Fish Catching Travel

Fish Catching Travel

It has to be said – I am sick of this $h1+!  There, I said it.  I have had enough of this stinking weather.  We all know the old joke, if you don’t like Texas weather just wait 5 minutes.  That has become an understatement.  Looking back on the last month I have hit frontal conditions deteriorating into completely terrible several times this winter.  Front, after front, after front.  Does it seem like I am whining?  Well I am.  And it happened again.

So with a warm night Saturday, but a front expected to slowly move in Sunday morning, I decided to hit Coleto for a quick trip then home in time for the Super Bowl.  The Weather  Channel Web site’s hourly forecast had the front moving in closer to noon, with the wind increasing out of the north, and much cooler temperatures.  When I walked out to get the stuff ready it was so warm and calm, and my spirits soared in hopes that I would get in some good fishing time before the wind came.

When I put in at the ramp at daylight it was dead calm and warm.  First it was a cove up lake and the Strike King Swim Jig.  That resulted in exactly nothing, so it was off to a channel bank with lots of grass on it.  It was about 8 when I got there, and then here it came.  Not slow, not easy, but a full on 20 mph roaring north wind with an immediate 15 – 20 degree temperature drop.  And to help matters – it started to rain, steady.  It was perfect.

It was blowing right down lake, hard enough to make throwing the Swim Jig a hassle, in fact hard enough that fishing was a hassle.  So up came the trolling motor and down lake I went in search of at least some semblance of calm water.  I stopped at a cove where I have  caught a few, and with the wind blowing so hard thought I would throw a spinnerbait.  And guess what, I caught a couple.

Thought I better take a picture of the first one and even though it was a little guy, it surely could have been my last.

You know, sometimes I just can not for the life of me figure out why bass act like they do.  For the next 3 hours, until I finally gave in to the miserable weather, they actually bit.  None was big by any stretch of the imagination, but I ended up catching 9, 8 of them buzzing the spinnerbait on top.  Again, as has been the problem with these awful fronts and high winds, I fished where I could, not where I wanted.  And surprising to me, some of those bass were in the back ends of coves.  You never know.

Just an average one for the day.  It was freaking cold, good thing I had all my cold weather gear in the truck and grabbed it when I put the boat in.

Actually I should have quit shortly after the front came, but of course I didn’t.  What?  You think I’m crazy.  I stayed until all my gloves were soaked, my feet were cold, everything was damp, and I was chilled to the bone.  But I was proud of the 9 I did catch.  Not big, but it was fish, and I was fishing.

So what could make the day more perfect?  How about getting to the ramp, the deserted ramp, and there is the Game Warden.  What is wrong with that guy?  Not a soul out but delusional me, it is Super Bowl Sunday, and he is out there working?  I thought I was the only crazy person.  Actually he was a really nice guy who originally was from Halletsville and had been working East Texas.  He has transferred here now and is happy to be back near the coast.  And I was happy to have a fishing license.

The bass on Coleto are just looking for any excuse to start spawning.  I noticed a couple of new abandoned beds in the back of one pocket that were made the day before.  And with some of the fish I caught stationed right in the back end, it only took 2 halfway warm days to get them there.  But then here comes another huge front to knock them back again.  Is it prolonging the agony or the ecstasy?  Only time will tell.

It is 39 degrees as I write this, with it expected to get in the mid 40’s today.  Tomorrow looks great, into the 70’s with a light wind.  And then here it comes again, a big front, dropping temps into the 40’s for daytime highs, followed by crap for several days after that.  Man I am sick of it.  This seems to be the worst winter since we have been in Texas.   Bring back palm trees and flip flops.

So I sit here staring at the map of the Upper Laguna Madre, trying to decide if I am going to get up really early and drive down to the PINS to put in at Bird Island Basin.  I just have not quite got over that trip down there last week where  I didn’t have a bite.  Who fishes the Laguna and does not have a bite?

Fayette County  –  The Shoedog

While I was off in Corpus with the lovely wife Friday Shoedog headed to Fayette for the day.  He dropped me this report along with a few pictures.  Of course the wind was a factor, sorry, but this is truly Ground Hog Day all over again.

Love those Fayette fatties.

“As usual a 10-20 mph wind forecast in Texas means straight line winds all day long.  I caught 11, 2 good ones, lost one, and missed 3 other strikes.  8 on that wacky colored Suspending Rogue, 2 on an orange/blue back Husky Jerk, and 1 trolling a Shad Rap.  The good ones were on the Rogue but I might have missed some more, but in that wind who knows.  I do know that 59 – 60 degrees made all the difference, 57 – 58 degree water and there were no bites.  I did notice there were large schools of bait in 20 – 25 feet of water with lots of larger fish around them.  Probably could have jigged some up with spoons.  I think they need some new grass growth to really get them in the shallows where we usually whack them.  A few sunny days, and getting away from these perpetual northers every 3 days, and we will be set.  Not many folks out  and had the lake mostly to myself after 3 pm.  All in all a good day to not be at work.”

That boy can throw that jerk bait.

We love that lake.  If we can get a couple of can get a couple of real warming days, see my frustration scattered though out this post, the good fishing will really turn on there.  Fayette can get crowded, so if you can sneak away on a weekday give it a try.  For pure fish catching fun Fayette can be one of the best little bass lakes in Texas.

I promise to get back to my old optimistic self in the near future.  I have to keep reminding myself it is February.  It is just me trying to hurry things along.  Spring is right around the corner.  Maybe the ability to fish where and when I want just seems to make winter last longer.  It is simply a matter of making do with the conditions we are presented.  With a warmer day on tap it will be off to the Gulf tomorrow.  Where I do not know, but it will be somewhere.  So thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Sorry I have not posted in the last couple of days but with the day trip to Baffin, and a short overnight in Corpus, I just got home today.  So lets catch up, the fishing report is as sketchy as the weather.

Coleto Creek – Wednesday

Tuesday we had another big cold front come in, with a little sleet, cold ass rain, and a high north wind.  We are caught in a cycle of 40 degree temperature fluctuations, and the fishing has reflected that.  So though I was headed to fish Baffin Thursday, I just could not take another day in the house, so in spite of the post front conditions with mile high skies, I headed to the lake.

The first thing I noticed was the water temperature, it had dropped anywhere from 7 to 10 degrees everywhere on the lake.  And the clarity had definitely dropped also.  I started late, hoping with the afternoon warming trend they might bite a little bit later in the day.  First I hit a couple of coves I have been catching them in, and they were gone, which did not surprise me.  So I went ahead and concentrated on the main lake, and as they day wore on they bit a little better.

I stayed with the Swim Jig, though I did throw the jerk bait some.  The jerk bait did not even produce a bite on a couple of points and a channel bank, so for the rest of the afternoon it was the Swim Jig.

This is the size that has been eating that Swim Jig.

Though I tried points and deeper channel banks, which seemed logical with the post cold front conditions, surprisingly that is not where the fish were.  Often times I tell you to listen to the fish, and today I did.  They were in real heavy grass on flat banks, and I mean in it.  So it was a matter of tossing it to the top of the patch, letting the jig bump the grass, and then slow it down after getting to the edge, letting it swim down the face of the grass and back to the boat.

The Strike King Swim Jig is made for swimming it through grass like we have on Coleto.  So if you want to try it remember a couple of things that will put some fish in the boat.  First, just reel it real steady.  It is simple as that, just swim it back.  Maybe that is why it is called a Swim Jig.  Let it bump the grass, and anything else it hits, and be super ready when it hits something.  Second, they will often track right along with it, and you will see them follow it to the boat.  So rememberas you reel it along to occasionally give it a little hop, and one may eat it.

Last, and most important, is they can be a real bear to feel.  Of all the lures I fish it is maybe the one that requires the most concentration.  As the bait is just swimming along at a nice steady pace the fish have a habit of just swimming up behind it and eating it, and then they just keep swimming with it.  Occasionally one will smack it or tick it, but the majority of the time you will feel a little weight, or see your line move to the side.  To combat this sneaky bite point your rod directly at the bait as you swim it in.  I try to keep my line in a straight line with the bait.  It helps you feel that little bit of additional tension, and believe me, some of the biggest bass are just there.  So set the hook if you feel anything.  Remember, there is no additional cost or penalty for setting the hook, whether there is a fish or not.  The more you fish it the better your feel will be, and it is amazing how often when you react there is one there.  As my friend John Storey, the founder of Champion Boats said about fishing, feel is everything.

For the afternoon I ended up putting 7 in boat, not a bad day for post front conditions with a water temperature drop of 7 to 10 degrees.  I would have a few other pictures, including one quite a bit bigger than the one above, but my camera battery failed me.

I have noticed a very few beds that were made and abandoned before these last couple of fronts.  There were also a few Tilapia beds, also abandoned.  But that is a good thing, it means spawning is on their mind.  We have a moon coming up and if we do not have any real ugly fronts the spawn will start soon.  And with it our best fishing of the year.

Baffin Bay  –  Thursday

I feel like Forest Gump when he would say “that’s all I have to say about that.”  In this case it says it all about our day at Baffin.  My friend Chris was wanting to fish for a big trout, and of course I am all about that, so we headed to Baffin.  Well the anticipation far out did the fishing.

We got to the Bird Island ramp about 8:15 and it looked awesome.  It was overcast and there was barely a breath of wind.  It was one of those days that just said big trout, and it never got any better for us all day.

First we got ready to put the boat in the water, and the only thing we had was the ability to start the boat, and nothing else.  No lights, no bilge, no jack plate – you get the picture.  And hour and a half later we were able to fix the problem.  For some reason a single spot on a panel that all the accessories ran off of failed.  Not the whole panel, just one screw.  So after basically rewiring the whole electrical system we were off .

As we headed to Baffin of course the wind began to slowly pick up.  And pick up it did, from dead calm to almost 20 mph out of the Southeast before the day was over.  Now that is not always a trip killer, but as we were headed to the Tide Gauge and then the Badlands, it was blowing directly on both places.  The water temperature did not help matters, as it was 47 degrees, cold by any standard.

To make a long story short, we made long wades on both places and I had something happen that I do not ever remember happening to me on the Gulf – I did not have a bite all afternoon.  Zip, zero, nada.  We waded from knee deep to chest deep.  We waded sand, mud, grass, and whatever else came along.   Chris did miss a couple and catch one keeper flounder, but I might as well have been fishing from my couch.  Corkies, big plastics, small plastics, fast, slow, cover lots of water, fishing slower than dirt, it did not matter.

I am still trying to figure out how that happened.  That was my third trip down there, and I have always had a good trip, but this time it just did not work out.  But one thing about it, it just increases my resolve to go back and do a better job.  What I did wrong I do not have a clue, but whatever it was I’ll try not to repeat that.  This was one of those days that puts me in my place.  We all get complacent at times, thinking we are all that in the fishing department, and then we are reminded that fishing is never a sure thing.  All I know is we did not fish properly for whatever reason.

So good bye to January and good riddance.  It has been an up and down month.  I have had some really great days, and some real stinker.  But for a January it was not to bad.  And the good news, here comes the good fishing.  So keep stopping in.  There will be a report shortly on Shoedog’s trip to Fayette County, and it looks like he did ok.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines 

Fish Catching Travel

We are so stuck in this every couple of days cold front thing.  Here it is Tuesday, it is 34 degrees with 22 mph wind straight out of the north, it is raining, and the wind chill is 22.  Now I know all you folks up north are not impressed, but I thought when I moved this far south it would be flip flops and palm trees everyday.  Of course when it is just to ugly to fish, I just want to go all the more.

I met J.T. at Toyota and in our conversation found out he liked to fish.  So I promised to take him this week, and since I am heading to Baffin Thursday, and the weather looked sketchy today, Monday was the day.  The real problem was this front, which was supposed to be here Monday.  When we started out in the morning the wind was already blowing a little, but at least it was manageable.

Since I caught those couple of big girls Sunday we started with swim jigs.  The best I can say about the fishing was it was slow, I mean real slow.  It was just one here and one there for several hours.  We just could not find a consistent pattern.  The falling temps definitely had them moving back out of the coves.  It was so windy that topwater was not an option, in fact no where on the main lake except for a couple of banks was it even possible to fish.

About 10:30 halfway back in a cove I had one slack line me and swim with it, I thought I got a good hook set, but it was not to be.  She jumped about halfway back, and was a good 7+, maybe a little bigger, and she was gone.  For the rest of the day we fished only where the wind would let us, which is never a great thing, especially since those places were not the best ones.  JT gave it a valiant try.  Never having fished a swim jig, the strikes yesterday were so subtle, he missed several before he finally boated his first and only fish.  I put 5 in the boat, lost the big one, and missed maybe 2.

It was just plain tough.  Even the ones who bit were not thumping it, the best you could hope for was to see your line move, or feel it go slack.  They were not aggressive by any means.  I have no doubt JT will get the hang of it, in fact depending on the weather tomorrow,  we just might be back out there.  We are entering the early pre-spawn period where those big girls are just waiting for any reason to move shallow.  I love this time of year, which is why through crappy weather I keep going, you never know when it is going to happen, and be “that day”.

I am starting to get excited about Baffin Thursday.  Looks like the wind may cooperate and the temperature looks good to.  So it will be over the side we go, looking for that 25’+ trout.  Gee – I do not have enough tackle, think I will head to Academy and buy another Corkie.  You can never have enough stuff now can you?  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Some days are just meant to be.  I got a text from my friend Clyde in Arkansas at 6:00 in the morning, who does that?  Worse, I was awake.  He wanted to finalize our Canada plans, and to ask what size of that Strike King Swim Jig I throw, which is a quarter ounce.  So guess what, I decided to throw it some today.

Look how long she is.  That is the skinniest big one I have ever caught.  If this is a male he is the king of all males.  Love that Strike King Swim Jig and Rage Craw, it catches big fish.

And another interesting occurence is what I wrote in my blog just yesterday about our last 2 trips when Shoedog was here:

“So not a bad couple of days with the Shoedog here.  We caught fish both days, in fact probably 70, give or take a couple, but none of them were “big”.  But I am not complaining, it is just the prelude to what is coming.  For both fish, and fishermen, the next few months will reach a fever pitch.  There will be lots of big ones coming.”

The day started out slow, probably because I threw a medium size swimbait for a couple of hours.  If you read my stuff you know I have been catching lots of them on Coleto on topwater, but no real big ones.  So I thought the swimbait might be a good choice, not.  After that I went back to the topwater, and over the next couple of hours, it was slow, I put 4 in the boat.  The falling water temperature up lake probably has something to do with it.  It was 5 degrees colder than last week.

Finally I committed to fishing the swim jig. The one above was the first one I caught when I threw it.  I was pitching it to big grass clumps in 5 foot of water, hitting the tops of the clumps and then slow rolling it off.  About a half hour later I caught this girl.

Another good fish succumbs to the Strike King Swim Jig.  If the one above had been fat like this one she would have weighed 9!

I caught 4 on the swim jig, and missed another good one.  They were tight to grass, and the bites all came after hitting the top and then slow rolling it down the face of it.  No doubt that you do not get as many bites on the swim jig as on the topwater, but they sure are better fish.  Next it was the cove right above the bridge, where I missed one on the swim jig and caught a nice one on spinnerbait.  As I was leaving it, and feeling pretty good about the way it was going, I heard a boat trying to start under the bridge.  I idled over and they were having trouble.  He was actually on the phone trying to get someone to help.

So my day was over.  But you know what, some days are meant to be.  Clyde and I talk about the swim jig, and I catch a couple of big un’s.  Then I was there at the right time to tow those folks, with the kids, back to the ramp.  Over the years I have towed several folks back, and I keep doing it, you never know, it could be your turn next.

This was the kind of day that keeps me fishing.  Slow, falling water levels and temps, and still find a way to catch a couple.  And to have it happen right in the middle of the day, when it was looking a little rough, was all that much better.  I think for the day it was 4 on topwater, 4 on jig, and one on a spinnerbait.  Not even a pass on the swim bait.

The weather this week looks like it is going to suck, again.  High winds from the north, falling temperatures, maybe rain to make it perfect.  So in the morning I will give it a go, hopefully the front will come in later in the day.  Then it is off to Baffin on Thursday.  Here’s hoping the weather settles down by then.  I am having visions of a big trout on a corky.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

 Fish Catching Travel

What a difference a day makes.  After a relatively nice day at POC we would get a rather dramatic weather change  When we hit the lake at 7 it was 59 degrees and the wind was blowing 10 out of the North.  By 2:00 it was 40 degree and the wind was howling out of the North at 35 – 40 mph.  That wacky Texas weather.

We headed up lake and first fished a cove above the bridge.  We put 6 in the boat there, all on topwater balsa minnows.  The water in there was 59 degrees.  As we fished up lake, the water temp slowly dropped another couple of degrees, and the bite definitely slowed.  That said, we did get bites almost everywhere we tried, and it was real apparent quick, if you caught 2 there was a good chance at least a couple more would be there.

The best one of the day.  One of 3 or 4 like this we caught today.

With the temp decreasing up lake we made a move to a mid-lake cove, and caught 4 or 5 out of it.  One of them that Shoedog caught was a good one.  We kept moving down lake, catching them here and there, but it definitely continued with the catch a few, then nothing.  Shoedog did catch one on a Chatterbait and another on a jerkbait.  The fish wanted that topwater right on top, not jerked real hard, just twitched.  Most came on grass edges and points, but close to the bank.  It was cool to see some of them in that clear water roll over on it.

As we headed up the other arm of the lake to get out of the wind, which was building, the water temperature started dropping again. And so did the air temperature, which we found out at the truck had dropped almost 20 degrees from when we started.  Then about 1 it was there, and when I say the fish quit, they quit.  Flat not even a bite.  Of course that turned into a good thing, we quit too.  Coming back down lake was the roughest ride I have had on Coleto.  It was humping and it was definitely time to call it a day.

So not a bad day, we easily caught 20, with 4 or 5 nice ones.  They were eating that topwater pretty good, and there was plenty of action.  The really good fishing on Coleto is just about to start.  The big girls are not shallow now, but they have to be staging close to the spawning coves and for jig and Carolina rig fisherman time to find a big bunch deep.

But nothing compared to the coyotes.  As we fished along in a cove Jeff told me to look at the coyote, and there it was running through the brush at waters edge.  It was dark, with a black ting to it’s coat.  Behind it, also running like mad, was a bigger, grey coyote.  It looked very much like my Husky.  It’s back hair was up, and it was going to kill that other coyote.  They crashed though the brush and the first one made the lake edge and jumped right in.

Unbelievable.  They were maybe 30 feet in front of us when they went by, and coyote number one was running for it’s life.  We could not tell if they were male or female.  So who knows why coyote number one was run out of the territory, but there was no mistaking coyote number two’s intentions.  Shoedog said he saw another one, I was to busy watching the first one.  Every day in the outdoors is a blessing.  But when we were lucky enough to top it off with a close encounter like we witnessed today I count myself lucky.  What a sight.

So not a bad couple of days with the Shoedog here.  We caught fish both days, in fact probably 70, give or take a couple, but none of them were “big”.  But I am not complaining, it is just the prelude to what is coming.  For both fish, and fishermen, the next few months will reach a fever pitch.  There will be lots of big ones coming.

They did dredge out the channel around the boat ramp at Coleto, but it was dark when we left, and had 3 foot rollers on the ramp when we quit, so I can’t tell you what exactly got done.  We still need some water in the lake, the ramp is steep, and I would still be really cautious when putting in.  Thanks again for stopping and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Shoedog was in town for his first couple of days of fishing since he retired.  We hoped to fish 3 days, but it looks like Friday is going to hell in a hand basket, love that Texas weather.  So with only 2 days we decided to start out at POC.  The weather was supposed to be ok, with the big fallout on Thursday, so it made sense to fish the Gulf with low wind and sun.  We would head to Coleto for bass on Thrusday, the day of the front.

If there was one strike against us it was the fact that there would be 2 tides, none of them of any strength.  The wind was not to bad when we got to the ramp, and it was supposed to be fairly warm.  Well it did get “fairly” warm, but the wind started to blow harder as the day went on, not helping warm the water as much as it did 2 days ago.  The water temp was only 57 when we started, and never got much above 60 all day.

Since I literally whacked them 2 days ago we headed to the Bayou starting in the same drain where I was so successful before.  Our first pass we caught 10 or 12 trout, but only one made the grade.  We started hunting and pecking after that, but the water was so low, and the tide so weak, it did not have the trout concentrated in any one area.

Though we continued to catch them here and there, the only place we tried where we got no  bites was the little jetties, we just could not stick a good one.  But one thing happened that ended up making it a great day, sight fishing for the redfish.  I have not really had a lot of experience doing that in the winter, but today it worked.

The first bunch we saw had probably 30 in it, and we caught several, including one just under 20″, the rest were rats.  We also ran into a bunch on a bank in the Saluria, we could see them rolling over and eating in the clear water.  We put several in the boat there.  Later we found another couple of bunches, and as with the first bunch, it was simply a matter of throwing to the mud.

Fighting another rat red.

There are no pictures of the rats, they were small.  While they would not measure, we had a great time casting to them.  There was one constant, calm water, and the reds were there.  They wanted that sun to warm them, and the baitfish in the same place.

We kept going back to the trout, but they never did gang up in any of the drains, there was just not enough water being forced through them to get the fish active.  But every once in while we would catch another keeper, but when it was all said and done we only boxed 6 for the day.  I was a little surprised that we did not have any more keepers than that, considering we caught maybe 20 reds and 25 trout.  We also picked up a couple of black drum and 4 or 5 flounder, all of them to small.

These guys are headed to their new home, a freezer in College Station.

While catching small fish can be a pain in the butt, it really was a good time.  We had bent rods almost all day.  Flipping plastics to cruising reds is a blast.  I stayed with either the electric chicken, or chicken on a chain, paddle tails all day.  Shoedog has been using Berkley Havoc 3″  paddle tails in dark colors, and the fish seem to really like them.

About 4 we called it a day and headed back to Froggie’s.  No matter how the fishing goes there is something to learn everyday.  I knew when I checked the tides it would be a tougher deal, and that was surely right.  Now I need to learn how to overcome that fact.  It might seem funny to be puzzled by a day where we caught lots of fish, but I am sure there is something we could have done to increase the size of fish.  By the same token, I never look at gift fish in the mouth.  No complaints, just thinking about how it could have been better.

Tomorrow it is off to Coleto.  The weather reports say the front will be here some time between early morning and late evening.  It will be one of those days when you hope to catch a big feed prior to the front.  But with the up to 40 mph winds and a 2o degree drop in temperature, it could be tough.  So stop on in, who knows maybe tomorrow is our day.  Isn’t that how we fishermen are?  The next cast, the next day, the next trip,  our glass is always at least half full.  With that as the starting point, how could we have a bad day.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Yesterday was a great way to start off what will be 4 days of fishing this week.  After my last trip to POC it was back to Big Bayou to get some filets.  Normally I do not keep lots of fish, but I wanted to cook the boss of Team Nancy a fish fry, so I headed back to see if the pattern would repeat itself.

The tide was low and the wind was around 15 mph out of the SSW.  That was exactly opposite of the last week when the wind was out of the north.  If you read last week you know I was fishing drains from both Bill Day’s and Barroom Bay that empty in to Big Bayou.  With the deep water in the Bayou a certain amount of trout winter there, so when the water is flushing between the islands, and falling into the deeper water, you can often find them positioned at the base of a drain waiting on bait.

So I headed to the first one and the fish were there.  There are days when you fish poorly, and days when you fish like a pro, today I fished like a pro.  With the water running, and the wind blowing, it was tough to keep the boat in the perfect position to make a perfect cast.

A nice trout.  Note the paddle tail in chicken on a chain.

The fish were waiting in about 2 – 3 foot of water and you had to make the perfect cast and then slowly ease it along, letting it fall off the little drop, and they were there.  I probably felt about 10% of them, the rest were just there when I lifted up.  I was using the paddle tail on a 1/8th ounce Strike King Jig head, which allowed it to fall fairly slow, which I think was critical.

Another guest at the fish fry.

Of course not all drains from flats, bays, or back lakes are full of fish.  But when the water is falling out you just need to drain hop, fish them fairly quickly, and then move on if you do not get a bite.  When they are there, they are there.

A limit headed to the cleaning table.

It did not take to long to get a nice limit, the biggest being 19″.  So with that done it was time to see if I could catch a couple of reds before calling it a day early.  Last time I was there one of my favorite banks had lots of rat reds on it.  This time of year I really like to fish the edge of large oyster bars where the water has fallen completely off it.  And if that is also a flat there with the sun on it, you are in business.

Not quite a keeper, but I have to catch at least one every time out on the Redfish Magic.

Both last time and this, the water is clear enough you can see the fish, or more realistic, the mud where they are rooting.  When it is this low you have to let the wind help push you along, keep the trolling motor noise to a minimum, and keep scanning.  So as I started down the bank with all the rats on it the dolphins appeared and just absolutely tore it up.  They had the bait, or the reds, pinned against the edge of the flat and there was a killin’ going on.

I sat and watched, then they were off the bank and gone.  I went ahead and fished the bank anyway,  and as I got near the end of it there was a big mud.  I tossed the chicken  on a chain paddle tail in it and caught a rat, and then another, and then another.  Now what made that interesting was the third one had a bite mark on his side, and it was fresh.  He was one lucky redfish, and it reminded me that in the salt it is eat or be eaten, and the struggle for survival goes on every minute of every day.  Why I did not take a picture of him I do not know, dumb.

It ended up being a short day, but a productive one.  Limited on the trout, caught about 6 or 8 reds, and one lone flounder.  The only thing I did not do was throw a topwater, and I should have, when you have that warming sun on shallow flats in the afternoon it is worth the effort, and will be done tomorrow.  All in all not bad, and with Shoedog coming tonight, those fish better look out.

Speaking of Shoedog, he is getting this retirement thing down.  He sent me this picture – looks like he is thrashing that lake in his subdivision.

A nice spinnerbait fish.

I like getting pictures from folks.  Please send me some, I will be happy to post them on the site.  Just send me a comment or an email and I will respond.  The address to send them to is redfishlaw@ yahoo.com.  And if you send a little story all the better.  This site is for guys like us, people who love to fish, to read about fishing, to talk about fishing, and all other things in the sport we love.

It will be up early and off to the Gulf tomorrow, than a little bass fishing before the weather deteriorates again.  So keep stopping in and I will let you know how it goes.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

After a little break for a short trip to Corpus, and now a little football, it will be back to fishing this week.  The weather looks great and my brother Shoedog will be headed this way for 2 or 3 days of fishing, so we should have some great reports starting tomorrow.

One thing I always do if I get anywhere near Corpus is stop at Roy’s Bait and Tackle.  A tackle store for hard-core fishermen, it has just about anything you could want.  And there are almost always some good deals so it is hard to get out of there without leaving a couple of bucks behind.  To make it even better, or worse, they are in the process of an expansion that will double them from around 5000 square feet to 10,000.  Now that is  a tackle store!

I saw in the paper that the work on the Coleto Creek ramp is going to take a few more days than they thought.  The ramp is scheduled to be closed Monday and Tuesday.  So if you are headed that way I would check with them to be sure they got the work done and the ramp is open on Wednesday as planned.

Shoedog, who lives in College Station, has a 3 -4 acre lake in his subdivision that is a pretty good little fishing hole.  He sent me these pictures and a short note on his last fishing trip.

A nice pre-spawn jig fish.  When all else fails this time of year a jig and craw is a great go-to bait.

Big fish from a small body of water.

“It was 66-67 degrees and the day had started out at only 34 degrees. I got on the lake at about 3pm. Pretty good breeze and with the the south wind I thought I would start with a spinnerbait- what else? But- way too many at or below freezing nights in the last few weeks and they are slow. So, after 45 minutes without a strike- out comes the jig and pig. Had a couple taps immediately and missed the third- a good one I had on for a sec. Then I caught the first nice one about 2.5-3 lbs. A few minutes later I caught the 20 plus incher- he was close to a dock. at least 5 lbs. I caught another small one and then I caught the second nice 3 lb. or so one.  All the fish but one were fairly shallow- 2-4 feet. Not bad for a late afternoon quickie. They all were very healthy.”

On a final note there was an article in the Victoria Advocate this morning concerning an organization called the San Antonio Bay Partnership.  They are seeking comments on the Coastal Public Access plan which is to be completed on January 31 this month.  What they are looking at is expansion of facilities from boat ramps to kayak facilities, and bird watching opportunities.  I urge you to go to their site and take a look at the plan.  One proposal is a boat ramp at Highway 35 and the Barge Canal, another is a potential public marina with ramp at POC.  One thing that has surprised me since I moved here is the limited rampage in our area.  Plain and simple we need more ramps with parking.  As all of you know, holidays and prime fishing time can be a mess at our ramps.  So take a couple of minutes to review the site and send her any comments you have by Friday.

http://www.sabaypartnership.org/

Comments:   kiersten.madden@gmail.com

So there you have a few ramblings for today.  Now it is back to the fishing, and if all goes well I should have lots of reports this week.  One last note, we continue to grow with more folks stopping in all the time.  I appreciate each and everyone of you so keep those comments coming.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

I thought today I might be on the water, but other plans are getting in the way.  Of course I never turn down a chance to head to Roy’s Bait and Tackle in Corpus Cristi.  I have been in tackle stores in lots of places near and far, but Roy’s is definitely my favorite.  Their inventory puts even Bass Pro and Cabela’s to shame.

So with the wife needing a break from continuous study for her recertification boards, we are off to Corpus for a little fun in the sun.  A little tackle shopping, seafood eating, and maybe even a little Rock and Roll music tonite, should provide her with the break she needs, and who knows I might even score some good deals at Roy’s.  I urge you if you have never been there and are ever in the Corpus area, stop, it is a store for the hard core fisherman.

Lots of kind comments have come in this week and I did want to share a couple with you.  Faye is one of my regular readers who keeps in contact.  She was reassured when I did not catch squat on Monday, it happens to us all Faye.  But then not so happy when I whacked them on Wednesday.  She and her husband have a busy business and won’t make it down here in the near future.  Don’t worry Faye, I will be happy to catch them for you.

I also heard from Sean in Austin who fishes from a Kayak.  He said he likes the posts on the Powderhorn.  It is one of the really good areas for Kayaks if there is not to much wind, and I am glad he gets something out of my reports.  The Powderhorn is a cool place, and it still gets little fishing pressure compared to places like POC.  And if I had to catch a red, I would throw the Redfish Magic there.  So good luck Sean, let me know how this weekend goes.

Robert from Austin also sent me a nice note.  He has fished the coast since the 70’s and has offered to share his knowledge of the Aransas Pass area with me.  Thanks Robert, you are in the research file, and when I get down that way I will definitely give you a buzz and let you put me on them.

I also received a note from JT who I just met last week.  He managed to put a couple of rats in the boat in the Powderhorn on the Redfish Magic.  That bait can really be addictive.  It put 5 or 6 in the boat for me on Wednesday.  I plan on fishing some with JT in the very near future.  You meet the nicest folks when you share your love of fishing.

Lastly, my brother the Shoedog finally retired.  He has been out of town visiting the daughter and grandson, but is back and I expect there to be some serious fishing this week.  The weather appears to be settling down.  Both the bay and the freshwater reports are improving dramatically.  It is about to be my favorite fishing time of the year, the all out bite, and this week coming up should be a good one.

So with all that said, it is off for a little R & R before a week of serious fishing.  Keep those cards and letters coming, I love to hear from you.  Who knows, I may even sneak out a couple of hours Sunday morning.   Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

Fish Catching Travel

As you regulars know my trip to Keller on Monday got blown out.  In fact not only no fish, not even a bite.  Today was not that day.  So let us just get this out of the way, and then we can really talk about the day.

First and last on a Corky.

Fish Number #2.

The bite is on!

They were not huge, but they were willing.

Electric Chicken on a 1/8oz jig head with 10lb. test.

I am sure you get the point.  This went on for 3 hours on the same bank until I finally went to chase some reds.

No giant, but boy they were biting too.

Can you say Redfish Magic?

Heck let’s just try that electric chicken, and it worked too.

This was turning into fun.

I caught 5 like this out of one cut.  Like the trout pictures, I quit taking redfish pictures, but you get the point.

Now that we have that little bit of housekeeping out of the way, lets talk about what happened.  First, this is just a small sample of the fish I caught this afternoon.  I finally quit taking pictures, you get the point, it was good, real good.

The original plan was to do some wading with a Corky, but of course I had to stop at my favorite winter trout bank in Big Bayou first.  Who knew that 3 hours later I would finally leave it because I was sick of catching trout in the same place.

The tide was hauling out when I got to the Bayou.  Though I caught one on a Corky, it was just running to fast as Barroom emptied into Big Bayou via a cut at the end of an island, it was screaming.  So I switched to an electric chicken paddle tail on a 1/8 oz jig head and it was game on.  The fish were right at the mouth of the cut and strung out all down the island below the cut.

There were a couple of factors that made for the perfect storm today.  The tide was hauling, the bank had some protection from the wind, and was 3 degrees warmer than the surrounding water due to the sun shining directly on it.  Last, the bank has a little mud shelf that sticks out about 8 feet from the bank before it drops into 4 foot of water, and it had lots of baitfish.

As you can see from the pictures I took, they were not big fish, but there were lots of them.  It has been a while since I caught so many trout I can not even guess how many it was.  The one thing that was important, you had to cast a little up current, then hop it with the current naturally.  Many of the fish were in the first or second hop, and it was almost hop it a couple of times and then set the hook.

I finally just got tired of catching them there.  I saw a guy watching me so I told him to come and get some, I was heading to catch a few redfish.  And guess what?  The first redfish in the pictures above came on my second cast with the Redfish Magic.

The water was so low that you had to stay way off any shoreline, and blind cast over the huge shallow flats, but they were there.  So just going with the wind and tide I would throw it as far as I could and steady reel it.  I caught 5 or 6 pretty quickly, and then had a stretch where I was fishing a warm shallow bank adjacent to a huge oyster bar when I missed a couple.

Now that is a rarity on the Redfish Magic, so I said why not, and picked up the electric chicken and re-fished the bank.  And the rat reds were all over it, and I ended up catching 8 or 10.  At this point I am just having a good time.  After striking out Monday, this was heaven.  It seemed like the fish were biting wherever I was fishing.  That is what makes winter fishing what it is, when it is good, it is fabulous, but when it sucks, it sucks.  I started catching fish about 10:30, and they were still biting when I quit at 4.

So what was reinforced today was that steady north winds make low tide.  That when combined with a falling tide, it really hauls.  That when it has been cold trout seek some deeper relief, and when that protection has a shallow flat that is protected from the wind and has the sun shining on it, they will show at some point.  And like today, if you see baitfish flipping the surface, fish the crap out of it, they are there somewhere.

And presentation was important.  Though I caught them throwing anywhere near the bank, it was a sure thing when I tossed it up current and hopped it with the current.  It just plain wore them out.

So while I did not smack a big one today, I easily caught a limit of trout and reds.  It was just plain good.  With our warming temperatures, and good forecast for the coming week, the fishing should really improve.  Just keep in mind north wind, tides emptying from bays and back lakes, and sunny banks out of the wind.  If you can put those 3 factors together right now you will catch fish.  I sure did.

So there you have it, there is not much more to be said about today.  It was one of those days that keeps us all fishing.  The prefect set of conditions, the right bait and color, and figuring it out before the bite was over.  All came together for me today, and it more than made up for Monday’s fiasco.  What next?  I have not decided, but I am off to somewhere different on the Gulf.  I do know one thing, I will be looking to replicate today’s pattern. So keep stopping in, I appreciate all of you.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines