Fish Catching Travel

Fish Catching Travel

I hate to start out complaining but I am really sick of this heat.  We are in the middle of the summer heat, and my fishing results clearly reflect that.  Maybe the heat has gone to my head, or at least I am letting it get to me.  But whatever, my saltwater results have been less than stellar.  Of course the most obvious reason is I do not fish live bait.  It is just not my thing.

Friday was a POC day as I get ready for a tourney that I may or may not fish this weekend.  My main goal was to see what kind of redfish string I could catch.  You can weigh in one for big fish and 2 for a stinger weight.  So I hit some of the usual places, and some not so usual, and the results were less than I would have hoped.

Of course the Redfish Magic spinnerbait was the choice for the day as it is my go to bait for reds most of the year.   First it was a small trout, then a couple of rat reds, and finally this guy after over an hour.

A nice 25″ red.  Cool to see him eat it.

The tide was low, and it stayed that way.  With the wind blowing pretty good out of the south the water was off colored in lots of places, and it seemed that there was never a real good tide movement the whole time I fished.

I ended up putting 7 reds in the boat, but only one other measured, and he just made it.  Topwater accounted for nothing and I did not have a bite on a Waker.  I wish I could tell you some real useful information, but there was no rhyme or reason to what I caught, or where. With the wind blowing like it was neither of those baits is the best choice, and the results bore that out.  Not to promising for the tourney, but I still have a couple of days to pre-fish.

Around 2 I decided to do some trout fishing, my lovely wife wanted a few for supper, so I drifted the bay, and fished some deeper channels.  Over a couple of hours I think I caught about 8, but they were small.  2 were the size that cooler shrinkage might have been an issue.  As I have said before, it either makes it or it doesn’t, there is no “close”.  So with a heat index of over 110 I called it a day.

Popping cork accounted for most, but I did catch a couple on plastics.  For some reason I have lost them and just have not been able to get back on track.  So the next couple of times I get out I will work on that some.  Might just need to be a little change in my mindset.

So for the day it was only 2 keeper reds, and one of those was a 20″, the other a 25″.  That will not cut it next weekend.  With my results lately I am not feeling this tournament thing.  Hopefully a little better day or two will help me get in the groove.  So Monday morning I will be out there chasing them again.  I figure I will fish 3 days this week in preparation, and there is nothing like getting serious about things to change your luck.  So it is time to man up.

So keep stopping in, it should be a good week.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

                                                        Fish Catching Travel

My lovely wife was off work today so I decided to hit Coleto for a quick morning trip.  Things are still in the same basic pattern for me.  Points, points, and did I say points?  I made it out at daylight so I went to a main lake point near the small island and started with a buzzbait.

There are still fish to be caught on buzzbait, but when the sun is up, it is over.  The one redeeming thing to be said for it is when you catch one, it is a good one.  So about 10 minutes after I started I put this one in the boat.

                                                This one just sucked it under.

There are fish shallow all the time on Coleto, one of the things I like about it.  Clearly there are other ways to catch them right now that are more productive.  But for me when a bass eats a buzzbait it is a thing of beauty.  After catching this one I fished one more point with the buzzbait without success, so I put it down and went to throwing a worm.

Over the next couple of hours I basically point hopped.  I put one in the boat on one point, 3 on the next, and then one more on another.  None of them made the picture cut.  It was slow, or I just did not land on the right place at the right time.

About 10:30 the wind started to blow some so I headed up lake and tried a frog on big grass mats.  Normally this time of year I can catch a few doing that.  It is so cool to see them blast that thing through the mat.  But for some reason this year I can not seem to find them under the mats.  Maybe I should be punching the outside edges with a tungsten weight and a Space Monkey.  Something to try next time.

I decided to finish the morning throwing a small Strike King crank bait on the outside edge of the grass.  You can almost always catch some fish on Coleto throwing a small shad shaped crankbait.  My favorite colors are the Sexy Shad, sliver with a black back, and a Chartreuse.  Today it was the Sexy Shad in a small bait that runs about 5 foot.  It keeps the bait over the top of the deeper grass and still in the strike zone out to about 8 feet.

Over the last hour I got 4 bites.  Three were bass,  but none were over a couple of pounds.  Of course, the best one I caught was this:

Catfish hit a crankbait a certain way and I can almost always tell.  And of course they start rolling and that usually clears it up.

That catfish whacked it and led to the best tussle of the day.  You have to be so careful with a crankbait and bass, but with those rubber lips the catfish never come off.  In fact, it is usually a hassle to get the bait off, and in this case it was no exception.  How he got all six hooks in him I will never know.

So about noon I called it a day and headed to the house.  The last few trips to Coleto have been about the same and I can’t wait for fall.  So tomorrow it is off to the Gulf.  I have not checked the winds or the tides yet, and that will be the determining factor in where I go.  With no fish in the freezer it will be a straight meat hunt tomorrow.  I hope to put some trout in the boat, but will go with the reds if that is the way it works out.

So thanks for reading my stuff.  I appreciate each and every one of you who stops in.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Well the weather and the tree have combined to keep me off the water the last couple of days.  I waited around until the tree guy got here in the afternoon to give me an estimate.  We agreed and he said he might get at it the next day.  I was going to hit the water when the storms came through again.  So Saturday I waited for him and again around noon the weather came again, so I called off another afternoon trip.  But I am not complaining, we badly need the rain and if it costs me a couple of days of fishing so be it.

So today I am sitting down to re-organize Fish Catching Travel.  I want make it more user friendly. Hopefully it will not be to big a project, but I am sure it will take a while.  But as I do it I will keep fishing and reporting.  So stay tuned.

Congratulations to the winning team at Poco Bueno.  Nothing like a 500+ marlin, and a few hundred thousand dollars, to make your day.  Interestingly last year their boat apparently sunk to the bottom.  So in terms of a comeback that should rank up there with the all time great ones.  Marlin fishing is one expensive endeavor and I am sure the money came in handy, and I am sure there may be a couple of hangovers out there this morning.

I am starting to get pretty excited about our trip to Turkey and Greece which is coming up in the next 6 weeks.  In spite of the unrest in Istanbul we decided to not change our plans.  I am really looking forward to the island we are going to in Greece, Crete.   We will be staying in a fishing town on the coast.  There are many fish places on the waterfront which should allow me to find out the times the fishing boats are coming in with their catch.  Last time I was there I saw a swordfish being brought to the market, this time I will actually be at the docks.   Should be cool.

So thanks for  reading my stuff.  Rain is leaving our forecast so I will be making up for lost time on the water this week.  Not having to fish any particular day it seems like it is easier to not go with a chance of rain.  I must be getting old.  So keep stopping in.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Before I get to yesterdays trip to Coleto I thought you might like to see this.  We have finally got some rain the last couple of days that we sorely needed.  After a little storm blew through this afternoon I looked out in the backyard to see how much water was standing around, and I saw this.

Nothing like this to make your day.

We just had all the trees trimmed last fall and they looked to be in good shape.  There are a couple on the property that are in worse shape than this, but you never know.  But if that is the cost of some rain we need so bad, so be it.  Just one of the little joys of home ownership.  Hope the guy who does the work doesn’t come tomorrow,  I have fishing plans.

Coleto

Speaking of rain, it was raining pretty steady, but not that hard when I got up.  Having had a pretty fair day the day before I got out the rain gear and headed to the lake.  Now there is nothing like a plan coming together, to bad that did not happen.

I decided to hit the bank up by the plant where I caught a nice bunch and throw the buzzbait first thing.  The very first point I had a big blowup which I missed, then one pulled it under and I managed to miss him.  I finally got the hook in the third one.

All three of the bites were from fish this size.

Now it was time for my first mistake.  I kept going down the same bank all the way to the plant, it seemed like the thing to do.  I fished the whole thing without another bite on the buzzbait.  What I should have done was immediately turned around and re-fished that area with a worm.  So when that finally dawned on me I went back there, and caught one little one on the point, and re-fished it the whole way and caught another small one.

By now I finally realized that there was no water running like the other day.  But it was till cloudy and raining off and on, so with all the cover in the area I switched to a frog.  It took about 10 minutes to put this guy in the boat.

Not a bad one and she smoked it.

That was the good news.  The bad news was that an hour later I had not had another hit on the frog other than a small one.  At this point I put 5 in the boat, and only these 2 were worth a hoot.  So it was time to start heading down lake and hitting points as I went.

The next point I stopped on was deep with standing timber on it.  In the past it has been a good flippin point, so I decided at this point in the day it was definitely worm time.  So I kept throwing the pumpkin Senko Texas style with a 1/4 ounce slip sinker.  Another small one jumped on it, then I caught this one.

An ok one considering how slow it was.

That was the only bites I got on that bank, so I headed down to the deep point where I had my best fishing the day before.  It is really deep with isolated grass on it and in the middle of the pocket next to it.  It almost always holds fish, and my plan was to be up lake and finish there.  To bad that did not happen.  I fished the snot out of that point and grass bad and did not have a bite.  Now at that point the sky was clear and the wind was not blowing.  Over to the south I could see a big storm head coming my way, and then I heard the first thunder.  So like the day before it was about noon and here it came.

I took off and made it to the ramp before the rain came.  Unfortunately I did not get the straps and motor support on quick enough, and boy did I get wet.  Of course I had already taken my rain suit off and put it in the back of the truck.

So for the morning it was 7 fish, and what you saw was the best of them.  It just got slower and slower as the morning went on, it was almost a complete standstill when I quit.  I wish I had fished it from downlake up to the plant, but oh well, you take what they give you.  One thing is really clear right now, plastics on points near deep water is still the ticket.  I guess I catch on the buzzbait and frog because I throw them a lot.

This time of year you have to pick your days, and the clouds and rain are great days for that type of stuff.  But when it is clear, calm, and hot, stick with the plastics near deep water.  And lastly, where they are is where they are.  In other words if you get a bite or two slow down and work the area over with a couple of different presentations.  It seems there is no scattered around pattern right now.  Where they are not, they are not.

And a thanks to Faye for her kind comments.  And congratulations on that big redfish at POC, that was a good one.  To bad I deleted the pics you sent me the other day, brain fart I guess.  And thanks to you to Todd, it was good to hear from you.  As I moaned to you all last week I was kind of burned out, who would think that fishing could be this hard.  It is funny how I felt lots of pressure when I used to guide, but the pressure to catch fish and post it here has been harder than I thought.  A little time off has helped me to put it all in perspective.  I love fishing, and I love talking, so what could be better than this.  So thanks all of you for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Between the traveling, my birthday, and a case of the summer doldrums, I basically took a couple of weeks off from Fish Catching Travel.  With our super hot weather I just could not seem to get to excited about hitting the water.  And with my trout fishing luck the last few trips, I just needed a break.  So after a couple of weeks it was back in the saddle.

Finally we got a little rain, and the weather today was to be cloudy and rainy with the possibility of thunderstorms, so with that in mind I decided to hit the lake.  I was a little wary of driving to the Gulf and then having a storm hit, and I made the right choice.

My plan for today was to fish the main lake and work my way to the power plant area.  I started off on the couple of main lake points behind the big island.  Since it was daylight of course out came the buzzbait.  I caught a small one, then this one.  When I got the camera out I realized I left the battery in the charger, I am a little rusty, so I had to take pictures with the GoPro.

A little fuzzy but you get the point.  This one smoked it.

Though I caught 3 on the couple of points at the mouth of the 2 coves, I just did not get the kind of bites I was looking for.  So I headed up lake to a deep point with 20 foot of water on it and a large grass patch in about 8 foot of water.  On my first cast a good one hit it before it hit bottom, and with my superior skill I missed it.  I ended up catching 4 on that point and missed a few more.

This was the best of the 4 I caught on that point.

The first 3 came on a 7″ Zoom flapping tail worm in the purple with red flake, and they were whacking it.  To bad I only had a couple .  I switched to a black and caught one, but it did not feel right so I made another change.  Now I am no big Senko fisherman by any stretch but when I fished the big bass tourney on Lake Fork Aaron left a bag in the boat.  It was a pumpkin, what they called the tomato up there.  So I put it on the 1/4 ounce slip sinker Texas style and caught another.  They kind of slacked off so I headed further up.

I put one here and one there on the flat sides of the big points in the grass, but they just were not on that kind of place in any great numbers.  I thought they might move shallower with the heavy clouds and on and off rain, but it was not to be.  They are definitely on the points.  I headed up close to the intake for the plant.  Never underestimate the effect moving water has on fish.

The plant was obviously pulling water and when I rounded the corner back in the creek there was a definite current.  I fished toward the plant and they bit pretty good.

A nice one on the Senko.

Over the next half hour I put 5 in the boat.  Some of them were right on the bank.  Now off and on it had rained this morning, and the wind started to kick up pretty good.  Since I caught those on the Senko so shallow I wanted to make a pass with the buzzbait.  It was about noon, but if they were that shallow there was no reason I could not re-fish it and catch some.  And I did manage to get one more.

The last one of the morning.

That ended up being it.  If you look in the background you can see that cloud bank coming.  It was dead calm then here it came.  I thought I needed to hit the road, and I almost made it back to the ramp before it hit.  I had to stop about halfway back and put on the rain suit.  As soon as I hit the buoy at the ramp cove a big lightning strike happened, and it was on the trailer for me.  I was thinking about waiting it out, but that ended that thought.  There are lots of conditions that one should not probably fish in, but getting hit by lightning would leave a mark.  There are always other days to fish.

So not a bad morning.  I caught 4 on buzzbait and around 10 on plastics.  Even though the conditions were good for shallow fish, plastics near deeper water were the best bet.  I used a 3/8 sinker on the big worm, and a 1/4 on the senko.  I think if I had had some more of the purple with red flake worm I might have caught more, but no complaints.  Anytime you can catch a nice bunch of fish in the middle of a summer day you should be thankful.  And I was.

So it is good to be back in the fishing mode.  It will be off and running first thing in the morning.  With a great chance of thunderstorms it will be a lake day.  And while it might end the day early, like today, we need the rain.  And the Gulf isn’t going anywhere.  So thanks for reading my stuff and my apologies for not posting lately, by not to worry that won’t be happening anytime in the near future.  Time to put them in the boat.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Random Thoughts

Sorry I have not posted in the last week.  Part of the reason is I have been gone. First it was a visit to my family in Arkansas, and then for a little R & R for my birthday.  Plus I was just needing some time off from the site.  So before we get to that here is short report on a trip I took last week.

My friend Chris got a hold of me last week and wanted to know if I wanted to fish with him on Wednesday, and since I just went to the Powderhorn we decided on POC.

I am the first to admit that I have just plain lost the trout.  I am not sure whether I am not deep enough, my timing is wrong, or someone put a voodoo hex on me.  But what ever the problem, it continues to plague me.

The first place I wanted to check was Army Cut.  One thing about Army cut, it is definitely a mid-week place.  On the weekends the boat traffic through there is to heavy and the trout just don’t like it.  We started right after daylight throwing topwater, which is a good pattern there early when the tide is up.  They are generally on the shallow side of the cut, in the grass.

We started getting bites right off the bat.  Chris stuck the one below, and I missed a good one.

                              This one jumped a pink Academy topwater.

Over the next hour or so, we made a couple of passes, they hit that topwater, but for me it was nothing but small ones.  Chris and I both had several reds chase, and again I was out of luck.  Chris finally stuck this one, at least it was working for him.

A nice red headed for the pan.

By time we left I think he caught maybe 5 and I caught about the same.  To bad mine laid end to end wouldn’t make a fish sandwich.  We both also threw plastics, but that only produced small ones, so it was time to hit the road.

The next stop was just a couple of quick banks in Big Bayou, and I think we only caught a small trout.  That was a sign of things to come as we never put another keeper fish in the boat.  Next it was Bayucos Point.  As we idled in there was a pretty good slick, you could actually smell it, and there was bait jumping everywhere.  So over the side we went.  Both of us threw plastics,  and I think Chris might have caught one, and I did not get a bite.  So I switched to a topwater and caught 3 trout pretty quickly.  To bad they were small.  And then it seemed to die

So by now we are trying to come up with something different, the water was falling and we wanted some shell with a drain emptying out of a back lake.  Seemed like a good idea at the time.  So off to a drain out of Contee that has a couple of shell bars near the mouth.  There are a couple of drains there and Chris took the little one lined with shell and I took the big one.

My luck continued.  I could not buy a bite.  Chris got a shot at a shark, but he just did not get that topwater.  At this point I had all I could take so I called it a day.  With a big trip coming up I had some things to do so we headed in.

The day left me with a couple of thoughts.  I can still catch plenty of reds, but the trout elude me.  So the next couple of trips I will put the redfish stuff down and see if I can change my luck.  One thing is clear, this time of year if you are not a live bait fisherman, you have to work a lot harder to put trout in the boat.  But being the stubborn guy I can be, I will keep chunking lures.

A Nice Hog

Jeremy was the guy who was kind enough to take me and my daughter’s father-in-law hog hunting a few months ago.  He is a dedicated and skilled hog hunter and a good guy.  I got this text from him yesterday, and the picture speaks for itself.

That is one big hog!

Now I have no clue how big that beast was, but it is a giant by any standard.  So congratulations to Jeremy and Eb for this one.  And they got it alive, awesome.

The Visit

If you are here for the fishing report you can save your self some time and skip this.

My lovely wife and I made a trip to North Arkansas to visit family and friends.  It was really nice that both of my brothers and sisters made it.  It seems as we get older it gets tougher to get the whole bunch of us together.  And with both of my folks still living we are a lucky family.  To add to the crowd my daughter, her husband, and my granddaughter Mia made the trip from Oklahoma.

What started out as a quick trip turned into my birthday party.  I just turned 60 on July 10.  Of course a party was the last thing I wanted, but of course we had a great time, and it did not turn into some big production.  Fried turkey, my favorite birthday cake, banana pudding, and few adult beverages, and a good time was had by all.

My Family

Mia.  My favorite girl!

The Whole Fam Damily.

After the festivities we headed home with a stop at a casino for a couple of days.  When my dear wife asked what I wanted for my birthday, a couple of days in the motel with a little adult fun was my answer.  We had a great time and made if home without owing the Mob anything, which always makes it a successful trip.

A Few More Random Thoughts

This is a general comment to my readers.  I am sorry I have not been able to answer all of you like I want to.  Nor have I been able to fish with you, as it has become almost overwhelming.  I get hundreds of emails and tons of or requests to fish.  It finally did overwhelm me.  In fact, I needed last week off from this, time to recharge.  I do my best but I never thought in my wildest dreams it would turn out like this.  From 69 visits a month to 10,000 a month is a huge jump.  So I try to keep up, but sometimes it just does not happen.  So keep those cards and letters coming, I read them all, and I really appreciate your comments.  And those of you who are spamming the squat out of my email on the site, I hope someone rams that amibien up your (&^%%) nose.

Observations of a 60 Year Old Man

Wow it really happened, I am 60.  One of those milestones that as a young man you can not even contemplate. I mean seriously, 60?  Hell that happens to old people, not to me.  But here it is, and it is sure better than the only other option, besides plastic surgery and out right lying.

Fishing

–     I remember the first fish I ever caught.  I put him in the old wringer washer until he kicked the bucket.

–     Thanks to my dad for making the time to take me fishing, even though it was not his sport of choice.

–     Catching a marlin was one of the highlights of my fishing adventure.

–     Since I guided my first client in 1974 (almost 40 years ago, scary) things have changed, and they so remain the same.

–     The fishing now in most places is better than it ever was, especially in freshwater.  And why, because bass fisherman got on board with more restrictive size and bag limits.  Maybe us inshore saltwater guys could take something from that?

–     It has taken me many years to understand that it is in the doing.  The catching is the goal, but it is only the end result.  If the number you catch is the only way you measure your success then you are missing out.

–     After owning a bass boat or 2 that would blow the hair off your face, and then slowly downsizing over the years, I noticed a couple of interesting things.  I never caught a fish at 65mph, and the boat does not catch fish.

–     I have finally gotten to where I enjoy watching the folks with me when they catch a fish.  I can finally put down the rod and just watch them fish and enjoy the moment.  It is not a competition.

–     I can never thank the Captain of Team Nancy enough.  Not only does she understand and let me indulge my fishing addiction, she loves me for who I am.

–     You should always have a bucket list of fish and places.  I have been surprised at times that I seem to get stagnant in the places and things I do on a daily basis.  Take a chance, go somewhere new, try to catch something  you never have before, help someone get started.  It will add to your fishing pleasure and make you a better fisherman.

–     Next time you read an article by a guide in a fishing magazine, visit his website.  It is fun.  The biggest shill I found made 32 sponsor references without telling me anything that really would help me catch more fish.  It is cool to plug people who help you, I do, but try to at least give us real information we can use.

–      The fish do not belong to us hardcores.  Bass do not just belong to bassfishermen, the bays do not belong to guides, and the beautiful trout streams in the west do not belong to the well outfitted fly fisherman.   Fishing is the most popular sport in America.  The license fees paid for that.  Those licenses were bought by the old lady with a cane pole, the guy in the jon boat fishing for panfish, and the family fishing from the bank hoping for a bite.  Of course all the first group were instrumental in the comeback, we all played a part.  But sometimes we need to sit back and remember, the water and the fish belong to us all.  Just because we are all that, or were there when it started to change and helped that change, it does no give us any more rights than anyone else.  We need to protect everyone’s right to us the resource in any way that is legal.  Remember, it could be our turn next.

Personal

–     I can never thank my lovely wife Nancy enough.

–     I am thankful everyday that all my brothers and sisters are still living, and that my parents are doing well.  Same for my wife’s family.  Life is short.

–    My daughter is a wonderful person, her husband is great, and I am so thankful I have lived long enough to meet my granddaughter Mia.

–     Having been a fishing guide, then a paramedic, and then an attorney has been a real trip.  Those are all cool things.

–     I am looking forward to many more adventures both with a fishing pole in my hand, and traveling and learning new stuff.

–     It is getting harder to fish from daylight to dark, but that hasn’t stopped me yet.  And when it does I will be thankful for every minute I have a rod in my hand.

–     I will try to be a better person.  It is never to late to change, and change is good.

So there you have it.  My 60th birthday got me thinking about a few things, and these are the highlights.  I know this is a fishing blog, but sorry, sometimes I just have to wax poetic.  Though I can not sing, dance, or rhyme, occasionally I need to say a couple of things off topic.  Plus one of the real advantages to having a web site is you get to spout off all you want about anything you feel like.  So now that I have taken care of that, it is back to the point, time to go fishing.   Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Things have kind of conspired against me the last 3 days as far as any fishing goes.  But today I finally hitched the boat and headed to Indianola.  I was wanting to fish Keller Bay but the bridge is out and I could not figure out how to get there, so off to the Powderhorn.

Since I got a late start today I decided to get there at high tide and redfish.  My favorite time to fish reds is when the tide is first starting to drop until it is full out.  Today was perfect for that.

I started about halfway back on the north bank.  The water was just starting to fall this afternoon and I had high hopes.  I fished a long stretch of bank before I had my first bite.  As usual it may sound like a broken record, but if you want to catch redfish throw that Strike King Redfish Magic on the edge of the grass as the tide drops.  Run it at a medium speed and hold on.

        This was a good one.  Notice how far down she has that Redfish Magic.

I ended up fishing that north side all the way until the last big pocket by the bridge.  I put another small one in the boat, but they were just not there, and the water was dropping fast.  So I cranked up and headed to the big pocket in the front of the Powderhorn.

I started on the left side going in and worked that bank headed to the little drain in the back.  I put another small one in the boat, and missed a couple, which I think were flounder or trout.  Then I caught this one.

Not the bruiser the first one was, but he measured.

I caught the first one on a white Caffine Shad tail on the Redfish Magic, and when it finally ripped, I switched to a green, and this guy came on that.  When I got to the back of the pocket it was really shallow and flat, and there were mullet everywhere.  One word about bait right now, if there is no bait there are no fish, but if there is bait, there are usually some around it.

The water was only a foot deep, and I could not reach the bank even when I tossed it as far as I could, so I started concentrating on throwing around splashing bait.  And then it happened…..do not count your pictures before they are taken.  Here it was 2:30 in the middle of the afternoon, in real shallow water, and as the Redfish Magic got close to the boat a big, and I mean big, trout jumped it right in front of me.  I was already taking the picture in my head when she came off.  I think what happened was I just forgot to set the hook.  Oh well, it was a tough pill to swallow, she was a hoss.

So I decided to throw a topwater around the mullet schools, and that worked great.  Unfortunately I missed another big trout.  He just did not get it.  The fish were definitely up following the schools of mullet.  Then I caught another small red, missed a couple of more, when this girl jumped on.

Another really nice redfish.  And she blew up on that Super Spook Jr. in the bone color.

Over the next hour I think I put another 3 in the boat before I called it a hot day.  So not a bad trip for a few hours.  As far as trout goes I stopped on some birds diving when I moved from the back to the front of the Powderhorn and threw plastics.  I missed one, then put 2 consecutive gafftops over the side on a paddle tail.  Two things: First in our area it seems like most of the time you see the birds diving after the water warms up in our area, it is gafftops and lady fish.  Second, when you catch 2 gafftops on plastics it is time to move.  And one last word, if you can not make it out first thing, fish the tide.  Today was a perfect example, by being there when the water moved I caught fish.  So remember all is not lost if you can not get out early, remember, the best time to go fishing is when you can.

I really like fishing POC, it has a variety of options from the jetties to the back lakes.  Anything a saltwater fisherman could want is within a 10 mile run. But it is so nice some times to fish other places.  Today I saw 3 boats, and one of them was joyriding. There are lots of areas within approximately the same drive as POC from Victoria, and the experience can be so much better.  But that being said, I still love the POC area, and I am headed there in the morning.

Never Forger Who Your Friends Are

A few years ago I had a really serious medical condition that required a year of ugly treatment.  Sick, hair falling out, bed bound a couple of days a week, the whole stinking mess.  During that time I learned the difference between a friend and an acquaintance.  And the people who remembered me, and helped me, were not the ones I would have thought, of course family excluded.  In fact, one of my wife’s classmates did one of the most selfless acts in the world for us, and I will never forget it.  So they know who they are, and I want to thank them again.  And that leads me to this.

I have a friend right now who has had something happen to him that is as bad as it gets.  It has changed him and his life forever.  He has been my friend for several years now, and he will remain my friend no matter what.  So next time something happens to you, or to someone you know, remember who your friends are.  Some times it is just nothing more that just keeping in contact.  But whatever you choose to do, remember, they would do it for you.

And keeping with that I am so excited about this weekend.  My lovely granddaughter Mia, at the grand old age of 3, has discovered fishing.  She went with a friend to grandpa’s place in Oklahoma and actually caught a fish.  Her mom says she has been talking about fishing with me ever since.  So I got her a pink tackle box, some hooks and sinkers, and since she has a pink Barbie pole, we are in business.  So look forward to the video and pictures to come.

So with that off my chest, thanks for reading my stuff.  We are in the true summer doldrums right now, but there are fish to be caught.  So off I go in the morning way before I want to get up.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Being under the weather most of the week I finally got up the gumption to at least hit the lake for a couple of hours.  And though I caught a few fish, it was not the best idea I have had lately.

First it was up lake to some of those old reliable spots.  The swim jig was up over sunken grass beds.  As it was around 3 p.m. I figured they would be buried up in the deeper isolated patches, an hour later I gave up on that theory.  So next I went to a Texas rig 7″ red worm, your basic bass rig, and that went over like a lead balloon.  So not sure what to do I picked up the frog.

By this time I was hot, 103 is hot folks with no wind or clouds, and even picking up a rod was an adventure.  I mean the rods just sitting on the deck were hot.  But on I went, sweating like a pig, and I finally got a bite and boated a small one on the frog.  He came under a tree on what passed as the first shade of the afternoon.  But after another hour of that it was time for another change.

So I headed for a point with deep water close by and threw the old standby buzz bait and caught 2 right away.

Finally one in the boat.  Not much, but when you have not caught a fish all week it was nice to feel her on the end of my line.

I am not sure I will ever understand fish.  Here it is a terrible set of conditions, high sky, high pressure, 103 degrees and they want a buzzbait?  And they would not hit a jig or a worm?  Sometimes it just puzzles me, but I have learned one thing, do not look a gift horse in the mouth.  As I always say, let the fish tell you what they want.

While all this was going on, I had another issue to deal with.  I have had that Carolina Skiff for 13 years, and I love that little boat.  Easy to tow, easy to clean, good on gas, it is all the things that make for a good fishing boat.  But lately the steering has been stiffening up.  So I have checked the rod at the motor, greased and cleaned, and checked the other end a couple of weeks ago.  But whatever I did, it did not help.  In fact, since I was using the flats boat the last couple of weeks apparently the cable stiffened more.

One thing about your steering cable, it has to work, and work properly, and if it is binding or hard in any way, it is time to change it.  The quickest way to end up in the water, with a boat attempting to run you down, is when your steering breaks.  And after 13 years it is time to change it.   So with that in mind, and not wanting to get stranded, I eased back down lake to try a couple of main lake spots.

I ended up catching 3 more on buzzbait before the heat got to me about 7.  The most bites I got were on the little island, though I got one on the big grass flat on the left further up lake.  I guess I was not feeling as good as I thought, so I called it a day.  I am still surprised that they wanted that buzzbait, but oh well, I guess if I ever truly figured it out it would not be any fun any more.

Random Thoughts

My lovely wife and I headed to North Padre Island yesterday, mainly to just be in the car and take a cruise.  When we got to North Padre it said a 106 on the car thermometer, which seemed a little high.  Well guess what, it was not as hot as it turned out to actually be.  By time we got back to Victoria that evening it was 109!  Are you freakin’ kidding me?  I must have been in weather that hot sometime somewhere, but I can not remember a true 109 temp reading.

I noticed on the causeway leading out to the island that the tide was out, and the wind fairly flat.  The water looked terrible, dead low and a nasty color.  If you were out in that yesterday afternoon, wow, hope it was worth it.  It just looked tough.

But the bigger issue is this, is this the summer we are headed for?  Already 10″ down in rainfall, combining with 100 degrees plus, it could be the ugliest summer in the 10 years we have been in Texas.  I have fished in hot weather, wet weather, icy weather, windy weather, you name it, but this is something.  It boils down to get up real early, be fishing at daylight, and then quit while you are ahead, depending on the tides.  And keep hydrated.

So this week will be a busy week.  I want to fish the Gulf a couple of days and plan on getting up early tomorrow and being on the water at daylight.  Redfish will be the first quarry, followed by some deep wading for a few trout, easier to keep cool longer that way.  And I need to pull the steering cable out of the skiff and get that replaced.  Nothing like having your head under the console in heat like this.  Oh well, it has to be done.

So I apologize for the slow week at fishcatchingtravel.com.  It seemed like there was a conspiracy to keep me off  the water this week.  But it is time to get a little more serious about the Gulf.  I have a tournament coming up in a month and it is time to start patterning a few fish.  Or at least that will be my excuse for fishing a little more often.

Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines 

Fish Catching Travel

The heat wave continues in South Texas.  From the weather reports it looks like it will be with us with a real hot weekend.  And to add to the poor conditions right now, we finally hit the 10 inch deficient in the rain department.  We need some rain.  They are forecasting Phoenix and Las Vegas to top 115 this weekend.  Combine that with our prevailing south winds and you have tougher trout fishing.

Most reports I have read have been from deeper shell, and the best of course seem to be from croaker fishermen.  With off colored water prevalent in some of the bays the bite seems to be coming with the tide as the water clears while coming up.  So the best advice right now is to be there when the water is moving, and hunt for that good “trout water.”

I did want to clarify one mistake from my last post.  That cool looking fish I posted as a skate is not a skate, it is a guitarfish.  Easy to see how it got that name.

From what I have read a guitarfish is a close relative of the ray.  They inhabit tropical and warm temperate waters worldwide.  They basically swim using their tail and not their fins.  They are known bottom feeders but do feed on small fish, which makes sense because Corey caught this one on a small whiting.  They are not know as food fish.

So there you have it, one cool fish.  And speaking of interesting things we caught, we did catch another fish none of us had seen before, the barred grunt.  It had a mouth somewhat like a sheepshead, with rows of small teeth, though they were pointed.  It had bars just like a sheepshead, and along the bottom was almost a Chartreuse.  It is know locally some areas as a green snapper.

Unfortunately since I got home I have been under the weather.  So for the last week I have basically been in the house, and of course I am sick of it.  So while I am feeling somewhat better today, I have decided to wait and head to Coleto this evening for a couple of hours.  I am just not sure that I am ready to fight the heat during the middle of the day at the Gulf.

I appreciate each and every one of you who stops in and reads my stuff.  So since I am feeling better, and it looks like some clouds and cooler temps next week, it should be a week full of fishing.  Thanks for stopping in.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

• Fish Catching Travel

Sorry I have not posted in the last week but being gone to the beach, and then taking a day to recover, then all of a sudden it was Tuesday.  So I spent today writing and downloading and editing the video, and now it is finally done.  So I hope you enjoy this trip, I did.

I just had a really interesting weekend shark fishing on Padre Island.  Chris and I headed out Thursday to spend 3 nights camping on the beach.  It was great to be heading down the beach with someone who was not only prepared for almost any contingency, but in a vehicle able to navigate almost anything.  As it was the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle nesting season on the beach, we roared off at a blazing 15 mph.  So with all the stuff, and several coolers of bait, we made our first stop somewhere around the 7 mile marker.

Home sweet home.

We stopped there as Michael and his friend Corey were going to meet us before we headed further down the beach.  Our first night was fairly unproductive as we did not get a bite on the shark rigs.  I was impressed, as this was my first trip and I was clueless, as Chris over the next couple of days paddled the baits out in his kayak.  He got some of them so far out that I had to use binoculars to see when he dropped the bait so I could begin to tighten the line to pull the belly out.

Michael joined us late Friday afternoon, and then Corey got there a little after dark.  We kept several long lines out, and again did not have any luck on Friday night.  Though I thought the surf was rough, apparently it was not out of the ordinary for Padre Island.  It was interesting that there was very little bird action along the surf.  So we hunkered down for the night, with plans to head down the beach in the morning.

Saturday morning we packed up and headed down the beach.  The tide was out after 10 a.m. so the driving was great as you could keep to the hard pack.  Let me tell you folks, there were some areas that were really soft, and a good 4 wheel drive and some judicious driving decisions were necessary.  Some of the areas the sand was so soft that you could get stuck no matter what you were driving.

We ended up stopping at around the 25 mile marker.  It was clearly deeper closer to the beach as we headed down the island.  We made our stand after watching the waves as they broke on the bars.  Our decision was based on the fact that we noticed an area where there appeared to be a gut.  We were able to make that based on the fact that the breaking waves seemed to not be breaking on a 25 yard stretch until the 3rd gut, and there was a huge shell pile.  It just looked like it was a little deeper there, so we made camp and out went the lines.

Our first real bite came when Corey had a bite on his rod.  I believe it came on a really small live whiting.  When he got it to the bank it took us a little time to digest just what it was.  What made it more unusual is I had just been telling the boys I had eaten skate in Las Vegas, and it was really good.

A skate.  What a cool “fish”. 

Other than the obvious difference in appearance, there are some other differences worth mentioning.  Rays bear their young inside and have live births, skates lay eggs in a protective case called a mermaids purse.  Rays have one or two stingers, skates have a spiny ridge down their back for protection.  And the most obvious difference is the dorsal fins, which you can see on the one above, which rays do not have.  The edible portion is the tail, though keeping with our general practice this one was CPR’d.

Not a few minutes later Corey had another bite.

Our first shark, a bonnethead.

Now don’t get me wrong, this was our first shark, just not quite what we were looking for.  But after he just caught the skate, it appeared things were picking up.  Though the bonnethead is a member of the hammerhead family, it was it’s bigger cousin we were after.  So the hunt continued when all of a sudden Michael’s rod high on the rack had an obvious bite, and the fight was on.

Michael fights him from the beach as Corey looks on.

Chris drags him onshore for hook out and release.

Who is that happy masked man?

That little flurry of activity on Saturday afternoon as the tide was rushing out turned out to be it for the day.  Now at this point Chris and I had been fishing for a couple of days, and we had not had a decent bite.  We had soaked horse mullet, hunks of jack that weighed over 10 pounds, fresh cut whiting, huge cow nose rays, and anything else we  could think of, all without success.  We lost a couple of rigs, one possibly to a Spanish mackerel cutting the heavy white braid, one to a clip wearing on the mono, and another possibly to crossing another line and rubbing during the night.

But all of that is part of the learning curve, and as usual we all seem to have to learn the hard way.  But as with all fishermen, hopes springs eternal, and we never give up.  While sitting on the beach enjoying the sundown and the good company we indulged in a little ceviche made from assorted small fresh fish we caught while chasing sharks.  Chris made it and boy was it good.

What a taste treat.  Ceviche and an adult beverage on the beach, does it get any better than that?

We woke Sunday morning and our lines had not been touched during the night.  Our plan was to wait until the tide dropped some to make our way back.  First was a great breakfast of show pig and eggs on tortillas provided by Michael, then a slow packing of the stuff.  As we sat and chatted with the last lines out, it was time to call it a day when there was a sharp bite on one of the rods we had soaked from sundown the night before.  That whole bait sat in one place, I think in the last gut, for around 14 hours when it happened.

Hook out.  That circle was buried and he was going nowhere but on the beach.

Chris with his blacktip.  A quick nose up pic and back in the water he went.  Finally success.

When I say this was a last minute fish, it was truly a last call.  We were just getting ready to call it a trip after 3 days when it finally happened for us.  Since it was my first time doing it from the beach, I have caught sharks in the Everglades freelining bait in shallow water, I did not know what to expect.  Though Chris was getting somewhat frustrated, everything worked out fine.  We got a couple of sharks, and added greatly to our knowledge,  some of which was what not to do, but that is how we often learn when fishing.

After that we loaded the trucks and headed back for the long drive.  On the way Corey, who had a 2 wheel drive truck, got stuck twice.  But with Chris’s truck it was just a matter of strapping up and popping him out.  When we got to the area from the 7 mile marker and up there was a lot more traffic and we came up on our first really stuck car.  Now what in the heck these folks were doing driving in really soft sand I am not sure, but no matter, Chris would just jerk them out no problem.  But it did not work that way.

When Chris went to pull them out for some reason the guy in the car left it in drive, and Chris was pulling him backwards, and that big high torque Ford buried up in a second. So as we made our plans to pull him out with Michael’s truck another guy stopped to help and it turned out it was a friend of Chris’s from his 4 wheeling days out of Waco.  So that problem was solved quickly, and then Chris popped the car out and it was done.

What was interesting was other than  a quick thanks, we heard her say, that was not as easy as when they pulled us out yesterday.  Now Chris is a calm easy going fellow, I on the other hand do not give a rats, so for me I felt like saying was if you are that f’n stupid, get off the beach you knuckleheads.  You have no business there taking advantage of the good folks who stop to help stuck folks out.  That is the very thing that makes some guys just keep on driving instead of stopping to help.  You are the problem you idiots.  Sorry about the rant, but that is crap.

As we finally made the exit at the park, we came upon a Prius who managed to get stuck about 30 yards past the end of the blacktop.  They were from Rogers Arkansas, my old stomping grounds, down here for a wedding and I do not think they had tried driving on the beach before.  After we pulled them out they asked about the conditions down the beach, and Chris told them it was rough.  So did they go on?  Who knows, but hopefully they parked at the lot and walked in.

And as a fitting end to the trip, Chris was towed almost 15 miles one trip when his transmission line broke, and his rule is, if I am going or coming and you are stuck, I will help.  He does not back track, but as long as you are on his way he will help.  And he did that all the way back Sunday.  A sound policy, and I think really fair, as we watched other big four wheel drive trucks pass those stuck folks.  But as we were pulling out the Prius he said look at that van.

Back down the beach where we had already passed, there was a van stuck in deep soft sand, with about 4 or 5 folks pushing it out.  Now I am not one to criticize fashion choices, just ask my wife, but there was something so wrong about the visual of those folks pushing that van.  Guys, it is tough enough to look good in a Speedo when you are 20 years old and in good shape, but when you are in your 40’s, give serious thought to your choice of swim wear.  The sight of a an old guy like me in a yellow Speedo pushing a van almost traumatized me, and I am still trying to get that image out of my mind!

So what a cool trip.  I can see that we will be making another in the future.  I am one of those fishermen that when it is tough or does not go fabulous on the first try, it just makes me want to do it again, and do it better.  We learned some things that will definitely help in the future.  For now it is back to the Gulf.  Fishing reports are really spotty right now, high winds and high pressure are keeping some of the bays muddy, and the trout fishing tough.

Here is a picture I got from my friend Aaron.  He was down in Hackberry LA fishing last weekend and caught some good trout.  He said they also ran into a couple of acres of redfish.  Nothing like a big fish to make the trip.  He did admit he “cheated” by using shrimp.  But hey, whatever works.

Now folks that is a big trout anywhere.  Congrats to Aaron, the boy can fish.

So thanks for reading my stuff.  Keep stopping in and I will keep fishing.

Good Luck and Tight Lines