Fish Catching Travel

Fish Catching Travel

Sunday was the last day of our 4 day fish till you puke trip.  2 days on the Lavaca River, followed by one day on Coleto, and the big finish at POC.  The weather looked perfect and it was.

Jeff was wanting to put a couple of flounder in the boat, and Clyde wanted to catch a couple of reds.  The flounder fishing has been slow this fall, but with the big cold front this week I figured it should have improved some, and from some reports it apparently has all over the coast.

Normally we do not “fish” for flounder.  We just have several places where we normally catch them in the fall.  So we stick with our plastics and Strike King Redfish Magic to catch them, along with trout and reds.  We started off with topwater but it did not take me long to go to plastics, which I fished most of the day.  I was the first one to get lucky on a big flat that has a fairly soft bottom.

A nice thick flattie.

For the rest of the day we caught trout and small redfish around grass.  We had bites on top, spinnerbait, and plastics.  After the tide stopped running there was plenty of water on the flats as we headed to Barroom Bay.  We started on the POC side on the big flat and went from the big point all the way to Fisherman’s Cut.  It was a long drift, but the fish were there.  We were actually seeing trout roll as they fed on small mullet and some kind of tiny baitfish.  Clyde was throwing the Redfish Magic when he got a big thump in about a foot of water.

That was one thick and long flounder. I thought mine was a good one until he caught this.

With the tide staying high we caught trout, reds and this flounder down that bank.  I kept the boat right on the edge of the drop and we threw as far as we could, basically keeping the boat in 2 foot of water and throwing into 8″.  We got consistent bites all afternoon, and they hit anything we threw at them.  In fact, we never really did find that one bait that out did the others, though plastics were the most consistent.

Then we headed into a couple of drains, and while we caught small redfish, the really good one eluded us.  Shoedog missed a couple of big explosions on topwater, and Clyde lost a real hooter on spinnerbait.  So for the day it turned out to be no keeper reds, but quite a few small ones.  With the bigger reds moving out to sea, the jetty is loaded with them right now.  I spoke with a guide who is killing them out there.  So if you are looking for reds right now you probably need to be further out near the pass.

The trout were consistent all day, with plastics being the bait of choice.  I would like to be able to tell you how many keepers we kept, but we did not count, but it was around 8 trout and those 2 flounders.  But that number is not a real indication of how good the fishing was.  It was consistent, and we did not have any trout in the box we had to measure.  The lure fishing is really coming into it’s own right now, and for just shear consistent action all the time we fished this was a really good day.  They bit all day long and it was fun.

I promised you the video of Shoedog’s fight with the alligator gar on the Lavaca River the other day.  I have to give props to the line and the Carrot Stik, they were not made for that.

 Here is the Shoedog and the Lavaca River Gar

So what a successful trip.  The fishing was good all 4 days, and we could not have asked for better weather.  Sorry I did not take some pictures of the trout we caught in both places.  It is really awesome this year how much larger they are across the board.  We really did catch some great trout.  They were fat, sassy, and just plain bigger than the last couple of years.  Fishing is great right now.

The hick-up with the Mako on day one was easily fixed, thank God I have 2 boats and we were able to switch to the Skiff and save the trip.  Since it started to malfunction after I ran down river, and then would only run at 3000 rpm and I had to limp back to the ramp, it could have been a real problem if we had gone to Falcon like we originally planned.  Sometimes things just work out in spite of trouble, and this trip was that.

It is good to spend time with family and friends on the water.  We only have so many days on this earth, and even less on the water.  So remember to make the best of every day.

It Makes Me Sick

When we were done fishing the boys were cleaning fish and I went to get the truck and load the boat.  As I was walking down the line in Froggie’s lot a truck had left, and in it’s space were 2 Redhead ducks that were laying on the parking lot.  It made me sick.  I thought about picking them up, but did not want to be seen carrying them to the trash can.  Next thing you know someone calls the warden, or he drives up, and there you go.  Do not get me wrong, I respect our wardens but it would have been a fiasco, we all know he would not have been hearing that when I explained what happened.  They are not the most understanding bunch.  Reflecting on it I should have called and stayed there until they came.  And that is the last thing they need to be responding to.

So what happened?  The best scenario, and the most unlikely, was they fell off the truck or boat when they pulled out.  Possible, but where they were did not fit that scenario at all.  The most likely, they tossed them there.  This actually happened in the POC area several times last year.  We even found some in the can at Froggie’s last year.  It has to stop.

Now if it was an accident, I apologize for what I am about to say.

1.  You are the reason hunters have a bad name.

2.  You are such a poor hunter you could only kill 2 Redheads when the area is over run with ducks.

3.  You are a slob.  You want that thrown in your yard to rot?  You are so lazy that when you were breaking the law you could not even bother to at least throw them away somewhere out of sight?

4.  You are a criminal.  Wasting game is against the law, you are no better than any other common criminal.

5.  You are not an outdoorsman.  You should not even have the right to share the woods and waters with all the honest sportsmen out there.

We all have to act responsibly in the outdoors.  There are plenty of folks out there who wish to restrict our rights, especially hunting.  We do not need to give anyone an excuse to further not only the anti-hunting crusade, but the very real attack on our Second Amendment Rights.

So here is my solution – 5 year ban on all license rights.  Complete confiscation of anything used to facilitate this violation, including guns, boat, and truck.  Financial restitution at about a $1000 a bird.  And how about 200 hours of community service with the Parks and Wildlife folks to give a violator a better feel for the life they lead trying to keep us in wildlife.

Think that is to much?  Remember folks, I was a defense attorney  who handled over 1000 major felonies including death penalty cases in his career.  It always amazed me when folks broke the law and felt like it was no big deal, and then were shocked when they got arrested.  If I learned one thing from that experience is that the penalty must really deter the conduct.  Jack up a few hunters who do despicable crap like this and folks will get the message.  Hunting and fishing is a privilege, not a right.  You want to play the game like that, you should pay the price.  That conduct hurts us all, and I do not appreciate it.  Sorry for the rant – but it makes me sick.

Now it is back to the regular fishing schedule.  I am still recovering from early mornings and long days.  But guess what?  It is cloudy with a light breeze today, and I wish I was out there right now.  But it is time to catch up on a few things in my life.  But who knows, I may slip out tomorrow.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

I am getting tired.  Day 3 of a long fishing extravaganza.  We hit Coleto today and actually fished from 6:15 am to 6:15 pm.  We started early throwing buzzbait and caught 6 small ones and one nice one early.  From then until about 2 it sucked.  The weather was great, but not for fishing.  It was dead calm and sunny.

Luckily about 2 it started clouding up and the wind finally started.  And from then on they bit better and better.  We probably ended up boating 20 plus anyway.  I did not fish much, just tried to keep Clyde and Jeff in good position to throw the buzzbait.

Points ended up being the place.  No wonder as the water on Coleto keeps falling.  When it gets like that the fish seem to always move to the points with the protection of deeper water close by.  We caught some nice fish, but lost quite a few in the grass.  Clyde finally had the big bite, and it came off.  To bad because it was a big bass, it just came unbuttoned.

Shoedog with a nice one.

We caught a couple like the one above, and few more keepers, we just never got the big one in the boat.  Shows how spoiled I am when the one above as the biggest is not as good as I would like.  But no matter what we had great fun.

I told you about Shoedog’s big battle with the gar, here is a few pictures to hold you over.  I have the video of the fight done, I just have to download it to utube.  I promise that will be here on Monday so stop in and watch, it is awesome.

Light line and a trout rod, nice job.

We got this jump on video.  That this monster did not break his line when he jumped was amazing.

Tomorrow it is off to POC for some redfish.  So off to bed we go early.  Keep stopping in the next couple of days and I will try to keep up.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Some times you get up on the right side of the bed and it only gets better from there.  Today’s fishing was exactly that.  The first trout came in the boat on like the second cast, and it just went on from there.

When we got on the water at daylight it was dead calm, a heck of a lot warmer than yesterday, and there was a steady outgoing tide.  We headed down river, dropped the trolling motor, and did not start the big motor for over 5 hours.  The tide kept us floating down river at a perfect steady pace.  Blue Gobi plastics were still the bait of the day, and we just tossed it to the bank and worked it out by hopping it off the bottom.

Clyde with a nice solid trout.

Though plastics were by far the best bait, they were not the only thing that worked.  We caught a few on topwater, a couple on jerk bait, and Clyde got the MirroLure Mirrodine (sp) going.  It was cool to watch those trout come up and smack that lure.  If you have not tried it, it is cool and will be added to my arsenal in the future!

There are tons of black drum in the river right now.

Often we all have a tendency to run over Hell’s Halfacre trying different places.  That is so not necessary in the river right now.  Just ride the river down and fish as you go.  The trout are scattered all over the river, and I mean all over it.  So running is a waste of fishing time, and as we found, there are pods of trout up and down the river.  So keep your bait wet and when you catch one get ready, you will probably catch another.

A real nice flounder on plastics.

We caught fish all day long, from the when we started until when we quit.  Though we had to work through lots of small trout, that was not a bad thing.  Before the day was over we kept  18 trout, 1 red, and 1 flounder.  We easily caught and released at least twice that many.  Of the 18 in the box we only had one that we really had to measure.  A great day.  And it was all the better as Clyde was down from Arkansas so he got to put some nice fish in the boat.

Soon to be bagged and headed to Arkansas to feed family and friends.

We talked to a few other folks on the river and I can tell you that there are fish from the Texana Dam all the way down to the bay.  We did fish one small bank down lake where we did not catch any trout.  That might have been because it was loaded with big Alligator Gar.  So what you say?  The so what was Shoedog got a bite and the fight was on.

Using a super light Carrot Stik, and light line, he had a monumental battle with a big one, it was awesome.  After a protracted battle and a couple of cool jumps, he made a quick release and another great moment in fishing was achieved.  He did a great job handling it and I got it all on video.  I should get it downloaded to utube tomorrow so stop by and take a peek, it is cool.

The weather was great, the fishing was good, and we had fun.  So on with the show.  We are headed to Coleto tomorrow to see if I can put Clyde on a big bass.  His last day here is Sunday and we will see how tomorrow goes before we decide how to finish his trip.

I do want to take time to address an issue that has come up with my blog in the past.  I have had 6 or 7 complaints, out of 135,000 folks who have read my blog, when I have been very specific about the places I am catching fish.  Sorry folks, that is what this blog is all about, sharing information with you.  My purpose is to expand folks fishing knowledge, it is not about “messing up your fishing place.”  This is a pattern that will work in all the rivers that lead into the coast.  Trout seek warmer protected water when it cools off.  The Lavaca River is just an example of this pattern.  So do what I did, look at the map, read as much as you can, and then get it done.  No one showed me, it was a matter of looking at the map and going.  So no matter where you are on the coast, there is a river, creek, or canal near you holding fish right now.

So thanks for reading my stuff.  It is late and I am tired, so if there are some editing errors, sorry, but it is time for bed.  Keep stopping in and I will keep trying to keep up to date with my reports.  The weather is fine, the fish are biting and it is great to be alive.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

 Fish Catching Travel

Lots of time I post online on other sites to share information with folks.  I am not going to post this on other sites right now so I can share this with those of you who are local and loyal readers.  The Lavaca River is loaded with trout right now.

Monday was a practice day to see if they were there so that when Clyde and my brother Jeff came this week I would have some fish located.  The last few years once November come I catch lots of trout in the river.  So Monday I started at daylight and caught a real good one right off the bat on that Blue flake Gobi plastic.  There were mullet flipping so out came the KVD topwater and from daylight until 10 they were smacking the snot out of it.

 The trout are in good shape this time of year.  And this is a good representation of what is in the river right now.

When they slacked off it was time to experiment.  Trout ended up coming on jerk bait, Rattle Trap, plastics, and top before I quit at 3.  It was a real solid limit, plus probably another 10 more, not counting a red and a couple of black drum

Basically it was simply a matter of easing down the river and covering lots of water.  It seems like catch one and you would catch several more.  On plastic just toss it to the bank and hop it back to the boat off the bottom.  Of the approximately 20 on Monday I may have actually felt 3 or 4 hit it.  The rest were there when I would lift it up.  So if you feel any resistance, set the hook.  This is one of the periods where if you think you have a bite, you do.  So with that result I was more than happy and feeling good about Thursday when I would meet the guys at the ramp after Jeff picked up Clyde at Bush International.

Love catching this size on topwater.

Thursday

After putting in I headed down river and caught a 3+ pound trout right off the bat on the blue flake Gobi plastic.  The guys were to be there about noon so I had an hour to explore and try a couple of places.  Of course the big cold front had them off their feed some.

After the first bank I cut across the river and fished another bank without success.  I started the boat and it would not go.  Bummer.  In fact, it would not go over 3000 RPM, what the matter is I do not know.  So I limped to the ramp and there they were.

This was one of those times when you just had to make chicken salad out of chicken *&^%.  I noticed that most of the boats had taken out and there was one guy there who came over and asked how we did.  I told him about the one, and he said they only caught one keeper and 4 or 5 small ones.  He had also been whacking them this week.  Obviously the big drop in water temp had them a little lethargic.

We idled out and just started fishing.  Sorry I did not take any pictures, but we ended up with 8 solid keepers, with only one we had to measure.  The blue plastic was the best bait, but Jeff caught at least 10 on jerk bait and one good one on Corky.  Interestingly the jerk bait was the Rapala Husky Jerk in the 4″ in blue.  Can you say blue?  They were just knocking the snot out of it, and of course we only had one. The water had definitely cooled, which is why I think the jerk bait was working.  Jeff was jerking it and stopping it, and when they hit it, they ate it.    Now only a couple of them were keepers, but they did hit it until dark.

I kept with plastics, and Clyde alternated with jerk baits and plastics.  While the fishing was not fast, Jeff caught 13, and I do not know how many Clyde and I caught, but we got our share.  So it was at least 20 plus for the afternoon with 8 keepers, a red, a sheepshead, and a drum.

So looking forward to tomorrow.  With warmer temps, and hopefully a little sunshine, we should be in the money.  And with more baits in hand we can do a little more experimenting.  And of course, it is wonderful to have 2 boats.  The Mako will be headed to the shop on Monday, and the Carolina Skiff is already attached to the truck.

I am tired and it is time to hit the sack, so no real editing, and I am sure I have left something out, but no matter what – the river has lots of fish in it right now.  So if you get a chance head down there and catch some fish.  I will take some pictures and post tomorrow’s results so stop in.  With 3 more days of fishing there will be lots to tell.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

What was I thinking?

I have wanted to get back to Indianola for a while, and with the wind forecast for 10 – 15 out of the NE, I decided to give it a go Friday.  Now being the observant fisherman that I am as I drove that way I noticed several boats headed back to Victoria, which should have tipped me off.  And the flags almost straight out as I drove there were another indicator that I should have paid attention to. But I kept going.

I decided to drive down the beach at Magnolia Beach and it only took a second to see I had messed up, bad.  There were 3 foot white caps slamming on to the beach.  And the water color?  It looked like the coffee my dad always had on the stove – muddy, real muddy.  When I got to Indianola it was ugly, and I mean ugly.  What a bad choice.  So with lots to do on the other boat,  I called it off and headed back to the house.

With new running lights to put on the Mako, a new bilge pump to install, and just some general maintenance to do, I spent the rest of my day doing that.  One comment on all of that – Why does it never just go like is should?  The way the bilge pump is mounted, and where, in the Mako was designed by a crack head who just got high.  It is terrible, so I ended up completely changing the whole thing.  I finally got all that done so we should be good to go on our 4 day fishing adventure this week when my bro, Shoedog, and my friend Clyde from Arkansas, get here on Thursday.

Our plan is to totally play it be ear.   Maybe POC, Baffin, some bass fishing, the river, who knows?  Whatever we do I will keep those reports coming.  And I will be fishing several days this week before they even get here to try to narrow down how to best use our time, so look for multiple reports this week.

More Deer

I got a text from my friend Todd in Austin this morning.  He was looking at the deer pictures from the post the other day and he sent me these.  So thanks Todd for letting my violate your copywrite.  I love it when folks send me stuff.

A nice buck standing in his backyard.

And here is a short video he shot.  One thing about this time of year, as you watch it you will see the object of his affection.  They are really hanging out with the girls right now.

Cool video, thanks again Todd.   Listen folks, send me stuff.  I would love to put it on here, and give you whatever credit you want.  Folks love to see your stuff, and I do not have to listen to myself yammer on all the time.  It does not have to be the biggest or the best, that is not what we do here.  We tell it like it really is, no matter how big or how small.  This is not Bill Dance fishing in a bathtub catching the same fish over and over.  (Maybe the worst show on outdoor TV.)  So please send me those pics and videos so I can share them with everyone.

A Little Strike King Redfish Magic Video

When I fished POC last Friday I had one of those days when it seemed everything was wanting some flash.  Though you normally catch redfish on the Redfish Magic, Friday trout, reds, a small grouper, and other assorted fish, were eating it.

The tide was way up in the grass, and I was able to fish some really shallow places.  It was motor up and trolling motor on low just easing along.  Though I did not get any big reds on the video, it gives you an idea of how to catch them.  So enjoy, and be sure to note the fine job I did getting the one on video, and to give you a clue, watch the net.

This was a flood tide that had really gone in the shallow grass.  Some of it barely has water on it, but when it gets that high you should always look shallow.  Keep it quiet, shake the grass, and hold on.

And one final word to the idiots who have been spamming my website’s email.  I don’t read Chinese you idiots!  I do not need Viagra, I never carry a purse, I don’t need a date, or an official NFL jerseys, and I do not know who in the hell Michael Kohr is.  Why don’t you knuckleheads try selling your BS to someone who gives a *&$%, because I don’t.

So there you have it for today.  I am so looking forward to this week.  It looks like I will be on the water at least 5 days this week.  One would think I might actually boat a couple of good ones.  Keep stopping in and I will keep telling it like it is.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

When I wrote the other day I commented on how it seems that when I look at the weather it must be someone else’s weather.  Yesterday they got it right, right on the button.  It was forecasted to be warm and calm until afternoon when a norther was going to blow in, and it sure did.  So with that forecast it was back to the lake, I was not interested in crossing some Gulf bay with  30 mph north winds.

With the boys coming midweek I decided to only fish areas I have not fished lately to see if I could find some other fish.  You can never have to many places with fish.  Over the course of the day I did find a pattern.  So for those of you who fish the lake here it is – topwater, spinnerbait, buzzbait, Senko, grass, points, rocks – let’s see, did I miss anything?  Oh yea, crankbait.

Here is the obligatory fish picture.

I included the picture above because every fish tale has to have a picture.  I took this one late in the morning because I just did not boat a big fish today.  On the other hand I caught a bunch like this.  By time the day was out at least 20+ came over the side.

From the point at the mouth of the ramp cove, to the intake at the plant, I caught fish here and there on everything I tried.  While there was no clear winner, it would be hard to tell as I fished the works as I was looking for some extra knowledge for the boys next week.  As the morning wore on the fish just kept biting, and the most I caught in one place, until the last cove, was 4, and that was still in the main place I have been catching them, isolated grass off the bank.  The best places seem to have at least 8 foot of water close.

The fish that hit the spinnerbait wanted it buzzed making a wake.  Topwater included a Zara, walking the dog, and a balsa minnow twitched on the top.  I threw a Strike King square bill for a little and boated one on that.

Around noon as I fished a main lake point I noticed a fish hit a baitfish in the middle of a cove.  So why not?  While in the coves would not seem to be a pattern right now, I headed in there and threw the balsa minnow on any grass I  could find, and they were there.  I even caught one in the back.  And before I quit I caught 6 out of that one cove on top.  It was dead calm when I looked up at a bass boat running down the lake, and it was a good thing I did, here came the front.  I had been concentrating so hard I did not notice it.  It was black, and I could hear the wind blowing even though it had not reached me yet.

So up came the trolling motor and off  I went to the ramp.  Good thing, by time I crossed the open area at the damn it had started white capping.  By time I got it on the trailer it was pouring.  Lucky this time!

So here is what I learned today.  There may be as many patterns on the lake as there are fishermen.  They are on the fall feed and there may be no better time to fish the way you like.  The only thing I could not get a bite on this time, or last, was a topwater frog.  It is clearly a baitfish bite.  Not saying all patterns are great, but from what I saw yesterday, it is still a matter of location. location, location.  And that is grass – I think the front rolling in had them up, but even if the grass was sparse as it was in the cove I finished in, they were still related to it.

One interesting note – I did not throw a buzzbait much as I was looking for other ways to catch them in case it goes to crap this week when the guys come.  And I did not boat a big fish, so who knows whether that played a factor in things but it is noteworthy.

Thank goodness the weather looks a little better tomorrow.  I am still wanting to fish Indianola and if it holds I might get there tomorrow.  Last year I was catching lots of trout, and some good ones, off the end of the boat lane on a reef, and it has been making me crazy thinking about it.  Not to mention the very consistent redfishing that the Powderhorn has.

So thanks for reading my stuff.  We have finally had our first real front of the winter and it should turn those fish on.  Drifting for trout in the bays is one of my favorite ways to catch them this time of year.  Find them and you will catch them.  I guess I will start looking at fishing in Panama today.  It looks like that will be in February and you can never plan to early.  Life is tough.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

The Captain of Team Nancy has been telling me that when she has been walking the dog at the park she has started to see lots of bucks.  With our cooler weather the bucks are on the prowl and I have been seeing lots of new rubs and scraps.  Breeding time is here and there is no better time to see bucks running around.  Boys will be boys.

The deer in the park have it made, and any early morning walk there you will see lots of them.  I like it because they will let you get close, and as long as you just ease along there are plenty of photo opportunities.  I took these while we were walking our Husky, who is fascinated with the deer.  So here you go – Whitetail Heaven.

Legal or not?  Tough call.

Cool to get this close.

He has some growing to do.

The reason the bucks are so active.  Who wouldn’t want to date this pretty girl?

A nice high rack.  Another close one.  Does his rack extend past the ears?

This guy had a nice thick rack.  When you see so many bucks running around you know it is fall.  It was like a deer single’s bar this morning.

Rubbin’ and scraping.  Leaving a little sign.

You can’t see me.  This girl gave a wheeze snort and was out of there.

Don’t you stomp your foot at me tough guy.

He was hot on the trail of a doe.

This guy was a stud.  He was not having me stalking him and took off like a shot.

So there is your morning nature walk.  Whitetails are a beautiful animal and I love it when the bucks throw caution to the wind.  It is awesome to be so close to so many.

So thanks for reading my stuff.  It will be back to fishing in the morning.  And I am sorry all you animal lovers, but all I can see and smell after this morning’s walk is backstrap wrapped in bacon sizzling on the grill.  Yummmmm!

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Sometimes I wonder if I have looked at somebody else’s weather.  When I got to the lake at daylight it was cloudy and calm, and it stayed that way the rest of the morning.  What good fishing weather for a nice fall day.  As fall approaches it is time for crankbait.  Though we are a power plant lake, fall is a great time to throw crankbait, and so I started with a Strike King Square Bill.

When looking for good crankbait water rocks are the place to be.  The other important factor is deeper water nearby.  So I started on a channel bank up lake with some good rock and caught one right off the bat.

Starting on my fall fashion look.  I call it the Kenny.  (see Southpark)

Over the next couple of hours I put 5 in the boat, and all came from areas with rock.  A steady retrieve was best, with an occasional ripping it forward, then stopping it.  They were popping it pretty good.  But with the great conditions I finally succumbed to the lure of the buzzbait and out it came.

From about 8:30 until I quit at 1:00 they bit pretty consistently, though I never had more than one or two in a place.  The lake has come up some, but it still has not pulled the fish to the bank with any consistency.  Most of the fish came from the very outside edge of grass, and though they were still on flatter areas, you have to get way out off it to catch any good fish.

This one hit it like they are supposed to – he blew up on it!

Until I quit, I concentrated on deep grass edges and covered lots of water.  I am fishing it with a medium retrieve trying to fish points, slots, and isolated patches on the outside edge.  When it was all said and done I put 9 in the boat on the buzzbait.

                         Another nice buzzbait fish.  This guy was fat and sassy.

I did fish some topwater, and did not have a bite but only stuck with it a little while so can not definitively say it won’t work.  As I am getting ready for friends coming down I did not re-fish anywhere, but I am sure if you would catch a couple on buzzbait, and then come back through fishing slower with a topwater, you could double up on them.  I tried lots of places this morning and it seemed it was one of those fish here and there days, so I am not really sure what the pattern is right now.  But no matter what, there are fish to be caught on Coleto.  My guess you can catch fish on your favorite bait right now, you just have to locate them.

Random Thought

Sometimes the pressure to catch fish seems to blind me to the other things that fishing has to offer.  Over the last year I have had a deer try to crawl in the boat and seen a duck get blasted by gator to mention a couple.  Being outdoors a lot gives you a real chance to see lots of cool stuff.  And this morning was no exception.

This morning the critters were up and moving.  Lots of gators were finishing their nightly prowl, the hogs were out along the bank, and I saw several deer.  Lately I have not taken the big camera with me, and consequently have missed some really cool pictures, pictures that should be on the blog.  When you have an undergrad degree in photography and journalism there is no excuse for not doing that part of it.  I want to share my whole experience, not just the fish.

So this morning I see a couple of turkeys on the bank and they are clucking away.  And then out of the woods they come, and I mean lots of them.  As I eased the boat quietly to them they were fighting, raising hell, and just generally being turkeys.  I really was amazed how many came.  So keeping with my plan of being ready here are a few for you to enjoy.

Flying over the fence.

Hanging out acting like turkeys.

High steppin’ to the party.

                                                             Wait for us.

Surely this would get a turkey hunter’s blood going.  They milled around for a while and finally could not take me this close and off they ran into the woods.  While I was watching them I saw another thing that says fall and hunting.

       This one was dripping sap.  This weather had the bucks on the move.

So just remember to appreciate those great things we all see when we are in the outdoors.  We only get one run at this, every cool experience needs to be savored because who knows how many more days we have on this earth.

So there you have a nice Monday.  The weather was great, the fishing ok, and the turkeys cool.  What more could you want.  Next it is off to the Gulf.  I have not been to Indianola in a while so that should be the next fishing destination for Fish Catching Travel.  Thanks for reading my stuff, I am grateful every day to get this chance to bring it to you.  Be nice on the water.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Normally I write about things in the order they happened, but today it will be backwards.  Why?  Because I was so tired both days I just did not get anything written, sorry.

Saturday Duck Hunting

Saturday I went with my friend Chris and his wife for the duck opener.  Having been up early Friday to fish POC, I was in bed at 9 Friday so I could be up at 4 to head to his lease.

Chris and his friends got a duck lease this year, and have hurried to get it prepped.  With several ponds to fill, and work to do, they just got it ready.  He already placed a bench in some cattails in one of the ponds and that is where we put out the decoys.  They ducks were flying before shooting time, and we were hoping for a good  day.  It did not happen.

There were lots of teal, and though we had a few come to the decoys, they were not committing.  We ended up shooting one duck – one.  What a bummer with such high hopes.  What made it worse was the continued gunshots from his friend Clay’s lease next door, we could only listen and wonder.  Finally we called it day and met Clay for some Mimosa’s.  One of their parties killed 31 ducks!

I think the issue was that Clay’s lease has been established, and worked for ducks, for 13 years. Chris’s new lease has just been filled last month.  It will probably take some more work and time to get the ducks to use it regularly.  But no matter, it was beautiful  morning and before the season is out we will kill them.  At least that is what I tell myself every fall when I have to crawl out of bed at 4 in the morning.

Friday POC

The wind was blowing about 10 mph out of the north when I started fishing Friday morning about 7:30.  Initally I was headed to Indianola but changed my mind based on all the rain some areas got.  But when I put the trolling motor in the water in Big Bayou I was not all that happy with the color.

Starting with  topwater, I fished 2 banks and ended up catching 3 small trout.  There were a few others that were willing during the day but just did not get hooked up.  They were chasing, boiling, and just generally messing with it, and of the 5 or 6 I caught on top half were hooked crazy.

        This happened 3 or 4 times today.  They boiled it without committing.

So I decided to fish Oil Cut #2 because even when the water tends to be off colored everywhere it is usually fairly clear.  The Oil Cut is a very consistent, never great, place to fish.  I  caught several more trout on top, and also a couple of reds in there on top.  I also caught a couple on Electric Chicken paddle tails.  Most of the fish in there were on banks with no wind.  That did turn out to be somewhat of a pattern for the rest of the day.  Find the calm areas and there were fish feeding on mullet.

While in the Oil Cut a school of what initially looked like rays swam by the boat, but they turned out to be black drum.  There was a wad of them, so flipped a paddle tail in the midst of them, let it sink, set the hook, and there was one.

Not bad eating, fun to catch, but way to much of a hassle to clean.

A couple of casts later I caught another one a little smaller.  At this point while I was catching fish but they were not adding up to much.   One quick note, looking back on the last couple of fall and winter fishing I have noticed that purple really comes in to it’s own then, and they liked it Friday, so give it a try.  It seems the colder it gets the more they like it.  So then I eased to the back end and started throwing a Redfish Magic for reds when I caught this guy.

I catch one of these occasionally on spinnerbait.  Good to know they are out there and growing.

From about noon for the rest of the day I kept throwing spinnerbait and both trout and reds were eating it.

Most of the reds I caught were like this, big rats that were close to keepers.

At this point everything was eating the Redfish Magic.

While I do catch trout on the spinnerbait, it is not the bait of choice for them, but everything was eating it today.  And all the fish were coming from calm water on shallow flats with grass.

Let me give you one quick tip on fishing a Redfish Magic in the grass.  When you cast that spinnerbait be sure to throw it into the edge of the grass, it rarely gets hung, and you can reel it out.  Often when you shake that grass those reds eat it the minute it breaks free, and it is one cool bite.  And be sure to throw it into any pocket or cut, and to any point.  And today with the water way up on those really shallow banks there often was open water behind the grass.  Toss it in those pools and hang on.  They may be tough to get out, but that is the real fun of it!

That is a little more like it!

I finished the day fishing nothing but real shallow grass, some of the places in Barroom are normally not even accessible at low tide, but this tide was super high.  Remember when the tide does flood those areas be sure to look shallower than you normally might.  When they move into those areas they are there for one reason, to eat, and they are usually catchable.

So for the day the total was 12 trout, 13 reds, 2 black drum and a small grouper.  While not fast and furious it was steady all day and got better with the high tide.  Of the 13 reds, 9 came in the last couple of hours.  With the number of trout I caught on the spinnerbait there is one bait I did not use and should have, a spoon.  With the massive mullet run going on it may have really been the ticket.  The spoon may really be on right now and if you are out there give it a chance.

So sorry again for the late report.  When I burn the candle at  both ends to spend time in the outdoors it can be hard to sit down and write.  I appreciate you all stopping in, keep those cards and letters coming, I love your comments.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

I sit down to write this after getting back from Chris’s house where we just cleaned up the stuff after 4 days on the beach.  We went to the PINS  (Padre Island National Seashore) to fish the famous Sharkathon.  For those of you who do not know, and I didn’t, it is one of the best shore bound catch/photo/release shark tournaments in the country.  This tournament was limited to 450 shark fisherman.  Entries sold out in 38 minutes, can you say popular.  Let me make this one point, you can put all I know about shore fishing for sharks in a bottle cap.  But I am always up for something new if it involves catching fish.

We headed down on Thursday to get set up and wait in line to get our number for the start of Friday mornings fishing.

Here is folks lined up 4 hours.  It was first come first serve to start fishing in morning.

So we scouted the beach before we got in line and found an area down around mile 30, which is a long way driving in the sandy beach.  Of course that spot looked just as good as any other, so we headed back and waited in line to complete registration and get out number to check out to fish.  To bad the sign in was at 10 p.m. and if I had one negative comment about the tournament it would be there must be a more reasonable time to do that.  If that is the way they need to do it fine.  But when we were about 50th in line and over 100 people cut in front they should at least manage that somehow.

Home sweet home.

We are fishin’ now.

Let me get right to the point as far as the fishing went.  IT WAS TOUGH.  The wind blew right onshore, the sargassom weed was blowing in with it with a vengeance, and the tides were high, which made it tough for us.  The problem is these nuts, like my friend Chris, get in a little kayak and actually take the baits out and drop them in deep water.  Kinda hard to cast a 15lb sting ray on 200lb. test with a weight that might weigh between 6 and 25lbs.  At times the waves coming in were so big that even with binoculars I would lose sight of Chris as he paddled out.

I have a real respect for the tenacity that he shows.  He not only braved huge waves and big currents in the Kayak, he even walked some of the baits out until he was almost throat deep before dropping then.  I have been with him twice now shark fishing from the beach and when it has be man up to get huge baits out, he has done it.  No complaints, just a dogged determination to fish.  You can not catch fish without baits in the water.

The Highlight and Lowlights

So now the stories of the weekend, and there are 2.  First the highlight.  I have seen lots of things in my time outdoors.  When the fawn tried to crawl in my boat this spring, that was cool.  Well we almost topped that this weekend.  After we would get the big baits out we fished with mullet as there is a redfish division.  We would wade, and we did see a couple, but other than some jacks, a pompano, and some hard heads, it was lean fishing.

It was low tide and I was wading a wash where the first, or wade gut, washed out when I saw a shark fin, and I mean close.  It was moving around some, and I repeatedly tossed my bait at him without success.   It never occurred to me that it was the tail of a fish but something just did not add up.  I could not get it to bite.  Now keep in mind that I was less than knee deep where the surf tailed out to the shore.  As it kept swimming Chris went to get a real shark bait when the fish came right at me, I kept backing up and it kept coming until we were ankle deep and I saw it.  Folks I have been surprised in my life, but this was one of the great outdoor experiences of my life.  It was a SAILFISH!  Are you kidding me!

As both the fish and I hit ankle deep water I reached down grabbed the bill and slid him up to waters edge.  I was surprised how rough the bill was so I dropped it as soon as I grabbed it.  So what do I say to Chris  but grab his bill and pick him up, and of course he really got a roughed up set of hands .  Obviously the fish was sick because when he pulled it up it for a couple of pictures it did not really struggle.  There is no way on this earth that a completely well sailfish would let you just pick him up, period.

All I can say is wow!

Another view.  What a beautiful fish.

We looked him over and there were 3 things that did not look right.  On one side he had a bite mark, which looked like a complete mouth, but did not appear deep enough to cause real damage.  Also, if you notice in the pictures the middle of his body had a dark ugly color, sort of looked like those dead fish hanging photos.  And last, on his belly it appeared to be very red and inflamed, and I am not sure what that might have meant.

So after a couple of pictures Chris held him in the water for almost 15 minutes to revive him before he swam away.  Now that fish was obviously sick or really disoriented, but it did swim away.  In fact, about an hour later when I was back wading I saw his sickle tail as he rode the wave on the second gut.  So how do you explain that whole thing?  I can’t.  All I know is that it will remain in my mind as one of the coolest encounters ever.  A sailfish in a foot of water!  Never in my wildest dreams!

Now the lowlight of the weekend.  Chris struggled all weekend to get out the big baits.  Think about it.  Kayaking over 4 foot rollers into a 25 mph wind.  Walking bait out until his head was barely above water.  He was bound and determined to catch a shark.  Well finally, right before dark on Saturday, we got 3  big baits out, and it was simply a waiting game.

First one bait washed in, then another.  So about 10 pm we had one bait left out.  Then we heard the electronic alarm on his rod go off.  I thought it was grass, Chris was not so sure.  He picked up the rod and began to crank and he realized it was a fish.  In the beginning he was unsure how big it was.  2 1/2 hours later we were pretty sure how big it was.

He got the fighting belt on, got down from the truck, and the fight was on.   It steadily moved down the beach, and every so often would take line against a 9/0 Penn with the drag cranked all the way down.  Chris would wind some, then lose more.  We kept moving down the beach until he was easily 50 yards down, all the while Chris was working his butt off.  I got him water, and there were a couple of other guys there slamming beers and cheering him on.  This was the big one, maybe the money fish, a monumental struggle by both the fisherman and the fish.

Then it happened.  The unthinkable.  It came off.  One minute it was taking drag, the next, a limp line.  That fish came off of a 20/0 brand new circle hook.  Gone.  2 1/2 hours of struggle.  When the line went slack the 150 plus yards just came to the beach.  There was a big grass glob on the splice between the braid and the mono, which I believe led to  the hook never getting a real set.  Who knows?  We looked the hook over, and it was one of the high dollar coated jobs, and the paint was ground off to bare metal.

What a disappointment.  When a guy works as hard as he did to catch a shark, he earned one.  But that is not the fishing rules as I have come to learn.  You have to pay a price, often a big price, before “it” happens.  Oh yea, you hear about the first timer catching the biggest fish, or the guy with a Zebco catching a tarpon, it does happen.  But for the rest of us, that is not how it is.  We work, we learn, read the boards, talk to other fishermen, we do whatever we can do in our quest for that one fish that makes all the time and money worth it. Chris earned that fish, he did the work, spent the bucks, and put in his time.  But for Chris, that day was not “the day”.

It was a weekend filled with hope, effort, frustration, wonder and disappointment.  And it was a great time.  Nothing like sand in everything, smelling like rotten dead fish,  the wind howling, and tough fishing.  Really, what more could a guy want.  And if you think that all of that is going to have some effect you are kidding yourself.  We just cleaned up the stuff, and we were talking about how we can find another person who is a real shark fisherman/kayaker to help get baits out.  We talked about our game plan, and some of the things we would do differently.  Looks like we are already making next years plan.  I can not wait!

Sunday we packed up from our camp and headed to the awards event.  Sharkathon is not only a fishing tournament, it is an event.

                                                               Billy Sandifer speaking.

Part of the huge crowd at the awards ceremony.

As part of your entry you get some raffle tickets, and when you filled out the shark survey, or clipped and tagged a fish, you would get more.  I  can not believe the stuff they gave away.  Rods, rigs, knives, reels, hooks, gift cars, prints, and on and on.  In fact, it took 3 hours to give all that away.  Both Chris and I won something.  So what a cool happening the whole show is.  My props to the folks who put that together every year.  When it is all said and done money, and lots of it, is donated for educational and other projects to benefit the sharks, the beach at PINS, and other projects.  I have fished a lot of tournaments since my first one in 1975, but this was one of the best.  Congratulations to all involved.

There you have it, if this was not one interesting weekend outdoors I do not know what is.  I am sure I could have told it better, but there it is.  That style of shark fishing is rough and tough.  The equipment and prep needed to go after real sharks, big sharks, is not a game.  It is serious business, practiced by a bunch of tough guys and gals looking to catch and release one of the worlds greatest fish, and do it all from shore.  My respect for them and their sport grows.  Thanks for reading my stuff.  Think I will get ready to do a little fishing in the next day or two.  Life is good.

Good Luck and Tight Lines