekend it may be some serious beach time, and maybe a long drive down North Padre.  And this week Shoedog will be down for a few days so the Gulf will be calling.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

No better baits made for all fishing.  If you have not browsed the catalog click on the link above and find the right bait for whatever you fish for.

Sorry for no post the last week but it was time for family and fun.  I actually have a life outside fishing, though my family may not always agree with that.  But after a long combination visit to my family, the Rolling Stone’s concert, and then visiting my grandbabies, we are back at home.  It was nice to be able to see most of my family and still squeeze in the concert.  The boss will be headed back to work and the water is calling me.  So I will accomplish a couple of things today to catch up and back to the water tomorrow.

We saw lots of water on our trip through Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri.  After several years of drought it was great to see.  Not having hit the water the last week I am looking forward to tomorrow.   The flats boat has not left the garage for almost 2 months so it is time to get it out and give it a run.  And the Shoedog is finally done with his travels so there will be some kind of fishing extravaganza with him next week.

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While I was gone I got this comment from Johan and wanted to share it with you as well as hopefully point him in the right direction.

Hi sir, i find myself stopping by Fish Catching Travel quite often. i live in Beeville and only recently discovered Coleto creek. I am not into bass, but have caught and released a couple at Coleto, my interest is  more in sand bass. i am a believer in putting in time and schooling one self, but was hoping i can get some advice from you in how to find sandies on Coleto and possible what tactics to use. I enjoy your blog, hope to meet you on the Coleto creek one day.

I am not an expert on sandies at Coleto, or what we referred to white bass at home in Arkansas, but I have caught some.  First I am not sure there is a large population of them, and most I have caught were small.  I did stop and talk with a boat doing a shocking survey for the GBRA last winter and specifically asked them about the white bass.  They had shocked a few, mostly small. That has been my experience with them on Coleto, mostly small, but remember white bass populations are very cyclical, and may be low some years, high others, so Coleto may just be on the down stroke right now.

As far as catching them, if I want to find white bass I troll, especially this time of year.  It allows you to cover lots of water, and also spend plenty of time studying the contour as you watch the depth finder.  And if I had to pick one lure to troll for white bass it would be a Rapala Shad Rap in the silver foil with a black back.  The SR-8 or SR-5 in the deep diver, and occasionally early in the year when they tend to be shallow use the shallow runner or a rattle bait like the Strike King Red Eye Shad.  I usually let out around 60 feet of line and prefer a 10lb test to help it get down a little farther.  Try trolling at an idle speed or a little quicker.  Be sure to have your drag set light as they will pull off if there is no give.  And trolling often gives you a bonus bass or crappie.  As it is summer they will be deep and schooled up, so trolling while you watch the locator is the best way to find some on Coleto.

When I have done it, not lately, they have been in the Coleto arm.  To give you a place to start try the area from the middle of the lake in the dam area and troll up the Coleto arm past the big tree on the point by the dam and up lake to the last of the three coves.  There are usually some in that area.  I have also caught some in the other arm in front of the big coves on the right.  Most of the time I have caught them in warm weather it was in open water in 20 foot deep and deeper.  Just troll and spend the time covering a lot of water until you find some, usually when you find them there are all in that area.  And if there are schools of shad in the area on the locator that is often the key to catching them.

So I hope this little bit of information helps you get started.  Trolling is not the only way to catch them.  You can use a 1 ounce jigging spoon, spinner jigs or minnows once you locate them.  Thanks for the question and I appreciate you reading my stuff.  Good Luck.

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I do want to say a couple of things about the Rolling Stones.  They really are the best rock and roll band in the world.  Starting together somewhere around 1963, they have remained true to the music.  We had great tickets and the show was all we could have hoped for.

Arrowhead is one cool football stadium.

Ronnie Wood and Mick Jagger.

With no new album to promote it was an evening of their hits, you liked it, you heard it.  And I like their style, no electronic corrected sound, no big light show, just raw and rough rock and roll.  It ain’t pretty, but it is the real thing.  It is amazing they are still alive, but one thing for sure, they are a rock band.

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 So back to real life.  Looks like the weather will hold for a day or two so it will be up early and on the water.  Unfortunately the weather looks a little sketchy for the weekend.  I really appreciate it when you all stick with me during some of the down times.  But it is back to fishing.  And Canada is fast approaching so there is lots of fishing to come.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines