Fish Catching Travel

 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

Fish Catching Travel

I will give the weatherman the real props he deserves today.  He said it was going to be cloudy, maybe a little drizzle, then the temperature was going to drop like a rock and it was going to blow like the dickens at 10:30 this morning.  He was absolutely correct.

With the norther coming this morning Voe and I headed to Coleto to hopefully catch the bite right before the front.  We were hoping the weatherman would miss it by a few hours and we might get most of the day, but that was not to be.  The first thing we noticed when we got to the lake was it had come up another couple of inches.  And once the boat was in the water it was 61 degrees at the ramp, up several degrees from the other day.  As we headed up lake the water temperature kept rising and it was 65 up lake.

We began the morning on a big flat way up lake and I started with the Strike King Swim Jig and started catching them right away.  I told Voe last trip that I really liked the Lunker Lure Buzzbait so he had picked one up at Bass Pro.  On probably his 3rd or 4th cast he had a good one blow up on it.  With three or four in the boat already on the Swimming Jig, and now a big blow up on buzzbait, I couldn’t take it so out came the spinnerbait.

The first nice one on spinnerbait.

The fish were very active and wanted the spinnerbait buzzed.  I was making a big wake with the big rear willow leaf blade, some were getting it right on the bank, others right beside the boat.  Nothing like a 3 pounder hitting it like he means it right beside the boat.  The first couple short struck it so I put on a trailer hook and they started sticking.

Here is number 2.  They were not really big, just good solid fish.

With the forecast I knew it was not going to last to long, or at least we weren’t, so we started covering lots of water.

Voe caught several on white chatterbait with a swim bait trailer.

It was clear they were on the chew and we fished as fast as we could.  We had bites on topwater, Swimming Jig, spinnerbait, and topwater.  But the spinnerbait was the ticket and when one would come for it they ate it.

Nice solid fish who were just stopping that spinnerbiat.

I try not to trash particular baits, but I have to say something about the Booyah spinnerbait.  I had several break last fall and they were kind enough to replace them.  So I have not thrown it much this winter but today I was tossing the one already tied on my rod.  About the 3rd or 4th one I set the hook and came back with the knot.  The wire broke right at the eye, where the others have been breaking.  Since I throw it on braid, and run it a 100 miles an hour, I guess when they stop it in its tracks and I put the road to them the wire just can’t take it.  So take that for what it is worth.

The bite is on, we will have to see how this weather affects things.

The bite was great the first hour, then  stayed fairly consistent for another hour, and then we caught one here and there but it was slowing down.  Initially the wind was blowing about 15 out of the south, then about 9 it went calm, and I knew it was coming.  We fished a couple of more places, putting another 2 or 3 in the boat but it was obvious the front was starting to affect them.

Last nice one of the day.

About 9:30 there was a little drizzle with a light north wind so we put on our rain gear and it was time to head down lake.  I could tell it was about to get ugly and there was a bank down there I wanted to fish so we headed down lake.  I also wanted to be closer to the ramp when it finally did come.  So we ran down lake, dropped the trolling motor in the water, made a couple of casts, and here it came.   The wind was howling towards us and it hit like a freight train, and so did the cold.  It was a rough ride back in the wind and rain, and when we got it on the trailer the temp had gone from 72 degrees to 48 in the matter of 2 minutes.  Now that is a front.

So I am real happy we did not try to squeeze in a couple of hours at the Gulf today.  It would have hardly been worth it, plus, it was nice to see the water temperature up at the lake, the fish biting, and there were Tilapia everywhere.  It will probably take a few days to recover after this front but the fishing is improving.  There is a tournament Sunday and there should be a bunch of fish caught.  If you are fishing it be ready to boat around 20lbs, at least.  It could be something.

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After I posted those big fish Aaron caught the other day I got this from Evan.

Wow! Those are some real pretty bass!  Glad to know someone is doing good on those!  I was checking a property I have access to.  Its a nice little lake that has been benefitting from the recent rains.  The water is up and I’m headed out with a friend next weekend to see what we can do.  Its pretty muddied up though.  My chrome rat’l trap went down not even a foot before I couldn’t see it anymore. Any suggestions as to catching a bass out of muddy water? We’re gonna give it a go no matter.  Hopefully the water will clear up in 6 days. (Happens to be the same place as my duck hunting honey hole…..  So I’ll be crying a little because its still loaded with ducks!) *I’ll let you know how the fishing goes…. and how much I complain about the number of ducks on a day I can’t hunt them.

TPWD is just another government program.  It has its own agenda and they sell it to us with beautiful phrases that keeps us doing what we do:  Voting them in place and bitching about it.  I’m not sure what to do to stop it.

Government and Trust are two words never used in the same sentence in our house.

Have a great week sir.  Catch some big ones!

Evan

First, if the water stays off colored consider a Chartreuse chatterbait or even a black jig and frog.  Either high contrast or so dark they can see it.  It took a long time to sink in to my pea brain, dark colors dark days, light colors bright days, and black at night.  Always seemed counter intuitive.  I appreciate your occasional comments, and if you think my buddy Aaron had some nice fish the other day, check below.

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Aaron and Strike King, a dangerous combination.

Aaron who sent me the pictures of some really nice fish I posted the other day dropped me this note, he is back at it again.

I also went back the next day and had another 38-40lb day of my biggest 5.

All I have to say about that is, look at these girls!

One………

Two…………

Three…………

Four……

#5 and we have a limit!  When was the last time you caught a limit like this?

All I know is those fish up there in East Texas better look out as long as he is fishing.  Once that boy gets on them he is like a bird dog on a covey of quail.

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I will be tossing the Down South on the next Gulf trip.

Voe was headed to Falcon in the morning,  Aaron wants me to come up there, and I have a job in a couple of days helping a friend.  Helping out a friend takes priority so I had to miss both offers.  So what is coming the next couple of days is up in the air and I am not sure where, or how, I will be fishing.  One of the little lessons I learned last week with the guide is the second or third day after this nasty front will really put the big trout on the feed.  So as soon as this all shakes out I will be heading to the Gulf for some trout action.  I really want to try the Shimano Waxwing, and after Voe bringing one this morning he used on the Pacific Coast on Yellowtail and seeing how it was torn up, I can’t wait to try it.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

If it swims there is something here to catch it with.

Plastics for all conditions.

Fish Catching Travel

Yesterday was a get a few things done day, today it is a job I have been putting off for quite a while.  Getting every, and I mean every, bait out of every box, and both boats, and putting hands on each one.  Then it is hook replacement, sanding rust and imperfections off topwaters, cleaning what dirty baits that can be cleaned, and just general maintenance.  And of course there are a few lures being retired.  Those guys are headed for the garage sale at some point.  Besides making sure it all works right it is nice to have a fresh idea of just what I have and where it is.

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My buddy Aaron from East Texas, who works down here off and on, is back home in East Texas until the oil economy settles down some.  Until that time he is fishing.  He is not only a great bass fisherman, he is just a good all around fisherman.  So when I was on the way home from North Padre I got 4 texts from him in a matter of 15 minutes.  And without further ado here they are.

 This may be the fattest 5.8 I have ever seen.  What a hoss!

And this 6.2 is no small one either.

7.2.  They are getting bigger.

And the big girl for the morning at 8.3.  One good fish.

All these fish were part of around 12 big ones he took off one bank in nothing flat.  All were caught on a chatter style bait out of a small East Texas power plant lake.  He didn’t mention which one, and I did not ask, keeping with my policy of not sharing anything you don’t want me to.  Aaron can catch those bass, not to mention most any other fish that swims.  Thanks for the pictures Aaron.  l hope to make it up to Fork in the near future.

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I happened to be watching the Zona show, which I like, and he was fishing Perlas Lake on a private South Texas ranch.  That is the sister lake to the one that the TPWD decided it was ok to give some of our Share A Lunker fry, paid for by you and me, to a private ranch where folks pay an astronomical fee to fish for the weekend.  After that came out then there was some sort of agreement that it would not be fished for something like 10 years, and only  TPWD could have access to the fish.  Apparently either party can cancel the contract at anytime and TPWD can have the fish back.  Which as a retired attorney I call bulls&$t, but that is another issue.

Watching the show, and listening to the owner, I do not question his motivation.  He wants to grow big fish.  In fact, he is thinking out of the box and I appreciate his efforts.  But folks this is an example of how the rich have it made.  No matter how you shake a stick at it, he got a deal you and I can not have.  And to add insult to injury, the fishing is so expensive that the majority of Texans can never afford to fish there.  And looking at the way the property was constructed, at the owner’s expense, there was no reason in this world he should have been given our fish.  He clearly has the wherewithal to purchase whatever fry he needs from where ever.  I do not fault the owner in any way, but I have a hard time with TPWD doing sweetheart deals with our property.  Yes, those fish belong to us, not TPWD.

I consider this a symptom of an underlying problem with the game and fish boards in most states.  Generally they are appointed by the governor.  And if you look at the make of up the boards they are generally well off, politically connected, individuals.  In fact, it would be interesting if someone did a study on how many members of state fish and game boards gave money to the governor’s campaign.   I know I should not be so skeptical, but I find it hard to trust the very people we pay to manage our resource when things like this come to light.

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More I learned on the Baffin Trip

1.  The Capt. was throwing braid with a 20lb. Big Game leader.  So much for my theory that a 10lb. fluorocarbon leader would get more strikes.                                                                     2.  We actually ended up fishing exactly where I fished 2 of the last 3 times I was there.     3.  Water quality plays a huge part of fish location in that area.  It seems like they tend to move in mass if conditions dictate, and just because it is Baffin and all those famous spots does not mean they are there all the time.                                                                                      4.  When it got slow for us on the guided trip it was the same as it is when not guided.  In other words, we are not doing that much wrong when the bite gets tough.                              5.  Like I said, he did not fish slow, but thoroughly.  Part of that was if the topwater bite was not happening the switch to twitch baits was pretty quick.  In both location and lure selection there is a fine line between flogging a dead horse and giving up to soon.               6.  Bait, bait, and bait.  We fished around bait, end of story.                                                        7.  A winter front is proceeded by  a strong SW wind.  See tomorrow prior to the big front on late Monday.                                                                                                                                     8.  2cnd day after a really big chill go fishing, big trout eat.

The one thing that really left a good taste in my mouth after the guide trip is that at least I am fishing the right structure with the right baits.  Be it bars, points, edges, hard mixed bottom, whatever, those locations are consistent everywhere.  As usual it is the little things that separate the great ones from the rest of us.  There is so much to learn.  I am sure I will remember another thing or two and will put it up when I do.

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I have been intrigued by the Suspending Waxwing by Shimano.  A hard bodied bait it has an unusual wing on the nose that is supposed to make it a great subsurface walk the dog bait.  Apparently you can just crank it along and it will wander back and forth.  So I am really looking forward to giving it a try on those trout, and it should be a tarpon killer.  And trust me, the day I spend $17.00 on a bait is the day I am pretty confident it has real potential.

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I hope you all have a good weekend, and if you fish let me know, we love fresh reports.  It is back on the water for me.  Not sure where, but chasing those big trout got my juices flowing, just have to do a little map study and think about what I have learned.  Big trout are different animals, and the next couple of months is the time to catch one.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

The Shoedog, Chris, and I just got home from a 2 day fishing trip with Capt. Kevin Cochran.  We fished the Upper Laguna Madre, out of Bird Island on Pine Island National Seashore.  We fished a full day on Wednesday and a half day on Thursday, and a really good time was had by all.  As usual when we all travel together on these fishing trips it is an adventure.

When Chris first mentioned fishing with Kevin I was all for it so we decided to split a 2 day trip.  Of course Shoedog was all in, so I rented a small condo on the island and  we meet up with Kevin at 5 a.m. Wednesday.  Seriously?  5 in the morning, in February?  As I have long said, guess it is my guiding  background, if you are going to hire a guide, especially to learn, then shut-up and fish.  Do what you are told, it is the only way you can give the guide a failing grade for the day if things go poorly.  Just kidding.  On a serious note, if you think you know more than he does why hire him?

Our whole purpose was to learn more about winter trout fishing, and a little more about Corky fishing,  Who knows, we might even get lucky and catch a big one.  So it was across the Upper Laguna in the dark.  After a short ride we headed in to the shoreline stopping in about 3 foot of water and hopped over the side.  The bottom was a nice mix of rock, sand, and grass.  Kevin initially recommended tossing a topwater, and when that was slow, it wasn’t long before he said switch to the Corky.  Shortly after that Chris smacked one, and after a good fight netted a nice red.

That redfish ate that Corky.

While it was a trip to learn some about catching big trout we are just happy as all get out with these guys.

Kevin then boated a red close to that size, and also caught a couple of trout.  Before daylight I caught 3 on Corky, and I believe Shoedog caught a couple on Skitterwalk topwater.  None of those were what we were looking for.  I believe Kevin was throwing a Fat Boy Corky when he got a good bite.

Kevin with what turned out to be the best for the day.  This one went a hair under 5.

Now what makes fishing with Kevin so interesting is the size above is just getting there as far as he is concerned.  And he derisively calls redfish carp.  He is so into it that it is probably a waste of time to catch a red when he could be trying to catch  another big trout.  And as a side note, he has caught hundreds, that would be hundreds and hundreds 4-6, and hundreds over 7.  He is a trout catching machine.

As it broke daylight it was clear, warm, and for a long time, dead calm.  Are you kidding me?  Dead calm on the Laguna while here I am wanting to fish bad winter weather.  It is 75 degrees and dead calm.  Not the winter trip I had envisioned.  The whole purpose was to learn more about fishing winter time trout, but oh well, if you have taken many fishing trips out of town you know the weather not cooperating happens on fishing trips.  Luckily the next day it would straighten up.

For the rest of the first day we spot hopped, fishing shallow to 3+ feet deep.  It was the back side of a spoil island, then the area where the grass ended further off the bank, and a couple of different bars and drains.  Though we picked one up here and there, the big bite was first thing.  So we found out real quick what the 5 a.m. start was all about.

I did manage to get in the act a little.

Basically as soon as the sun came out for real, it was plastics. In fact as we were wading right after the sun peaked over the horizon I asked Kevin when he went to plastics.  His response, right now.  One thing that Kevin re-inforced in me was neutral or natural colors in the super clear water, more colorful for off-colored water.

So my only complaint was the weather, it was way to nice.  Hard to schedule clouds, light breeze, and drizzle all day, except when you are headed to the beach.  So after 8 1/2 hours we called it day one.

When we got  back to the ramp Kevin was concerned about the weather forecast.  He wasn’t trying to crawdad on us, as he said, because he did not want to go, he actually was very concerned that we might not do well with the big North wind that was forecast.  Of course we still wanted to go, bad forecast or not.  So we agreed to call him later after the latest forecast, which we did that night, and it was on for at least a half day on day 2.

For day one we caught over 20, but just did not get the big fish.  All of us missed a few, so who knows, one of us may have had the big bite and just didn’t hook up.  But with the weather conditions it did not surprise me.  We learned a lot, which I will get to after the report, and had a good time.  In fact, we were laughing after Kevin left the ramp as we put our stuff in the truck because if we had brought the boat we would have headed right back out.

Day 2

Again it was 5 in the morning and down the Laguna in the dark.  While the spotlight he was using to run was nice to help you see, probably it’s most important feature was keeping you from being killed by the huge flocks of Redheads that were scared up as we crossed.  A nice fat Redhead in the face at 35 mph probably leaves a mark.

To make a long story short, and as you know I am not good at that, the weather went like this.  Forecast one for Thursday – front blowing thru late at night hard with the wind jumping up to possibly 25.  That is the one that Kevin was concerned about.  Forecast two – wind increasing steadily until reaching 25 as the day went on.  So of course forecast number two was the one that convinced him to fish, and forecast number one was the reality.  Here is a couple of pictures of the arrival.

Here it comes, and the wind with it.

Cool looking as it came, this is the weather I was hoping  for.

It did not take long to blow in.

When we hopped out of the boat the wind was around 10 – 15 out of the North.  We spread out from the bank to out into 3 plus feet.  Until daylight Kevin had 8 bites, Chris several, and me and the Shoedog not a one.  And while those 2 caught some fish, they just were not what we were looking for.  Then here it comes and the wind started to blow.  Kevin switched to topwater and had a few big blow ups that did not hook up.  I had one actually rip the rod out of my hands, no exaggeration, right out of my grip.  Luckily I caught it before it went in.  I guess when I lifted up on the plastic and had the rod pointed right at the bait the fish was going the other way.  That has not happened to me in almost 25 years, and it was the fancy 3 ounce rod Chris wrapped for me, so I got real lucky.

Then I caught 2 on  consecutive casts, and missed another.  Meanwhile Shoedog, who had not had a bite on anything, put his old faithful Skitterwalk on and headed to shallow water by the bank.  Now keep in mind folks it is blowing hard with a pretty good chop when he saw one miss it, and when the topwater slid in the trough one exploded on it.

 Out of the water she comes.  26″ of fat girl.  That is what I am talking about.

This is what we came for.  5 3/4 lbs.

The Shoedog is a Skitterwalk fishing fool, and it is one of his favorite baits.  This fish made the day, and when we get to what I learned from this trip you will know why.  We moved one more time as the wind really started to blow and the water was getting more off colored by the minute.  Shoedog caught one more on top, and we called it a day.

Guessing, it was around 12 – 14 for the morning.  We missed a few that might have cut the big fish mustard, but who knows.  The Shoedog catching a good one at the last minute was fitting as it was the biggest trout he has boated yet.  We learned a lot and enjoyed the company.  And as far as I am concerned one of us catching a 5, and then a 6, on consecutive days, is just fine by me.  In my case, while I did not land a big trout, I know how that goes and really appreciate what I learned.  So what did we learn?

1. Like all big fish, you have to fish where they are.  The chance to catch this size and bigger go up exponentially on the Laguna.                                                                                                   2.  Kevin Cochran is a trout nutcase.                                                                                                 3.  If you want a guide to be your momma, or be nice just cause, he is not your man.          4.  If you want to add to your knowledge, and have a legitimate shot at a real trout, he is the bomb.  And anything we learned can be applied to anywhere you fish for winter trout.                                                                                                                                                              5.   Just because it is winter and the wind is blowing, unless the water temp is significantly below 60 degrees, do not put the topwaters away.  I can honestly say it would have never occurred to me to throw it as rough as it was this morning.                                                       6.  As you use a Corky in the winter think horizontal.  That is the correct presentation to keep it out of the grass or off the bottom in really shallow areas.                                              7.  You can fish the Corky faster and more erratic than I ever thought.                                   8.  A good rule of thumb is turning the reel handle in a diamond pattern, 1-2-3, using it to only take up the slack.                                                                                                                         9.  The Fat Boy Corky was clearly better than the standard Corky or the soft Mirr-O-Dine.  10.  If you want to catch big trout you need to be there before daylight, miss it by a half hour and you may miss it all.                                                                                                             11.  Fish thoroughly, but not really slowly.  And when the front comes keep moving and tossing, you have just a little time to get it done, they are eating.                                      12.  And if you catch a big one stay put, there can easily be more that size there.                   13.  This is not a meat haul, and you actually save money be not keeping fish.  What could be better than that.

As far as Kevin goes, he is a really great fisherman who can only be described as an expert at what he does.  Not only is he is a well know columnist, having  written multiple books and articles on trout fishing and conservation, he is an avid birder.  If you choose to fish with him, and I could not recommend it more highly, listen closely. There is information to be gleaned from him, that is what you are paying for.  A former teacher, teaching you how to improve your trout fishing is his primary motivation.  And if, or when, you catch a big one while fishing with him it is a bonus.  How much you absorb, and how you use it, is up to you.  It is rare you have a chance to experience spending the day with a true expert in any field, and a day with Kevin is exactly that.

That about covers it, at least as well as I can after getting up at 3:30 this morning.  I am sure there will be some other things come to mind later, especially about things I learned and I will share them with you as they come to me.  One thing that gives me comfort, we do not have that far to go, we are on the right track.  Fishing is an ongoing learning process and I really do like what I learned the last couple of days.  I know one thing, the next cloudy, warm, and drizzling or foggy day following a serious cold front you will find me wading the bay.  There is more to tell you but that will do for now.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Thanks for this pic Chris.  Wading the Laguna Madre as the front rolls in, seriously, could it be any more awesome?  Sweet shot and what a great day to be alive!

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Learn More about Capt. Kevin:  https://www.facebook.com/TroutTrackerGuideService