Fish Catching Travel

Fish Catching Travel

Today there was some catching, but it was not the usual fishcatchingtravel.com suspects or methods.  For me it was duck hunting, for the Shoedog it was deer hunting.  My buddy Chris asked me for opening day on his duck lease and we were joined by his dad, Charlie, and one of his friends, Matt.

It was amazing, it was actually almost cold.  It was the first real cold night this fall.  Of course post front like that it was a mile high sky with a cold wind.  Which I guess is a wash as far as duck weather is concerned, but it sure was hunting weather.  His dad and I got the long end of the stick as we waited for a ride to the pond from another 4 wheeler, and Chris and Matt set things up.  So for us it was walk to the blind and have a seat.

At exactly shooting time the area was filled with the sounds of gun fire all around us  and for the next 3 hours the ducks came.

Chris and Link line em’ up.

If  it had anything to do with the weather, or maybe just opening day, the ducks were not interested in working, and very few tried to land in the decoys.  And with most of them Teal, they came in like little rockets.  The few big ducks we saw, widgeons and pintails, had no interest in working the spread or settling in.  But boy did the Teal come, flying high and moving, except for the 2 that flew about 5 feet over our heads before we saw them.

But neither the weather or some poor shooting stopped the ducks from coming, nor from dying at a pretty good pace.  I believe Matt was the first to kill a duck, and he dropped 2 with one shot.  Now that is a cool thing when it happens, but it was about to be relegated to a side note on the morning.  Charlie, Chris’s dad, had not shot a duck so far, I am not sure he even shot more than a few times that morning, but when he did, it was something.

I had just shot a duck, Chris shot a duck, and then I think Matt shot one, or missed.  Of course a pretty good bunch of ducks picked that exact moment to come bombing in, crossing at perfect shooting height in front of the blind.  I shot and nothing happened, I forgot to  pump the shotgun after I killed the last one.  Meanwhile Matt was reloading and had shells in his hand and none in the gun, and Chris is on the other side of the blind picking up his duck, wondering why no one was shooting.  But no problem, Charlie fired off a couple of rounds and it started raining ducks.  He killed 5 ducks with 2 shots.  It was a thing of beauty.  He went from no ducks to one short of his limit.

Our 21 ducks for the morning, a good hunt.

It was a good hunt.  We had singles, small bunches, and a wad or two come in during the morning, and we had lots of shooting.  We did not lose any ducks after shooting them, and it sure was nice to have Link along.  With them setting up the decoys and blind, and Link retrieving, it felt like one of those fancy hunts.

After the hunt we headed to Clay’s for a little post hunt socializing.  Clay owns the ground adjacent to the lease and we participated in the traditional Mimosa get together where we talked fishing and hunting.  The morning was one of good guys, good shooting, and good company hanging with Clay and a few others.  If you have read my stuff you know that I am a complete novice at this duck hunting thing.  It is nice to hunt with Chris – he says shoot, I shoot.  Probably much better that way.  I am still learning how they look and act in flight, a pretty important thing when duck hunting.  But I am learning and hope to kill a few more before the season ends.

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While I was hunting I got a text from Shoedog around 7:15 and I knew he was in business.  He was lucky enough to find a small acreage that a lady is kind enough to let him hunt.  The day he set up his blind, and did a little scouting, he had deer running all over him.  So I am sure he had high hopes when he hit the blind this morning.

Nice job Shoedog.  Great way to start the season!

It was the first deer he saw that morning.  While he was waiting to let it have time to go down he had 8 more deer come within shooting range.  I asked him why he didn’t shoot another one and he said I have all season.  More on that in a moment.  He shot it with a 12 gauge slug, and it went a short ways and was done when he found it.

Now as far as him having all season, there will be some more season tomorrow as I am heading out to his house in the morning for an afternoon hunt, and maybe one the next morning.  And if it is a perfect world we will also get in an afternoon of white bass fishing on Somerville.  I don’t know if many of you hunt, but a day of duck hunting, followed by a day or two of deer hunting, and polishing it off with a fishing trip is a good three days as far as I’m concerned.

So there you have your South Texas outdoor report.  I do know one thing, no matter what I will be back on the Gulf Friday with some of the Austin boys, if I don’t make it sooner.  I just hope the fishing will be close to as good as it was Thursday.  Nothing like catching trout on topwater.  We will see if we can do that again.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

My buddy Chris wanted to hit Cedar Bayou so we headed out from Seadrift at daylight.  One thing I like about fishing with Chris, he is always willing to try some place new,  it gets me out of my soft and fuzzy spots.  The wind was already blowing and it was moderately rough as we rode across San Antonio Bay.  From Seadrift to Cedar is a long haul, and since neither of us had been there before we did not have a clue what to expect.

We cut across Mesquite Bay and entered the mouth of Cedar and headed to the back.  We stopped at the sign telling you no motorized vehicles and went to wading.  My first bite was a lady fish who bit me off, and then I started getting lots of bites, and finally I figured out what they were.

My first Cedar Bayou fish.  Where’s your momma?

I headed down the bank and Chris waded to the surf.  I kept getting bites and finally caught a couple more flounder by just dragging it along.  So I walked all the way back to the boat to get a plastic I have wanted to fish for a while called a Flouder Pounder, which looks like it should work.  Well it didn’t.  I don’t think I had a bite though I kept trying to catch one for another hour.  Then I saw Chris headed to the boat, so back I went.

I noticed he was pulling off his waders and emptying the water out of them.  Here is your tip of the day – Some of the channel is a little deeper than you might expect.  Chris stepped off one of the deeper cuts and down he went.  And while I am sure that sucked,  his wade wasn’t all bad.

Now that is what I am talking about.

Besides these two, Chris caught a jack, and rat red.  He was throwing a topwater and he told me they ate it, including one real hooter that smashed it, did the cool jump in the air thing, but managed not to hook up.  The opening of this pass is a thing of beauty and all involved should be proud.  Give those fish a full life cycle year and the fishing there should get better and better.  From there it was off to the Second Chain of Islands to drift some of the reefs.

There were several boats there but nothing seemed to be happening.  Chris stayed with the topwater, but only had a couple of half-hearted hits.  I alternated between paddle tail and straight tail plastics, and did not have a touch.  So after a long couple of drifts we decided it was time for a change.  So we headed down the island, since I had been thinking about Cottonwood Bayou we headed there.  We caught them there a couple of November’s ago and I was anxious to return.

Along the stretch from Cottonword to Ayres Point there were pelicans working, not a big concentration, but pretty well strung out all along that stretch.  I was hoping to fish the bayou channel but the water was off colored with the wind blowing straight in so we decided to make a drift back to Ayres Point.  The wind was perfect and we set up about 150 yards off the shoreline in approximately 2 feet of water.  Chris was throwing a Pink Skitterwalk and I threw the Down South plastic in watermelon red.  And while it was working some, it quickly took a backseat to topwater.  Chris got a got a couple of major, water sucking, huge blow ups, and from then on it was topwater.

The better ones were blowing up on the Rapala Skitterwalk.

I finally got in the game and started catching them on the Down South plastic but I finally put it up, the topwater bite was in full swing.  They wanted the plastics hopped off the bottom and then falling on a slack line.  They really like that Down South bait, and so do I.  As we drifted along they kept biting, and the topwater bite really took off.  They were flat biting.  There definitely was a small pattern, the mouth of any bayou or small lake on the up wind side.  We would get a bite or two, then nothing, then catch 5.  We tried other stuff, and this was what we got.

Chris actually did catch a couple of small ones.

As we drifted that couple of mile stretch if we got to far out, not much, to far in, not much.  But staying in that 2 foot grass with the potholes was the bomb.  So at this point it is topwater mania and Chris was pretty much working them over.  He was throwing the bigger pink Skitterwalk so I started throwing the smaller trout colored one.  They where knocking it out of the water, then hitting it again, some close to the boat.  When they went to full on eating it they were sucking it under, and if they missed they were back for it again.

 But it was just a minute before he was back on the good ones.

We did have something happen that neither of us have seen before.  Chris got 2 backlashes that popped his Skitterwalk off and sent it flying.  Both times when we retrieved it the leader was gone.  Which made it interesting as the leader was also gone from the braid end.  Think about that a minute.

All of a sudden Chris goes how many trout do we have?  I did the count and it was 10 on the nose.  It never crossed my mind we had a limit.  That could have been ugly.  This 5 trout thing is going to take a little getting used to.

To finish off a great afternoon bite we were slowly drifting towards a pretty nice slick.  And once we got close it was one of those topwater things that just don’t happen often enough. It was rare not to get a hit, or 3 on every cast.  It took 2 hours to make that drift, and there was very little time one of us was not getting a bite.  When I said I was ready to go Chris said I was a better man than him to leave with the bite going nuts.  The last 15 minutes it was hits on every cast.  It was flat out awesome.

If you read my stuff you know last time I said we would see if we could possibly improve the size of the trout we are catching.  We did, but it wasn’t a me thing, it was a Chris thing.  Some of the trout that blew up on his topwater were the real thing.

A great day, a five fish limit is fine by me.  Give it a couple years, it should really help.

We just kept after it today, and when it happened we were in the right place throwing the right bait.  We had our moments today, but with some persistence filets ended up on the menu.  And to get to fish Cedar Bayou was cool.  Remember when going in to any new area be careful.  The channel in Cedar is not that well marked, as in nothing, so caution is the word.

Not much else to say about the fishing.  It has been a while since either of us had one of those awesome topwater days, and today was just that.  We should have a few more days left before the water starts to really cool, but the change is coming.  With some of the Austin boys coming next weekend maybe we can lay the smack down on them.

The woods and water will be alive with hunters this weekend, so please everyone, have a safe opener.  Shoedog will be in the deer blind and I will be in the duck blind.  Hopefully the smell of venison and bacon wrapped duck breast will be wafting through the house.  I like my hunting, but this is my favorite week of the year, with everyone in the woods the water feels almost deserted and I will be out there.  And with the cool front coming our best fishing of the year is right around the corner.  And who knows, maybe I can duplicate today, there are not many days where they are eating a topwater with the ferocity they were today.

Be safe this weekend, and if you kill something send me some pictures, we would love to see them.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

All good plans have a flaw, and today mine had one, or maybe a couple more than that.  The plan was to hit a couple of the deeper grass beds in hopes of continuing the Swim Jig bite.  So first it was to the bank that I wacked them on last time, and not a bite.  So I figured it must be the place, so it was off to a couple of more similar places, but with the same result.

So from there I headed up lake and decided to throw some buzzbait and that went over like a lead balloon.  Now a couple of thing could account for that, the mile high sky, a mini front, and then the wind.  And let us not forget the lake is still falling and the grass is dying wholesale.  One of the reasons I went to the lake and not the Gulf was it was supposed to blow 20 mph, and by 11 it was, and then some.  I finally put a small one in the boat on buzzbait and then this one on the Swim Jig.

Not all that much but he did knock the crap out of it, I am not sure what was wrong with the rest of them.

By now the wind was really starting to howl, and since it was rolling out of the south there were not to many places to hide.  And throwing the Swim Jig in that wind left a big bow in my line, and while I had a couple of more hits, by time I knew it they were gone.  It is tough to throw that jig and swim it deep in high winds.   So I finally put my thinking cap on and out came the spinnerbait.  Normally on Coleto I am throwing it quite a bit this time of year, but with the warm temperatures and falling lake it had not been on the plate this fall.

Of course the first bank I caught one.  So I kept moving around and catching one here and one there, but they just were not the size I was looking for.  I kept at it from 1 until 4, fighting the wind and floating grass, and when I finally quit about 10 came over the side, none of them worth a hoot.  They definitely wanted it buzzed quick right below the surface making a wake and the ones that hit ate it.   They wanted the number 4 willow leaf on a white tandem blade spinnerbait.  The willow leaf makes a huge boil as it wakes in and is a true reaction strike.  And if there was a point with the wind pounding on it there was at least one fish.   I think it was just a matter of a bad set of conditions making it tough.

This is what they looked like on the spinnerbait.

So I am not sure what that trip was all about, but first it was a good thing I did not go the to the Gulf, that would have been a hassle with the wind.  Second, we need some real fall conditions, and it looks like we have it coming this weekend when it could dip into the  40’s on Friday night.  That can only help, but what we really need is some rain to stabilize the water level.  If we do not get some rain it won’t be long before the ramp gets pretty sketchy.

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The Shoedog was leaving his deer hunting grounds the other day and spotted this big guy on his way out.

This was taken from a long way and blown up.  No matter what it looks like a good shooter.

So good luck Shoedog, hope you get him this Saturday.  My mouth is watering thinking about fresh venison.

So with that somewhat disappointing morning Monday we are about to change gears and head back to the Gulf.  Tomorrow Chris and I are heading to the Ayers Bay area to take a look at the new pass and do some fishing.  I am not sure what to expect, but am really looking forward to fishing that area.  We might even sneak over to Cottonwood Bayou or Panther Point.  We will just have to see how it goes.  So keep stopping in, I will get the story up as soon as I can.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

  Fish Catching Travel

Just wanted to get a few things posted this morning as I get ready to hit the water.  First I heard from Ken, one of the Austin crazies.  The boys will be down in a month for their big annual winter trip.  Last year I fished with them the day before the whole herd got here, but while we were fishing a massive 40mph cold front roared in from the North and it was nothing short of ugly for them all weekend.  As a group they managed to pull it out and sacked a pretty big bunch in spite of conditions.  Hope the weather is better next trip.

Ken did have a specific question from some of my pictures about the wading belt I use.  It is the Wade Right Fishing Belt from coastalfishinggear.com.  All I can say about that is I love that thing.  It has a back tube for a spare rod that does not interfere with anything, it has a rod holder on the front that keeps the rod out of the water when changing baits and taking fish off, and the small tackle box is high enough to stay dry in most wading situations.  It has several d-rings for attaching nets, pliers, and stringers.  It is efficient and well made.  I can not recommend it more highly.  It works.  Thanks for your kind comments Ken.  And if you buy a belt tell them fishcatchingtravel.com sent you.

http://www.coastalfishinggear.com/products.php?cat=4

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My buddy Chris invited me along on Saturday but after 5 days in a row I was beat and had some serious boat maintenance to do, so I passed.  He took his dad who is fairly new to bay fishing but it looks like they had a good day.

“A 24″er and one of those genetically modified 19 7/8″ off your favorite bank.  Probably 20 trout on the wade bank, all mine on plastics, dad caught a couple on top and some on popping cork.  Best was a nice fat 19″, then a 15 1/2″, rest all 13-14”

Nice one Chris.

His report seems to mirror mine and others I heard the last week or so.  Lots of trout, just tough on some of us to find those better ones.  The plan is to change that sometime  this week, and if you are reading this lets see if I get it done.  Thanks for the report.  And the rest of you send us your reports or pictures.  As you know I will not tell anything you want to hold close to the vest.  We all just like hearing how you did.

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I got a Coleto report from Joe and with my superior skill I managed to delete it.  Sorry Joe.  He fished a week or so ago and his report reminded me of the boat related troubles I have had lately.  The best I can re-tell it he had 3 things break, that ended up costing around $200 to fix, he only managed 5 fish, and some fool in a big ass bass boat cut across the grass bed he was fishing.  What made it worse there was only about 4 or 5 folks on the whole lake and that idiot did not give him space.  So better luck next time Joe.  The really good fishing for the big bass of Coleto is right around the corner so let us know how it goes next time.

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I actually had the opposite happen to me on the bay the other day.  I was first out and several boats came in the area and all of them kept far off the bank and nobody crowded me.  It was a real show of sportsmanship by those guys and I appreciated it.  The bay is a big place and it is nice when folks respect others.  Thanks guys.

When I got back to the ramp the other day I found my trailer plate sitting on the trailer bunk.  The plastic bracket that holds it must have broke right as I unloaded the boat.  Whoever found it was smart enough to look at all the trailers and figured out which one it belonged to.  So if you are the guy who did that a big thank you.  It saved me some bucks replacing it and a possible traffic stop on the way home.

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Holy mackerel!  That is all I can say about the Masked Flounder Assassin.  He has been at it again.  Talk about knocking them stupid, I think the next picture just about covers it.

Sweet!  Nice job dude.

I appreciate the report.  You flounder giggers have a couple of days until November 1 when the gigging season closes for the month.  So if that is your thing the time is now.  All I have to say about that is yummmmmm.  And I sure would not want the Masked Flounder Assassin after me with a gig.

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I heard from Rick and I wanted to thank him for his kind comments.  And Jeramie, those bass are just waiting for you with your name on them at Coleto, hope you are able to get back on the water soon.  I love hearing from you all, so keep those cards and letters coming.  In fact my birthday is in July and I will let you all know where to send the cool stuff.

One last word, fishcatchingtravel.com is having its biggest month yet.  In my wildest dreams I never envisioned that we would have over 18,000 visits in one month.  I can never express my appreciation to all of you.  You are an important part of this, it keeps me writing.  And it is great that I am hearing from more of you.  Thanks.

I am off to Coleto this morning.  Since my last trip I can not stop thinking about how they knocked the crap out of that swim jig as I reeled it through the tips of the submerged grass.  As it took me a little while to get the pattern down I did not have enough time to seriously work it.  There are about 4 or 5 places that should hold fish with that pattern, and as the weather has remained stable it should work.  With the wind forecast to hit 20 today Coleto it is.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

I got to the ramp at Keller by daylight and was excited to be there.  The wind was out of the NE and light and the water was clear.  I headed to the pasture area where I caught them the other day and it was not long before the first one smashed that Rapala Skitter Walk.

Things were really looking up.

An hour later I was plagued with the same problem as the last trip, redfish rolling on it but not eating.  I kept with the topwater because they seemed to want it, and I expected at any minute they would start eating.  But other than the one above the only other redfish was a rat on the topwaterr.  Before the morning was over I realized that there had to be something more.

Finally a nice trout boiled it and missed.  So I threw it right back in the same place and he blasted it.  It was a funny morning, the ones that wanted it smoked it, but the majority of them were happy to follow it.

This was definitely more like it.

It is so easy to stay with something to long, and I was so guilty of that.  For the next couple of hours it was topwater.  While I caught several more trout, they were not keepers.  Initially the fish were in 2 feet of water but when that sun came out full force as the tide slowly fell they deserted me shallow, another case of sticking with something to long.

So I moved out to deeper water to try and catch some more trout.

This one fell to the Down South Lures plastic paddle tail that I am currently in love with.

Several more succumbed to that plastic before it finally tore so I opened the box and dang it, I forgot to go buy some more.  (I cured that this morning at Academy.)  Over the next hour 6 – 8 came on plastics, all about this size.  Guess I should measure some of them, but they were all out of the same mold, just under or touching is my guess.  I just could not find the better trout.

I switched to the popping cork and Rage Shrimp and caught another 4 or 5.  In past years at this time I have had good luck fishing a clear plastic shrimp under the cork but they just were not having that color.  The trout I did catch were out in the 3′ range as soon as the sun was up.  By this time the water quit moving, the wind quit blowing, and I just did not have it in me for any more fishing.  It was one of those days when I wished someone was with me, it would have motivated me to stay and wait for the next water movement.  But after fishing 5 days in a row it was time to take a break.

Plus it was time to replace line on all the reels, straighten out the tackle bag which was a mass of baits and plastics, and do some basic reorganization of all the fishing stuff.  Of course that did not happen as the minute I sat down in the chair at the house I immediately fell asleep.  It is hell getting old.

Of course here it is Saturday and now I wish that I had accepted Chris’ offer to fish with him and his dad today.  But it was nice to sleep in today and take advantage of an easy day to get my stuff together.

Odds and Ends

Looking back on my last couple of trips to the Gulf I am not real happy with the way I fished.  Though catching plenty of trout has not been a problem, size is.  And though I have heard that from several folks it is time to change places and tactics.  If the little ones are biting good, the better fish must be also.  So it must be location so it is time to get the map out and do some basic study.  I have the map of our area memorized, but it never hurts to think about what is happening and then see if you can make an adjustment.  But I know one thing, it is time to put my thinking cap on and get out of this small trout rut.

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I met Dustin today at Academy.  A fireman at Port Lavaca, he has just moved to the area, and as a bass fisherman he is excited to get in to the salt.  He had an encounter with a big black drum the other day which he lost now has got the fever.  So I hope to take him soon and help him with the basics of getting started.  It has been my pleasure the last couple of years to fish with folks like him and help them get their feet wet, just as Dick Lane, Mac McGuiness, and a host of others did who took me under their wing when I started guiding in the 70’s.  Pass it on, it is good for the sport.

And now I have heard of the 4th person in a few days who has hit a deer.  The one Dustin hit was a nice 8 pointer.  It may still be warm but the deer are on the move.  If this is any indication it should be a banner opening weekend next week.

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Speaking of deer the Shoedog got a small place to hunt so this morning he set up his ground blind and sat a while to see if it was in the right place, and it is.  He had 8 deer come close, including some who came right up to the blind.  He was quiet and none spooked.  So he slid out and when he was leaving he saw a monster buck so he is starting to get wound up.  As we are supposed to get our first real cool fall front this Thursday into Friday it should be a great opener.  The place also has some hogs so I am hoping some sausage and sticks are in our future.  Who knows, I may even gat a chance to kill one.  I used to hunt deer but with no place to hunt down here it has been a while.

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I told you about Aaron catching some nice flounder the other day.  I intended to give this method a try, and like all good intentions, it went undone.  But I do want to tell you about it, because it makes so much sense.  Basically what he was doing was a variation of the bass fishing drop shot technique.  He tied a small bell sinker like you would use catfishing at the end of his main line.  The he put his hook up around a foot above it on the main line and used a 2″ Gulp.  He said it was great and rarely got hung up on the shell.  He concentrated on small drains coming out of the marsh, smart as the shrimp are migrating out, and then just drug it real slow stopping occasionally to shake it a little bit.  He caught flounder, trout, and redfish.  What a great way to keep it right in the face of a flounder.  And speaking of flounder remember the limit goes to 2 fish on November 1, running until December 14 for pole and line.

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Next it will be a couple of days with the Shoedog.  It will probably be down here somewhere on the Gulf.  I am determined to figure out a pattern for the better trout.  There are several different fishing opportunities available in the fall and one thing I want to do is hit Somerville Lake near College Station where the Shoedog lives.  I spent many late fall days in Arkansas fishing for white bass.  Not the best eating, it is just fun to catch them.  Once located you can often catch them until you are tired of it and Somerville is full of them along with some hybrids, one hard fighting fish that hangs with the whites.  And it is coming up on big blue cat time.  A couple of years ago drifting Coleto was productive for some pretty nice blues.

I have a couple of more how-to articles in the works and will have several reports coming this week.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

­Fish Catching Travel

A Close Call

Over the years I have had lots of interesting/terrifying things happen towing boats from Canada to Key West, but this latest incident was something new.  It reinforces how you have to take the occasional moment and look the trailer and tow vehicle over from one end to the other before you head out.  Would it have made a difference? Who knows.  And it proves that consistency can be a life and equipment savior.

As I pulled onto the ramp on Highway 59 all of a sudden I felt the trailer come loose from the truck.  Luckily I was only going around 30 when it happened and I pulled over to the side and got out to see what in God’s name had happened.  Initially I figured the trailer had popped off the ball, even though I have a pin in the coupler to keep that from happening.  Imagine my surprise to see the slide in hitch and ball had come out of the receiver.  Some how, who knows, the big pin had broken (unlikely), or more likely the cotter pin that holds the big pin in place had broken allowing the pin to work its way out.

I am big on walking around the trailer when I head out, but this is something I have never seen or heard of.  I don’t know if it was a defect in the big pin or the cotter pin gave out, but either way it could have been a disaster.  Think about it, the trailer was still attached to the ball and the slide in hitch.

There are two lessons to be learned here.  Next time you get ready to tow check the condition of both pins.  I am not sure this could have been avoided with inspection, but maybe the cotter pin was worn, or there was some visual defect in the big pin, but either way it will be added to my inspection.  There is a slide in with a lock that keeps folks from stealing it, and that may have solved the problem, who knows.

But there is a bigger lesson to be learned here, one I learned 25 years ago, cross the safety chains under the tongue so that when something like this happens the trailer can not dig in the ground, which could be life threatening to those people driving around you.  I do it every time I hitch up.  In my case the chains were crossed enough that even with the slide in hitch still attached to the trailer it did not dig into the pavement.  I was close to Bob at Victoria Marine so I whipped over there, got a new pin, and was back on the road in 10 minutes.  It could have been worse, much worse.  Another in the long line of lessons learned when you tow a boat 10’s of thousands of miles.

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Sharing Information Makes Us All Better Fishermen

I love meeting other fishermen and seeing how they did.  The other day at the ramp I met a couple of great guys who had a nice string of redfish and were kind enough to share how they caught them.  One thing I have been thinking about for quite some time is fishing plastics without a jig head, and I should have listened to that little fisherman inside my head.

Mr. Miller and Mr. Robertson, a couple of good fishermen.

Basically they were fishing a straight tail plastic weightless on a single hook.  When the reds are really shallow it only makes sense.  If there is little grass it can be fished hooked exposed, and if there is lots of grass it can be fished with the barb in the plastic like we fish for bass.  Something so simple and effective that I feel like a fool for not fishing it when the conditions are right and the reds are super shallow.  And when they told me they were blowing up on it I can’t wait to try it next time.  So thanks guys, it was great meeting you and I appreciate you educating me.

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The Shoedog’s Big Adventure  (Just like PeeWee!)

The Shoedog headed to East Texas to try some new water, and it turned into a tough trip.  It happens, but nothing ventured nothing gained.

2 Days on Lake Naconiche 

Next I throw my old standby gold Rapala Husky Jerk- no reply from Mr. Bass. I tried a larger Husky Jerk in a striped pattern and caught a couple small bass and just kept working my way toward the dam area. By now it is almost noon- i worked that whole area over good. So I moved into the south arm of the lake and fished an area on the south side just before the trees really start and caught a couple on a larger jerk bait- a Smithwick Super Rogue. I tried a swim bait rigged sideways and had one small bass pull on the paddle tail. Again- small bass. The crazy thing about this day was I ended up catching eight small bass and 1 nice crappie-all on jerk baits- nothing else except the first on a crank- and EVERY fish was caught in the side or the top or the tail. Not a one in the mouth. 

What a grown man has to show for 2 days.  Sorry it was so tough.

Fish Catching Travel

This is day 4 of my 5 consecutive days of fishing.  Monday POC, Tuesday Coleto, Wednesday Keller, Thursday Coleto, with Friday yet to come.  I have not decided where tomorrow, but it will definitely be the Gulf.  The wind looks great, and with one tide that should have some good water movement, I am really looking forward to some serious topwater fishing.

After getting the honey do list done today I headed for the lake.  It was around 3 when I got there and sad to say it looks like the water is dropping.  We really need some rain or the ramp could get ugly pretty soon.  Also the grass is dying wholesale, and that combined with the dropping water level has definitely repositioned the fish.

The first couple of hours was slow, and actually I did not have a bite.  I threw the box at them without success until I finally put my thinking hat on and headed to a downlake channel bank that still has some good green grass growing in 3 – 5 foot close to the drop.  As I have seen some fish chasing shad I put on a white Strike King Swim Jig with a white Caffeine Shad as a trailer.  It took exactly 5 minutes before I had one smack it and broke my line.  To bad it was the only white one I had.  So I switched to a black and blue with a Rage Craw trailer and it was game on.

Number 1 boat.

For about an hour I went over and over that bank.  I ended up breaking another one off, so I went from a rod with 10lb test to one with 12 and put 3 more in the boat and missed a couple more.  They wanted it reeled along at a moderate speed so that it was tipping the tops of the grass.  As soon as it hit grass I would speed it up and they would smack it.  Before I left them I did put one that was a little better in the boat.

If I got this guy wonder how big those were that broke my line.

While I was catching them Shoedog called and he was on his little lake, and what was he catching them on?  The Swim Jig.  Funny how we were both getting them in different lakes at the same time on the same bait.  Who would have “thunk” it!

Clearly the fish are seeking cover in close proximity to deep water.  Find the right patch of grass right now that fits the pattern and the fish should be there.  The sun was finally getting behind the hills so it was time to throw a little buzzbait.  The second one I caught on buzzbait wasn’t all that but I did want to show you the picture, which I took on purpose.

When I say it is all about the fishing I am not kidding.

My phone rang and it was Paul from Muskie Bay Resort in Canada.  I was making our reservation for next year and casting at the same time.  I missed another one right after this one before I hung up.  So here I am fishing, talking on the phone, and making a reservation for next years Canada trip.  It really is all about the fishing for me.

And Paul was funny when he said he did not need a deposit right now, but would probably be calling in January when he was broke.  Times can get tough running a resort in the dead of winter in Canada.  So Clyde and Shoedog, the dates are set.  We are going late summer to hit the August full moon.  Paul is one of the premier musky fisherman and he loves to troll them up at night during the August moon.  I think he promised me a 50lber, or maybe it was we should catch some, something like that.

I fished both points at the mouth of the ramp cove and before the mosquitos ran me off I put another 5 in the boat, and missed a couple more.  They really moved shallow right before dark and were in the scattered grass on both points chasing bait.

A great way to end the day and you could not ask for a more beautiful sunset.

Not a bad for a short afternoon trip.  After struggling a little the last couple of trips I am looking forward to getting back on Coleto to try a couple of other places that fit the pattern.  What we really need is some rain to get the lake coming up and some cool nights to drop the water temperature.  But they can be caught right now so I am not complaining.

Friday it will be one those fish until you drop days at the Gulf.  Wednesday they were hitting lots of different baits so it will be a matter of refining exactly what technique will catch the better trout.  So look for that report and I got the Shoedog’s report and will get it posted tomorrow.  Keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

In keeping with what has turned into this week’s plan, fishing 5 days in row, it was off to Keller Bay.  I hadn’t been back there since Aaron caught the giant redfish so anticipation was high.  Every once in a while you get a sign that you have made the right choice in where you decide to fish, and I got one today.  Monday we put in at POC and there was maybe 6 trucks and trailers at the ramp, when I got to Keller about 8 am there was 8 trucks and trailers.  For a week day that was a bunch.  Remember if there is N or NE wind Keller is a good choice as the whole north bank is protected.  And the best thing, the water this morning was that wonderful clear blue trout water.

The plan was a straight wade day.  Part of that plan was to wade a big stretch of the north shoreline along the high bank.  I knew immediately I was late.  There was bait and fish moving everywhere and I caught a trout on topwater in about 5 minutes.  From then on it was bites all the way until I quit at 2.

Talk about a bite!

Part of what I wanted to get done today was to fish several things, and I did.  Though the first mistake was switching topwaters.  Starting with a smaller Skitterwalk in the chrome got me some trout and one fairly nice red, but there were multiple misses.  I had several nice reds boil it close to me, a cool sight but they were not eating it.  So I tried the KVD in the small bone color and the large Sexy Shad, but they were just not having it so I went to plastics.

Let me take a moment to tell you about a new to me bait I have been using.  Lately I have been using a new plastic from Down South Lures that has started to show up at stores in our area .  It has a much smaller paddle tail on the end which combines the best of the paddle and straight tail baits and it flat catches fish.  It has a nice firm body, but does not have dead feel some plastics have, and it can take a lot of fish without tearing.  When combined with a 1/16th ounce jig head can be effectively fished in really shallow water.  So far I have caught flounder, reds, trout, black drum, and a few other odds and ends.

Last one in that bag so it is off to Academy before tomorrow.  Try them, they work.

I actually stayed on that same bank until 1:30 catching fish off and on for 5 hours.  Most of the trout were small, a problem, but not a bad one to have if you like catching fish.  Mixed in were the occasional keeper sized.  By time I left it was an easy 20 or so, with around 4 or 5 so that would have kept, but since I was not measuring today who knows.  Most of the fish were caught waist deep throwing the Down South into 3 – 4 feet of water near the slight drop running down that bank.  And it helps that there is grass out there in that depth.

Lots were like this, borderline but since I was not sacking them today I didn’t measure any.

As part of the plan I wanted to throw the popping cork with a Rage Shrimp tail and the MirrOLure Mirrodine in the soft body.  They were not interested in the Mirrodine, but the popping cork caught several.  The wind was perfect as it was blowing right down the bank when I decided to quit.  So anchor up and drifting to ramp it was popping cork.  I caught several trout and another red.

Never a doubt when a red takes that popping cork down.

Just for the heck of it I tossed that chrome Skitterwalk and caught several drifting in that 3 foot range.  The wind had come up some but they were still hitting topwater.  If I had stayed with the Skitterwalk a lot more fish would have come over the side on topwater.  But no complaint when the plastic bite was consistent the whole morning.  It is a tough life when they are biting and you can not make up your mind what to throw.

It turned out to be a good trip, if I did not want to get home and clean the boat and do a few other things I would have stayed.  Those days when they bite all day are few and far between.  The area reports are still lots of small trout, and that has been my experience.  But the numbers of 13 – 14″ trout is a sign of things to come.  And with our new reduced limit we can expect things to really improve on big trout in the next couple of years.  And with our really good winter fishing for big trout right around the corner, and I can barely wait.

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Here is a cool picture of a snake, a big snake.  It was killed in our neighborhood this weekend.  Initially it was reported as a rattlesnake, but my buddy Chris says it is a Cottonmouth.  No matter what it is one big pit viper!

Look at the head on that thing, now that would leave a mark!

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So after 3 straight days of fishing you would think that it might be an off day, but no.  This will be a 5 straight days of fishing.  We have clouds so it will be off to Coleto for an afternoon bass trip.  But I am really looking forward to tomorrow.  We will have a one tide day with a good high and low, and it has the potential to be awesome.  One thing on the agenda is Aaron’s method for catching good flounder, hope it works like I think it will.  Just pray for light winds.  Where is still the question.  It will simply be a matter of wind direction.

I also just got the Shoedog’s report on his trip to Noconiche so I will get it up later today or tomorrow.  Of course there will be a couple of more reports from bass fishing this afternoon and the Gulf tomorrow.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.  Fish till you drop!

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

I had some of those things that needed doing that get in the way of fishing, so I got them done and it was off to Coleto for an afternoon trip.  There was very little wind when I got there, and it looks like the lake has remained about stable since my last trip.  The grass is still receding and it has changed what pattern I did have.

First it was up lake to throw some swim jig.  There was no wind so I just worked what isolated grass patches I could find.  The first one over the side was small, and then I went about an hour without a bite.  With no wind and some grass on the bank it was the frog next.  A small one missed it, then a pretty good one blew up on it and I missed him.  At this point the wind was starting to blow a little so I decided to give a spinnerbait a try.

The first one missed it out of a small patch of grass so I decided to buzz it to the patches and stop it.  I caught a small one then finally caught one worth catching.

No giant but at least I finally got one worth a hoot in the boat.

The wind would just not blow hard enough for efficient spinnnerbait fishing so I finally broke down and got out the buzzbait.   It is one of my most effective baits into November and December before it gets really cold.  And around my second cast a real giant blew up on it and missed it.  It was the biggest fish I have seen in a while so it was buzzbait the rest of the evening.

After about 3 or 4 more hits this fatty finally hooked up.

By this time I was midlake on a flat bank with grass and small points and getting a few bites.  When the one above missed it I just dropped it and he ate.  Which made me wish I had done that on the big fish.  Oh well, live and learn.  Not 15 minutes later on a little flat point one just climbed all over it with one of those bites that keeps me throwing the buzzbait.

They love that Strike King buzzbait in the Sexy Shad.

After this one something happened that really surprised me, I never got another bite.  I worked my way down lake all the way to the ramp, fishing grass, points, calm, wind, shade, you name it, and they just were not having it.  So right before sundown I called it a day.

For the day it was at least a dozen bites, but only 5 over the side.  It comes down to one thing, we need that water temp to drop.  Instead we continue to be in the high 80’s  every day with warm nights, not enough to get the fish thinking about the fall feed.  Most of our fishing this year has been later than usual on both the Gulf and freshwater, and it seems to be the case on the lake this fall.  And our forecast is no help for the week as it will remain warm.  But no fear, our good fishing is coming and as soon as we have a cool day with clouds and rain the fish will bite like crazy.

The Shoedog will have a report in a day or two.  I don’t want to steal his thunder, but his day sure started off interesting.  So look for that soon.  And I did want to add one thing – Quit throwing your f’n line in the lake you idiots.  When I got back to the ramp I had about 40 yards of some ridiculously heavy mono wrapped on my prop.  Not only can it mess up seals on the lower unit, but much worse, it kills things.  I can’t believe there are people that clueless and uncaring.

Speaking of wildlife several deer were feeding around the lake, and I saw a rub on a tree about as big as my leg.  No little spike made that one.  I saw a couple of gators, and when I pulled the boat out to put it on the trailer this guy would not get out of the way until I shooed him off.

When you throw your line in the lake it is little guys like this that suffer and die.

So what is next?  It will be on the water somewhere, maybe for the next three days.  I haven’t been to the Powderhorn or Indianola in a while so as long as we get out of this north wind one of those will be next.  The tides are still crap, but it looks like Friday we may actually have a real 1 high and low tide day with what looks like good flow, so that will definitely be a Gulf day.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Today was the first day of what will be several days of fishing this week.  The weather is coming around and we don’t have that many days until the time change.  With that will come getting up and hour earlier to be somewhere at daylight.  Today it was fishing with my buddy Jeffish, who hasn’t fished with me in while.

We got to Froggie’s around 9:30 and the plan was first Big Bayou for some reds, then the Oil Cut for some to trout, and then a wade.  That plan worked out, sort of.  When we got to the Gulf it was blowing 10 mph or so out of the north, I don’t know what the water temp was, but I know it has cooled significantly, and as it has been for weeks, the tide was super high.

With the wind blowing straight down the Bayou it was definitely a spinnerbait kind of day.  We started right at the mouth and fished the whole left and right side.  My real goal today was to get Jeffish a nice red.  When I was getting him a spinnerbait I had one white Redfish Magic and I thought what the heck.  They are eating white shrimp and mullet so it made sense.  And it was definitely better than the colors I tried.  I think he caught 5 in there, and these were the keepers.

 Headed for broiled redfish on the half shell.

It probably took about 2 hours to fish the whole thing.  He caught 5 or so, I caught 3 or 4, the only problem was several of his hit the cooler, mine were midgets.  I also missed a red that might have made the grade.  The better fish were on the soft bottom, flat grass banks.  We just stayed off the bank and cast to the edge of the grass followed by a nice steady retrieve.

 On the way to the Oil Cut the wind started picking up to 15mph plus.  It was blowing right in so we started near the mouth of the cut, and I caught a trout on my first cast.  As we went down the bank 6 or 8 came over the side, with one sand trout, all on paddle tail plastic.  As usual it was tough to fish with a bow in your line, but you just had to man up.  Jeffish kept with the spinnerbait, and while he missed a couple of small trout on it, that bank is deep with a sharp drop, rarely a good spinnerbait bank.

We made a pass and a half down the Cut, and though we caught some trout and a couple of rat reds, just like last trip there were no keepers to be had.  So with that result we decided to head back, make one more spinnerbait pass in Big Bayou, and then see if my favorite wading bank had some clear water.  Once we made it back down to the Bayou the water was really beginning to cloud up.  I missed a good red, and I think we both caught one or two small ones before we headed to Barroom.  Unfortunately by this time the wind had a serious head of steam and was blowing down Barroom.  So we did one drift on the POC side and caught another 2 or 3 rat reds.  So instead of running way the hell and gone to find clear water with little wind we called it day.

We did have something happen today that was just interesting.  When I fileted the one it had something hard in her gut so I cut it open, and boy was it weird.  In her belly was a rubber grommet about the size of a quarter.  That just shows you, those wacky redfish will eat anything if you just get it in front of their face.

If you are a black drum fisherman you need to get out there now.  We saw black drum here and there during the day.  A couple of them were hooters.  Funny we just didn’t throw at them but neither of us wanted one so we passed.  And while we were cleaning fish a guide came in with his customers and they had a cooler  full of them.  And speaking of no better time, Aaron caught 4 flounder with a new method the other day.  Not sure where he heard of it, but as soon as we get back to the Gulf flounder will be on my menu and I will fill you in.

The Shoedog is getting up at some ridiculous time tomorrow and heading to a small lake in East Texas.   Lake Naconiche is near Nacogdoches TX.  It is around 700 acres, and while we are not sure what he will find, we have heard good things.  Of course a bass almost 13 lbs being caught there doesn’t hurt anything.  So good luck Shoedog, hear how it works out.

We had a good time, and considering we didn’t marathon fish, we caught some fish.   And it was real nice as there was hardly anyone out there.  Jeffish was happy, that is one of the better reds he ever caught.  I was happy, I was fishin’.   Now I just have to decide what is next.  I haven’t hit the lake in a while, but if the wind doesn’t blow it will be back to give the flounder a go.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines