Canada – Monday 6/12/12

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Redfishlaw

Evening Day 2

My friends from Arkansas got here about 5.  We had come in to the resort to wait for them after getting hammered by a big storm.  John had trouble printing out his fishing license, and had no sleep after driving all night so he decided to pass so Clyde, Jeff, and I headed out for short trip.  And it was short.

We had a short trip as another big storm blew in, so only fished about 2 hours.  We raised 3 muskies, but they just were not having it.  So after getting drenched we decided to call it a day.

My brother Jeff’s first muskie.  I boated 2 but they managed to hit the water before we got any pictures.  They are a beautiful fish.

Monday a new day.

What a day.  The wind blew, it poured several times, and we caught the snot out of pike.  And I got to take a hook out of my friend Clyde’s hand.  I used the string in the bend jerk out method.  We have it on film so when I get home you can see how it is done, it works like a charm.

We had a great time remembering all the times he has done this, and it is a lot.  He was real lucky, there was a 10lb pike attached to that hook and thankfully it jumped off.

We headed to Lake of the Woods today and started catching them right off the bat.  My brother was throwing a gold Husky Jerk and I threw a Vibrax inline spinner in a hot orange with green and yellow hair.  We caught some good pike right off the bat.

Jeff’s first good one of the morning.  One of how many?  I do not have a clue but it was lots and lots today.

 My first nice one.

 Another nice one.

Early the pike were coming on a slow retrieve with a spinnerbait, either inline or regular, and gold Rapala Husky Jerks, but that would change.  I did have one just inhale my in line, and bit off 50lbPower Pro, that was a good one.  Now you will notice it looks pretty nice, and it was until noon.

As this big cold front blew in, they really got active.  The faster we reeled the spinnerbait or buzzbait the more they like it.  You could often see them coming and they would just plain smash it.  We found one cove and caught at least 30 out of.  Now don’t get me wrong, most were smaller, but when the better ones hit it on a fast retrieve, they absolutely smoked it.

That one hit that buzzbait about 3 feet from the boat.  It is so awesome to watch them eat it.

We caught well over 50 for the day, and the ones above are a good representation of the better ones.  We never managed to catch the “big one”, but it is coming.  Clyde and John caught a few larger ones than we did, letting that Husky Jerk sit after a big jerk, and did catch one big walleye.

We also had a funny thing happen, if you are not Jeff.  He had a new rod for the trip.  He caught a pike and the next thing he said was “where is my rod?”  Folks it was gone.  Neither of us saw it leave the boat.  What probably happened was he threw the spinnerbait in the water while he washed his hands and as it sank one hit it and the rod just flipped in the lake.  I mean we did not hear a sound, weird.

It is now 5 a.m. and those knuckleheads are still sleeping, but I as usual are up and ready to go.  It is light here at 5 and does not get dark until 10.  So if you like to fish, this is the place.  So time to get them up.

Sorry the posts are not longer, this place is so cool.  If you have never been here you can not imagine how big Lake of the Woods is.  Falcon, Bull Shoals, Amistad, and another 20 like it would fit in this thing.  So I am going to end here and make them get up, time is wasting and there are fish to be caught. So ignore the errors and such in the post, but as always, the fishing comes first.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

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Canada Day 2 – 6/10/12

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Redfishlaw

Nestor Falls Morning Day 2

Very interesting to have it get dark after 10 pm, and then to wake up at 5:20 and it is already full on daylight.  So I got Jeff up and off we went.

We headed to the place we caught most of the fish yesterday and struck out.  So then we headed to the back end of a big bay.  What we were looking for was emergent grass beds.  We started seeing them beginning to grow in the last 18 feet of the bay.  As we caught fish on jerk bait, we started with that.  I managed to catch one good pike, and Jeff caught a smallmouth, but it was slow.   Then a big storm started to brew and we decided to head to the hills, to bad it was to late.

We made it about half way back to the resort when it really started to rain and blow, and then to top it off, some lightning and thunder.  So Jeff drove to a protected bank behind an island and we beached it and waited it out.  As soon as the lightning subsided we started down the same bank because Jeff had a smallmouth chase his jerk bait to the boat.  He switched to a jig and frog, and of course caught a muskie.  So that is our 2cnd one to the boat, and one follow, in 2 half days while smallmouth fishing.  We worked that area over and decided to head back to the big bay.

I started throwing a buzzbait as we tried to catch some more smallies.  As I reeled it in another muskie followed it to the boat and I caught him.  So now we are up to 3 muskies to the boat not fishing for them.  I can not imagine what would happen if we tried.  Later Jeff caught another smallie, but that turned out to be it for the day.  We headed in about 2 to eat and take a break before the evening session.

Fishing so involves the little things.  The water temperature on the main lake is 65, and back in the bays up to 70.  You would think a couple of experienced guys might have done a little research before we came, but we didn’t, so it was time to check spawning temps for the fish here, and of course they are all done.  So now we can at least eliminate the real back ends, and start concentrating on deeper patterns.

One of the things we will be doing is some trolling for lake trout.  Now I have no clue how to do that, but the folks here at Muskie Bay Resort know how, and they are happy to help.  And let me say this about Muskie Bay, our cabin is clean, nice, and is well appointed.  Nice to be on a fishing trip and not end up in a dump, which happened on our last trip to Amistad.

So that is it for now.  I left the camera in the boat, so when we get back I will download some pics.  So keep checking in, I will try to keep up.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

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Canada 6/9/12

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Redfishlaw

Crow Lake  –  Nestor Falls Ontario

Talk about fish catching travel – 26 hours to get here towing a boat.  A long ass ways.  It is now 11:30 at night.  We finally got here at 2:30, unloaded the stuff and were fishing before 4.  It was an interesting start.

We managed to catch 6 smallmouth on jerk bait and one on a buzzbait.  When we went to re-fish the bank I decided to throw a spinnerbait.  So I buzzed a chartreuse, gold bladed willow leaf, and a 15lb muskie just smoked it.  After a good tussle we got him to the boat, in the net, and on the way up he hopped out.  Oh well.

Later my brother Jeff had another follow a jerk bait all the way to the boat, but did not eat.  As they are are not in season, and in Ontario you can not specifically fish for them, we will continue to fish for smallmouth and northern pike.  But if that is the number of muskie we had a shot at without fishing for them, it looks like a great week is ahead of us.  And in addition, we were fishing blind, just using the map.  So it is all good.  And best of all, it is not dark until 10:00, so I guess we will fish ourselves to death.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have some pictures for you.  There are tons of deer, we saw an eagle, and the water is clear enough to see a dime in 10 foot.  Plus my friend Clyde from Arkansas will be here tomorrow, and he has been fishing this place for years.  Game on.

We will also be fishing Lake of the Woods, one of the greatest lakes in the world.  I have fished some big places, but Lake of the Woods has 65,000 MILES of shoreline.  Are you kidding me?

So stop in every day, no matter how tired I will at least post something.  Thanks for reading my stuff, and I can tell you, this ain’t POC.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

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Fishing Tackle Unlimited. 6/7/12.

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Redfishlaw

Fishing Tackle Unlimited   –  Houston TX.

6/7/12

Just wanted to relate a little story that will illustrated the difference between a national chain and a real store.  My wife and I decided to take a little drive to Houston to visit the Fishing Tackle Unlimited store.  After seeing their add in numerous publications it was time to see what they are about.

We visited the store off Gulf Freeway Saturday.  After basically shopping at Academy, Bass Pro, and Cabela’s regularly, it was nice to be in a real tackle store.  Their selection of both fresh and saltwater tackle was great.  I am sure that when I head north from now on, it will include a stop there.  Also they have opened a store in Katy, off I10, which is actually closer to me.  But to the point.

I picked up a shirt off the sale rack, along with a few other items, and we checked out.  Now being the anal attorney I can be at times, I decided to look over the receipt when we got home, and we were over charged 10.00 for the shirt.  Looks like the clerk just scanned the bar code and missed the sale tag.  So being 2 hours away, I phoned them.

The first time I was put on hold and forgotten.  Then I was put back on hold for about 5 minutes, was told the manager was busy and would call me back in 5 – 10 minutes.  I gave them my number, and an hour and a half later had not heard back.  So I recalled and was connected to someone who helped me immediately.  There was no hesitation or BS.  I told them what happened, they took my information, and said your card will be credited with the 10.00.  Now I have not seen it yet, it has only been a day, but it was nice that someone would handle a problem so fast and efficiently.

My last dispute with Cabela’s got no response of any kind, including when I filled out the survey, and it included a box to check if you wanted to speak to someone.  And of course, I got no response of any sort from them on my complaint.  The bigger they get the less you as an individual customer matter.  At Fishing Tackle Unlimited they appear to give a rat’s ass about you.

So not only was I impressed with the store, I was impressed with the customer service.  In the future I will shop there more and if you have never been there stop in.  Thanks Fishing Tackle Unlimited, apparently you know how to treat a customer.  So stop in their website an take a look.

http://www.fishingtackleunlimited.com/

My Buddy Aaron

My buddy Aaron Fite headed to Lake Fork for a tournament this last weekend.  As we all know it has some big fish in it, and an “over” has to be at least 24″ to weigh in.  Well Aaron had one, both days of the tournament.  Day 1 was over 9lbs., and day 2’s was a 10.3.  And of course they were on a jig.

Nothing like breaking one of the toughest barriers in freshwater fishing – The DD (Double Digit) Bass.

So congratulations to Aaron for not only winning, but catching one over 10 in a tournament.  If there is ever a time to do that, that was it.  So a little money, and good time, great way to spend the weekend.

Off To Canada

I am leaving here in just a little while.  It is going to be a 24 hour haul, but we decided to  make it so we would not only have our own boat, but could take the tackle store.  We will start fishing on Saturday, so I promise to be blogging at least by Sunday night.  So stop in, hopefully there will be some great fish pics.  So until I get back, thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines. 

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Port O’Connor Texas 6/4/12.

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Redfishlaw

Fish Catching Travel

Port O’Connor Texas

With a forecast of a little less wind today I decided to hit POC.  I love fishing there on Monday, the crowds are usually down.  Of course when  I got to the ramp this morning it was busy, but that just goes with the territory at POC in the summer.

As I was fishing for the fun of it, I decided to hit the reds.  I started on the south side of Barroom where there was some protection from the wind.  Of course I started with topwater.  The first place I hit was the drains coming from Big Bayou.

They are always consistent with the reds, especially with water flowing out of them.  As the wind was blowing out of the south it was pushing water out of the guts.  I caught one on my first cast which is always a good sign.  Over the next couple of hours I hit all three of the drains with at least a couple of reds in each one.  As the tide was out, I was never in water much over my thigh.

As I worked the grass edge I heard something behind me, so out went the Super Spook Jr and wham, a nice one.  From then on I stayed where I could just hit the grass, and spent an equal amount of time throwing both in and out.  And I probably caught as many throwing out over the flat as I did on the edge of the grass.  When I decided to move, 8 had come to the net, but I missed twice that many.  As all of you who throw topwater for reds know, missing them comes with the territory.

A good representative of the size this morning, and wanted you to see the bait.

The reds are definitely in the a topwater mood right now.  Remember that this early in the summer they still like the smaller topwater.  As it gets later in the summer I will throw the bigger size in to the fall, but for now, keep it small.  Almost any bank with grass and bait will hold them.  I was surprised that I did not catch any trout there.  Normally at least a couple show, but I think with the heat the trout are about to head for the deeper reefs, and unless you are out at daylight, you probably will not catch them that shallow.  But who knows, as soon as I think I have something figured out the fish surprise me.

Last year about this time we started catching flounder pretty regular, so I decided to see if that was working.  It was.  Since I don’t throw live bait, I have to fish that plastic just right.  It is simply a matter of almost dragging it.  Just easing it along, and not fishing or hopping the plastic real aggressively.  There was a clear pattern, docks on deeper banks with grass.  Basically I just lob it next to the dock, let it sink all the way to the bottom, and then crawl it.  The hard part comes when trying to get a hook in them.  For those of us old bass fisherman the tendency is to cross their eyes.  But with flounder it is the exact opposite.  I call it leading them on.

When you feel them it is often simply a soft weight, so keep it moving real slow.  Let them put a bend in the rod tip, and then reel them on.  As soon as you feel them move, go ahead and stick them.  Now do not get me wrong, they will sometimes jump it and they are on.  But if you want to give it a try, just fish the docks.  For me a paddle tail far out does other styles of plastics, color generally is a matter of preference as the important thing is location.  So if you are a bait guy, now is the time.  A little moving around, and dragging a live bait or a shrimp tipped jig, could really do the trick right now.  And if you can get a falling tide, on a steeper bank with grass and soft bottom, you should be in business.

1 of 4.  I am happy with that size any day.

At this point is was getting hot, and later, so I decided to try one more place.  I had been catching lots of trout in the Oil Cut, so I decided to head up there and throw topwater.

There were trout in there, and I caught a limit, if you laid them end to end.  While they were cooperative, they were small.  I guess I caught about 5 or 6 on top, and another 5 or 6 on plastics.  As hot as it was getting, the return on investment was just not cutting it.  As I headed out of one of the channels off the Oil Cut, I saw a big tail.  I eased over and it was a big Black Drum, and I mean a good one, tailing.

I flipped the plastic to him 3 or 4 times, but never got quite the right cast, and once he even spooked.  So I sat there for a minute, and there his tail came again.  This time I made the perfect cast, swam that paddle tail right in front of him, dropped it, and he grabbed it.  With my superior skill I managed to miss him.  And on that note I decided to call it a day.

So not a bad day, not fantastic, but enough to keep it interesting.  I am hearing great reports now from the surf when the winds are right, and from the bay.  The croaker fishing is really heating up, and I saw multiple boats netting bait today.  So if you want to sack them up, get your croakers and go to slinging.  I guess I will have to join the modern world and give it a go.  But there is just something about a red smashing the snot out of a topwater that keeps drawing me back.  And wading is such an up close and personal way to catch fish.  To each his own, there is not “right” way to catch fish.  Fishing is supposed to be fun and enjoyable, no matter how you catch them.

I leave for Canada in 2 days, and I am getting more excited as I realize that after all these months, it is finally here.  We will start fishing on Sunday, so remember to stop in every day next week for at least the short form with pictures.

Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

Posted in Fish Catching Travel, Fishing Reports, Fishing Techniques, Gulf Coast, redfish, Saltwater, Texas | Leave a comment

Coleto Creek Report 5/31/12.

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Redfishlaw

Fish Catching Travel

5/31/12

I was going to fish yesterday evening, but when my partner for the weekly tournament had to cancel for bigger and better things, I decided to wait until this morning.  The weather report was for the usual, 20 – 30 mph out of the southeast.  Fortunately it waited until about 9:00 to start to blow.   It was cloudy and dead calm when I got to the lake, and of course the buzzbait was the first order of the day.

Over the last couple of trips I have found that the fish seem to like the buzzbait better in the clearer water down lake.  So I started on a big grass flat and managed 3 right off the bat.  At that point I decided to do a little filming.

This is not all I caught on the buzzbait, but you get the picture.  It seems right now that the fish are really moving to the larger grass beds and grassy points on the main lake.  Keeping the boat in 6 – 8 foot of water, no matter how close or far from the bank seems to be the ticket.   Of course the best bite is the first couple of hours in the morning, and the last couple of hours in the evening.  During the day plastics are really the  better choice.  Though I am still catching some pitching the Rage Craw, I wanted to try something that might catch a little bigger fish.

About 9:30 the clouds decided to desert me, the sun came out, and it was headed to hot and sticky.  If you read my stuff you know that I have been working on something new, which is slow rolling/reeling a 10″ Strike King Anaconda.  I rigged it with a big 6/0 worm hook with a small 1/8oz. slip sinker pegged to the front, just enough weight to get it down.  I tried to buy a swim bait hook with just the right amount of weight on it, but could not find one.  Basically I was just trying to slow roll it hitting the tops of the grass.  The bites came out on the edge of the grass.  This technique has the potential to catch some really big fish in any lake where there is grass and cover, and I will surely be spending a little more time perfecting it.

A good one slow rolling the Anaconda.  I could get to liking this!  And the video below shows what little I know on how to do it, but I am learning.

At this point I ran out of  battery on the  camera, or I would have shown you some more.  But it really did not matter as the wind came up, and when it did, it really started blowing.  So with a pretty good morning under my belt, I decided to call it a day.  It was nice to get home around noon, plenty of time to clean the boat and sit down to write this article.

So now I am praying for this wind to finally lay.  I am itching to head back to the Gulf.  The fishing reports are great right now, and it is getting time for a fish fry.  And of course my Canada trip is less than a week away.  At this point there is very little left to do to prepare, and it will be easy to finish it off on Thursday when I leave.

So keep stopping in.  I plan on at least blogging and adding a few pics every day while I am there.  The videos will have to wait until I get home, but hopefully there will be some great fish.  Thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

 

Posted in Bass, Fish Catching Travel, Fishing Techniques, freshwater, Freshwater, Texas | Leave a comment

Coleto Creek 5/30/12

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Redfishlaw

Fish Catching Travel

I decided to give Coleto Creek a try on Tuesday morning.  My main question was whether a long weekend of pounding would hurt the fishing.  The place was packed all weekend, and I am sure the fish got a workout.

On the water at daylight, the buzzbait was my first stop.  As I caught them the last trip on points with grass, I started on one up the lake.  I caught a good one right off the bat.  But that point only produced one, so I kept moving up lake looking for more, but after over an hour with not so much as a pass, it was time to change tactics.

From there it was pitching the Strike King Rage Lobster.  It is the little bit bigger in their line of craws, and so I pitched it on a 15lb test with a 1/4oz. pegged sinker.  For about the next two hours they came here and there, but with no real pattern to it.  Most were in only a couple feet or less, and like usual, I actually saw a couple of them eat it.  It was around 6 or 7 on it.

And one last word on the Rage craws.  I have been fishing craw type baits for almost 35 years in some form or another.  It was a go to bait in the winter and spring on the highland reservoirs of North Arkansas.  I still have several brands in my box, but the Rage, with it’s swimming and vibrating action, seems to definitely trigger more strikes.  Now I have read a few comments on line about how soft they are, and it is true.  But by the same token, they eat it.  So as with a lures there is always some trade off.

This was the best one of the bunch.  I wanted you to get a good look at the Rage Lobster, which in this case was a green with red flake, my favorite color in grubs and worms.

As I was fishing I noticed there was some activity on top, with bait being busted.  So back out came the buzzbait.  They were in the grass patches, which are beginning to mat up.  Over the next hour or so, I caught another 5.  Interesting how right at daylight they were not interested.  But later in the morning, when it was hot and windy, they cooperated.  Nothing was real big, and after a while of messing with them, I decided to try something real different for me.

Sorry but you are not going to hear about it today.  It is a real interesting technique.  I gave it a go for about another hour, until it was scorching hot, and had 2 bites.  I did not manage to get the hook in either one of them, but one of them was a real hoss.  So I am headed back out this afternoon for another go at them.  Should be interesting, and if it turns out to be something I will let you know.

One think I am getting real sick of is the wind.  I have passed on the Gulf the last few trips due to it.  And today they are calling for 20 – 30 again.  What a hassle.  Hopefully we will be entering the doldrums of summer soon.  Nothing like chest deep in the Gulf on a hot day.  I can’t wait.

I talked to a nice couple at the ramp that morning.  He was kind enough to let me know he read my blog.  It is nice to put a face to my readers.  So next time you see that ugly Carolina Skiff with a 50 Merc on it, or the white 18″ Mako LTS with the power pole on the back, say hi.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

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Memorial Day Madness.

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Redfishlaw

A few words about the madness.

Being able to sit this one out, as I am able to fish during the week, turned out to be a great decision.  After perusing lots of fishing web sites from all over the country, and especially our Texas sites, it was simply madness out there.

There were reports of multiple groundings, confrontations, sinkings, and even a hit and run.  Drunk boaters, stupid ramp stories, and just plain crazy, seemed to dominate the comments from this weekend.  The water is becoming more and more crowded every day, and anyone with a big enough checkbook can buy a boat.  Unfortunately, the size of one’s checkbook does not always directly correlate to the size of their brain.

So what are we to do?  I am the last guy to tell anyone what to do, but since I am not shy about expressing my opinion, here goes.

First, a simple confrontation can go from yelling to murder in the blink of an eye.  How do do I know?  When you have been a criminal defense attorney for years you see it all.  Believe me folks, it happens.  Do not let this happen to you.  It is not worth it.  This is our passion, and sometimes we are to passionate.  So take the high road if you can, there is always tomorrow, and I for one plan on fishing tomorrow, not spending it in the hospital, or worse, under arrest.  Remember, you can not fix stupid, even confronting it head on.

Second, take the time to educate folks.  Many people do what we feel are stupid things, but it may be a simple lack of knowledge.  We constantly fish and know the unwritten rules, so take some time to share them.  I know when some idiot is cutting you off, or hassling you may not be the time, but do what you can, when you can.

And last, as I have often said, be nice.  Nothing gets under an idiot’s skin, who wants to make a mountain out of a molehill, like someone being nice and not playing along.  It takes 2 hassle, and if someone wants to hassle with themselves, let them.  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, a good rule.

I know this is simplistic, but we have to start somewhere.  If we don’t, no none will.

This Week.

So having stayed at home the last 4 days, I am ready to hit the water.  The yard is taken care of, the house is pressure washed, and lots of small honey-do things are out of the way.  It looks like the wind may die just a little the next day or two, so it will be off to the bay.  And I definitely plan on making a return trip to Coleto, not only for the buzzbait fishing, but to work on a few things I am trying to get better at.

And another thing I will be doing this week is getting the last few things done in preparation for Canada.  There is a second spare to get mounted, tackle to go through, rod and reels to go over, piles to make, and all the rest of it.  One of the great joys for me, as I often say, is in the doing.  The planning, the map reading, and all the rest that go with it, make up a fun part one of any trip.

I will be taking the laptop and plan on blogging with at least a few pictures everyday.   Whether or not I will be able to download any videos is up in the air.  But there will be video, lots of it, and I can not wait to get with it.  We leave Thursday the 7th, and of course I will be ready to go about the 3rd.  I feel like a kid at Christmas!

So keep those comments coming.  I appreciate everyone of you who reads my stuff.  If you get a chance, forward my site to someone you know who fishes.  There are changes coming to the site, and with a few great things in the works, those changes are right around the corner.  So stay tuned.

Cool Site.

If you get a chance, stop in  at 4reelfishing.  It is a cool site where folks post all kinds of videos and photographs.  There is every kind of fish, from every kind of place, and if you can not get enough fishing, give them a try.

http://4reelfishing.com/videos/

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

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Coleto Creek 5/24/12

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Redfishlaw

fishcatchingtravel.com

5/25/12

Thought I would get out for a quick evening trip to Coleto Creek for some bass fishing.  That was a tough decision as the wind was flat out blowing, at least 25 mph when I got there at 3:30.  But I did want to fish yesterday, the boats will stay on the trailer until the holiday is over.

Most of the lake was to windy for jigs and plastics, so I decided to start out with a crankbait.  My choice was the KVD Square bill in the 1.5.  The reason for that choice is the grass is really emerging, and I wanted some thing that would run over the tops. I threw it for about and hour and managed one small bass.  A really good one chased it to the boat but turned off before committing.  So I tried slowing it down some, but just could not get them to eat it.

So next was a spinnerbait on really windy banks as I worked my way up lake.  I hunted and pecked, but only managed another small one, and a couple that just swirled it.  So after 3 or 4 places, I headed to a cove that was somewhat protected to throw the Swim Jig and craws.

That went exactly like the other choices, a couple of hits and one small one.  I can say I gave it the old college try, it was just to windy in the places I wanted to throw it.  By this time it was about 7:30 so I stopped on a windy point and started tossing the buzzbait.  Now the wind was really moving and I blew by it, but caught 4, and they were not to bad.  So I turned around, put the trolling motor on high, went against the wind, and caught 3 more.  During this period I probably missed at least 5 that just blew up on it, but they flat out missed.  Of course none of those misses were operator error.

The sun was really getting low when I decided to hit one more spot.  And it was loaded.

 This was the best of the trip, and you can see how dark it was when he smashed it right beside the boat.  One of those scare the crap out of you as you start to lift it out of the water.  And what is up with that crazy look on my face?

 You will notice that I was using a double blade counter rotating buzzbait I put together.  I specifically use that when the winds are up.  It makes a lot more noise and I think they tend to hear it better.  Obviously they did last night.  I managed to catch 5 off that last point in nothing flat.

So what I learned is basically this.  Those fish are definitely moving on the main lake points that have sufficient grass way out off it.  The minute the sun starts to go down, they start to get after it.  The last 3 I caught it was dark.  I am sure those same fish are catch-able earlier on the drops and edges of the deeper grass, it just has been so windy the last couple of days it has been to much of a hassle to mess with them.  And one thing I have noticed the last few trips is they are not scattered, it seems like when you find them, there are lots of them.  Many places right now just are not holding fish, at least I can not find them.

The lower lake is really clear, the upper end is very off colored.  Those fish last night came out of clear water.  Which would make sense for the late bite.  So as soon as the rest of the world is off the lake I will be back.  Hopefully we are about to enter the period where we will be wishing for some wind.  But after our usual windy spring, I am ready for some calm days on the Gulf.

And one last thing.  I am as guilty as most of you, I tend not to wear my life jacket.  I heard on the news last night there were 600 boating fatalities last year.  That is more than I would have thought.  So be careful out there, our water will be really busy for the next few months, and I don’t know about you, but I have some fishing to do.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

 

 

Posted in Bass, Fish Catching Travel, Fishing Reports, freshwater, Freshwater, Texas | Leave a comment

Port O’Connor TX. 5/22/12

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Redfishlaw

Thought I would squeeze in a short day at POC as the crowds are on the way.  When I got to the ramp at about 8 it was already over half full, but a guy had just pulled out, and when I went to park I got a spot right up front which was nice.

I took the skiff today as the plan was to see if I could limit in Barroom Bay and Big Bayou without going anywhere else.  It almost worked.  With a brisk breeze blowing I decided to fish a Redfish Magic, and so first it was the bank on the north side of Big Bayou along the islands were the grassy shorelines are.  Only 2 reds cooperated, one keeper, but the tide was low, and it was real shallow.  There was one interesting bite today, see below.

I don’t catch many Groupers inshore at POC.  And when you do catch one of these little guys it reminds you of how hard they fight when you are dragging them off the bottom in 100 foot offshore.  And see the stilt house, that is the side the reds were on.

As the south side of the Bayou was somewhat out of the wind, I threw the Waker for a little, and they liked it, but did not love it.  Between me not getting the hook in 2, and 4 or 5 more missing it, I never did catch one on it.  But it is time, they seem to like that bait much better when the water heats up and it is flat calm.  As the winds begin to lay a little more with summer, the Waker will really come on.  So if you have a falling tide, and I mean getting low, try one.

So off to Barroom proper.  I cut through and started by the only house on the south side with a dock.  I tried plastics first out in about 2 -3 foot without any success.  So in to the bank I went and started throwing topwater.  About halfway down that side, back towards Fisherman’s Cut, there is a small cut running from the Bayou into Barroom.  It has a small oyster bar along it, and has been good to me in the past.  As I got close I had 4 big blowups on the Spook Jr. and did not hook one up.  So in the water I went.

A good choice.  Over the next hour, around noon, I had at least 10 hits, and caught 4 keepers throwing to that creek mouth.  That area has a good hard bottom for wading and usually holds a few trout.

Right before he took off.  I just wanted to show you that Super Spook Jr.

My buddy Aaron swears by that bone Super Spook Jr. with the feather on the back hook.  Today they loved it.  I then waded out deeper hoping to catch a trout or two on top, but it was not to be.  Since we have had a southerly prevailing wind for a few days Barroom was really off colored.  I guess there wasn’t water clear enough, that was deep enough there, to catch them on it.

So off the the other side I went to wade.  I fished the area on the north bank in front of the orange condo that I wade a lot.  Over the next hour I worked the plastic over pretty good and only managed 5, though at least 2 would have measured.  I just don’t think it was “good” trout water.  But I was determined to stay in that area and see how it would go.

Next it was the channel leading into Barroom from the Bayou by the next to the last island.  It is narrow with about 3 – 4 of water in it depending on the tide.  I caught 5 or 6 wading the length of it, a couple which were acceptable.  All were on plastics.  I am still alternating between the red/pearl paddle tail and the electric chicken in the split tail.  Today it was just one or two bites, here and there, and neither bait seemed to make a difference.

After that I decide to make one last drift across Barroom so I headed down to near the channel markers and let the wind push me.  I caught 3 small ones but could not seem to find the better fish.  I switched to a pearl Bass Assassin and did finally catch a couple of good keepers.  At that point I had enough and called it a day.

So for the day a nice limit of reds, and probably 6 or 7 keeper trout.  I wasn’t keeping fish today, but that is as good a guess as I can make on the trout.  But it was a stuggle for me on the trout.  I never had more than a few bites in one place.   But the reds more than made up for it.  There is nothing like a redfish knocking the snot out of a topwater.  It did not help the water was so off colored, and if I was not so determined to catch them there, I would have left in search of “greener” water.

I did talk to a couple of guys at the dock with a pretty nice mess, all on shrimp.  And my neighbor fished a small tournament last weekend, and limited using croakers before 9:30.  So live bait is on, and croaker fishing should really take off with summer here.  If you want to put some fish in the boat, and are not a hard headed lure chunker like I am, buy some bait.

And one final word about the coming weekend.  It was crowded today, and will be a lot worse this weekend.  I saw one boat grounded this morning, and another just made it off the mud flat.  So take it easy folks, there is no hurry, live to fish another day.  Plus, who want to pay the Tow Boat guy $500, like a friend of mine did a couple of weeks ago.  And most of all, try to play well with others this weekend.  So have a great holiday, hope you have a great time, and maybe even catch a few fish.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

Posted in Fishing Reports, Gulf Coast, redfish, Saltwater, Texas, Trout | Leave a comment