Fish Catching Travel

Fish Catching Travel

If it is spring and it’s the Shoedog it is jerkbait time.  And the KVD is one of the best!

Shoedog and Lake Bastrop

“I have wanted to hit Lake Bastrop for quite some time. I stopped by there one fall day several years ago after picking someone up from Austin Bergstrom Airport. The bass were schooling all over the lake that afternoon and we just watched from the shore for a while- of course I had no poles in the car that day! 

Here is a pic of the best of the first 3. 

I then headed out toward the main lake area just trying to find banks with 10-12 feet and water open enough to throw my jerk bait. I lost another nice one that I thought was grass and never got a hook set and it threw the bait. 

I tried to throw a spinner bait on a windy point, but had no luck. I tried a square bill but had no strikes. Back to the jerk bait and I caught 3 more. By that time it was getting pretty overcast and spitting a bit. 

By now it was a steady rain/mist and I- as usual- left my rain suit hanging on the door at home. I called it a day. Not a bad trip for my first Bastrop excursion. 7 nice bass- a 5 plus and another about 3 1/2. In only about four and a half hours. Next trip I will start in a different area and try to locate a few more spots. Great to be on the water in the springtime!” 

Thanks for the report Shoedog.  It is only a month away from our trip to the Everglades and the Boca Grande area of Florida.  I don’t know about you but I am getting excited.  So as the rain comes down I am headed out to pick up Voe and see if the heavy part will get past us and we can get a little fishing in today.  With it as heavy as it is we will be going to Coleto.  So whether we get some serious fishing in today remains to be seen.  I have a couple of other things I will get to in my next report, so keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Now is the time for throwing the Swimming Jig with a Rage Craw.

I was fairly confident it was going to be a good day on the lake when I put the boat in at 7:45.  A light breeze, clouds, and occasional showers were the order of the day.  First stop was a spawning cove up lake near the bridge.  I threw the Swim Jig most of the cove with a topwater thrown in occasionally without success.  It was fairly off colored in there so I headed back to clearer water. So it was another cove back down lake, again with the same results.

I probably spent to much time trying to get the fish to hit a spinnerbait, buzzbait, and topwater but I wanted to be sure I wasn’t missing something.  It was around 10:30 before I got my first bite, and it was back in a pocket on a topwater.  One or two more fell for it in the next couple of coves, though they were all small.  At that point I stuck to the back ends of pockets and coves, throwing the the Swim Jig.

This one really attacked it.

When I caught this one it was a main lake pocket, on the shallower side with the scattered vegetation.  The lake has come up so much there is tons of water behind assorted grass and reeds.  It seemed the outside bend in the pockets held the fish, if that makes sense.  It may be a year for more flipping and pitching with our level this high.  I do not believe I have seen it this high in the 4 years I have been fishing there.

Today it was the Bluegill color Swim Jig with a watermelon Rage Craw.

Over the years I have been underwhelmed by the real early morning fishing on Coleto, and it was true today.  It really has more to do with the water temp staying stable and no real heating in the day right now, so the bite is late.  But when you find them get ready to catch several.  When I had my best run I caught 3, missed one, lost one, and broke on off in about 15 minutes.

Nothing like one this size knocking a foot of slack in your line.

After about noon they were pretty much in the back of anything.  Then it was just a simple matter of easing along slow rolling the Swim Jig.  It was not a great bite, but they were there.  This is probably the only time of year I specifically target any wood in the backs of these places.  Run that Swim Jig by it, maybe ticking it lightly and hold one.

 I was hooking them right in the top of the mouth.  Of course them smacking it like they meant it probably had a lot to do with that.

It rained off and on all day, finally easing up around 2:30.  The wind was negligible and was not a factor today.  I really think the fish are just coming up with this raise and it is only going to get better.  If you are shallow water guy like I am there is a lot to look forward to on Coleto this spring.  For the day it wasn’t fast by any means, but once they started biting it was a matter of finding that sparser cover in shallow water, back in a pocket.  That is about a specific as I can get.  The only difference was they seemed to want the bigger craw.

The Coleto Bassmaster Bass tournament is April 11 and it could be really good.  The unsettled conditions have kept it somewhat slow for spring, but by the same token the good bite will last a little longer.  And with this high water will come a good spawn, with lots of cover to hide in which can only bode well for the future.

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The Shoedog called and he had a pretty good day on Bastrop.  For the amount of time he fished he caught some nice fish.  So that report will be posted here shortly so check that one out.  And I just picked up the newest Lone Star Outdoor News and there are lots of big bass being caught right now.  If you like to bass fish this weather is perfect so if you can, go, you just might catch the biggest fish of your life.  So this morning the boss and I are figuring out the weeks entertainment, and fishing is a big part of it.  Our weather includes lots of rain so exactly when I get to the Gulf is up in the air, but it will be the first fishable day.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Now is the time for throwing the Swimming Jig with a Rage Craw.

Please read the line above.  Being below the link it generally changes depending on whim, or what is happening with the fish.  That line was added 4 days ago because it is time.  There is a period every spring when it is time to catch a big bass, and that time is now.  So that was written because it is time.  So I threw it some today, and by golly it worked.

I knew she was big, but until I lifted the net I had no idea.  My heaviest ever.

I took a few quick ones and back in she went, handle them carefully, she has important business.

What a pig!  Fish that Strike King Swimming Jig, it works!

After working fairly hard for 5 days in a row I was finally done after we finished the job on Saturday.   Normally it would be up and gone first thing to catch up on my fishing, but the Hogs played those dirty Kentucky Wildcats so I took it easy this morning, watched the game, and then headed to Coleto.  (T0 bad we lost.)

The minute I got there a couple of things were real apparent.  First, I remembered why I usually don’t fish the lake on the weekend, there were boats everywhere.  Second, and best of all I think, is the lake is up over a couple of feet.  It has been a while since it had that much water in it.  So back to number one, how crowded it was when I got there at 3.

I started on some deeper grass on the small island with the Swim Jig, as soon as I started down the bank here comes a pontoon.  They stop close, drop the trolling motor and cut me off.  How close?

He just flat cut right in front of me. 

So here I finally get on the water and within 5 minutes some inconsiderate jerk cuts me off.  But keeping with my just be nice theory I take off.  What good was it going to do to mess with this knucklehead? He will stay wake up a knucklehead.  And the whole first couple of hours it was bass boats shooting rooster tails as boat they hauled ass.  I decided that the real definition of run and gun bass fishing is: I am not catching anything.

Being unsure how the rapid rise had affected the fish next it was a flat shallow cove.  Alternating with Swim Jig, topwater, and spinnerbait, I was striking out.  Since the topwater and spinnerbait were getting no response, and the really shallow new water was not producing, I went to a deeper channel bank and stayed with the Swimming Jig.

She ate this Strike King Swim Jig and Rage Craw trailer.

I finally had a couple of bites around 5, almost paralleling deeper banks, but both of them ate the claws off my Rage Craw.  So in a moment of clarity I went to the smaller craw and then the big girl above jumped it.  If you will notice in the picture above, it really helps to trim the jig skirt back to a hair past the hook bend.  It exposes a lot more of the trailer and has no affect on the fish.  Over the next hour another 4 or 5 came over the side until it started raining and I called it a day.

This size was sort of anticlimactic but after that first one who cares!

The water has some color to it and there is some floating trash, but the lake looks great.  Now how the fish will react to a big raise right during the spawn remains to be seen.  But it has put water in lots of new cover and those fish will be coming to it big time.  I intend to figure that out with a vengeance tomorrow.  One thing for sure is the back of some of these pockets have lots of Tilapia on the beds and there are some really small fry.  It is hard to emphasize how critical the next couple of weeks are for catching big bass.  And with the forecast tomorrow being warm and cloudy with a few showers the fishing should be superb.  We will see.

But one thing is sure, that is the heaviest bass I have ever landed.  How big?  Not a clue, but she was full grown.  I guess it was my reward for taking a few days off to work, and then not getting excited about the traffic or getting cut off.  I kept with the program and made that slight change to the smaller craw at the right moment.  All I know is tomorrow will be interesting.

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Evan sent a comment concerning the walleye in the Ozarks.  It really has developed into a real fishery.

Good to know you’re doing well and still focused on fishing!

Man you mention those walleye in the waters of the ozarks….. That gets me almost as fired up as duck hunting!  We normally go to Table Rock every year – although this year we are not.  Next year for sure!  Its so much fun catching Walleye!! We have found a few consistently producing spots that hold some pretty decent fish.  Decent in the realm of 10-14 pounds.  Not too bad in my opinion.  And we’ve caught them on just about everything: jigs, spoons, live worms – but I’m partial to the jig.  Worms catch too many black bass.  (Like that’s ever been a bad thing!)

On another note – I’ll be headed to POC the 2nd weekend of April.  Gonna give the kayak bay fishing another go.  Hopefully we’ll find some hungry reds.  Try and leave some of those trout for us, if you don’t mind.

Thanks for sticking with it.  Fish or no fish, you’re still worth reading.

Thanks for your kind comments and those are some serious walleye you are catching.  And as far as when you come drop me a note as I will definitely be fishing POC several times in the next few weeks.

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I get lots of comments everyday. most of them are spam, but I wade through them to get to you all’s.  I got this one the other day,

Hola! I’ve been reading your weblog for a long time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from  Austin Tx!
Just wanted to mention keep up the excellent job!

Well Hola back at you.  To bad there was no name with it, but thanks for reading.

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So day one of the Back to the Fishing Tour went fairly well.  (An understatement.)  I will be back at them tomorrow trying to get a real pattern.  Then when we get another cloudy day with no rain (Tuesday?)  it will be definitely some trout fishing.  Those big girls are also getting in the mood.  Who knows, I just might catch my biggest trout next.  At least I know I will die trying.  Thanks for sticking with me and keep stopping in.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

 Fish Catching Travel

Now is the time for throwing the Swimming Jig with a Rage Craw.

I know this is hard to believe but I have a couple of more days to work this week, then it is over and back to fishing.  A little honest hard work never killed anyone, and I actually have enjoyed it.  And the side benefit, a basic makeover of the Carolina Skiff, will have it back in prime shape this week.  So as I knock off a couple of more days I am looking forward to getting back to some serious fishing.  The plan that is taking shape starts Saturday and ends Wednesday or Thursday – 4 or 5 different places on consecutive days.  It is time to make the rounds of the old standbys, Keller, Indianola, and POC, with a day of crappie and bass fishing on Texana and Coleto.  I have done that before, fishing multiple days on different water and it is just plain fun.  Time to make up for lost time.

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I got a couple of Coleto reports and both involve the outflow.  An acquaintance of mine caught a big yellow cat, looked about 25 from the picture, and he is also catching crappie shallow on Texana.  And I just heard of some serious white bass at the outflow on Coleto.  The fishing is heating up on Coleto and with the kids off now is a good time to take them fishing.

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I got this note from Rick which basically says it all about my fishing report from the other day.

Oh well, if you don’t go, you’ll never know! Thanks for the salt report and yes, crappie filets in the frying pan is a thing of beauty.

I really did think I could put a few trout in the boat but it just did not happen.  This big rain we just had will definitely end that type of fishing until next year.  And I really appreciate your kind offer but you don’t know the boss of Team Nancy.  Motels in the Austin area are not an inconvenience to her, they are her hobby.  (It ain’t the Motel Six.)   Some of us fish, for her is all about the travel, and motels are her specialty.  But it was nice of you to offer.

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A reader dropped me the following note and I wanted to share it with you.

we’re you fishing coleto creek this time or lake austin……I am taking my daughter thursday……am excited to see her after a rocky divorce……she is my 16yr old fishing partner…..has 5 junior division wins…..salt and fresh

I was fishing Coleto, I have not had the pleasure of fishing Lake Austin.  And being divorced many years ago I know how tough it can be on the kids.  And how lucky you are she is a fisherman.  Fishing can give you guys quality time together and time to heal.  One thing I would tell you, keep it about you and her, you can both get past this.  Be the bigger guy and she will love you for it.  So good luck, and if she catches a big one send me a picture, we would love to see it.

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As many of you know Strike King has been kind enough to help me out with a lure sponsorship the last couple of years and I am so appreciative.  What could be better than help from the best lure company on the face of the earth.  Their stuff works, and as I have said many times, the Redfish Magic is my favorite bait of all time.

In the spirit of full disclosure I did want to fill you in on a related topic.  I was under the impression that Down South Lures was going to help out with a lure sponsorship.  Apparently that is not the case.  After several conversations I have heard nothing from them.  I did my part and promoted their products here, and at the ramps and cleaning tables.  For whatever reasons it has not happened.  Since they initially called me apparently I was not dreaming.  Oh well, they make a great bait, sorry it did not work out.

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Texas may be my adopted home, but Arkansas is where I cut my real fishing teeth.  20 years of guiding on both Bull Shoals and Norfork, not to mention the White and North Fork rivers, home to some really big trout.  The river fishing is the one thing I do miss, nothing like catching big trout in the winter on jerk bait.  There really is nothing more to say about the potential for big trout than this:

Fish Catching Travel

Baits that catch fish!

After fishing Coleto last time out I took a couple of days off to spend some time with the boss.  Saturday we went to Fulton for the Oyster Fest.  But before heading over to the festival we wanted to try a new restaurant called Paradise Key.  It is out of Rockfort at the ramp near the big in-door boat barn between Rockport and Aransas Pass.  The food was pretty good and they handled the big crowd fairly well for a new place.  From there we headed to the festival for a couple of adult beverages, some fresh delicious oysters, and while there talked with several folks we knew.  Of course the weather was perfect, but with the forecast for Sunday not to bad, there would be some fishing.  They were forecasting 55 degrees and drizzle or light rain, and boy did it rain.

Initially the plan was Coleto and some bass fishing, but since I have not hit the salt in a little while thought I would check it out.  It helped I had a couple of fresh reports, but second hand, that there were still some nice trout in Garcitas Creek.  So with a forecast of light rain, which would keep the traffic down, I decided to head to the creek for some trout fishing.  I wanted to try out the Shimano Waxwing, and hopefully get you all a saltwater report.

When I got there it was around 10 and there was a light drizzle.  So in the water and down the creek a couple of miles to one of my favorite spots.  And from then on it was cast, rain, cast, rain, cast, rain…………..some folks might call it drizzle, but it was rain to me.   For 5 hours I worked down river, from the bridge to the houses near the bay, throwing plastics, both paddle tail and assassin style, popping cork, and the Waxwing.  I fished slow, fast, deep, shallow, I even trolled for a half hour, and caught a total of none.  Points, flats, channel banks, pockets, I hit them all.  Not a fish.  Not even a good bite.  By time  I quit at 3 it was raining fairly hard and I was damp and cold.

It has been a while since I struck out, and I mean no hits, nor runs, no errors.  I really have no idea why it was that slow, but whatever I was doing was not working.  Obviously I was no where near any trout, or not fishing properly, or a combination of both.  Though if it would have worked out it would have been the latest I have ever caught them in a river in early spring.  So the only thing I can take away from today was it was all wrong.  No way the bass fishing wouldn’t have been better, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out, and today was that day.  Oh well.

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Got this from my youngest brother.  Not sure who made it but thanks a lot for letting me share it with folks.

 Getting it done one way or another.  Must be opening day.

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The Victoria Port authority is holding a hearing Tuesday, the notice was posted in Sunday’s paper, to decide whether they will close the barge canal to basically all but shipping traffic at the Victoria county line.  Now I have no idea where the county line is exactly, but my question is whether it includes the BP docks.  One of the great winter trout holes, it would be a shame for that to become off limits.  If you know, drop me a note.  Of course I am sure the old security rational will be the justification.  That rational has become a go-to, no other explanation needed, government take it or leave it response to lots of things these days.  But who knows, it could be something completely different.  But if you see some ISIS dudes speeding up the barge canal in a tunnel with a 300 on it be sure to call somebody.

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The forecast for Monday is up to 5″ of rain.  That will definitely rule out fishing, but boy would that put us off to a nice start as far as rainfall this year.  The lake has come up some, and 5″ would really help.  Of course along with the rain is the constantly fluctuating water temperature.  And I have seen it in the past where a big raise during the spawn actually hurts things, every set of conditions is different.  Not sure what effect it will have on our spawn, but with our current weather pattern the bass spawn should be drawn out an extra month.

Speaking of spawning season, the trout spawn will have those fish as big as they are going to get the next couple of months.  And it will be so interesting as the fishing pressure peaks this spring how many trout will be heading back due to the 5 fish limit.  I feel there is just no way it can not help fishing, especially in harder fished areas like POC and Rockport, but only time will tell.

And since we are talking about spawning fish, crappie are being caught on pretty good on Texana right now.  The guy I talked to is just putting a small jig a foot below a small bobber and dipping.  I really want to get over there some time next week when we get the big warming trend.  The crappie should go nuts and it makes my mouth water thinking about them sizzling in the pan.

As I post this Monday morning it is raining pretty hard, my ditch is full, and the forecast is for heavy rain continuing into tonight.  So no fishing today, but the boat is still hooked to the truck and it will be off to the water somewhere in the morning.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Baits that catch fish!

Finally I got to go fishing today.  A little work, some bad weather, a little sickness, and a couple of trips to Austin, have all conspired to keep me off the water.  The forecast for today was for a low in the 60’s at daylight with possible rain.  It was great, warm with no rain as I backed the skiff in the lake.  I took the skiff to see how it ran after a trip to the mechanic.  The engine ran fine, it is the rest of the stuff on the boat that doesn’t work worth a hoot, more on that later.

One of the consequences of the locator crapping out was I did not have a water temp, but with it being spawning time I headed to a cove protected from the 20mph south wind.  I threw topwater in the first one, along with a Strike King Swim Jig, and a spinnerbait.  It was 1 fish in the first cove, 2 in the next, 2 in the one after that.  With none of them worth much I decided to fish the main lake and fishing a bank near the bridge I got my first real bite.

She smashed a spinnerbait halfway back to the boat.

I was about to head up lake when I got a call from Chris who said come get me at the ramp in a little bit, so I fished a couple of places heading back to the ramp.  It was all spinnerbait after the one above, but it was still here and there, but at least it was consistent.  By time I picked him up it was 6 or 7, 5 on spinnerbait and one each on swim jig and topwater.

After picking him up we headed up lake, stopping way up lake on a long flat bank.  It wasn’t long before we were catching them.  In fact Chris caught one on his first cast.  For the next hour it was pretty good and we caught maybe 10 or 12, most of them nice chunks.

A good average for the day.

By this point the wind was blowing fairly strong, which with the skiff turned out to be a  problem.  I try not to run down products, but I could not have made a bigger mistake when I bought the Motor Guide trolling motor on the skiff a few years ago.  It is a piece of crap, and that is giving it a break.  It has no power, it is noisy, the handle fell off, it might be on forward, then it might be reverse, you get the point.  And when the wind is blowing it is useless.  The prior trolling motor was a Minnkota 55lb thrust, and this one is also supposed to be 55lbs of thrust, but I promise if you tied them together and turned them on the Minnkota would drown the Motor Guide.  I have been wanting to replace it, and now that starts as soon as I finish this.

But I digress.  We began to work our way back down lake, but the wind was blowing just right to make it tough on us.  It gets clearer as you go down, but the back ends of most of the coves are a little off colored.  As we went along it was obvious the fish were taking a break.  We might have caught 4 or 5 as we worked down lake.  I did lose a real nice one on the swim jig when it ate right at boatside and promptly swam right in the trolling motor.  Other than that we never had a definitive run after the first bank up lake.  I know there is a better way to catch them, I just did not quite figure it out, but it has been a couple of weeks.

It was one of those days where I got another dose of perspective.  When we quit at 1:30 I would have called it an ok day until Chris said that is the most he had ever caught on spinnerbait.  So that in itself makes it a good trip.  And we did catch over 20 in a few hours, which is also not that bad.  It was just nice to be out there again.

I did want to say one word about spinnerbaits.  If you have been reading me you know I had some trouble with Booyah spinnerbaits breaking.  They were kind enough to send me 3 replacements.  When I started this morning there was one tied on so I tossed it and on the third fish I set the hook and came back with the knot.  The wires break right in the bend, not sure why, but even the replacements are breaking.  I remedied that by doing what I should have done when I left the ramp, replace it with my favorite, the Strike King Bleeding Bait spinnerbait.

My personal preference is a white (BB38CW-328) in the 3/8 ounce with a silver number 5 willow leaf on the back.  The skirt is a white with red streaks and the hook is red.  It is a sturdy spinnerbait that buzzes easily and can stand up to multiple fish and still run right.  Most of the fish today came quite a ways off the bank and were flat out stopping it.  It really sucks when a good one knocks the stuffing out of it and all you get back is the knot.  It must be a lot worse for the fish with half that thing hanging off his jaw.   The Bleeding Bait spinnerbait is just a better bait, and that is all I have to say about that.

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Our weather is going down the tubes tonight, with a high of 45 or so tomorrow.  Chris and I were talking about possibly fishing Baffin Friday, but that will be somewhat weather dependent.  No matter what I am fishing somewhere, we will just have to see.  And on the  subject of Baffin I got several comments on that article on fishing lighter baits.  First this from Billy.

In response to your query about the Baffin guides using the smaller jig heads. Didn’t read the specific article you spoke of, but by your description, I am 99% sure I know who you are talking about. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure it is Sally and Aubrey Black. I have had the pleasure of fishing with Aubrey for the past 13 years. In fact, in his words, a buddy of mine and myself were one of his first customers when he started guiding Baffin. He uses some of the smallest jig heads I have ever seen. Some times he uses 1/32 ounce, but more often than not, it is a 1/64 ounce. If you happen to venture down that way again, look him up. He is first class. Here is a link to their page.

http://www.baffinbayrodandgun.com/

Thanks for letting me know, that is exactly who it is.  It really confirmed something I intuitively knew, and with the heavy pressure it makes so much sense.  And just for your info, the comments do not automatically post, I read all of them before I put some out there so trust me, I read every single one.  The problem with auto posting is spam, of which I get tons a day.  So that is why comments do not automatically post.  I appreciate you reading my stuff and comment anytime.  Plus, fishing with the same guide for 13 years, can anyone think there is any better recommendation?  And along with the comment from Billy I got this comment on the same subject from John.

Go to http://www.saltyangler.com for the article about the Baffin Guides. Look at the archived issues tab. That story is in the FEB 13 edition.  I stop in to read the blog every day, enjoy it very much especially since I fish the Seadrift area.

Thanks for the link.  If you want to expand your arsenal for trout this article is a must.  And I really wanted both Saltwater Angler and the Blacks  to get the credit.  It is awesome when guides cough up this kind of information.  As soon as I get done writing this I am going to re-read the article and visit their website.  And John I appreciate both your kind comments and your continuing support.

Folks this is what I whine about constantly, the sharing of information.  It makes us all better fishermen and it doesn’t cost a penny to do it.  And it is why I am always looking for your comments so I can share them with others.  And remember if you just want to talk about something, or somewhere, and you don’t want me to share it I am ok with that, just be sure to tell me that.

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The Eyeball.

After needing to get the cataract off my right eye for over a year I finally got it done.  I can not tell you how great it is after only 2 days.  I can see stuff I have not seen in years, and my up close in that eye is almost perfect.  I can not thank Dr. Robert Marquis enough.  A good fisherman, I can safely say he is a better physician.   So if you have been putting off dealing with something like cataracts these folks are the bomb.  Every department, every person, and anything that was done, was first class.  The folks in the office, from front desk to surgery, were personable and professional.  I can not recommend them more highly.  So thanks Doc, what a difference!

http://www.texaneyecare.com/html/doctors.html

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So outside I go.  The list includes taking off the front deck, taking off the old trolling motor, taking off the old locator, removing the cracked fuel bulb, and ……….  If you have owned boats for any amount of time you know what I am talking about.  It is time to fix the skiff, and with a crummy day in the works for tomorrow I can get most of what I need to get done, done.  Then when I pick up the various parts it will be a breeze only having to put them on.  Owning 2 boats can at times be a real pain in the rear.  But boy is it nice to have 2 so if I decide to fish it is no problem, just take the other boat.  But of course that brings a whole other set of other costs and responsibilities.  You got to love boat ownership.  As they say, one of the best days is when you buy your boat, and the next best day is when you sell it.

So fishing is on the plate.  The bass fishing was good this morning, and will only get better in the coming months.  From the reports I have heard the fish are biting on the bay when folks can get out with our high winds lately.  I will be heading to the bay as soon as the wind is below 20.  From what I learned last month the second day after a norther can be really good trout fishing, and if there is a little cloud cover with it look out.  I appreciate you all hanging in there so keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Browse the catalog, a great way to spend a rainy day.  Lots of new products for 2015.  Just click on new lures for 2015.  There is stuff for bass, crappie, and walleye.

Fish Catching Travel

It is the last day of February and it is the first time in a long time when I am thrilled to have a month out of here.  Today it is 46 degrees, with a wind chill of 37, and raining.  There are small craft advisory on the bay until this evening.  The wind is varying between 18 and 25 mph out of the north as I write this, another real nice day.  But it is raining so I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth, we still need it.

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My first locator was the old flasher style and actually it got the job done, and once you knew what you were seeing it was great.  Of course the whole area of fish locators seems to be changing yearly.  Usually new and improved products end up costing me money, but this time I got a break.  As folks upgrade their GPS/Locators there are a few working simple locators out there.  So when I was whining about having to replace a couple of front locators my buddies, Bobby and Voe, came to the rescue.  Both upgraded the one on their boat and I got the old.  As their primary use is the front end of the boat simply to keep track of how deep it is they are perfect.  Thanks guys.

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I got this nice comment from Rick

 On another note, you don’t need to be sorry when you dont post. You offer a FREE  fishing information site that is top notch. You are not getting paid for all your efforts (which I’m sure are considerable), so ….like many of your followers, when you post it, we’ll read it. Have a great day!

I really appreciate that comment.  When this all began 3 years ago I had no idea it would turn out like this.  That so many folks would read this leaves me feeling irresponsible if I did not get something new up ever couple of days.  Of course what goes with that is keeping a bait in the water, which can be difficult at times for lots of reasons.  But it is funny when I feel guilty because I have not fished in a couple of days.  So thanks for reminding me why I do this.

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Speaking of getting something new up I am so mad at myself for reading, and then throwing away, one of those free saltwater mags I picked up in Corpus.  So forgive me if I get the fine details wrong but there is something we can all take away from the article written by a guide from the Corpus area.

He and his wife guide in the Laguna and Baffin area, and according to his article they have had a really banner year on big trout.  While I don’t get caught up in the numbers thing, they are catching some serious trout (100’s) from 26″ and up to over 31″ on a method that makes real sense, especially after our 2 day trip down there a couple of weeks ago.

There is a really steady, super intelligent, fishing pressure on the Baffin area, and it seemed almost as busy as POC.  And one thing I noticed was folks sure were on the same patterns and structures.  The point to all this is their solution is to do something with a little more finesse, fish plastics basically weightless.  And I believe he was talking regular/smaller plastics.  His theory was that by fishing plastics with little or no weight it stays in their face just a little longer.  They have reduced their use of Fat Boys and other bigger baits in favor of a more subtle approach, and it is working for them.  And as a consequence their big fish production has actually gone up this past year.  Talk about a well thought out method for catching bigger fish.  If anyone remember who, or where, that article was let me know, I want to give them credit.

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Jimmy sent me this nice note, good timing.

Glad your back and good luck with the cataract surgery.  I had both eyes done last year and what a great improvement. The only draw back is using all the eye drops but that only lasts about 30 days. Good luck on the surgery and great fishing.

Good to hear directly from someone who has had it done.  Monday morning I will get the surgery done and then finally back to fishing.  As Larry, one of my other readers said, I should be able to spot those redfish a lot better.  I appreciate all the kind words I have gotten, it is time to get it over with, hell getting old.

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After our trip to Baffin the Shoedog, Chris, and I are all wanting to get back on the water, in my case to fish the Waxwing and weightless soft plastics.  Funny how chasing bigger trout makes you want to do it again.  And one thing that never fails to motivate me is coming.  Daylight savings time starts next week, and with the time change no excuse not being on the water at daylight.  And it doesn’t hurt anything when it stays lighter an hour later, makes an afternoon trip well worth the effort.

And with that time change comes the next full moon.  Wherever you are in Texas the bass are hitting the beds, or sure thinking about it.  And it is one of the easiest times of the year to establish a pattern.  Simply start on the river or creek channel outside the mouth of a big south facing cove.  Fish all the way to the back end of the cove, paying particular attention to secondary points in the cove.  I find that alternating with a Swim Jig, a KVD 2.5, and a spinnerbait about covers it.  Once you find the right bait, and the best location, it is game on this time of year.

Tomorrow the temp is supposed to be up considerably, but with a pretty significant chance of rain.  So it will be up before daylight, and if it is not raining hard it will be off to fish somewhere, depending on the conditions.  As long as the temp is up I intend to give it a go.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

As Mark Twain said ‘The rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated.”  In my case it was a short disappearance from the fishing/blogging scene.  But there was one major malfunction in the last couple of days, I did not get my cataract fixed.  Maybe you have heard this joke….A Doctor and a lawyer…….at least it did not have anything to do with a bar.

The Boss and I headed to Austin for the three days that Row was kind enough to fit me in so he could fix that eye.  We show up, he does his exam, I head to the next stop for the measurements of the eye, and then off to the surgery center.  All is well until pre-op when they ask if I ate breakfast, which I had, a small one but it was food.  So it slipped by all of us, the Doc, me (former medic), and my PA wife, in other words all of us who know better, don’t eat or drink after midnight.  So talk about all dressed up and nowhere to go, but since we had the motel taken care of course we stayed in Austin anyway.  But no big deal, everything is done and all that is left is to show back up next Monday morning and get it done.

So then here I sit this morning, getting ready to write a little, and then head to Garcitas for some trout fishing, when my buddy calls about 10 and he needs a little help.  I mean the tackle bag is in the living room in front of me to be sure it was ready to go after the cleaning and organization.  So I had a near miss in the fishing department.  But trust me, it isn’t going to continue like this more than a couple of more days, from what I hear there are a few fish biting.

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One of the side effects of the weather, and then the trip, was I did not even look at my blog or email for at least 4 days.  I can not even remember the last time I was so out of contact.  Consequently I have not gotten back with anyone so I am going to take this time to catch up.

My buddy Voe headed down to Falcon last week to fish out of his kayak and he dropped me this report a couple of days ago.

Last Weds the day was absolutely beautiful with light winds.  The water temperature was in the mid 60′s into morning to upper 60′s in the afternoon.   Fishing was very tight, I only had one bite on a chartreuse spinner bait that yielded a 1 lb bass.  That evening I spoke with several boaters who fared about the same or blank.  The next day called for clear skies until around 10:30 when the winds would come in at 20-25.  I got an early start and managed a 3 lb 3 Oz bass on a curly tail grub on 8 lb test. Not much more than that and other boaters driving by said they were not getting bit at all.  The wind started blowing around 10:30 but didn’t get terrible till 11:30.  Got off the water just in time because it blew like crazy.

Sorry to say he did send me a pic of a nice fish, but I somehow sent it to email heaven.  But his experience is not uncommon on Falcon the last year.  Of course there are fish caught every day, and even some real big fish, but as many folks who catch them, there are an equal number who struggle.  It is still a great place to catch a big one, but the heyday seems to be over.  And the wind just comes with the territory down there.  Thanks for the report and I’ll holler at you in a day or two.

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A few regulars chimed in on a thing or two and I was glad to hear from them.  Larry thanks for the kind words, nice to know you are still out there.  I really appreciate you and all the rest of you who keep me writing.  I also heard from my buddy Bobby.  Thanks for the offer man, email to follow.  I just might take you up on that.  Your a good guy in spite of what your wife says.

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I also heard from Gary who probably thinks I was ignoring him, and it was true, I ignored everyone the last few days.  Expect an email soon and of course we can work something out as far as some fishing over here.  So hope to meet you soon.

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I really appreciate your patience during the last week as I have been off the grid.  The weather, a little work, and a trip out of town, have all conspired to keep me off the water.  But that will change, definitely in the next couple of days.  I have actually been through all my tackle, fresh and salt, put new line on lots of rods and reels, and got the boat serviced.  A couple of locators to put on and spring prep is done.

The full moon is coming on March the 5th, and the bass and trout bite will really be on with the next warm stretch.  And one thing that has been eating away at me is that Shimano Waxwing crankbait.  If it works as advertised there may be no better time for it than right now.  I can feel a trout thumping it as I type.

I know there is plenty of stuff to read on the internet, and I am grateful you take the time to read mine.  The least I can do is go fishing, a tough job but I am up to it.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.  Spring fishing is here!

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

The title of today’s post is the reason there has not been a fishing report since early this week.  The reality is stuff breaks.  The reality that goes along with that is I have to pay for it.  Whether it is trolling motors, locators, motors, or rods and reels, all have a useful life.  That useful life might be measured in hours, revolutions, or hook sets.  But no matter what, nothing last forever, unless you don’t use it.

To go along with that, when you fish as often as I do, easily over 150 days a year or more, the expense is ongoing and not inconsequential.  And right now I need some boat stuff.  Owning a boat is expensive, owning 2 is twice as expensive, and to keep them up requires effort and money.  And as we all know, stuff happens in bunches, it is never spaced out.  So with that background I took advantage of an offer to actually work a couple of days this week.

The flats boat (Which is going in for the 100 hour check and preparation for the long tow to the Everglades.) needs a new front locator, the small boat (I just spent $800 on the motor.) needs a trolling motor and a new GPS/Locator.  So in an effort to be fair to the Boss of Team Nancy I took a couple of days this last week to make some money, which will immediately be spread out amongst Bass Pro, Academy, Cabela’s, and whoever else has their hand out.

When they say boat ownership is a hole in the water into which you throw money they are not kidding.  Luckily I can do a lot of the installation work myself so most of that will be resolved in the next week.  A front locator is totally unnecessary for the Gulf, but is a mandatory for lake fishing.

We will be back in the fishing business shortly, but first there is one more thing I have to take care of.  I have a big a$$ cataract on my right eye and with the help of a fishing buddy, don’t freak he is an Opthomologist, I will be good as new on Tuesday.  It is hell getting old.  So I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for hanging in her with me, the serious fishing is about to begin.

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I got this questions from Richard and thought I would share it with you.

What is the camera you are using to make your videos and how do you have it aimed?
I fish POC and love watching these videos.
Thanks

I appreciate this questions for a couple of reasons.  First, I use the older GoPro Hero 2.  I simply put it on my head (no hat on) and turn it on.  Batteries have become the issue and I have not shot any video this year, but that is about to change.  As it is an older model the batteries are hard to find and mine are very weak.  You really get an appreciation for how hard it is to get good fishing on video when you only have less than 2 hours of film time.  The decision of when to put it on during the day decides what you get on film.

Of all things, my wife and I were in a Winery in the middle of Turkey and I met a nice lady who is the Director of Channel Sales Programs for GoPro.  She gave me her card and said if you ever need anything get ahold of me.  As soon as I get done with this post I am going to email her and see if I can find some new batteries.  So thanks for reminding me and I hope to shoot some cool stuff in Florida in April.  And I appreciate you reading my blog, thanks.

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If you stop here much you know the Shoedog has not been around as much as usual, and that is about to change also.  His construction project is finally on the home stretch and it will be back to fishing big time.  He is lucky as his subdivision has a 4 or 5 acre lake loaded with bass.

I went down to the lake and bank fished today. Heading out to Iowa tomorrow and didn’t want to mess with uncovering the boat for just one quick trip. 

Temp was 68 degrees at 4 pm when I started,but the wind was cool out of the southeast. 

I had four bites between 4 and dusk. Two on spinner bait and 2 on Strike King swim jig w/ Rage Craw trailer. 3 were good and the smaller 4th hit the swim jig as I was bringing it out of the water. 

I think we are just one more warm spell and the full moon on March 5th and I will be on the big ones- it is coming! Spring time bassin’ at it’s best. 

I am not going ice fishing up north- I refuse to! Not unless I am in Ontario for Lake Trout! The folks at Muskie Bay Resort have posted some awesome pics of late- wish I could make it all the way up there.

Thanks for the report and nice bass.  Must be nice to be able to just slide down the block anytime and catch bass like that.  And I wish you would quit looking at the Muskie Bay Resort site.  We are still 6 months from going and you will drive yourself crazy.  Folks, that is where we stay and if you want to see some cool pictures visit their website, a good thing to do on a crappy weather day.  I just peaked and the pictures on the site of full moon muskies got me all wound up.  Our trip is on the August moon for the big ones.  And it really helps they are great people.

http://muskiebayresort.com/

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Several folks I know have fished a little in the last couple of days but I have not heard any reports.  I am real interested in how Voe did on Falcon the last couple of days.  I am impressed when anyone fishes out of a kayak, but fishing Falcon out of kayak is something, so I hope he figured it out.  The wind down there can be a hassle.

And I missed a day on the bay with Chris, who was wanting to fish the other day.  If he got the same thing as I did out of our guide trip he is wanting to put some of that knowledge to use up here.  It is big trout time wherever you are.

Last the Austin boys are down at POC this weekend.  I think there are 9 of them out of 2 boats for a wading extravaganza.  And as usual with that bunch the weather is going to crap while they are here.  I am hoping they wacked them as this front approaches in the morning.

I did meet a guy yesterday who has been catching trout in a small local river.  He had a pretty nice sack up to 20″ the other day, and said his last few trips have been good.  So our river fish are not done yet, guess that cold weather moved some more back up the river and creeks.  If the wind is blowing that is an option you might want to consider.

So if any of you have been catching anything drop me a line.  We all like to fish vicariously through other folks tall fishing tales.

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And to my father-in-law Jack, those knives you gave me this Christmas are sharp, as in I already cut myself washing dishes and trimming meat.  Those things are seriously sharp.  Wonder if they make a filet knife?

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And while I sit here whining about the fronts and the northers I got this from Terry up in Nebraska.  He sends us stuff occasionally, and he sent this the other day.  If you remember some of the ice fishing pictures he sent us this winter the weather was beautiful.  Well here is a little perspective on that weather.  The subject line in the email was “Don’t know what you are missing.”

Lucky man I am. Went to work at 8:00 nothing on the ground and at 10, 3 to 4 inches. Couldn’t see 281 from the store. Gotta love it!!! Third snow this month.

Guess all that good ice fishing does come with a price, which is that nasty old snow.  Can’t really say I miss it much.  Thanks for the picture.

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Again my thanks for hanging in there with us.  As soon as these little bumps in the road are cleared up (as in Tuesday) it will be springtime fishing.  The bass will be on the beds, the big female trout will be biting, and all will be right with the world.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

This is truly a south Texas cold front, or as they call them down here, a norther.  It blew in yesterday like a freight train while we were fishing, and we are feeling the effects today.  The wind has laid some but it is still out of the north, and it looks like it will struggle to see the 50’s today.  At least the sun came out a little while ago which should really help.  After that it will start to warm, and if the forecast is right, rain will be coming back to our forecast by the weekend.  Consequently I am home and bored.  At least there is fishing on, which I am watching while writing this.

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Chris is wanting to fish the Gulf Thursday and hopefully I will get to fish with him.  It will be interesting now that his has had time to think about how he felt about our guided trip.  I have hired few shallow or fresh water guides and have not really had the kind of luck I hoped for.  But the kind of luck I hope for is the kind of luck that only comes around occasionally, so it has more to do with my expectations, which is fishing beyond my wildest dreams.  And my other thought on hiring a guide is I really do enjoy figuring it out by myself.  For me it is all in the doing.

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Speaking of our guide trip Kevin sent these pictures from his camera to Jeff.

This fish made our trip.  Thanks to Kevin for sending these to Shoedog.

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It really was amazing how long it took me to get through all the baits in my tackle boxes.  Basically they all came out, fresh and salt, and were looked over, organized, and in some cases put in the done pile.  What took the longest was all the hard baits.  I lightly sanded them all to smooth them out, some I took all the way to a straight bone color, and then hooks and split rings if needed, which most of them did.  If I had to guess it looks like there were easily 100+ hardbaits.  But doing that job renewed a few, saved a few, and relegated a few to the retired pile.  In the end it definitely will save me some money and it is nice to have everything organized and ready to go.

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I got this question from Tim about Falcon and really had to think about it.

Just wondering if given the only times you could be there would you give me an idea from best to least? Jan. Feb. March April

Thank you

My order:

March – Post spawn but lots of fish still shallow, a few spawning.  Little chance for a serious norther as the month goes on.  Can probably fish as many different techniques as you want at this time.

February – Spawning, fish coming and going.

January – A good choice but so weather dependent.  A big north wind and it can be impossible to fish.  Not a ton of traffic, a good time to catch a real one.

April – to late, to hot.  (though I do not care about the heat)

Now those answers were totally dependent on the form of your question.  As far as I am concerned one of the best times to go is November.  That is when deer season opens and it is like someone pulled the plug on fisherman and let some of them out.  One of our best trips was then and we saw very few boats, considering what we have seen some trips.  And no matter when you go, go during the week, there is a tournament, or 4, every weekend all spring.  The decline of the fishing has reduced the traffic somewhat, but it is still a great place to catch that fish of a lifetime, and there have been a few real big fish caught in the last week.  (see website – and I should have a report from Voe by weeks end.)  Thanks for the question and feel free to comment anytime.  Since I am not an expert, or even a real beginner, here is the best place for up to date information on Falcon.   http://www.tackleandrods.com/lake/flash.htm

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Prep is starting for the Florida trip.  First it was 2 Penn reels to the Tackle Box in Victoria for repair.  The Penn International 975 is a light line high capacity level wind primarily used for sailfish and other smaller offshore fish.  I like to use it with 25lb line for tarpon.  It had been used so rarely over the years that when the button to cast stuck I was not surprised.  But other than a spring hitting in a couple of places it seems the grease got hard from little use.  That rarely happens with my reels.  The 7500ss spinning reel is a great all around spinning reel for tarpon and the likes.  It holds plenty of 20 or 25lb, and you can cast live bait a mile.  Both of these will be used for live bait.

The other reels I am using are Okuma levelwinds that can handle 50lb line.  They will get a work out at Boca Grande for tarpon and the Everglades on hopefully a Goliath Grouper.  I have seen some Goliaths caught on TV in the Everglades and that is one thing I would like to get done while we are there.  And while fishing Boca you need to get control of the tarpon immediately and try to move them out of the school, so 50 is a mandatory.  If you don’t get that done he might end up jumping in another boat, or tangling the heck out of you with other fish.

Then I went over the leader box with parts and lines and made a shopping list.  I make my own mono and steel leaders, depending on the application.  The good thing about going through all that is it is the very same preparation as it would be for Canada.  So once I get it all done the very same stuff will be used in Canada, minus the fluorocarbon leaders, which just won’t hold up to the muskie.  As a side note, I love making steel leaders out of the bleeding wire that is bright red.  We have been using that for several years now on our Canada baits and the red seems to help a little.

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That is my winter musing for today.  As far as fishing and the weather the next couple of days will dictate when and where.  If it works our I will either be digging a ditch or fishing, crazy choice huh?  But I hope to at least get on the coast for one day real soon, maybe give the Austin boys a fishing heads up before they get here and save them some time.  And if you have something to say, maybe been fishing, let us know, we would love to hear from you.  And if you are anywhere near Victoria and are catching some white bass in a local river or creek let me know.  I am always up for a day of that in the spring.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines