Fish Catching Travel

Fish Catching Travel

So I have not been on here for a few days, but there is lots to show and tell.  There is so much I do not know where to start.  The way things have worked out lately I have just either been to tired, or to lazy, to get things done so here goes.

Clyde, Maria, John and friend’s Canada trip.

I have not had a chance to speak with Clyde since he got back from Canada but from the looks of the pictures he sent they whipped up on them like always.  Of course they stayed at Muskie Bay.  If you have not been there before, and want to read more, there is an article in the travel section, or just put Canada into the search box on the front page and you can see how our last trip went.  Just posting these makes me want to go back.  Who knows, maybe a muskie trip this fall.  Sounds like fun to me.  And the folks at Muskie Bay will set you up.

Not only is Maria one hot babe, but she sure can catch those fish!  That is one good pike anywhere.  And she caught it on a 1/32 ounce jig fishing for yellow perch on her ultra-light.

They didn’t send me their friend’s name, but those are a couple of great lake trout.

My old buddy John Bauer from Arkansas with a couple of great lakers.  That one on the right is a hoss.  At Muskie Bay they are usually caught jigging deep, last year it was 80 feet.  This year it was trolling.

Clyde with a nice Canada smallmouth.

If you like smallmouth Canada is the place.  They caught hundreds of them this trip.

John and friend.  Muskie Bay has nice fully equiped boats.

Have a seat.

Beautiful muskie.  Belive me folks they come a heck of a lot bigger than that.

A hungry bear did this.  Why you do not leave food out or garbage out!

All I have to say about this – if you have never done a Canada trip and you like to catch fish, go.  You will not regret it.

The Fishing

Normally as all of you know who read my stuff I tend to keep up with my posts, but since I posted last I have been 3 times.  Unfortunately they were not the kinds of trips that warm the heart of a serious fisherman.

Saturday night I decided to do a night fishing trip to Coleto.  I fished for bass at night for years and was looking forward to catching a big one.  Coleto Creek closes the gate at midnight and it does not open until 4 a.m.  So I took a big nap and got to the lake at 9.  I figured I could fish until 4 and then head to the house.

To make a sad story short, I fished worm, jig and frog, and single spin.  I fished points and flats and deep banks and shallow banks and places by the dam and…you get the point.  It was 2 a.m. before I got my first bite.  I boated that one, an ok fish, tossed back in there and caught another, and he was ok.  So back in with the worm, a good hit, and I break my line.  And then to make it worse, I can hear him jumping trying to throw the hook.  I did not get another bite there.  That happened to be a deep main lake point, and other than that I did not get another bite.

Of course that just makes me more determined to get it done.  The only problem is I am getting to old for that stuff.  It used to be no big deal to fish all night and then function the next day.  Guess I am getting old, but that is beside the point.  Before the summer is over I will get back there at night and whip their butt.  Promise.

Monday I got a late start and decided to hit POC.  When I got there the tide was high so I headed to Grass Island to do some wading.  I fished a good portion of the south side and did put a few in the boat, but they were small.

I think I caught 3 trout and 4 reds, all on plastics.  I threw topwater some without success and they all came on plastics in 3 foot of water.  There was no “magic” place, they were just here and there.  I then went down to the small island near Mitchell’s Cut and waded it.  That only resulted in one trout.  I do not know if it was me, or the fish, or my timing was wrong, but I could not get it going.

At this point, about 5, the tide was falling hard, so I headed to Big Bayou to throw spinnerbait.  I caught 3 reds, but nothing to write home about, and that was it.  Unfortunately I was late.  The best time to be there is right when the water falls out of the grass, and it was already out and falling when I got there.

I did not take any pictures, maybe that was the problem, and at 6 I called it a day.  After a great month last month on big trout it seems I have lost the touch.  So next trip it will be deeper reefs.  They had to go somewhere.

Yesterday my friend Chris wanted to go catch some bait.  Now it was not the usual bait, but big jacks.  Why you ask?  We are headed to PINS on North Padre Island for a big shark trip.  His friend Michael has done them for years and we are loaded for bear.  We will be camping on the beach somewhere between Corpus and Port Mansfield.  There are 4 of us going and it should be a hoot.  I have caught a few over the years but have never broke a hundred pounds, so maybe this will be the trip.

Chris and I fished the jetty and I did manage to put a 20lb. Jack in the boat trolling a Rapala long bill, but other than that we just did not find them.  Chris did catch a bunch of nice size scaly sardines, or as he found out later, locally called watermelon shad.  So the jack and the shad went on ice for bait, and with that to start it is off to the beach.

And according to Chris this is only 2 baits.  I can’t wait to see the thing that wants this hunk of meat!

So the next couple of days we will be trying to catch the big one.  The boys have 50 wides, big line, hooks the size of a meat hook, and the kayaks to get them out there.  It should be something, and I will record as much as I can.  Who knows, maybe a 500 lb Bull, you never know.

So stop in this weekend and hopefully there will be some tall tales.  In fact, fish or not, there will be some tall tails either way.  Hopefully the wind and grass will be at a dull roar and I can put some trout and reds on the beach while we are at it.  Either way a good time will be had by all.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

After fishing the gulf yesterday with Shoedog, and having a fairly successful day, he decided that he wanted to catch some bass.  That surprised me, but when I have the privilege to be able to fish where ever I want, it was fine by me.

We got out at daylight and I figured the quickest way to put a couple in the boat was to head all the way up the lake and throw frog and buzzbait.  Boy was I wrong.  We fished for an hour without a bite.  We fished flat banks, huge grass flats, banks with timber on them, all without success.

Finally I picked up a Strike King Swim Jig and caught one.  So I figured since that worked, and the sun was out, it was time to hit the lily pads.  We fished almost the whole length, and finally in the area where there was a combination of pads and reeds, Shoedog caught a nice one.   Nothing big, but he blew up on it in about one foot of water.  But that was it for the pads so I moved further down lake.

One thing I have noticed lately is if all else fails it seems the bigger reeds with water in them are still holding shallow fish.  So we started on the first long bank up the river and both were tossing the swim jig.  I finally got a decent bite.

One thing I will say about Coleto, if you stay after it you will get your reward!  This was a 2 hander.

She  came out of a grass patch in about 2 foot of water and smoked it.  So we kept swimming that jig, and Shoedog put a couple of more in the boat, and I did too.  We were reeling the black and blue with a Rage Craw pretty rapidly, it is definitely a reaction strike.  They were coming off the outside edge of the flooded grass, and was saw most of them hit it.

From about 9 until 11 we caught 7, a few of them not to bad, when the weather started coming in.  We could hear thunder, and then saw some lightning way off, so we headed down close to the dam just in case.  As far as the fishing was concerned, it did not seem to help matters a lick.  We never had another bite after we moved down lake.  I have a feeling it was the lightning, but who knows.  I know we were glad we were close because when it came, there was thunder and lightning, it flat out poured.  We ended up soaked before we got it on the trailer.

So that ended up being it for the day.  And for his short 2 day trip.  We were just getting the hang of it when we had to quit.  It was real apparent that they have moved to the outside edge of the deeper grass.  As we are in full swing summer, the days of getting by fishing shallow are coming to an end.  But I have put several big fish in the boat in the last couple of weeks, all shallow.  So as long as they continue to bite there, I will fish it to the bitter end.  I am a shallow water bass fisherman and seeing them roll or blow up on it is still one of my favorite bites.

I think tonight I will head to the lake late.  The gate closes at 12 and does not re-open until 4:30 so I guess I will let them lock me in and give it an all night go.  Of course there is a chance of thunder storms, so it is still up in the air.  I spent many nights fishing in Arkansas after dark.  It was the main fishing activity for us from April until the end of October, and when you get on them it can be awesome.  So we will have to see.

Thanks for reading my stuff.  I appreciate all of you and read all your comments. And to David who asked me whether I thought the Zoom Swimmin Super Fluke with the shad tail would work on the Redfish Magic, the answer is yes.  But I would put it on a 3/8 or 1/2oz. jig head if I used the bigger one, to provide it with a little more stability to keep it from potentially rolling on its side.  The one I would really consider is the Berkley Havoc in a 3″ shad tail.  We caught a few good trout and reds on it the other day, and I think it would be a great addition to the your arsenal.  It has good vibration and when added to the Redfish Magic should work like a charm.  This is the kind of thinking that puts more fish in the boat, so thanks David, I will try it myself.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

                                               Fish Catching Travel

My brother Jeff, alias Shoedog, has been so tied up with a remodel on his business that he has been working 7 days a week since January.  He just has not had time to fish other than our trip to Belize.  So he finally was able to shake loose a couple of days and wanted to put some reds and trout in the boat, so it was off to POC first.

Since I caught such a nice bunch of trout tossing topwater last trip we headed to Big Bayou to start the day.  The tide was out and set to be high at noon.  We started fishing the cuts and drains and were rewarded with plenty of bites.  To bad only a few made it in the boat.  It may have been the worst hooking percentage I have had in a long time, but we stayed with it.  The KVD topwater did put 3 or 4 trout and the same amount of reds in the boat,  nad one of them I caught was a good one that went in the box.  Jeff managed this red early.

Our first keeper.  As you know I always take a picture of the first one, cause it may be the last.

As the morning wore on the topwater bite subsided so we switched to some plastic and Redfish Magic.  One thing we found out later, a dark plastic was not the ticket, but more on that later.  Then Shoedog hooked this nice trout on a spinnerbait.  One thing about trout on spinnerbait they are almost always good ones.

        A nice speckled trout.  This turned out to be the day’s biggest trout.

Around 11 it seemed to die on us.  We hunted and pecked in Barroom without success.  I do not know if we were just not finding them, or they were off with the tide, but we just could not get anything going.  So Shoedog said where would you go if you had to catch a trout right now.  So I said why not the Oilcut at the Coast Guard station.

We headed to the last big cut throwing plastics and I caught a small one.  For the next hour we would catch one here or there, and Jeff put another keeper trout in the boat.  Like I found the last couple of trips, they are really eating those Glass Minnows.  So Jeff switched to a Berkley Havoc in the 3″ pearl paddle tail and that seemed to really help, but we were still just not on them.

As we were fishing the last little stretch near the mouth I wanted to fish there was schools of minnows on top and the occasional splash when one bit the dust.  So we headed to them and started catching fish.  Then Jeff had a big bite and the fight was on.  With him using light line and a light action rod I had time to get the camera out and make this short video.

This is the heaviest 25″ redfish I have ever seen.  Where is this guy at tournament time?

After that little episode in the Oilcut we decided to wade the outside of the old Coast Guard station.  The wind was blowing right on it and we fished it hard.  I managed to lose one on plastic, and Shoedog missed one on top, but other than that we struck out.  So for our last stand we decided to return to the dock area on the south side of Barroom and wade.

That turned out to be the better choice, and though the water color was somewhat off-colored, we had lots of bites and caught several on topwater.  We both had fish that just wouldn’t make it, and I added another keeper red to the pot.  They were right on the bank near the grass in less than knee-deep water.  At that point we had fished hard and decided to call it a day.  We only ended up keeping 6, but most of them were nice.  It was one of those days when we caught fish, but they just did not make the cut.  To bad considering it has been just the opposite for me the last month.  But that is fishing.

Here is what I did learn.  We should have started out wading right off the bat, and stayed in the water all day.  Clearly lighter colored plastics were working better, to bad that did not dawn on us earlier in the day.  The topwater bite is still good and if we had stayed in the water wading we definitely would have caught more fish.  But hindsight is 20/20 and we learn from our choices, and since I am hitting the Gulf in the morning we will see if that plays out.

On the second day of Shoedog’s 2 days he decided he wanted to catch a few bass, so we headed to Coleto yesterday and had a rain shortened day.  I managed to catch a big one so stop in tomorrow for that report.

And I wanted to let you know that last week I hit 45,000 visits to fishcatchingtravel.com. for the year.  That tops the total visits for the whole of last year already, and we are not yet half way through the year.  I am so appreciative of everyone who stops in and reads my stuff.  It keeps me going when I am tired and lazy.  So I keep fishing and blogging, and it is thanks to each and every one of you.  And it gives me someone to blame all this fishing on!  Keep those cards and letters coming.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

With my brother coming for a couple of days at POC in a day or two I decided to make a quick trip to Coleto this morning.  I have not had the flats boat out in a couple of months so I wanted a little shake down cruise to be sure things were all in order, and the boat ran just fine.  I forget how well that thing runs and fishes when I leave it in the garage a while.

I got out at daylight and headed up lake to throw a variety of stuff.  A buzzbait was my first choice, and it turned out to be a bad one.  I fished weed beds without any success.  Next I headed to a stretch of lily pads and decided to try a swim jig.  The first 4 just seemed to nip at it and I did not land a one.  Then I finally caught one.

This was the first one I caught.

For the next couple of hours I pitched to sunken grass, flooded shoreline grass, and anything else that looked good.  One would jump on here and there, but they did not seem to have their heart in it.  There did not seem to be either a pattern I could figure out, or a big bunch in one place.  I did manage to put another 6 in the boat, and most of them were this size or smaller.  I did lose one pretty good one when he got hung in some deep grass, but that was the size of it.

With the sun out and not a breath of wind I figured if I went to some heavy grass mats and threw the frog I could scare a few up.  That turned out to be fruitless.  I did not even have a hit on the frog.  This time of year the frog is usually a good choice on Coleto, but they were not having it either.  So about 11 I decided to head down lake and fish some deeper banks were there is grass in 10+ feet of water.

Last year at this time I was catching them slow rolling a Strike King 10″ Anaconda ripple worm.  So I rigged it with a 1/8 ounce slip sinker which I pegged and it turned out to be a good choice.  Over the next hour I put 4 in the boat, all on banks with over 10 feet of water on them.  I missed several when I jerked when they hit.  It takes a little bit to remember to drop the rod and let them have it.  And then this happened.

This was one good fish.

I felt her thump it, dropped my rod, and she started swimming.  She was about 10 foot deep when she hit and she came straight to the top and jumped.  I managed not to screw it up, and in the boat she came.  For her size she was one of the heaviest fish I have caught in a while, really solid.  But she was also spawned out and if I had caught her 2 months ago she would have been a real hoss.

So it looks like it is going to be plastic time.  While you can still put some fish in the boat shallow early, and on real windy and cloudy days. they are starting to settle in to a real summer pattern.  So start looking deeper on deep drops or weeds in deep water near the deeper drops.  One thing about that Anaconda, it is a big bait that catches big fish.

And while I was using a light weight to keep it right above the sunken grass, it is also time to start using the tungsten weights that are heavy enough to punch through the grass.  Combine it with a Rage Craw or some other compact plastic, like any of the beaver tail baits.  It makes it a lot easier to get it down where the fish bury up in the day time.  Just remember when it get there to shake it a little.  Like my friend Aaron says, think of the grass bed as a spider web.  When a spider feels something in the web they come out and make the kill, same with bass that bury up in the grass, they may not have seen it, but they can feel it.

So not a bad morning, the boat was all in working order, and I managed to put some bass in the boat.  So off to POC I go, the fish are really biting on the coast and I am looking forward to some serious topwater fishing in the mornings.  Thanks for reading my stuff and keep stopping in.  Who knows, tomorrow just might be the best day of my life on the water.  Oh yea, every day on the water is the best day of my life, the fish are just a bonus.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Ever have one of those days that started off fine and then went downhill, only to recover later?  Well that was my day today.  I woke up about 6 and decided to head to Keller Bay.  I have wanted to fish that area for a while.  It has one of my favorite wading banks, and with the trout fishing being so good now I headed that way.

When I turned off Highway 59 and headed towards Olivia I got to the small bridge over the back of Keller Creek and it was closed.  There was a big loader apparently dredging out something off the bridge.  To bad that they forgot to put the sign up on 59 that the road was closed.  So no big deal I headed back to 59 and went north to hit another road that would take me there.  About 4 miles off 59 I got ready to turn on that road and there was a sign that there was a bridge closed about 2 miles ahead, and it was only open to local traffic.  Not sure what that meant, and already miles out-of-the-way I gave it up and headed to Indianola.  So it was one of those hour drives and I still was not anywhere.

When I finally got to Indianola the cloud cover was gone and it was blowing straight out of the east.  As the tide was just starting, and Lavaca Bay was chocolate, it was blowing mud into the Powderhorn and the whole front of the bay was off colored.  I started on the first bank on the left and fished the first couple of pockets with a spinnerbait.  It  took me an hour and I only caught this guy.

I always take a picture of the first one, you never know when it will be your last.

With the water-color still off, and the wind blowing down the Powderhorn, I decided to hit the area they call Mailbox.  It is the small pocket on the south side about 1/2 way back.  I caught another small red on the spinnerbait but ended up not catching another fish though I fished the whole thing.  So there I was about 2 and 1/2 hours into it and only had a couple.

So I cut across the bay and went to the north bank past the duck blinds and kept throwing the spinnerbait.  The water was still a little off colored but the tide was starting to run.  I finally got on some reds.  I noticed that in the small pockets in the long bank where there was calm water there were little bait fish, and that was where the reds were.  I caught a couple of small ones, then this guy.

This was a freaking hoss!  He was on a school of little bitty bait.

I can not emphasize enough how important it is to watch what is going on around you.  If you see bait jump, water move, or anything else that looks suspicious, throw at it.  When I caught the one above there was little bait jumping and moving, and I threw into it 3x when he finally hit.  I kept going down that long grass bank when I caught his twin about 5 minutes later.

The Redfish Magic strikes again.

It was about 3 when the water really started to clear.  There was bait moving and the fish were definitely getting more active.  When I saw some jump behind me I picked up the topwater and had one just smash it.  It turned out to be a small red who hit it like he was a giant.  I kept going down the bank, and where the bank heads into the last cove before the bridge area I saw some fish working behind me.  I headed out to them and the fiasco began.

It was a big school of reds, and I mean over a hundred.  I got excited and tossed the spinnerbait and got a huge backlash.  I wasn’t able to get it out so I tossed the topwater but did not get a hit.  So I grabbed the plastic, a Gamble Flapper, and tossed it to where they had been and promptly lost one.  After he came off I tossed it towards the bait, and promptly messed that up.  Then they were gone.  To bad, that was the biggest school of nice reds I have seen in a while.

So I headed back to the bank and on the point I saw fish chasing bait where the water was running around it, and promptly missed a couple.  Then I caught a trout, and then another, and then missed a couple more.

This was the size of the trout.  Notice I am throwing that Strike King KVD in the bone I told you about last time.  They like it.

I got quite a few blow ups, and then I had something big flush it like a concrete block.  I set the hook and the fight was on, and then it was over.  Whatever it was opened the split ring on the front hook and was gone.  Just an example of how the day was going.  One comment, this was as far back in the Powderhorn I have caught trout.  And I managed to catch 3 and should have had several more.

I was hot and tired at this point and decided to call it a day.  Considering how it started, and how I fished, it turned out okay.  I caught 7 or 8 reds and 3 trout, and should have boated some more.  But at least I finally caught some trout in the Powderhorn.  I can not wait to get back and try the back end, who knows, maybe that is where they are and why I have not caught to many the last several trips there.

So this week will be busy.  It looks like my brother can finally shake loose and fish a couple of days.  It may conflict with the boys from Austin coming, but Jeff has not been down since this winter, and he needs the break.  So who knows, I may fish all week.  No matter what it will be a few days at POC no matter what.  So keep stopping in and I will keep reporting.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Sorry there has not been a post in a few days but we were out of town.  After taking care of that, and a few other things around the house, I checked the weather and tides and decided to head to POC.  The tide was supposed to be up at 10 or so, and the wind was supposed to be around 10, and both were right.

With that forecast I decided to start with a topwater, and that turned out to be a good choice.  A couple of words on that.  First, I missed way more than I caught, but once I got my mojo working, it has been awhile, the bites came consistently until after 10 a.m.  Second, I am using a topwater I have not used on the Gulf before, the Strike King KVD Sexy Dawg Jr. in the 665 Bone color.

This report is not intended to be an ad, but I learned something yesterday.  I have been walking the dog with a Zara Spook since the mid 70’s and am pretty good at it.  And the Spook has been a staple in my topwater arsenal that whole time.  But I wanted to give the Sexy Dawg a try, and folks it works.  But the reason I wanted to talk about it is this: If you have trouble walking the dog, this bait is for you.  In fact, it walks so easy I had to scale back some.  Just reel it slow and twitch the rod tip in a short twitch, twitch, rhythmic action, and it will work.  In fact, if it catches on itself you are jerking it to hard.  So if you are a topwater fisherman, or want to be, get one and try it out,  you will not be disappointed.

It works.

Enough of that, on to the fishing.  I of course headed to Big Bayou like always and started on the first long shallow grass bank on the left.  I fished the whole thing without a bite until I got to the first cut which had water moving in it.

The first one I managed to put in the boat, but wasn’t my first bite.

Like I said earlier, I was missing them pretty regularly.  When you have not caught one on top for a while it is hard to not jerk when they first hit it.  If they miss you just have to keep it coming until the rod loads up.  Just keep working it as they boil it, and they are likely to finally hook up.  And it can even be harder when a good red is tracking it and boiling all over it.  Over the next few hours I had blow ups pretty consistently in all the drains in Big Bayou.  It seemed there were a couple of trout in the mouth of each of them, and the reds were definitely on flooded grass points.

Since I wanted to catch trout today, I passed on the reds, at least when they let me.  Every bank with grass on it had reds all over it.  They were definitely close to the points leading into and out of the cuts.  If I had taken a spinnerbait when the tide was still moving up it would have been a killing.  Be that as it may, I still caught reds.  Here is the first one.

This size was moving all over the grass banks.

While I am not sure exactly how many I caught on topwater, the fishing was good enough I kept throwing it until almost 11 when they really did quit it.  Now the plan was to do some wading, but that got short circuited.  I started throwing plastics, a 1/8oz. jig head with a electric chicken 4″ paddle tail, and caught a red or trout here and there, but it was slow when the tide was full up and the water not moving much.  I headed into Barroom and there was a big rip, and it was covered in grass.

That rip also had one very important thing, bait.  There was bait working and flashing all over so I started drifting right along the rip, and the fish were there.  It ran from Big Bayou across the bay, and there were a few birds working.  I decided to throw a popping cork, and that worked, though I was missing a lot.  And some of those I caught were small, so I went back to the plastics.

Another nice one drifting Barroom.

It sure seems the trout are just a little bit bigger across the board this year.  At least it seems that way to me, but you would have to ask a couple of guides, they would know.  But no matter what, when you can catch this size the fishing is pretty good.

For the day I ended up keeping 4 for the pan, but probably caught about 15 – 20 trout, and 4 or 5 reds.  Of the reds a couple were keeper size, and the trout would have easily been a limit.  I caught on popping cork, plastics, topwater, and even a couple on spinnerbait.  The fishing is good right now, so do what you do best and you should be successful.  There is good croaker available so if that is your thing, it is time to get after it.  If what I have  caught the last couple of times at POC is any indication, the croaker fishing should be awesome.

So with a forecast for lighter winds tomorrow, it will be back to the Gulf.  I think Keller may be on the menu, as it has one of my favorite wading banks.  If the fish are anywhere near that size, I look for a good day tomorrow.  So thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Since I had such a good day the other day when the wind was blowing I decided to wuss out from heading to the Gulf and get up early and hit Coleto again,  I made the lake around 6:30 and headed way up.  I started right off the bat in an area of Lily pads with a spinnerbait and made a long pass, and did not have a bite.

I continued to head up lake with the wind hitting shallow banks with lots of grass.  I put 3 or 4 in the boat but it just did not seem to be happening.  I hit an area way up that was shallow and covered in grass.  2 managed to blow up on the buzzbait, but that was the size of it.  At this point I had managed 5 and it was about 8:30.

I will take this size all day long.  She blew up on it.

As the wind was blowing straight up the lake I went back down to the big bend above the bridge and started working grass flats with wind on them.  Over the next hour and a half I put another 4 or 5 in the boat buzzing that willow leaf spinnerbait, but they were all small.  About 10:30 2 things happened that really changed the day for me.

First, as I tell you a lot, let the fish tell you what they want.  I had been using a big willow leaf spinnerbait to make a wake, and that worked ok the last couple of trips.  But as I fished I kept seeing really small minnows and fry right on the bank, and so I finally got where I could see – by removing my head from my you know what.  So I switched to a smaller spinnerbait with small silver Colorado blades in an attempt to match the hatch.

Second, the wind, which had been blowing, really kicked up and it clouded up for the next hour or so.  So I moved to the shallowest bank I could find up lake that was covered in grass, and it was game on.

This was a good fish, and she absolutely smoked it.  I had another one at least this big that came right to the boat high speed and I flipped her in, she hit the deck, and out she went.

For the next hour I had some of the best spinnerbait fishing I have had this year.  They were up and biting right in the middle of the day.  I hit a point with lots of shallow grass and the wind pounding on it, and they were all over it.  The water has come up and there is a space behind the covered grass, and the green shore grass on the edge of the bank.  That little strip between the old grass and the bank grass was the place to be.

This size was in a full scale feeding frenzy.

They were smacking it right on the bank after a couple of turns of the handle.  It was awesome.  In one stretch I probably put 10 in the boat one after the other.  And then it was over.  I fished a couple of other places and did not have a bite so I called it a day.  I should have made a video or took a couple of more pics, but it was so good I could not put the rod down, and I am glad I didn’t.  I am sure I could have re-fished those places, but why look a gift horse in the mouth.

So what was to be learned today?  First, the big bladed spinnerbait would call them up here and there.  And like 2 days ago, you could catch them by covering lots of water and  catching one every so often.  It is a pattern that was working today.  Second, going to a 1/4 ounce spinnerbait with small blades really matched the hatch much better.  When I found them, instead of catching a couple, I caught a bunch.  There are 2 ways to catch them with the spinnerbait, but the smaller bait definitely put more in the boat when you found them.

The ones in the Lily pads were not there today.  They were on the outside edge of the pads 2 days ago, I have a sneaking suspicion that the wind pushed them all the way to the bank shallow.  And it definitely was a shallow grass day.  I was lucky enough to recognize it and change baits to pull out the morning.

The wind continues to blow, but it should start laying down any day now.  Summer is here and I can not believe we will not get out of this weather pattern at some point.  Which leads me to head to the Gulf.  There are still some great trout reports and Shoedog will be down for a couple of days next week and we are going to fish POC for a couple of days.  Wind or not, the water temperature is fine for wet wading, and that will be the order of the day.

And one other thing about today, when the fish were biting the wildlife was out and about.

At noon today everybody was eating, including the fish.

Arkansas Walleye

Can you say supper?  Clyde caught these yesterday along with some really good bass.

Bull Shoals in Arkansas, my old stomping grounds, has had a real walleye boom the last few years.  We always caught one here and there, but never really targeted them.  Now they are being fished regularly and are a legitimate quarry.  My friend Clyde has been catching them fairly regularly on 3″ grubs about 20 foot deep.  And along with them he is putting lots of Kentucky’s and Smallmouth in the boat.  His pattern right now is to throw that grub on a 3/16th. ounce jig head, count to 20 and start reeling.  Grub fishing has always been a staple in the spring on Bull Shoals, and it must be nice to add these to the bag.

Of course one of the things that brought me to Texas was the Gulf.  There is not a redfish within 12 hours of Mtn. Home and the Twin Lakes area.   If you have never visited it is a fishing paradise.  You can catch big stripers on Norfork Lake, smallmouth and walleyes on Bull Shoals, some of the nicest rainbows and browns in the world on the White and North Fork Rivers, and even do a little floating for smallmouth on the Buffalo and Crooked Creek.  And the great thing about that area, it is all within about a half hour of each other.  And if you like clear water, both lakes have it.

So thanks for reading my stuff.  I appreciate you all and love your comments and suggestions.  So keep those cards and letters coming.  I try to answer as best I can, and I read every comment and email.  And so you know, I do not post the comments that you make on the blog, but they come to my email.  So if you have something to say, please say it.  I do this for you.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

While catching the glamour fish in Belize was awesome, it was time to get back to the Gulf.  The forecast was for 20 – 30mph winds, and they were dead on.  The reason I chose the Powderhorn is that at the mouth near the dock there is a high bank on the south side, The Powderhorn Ranch Shoreline, that provides some protection from the wind.  Good thing.

I immediately went to the big pocket in the front of the bay and started with a spinnerbait.  One thing about the Redfish Magic, as long as you can stay off a bank you can catch reds even when the wind is howling.  The tide was up in the grass, which is always a good thing.  I fished the pocket going in and did not catch one until I got all the way in the back.  There is a small drain and there was enough water to get way back in.  The first red I caught was a nice rat, but a rat all the same.  I worked my way down the north side of the pocket and caught this one.

The Redfish Magic strikes again.

When the tide is up there are 2 very important things about catching them on spinnerbait.  First, throw it in the grass.  The Redfish Magic will come through it usually without a problem and every once in a while you will hit a little grass clump and one will blast it.  Of course throw it in any slot or pocket in the grass and be sure it is moving when it hits the water.  Second, that bank like many others in our area have oyster patches scattered around the grass, and that is where a lot of the fish come from.  So if you see a black patch be sure to run that spinnerbait over it.

I try to let the wind move me and just use the trolling motor to stay a long cast off the bank.  Less noise is always a good thing.  As far as speed goes I try to just keep it off the bottom no matter how deep it is.  I like a 1/4 so I can crank it slow and feel it vibrate.  Today they were not slamming it, so if you feel something be sure to set the hook, it don’t cost nuttin’.

After I fished the pocket I headed to the south bank.  That bank has grass which floods during high water.  With the wind so heavy in the rest of the lake I decided to fish the majority of it, so I threw spinnerbait all the way to the point with the with the old ruins on it.  On the whole bank I caught one more rat red and missed one.  I kept noticing a lot of bait from the first duck blind all the way to the second.  Most of it was off the bank.  It seemed to be where the flat dropped off into 3 foot of water.  So out came the wading stuff and in I went.

I have one of the wading harnesses that allows you to carry another rod on your back so I put the spinnerbait rod on my back and began to trout fish.  I fished from 1 foot to 4 foot deep most of the way down that bank.  I threw several colors and styles.  I threw it in balls of bait, in mullet, and anything else  I saw moving.  I never had a bite from a trout, and I mean not a bump.  One of the good things about the wading harness is I had my spinnerbait with me so I headed to the flooded grass and fished my way back to the boat.

A couple made a pass at it, including one red right at my feet.  Then another rat jumped on, but that was the size of it.  At this point  the wind was really blowing so I headed back in the pocket and fished the whole bank all the way back to the dock.  It was hard to keep position but I struggled through it.

This was the only other good one I caught today.

I got back in the big drain about half way to the dock and it was really muddy, and they were in there.  3 or 4 more came out of there, and that was it.  All on the Redfish Magic, with the croaker color still being the best the last month.

It was a pretty good 5 hours considering.  Sometimes you just have to make do with what you get, but a little thought about wind direction before you leave home can really be the deal maker, or deal breaker.  I am not sure why I have not done any good on the trout in the Powderhorn the last couple of times, but the wind has made fishing the open bay tough, so that has a lot  to do with it.  At least the redfishing remains good there.  I guess with the wind continuing to blow it is time to get out the Mako and start extending my range to find good trout water.  The skiff is great for shallow water but not worth a hoot for crossing big bays.  And Lavaca Bay yesterday had 3 – 4 rollers and looked like a bottle of Yohoo.

Before I put Belize to bed here is a few pics I got from Shoedog and Clyde.

Clyde and I coming in a after a 2 permit day.

We did not use the table in the room for eating.

Capt. Ken and me, fun with a permit 101.

The huge tree in the center of Sea Dreams.  And the most popular mode of transportation on the right.

Shoedog and I enjoy and adult beverage.

These guys sell ribs and skewers of shrimp and meat on the beach.  Cheap and good.

Hand-lining fish.  I remember him from last trip, he was very interested when I would catch a bonefish.  Can you say future guide?

Clyde’s first tarpon.

Revive and gone.

He puts his hands on his first bonefish.

Completes his slam.

Feeding our face at Wish Willy.

The main area of our apartment.  Sea Dreams is clean and nice.

Headed home – to bad.

I appreciate you reading my stuff.  As soon as I feed the President of Team Nancy lunch I am off to Coleto.  Good cloud cover and wind should make for a good afternoon.  So keep stopping in and I will keep fishing.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

I got a chance to slip out to Coleto Friday morning early after I woke up at 4:30 and could not go back to sleep.  So in a half daze I hitched the boat and headed to the lake.  What I did not know at the time was I was sleep walking, and managed to go without my phone or my cameras.  Now I never hitch the boat without my video and still cameras, of course it is hard to have a fishing blog without the cameras, and it would turn out of be one of the biggest mistakes I have made in a long time.  So before I get to the fishing, here it is.

I was up lake throwing a buzzbait when I saw a small fawn walk out of the woods.  It was really little, maybe 25lbs, and covered in spots.  As it came to the water as I fished the bank I thought it was going to get a drink.  And then the most wonderful thing, amazing, touching,  scary, and anything else you want to call it, happened.

It hopped in the lake and started swimming directly for me.  I was flat out amazed as that little fawn swam all the way to the boat on a direct line.  I could not believe it!  And then it swam to the back of the boat and tried to get in on the motor.  Now I have seen a lot of stuff in my almost 60 years in the outdoors, but I was flabbergasted.  No camera, no video, not even my phone to take a picture.  It was kind of crying and trying to get in.  I absolutely had no idea what to do.  I just stared at it stunned.  Never have I seen such a thing.  So after a second I decided to shoo it away, what else could I do?  So it took off and headed across the lake, then I was really scared.

That area is loaded with alligators, and some of them are massive.  So I followed along behind a ways back, and hoped I would not have to intervene, and somehow that fawn made it all the way across the lake.  What a wonderful up close and personal experience.  What was it doing?  I do not have a clue.  But for the rest of my life I will replay it in my mind. I was so bummed out not having anything to record one of the most wonderful and puzzling moments I have ever experienced outdoors.  Just to damn cool!

The fishing was also pretty good.  I started throwing a frog and caught 3 or 4 small ones, but they were just missing it.  So out came the buzzbait and from about 9 till noon I put at least a dozen in the boat.  Now none of them were big, but half were nice fish I would love to have in a tourney any day.

Points that stuck way out with grass were by far the best and I took 4 really good fish of one in about 10 casts.  With the spawn over the points near channels should be holding fish for the next little while.  But summer is coming on and with it the fish will move to their offshore haunts.  But as long as they will hit shallow, I will stick with it.  With the lake coming up, and the mats beginning to form, the frog will come on like gangbusters.  I look forward to this time of year.  The frog over the mats is a heavy line, 20 mono at least, or braid, and heavy rod technique.  You have to be able to get them, and the 10lbs of grass that will be on them, out of the mat.  Last year I broke a rod in half trying to get a big one out, so tackle up.  And one note when fishing the frog, almost all of them get water in them, so every couple of casts be sure to squeeze it out and keep it high floating.  A big bass blowing hole in the grass is a sight to behold.  Just remember to give it a second before you set the hook.

But for the next little bit it will be the bay.  Let the weekenders hit the road and things will die down some.  I noticed some pretty ugly water with the winds and rain, and hope it will settle down some. And it finally is warm enough to wet wade.  There are lots of stingrays and jelly fish right now so wear boots and ray guards, and long pants to keep from getting stung.  Just be careful, and if you get a cut, get out.  It is just not worth getting the vibro.

I hope everyone had a good, safe, weekend.  We had a good time at the Astro game but boy are they horrible. I have been to 6 or 7 major league parks over the years and while the Astro’s is a beautiful place, they need some help.  When the best you can do when your starter gets in trouble is put in a pitcher with a 7.5 ERA (are you kidding me!), and then let him continue after he hits a couple of people and allows 6 runs in his second inning, you got problems.  And their designated hitter batting clean up had a .220 average.  That is the sorriest ball club I have ever seen, and I am a life long Cub fan, which should tell you something.  The ownership should be ashamed of themselves.  That was not a professional team, it was a bunch of AA guys.  To bad.  We would go back, but if that is all the better you can do, I sure as heck are not paying $56 a ticket, $8 for a beer, and $8 for crappy nachos, to see that bush league stuff.   Guess that is why there was only 18,000 on a holiday weekend.  Sorry.

I get a lot of emails from would be bloggers asking what and how I do it.  Blogging is hard, and easy.  I had no experience, and would not classify myself as a computer whiz by any stretch.  But I signed on with Host Gator and used the Word Press platform.  It has simpy been a matter of trial and error.  So if you ever think about blogging check out Host Gator, just remember the learning curve is steep, but with a little effort it can be done.

So it is back to the fishing.  Summer is here and the time is right for fishing the bays and I intend to catch that tagged redfish this year.  I could use a new truck and boat. Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

When I left off yesterday Clyde and I had just caught our permit and we were feeling good.  And even though we were happy, Capt. Ken stayed after it and we ended up almost to Belize City to fish a flat for permit.  It is one of his good spots and we no more than stopped the boat when he saw some.  With the breeze it actually looked like a school of redfish pushing water.

We made a couple of casts and then Ken could see them pretty well, and they were only 2 or 3 pounds, but there were lots of them.  As we were throwing big crabs we left them alone and kept working the flat.  It was interesting as the flat had a light sandy bottom, but there was places the bottom was black.  Ken told us that was were permit were stirring up the bottom looking for crab.  After we worked the whole flat it was getting late and he started heading back.

As we crossed open water both Ken and I spotted baitfish fleeing.  We turned around, he thought they were barracuda, but it turned out to be ladyfish.  Now I would not give you 2 cents for another ladyfish, but these were something.  As we started throwing topwater they attacked.  And I mean 5 or 6 at a time, mouth open and ripping it up.  Then the frigate birds joined us and the melee was on.  I have never caught them that size, and there were thousands of them.  In fact when I caught the biggest one I have ever seen, or caught, he ended up jumping in the boat, landing at Ken’s feet.  So after a couple of minutes it was off to hit a barracuda spot.  I made a short video which just does not do it justice, it was crazy.

I should have shot some more of this but I could not stand it, I had to catch a couple.

We stopped at a set of old ruins, and the barracuda were all over it.  We got lots of bites, caught several, but they were small.  Clyde did have a big one follow him to the boat, but no go.  So after a little of that the day was done and we headed back.

That night we did some fishing off the dock.  We put a couple of bones in the boat and Shoedog kept throwing his Skitterwalk.  Like I said he has caught fish on that thing in lots of places and then he had a good bite.  It turned out to be a snapper, the one who ended up in the fish stew.  Just a little while later he jumped a tarpon.  It was small, but made a couple of jumps and was off.  So we went and caught some sardines on the Sabiki and came back.  Not  a couple of minutes later Clyde hooked and landed what turned out to be the only tarpon we put in the boat on this trip.

Clyde on his way to the slam.

It was really a great fight as it jumped a couple of times.  Then made one big totally nuts jump thrash, Clyde bowed perfect, and then the weirdest thing happened.  Clyde actually led him back to the dock, around the dock and right to the edge of the beach so we could land him.  Of course the fish then went ape snot crazy.  A couple of jumps then under the dock and around a pole.  Clyde did a great job working him out, and he was done.  A couple quick pics, a revive, and off he went, no worse for the wear.  So a good day for Clyde, a tarpon and a permit, what more could you ask.

The next day it was Jeff and I with Capt. Ken.  He was there promptly at 8, and after a quick bait stop we were on our way.  Our first stop was a small bunch of tarpon, but if memory serves me right we did not see them or maybe we made a couple of bad casts, but either way none in the boat.  The rest of the morning was spent trying to find permit.  The wind was howling, and the water was getting dirtier and dirtier.  Even Ken was not seeing anything.  About lunch time it was clear we were not going to be able to sight fish on the points so he took us to the back side of an island to fish the mouth of the lagoon.

We both picked up a topwater and started chucking.  Then Jeff spied a nice cobia.  I am not use to seeing them back in the bay shallow, but there he was.  He was about a foot behind a big ray, which was about 2 foot deep.  Jeff tossed his topwater and Ken got me baited with a sardine.  Even Ken was excited.  I made the perfect cast and he ate.  He started ripping off line and I set the hook way to hard, and he was gone.  Then came the damnedest thing I have ever witnessed.

Ken actually spotted that fish about a quarter mile away.  We cruised over and both tossed a sardine.  I made a terrible cast behind him.  Jeff cast way to long, Ken is yelling reel them in when that fish turned and I mean blew up on Jeff’s sardine.  So it went from a bad thing when I lost him to a great thing as he took out line and Jeff was on.

 What a fight.

Jeff hooked that cobia on 10lb line, a 30lb. leader, on a bonefish rod.  Ken estimated it at least 20, and he looked all that big to me.  Jeff did everything right, but sometimes it just does not happen.  Ken told us when he got tired he would roll, fray the line, and he did.  I really felt sorry for Jeff, it was the biggest thing he hooked all trip and he did a heck of a job.  But a short while later he got back in the game.

We headed back to the creek mouth to throw topwater and he made the perfect cast.  He was walking the dog past a little point of mangroves and a cubera came out of the point and I mean exploded on it.  It was probably the fastest most aggressive strike I have ever seen on a topwater.  I posted that picture on the Austin Bass Fishing Forum and one of the members, ChitownLonghorn, commented that he saw a buddy catch one in Costa Rica and his description was pure violence.  I could not have said it better, it was pure unadulterated violence, pure bad intent.  There was no missing that fish.  If our trout bit like that I would be afraid to cast, NOT!  He tried to get back into the mangroves and Jeff had just enough power to keep him out.  He ended up being on the grill at Wish Willy.  And boy was he tasty.

Not only a beautiful fish, but look at the chompers on that guy.  A great way to get over losing a big one.

We finished out the day fishing inside the lagoon.  The water just was not right, and we did not put any more in the boat.  And that was the end of our time with Ken.  The wind was just howling at that point, and the water was really off color almost everywhere.

I  want to say that I really appreciate how hard Ken worked for us.  The conditions were not perfect, but he did put us on big a fish every day, and that is all you can hope for.  And trust me, if we could have seen them better and made a few better casts we would have whacked a couple more good fish.  But absolutely no complaints.  And for me to cross a bucket list permit off my list the first time I tried to catch one was the kind of thing I live for.

A little boat ride so you can get a feel for what it is like there.

So there you have it.  I always wish when I get back I had filmed more, but it is just to hard to put the rod down.  But what a cool time.  And like anywhere I have traveled, fishing is fishing.  This time it was wind, but you just make do with what you have.  I hope Shoedog and Clyde had as good a time as I did.  I know one thing, we will be back, and much more prepared next time.  Good eats, good friends, big fish, and personal bests, what more could you ask.  And nothing beats the planning and then getting it done.  When it was all said and done we saved lots of bucks and lived like kings.

Thanks for reading my stuff.  I have a lot more pictures and will sort them and post soon.  So keep stopping in, and I will keep fishing if I have to.  And last but not least, to the president of Team Nancy, my wife, thanks.  I am lucky to have you, and you can just go ahead and give me a fishing trip for any present in the future, it will be easier on you that way.  You know, saves all that shopping.

Good Luck and Tight Lines