Fish Catching Travel

 Fish Catching Travel

Sometimes a person can lose perspective.  In my case it happens when I fish Coleto and we only catch a dozen, and none of them big.  I get to thinking that it just wasn’t worth a crap.  And that is exactly what happened yesterday.  But it was all put in the proper perspective when Voe, on the way home, said today was the best day he has had fishing Coleto.  It’s back to the old glass half full or half empty?

We started out right after daylight, and there was not a breath of wind.  For the first couple of hours we fished from down lake to up lake.  Because this was the first time Voe fished the lake with me I wanted to catch a bunch, so it was my best spots one after the other, and until around 11 we had only caught a couple, all on Strike King Swimming Jig.

Standard size for the day.

The water temperature was 58 – 61 over most of the lake.  You could tell they have not been releasing any warm water as the 61 was in front of the outflow cove in the Coleto arm.  When the water temp was combined with no wind it was slow until later in the morning.  By time it was over we found as high as 68 up the lake and that is where we had our best luck.

The biggest that made it in the boat, sort of.

I put another one in the boat that was quite a bit better than this, but I lifted her in and she broke my line, hit the deck, and swam off with my Swimming Jig.  Voe lost what looked to be another pretty good one, and I broke my line on one, so it might have been a little better than it seemed as far as bites went.

The fish had no preference as far as color of swim jig or style of craw, but swim jig was clearly the bait.  I finally caught one on topwater, and I believe Voe caught one on a curly tail grub and broke one off on the grub.  One thing that is different this year is the amount of grass that died.  If a person wanted to swim a grub, throw a big swim bait, or even an umbrella rig, there would be no better time on Coleto.  The grass is just starting to emerge in some places so there are lots of clean banks right now.

And we did fish 3 or 4 coves, but they are just not quite there in mass yet.  But with the water temperature coming up with the great forecast it could break open at any minute.  I have had a little trouble getting on them big time, but it will come.  And there was the other big sign that spring is coming, the alligators.  These super warm afternoons always bring them out.

 This time of year you can get close to them, just stay in the boat, ok?

These 2 have been in the same cove for the last few years and I often see them together.

We ended the day a little early so I could get home and get stuff ready for Baffin.  It was a dozen or so, 7 or 8 for me, and 5 or 6 for Voe, and if we had got it done like was should have it would have been a lot better than that.  But some days they end up in the boat, other days the fish win.  I know I broke off a good one and dropped another good one in the lake with my Swimming Jig, both rookie mistakes.  But it happens.  I have enjoyed fishing with Voe the last couple of days, and we will be fishing together in the future.

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When I posted the picture of my buddy Clyde’s pickerel I didn’t have any background on it.  Clyde dropped me this comment and I just had to let you see it.

The story behind the pickerel picture:Maria picked up a Virgin Mary statue on our way fishing;she put it in the back of the van with our fishing rods,it won’t fall over!,first turn over it goes;It didn’t break anything honey!We stop at the house and put it in the yard;off we go to the Spring River,my first cast at the second place we stop I catch that pickerel;after photographing it I notice my TFO rod is broke 2 inches from the tip ;right where the Virgin Mary landed;I still haven’t had the heart to look at my fly rod;you gotta luv em don’t ya? You know  I do;she luvs to fish and that’s a hard one to find

Over the years my buddy Clyde has broken a thing or two, remember the trailer from hell story from Canada last year?  By the way if you haven’t, search it on the blog, great story.  But of all his stories this takes the cake.  The Virgin Mary broke his rod.  You sure you haven’t done somebody wrong bro?  You crack me up.

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I got this perfect lead in from Jaime:

Good luck in Baffin.  Is Peterek your guide? If so he is one of the best. Thanks for the reports.

He is not our guide, but you are the second reader to mention him.  But thanks for the comment.  Can’t wait to see how it all comes out.

When you fish a lot, whether the weather is your friend, or your enemy, it is always there.  The reason I was all about hiring the guide at this time of year was to learn how to find the bigger trout during cold weather.  You know, cold, cloudy, ugly, all that.  Of course it is going to be absolutely beautiful, the opposite of what we were expecting.  As warm as it’s going to be we might even get a good topwater bite.

So out the door I go.  Shoedog and I will pick up Chris and off to North Padre.  Of course a trip to Roy’s Bait and Tackle, and a seafood dinner or two, are also on tap.  We will be meeting the guide in the morning out of Bird Island Basin and we shall see.  If the internet is good where we are staying I will try to get a post up each day, one way or another.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

 A tough bait for tough days.

Fish Catching Travel

I finally felt good enough to give it a go so I picked up Voe and we headed to POC.  A fairly new transplant to Victoria he is just learning to fish the Texas salt, to bad I did not add much to his fishing knowledge today.  He has lots of experience offshore, but our flats fishing is new to him.

The wind was already getting a head of steam up when we launched about 7:15, and I was not surprised there was only a couple of boats in the parking lot at Froggie’s.  So we headed to Big Bayou.

The water temperature was 58 degrees and it had a little color to it.  We only fished a couple of places and other than a small trout and flounder it was slow.  The water was not moving yet so we headed up to the Oil Cut to get out of the wind and try to put some fish in the boat while waiting for the tide to move.  We fished quite a bit of it, and I did manage to put a keeper trout in the boat.  We also caught one more small trout in there, but just could not find them.

We were fishing the bank as we headed to the back of one of the dead end arms when a boat idled right past us, stopped in front of the drain right down the bank, and dropped anchor right in the middle of the finger.  But keeping with the pledge to myself to not let that stuff get to me we just pulled up the trolling motor and moved on, but they were a couple of inconsiderate pieces of crap.  That is one of the reasons I generally do not fish the weekend anywhere near POC.

The water finally started to drop so we headed back down to Big Bayou to throw the Redfish Magic.  Though what I caught earlier was all on the Down South plastics, the wind was blowing hard enough that it was difficult to fish plastics out of the boat.  So it was time to try and boat some reds.  The second place we stopped Voe finally hooked up with a redfish that would have measured.

This fish jumped it the minute that Redfish Magic hit the water.

               The Redfish Magic lives here.          

So we wrestled this one to the boat, took a quick pic, and then got the boat back to where he hooked that fish and I made a cast.

Love that Redfish Magic.

Now things are really starting to look up.  2 casts, 2 reds, looking good.  From that point on we got very few bites the rest of the day, which in this case ended up being about 2:30.  Even though both of these came on the Redfish Magic, the last few came on the Down South as we could not get any more bites on the spinnerbait.  With the wind blowing like it was it was just plain tough.

Around 1 the boats started coming back in on a regular basis, always a bad sign.  We kept after it for a while but it just was not happening for us.  I hit a few of my go to spots, and came up empty.  So with the day heading downhill fast I called it a day.

Our total was 1 flounder (small), 5 trout ( 1 keeper), 3 reds (2 keepers), and 1 stinking Sheepshead.  Plastics were better than the spinnerbait for bites and numbers, but today that was like saying a poke in the eye is a lot better than a punch in the gut.  I am sure I could have fished better, but it was one of those days that just was not happening, at least for me.  When we got back to the ramp there was a little more evidence it may not have been the day as the parking lot was emptying out quick.  It has been awhile since I saw that few trailers on a Sunday afternoon.

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This is totally random, so here it is.

Clyde and his first pickerel. 

All I got with this picture was “first pickerel, Spring River”.  That is one of the cool, small, spring fed rivers in North Arkansas.  It is a good place to fish and an even better place to canoe.  So I am not sure what he was doing there, or what he was fishing for, but it is cool as I did not know there were pickerel in Arkansas.  So thanks for the pic.

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Though the fishing left something to be desired we had a good time.  So with that in mind we will be heading to the lake in the morning for a shorter trip.  Then it will be home for me and getting ready for Baffin.  Looks like it is going to be warm and sunny.  What that will mean to the fishing I do not know, but I can’t wait to find out.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Here I am, sitting in my chair watching fishing, not fishing.  Why?  Because after my wife kidnapped me for a day or two since I last posted I managed to get what appears to be a case of the flu.  I am one of those folks who got the flu shot, and it may have actually worked, to a point.  So I am sick, but not completely wrecked.  But tomorrow I am going fishing hell or high water.  I can only take so many days in the house, and this is enough.  I can not remember the last time I did not fish for a week.  If you have been stopping in for a report, sorry, I will get that remedied ASAP.

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I got a picture from a friend who shall remain nameless to protect the innocent.  What innocents?  These guys –

And he didn’t even get all of them in the picture.

I have seen a flock of turkeys or two in my outdoor life, but this takes the cake.  He said they have lots more than this on their ranch.  Who knows, I might even be able to kill one with that many turkeys out there.

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I got this note from Keith and thought I would share it with you.

Hope you have a great Baffin trip, I have had many good trips with Captn. Chad Paterek down there.  Most recent one was the day after last years super bowl.  Don’t think I ever want to be that miserable again.  Very cold and very windy that day but Chad made us get out and get’em.   looking forward to hearing about your Baffin adventure and also which guide you went with.
Keep up the good work.

Looks like our weather will be long way from that, with lows in the 50’s and highs in the 70’s.  Not often you will hear me complaining about that weather in the winter, but I actually hoped the weather would be a little more like you experienced.  The reason we set this for February was to help expand our winter trout fishing knowledge.  Now I can catch them in the winter, as they tend to gang up, and once you find them you are in business.  But those are not the fish we are after.  We hope to learn about big trout and how to target them in the winter.  Do not get me wrong, I hope we catch lots of big ones, but it is the knowledge we are after.  Thanks for the commen Keitht and nice to know you are out there and reading this stuff.

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Larry Dahlberg is one of the best all around fisherman in the world.  He fishes many places for most everything that swims.  He just said something that is so simple, yet can be one of the toughest things for most fisherman to digest.

Fish are where they are, not where you wish them to be.

That is so true.

In fact, Buck Perry, the father of structure fishing, simplified it even more 50 years ago with the following statement.

The fish are deep, shallow, or somewhere in between.

We often leave the ramp with a preconceived notion of where we will find them.  It may be where we caught them yesterday, or  it might be based on seasonal or current weather conditions.  The ability to be flexible, to change when things are not working out, to listen to the fish, is one of the basic secrets to success.  To bad something so simple can be so difficult at times.

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Tomorrow it is the Gulf, then maybe Monday again.  Then we leave Tuesday for Baffin to fish Wednesday and Thursday, so the reports should be coming hot and heavy.  I really appreciate all of you who kept stopping in, even though there has not been much lately, that will improve as I do, promise.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Plastics that catch fish!

 Fish Catching Travel

Every once in a while things just conspire against me as far as the fishing goes, and the last few days have been exactly that.  It is still lightly drizzling as I write this Wednesday morning, though we got well over a half inch the last 2 days that we so desperately need, so no complaints.  And then the big thing, we are doing our taxes today.  Talk about a way to get your blood pressure up.

One of the things that drives me nuts is how much our real estate taxes have climbed in Victoria County.  My property taxes have gone up astronomically the 6 years I have been here.  During the election last year our new County Judge said early on that he would lower taxes.  He stated that in the primary, now lets see if he is a man of his word or just another blow hard.  I will believe it when I see it.  It really chaps my you know what when they reassess the value of property in our county without actually doing anything.  It is a money grab, plain and simple.  And with the potential for the oil cutbacks in our area, will they reassess my home as property values decline?

And one last word on taxes and politics.  As my wife is an independent business we pay quarterly taxes.  I love how on all the forms it is euphemistically called a contribution.  A contribution is something you make to your church or a charity.  What we pay would be more properly defined as a strong-arm robbery.  It is just hard to take when I want to be fishing but have to see the ugly truth.  There is no way I am getting my monies worth from what they took from us.  So sorry for the rant, I try to keep politics and other similar issues out of this, but seeing it in black and white is just plain ugly.

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 Oyster Leasing

The following is a quote from an article in the Victoria Advocate concerning an 23,000 acre oyster lease given out by a navigation district to one oyster fishing company in Galveston Bay.

An oyster wholesaler’s attempt to privatize 23,000 acres of Galveston Bay could change who owns the bottom of Texas bays.

This is the kind of crap that drives me nuts.  (Sorry, guess I am just having a bad government day.)  Who owns the bottom of Texas bays?  We do.  Not a navigation district, not TPWD, and definitely not some oyster company.  This is another example of a government agency doing whatever it pleases with no thought of the potential repercussions, or what we the citizens of this state might want.  Read my lips – we the people own it and you bureaucrats are simply stewards, it is not yours to do with as you please.  And what is next, no fishing over the leased area, keep out signs?  Not only do I have a problem with a government entity overstepping it bounds, but this also sounds like a sweetheart deal let out without bids that needs some looking into.

http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2015/feb/03/legal-storm-brews-over-23000-acre-oyster-lease/

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Goblin Shark

This thing is just crazy looking.  We know a lot more about what is above the surface of the ocean than what is below.  And there is a world of funny looking things living down there that we know very little about.

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/nature/post/rare-goblin-shark-caught-australian-trawl-net/

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At least someone is fishing, and Terry in Nebraska is still sacking them up on the ice.

Another day on the ice! Waxies and teardrops. We were a little pickier on what we kept. We sorted thru 69 and kept our 30 fish limit. Justice (first picture) is the son of Jim Hardin who took over Shoedogs store in College Station. Justice manages or store in Kearney Nebraska. Today was his 24th Birthday. Nice way to celebrate don’t you think? Sunny and at least 45, bonus little or no wind. Keep the lines wet and tight!!!!

Happy Birthday!

Terry don’t need no stinkin’ coat, he is only ice fishing.

A nice limit of gills’ headed to a fish fry.

Nice job guys.  With the weather you have had the last week or so you should have ice a while longer.  Thanks for the report.

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Tomorrow it will be back on the water for a couple of days this week.  Then it is off to Baffin early next week for the big guide trip.  So fishcatchingtravel.com is getting back on track.  So thank for sticking with me.  Keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

     Home of the best bass fishermen on the planet.    

Fish Catching Travel

Hope you all enjoyed your Super Bowl Sunday.  It was a heck of a game with a surprising ending.  It sure will give all the Monday morning quarterbacks out there something to hash out.  I am sure I am not the only one who thought that they would hand it to Lynch 3 times from the 1 and it would be over.  But that is why they play the game.

On another football note, Johnny Football checked into rehab last week.  There is no word on what for, other than I am sure it is to cure the “Party Disease”, which I think he had a case of.  And if they can also treat the swollen head syndrome maybe, just maybe, Johnny can get it screwed on straight.   It would be sad if he joined the Vince Young, Jamarcus Russell, Ryan Leaf crowd, and was a wash out.  Sad when some folks waste what for the rest of us would be the chance of a lifetime.  So stayed tuned for the next chapter.

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After some great weather a fresh cold front reminds us it is still February.  So this morning it is clear, cool, and the north wind is blowing cold, in other words not real pleasant.  So I decided to not fish today, instead my buddy Chris and I are headed to the bay tomorrow, specifically the Cedar Lake area.  The plan is for some wading and he thinks he knows a couple of spots that should produce, so stayed tuned for that report tomorrow.  And of course right before I was going to post this the rain probability has risen from 30% the other day to 80% tomorrow, which sounds like rain.  Then 1 minute later Chris sends me a text and he is not feeling well.  So there you go, tomorrow is back to a we will see day.

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I did take yesterday before the game to do my occasional tackle go-through thing.  I got all the saltwater stuff out and checked it over, put line on a couple of the rods, and just basically made sure it was as organized as it could be.  Also made sure that all the wading stuff was organized too.  With the big Baffin trip a week away it is time to start thinking about that trip.  The one concession I am making as far as line goes is I will have fluorocarbon line on the rods I am taking.  If we are going to be fishing big trout with a big trout guide, I want to give myself every possible advantage.  I have hired a couple of guides in the US over the years, and most of those experiences have been disappointing, so lets see how this one goes.  If nothing else there will be a good story no matter what happens.

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Today I am trying to nail down our Florida trip.  Being lucky enough to take a couple of trips a year to cool places the thing I find the most stressful is making sure that the accommodations are what we need.  It has always amazed me when traveling most of Florida, lots of Texas, with a few other Coastal destinations thrown in, how hard it is to find a perfect place for those of us who trailer a boat.  Good electricity access, ability to park the boat without un-hitching, freshwater rinsing, access to ramps, it all matters.

We have had some issues over the years. but nothing tops the one place I would never set foot on again – Marco Island.  My Aunt Nancy (A lifetime Floridian.) always said Sanibel Island is where the people are rich and don’t want you to know, and Marco Island is home to folks who are sorta rich and want you to know it.  My favorite thing about Marco was there were condos where pickup trucks are not allowed in the parking lot, much less a boat.  Of all the places in Florida I have been it was by far the least fisherman friendly.  Basically an island full of jerks if I do say so myself.

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As I write this I am watching a fishing show and the guy just said he likes to fish the ramp areas where there have been tournaments and fish are released.  God are you kidding me?  That is your plan?  That is the depth of your fish locating prowess?  At least you had the fancy boat wrap and the cool clothes on.  I have always wondered how people like that get a TV show.

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You look at most lure packages now and almost none are made in America.  So when I started using the Down South it never occurred to me to read the package.  Once I finally did I was happy to see that they are made in Austin.  These plastics were developed by a guy who is a fisherman, and he developed them to catch fish.  As with all great baits it was made to catch fish, not fishermen.  Funny how when a bait is designed to catch fish, and it works, it ends up catching plenty of fishermen.  So if you have not tried some yet, do it.  You have my word, if you get it around fish it will catch them.  Period.

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I am looking for a couple of replacement locators, a small one for the trolling motor on the LTS, and a smaller GPS/locator combo for the Skiff.  In the last couple of years I have not had all that good a luck with electronics, and it seems like every 3 or 4 years I am replacing another one.  I like the new Hummingbird on the LTS, but at times it has a problem finding our location.  It happens often enough I called them and you know what the lady at Hummingbird told me?  It can take up to 20 minutes.  Huh!  That should be real helpful in the Everglades.

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Sorry for the rambling, I promise fishing reports are coming this week.  If not tomorrow, then the day after.  I will be having serious withdrawal by then.  And lets hope if it rains me out tomorrow it rains enough to make a dent.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

                  Check out the Swimming Jigs and Rage Craws.                     

Fish Catching Travel

It was really foggy this morning, and the boss wasn’t feeling to good, so after that all got straightened out it was time to hit the lake.  By time I dropped the boat in the water it was 10:30.  The water temp was 65 at the ramp, 76 at the mouth of the out flow cove, and as low as 64 degrees way up lake.  And the water has come up an inch or two, so maybe with a little luck we will get that rain this weekend and continue the upward trend.

As I write this I am watching Championship Match Fishing, which I really like.  I like the format, basically catch them as fast as you can until they tell you to quit.  So while big fish are great, catching them without stopping is the way to go.  Well today I wish I had been  fishing in that style of tournament.

Let the Strike King Swimming Jig bite begin.

I started in the cove right above the bridge throwing a topwater.  I had several hits near the point, but the cove itself was a bust, as most of them were today.  So up the lake I worked, including stopping at the point we whacked them on the last trip, and just could not got anything going on the topwater.  The water was off color the further up I went so I finally settled down to throwing the Swim Jig until I finally found some.

No real big ones today, but boy did they bite.

The fish were on long straight banks with grass on the bank.  It was a steady retrieve, and most of the fish came out of 3 foot of water.  Some of them smacked it, some knocked a bunch of slack in it, and others swam with it sideways.  But no matter how they hit it, they were eating it.  About half were like the ones in the pictures, the other half smaller.  I had one come off some rocks that I should have gotten the hook in, I am sure that was a big one.  But other than that it was like they all came out of the same mold.

And bite……………..

and bite.

Of the 3 coves I fished in only one did I catch a few fish.  And those I caught in the coves came on topwater, and were all small.  They are just not quite in the coves in mass yet.  It was clearly a Swim Jig on the main lake kinda of day, and once I stayed with that the bite was on for the rest of the afternoon.

They were choking on the Swim Jig.

Other than replacing a couple of craws I used the same Black/Blue 1/4 ounce Swimming Jig all day.  It was paired with a watermelon red Rage Craw, which is my favorite color in almost every plastic.  It swims best for me on 12lb. mono at a moderate retrieve.  And I can not stress enough how if you tip some grass, or anything else, speed it up, or drop it, but just do something different, that is what makes them eat it.

The big girls are not to far behind.

This was a chunk.

Most of my bites came on long straight banks with some deep water close by.  But the real hot spot was what we call the swings, where the channel swings away from the bank and it starts to flatten out.  The perfect spot was sitting in 6 foot of water and just able to reach the bank.  And of course that is where the fish are headed, to the flats, if they are not headed into a spawning cove.

All males turning out early for happy hour.  It is not quite Ladies’ Night.

It was one of those days were I didn’t bother to keep count, partially because once you got a bite you were sure to get another, or several in the same area.  They are so ready to make the big shallow move, and if it stays warm we should get a big migration to the bank on the next moon.  And I am starting to see a lot of Tilapia back in the pockets, so we are close.  Of course we are so weather dependent during this period, and while they could be knocked back by another big cold front, the urge to spawn is strong and the good bite is just around the corner.

Wish I had taken the big camera today, almost every cove protected from the wind with the sun shining in it was full of alligators and Tilapia.

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The 2015 Crab Trap Cleanup is set for February 21 thru March 2 when the season is closed and any trap is considered abandoned.  The big day is set for February 21st, but any trap you find during this period can be picked up and taken to the dumpsters that will be set up at major ramps.  So even if you don’t participate on the big day if you see a trap anytime during this period pick it up and trash it.

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Though a chef I’m not, I do enjoy cooking and do quite a bit of it.  So when the Boss brought me a Christmas present back from her trip, and it was a set of knives from her dad, I was all about it.  They are nice and sharp, one of my pet peeves.  And it will let me retire some that need it.  Nothing more frustrating than a cheap knife that will not take an edge.  So thanks Jack.

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I continue to hear, and read, spotty Gulf reports.  It seems the only thing that remains somewhat stable is the redfish bite.  Trout continue to be a hit or miss thing.  But with the water temp barely topping 60 degrees that is not particularly surprising.  So I am not sure what the plan will be as the Gulf is up next.  But I do know that my last trip left something to be desired in the size department.

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I have always been somewhat ambivalent about buying the extended warranty, but have done it on my last 3 engines.  And we have used it on all three of them.  I am picking up the Carolina Skiff today and it has saved me some money, which is always nice.

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There you have it for today.  Not that I would ever promote gambling, but we got our Super Bowl numbers in the big-bucks pool, and they really suck.  I can actually count on one finger the number of times we have won, and one win may be an exaggeration.  I am not sure why we continue to fund other folks in pools, and our luck with raffles is no better.  So enjoy the Super Bowl, even if like my lovely wife you really only watch it for the commercials.  Keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

               The Redfish Magic lives here.               

 A tough bait for tough days.

Fish Catching Travel

The Boss got back in town after visiting her family up North so we had breakfast together before I hit the road to the Gulf.  The forecast was for light winds and when I got to Froggie’s about 10:30 it was dead flat calm.  I haven’t seen it like that in a while.

The water temperature was 58 degrees and had a light tinge to it.   Since it was just a fish for fun day it was nothing more serious than my usual milk run.  And though that milk run has been good to me lately, today it left a little something to be desired.

This says it all about the day.

That was the first trout I caught today, he choked on that Down South.  Unfortunately  it did not get any better.  It was 5 trout in Big Bayou and 3 in the Oil Cut, all small, and not even a bite in the couple of other places I stopped.  And as far as reds went, they are still around the docks in Big Bayou depending on the tide, and are scattered in the Oil Cut.  But the 5 or 6 or so I caught were all really small, not even  close.

It was small ball all day long.

Thanks for the bite but where is your momma?

The tide was extremely low and not moving when I got there.  The water really did not start moving until after 4, and it was just really getting going when I quit at 5.  I figured as the water came up they should get on the Redfish Magic, but they were so not there or not interested.  I think the water temp only reaching 60 after a really warm day had a lot to do with the bite.

So basically it was a one here and one there, with no real pattern to it.  Probably the only consistent place to get a bite was in front of a drain where it had gotten so low there was no water coming out, if that makes sense.  I can not tell you how many I caught, somewhere in the 15 range or so, but I can tell you only one of the trout would have measured, and nothing else.  I did break one off in a dock that I never saw, and lost what looked like a pretty good trout.  Otherwise it was small and smaller.

What did I learn today?  Wish I knew.  I know one thing, the water being flat like it was did not help, and it really did not warm up like I thought it would.  But it won’t be long.  And days like today just make me more determined to figure it out.  But hey, I was fishing.

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I heard from Matt and it actually made me feel better.  Sunday was tough in Keller, plain and simple.

I was wondering if you went to Keller.  I was there Sunday morning too, mostly boat riding because everywhere I went was messed up by the wind.  I did manage 1 dink trout by the boat ramp in that fresh looking water while waiting on a boat to load up.

At least you caught one, I didn’t have a sniff.  Thanks for commenting and reading my stuff.

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As I was driving home, and seeing all the animals in the high fence areas around POC, it dawned on me, the state owns a good chunk of this now.  My point of that is I have a slight problem, not a huge one, with high fence.  So let me explain myself a little more.

If you own it, you have a right to do with it as you please.  As long as you are not harming others, if you want to high fence, help yourself.  And I have a real appreciation for the time, money, and effort, that goes into developing a property into a hunting paradise.

But I just feel a little funny about fencing animals in.  It seems somehow wrong to restrict the animals movements which are dictated by the various conditions that affect them.  And the mixing of the gene pool, as opposed to genetically altered bucks, is the way it has worked for all time, and it is a good system.

So with that, the State should open the fences in some places on the Powderhorn Ranch and let some of the stuff mingle.  I know this won’t happen, but I like the thought.  It will be interesting to see how the Ranch is administered and how the hunting is played out.  A great place for all the citizens of Texas, or one of those places the rich and connected hunt and the rest of us wonder how they do that.

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I am starting to get excited about our trip with the big shot guide.  Baffin in February with a real pro, it has potential.  And it will be interesting to learn how he gets it done. In a little less than 2 weeks it will be 2 days of hardcore wading in the big trout capital of the coast.  Can’t wait to see how that turns out.  Until then I will keep slugging it out and will be there when they start to really bite this spring.  Tough days just increase my resolve, so keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Check out the KVD jerkbaits at Strike King.   

 Fish Catching Travel

I loaded up the boat Sunday morning and headed to Keller Bay.  I don’t know what I was thinking.  In spite of my best intentions I misjudged the wind, and I knew when I got there.  But I thought I would hit at least a place or two so in the water I went.

The wind was blowing right down the mouth, so I headed for the South shoreline where there was some protection and made a wade.  I actually covered a good bit of it, working from the shoreline to out over 3 foot deep.  And over 2 hours I had no bites, not even a close call.

The water temperature was 52 degrees, and other than on that protected shoreline, the bay was beginning to color up.  I tried to fish the good redfish bank at the mouth but the wind was blowing right down it and it was muddy.  So I headed back to Olivia, and by time I got there the wind had really picked up and the whole North side was getting off colored and was really rough.  So after 3 hours I put it back on the trailer and called it a bad day.

It was simply a matter of me choosing the wrong bay for the wind conditions.  And one thing about Keller, if the wind is an issue, it is a bigger issue on the open bay.  Keller is one of those places you kind of commit to for the day.  And I just didn’t have it in me to make a big boat ride.

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Today though was an all together different day.  Shoedog met me at Fayette County Lake outside of Gonzales for what is a every few month thing, to go throw jerkbait on Fayette.  We have had a few tough days, we have caught well over a 100 several times, and we inevitably catch some good fish.  Fishing Fayette can spoil you.  Being a slot lake, when you get them figured out it can be a thing of beauty.

My first fish of the morning.  A real representative of the slot fish in this lake.

Though Shoedog got off to a quick start with a nice fatty, it was a fairly slow morning.  We caught one here and one there.  I alternated with a KVD Jerk Bait, a Swim Jig, and a couple of different square bill crankbaits.  Shoedog stayed with the jerkbait, and after a while we figured it out a little.  You could jerk it hard, but you had to pause between jerks.  And it was also clear the KVD I was using, which was a Blue/Chrome in the medium size, was what they wanted.  Shoedog switched to the medium 3 hook black back Suspending Rogue, and from then on it was pretty much even.

What we call a Fayette Fatty.

As most of the grass is dead, and some might just be emerging, it wasn’t our usual grass beds fish in 5 foot of water.  But the rest was classic, back end channel bends and secondary points inside the coves.  We might have caught one at or near the mouth of a cove, or on a main lake point, but that was it.  The rest were about half way back in the coves on points and bends.

We kept the boat in 6 – 8 foot of water, and it seemed like most of our bites came in 2 – 4 feet of water.  We were giving it a pretty good jerk, but you had to let it set a few seconds before you jerked it again.  They were not knocking the crap out of it by any means but you could feel them tick it.  I think the 58 degree water temp combined with almost no wind had them off, so some of the bites were tricky.

Fayette will spoil you.  When catching 18 like this is so-so you know you are spoiled.

Before we quit about 4:30 we both ended up catching 9.  I was surprised the Shoedog wanted to quit, he is usually one for catching that one more, to make it an even number.  We caught 18, lost several each, and missed several more.  So the action was fast enough to keep your attention.  We rarely have a bad day there, some are just better than others, and today was one of those.  But again how spoiled can we be?

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On the menu every day at the bay.

So next it is back to the bay on Wednesday.  Another day of 75 degrees, and nights only getting into the 50’s, should really help the water temperature at the bay, and consequently the fishing.  And I really want to wash the bad taste out of my mouth from the other day at Keller Bay.  it is not often that I give up that easily.  Once I get there I usually make a day of it, it is 110 mile round trip and I want to get my moneys worth.  It will up early and off to have another go oat it on Wednesday.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

A Redfish Magic and

                 a handful of Down South plastics, all you need for a day on the bay.

 Fish Catching Travel

Our front has cleared after 3 days of clouds and some rain.  We did not get a ton of rain, but the creeks are full and there was some standing water in the ditches.  So we are off to a much better start to our rainfall this year.  And the sky is clear as a bell, and it will be warming fast this afternoon.

I have a few things to do today, then it will be off to the bay for some fishing in the morning.  Wading is on the menu, it is just hard to decided where.  Even though I got a poor report on Keller Bay last week, I think that is going to be the place.  One thing I have always liked about Keller is it has both good trout territory and several redfish banks that have historically produced for me.  In fact the biggest redfish to ever come over the side came in Keller Bay.

The tide will be out and maybe just starting to move when I get there, and will be coming up in some form or other most of the day.  So bank selection will be extra critical.  My best guess will be starting on a long main bay bank with a good drop with some grass in around 3 foot of water for the trout.  It is the perfect set up for throwing corky style baits.  Then it will be get the Redfish Magic out and go to thrashing on some redfish.  Of course like all good fishing plans, it is subject to change.  The only thing not subject to change is that I am going.

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I heard from one of my regular readers who sent me this.  There is a place in my heart for the giant string of catfish I caught as a child on Lake Tsala Apatka in Florida.

Fishing Moccasin Slough 1947

To get there we had to carefully walk across a scary bridge on Lake Tsala Apatka, carrying  cane poles, and a bait can filled with wriggling night crawlers.  Daddy carried the bucket he was sure we’d fill with fish for supper.  The bridge which could support automobile traffic was not yet constructed. Momma carried Linda Lue, my youngest sister.

The walk across the bridge nearly scared the daylights out of me. Even though the surface of the lake had a thick green cover of water hyacinths covered with purple flowers, on a windy day roiling waves could reach the boards of the bridge. 

After the slow, careful trek across the bridge, we’d step into a narrow path. Our feet sunk into the white sand of Central Florida.  Gray Spanish Moss covered huge liveoak trees. At the edge of the slough we’d see a baby alligator or two. Copperhead moccasins always swooshed across the dark green of the Slough’s surface.  We were warned about the brilliantly colored snake slithering away into the woods. It may or not have been a Coral Snake, carrying  lethal poison in its bite, but we were to take no chances.

The eldest of three girls, I was charged with putting worms on hooks for my younger sisters.  I was eleven years old, Nancy was seven, Linda Lue was five.  The stifling heat and humidity of our home in Citrus County, just 19 miles from the Gulf, was tempered by shade from the oaks and moss.  I seldom wore shoes when not at school or church, but these visits to Moccasin Slough were an exception!

In the bucket where we were to put fish we caught, Daddy always stashed bacon grease and a cast iron Skillet, with lots of farmer matches to make a fire.  We ate the fish with white bread Momma had in her pockets – Daddy said he’d eaten enough old cold biscuits on the South Georgia farm where he was raised to last him a lifetime, so white bread was the order of all our meals.

I watched critters along the banks of the Slough, copperheads and ugly needle-nosed gars glide across the water, and my bobber.  A high state of excitement ensued when I got a bite and the bobber started bobbing.  I caught bream with what looked to me like streaks of sunlight on their sides.  Once in a while a small catfish or mullet from the muddy bottoms of the Slough would attach itself to my hook.  

Before dark it would be time to walk back across that creaky, scary bridge.  Daddy would pour a Bucket of murky Slough water over the ashes of his fire, where he’d buried fish guts and trash.  We were taught to clean up after ourselves, both on the banks of the Slough and at home.

Often in my sleep I’d see a bobber a-bobbin’, feel the mixture of fear of falling into the Slough and being bitten by a snake or devoured by an alligator along with the thrill of pulling my sunfish up onto the bank.

So much of life seems to hold that mixture, a tension between the fear of danger and the joy of adventure.  I discovered – and learned to deal with it – on the banks of Moccasin Slough.

Of course this story also holds a little more meaning to me personally.  This is from my most loyal reader, my mom.  And to think that her dad, my grandpa, took her there fishing, and then over 20 years later took us as kids when we visited.  I have since driven by the lake, and it is as beautiful as I remembered, and it still is Old Florida.  As with everywhere, there is not a lot of the old left.  But if you love big trees, dark water, and Spanish moss, this area of Central Florida is as close to Old Florida as you can get.  Thanks for the memories Mom.

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 I am off to do some cleaning on the truck and then some organization of the saltwater tackle.  It is amazing how disorganized tackle gets after a couple of days of fishing.  I haul around enough crap that it looks like I might fear there will never be any more tackle, when in actuality I fish about 4 baits on the Gulf.  Down South plastics, Strike King Refish Magic, a corky style bait, and  a topwater covers most of my days on the salt.  I could probably get by with 2 of each most days, but hauling around all that tackle must make me feel secure. 

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 The tackle is organized, so is the boat.  The forecast looks great, so it will be an early morning wind check and then off to the bay, Keller I hope.  I intend to fish the corky style baits for a good stretch in the morning.  Specifically see whether I like it better throwing it on braid with a leader, or straight mono.  Hopefully I will answer  that question, or maybe the fish will answer it for me.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.  Hope you have a great weekend.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

                                       Home of the Swimming Jig and Rage Craw

Fish Catching Travel

After a couple of great days on the Gulf it was time for a little bass action.  That really was prompted by what was to be some serious fog, then wind and possibly rain.  So trying to catch a great day following a warming trend we put away the salt stuff and headed to the lake.

The water temperature had come up 12 degrees from when I was there last week, and the lake may have come up just a little.  The wind was lightly blowing so we headed to the long channel bank up the plant arm and started throwing topwater.  Over the next 2 hours we caught just enough on top to keep after it.

The first non-midget on a topwater.

We also fished the first outlet cove and one of the big long ones on the right hand side going in.  It became real apparent that even though the water was warmer in the back end of those coves, the fish were just a little farther out, near a secondary point, or the points near the mouth of the cove.  We caught 8 on topwater by 10, but it just didn’t seem right.

It seemed like we were right on the edge of catching a big bunch, and possibly a big one, but it just did not happen.  What a difference a year makes.  One of the things that keep fishing interesting is how things change.  If I had to pick the real difference this year from last is the water level is keeping them back a little.  But with the rain pouring down as I write this, expect the lake to really start to rise.

We then headed way up lake in the Coleto arm and fished a spawning cove to see if they were moving in there yet, and again caught one or two small ones on the topwater.  I had alternated topwater with spinnerbait and swim jig, finally settling on the swim jig.  The point at the mouth of that cove has grass on it, with the main river channel turn hitting it where the channel leading into the cove hits on the other side.  So I slow rolled the Strike King Swim Jig down the drop and put 4 or 5 in the boat real quick.

Somebody tried to take a big bite out of this guy.

And the hits (Pun Intended) just kept on coming.

Nothing like the thump when the good ones are eating it.

The whole bite took place in a couple of minutes.  One thing about finding pre-spawn bass who are staging for the big move, you can catch em.  If this rain lowers the lake temperature some, which it should, the big bite will hold off a little while longer.  But it won’t be long, those bass have some serious business to attend to.

After that we hit places down lake putting a fish in the boat here and there, all on the Swimming Jig.  Finally about 2 the wind started to howl and we called it a day.  The final total, best we could tell, was about 17, half on topwater early, the rest on Swimming Jig.  Not a bad day, and a good way to end our 3 days of fishing.

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It is always nice to hear from a new reader, who apparently is pretty honest.  As you may, or may not, know Doug, I like to fish Keller Bay myself.  It can be tough, but it seems like when it is good, it is very good.

Great blog. I just found it a couple of weeks ago and can’t wait for future reports. Hopefully I can learn something. I also got skunked on Sunday in Keller bay.
Thanks,  Doug.

I actually thought about Keller Bay for Tuesday but after Shoedog putting on his giant Drum clinic looks we made the right choice.  So thanks for the comment, and keep them coming.  Happy to have you along for the ride.

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                                         Just click here to get a couple of bags.

I also heard from one of my regulars with a good question.

Great report, Thanks, You keep writing, I’ll keep reading. Think I’ll order a bag or two of the Down South lures. Do you use Pro Cure or any other fish attracting gel’s with your soft plastic’s ?
Thanks, Rick.

Actually I use the scent that is included with the Rage Shrimp by Strike King, and have also used Gulp spray in the past.  If I am correct I think Strike King gets it from Pro Cure.  Sometimes I use it regularly, other times I forget.  I have a bottle of Pro Cure but have no idea where it ended up.  But no matter what  scent does not hurt anything.  And it if gets you one more bite every trip, or they hold on to it for another second, it adds up to lots of additional fish in a year.

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Terry and the Nebraska boys are still catching them through the ice.  I did it some growing up, and it is fun, at least until the ice goes out and it is back to real fishing.

Went to a little state park in central Nebraska  called Pibel. Always seem to have some luck there. Was on the ice (13.5 “) by 7:00 AM and drilled two holes with my 7″ hand auger and marked fish immediately. Started catching fish within minutes. Had 2 catfish 22″ and 20″, Lmb 13″, 12” crappie, and 14 gills on the ice by 9:30. My other two buddies had one of their limits by then and I help them finished out their limits. We were packed up and one the road home to clean our tasty cold water morsels by noon.

Nice job.  Sounds like ice fishing has advanced quite a bit since I was doing it.  With this warm winter we are having you should have ice out early.  And you know the standing invitation to fish down here is always open, or why not sneak off to Canada with us during the full moon in August?  Thanks for the report.

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 The weather has really taken a turn for the worse.  It cooled off, rained some, and the wind is blowing pretty good.  Hopefully the rain will amount to something and it should be cleared up by Saturday.  So next on the plate is a wading trip.  I have to be sure my waders aren’t leaking like a sieve.  So keep those comments coming, keep stopping in, and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines