Fish Catching Travel

Fish Catching Travel

There has not been much fishing this week on my part here at fishcatchingtravel.com, but there has been some traveling.  My lovely wife and I headed to Oklahoma City for a long weekend to visit the daughter, her husband, and little Mia.  My granddaughter Mia is 4 and growing like a weed.  It was a good time, though one day was a big cold front with a 35 mph north wind.  Mia is excited about her visit here with us at the end of June.  She wants to go in the boat, do some fishing, and see the “crocodiles.”  I am sure we will get all those things done.  So sorry for the late report, but the weather is awesome and the reports will be flowing like water from now on.  Bring on spring!

Conroe

You might remember I fished a couple of weeks ago with Jonathon, a student from Corpus Cristi who has been fishing some of the College Bass Fishing Tournaments.  He is from the Conroe area and was able to get out a day on Conroe when he was home for Spring Break.

Folks I have fished Conroe in the past, and it can be a really tough lake.  It was not easy to figure out on my only trip there, at least Jonathon’s trip last week was a little better.   Here is his short report.

“I was able to get a day on the water at lake Conroe Tuesday. I caught 7 total all about 1-2 pounds except for one which was just over 3 pounds. They were picky though the only bait they would hit was a slow moving squarebill. I tried a rattle trap, spinner bait, jig, and texas rig. But all fishing came off the squarebill. “

A nice one.  Happy to have this one when conditions are tough.

Another one on a tough day.

Jonathon is an aspiring tourney angler, and he has the heart.  Some experience, and a little more time, and he should do all right.  Plus he is a great guy to spend the day in the boat with.

Coleto

While I have not been able to fish this week I did have a friend who was able to get out yesterday.  To avoid the stigma of having a terrible day exposed (or maybe that he is a klutz?) for all to see, he shall remain nameless.  Here it is verbatim:

“4 crappie, 2 keepers all in 10 minutes out of 8 hours.  No bass.  Also managed to toss an ultralight combo  in the lake and rip out my pants.  Almost forgot.  Until I tried to walk this morning.  Also dropped the anchor on my foot.”

Nobody ever said fishing was easy as you can see from the 2 reports above.  But in spite of all that we keep on going.  And speaking of going, Shoedog and I are headed to Lake Falcon in the morning, we should be fishing down there by 9.  We will fish Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  3 days is about the minimum you need on Falcon to figure a little something out.  And what a great lake when you do.

The reports from Falcon are still sketchy, and it depends on what you read.  That may be why I like the Falcon Lake Tackle reports.  He does not sugar coat things, telling it like it is.  The overall catch numbers are down, as are the weights at the tournaments.  The good thing about his reports is you have a place to start.    While we have never caught big numbers of fish there, we have caught some real good ones.   In fact last trip Shoedog caught 3 in one place that weighed over 23 lbs, a good string anywhere.   No matter how many reports  you read, any success you have on Falcon is all up to you.  As I say, just listen to the fish, they are a lot more reliable than listening to fishermen.

So there you have it.  We will be hitting them hard, and what will be will be.  No matter what we will be fishing on one of the best big bass lakes in the world.  Who could ask for more.  They have wi-fi, and I will at least try to get a short report and couple of pics up everyday.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

After a week of the little things getting in the road of a full day of fishing, today was no different.  The dog had to be somewhere at 5 pm, really?  The dog?  That is how my week has gone, to many things scheduled poorly is to blame.  But I did manage to hit Coleto today, and it went ok, if I had not had to quit.

The water temp at the ramp was in the 62 degree range, so I stopped at the main point that splits the arms and immediately put one in the boat on the Swim Jig.  With almost no wind, and still really cool when I started at 10, it seemed the best choice.  From then on I moved up lake stopping here and there, and catching one here and there.

This was as good as I could do, until later.

The water temperature kept climbing to a high of 69 in a place near the outflow, and 63 way up the lake.  Even with a 36 degree night the water temp up lake was back up 7 or 8 degrees from a week ago.

Throughout the day I also tossed spinnerbait, crankbait, and topwater.  They produced exactly nothing.  So I slowed down and hit one big grass flat and caught 4 tossing the Swim Jig into holes in the grass and shaking it a little.  There were definitely small fish on the flats.  As I moved up lake it was about 2 when they started to bite.  The sun was shining and the wind was barely blowing and the fish bit as it warmed.

The fish are still around grass, which is nothing new, and it was just swimming the jig in and around clumps of grass.  I caught a couple  and then screwed up and broke one off.  It was definitely a good fish.  Then I had this one tighten up and swim with it.

Another Coleto Big Girl.

Of the dozen or so I caught, only a couple of them smacked that jig.  It is still a matter of watching your line and feeling it swim along.  When ever something changes, set the hook, it is probably a fish.  The one above just tight lined it, and then jumped a couple of times for good measure.  There is no better time than now to catch a really big fish.

There were lots of beds visible here and there, though I did not see any Tilapia today.  With the warm days coming the fishing should really improve.  Saturday looks awesome.  Looking back at some of the best days I have had on the lake it was a soft steady drizzle/rain, with a warm day, that have by far been the best.  And the bait of choice was the minnow bait.  The fish are shallow, and will be moving there en-mass, so if you ever wanted to catch a nice bass this week coming up should be fantastic.

Not really sure what is next, the weather will definitely dictate whether it is the Gulf or not.  The water on the bay should be really warming as these nice days go on.  The afternoon bite, depending on the tide, could be really good.  And Falcon is still calling me, even though according to what I have read the fishing has been tough.  That is ok down there, it seems if you can just figure them out a little you can put a big fish in the boat.  One more thing coming is Tilapia bow hunting.  They are just beginning to be out and about, and the next real warm stretch should have them all over the banks.

So no matter what you do this weekend, be careful, lots of folks on the water.  Hope you catch a bunch and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

My fishing plans are just not working out.  It all started with a call to jury service set for Monday morning, more on that later.  So at least the plan was to head to the Gulf with Chris on Tuesday, but because of the jury selection process I was to be back at 9 Tuesday.  So here I sit as the afternoon has gotten nicer and nicer, typing and not fishing.  And Wednesday I have to be at the dentist at 9:30 in the morning.  Real poor planning I would say.

Jury Duty

I had never been called to jury duty.  So I was real interested to see what it felt like sitting on the other side.  One of the things I noticed about both the state and the defense, they used the same old tried and true techniques.  It only took a few minutes of voir dire to realize what both sides were going to present or not, and what their theories were.

Of course we all got asked questions, and everyone answered.  Of course I was not selected, what prosecutor in their right mind wants a long term criminal defense attorney on a jury?  And trust me, I have no place on a jury, my years as a criminal defense attorney has given me to many biases, against everyone.  It was only slightly painful, but I will say that I have never seen that long a jury panel questioning before a misdemeanor trail.  Who knows, maybe it seems longer on the other side of the bar.

To finish that off, I would like to commend the sitting judge in that case.  Having appeared before lots of judges, good and bad, I was really impressed with his demeanor and conduct.  He allowed a  couple of important points to go before the bench and out of our hearing, trust me folks that is where they need to be.  Many judges get a little irritated if you keep doing your job, and it was nice to see a judge that really knows how to conduct a courtroom.

Sharks

I got a note from Faye, a long time reader, letting me know she and her hubby would be on the coast later this month.  She also sent me a link about a Great White Shark and it’s travels.  I love sharks and think they are cool like gators and snakes.  Though I have killed and eaten a couple, the taste is not for me.  Now it is catch and release, hopefully with a picture or two.

The need for a global shark “understanding” is so important.  When you see film of the boats that are “finning” the sharks and throwing them back to drown it is disgusting.  I am not one of those guys who gets on the do-gooder bandwagon, but I will always come down on the side of conservation.  Quotas for ocean fish are a part of management, and though many folks don’t agree with them, they are here to stay.  Sharks should be managed worldwide, Lydia doesn’t know the property lines, only the size of her pool.

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/nature/post/great-white-shark-named-lydia-becomes-first-known-white-shark-to-cross-atlantic/

Just a note:  If you have not been to this site it has the occasional fish story, usually something spectacular or interesting.

Trout

Speaking of fisheries management, Thursday March 27th at 9 am the TPW Commission will hold it’s next meeting.  The trout regulations are on the agenda with a few other items.  I am not sure if they are still taking comments, but like I said before, if you do not put in your 2 cents worth, you have no complaint.  I am in favor of the 5 fish rule for selfish reasons.  For me catching a 28″ and above it a great trade off to numbers.  That is the reasoning behind the reduced  bag, to get more and bigger fish.  But I have real sympathy for the guides and folks who rarely fish and want a bag full.  And that is why if it is important to you, then tell them.  Sometimes our employees (TPW) need to here from us, the owner (citizen taxpayers).  It keeps them informed as to the wishes of those that it effects, and it doesn’t hurt for them to remember who they work for.

Monday

In spite of all that I did get on the water for 4 hours with my friend Jeff.  Still recovering from a motorcycle mishap, he is not quite ready to fish a full day.  Plus he is not that hot on fishing in bad weather either.  So after going through the first juror process I was released and told to be back tomorrow morning.  I headed home, got something to eat, and decided to go for a few hours.  It sounded like the perfect trip for him, so I gave him a call.  He was up for that so off to Coleto we went.

When we arrived after noon it was cloudy and dead slick, I mean flat.  As it was supposed to rain we elected to stay down lake in case, and that was a good choice as it started raining about 5.  First up was the Swim Jig on a deep bank with grass on the main lake, and we actually put 4 in the boat and missed a couple more.  To bad that was the last flurry until right before it rained.

This is one time when I am to hard-headed.  The big fish are not liking this continual up and down water temp, as much as 15 degrees in some places, and the little fall we had in the water level.   The good fish have backed off and are not in a big hurry to eat, they have one thing on their mind, spawning.  After catching what we did, small males, we should have backed off and slowed down.  Really not my style, but it is my loss.

So about 3 I started throwing the topwater balsa minnow, and from then until 5 we caught fish right along.  No females from the looks of things, all small to medium males.  As usual, the boys are at the party early waiting on the ladies, and that party will be on this next moon assuming winter gets the heck out of here and lake conditions stabilize.

Man that has got to smart.

We were just twitching it along, and while a couple did blow up on it, the rest sucked it under without fanfare, slurp.  The topwater minnow bite will be good from now thru May, be sure to try it some time.  And as soon as we get warmer water and air temps if you can hit a day with no wind and a light drizzle, hold on.

  Though the action was good, it was clear the better fish have pulled back and are awaiting further developments.  And to further reinforce that I saw 3 of the best bass fishermen on the lake in one boat at the ramp.  While they were not particularly forth coming, they caught some good fish, and they were deep.  So watch the weather and make your Coleto plans accordingly.

A boy and his catfish

Did you see the kid in Louisiana who caught the 114 pound catfish.  A cool story and who does not love a Kid who attributes his luck to eating Vienna Sausages?  I was a little disturbed by some of the comments about the kid and fishing.  We should never forget that there are folks out there who would love to restrict our sport.  All of us should respect our quarry, and putting him on the table is part of that.  I just wonder what some of these folks eat.  They must think meat and fish grow on trees.  It is a cool story.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/oddnews/boy-attributes-record-setting-114-lb-catfish-catch-to-luck-and-%E2%80%9Ceating-vienna-sausages%E2%80%9D-195644615.html;_ylt=A0SO8zohYh9TlywAy2pXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzbmg1ajJzBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDNwRjb2xvA2dxMQR2dGlkA1ZJUDM3MF8x

Last Year

I took a look at last years posts for March, and they reflected the current fishing conditions I am finding.  One trip I whacked the reds at the Powderhorn, the next struck out at Charlie’s, and then caught a few trout and reds at POC.  I complained about the wind, and there were some really low tides.  Sound familiar?

Coleto was another story, I guess that is why I fish it so hard until spring really arrives.  Looking back I caught some really nice bass, the majority of the bigger ones on the Bagley Bang-O-Lure. The most productive bait was by far the Strike King Swim Jig.  There were some caught on spinnerbait, it is almost time for the spinnerbait, and small fish on the crankbait.  You could not describe the current fishing conditions any better on Coleto right now.  No matter Gulf or Lake, we just need warmer water temperatures, and they are right around the corner.

Sorry that is all the news on this front.  With half of Wednesday spoken for I hope to at least get back to the lake for a few hours, but it does not look like it will happen.  The wind is projected to gust to 40 mph tomorrow afternoon.  Me and those bass have some unfinished business, but who knows what the wind will bring.  May be a “Honey Do” day, rats.  And I am really needing a saltwater fix, and if it all goes well I will get that done on Thursday.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel 

(If you had not figured it out by now Shoedog will be posting here on a regular basis.  For those of you who do not know, Shoedog is my borther Jeff, who finally retired in January.  We have fished all over in the last 40 years, and look forward to another 40.  So watch for his reports.)

Fayette County

What awesome birds they are.

All in all a good day on the water. Got a great view of an Osprey having a nice bass for lunch! After the ring-neck pheasant, they are my favorite birds- I like to watch and hear them calling when on the water. Now- where to this week?

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

The original plan was to fish with Chris and Troy for crappie on Coleto but when I got to Chris’s, no Troy.  It turned out the no Troy trip also turned into a no crappie trip.  But the good thing about Coleto is the bass always cooperate.

It was perfect when we hit the water at daylight.  Calm, it was perfect for crappie fishing with small jigs.  The first thing we noticed was the lake had obviously dropped several inches.  And to help matters the watertemp above the bridge dropped 10 degrees from a week ago.  That probably should have deterred us right away, but we gave it the old college try.

To make a long story short we fished in a couple of coves and managed to put 1 crappie in the boat.  We fished brush, stumps, and trees from 3 feet to 12 feet.  We even stopped at the bridge without success.  For an 2 hours of crappie fishing it was exactly one fish.  Of course that is if you don’t add the 6 or 7 small bass that hit the jig.  Chris even threw the small crappie spinnerbaits and crankbaits.

 Chris with the first bass he has caught in a few years.

After Chris caught this bass on the small spinnerbait I was starting to think we should be bass fishing.  Before we headed back down lake we tried another  cove for crappie and fished for bass some.  I think we caught a couple of small ones before we headed down lake.

As soon as you get a short distance downlake from the bridge the water starts warming considerably.  It went from a low of 57 degrees to 64 down lake.  That is a significant change when combined with another drop in the lake.  We did hit the back ends of a couple of places, and though there were lots of beds, we did not see any tilapia or bass.

From then on it was main lake banks with at least 10 foot of water and the wind blowing on them.  The Strike King Swimming Jig caught fish, as did crankbait.  We picked them off here and there, slowly adding to the total.  As it got later, and we were on a main lake bank with light breeze I caught the one below on a spinnerbait.

A little better, this one smoked a spinnerbait.

We even fished one bank 3 times, putting 5 or 6 in the boat on each pass.  It was not fast fishing by any means, but they clearly moved in the afternoon.  As we came off the main lake heading into a main lake cove I caught this freak.

Fattest shortest ever?  If this girl makes it to old age she will be a hoss.

So our 2 best bass came in the last hour on a buzzed white spinnerbait.  Probably the most fish came on the Swim Jig.  Chris actually caught several right after he tied his first one on.   He was using a 3/8th and I was using a 1/4, and the fish obviously like the little heavier jig.  It was one of those days when the fish just were not real active, but still catchable as the water temperature slowly rose.  That last fish came from 68 degree water, the warmest we could find.  That tells you how important water temperature can be when you are talking spring pre-spawn and spawning fish.

And you can be sure to see the alligators any warm spring day on Coleto.  We saw several, including these good friends.

A couple of close friends.

They all act different.  This one basically ignored us, then finally slipped in the lake.

He just sat there close to the boat looking at us.

One of the real benefits of taking pictures at the lake is preserving the memories.  Looking back at the fat fish above, the gator laying his head on the other gator, and lots of the others I have taken, document how fat that one really was, or how cool it was when the Osprey carried the squirrel away.  Time outdoors is precious, and if we are lucky every day has something to remember.

I am not sure what or where is next.  Monday it is jury duty day.  Being a retired attorney I have actually wanted to sit on a jury, but as a rule lawyers are never picked.  Of course that means I will be selected for some really long trial.  If I am dismissed, Chris and I are headed to the Gulf Tuesday, weather allowing.   Tomorrow the weather is supposed to deteriorate some, to a high of only 50.  But I am still thinking of hitting the water.

While the day was slow overall, we did manage to put over 20 bass in the boat.  From 8″ to a big fattie, they tended to run small today.  Obviously I need to spend some time on my crappie locations skills, if I could ever get the bass off the brain.  If I have not gotten back to a few of you, sorry, just trying to keep up with the blog and life at the same time.  And stop in tomorrow for a Fayette County report.  Sounds like Shoedog put a few in the boat.

I want to thank you all for reading my stuff.  Hopefully you like reading it as much as we like bringing it to you.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

After being cooped up in the house for 2 days  with our winter still hanging on my lovely wife wanted to go somewhere.  Lucky for me, other than a little side shopping, she was fine with the Houston Fishing Show.  For me it is about the potential deals, or maybe some new baits, and for her it is about the various travel opportunities.

One thing I am always looking for are new and innovative baits, things out of the box.  This year there was really nothing that tripped my trigger.  But in spite of that I talked to some great folks, bought a couple of baits, and generally had a good time.

I always stop at the Temple Fork Rods booth.  Not only do they make great rods at a great price, they are just good folks.  None of that high brow BS you get at some of the vendors.  Of course it is easy to be good guys when your product sells itself.  I know when I bought my first Temple Fork rod it surprised me that they made anything but the fly rods.  When you normally think of Temple Fork, you think fly rods.

My first Temple Fork was a Signature Series SWC  707-1 EH casting rod.  Folks that is an extremely heavy rod, which has a certain connotation to it, but that simply refers to the action.  The rod is light and strong as an ox.  Those of you who read my stuff know how much buzzbait and spinnerbait I throw.  Almost every bit of that is done with that rod.  When you are throwing a big bait for hours and hours like I do, the rod has to be light enough to throw, and still be strong enough to stand up to big fish blasting a high speed bait.

After being so happy with that rod, the next time I was headed to Belize I decided to try one of their travel rods.  I was tired of taking the rod tube expanded out to 7 plus foot, so it was time to try one of their travel rods.  I bought the C703MH, which is a medium heavy casting rod.  The plan was to fish it with live bait for permit and tarpon.  I was able to land a nice big permit on a crab using that rod.  The rod was light enough to throw a crab a long way, but with the back bone to fight what may be the strongest fish on the flats.  I also whacked a bunch of trout in Keller on a Corky.  And I love  how it fits crosswise in the big suitcase.  Toss in a reel and a couple of baits and you are in business most places you go.

So of course the natural progression was a fly rod.  A Lefty Kreh rod, (who does not respect and admire Lefty), in  9 foot 8 weight was the choice.  It is a four piece, again for ease of travel.  I settled on that weight for redfish, which is my primary fish of choice here on the Gulf, but it is also sufficient for the bonefish and small tarpon that I am lucky enough to get to fish for occasionally.  One of my goals this summer is to spend some serious time chasing those reds with that rod, and getting my feet wet enough to start on the glamour species next.

I know this sounds like an ad, and it is, a free one.  They make great stuff, and with the cost of rods shooting up every year, their rods are affordable, well made and thought out, and available for every application those of us on the coast could ever need.  And you get the knowledge and experience of Gary Loomis, Lefty Kreh, Flip Pallete, Rod Fordyce, and a host of others.  These are the guys who fueled my passion for saltwater fishing.  With them on your staff how could you go wrong.  Check them out, the link is below, it will be worth your while.  Plus they have cool hats, thanks Nicholas.

http://www.tforods.com/

The only real new bait to me was the way that Buggs Fishing hand ties their jigs.  They describe it as tied like flies, fished like lures.  The ones he had were flat out cool.  His smallest would absolutely kill bonefish.  He was a good guy so take a look at his site, I did.  There is some really good fishing information on his site, well worth the read.  Next time I get near a bonefish his jig will be tied on the end of my rod.

http://www.buggs-fishing-lures.com/index.html

I am definitely going to plug the Coastal Fishing Gear Company.  They make those Wade Right chest wading belts. I bought mine last year and it is still good as new.  It does a couple of thing I love.  First, because it is a chest harness it has multiple D-ring clipping opportunities, and by clipping the small tackle box high it stays dry.  It also lets you carry a spare rod with no hassle and still leaves you with a spare rod holder for changing baits.  It has lasted so much better than the last wading belt I owned.  And again, some real nice folks who own the company.  So check out their website, cool product that works.

http://www.coastalfishinggear.com/

I may be violating some copyright law by putting this on my site, and if I am, I am sorry.  But if you did this, you are just too funny for your own good and I just have to share it with my readers.  Thanks to my niece Stevie.  Folks you got to love this one.

That says it all about fishcatchingtravel.com.  It is, and has always, been all about the fishing for me.  So after some crappy weather, a trip to the show, and helping a friend move, I finally will be back on the water tomorrow.  And with the weather looking warm and cloudy at least one day this weekend it should be good.  So keep stopping in.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel 

A nice White River rainbow.

We began a run for about an hour and a half that was awesome! We caught close to 20 in the next stretch of river. We were in an area called the narrows and one side of an island was too shallow for boats with the amount of flow, but no problem for our canoe. We floated in and waded for a stretch and it was ON! No monsters, but a great bunch of trout in a beautiful place with a friend I have been fishing with since 1970- doesn’t get any better! 

Our buddy Clyde releases a little one.

All in all, a great day to be on the water. We hit great weather- 55 degrees- and a mix of sun and clouds. Clyde was a good guide and handled the canoe well. ( I guess those days guiding for Gaston’s trout dock paid off, huh? ). 

Fish Catching Travel

Here I sit at my computer on Monday morning, doing a post I meant to get done yesterday.  Outside the wind is howling at  30 mph, and it is 31 degrees, plain awful.  We got just enough of a taste of spring the last couple of weeks to forget that it is not quite over yet.  But we in South Texas really have little complaint, folks up North are getting hammered again.  Hopefully this is the end of it.

Friday I got the chance to fish with a bunch of guys who make the occasional pilgrimage to POC for food, fun, and fish.  Some of them have been doing it for years, it was a real pleasure to get the chance to fish with them.  I will apologize right now, there is no way I would ever remember 9 guy’s names, (I have a touch of old timers.) when I only knew one prior to fishing with them.  Just maybe I will be asked back again and promise to do a better job in that department.

A little note here.  Friday evening the group made it down late in the afternoon.  They  were able to get in a couple of hours of fishing so they stopped at Seadrift on their way to POC.  One bunch headed to Welder’s and put a few nice reds in the boat on topwater.  Todd met a guy at the ramp who showed him a nice limit that he had just caught at BP, so they headed up there.  I think they put 3 in the box on the first drift, and then nothing but short fish after that.

Of course my day started like I somehow knew it would.  My buddy Todd from Austin told me to be down at the house they were renting at 6 am for breakfast, so promptly at 6 I get to a completely dark house.  I knock, hear a ragged answer, so I just pop right in.  Of course being the smart ass I am, I yell, “Where’s the strippers?”  You know how it is, old friends  for a weekend fishing trip, a couple of adult beverages, what would you expect.  But I digress.

So after a good breakfast the 10 of us load up and set off for a day of wading.  Like a horde of angry barbarians we hopped out of the boat at a couple of reefs around South Pass, and the fishing began.  It is interesting to watch the different wading styles, some slow and deliberate, others off to the races.  When it was all said and done we caught a bunch there, but no real sack of keepers.  I put a couple of good trout on the string, and caught 4 small ones, with several of the guys having the same result.

It was off to Cedar Lake next.  The fishing was quite a bit better there.

That will work.  Notice the cold beverage container.  These guys had all the necessary equipment.

Actually the conditions there were classic.  The fish were on the windward side.  The water had that great color with a light haze that was an awesome green.  The bottom was soft, but not to soft for good wading.  The tide was falling out, and the fish were biting.

Before it was all over several nice fish were added to the box.  I was able to put a couple of nice reds on the stringer when one of the guys said he was using a bait with a white belly, so I put on an electric chicken paddle tail, and started catching them right away.  The guys were throwing a variety of plastics, from assassin style to paddle tails.  None seemed to be preferred over another by the fish.  Also during the day there were a couple caught on Corky.  And while some of the folks, me included, tossed a topwater, we did not box a fish on it.

We had them surrounded.

The bite kept up for quite a while.  Though not fast and furious, it was steady.  As we basically surrounded the shoreline it was interesting to watch as one end of the line would catch one , then another, and it seemed to go up and down the line.  The fish were just cruising and feeding up and down the shoreline.  They finally slacked off so it was off to Shoalwater.

Gathering up the hoard for the move.

On arrival there the wind had picked up and was blowing right in.  One boat drifted the left bank going in trying to find the trout, our boat waded the right bank looking for the reds.  Our bunch only managed one rat between us, the other boat did not boat a trout on their drift.  So as it was getting late, it was off to Welder’s for the last stand.

As most of you know, Welder’s is a soft bottom, or more plainly, a mud hole.  I would sooner eat my own kidneys than wade there.  Our boat drift fished, but a couple of the hardier members of the group waded, I think in the area where they caught them on top the night before.  One of our guys caught a nice red, and we missed a couple of more.  I think the other boat put a couple in the box, and then it was over.  I actually spent that final part of the day having a cold one and enjoying being alive.  I rarely have on one on the boat, but it was a fitting finish to a really great day.

Funny how it is easy to get everybody to catch them, but a little harder to get them to clean them.

Maybe not the prettiest picture, but it is another story when they are sizzling in the pan.

When it was all said and done, if my old mind has it right, we boxed somewhere in the vicinity of 20 trout and 11 reds.  A couple of the trout were good ones, as were a couple of the reds.  Now that is not a real huge bunch for a group that size, but with the exception of Shoalwater, we caught fish all day, and everyone got in on the act.  Of course there was lots of BS’ing and fish stories.  It was a great day, this bunch is one of the best I have fished with.  Getting 9 guys going in the same direction can be like herding cats, I know, I have been on these trips.  In fact, I swore not to do anymore that large due to some I have been on in the past.  These guys renewed my faith that it can be done without a hassle.

This was ridiculously good!

Before I hit the road my buddy Todd cooked oyster Po Boys.  He also made the sauce, which was fantastic.  What a way to end the day.  And as a side note, the smoked ribs, sausage, and chicken we had for lunch were cooked to perfection.  Not only did those guys know how to eat, they knew how to cook.

That was our Friday, and a good Friday it was.  They fished on Saturday, I laid around the house.  I spoke with Todd and he could only describe the day as slow.  They fished the same areas without real success.  They managed to get the boat stuck, you know how it goes.  Then when they left Sunday morning Todd had a flat on his trailer, and had another tire losing air.  On the way back they got outside of Victoria and he had another tire blow.  So before that mess was over he got the pleasure of buying a couple of tires on the way home.  Ain’t fishin’ fun?

So now what?  The wind is blowing in the 25 mph range. It is 30 degrees, a wind chill of 17 flippin degrees with the chill warning lasting until 11 today, with a high of 50.  (Which I will believe when I see it.)  Then a chance of some winter mix in the morning with a low near 30 and then a high of 47.  And to make the whole forecast perfect, it will probably rain some.  I am really sick of this winter.  Not as sick of it as my Yankee brethren, but I moved down here for the palm tree thing.

I hope to get a few pictures and a report from Shoedog’s great trout fishing adventure on the White River sometime today.  I will get that posted as soon as I get it.  And like I have said before, send me some reports.  All of us love hearing how other folks do on their trips.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

So no

Fish Catching Travel

I received this from Dave at Keller Bay RV Park.  He was kind enough to add a link to my site, and as soon as I get some time and help I will return the favor.  So here is his fishing report, and it sure makes me want to whack a few more reds in Keller Bay.  It is one of my favorite places to catch reds, and I will make it back soon.  There is some real important information to be gleaned from his report.  Finger mullet and sand eels.

“Hey Doug, Hope you guys are doing well at POC this morning! Just wanted to give you a Keller Bay Update. This is the first morning I have gone out in a while. I was looking for some reds for a fish fry and I had no troubles. Spent more time getting the little boat ready and launching it than I spent out on the water. Went to my first Honey Hole and within 25 minutes had a 26″, 25 1/2″, 23″ and a 20”. Let the 20″ go and headed back to the pier for a cleaning session. They were caught on live finger mullet and when cleaned noticed that they have been feeding on small sand eels, small crabs and finger mullet. I then spent a “little” time testing some areas for trout with Gulp Alive and mud minnows. No trout were found this time but I didn’t give it a huge effort. Anyways, Hope your trip was as good as mine. Thanks for sharing.

That should give you a heads up on a couple of lure choices.   On my recent trip to POC, which I will get posted tonight or first thing in the morning depending on when I scratch my next fishing itch, paddle tail plastics were by far the best baits for me.  Now I wish I had thrown the sand eel some.  Those are some nice solid reds.  So thanks for the report Dave, can’t wait to get your way.

Random Thoughts

I have received a couple of notes on my Susan post and wanted to thank any of you that helped.  Of course I heard from Faye, thanks girl.  Susan has a long way to go, but with the support of family and folks like you with a giving heart, she will make it.  She is one tough gal.

I get the occasional question whether it is ok to tweet my posts – please tweet yourself blue.  My site has grown thanks to folks like you who have shared it with others.  I get lots of offers to “grow” my site, to bring readers beyond my wildest dream.  But will they respect me in the morning?  The bottom line is you, and I appreciate you sharing my site with anyone you think would like it, or of course with anyone who puts a fishing rod in their hands and hits the water.  So share, tweet, facebook, or send it by carrier pigeon, but please share it with someone.

The weather may take a little turn for  the worse this week, but we are getting close to the last gasp of winter.  And while it may not be perfect, the fishing should stay good, and only get better in the coming weeks.  Be sure to remember that topwater when we get a nice cloudy day with no wind.  A few are now being caught on the Gulf, and the lake topwater fishing should be really picking up.

I am watching the Hogs beating Georgia right now, and it makes me home sick for Bud Walton arena and those crazy fans.  But what I miss besides family and friends is fishing the White River.  One of the great trout fisheries in the country, Shoedog and Clyde are drifting it as we speak.  Hope they whack them, and though I am not there to keep them in line, there should be some pictures to come.  Good Luck boys.  And if you ever want to visit a beautiful area the Twin Lakes Area of north central Arkansas is a great place to visit, and a fishing paradise.  On the same trip you have a real shot at catching trout on the river, smallmouth and walleye on Bull Shoals, and bass and stripers on Norfork Lake.  And all of it within a half hour of each other.  And camping below Bull Shoals dam is a real pleasure.  Nothing like walking 20 feet and catching trout from the bank.

News Flash – Just got a text from the Shoedog.  They caught about 35 rainbows and had a good day.  Has some pictures so as soon as he is home tomorrow I should get them so watch for that.  Love that place.

I really appreciate it when folks send me reports.  The one from Dave is a perfect example.  You don’t have to give up your honey hole, to me or my readers, but information can be gleaned from any report that will help us all.  So if you want to share just add a comment to any post, I will get back to you and share your fishing story.

Thanks for stopping in.  The POC trip will be up soon.  A good time was had by all, though we caught a pretty nice mess yesterday, I hear they are having it a little tougher today.  So as soon as I get the word I will report on the last couple of days.  It was my first time fishing with this bunch, and it was about as fun as it gets.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

News Flash – I actually also just heard from the boys down at POC.  Pushing the boat back off from where they got stuck trying to get in to Shoalwater from the cut at Charlie’s.  Man I hate it when that happens!  Of course none of you ever got stuck, right?  Sure.

http://www.kellerbayrvpark.us/

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

I had the real pleasure of fishing with Jonathan today.  I met him at Dick’s in Corpus while perusing the tackle section seeing if there was anything I could not live without.  Jonathan is in his final year of college in Corpus, finishing his business degree.  We struck up a conversation about fishing and I found out he fished the College Bass Fishing tournaments, and had just fished Falcon.  We hit it off and made a date to fish, and 2 weeks later got it done.

I see a lot of me in him, or him in me, whatever.  He loves to fish, fresh and salt, and is actually fishing tournaments occasionally.  It reminds me of my younger days, I was eat up with it.  Fishing every chance I got, fishing a tournament or two a month, oh to be young again.  But all that aside, what a nice young man to spend the day with.

Of course our first trip had to be the second day of a pretty significant cold front.  There was ice on my windshield, my wipers were froze to the windshield when I headed to the lake, and of course it was clear with an East wind.  Not perfect conditions by any stretch.

Our first stop was a spawning cove and it yielded 1 to me on a Strike King Swim Jig.  The water temp had dropped 8 degrees from Monday in the back end so we headed out to try the crappies in the place I caught them with Chris Monday.  And we immediately caught 2, and then you can guess the rest, not another crappie all day.

From then on it was one or two bass here or there.  About half came on points, the rest on flats, but all in the grass.  I basically stayed with the Swim Jig all day, it is a good bait when they are not active.   Several of the ones I caught today came when I just let it fall halfway back to the boat, and I also saw 2 hit it.  They were clearly tracking it, but it took a little something to trigger them.  But not matter what they wanted it slow.

(I interrupt this blog for the following. – NEW FLASH  –  My beloved Razorbacks just beat those snotty Kentucky B ballers in their house!  Woooo Pig Soeeee!)

The best fish of the day.  And of course I caught it on a crappie jig when we checked to see if they were biting later.  They weren’t.

Mid-afternoon we stopped back and checked to see if the crappies were there, but they were gone.  I have a feeling they have gone to the beds, to bad I am not sure where.  One interesting note, where Monday we caught lots of little bass on the crappie jig, today it was just a couple.  Late in the afternoon, when the water finally started to warm up some, we headed all the way back in a flat spawning cove, and it was full of beds.  And though there was a few, and I mean a few, small males close, the beds were basically empty, that front clearly moved them off.  We did see several Tilapia today, but they were not in the back ends on the beds either.  But do not despair, it will be back to normal tomorrow.  The fishing never stays to slow, no matter what the conditions, this time of year.

Before the day was over we ended up catching around 17 or 18, and I actually felt a little bad, as I caught 16 of them.  Jonathan had one of those days we all have occasionally, they just kept coming off.  He had them come off a swim jig, a rattle bait, and a worm.  Some of them smacked the snot out of the rattle bait, and actually came off close to the boat. Sometimes it just happened, and today it was his turn.  It may be mine tomorrow.

A little about the Swim Jig post front.  It is a subtle presentation, and is effective when they are not chasing.  Today they were not chasing, which accounted for how many barely hooked up on the rattle bait though they were swatting at it.   But no matter what we had a great day.  It finally started warming up around 3, and like all days like this, we saw a few alligators.

Best friends.

Just a cool pic.

This was a pretty good gator.  To bad the stick in the water messed up his reflection.

So there you have it, the good, the bad, and the ugly.  But in spite of it all Jonathan kept plugging along and never lost his good humor.  Of course we are making plans to do it again.  His school has easy access to the Laguna and he has promised me we will knock the crap out of some trout in his wading spot.  I will hold him to that.

I just got off the phone with my buddy Todd, and will be meeting 9 of the boys from Austin tomorrow morning in POC for a day of wading.  They are hard core waders, and actually a few of them caught a nice bunch of reds today, so I am looking forward to that.  So keep stopping in, and I will keep telling it like it is.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines