Fish Catching Travel

Fish Catching Travel

We were supposed to get a little rain and wind on Monday so I decided Coleto was a better choice than the Gulf.  Our weather is a little unstable now, so if there is a storm or wind chance, Coleto is the place to be.  My plan was to fish the power plant arm only, and hit some spots I have not fished in a while.

I headed out first thing and was on the water by 7:00.  The lake is still falling and is as low as I have seen it since I started fishing there.  One of the good by-products is that a lot of the grass is on the bank right now, and the rest is matted up. The bad is that as long as the water is falling it will have an adverse affect on the fishing.  And as we experienced last week, the fish were right on the grass edges.  How right on, I mean within a foot.

I went right behind the island and fished the outside bank leading into the first cove, and then down the bank and past the second cove on the right.  Of course I started with a spinnerbait, and it turned out to be both a good and a bad thing.  Within 15 minutes I put 7 in the boat, including a couple of nice ones.  It was so good I actually thought about putting the video camera on my head, but didn’t, may be I should have.  Because after those 7, I only caught 6 more until I quit at 1:30.

I caught this guy about 11:00.  Notice the big blades on the spinnerbait.

Of course I was buzzing the spinnerbait, but it was a little more than that.  One of the interesting things I have notice over the years is that in the fall bass seem to like the blades flopped out on the water near the bank, and not just buzzed at a steady rate.  Kind of the fleeing shad effect I guess.  When you cast it to the bank, or grass edge, pull it out of the water a little, in a kind of skip.  They will often blast it right then.  One of the disadvantages of doing that is you miss a few more, or maybe I should say they miss you.  But either way, give it a try.

And if you noticed the big blades on the one above, the first one I was using had the small Colorado blades.  Making it much lighter and easier to skip.  After they apparently tired of that I switched to the big blade, better to make a big wake.  You may not catch as many fish, but the better ones sure like the big blades waked.

I also caught 3 on a Strike King Swim Jig, in the bluegill, with a craw trailer.  Those all came off one deep point in a grass bed about 6 foot deep.  They ate it, though I did miss a couple.  If I had had it on the right rod it probably would have hooked them.  When you throw the worm or jig in the grass you need a stiff rod to both set the hook, and then horse them out of the grass..  I for some reason had it on my crankbait rod, which is softer and more forgiving, not a good choice for a jig.   So when it was all said and done, I am sure I could have caught more fish on the jig, but after the start to the morning I put down the spinnerbait way to late.

I ended up fishing lots of places all the way to the power plant.  The best fish I caught, and a big one I missed, all came in the middle of the day from water less than 2 foot deep.  I ended up fishing coves, main lake, points, grass, and timber.  Topwater did not do anything, crankbait even less.  I just did not find any place that had a bunch of fish after the first run.  But you can tell, it is about to get started.  If we get a few more cool nights it should really take off.  And the good thing, pre-spawn is only about 8 weeks away, where does the time go?

Random Thoughts

If you read my stuff you know that I preach about civility on the water, turning the other cheek when someone does something stupid, you know, all that nice stuff.  And I got a chance to practice what I preach yesterday.

I was fishing a grass flat up lake, sitting in about 8 foot of water throwing the Strike King Square Bill over the tops of grass when a boat headed towards me.  Now I will give him credit, he did slow to an idle, when he went between me and the bank.  He could see which way I was fishing, and I was a long way from the bank, but he went between me and the bank.  Which was stupid since the channel, and a whole lot more water, was behind me.

Now that was stupid.  If you approach a boat and it is narrow, take a look at what they are doing.  Do not go in front of them where they are casting.   It is just common sense and courteous.  So was I irritated, yes.  Would it have made one bit of difference if I had said something?  No.

So next time you have one of these little hitches in your day, take a breath, let your blood pressure come down, and chalk it up to one of those things.  Remember, in this case I had no idea why he did that.  Maybe it was his first time on the lake and he was unsure where to run, who knows.  But letting it go, and not letting it ruin my day on the water, was the best way to handle it.

Cleaning The Boat

You are hot, tired, and you have been on the water all day.  Not only did you get up at 5 a.m., by time you got done cleaning fish, and loading the boat, it was almost 6 p.m., and the last thing you want to do it rinse off the boat and flush the motor.  And maybe you are going tomorrow, so you take the easy way out.  It happens.  But I want you to look at the picture below.  Stare at it for a good long time, and then lets talk about it.

What you are seeing is my garage floor.  Look closely, did you guess what those things were?  They are salt, big hard crystals that have dried.  My boat has a slow leak in the livewell, no big deal until you forget to empty it after a day on the gulf.  So I put the boat in the garage, put the charger on, and did not go back in there for a couple of days.

When I did there was all 12 gallons leaked out on the floor.  So I put the fan on it and dried it out, and this is what was left.  And the picture is only of about half the salt.  Think about it, that is what is on your boat, in your engine, and on your equipment.  And when it dries, this is what is left.  If you want your stuff to last, and retain some value, flushing the motor and rinsing the boat is the minimum.  So take a minute every time you put your boat in the salt, a little effort will go a long way.

So thanks for reading my stuff.  Fall is here and I am ready to hit it a lot harder.  So tomorrow it is up early and off to catch a few fish.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

I was lucky enough to fish one of my favorite lakes with my brother yesterday.  Fayette County is a slot lake, it just plain has lots of fish, and I love to go there.  One of the things I like about Fayette is the ability to fish shallow, deep, or somewhere in between.  So if you have a favorite technique, you can usually make it work on Fayette.

We started a little after daylight and headed a short ways up the lake to the first big point with the buoys around it.  As usual we started with jerk bait, our favorite way to fish Fayette.  When we pulled up on the point there were shad everywhere with bass chasing them.  Now folks, I am not the best fisherman in the world, but it is not that often I get beat the way Jeff smoked me in the first hour.

A good one on the small Rapala Husky Jerk in silver and black.

Over the next hour Jeff caught nine on that jerk bait, and I caught one.  What happened?  Who knows, but whatever it was I could not get them to eat it like he was.  We worked the  point over pretty good, and then began to jump around.

The jerk bait bite was over just as fast as it started.  So we started to experiment, I caught one on a Red Eye Shad, but it seemed slow.  So time to throw the jig.  I was using a Strike King swim jig with a lobster craw trailer and when they ate it, they ate it.

 You can see the jig color hanging out of his mouth.  Though I did not catch any big ones on it, I did catch a bunch on it for the rest of the day.

That is where most of them had it, way down in their throat.

We also threw the Strike King Square bill, and the bigger Sexy Shad color definitely got the bigger bites.  I threw a smaller one in the bluegill, and though I caught some, the bigger one was better.

 That will work.  He caught this one on the Strike King Square Bill,  to bad he lost an even bigger one on the cast before.  And unfortunately we did not refish that spot.

There is a good shot of the square bill in the Sexy Shad that they seemed to like so much.

We ended up fishing until 4:30 when the wind got up.  We easily caught over 30, we just did not get the hook in one of the Fayette big ones.  And the point is, all the fish we caught were shallow.  The lake is down some from our last visit, but the pattern actually remained basically the same, isolated patches of grass in 4 – 6 foot of water.

The difference this time is they were not everywhere.  It came down to isolated patches of grass, and almost all the fish came from patches next to points.  Several of those main points have grass patches on the sides of them, and if you find one with at least 8 to 10 foot of water close, there were fish on it.  With it calm for quite a while they were positioned on the outside edges of the patches.  We had very little luck just fishing long stretches of bank.  And if we did catch one, it was in the grass.  Of course we tossed the jig right in the grass, which is why that Swim Jig works so well, and with the crankbait, we tried to have it tip the grass.  And I love that bite, feeling your crankbait hit grass, and then one smacking it when it comes off, cool.

And if you caught one or missed one, there was always another, and except for the occasional random hit, if you caught one, it was worth it to go back over it.  So if we caught one or two on a crankbait, we would throw the jig on them.  I also added a few on worm, but the jig was better, and when they decided to hit it, they would eat it.  So while the fishing was not fast, except for first thing in the morning, it was pretty steady.

So all in all a fun day.  We caught enough to keep us happy, and it was nice they were shallow, even when the sky was clear with little wind.  They just nosed deeper in the grass beds.  The fishing there should keep improving with cooler nights, and I will be headed back soon.  Who knows, I just might catch another Fayette County big one like I did on my last trip there.

So thanks for reading my stuff.  Next it is headed to the gulf for a few days.  There is not to often I keep fish anymore, but there is a benefit for a local fireman’s wife who is really ill, and I can think of no better reason to sack a few.  We all need to be thankful for what we have, because every day I wet a line I am happy to be alive, and thankful for what I have.

 Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

I was able to fish Coleto Creek twice this week, and the fishing was not bad.  Last Thursday my brother and I fished the better part of the day.  The lake is down and looks to be still dropping, and the weather was alternating between cloudy with a breeze, and dead calm with no wind.  We even got a sprinkle.

We headed up lake to a long bank with grass on the bank, and Jeff started with a chrome Skitter Walk, and put 4 in the boat in about 15 minutes.  3 of the 4 were not to bad.

 Jeff’s best first thing.  They were smashing that Skitter Walk.

Now you would think that with a start like that they would have continued to hit that Skitter Walk, of course not.  From that point on it was a grab bag of baits, and it seemed that as soon as we caught a couple on something, they would not hit it any more.

We caught on Skitter Walk, Chug Bug, spinnerbait, buzzbait, and jerk bait.  Most of the fish came from the upper end, in fact when we were getting ready to quit we headed to the main lake within sight of the ramp and flat struck out.  It seems the farther up you go the better the lure fishing.  I am sure the lower end plastic fishing is fine, I just have not tried it.

Almost all the fish came from sloping banks with grass, many of them right on the bank.  It is fixing to break loose on Coleto.  We got a fair rain, the nights are cooling, and days are getting shorter.  Good fishing is right around the corner.

Tuesday  10/2/12 

You know I learned something today.  While the purpose is fishing, it is funny how often you see something that makes your day no matter how the fishing is.  My day started out like that.  As I idled under the bridge, this alligator I am familiar with was under the bridge just easing along.  When I headed to the bank to start fishing, he swam all the way across the lake and into the cove where I see him all the time.  I just thought it was interesting how far he was from his turf.

Then later as I was going up lake, I saw what I thought was a couple of ducks and when I got to them it was 3 does swimming the lake.  It is so cool to see them swimming like that.  They sure do not like it when you get to close, but I just find it interesting when they do that.  Maybe the grass is greener on the other side!

I hit a point on the way up lake and immediately missed 2 on a Chug Bug.  But I was just not feeling it there, so I continued up lake.  I stopped in the big cove around the bend up lake, and with wind on it, decided to throw a spinnerbait.  I picked up 3 there fishing the grass edge.

Then off to a new bank with wind on it.  Another couple came over the side buzzing a big bladed spinnerbait.  One thing about that spinnerbait, and a little advice, is they were right against the grass.  Of the dozen or so I caught this morning, almost all of them were tight, and when I skipped it out of the water as soon as it hit, they would smoke it.  Today is one of those days that with the fish so tight to cover, and feeding on bait fish, I should have thrown a bass assassin type plastic.  So my advice, and I will take my own advice on this, is to fish a pearl bass assassin and toss it right against the grass.  It should be killer.

This was the best one I caught.  I know the picture isn’t much, but I wanted you to see the spinnerbait and the blade I am using right now.

While I did alternate with other baits, and caught one on a spook, with the wind blowing it was definitely a spinnerbait kind of day.  And if you read my stuff you know that is right down my alley.

I could not tell if the lake was coming up after the rain, and the upper end was not off colored, so it is hard to tell if we get any positive effects from the rain.  But for sure it helped lower the water temp some, and combined with the cooler nights, we should have some great fishing.  You can just tell a real difference from just 2 weeks ago.

So thanks for reading my stuff, I appreciate it.  I am off to Fayette County at 5:30 in the morning and look forward to seeing some different water.  So stop in, I will try to get the report posted as soon as I can.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Sorry for the late report.  After fishing 3 days, and then heading to College Station to watch the Aggies literally beat the snot out of my Razorbacks, I finally have time to sit down and report not only on 2 days at POC, but another day on Coleto Creek.  My brother was able to shake lose for 3 days of fishing this week.  We wanted to not only fish the Gulf, we also wanted to hit Coleto for day.   So first up was a trip to POC.

We got in the water a little after sunrise and headed out to Big Bayou to catch a few reds.  The water was up, tides have been pretty high lately, and the wind was not a problem.  Jeff started with a topwater, and I threw a spinnerbait, and we both alternated with plastics.  We fished the grass banks and we caught a few trout on the points with water from the reef moving over them.  Jeff’s topwater, a Skitterwalk, put a keeper red and a trout in the boat.

It was fairly slow so we decided to hit the Saluria and switch to plastics exclusively.  I threw the Strike King Caffeine Shad, and Jeff threw the Tsunami swim bait.  We fished a couple of banks in the Saluria, and then a couple in the Oil Cut, and caught fish here and there.  We fished that area from about 11 until 3, and probably put 15 in the boat, of which only 2 were keepers.

One thing we found that day, and the same with the next, the trout were near deep water.  It seems to have been that way for me for the last month.  I expect that to change.

Jeff with a couple for the freezer from day 1.  Notice the blue cooler in the background, if you found it at the ramp at Froggie’s I hope you ate the filets.  Nothing like getting back to Victoria, after a stop at Bubba’s, and remembering you left the cooler on the ramp.  A good reason to write your name and phone on them.

 We finished up the day in the Bayou with a rapidly falling tide.  The bite was good on spinnerbait near the grass.  After adding a couple of more we called it a day.  While we did not really whack the keepers, we ended up keeping 6, we caugh fish most of the day.  The problem was keepers.

The next morning we decided to start in Army Cut with topwaters.  The fish were on the ends of the cut leading into the barge canal.  We probably put 15 trout in the boat pretty quickly, unfortunately only 2 made it to the cooler.

The rest of the day was pretty much like day 1.  We did stop on the little jetties and caught another dozen trout on plastics.  They were on the point as the jetty starts on the right.  And I did get a good report on nice reds being caught at the small jetty on croaker, and of course the big jetty is really good right now on bulls.

I was using a Caffeine Shad paddle tail in a green flake and Jeff stuck with the clear chartreuse Tsunami swim bait.  He did lose a big fish, probably a red, on the Tsunami.  Most of the trout at the jetty were small, and I was hell on the Croaker.  We then fished deeper banks in the Saluria and picked up fish consistently until we quit.

Jeff with a nice spinnerbait red from day 2.

I am just not on great bunches of trout right now.  In fact for the last month it has been a matter of hunting and pecking.  Though I am catching almost everywhere, I am not on the good ones.  So next trip it is time to change areas and tactics, sometimes to get out of a rut you have to just do something different, somewhere else.  So I will be looking forward to studying the map, using my brain, and seeing if I can come up with a plan that works.

Thanks for reading my stuff.  Stop in tomorrow for a Coleto report, both from last week and tomorrow, as I am heading to Coleto at daylight.  Then it is off to Fayette County Wednesday to catch some bass.  And I am really excited about the end of the month.  My good buddy Clyde is coming from Arkansas for 3 days on Falcon, and then 2 days on the Gulf.  It is going to be a great month.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Between being gone, and meeting the tree guy, I had not been on the water since Monday.  There was a possibility that my brother might come, but that did not happen, so Thursday night I decided to head to Charlie’s to put in and do a little red fishing.  It turned out to be worth the drive.

On my way down there I decided to see what would happen if I just put the trolling motor down, and kept going until I quit.  My plan was to not start the big motor until I was ready to head in.  And other than a short idle to get around another boat, I actually fished the whole shoreline from Welder’s to the Drum Hole without starting the motor, and folks that is a long way.

The tide was on the rise, the wind light, right down the canal, and the water was fairly clear.  After a short run I pulled up on the point right before the Welder Flats area, and immediately caught 3 redfish on a Waker.  For the next couple of hours as I worked the shoreline, I put another 4 in the boat on the Waker.  Now they definitely got smaller until the sun came up.  But most of them that bit were jumping all over it.

I just eased down the bank with the trolling motor on low, letting the breeze do the work.  Most of the bites came on points, cuts, and all had one thing in common, grass.  They liked it reeled at a nice steady pace, and as usual I threw the gold one.  The reason I started with that is it is fall.  The mullet are doing their thing, and some of them are pretty good sized.  The Waker is a good imitation of a mullet cruising the surface, and must seem to be easy prey.  Whatever the reason, from August until December, the Waker is a great bait to throw.

When the sun got up, and the fish slowed down on the Waker, I switched to the Redfish Magic, and threw that until I quit.  And that worked just as well, and I managed to catch another 6.  In fact, the spinnerbait fish were either bigger, or I was the right area, but either way, they liked it.  I lost a couple of real nice ones, and missed another couple.  Now normally I wouldn’t miss or lose that many on the Redfish Magic, but they wanted it almost buzzed out of the grass when the water was up.  I saw at least half of them eat it.

The first spinnerbait red.  Don’t ask me where the pictures of the better ones are, I managed to mess them up.

One thing about that area is how shallow most of it is.  I seemed to be in about  2 foot of water most of the way.  I could just reach the bank, and having the shallow floating skiff allowed me to get back in some shallow places.  But back in did not seem to be where the fish were.  They were definitely on the points and banks that stuck a little further out.  And when you caught one, you usually got another bite.

So all in all not a bad day, and it allowed me to try something I have wanted to do for awhile, see how many fish I could catch without stopping or moving.  Instead of 15 miles, I went about a mile and a half and started fishing.  Now from Welder Flats to Drum Hole is a long way, and there were stretches of water with no bites, but by just heading down the bank, and following it where ever it went, I managed to have a good day.  Would I have caught more by moving more, who knows? But anytime I can catch 13 reds, even if most of them were small, I am happy.  They have a big heart and are just plain fun to fight.

Wish I could get the bigger ones to hit on demand, but at least you can see they way I am using that Waker.

The Basics of Waker Fishing

To get started is easy.  Just go buy a gold Waker by Mann’s.  You need a medium heavy rod, 15 – 20 lb test, and a bait casting reel.  Now comes the fun part.

Where

The Waker is a very shallow running bait, and consequently it is designed, and works for, really shallow fish.  Since it runs that shallow, it is ideal for shallow banks with grass that get flooded with the tide.  The best banks have grass lining the shore, and if there are a couple of oyster patches, all the better.  The Waker will easily pull out of, or through, slender grass, so do not be afraid to cast it right to it.

If the bank is too deep, 5 foot as an example, I have not had much luck on banks like that.  Now if it has a grass flat that floods it will work fine once the water gets past the drop.  Often I can just float the boat, barely reach the bank, and that is when the Waker seems to works the best.

And the wind is not your friend.  The Waker works best with a light breeze, and in low light conditions it works great with no wind.  It is a great bait in clear to slightly stained water.  But if it is windy and muddy, time for a spinnerbait.

Also, long shallow oyster bars are great when the water is running over them and they are flooded.  You can run it over some really shallow stuff, making it a real functional bait over shallow oysters where you might stay hung all the time.  And think about big long flats, and shallow back lakes, where the reds tend to really school in the fall.  But no matter what, think shallow.

The Bait 

There is a couple of things to know about the Waker.  It is a heavy bait and will cast like a bullet.  Consequently it will go a mile, great for the places we just talked about.  Also, the hooks are a heavy saltwater hook.  A soft rod is not the rod for a Waker.  You need stout line combined with the heavier rod to set the hook.  As the bait is running on the surface, line test is not as critical.  Of course, it is a great braid bait if you prefer that.

In addition to that, it does have a tendency to roll and sometimes tangle itself, but popping it out of the water will occasionally clear it.  I have tried changing the hooks, but have not found one that is the right weight.  The balance is necessary for it to perform properly, so an occasional hook over just comes with using it.  Other than that, the bait is very durable and easy to use, and the one I am throwing right now has caught a lot or reds.

How 

Like all shallow baits for fish in shallow water, a Waker is most productive when the tide conditions line up with sunrise.  Reduced light is the key, but moving water is a close second.

You want to be able to reach the very edge of the shore with this bait.  It’s weight allows for long casts, and it is often necessary as there are times you can barely float the boat and reach the bank.  Let the wind and tide move you, and use the trolling motor sparingly, and on low.  When it is that shallow you need to keep the noise to a minimum.

Once you cast, just start reeling.  Keep the rod pointed at the bait.  It might be possible to fish it too slow, but it is easy to fish it to fast.  I use a Citica, with a 6.2 to 1, and generally reel it at a moderate steady pace.  Every once in a while one will hit it if you stop it, but most of the time a steady reel all the way to the boat is the ticket.  You want to make a nice big wake like a mullet on his morning cruise.

It has actually surprised me the number of ways they hit it.  Sometimes they flat out smash the stuffing out of it, others they just suck it under.  So be ready for anything.  If you see one trailing it, and you will, just keep it coming.  It is possible to get one to eat it if you stop, but generally keep it moving.

And if you see them tailing or swimming by, it is best not to cast to close, just lead them and reel it so that they arrive in the same place at the same time.  Nothing like watching one blow up on it.  And with the bait being as heavy as it is, splashing down to close usually spokes them.

So there are the basics.  The Waker is not difficult to fish, in fact it is a good bait for someone having some trouble catching fish.  You can cover lots of water and is a great search bait.  And one last trick, be sure to have a plastic close at hand in case one completely misses the Waker.  Just grab the plastic and flip it back in there, you just might add a bonus fish.

Well that does it for now.  Will be fishing 3 or 4 days straight starting Tuesday when my brother comes.  Where, and for what, will be decided when he gets here.  So thanks for reading my stuff, and it will be a busy fishing week here at Fish Catching Travel.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Duck Hunting and a little fishing.

With high hopes we headed out of the ramp at Seadrift to try a little early season duck hunting.  Teal season is open, and we were hoping to drop a few ducks.  The weather was right, with low clouds and a light mist, and it was nice and cool as we headed to Mission Bay to set up.

Shortly after daylight we had a bunch of maybe 10 come over our head, of course from a direction we could not see them until they were right on us.  I managed to get off one shot, and Chris fired twice, only to watch them fly off with no damage done.  Over the next couple of hours we had a couple of doubles fly over, but they were not the least bit anxious to hit our spread.  Chris did get off one more shot, I on the other hand never fired another shot.  It looks like the few we saw were maybe residents, and while we did see a few other bunches, none came to the decoys.

When the weather finally cleared with no real action, we pulled the decoys and headed in.  Chris did bring a couple of rods with him so we decided to hit a couple of places on the way back.  As we headed down the barge canal we stopped and made a few casts at a couple of openings into Mission Bay.  Each cut had a few fish in it, and while I did not catch anything worth a hoot, Chris managed the best flounder I have seen in a long time on rod and reel.

 Now that is a nice flounder!

The next cut we hit also gave up a nice red to Chris.

 And Chris adds a nice red to our short fishing trip.

So my tally for the day was no runs, no hits, and only a couple of errors.  Chris on the other hand did all right considering we only fished a couple of places.  All came on plastics from fairly shallow water on the points leading into the bay.  It seems like this could be a good pattern to cut hop.  If you can pull a couple here and there out of the cuts, a good stringer would seem to be a real legitimate possibility.

While I would have liked to have killed a couple of ducks, this trip got my blood going and I am really looking forward to the all duck season later in the year.  And as far as what little fishing we did, it would not have hurt my feelings to put a couple of good fish in the boat.  But you know what, some times it is just not your turn.  But oh well, fall is coming, and with it my favorite time of year.  So get out and enjoy the cooler weather we have in store.

Thanks for reading my stuff.  And I appreciate all the comments that come my way.  I try to answer as many as I can, but no matter what, I read each and every one.  So if you have something to say let me know.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

Fish Catching Travel

Coleto Creek

With our weather very unstable  Friday I did not get up and went ahead and slept in.  Of course the minute I got up and looked outside, it was cloudy and not so dang hot, it was off to Coleto Creek to catch a few fish.  I managed to make my first cast about 8:40, late for me.

The TV fishing report said it was spinnerbaits, which is great by me, so I thought I would see if I could catch some on it.   Well the best laid plans……..  I did catch a couple, but they were small.  I also threw the frog some, but for some reason I can not get that going like last year at this time.  So after  a couple of hours I went back to the Zoom worm with the big flapping tail, which has been my only consistent bait on Coleto lately.  I am fishing it on 20lb. test, with a 1/4 ounce slip sinker Texas style, and sprayed with Bang.  They are still coming out from the big grass edges in isolated clumps.  I put 3 or 4 that were not to bad in the boat, and broke one off.

 When they hit this worm they definitely hold on to it, so just drop your rod and set the hook.

At this point, about noon, it had really clouded up, it started to mist, and I could hear the thunder over Victoria.  I decided to work my way back down lake just in case, and also made another decision, to change my tactics.

So with it cloudy and basically calm, I decided to try something different, a topwater.  I got out a Chug Bug in chartreuse and started throwing it around grassy points.  Well low and behold I started getting bit.  And then here came the rain, but thank goodness no lightning close to me, so I kept fishing.  The retrieve they liked best was a jerk-jerk-jerk-jerk moderately fast, and nice and steady.  Just popping it right along, and most of the ones that hit it  blew up on it.

I even caught 3 out of the boat ramp cove.  When it was all said and done I was able to add another 8 or 10 on that topwater.  Sorry no pics but it rained the rest of the afternoon.  So until I get back there this week I can not answer the question:  Was it the cloudy day, or is that something that will be consistent?  One never knows.  But looking back over some prior posts, what was working where last year on Coleto is not the case right now.  So I will keep trying stuff until I figure it out.

More on Ethics

I happened to discover this article today and I wanted to link it for you if you have not read it yet.  Apparently this is the first use of a new Texas law for the prosecution of some alleged tournament cheats.   Of course they are innocent until proven otherwise, but this story illustrates a point I have made a time or two in the past, both here and on chat boards.

http://www.chron.com/default/article/Female-team-first-to-catch-felony-saltwater-3836898.php

Many years ago bass fishing had a big problem with cheating.  And while it still has the occasional hitch in the git along, much of the cheating was solved by having draw tournaments instead of partner tournaments.  Even in the 70’s, and going into the 80’s, I refused to fish a tournament that allowed partners to fish together.  The incentive in big $ tournaments is just to much for some folks to handle.  As a side note, just this spring on Amistad we found a fish basket way back in a creek in a place it would have been hard to find, but the water was down, and there it hung high and dry.  This was clearly a tournament cheats holding basket.

Saltwater is rapidly gaining more and more converts, and here we have a perfect example of how far it has come, or maybe how low it has sunk. This was a WOMAN’S tournament!  And if the article is right, allegedly they were not only holding fish in a basket, but they added another on the way to the weigh in.  Now again, I do not know if they broke any law, we will let the process figure that one out.  But my only comment is this:  This is not just some little cheating thing, if the allegations are true, this is a felony.  As far as I am concerned if they are found guilty, each and every one needs to do  a little prison time.  It is time for saltwater tournaments to be draw tournaments whenever possible.  And if it involves big money, as in an offshore fishing tournaments, there needs to be some kind of observer on board.

Of course you will hear all the normal excuses from tournament organizers, it is to complicated, to hard to do with different size teams entered, we threaten a polygraph, among other things.  But folks, those are excuses.  When there is that much money, boats, and prestige involved, some low life POS is going to cheat, whether you like it, or believe it or not.  Think about it, the first application of the law is on a woman’s tournament, who’d a thunk it.  It just made me sick reading that article.   You will never be able to stop all the cheating, but making the format that much more difficult evens the playing field for all of us who fish tournaments for fun.  So let see if the prosecutor in this case sees it for what it is, a crime, and then does something about it.

Duck Hunting

I was lucky enough to be introduced to duck hunting by a friend of mine.  Now I had never hunted ducks, but once I tried it I was hooked.  So with new stuff bought, gear clean and ready, it is off to kill some Teal in the morning.  I hope to get to hunt even more this year, and may even start to give it a try on my own a time or two.  My brother is a hunter and is interested in killing a few ducks himself, so I can see this outdoor sport added to the repertoire.  So stop by tomorrow for the story, good or bad.

Final

Thanks for the positive comments I have gotten on whether I am giving out to many specific spots and places.  Not only do they come down on leaving it like it is, it also shows me there are actually people out there who read my stuff.  For that I am thankful.

The big weather change we have had here lately is a good sign fall is coming.  The critters are moving around, the nights are finally cooling some, and just like them I am ready to get after it.

Good Luck and Tight Lines. 

Fish Catching Travel

Since we are still stuck in our heat wave I decided to go ahead and fish Coleto today as I knew I would be quiting early.  And with my brother coming for a few days on the Gulf next week I will be getting plenty of it.  Hopefully the front that is supposed to come through this week end shows and it finally breaks a little bit.

I managed to get out at daylight and was hoping it would be a little better than the last couple of trips.  I went back over some old reports and I was catching them pretty well on the frog, so I picked up a couple of new ones with the intention of making a serious go of it.

Well I learned on thing they will hit it.  And hit it they did, in fact calling it hitting might be an exaggeration.  It was more like they were trying to kiss it.  I had 6 bites on the first 2 banks, both big mats of grass, and I did not catch a one.  That was probably the worst bunch of bites I have had in a long time.  But at least there were a few fish shallow so I went to a shady bank with grass, and caught 4 on a buzzbait.

They were not much, in fact they were small.  So I thought how about pitching a craw, and that worked a little better.  The fish that bit were in about 3 – 5 feet of water around isolated grass patches outside the main edge.  I did miss several, again just like the frog, they were not smacking it.  And after catching 4 on it, it was time for another change.  They were just a little bit bigger than the buzzbait fish.

 Next I threw a plum worm with red flake and big flapping tail, I believe it is a Zoom.  That turned out to be a good choice.

Wanted you to see the color of the Zoom worm.  This is the biggest I caught  though I had 2 others close to it.

Over the next hour or so, from about 11 until noon or so when I quit, I put 6 in the boat.  There was a definite difference in both the way they hit the worm, and the size compared to the other baits.  The fish on the buzzbait were small, the fish on the craw were a little bigger, but did not seem to want it.  But the worm fish definitely smacked it.  I did have one good one pull off in a submerged tree, which was clearly my fault as I let him swim with the bait while I removed my head from where ever it was at that moment.

All the fish were located off the edge of the grass, and most of the bites came next to isolated clumps off the bank.  I rigged the worm classic Texas rig, and tried to toss it and bring it along the edge of the isolated clumps.  Actually catching those 6 mid day with no wind was a little surprising.  When you would pick up a rod laying on the deck it was actually hot.  At this point it was to hot for me.

So not a bad morning, since I ended up catching 14.  But the first 8 were small, it was not till I got on the worm that things improved.  I read a Coleto report that said worm, so who knows, might be just the ticket until we get a weather change.  I can say that once I switched, the bites were classic worm bites and they held on to it until I set the hook.  I had a couple of other really little ones that hit it by the boat and when I set the hook I threw them half way across the creek.

Not helping matters right now is the lake is falling.  It looks to be down over a foot since I was there last.  Reading back over some old reports did not help much this morning.  Summer is still hanging around, but at least things are looking up.  It was nice to see several bunches of ducks today, the deer were feeding on the nice new grass were the water has receded, and I saw the first alligator I have seen in a while.  It is coming.

So thanks for reading my stuff.  I have only been going 2x a week right now, but that is fixing to change.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

Fish Catching Travel

With the holiday weekend looming I decided to slide out for a quick morning trip to the Powderhorn.  Winds were supposed to be ok for the morning so that played a big role in why I decided to go there.

After putting the boat in I headed down the Powderhorn Ranch shoreline to give it a go.  As I had not fished there in quite some time I wanted to throw topwater so I was there by 7:00.  I started slow, and it stayed that way until about 8:30.  I worked it from the bank in real shallow water to out in the 4′ range without any great success.  In fact I only boated one small one.

Since there was plenty of bait, and grass with potholes, I knew there had to be some there.  Well it was one of those deals, I looked out and happened to see a big slick in about 3′ of water so I headed that way.  I used the trolling motor and got upwind of the slick and switched to the Caffeine Shad in a croaker like color on a 1/8th ounce  head.

I got 4 like this and a couple of smaller ones.  Look over my shoulder to the left, see the slick?  Remember the wind will blow the slick so it is good to position the boat upwind 2 long cast lengths from it, and work in from there.

It was pretty steady for about a half hour.  They were definitely good fish, and there was no missing the ones that bit.  My slick to success ratio has never been that high, but this time it worked like it was supposed to.  Just remember that a good breeze will keep the slick moving, and often the fish are not right under it.

Of course, after a pretty good flurry, the ladies and the catfish moved in.  So since I was not keeping them it was time to chase a few reds.   Before I headed into the Powderhorn I figured since I had no luck on the topwater I should throw the plastic shallow for reds.  2 came over the side, none worth taking a picture of, but at least I added a couple of more.

So now it was off to the back end of the Powderhorn.  To bad the wind was blowing on over  half of it and the water was dirty.  Of course, there is a difference between dirty water and off-colored.  Redfish do not mind off-colored water and I catch them in it often.  But this was dirty.  After an hour and a half of throwing spinnerbait without a bite I abandoned the back end and headed half way out,  in front of the back lakes and ponds on the south side.

I went to alternating with the Caffeine Shad and the Redfish Magic.  Now there are not many days when I can not at least catch a couple on that spinnerbait in the Powderhorn.  Well guess what?  Today was that day.  I fished the mouths and points of all that side without so much as a bite.  So off to the area right by the ramp to fish for trout.  I wish I could say that that was successful, but it wasn’t either.

So after over 2 hours in the Powderhorn I called it a day about 12:30.  Clearly I would have caught a lot more fish if I had stayed out on the ranch shoreline.  But as I have said before, fishing is about choices.  And those choices start when you leave the driveway, and they continue to what ramp, which way from there, what rod, what bait,  and go on and on.  Sometimes we get lucky and the choices are all perfect, but the majority of the time we do ok.  And that is where we get the exciting part of fishing.  You just never know.

Random Thoughts

This report was delayed on purpose.  There was no one on that bank when I got there, but by 7:30 there were 4 boats and a wader.  Obviously the fish are there.  So keeping that in mind, I did not want to affect those folks who were already starting their holiday weekend fishing.  It is crowded enough out there, and when you add the holiday, it could only get worse.  But the summer is over, and that will be the last time it is that busy until next year, I just did not want to add to the confusion.

I hope every one had a safe and fun holiday.  I know in some areas the rain kept things down some, but hopefully if you wanted to hit the water, you did.  My wife and I decided to keep it indoors so we headed over the Louisiana to help out the suffering casino industry.  And from the looks of things the only thing they were suffering was not having enough slots and table games for everyone.  It  was crowded at LaBerge, but they handled it well, and since we did not suffer any great financial damage, all in all it was a good weekend.

The heat!  I do not know about you, but I have had enough of it.  I can tolerate it, but by the end of summer it really takes a toll on fishing.  It sure will be nice when the nights really cool off and that water temps begins to drop.  I know I will be a lot more motivated.

Part of that is I am dying to get back to Falcon.  The timing might be rushing it a bit, but dreams of the DD (double digit) keep me going back at least 2 or 3 times a year.  It is one of the few places where you have a legitimate shot a catching one over 10, and then catching another on the next cast.  That is the kind of experience that all bass fisherman live for.  And as a side note, with the water down like it is, it is much more conducive to my style of fishing.  One of the things that was so daunting there was how much brush and trees were flooded.  It all looked good, but of course it wasn’t.

I did make an interesting observation after I put the boat away the other day.  I always rinse the whole boat and flush the engine after any saltwater use.  One thing I did not do was unplug the live well.  For some reason the Mako will leak out of the livewell if left full, and it is a slow leak taking hours.  So when I went in the garage to turn off the charger there was water on the floor.  I got out the fan and put it on, and it took that day and the next to dry.  So you might be wondering, what is my point here?  My point it you should have seen how much salt was left on the floor from the water in the livewell.  It was just unbelieveable!  So next time you are to hot and tired to rinse the boat and your equipment remember that pile of salt on my garage floor.  So rinse your stuff!

As always I want to thank you for reading my stuff.  As fall creeps up on us, the fish will become a lot more active and ready to eat.  I intend on being the same way so expect the number of reports to increase.  I try to bring you information you can use.  So keep stopping in.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.