Random Thoughts.

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Redfishlaw

Fish Catching Travel

5/21/2012

Sorry you haven’t heard from me in a few days, but I got to spend some time with my daughter, her husband, and my grandchild Mia.  We met in Dallas, took in a show and the aquarium, and it was great to see them.  It is important to spend time with your family, I know for most of us it is all about the fishing, but there are other things important in this world, and spending precious time with family is one of them.  But, I had forgotten what the terrible 2’s is all about, and while Mia was a hoot, just do not take your eyes off them for a minute.  But back to the important stuff, fishing.

On my last trip to the Gulf with Aaron I managed to break 2 good reds off in a dock.  They just easily over powered the 8lb line, so it is time to take another approach.  Now reds love docks as many of you know.  They get tight to the piers and posts, and if you can slide a bait in there just right, it is often fish on.  So I have decided to spend some time taking an old bass tactic, flippin, to the Gulf.  As long as there is some color to the water, and you are quiet and make long pitches, there is no reason it won’t work like a charm.  And the thought of a 10lb. red on 8 foot of line in extreme hand to hand combat get me excited.  So as I am headed to the Gulf tomorrow, stay tuned for the next chapter in what I should call the best laid plans of mice and men.

For those of you who fish Coleto Creek the fish are obviously beginning to change from a shallow water pattern to deeper grass edges.  I managed a dozen of so last time, and they will hit both a worm and that Strike King Swimmin Jig.  So Wednesday evening Aaron and I are off to give them a go, including a little night fishing, it should be a good time and I will post on that Thursday.

With summer coming on here it is time to do the trailer walk around.  All the lights work?  Plates still current?  Have you checked the tire pressure in trailer and spare lately?  How about the hubs?  Bunks still screwed down?  The last thing any of us needs is to be stuck on the road, in a balmy 105 degrees, with burned up hubs, or a flat tire with a flat spare.  So take a couple of minutes to maintain the trailer, in the end it will save you from wanting to sell the boat and take up bowling.  Plus, not that I know about this one, there is nothing more embarrassing than dropping the boat in the water, pulling out, and having a bunk fall off on the ramp.  Just sayin.

And with summer on the Gulf comes traffic.  Be nice.  As our water gets more and more crowded it is incumbent on all of us to share what seems to be the little space left.  And remember, right before you get mad, there are lots of folks out there who mean well, they just do not have a clue.  What seems to us to be a completely idiotic move, or a breach of those unwritten rules we all know exist, may just be a simple mistake on their part.  Like it or not, we have to share the water, so lets try to be the bigger person and not suffer a stroke.

And I can not close today without ranting about Canada.  I leave in 18 days for a full week of fishing, and I am just plain excited.  To have a chance to scratch one more off my bucket list, the Muskie, is starting to get to me.  As we have decided to tow the boat, so we can take more stuff, the prep time is here.  The list is made, the tackle is bought, and the time to check rods, reels and all that other stuff is here.  I can not wait.

And the big change in format is on the way.  I am staring at the site right now trying to envision a better more organized way.  Since I went to posts, and not pages, I am not happy with the ease of use, so I am working to fix it to make it more user friendly.  So if things seem a little out of joint, you will know the change is in the works.

Again let me thank you all for reading my stuff.  We have gone from 69 visits our first month last August, to over 5,000 a month and growing.  Never in my wildest dreams did I thing that our site would have 100,000 hits in one month, and I am so appreciative.  And after the poll last month, I hear you.  More how to articles are on the way.  Whether it is fresh or salt, bass or trout, we will try to find new ways for you to catch fish.  And we will also be searching for new places.  One thing we will strive to do is let you know about ramps, marinas, and those other things that will help you make that trip, whether it is 1 hour away, or half way across the country.  So keep those comments coming, I read every one of them and take them to heart.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

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Port O’Connor 5/17/12

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Redfishlaw

Fish Catching Travel

5/18/12

My marginal luck continues.  My friend Chris and I headed to Port O’Connor Wednesday morning for some trout fishing.  Putting in at Froggie’s, we made a quick stop in Barroom Bay on a small reef.  One hit on a topwater was the result, so we moved quickly across to the big flat.  We made a pass there, and had no hits.  So it definitely started slow.

We wanted to check the surf, so with light winds, out the jetties we went.  The wind was about 10 mph out of the north, and other than the swells, not a big deal.  We rounded the jetty on the right and headed to the shoreline.  We fished down the island, throwing topwater.  That resulted in maybe one or two hits from trout, but the skip jack were all over it.  More boats rounded the jetty and lined up down it to the shoreline, and a few more were along the shoreline.  They seemed to be live baiting, but we never say anyone catch a fish, and by time we decided to head back in, they had all left.

We stopped in the Oil Cut on the way back in.  We managed 5 or 6 smallish ones in there.  I did catch 2 on a KVD 1.5 squarebill crankbait in a red shad.  I decided to try it after fishing with Aaron the other day.  He started throwing it and I said, “You are throwing that?”  And his well thought out response was, “Why not?”  Good answer.  So considering I just threw it just a few times, it has promise.  That will be something I will work on when they really get concentrated on the deep mid-bay reefs as the summer progresses.

Then it was off to the shoreline in Barroom.  Not only have I still been catching them there wading, but with the north wind that was blowing, it should have been clearer, which it was.  I only managed one small one there, and Chris also caught a small one and a Bonnethead shark on plastics.  So off we went again, looking for new water.

We stopped at the sandy island across from the north side of Grass Island.  There was bait and the good combination of grass and sand.  I was throwing the red/pearl paddle tail when I felt something heavy.  It only took a couple of minutes to figure out it was a ray.  It was a big one hooked right in the tip of the tail.  Chris came over and got his tail by the pliers, I got my bait out, and then the tip of his tail broke off, so no picture.  As that was the extent of our bites there, it was time for another move.

We headed to Army Cut where, as it opens into the bay, the birds were diving.  We stopped and made 2 passes, and caught 5 0r 6, basically small ones.  There were lots of lady fish mixed in, so we left them and headed into the cut.

Army Cut is one of my favorite topwater places when the tide is right.  When it falls, as it was doing when we got there, the fish really gang up on the bank on the Lagoon side, and position right where the Lagoon empties into the Cut.  Right off the bat I caught one, and over the next hour or so, we caught several on top, and several on plastics fishing the Lagoon side.

This is the best I managed Wednesday, but when it is a little tough, I will take him.

Chris did have a good one hit his topwater 3 times and miss it.   And then with it laying on the surface right by the boat smash it, what a cool hit.  We just kept making passes, with a couple fish this pass, one then next, then three.   We were mixing it up with plastics and topwater when Chris had a big fish on that almost spooled him, then broke off.

He retied with a soft sinking plug, and hooked up immediately.  It did not take long to realize it was another big ray.  Probably what broke him off the cast before.

 Nothing like fighting a big fin hooked ray, our third ray of the day.

So after 3 big (and I mean big) rays, and one shark, it is time to talk about some things.  Remember all of you waders, this is their house, and they play by their rules.  There are things out there now, lots of them, that can hurt you.  So take it slow, keep your eyes open, and exercise just a little caution.   When we had that many close encounters in one day, it opens your eyes a little, summer is here, so be safe.

Basically for the day it was about 25 trout, give or take a few.  We never did get in to them wading worth a hoot.  And none of them were big by any means.  It was a grind it out kind of day, and as we did not keep any, I can only guess how many were keepers.  But I will say this, not to many.

But it was a fun day, as all days on the water are.  And for me it has always been in the doing.  So it does not matter to me whether I whacked them stupid the day before, or whether I struck out.  I am still going to get up to early, drive to far, and spend to much money trying to catch a couple of fish.  It is what many of us live for.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

Posted in Fish Catching Travel, Fishing Reports, saltwater, Trout | Comments Off on Port O’Connor 5/17/12

A Few Random Thoughts

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Redfishlaw

FIsh Catching Travel

5/15/112

It has been an interesting time here the last couple of trips.  Following an awesome trip to Fayette County Lake we headed the next day to Sommerville.  Now I am going to say it right off the bat, I have no more idea how to catch bass in that lake than I do how to propel a rocket to the moon.  And my brother Jeff, alias Shoedog, who lives close, has about the same knowledge.

We started about 7 and I caught a nice hybrid right off the bat on the Strike King KVD Squarebill.  Now we were planning on fishing for bass, and sticking with it.  We have caught lots of whites there trolling, but were determined to catch some bass.  Well even the best laid plans of mice and men sometimes go by the wayside, it did not happen.  I ended up catching one small one on a crankbait, and then thank God, it started to rain.  The storm ended up being a big one, and we quit about 5 minutes to late.  One of the few times I can ever remember being glad to be chased off the lake.  So for me at least, a trip to Sommerville will strictly be white bass and hybrid expeditions.  If we are going to chase bass, I will head anywhere else.

At least I got something to tug on my line!

Next I was able to fish with my friend Aaron and to say the least that went bad.  I guess all the good trips and nice fish I have caught the last year the fish Gods were paying me back.  We encountered muddy water, high north winds, and just plain lousy fishing.  Good trout were smashing topwater 2 at a time, then could not get another bit, and they were not getting on.  I lost 2 good reds in a dock, the rollers in Lavaca Bay were easy 2 -3 foot, and it all around sucked.  So there is absolutely nothing to tell you about that little expedition.

I did fsih a couple of hours on Coleto Creek last evening and managed to catch about a dozen.  7 on purple flake 7″ flapping tail worm, and 5 on buzzbait.  Now there would have been something to show you, but it did not happen.  I reeled that buzzbait over a tree top in about 2 foot of water and a real monster just exploded on it.  I thought I got the hook in him, he jumped, and off he came.  Oh well.

So there you have it, not a great time at fishcatchingtravel.com.  Hopefully we got it all out of our system.  And the great thing about being a fisherman is the eternal optimism that comes with it.  So when I head to POC tomorrow we will positively kill them!

It is not always as it seems.

We had an experience the other day that showed me you can not always jump to conclusions.  We stopped on this point to fish, and there were a couple of guys picking up jugs.   As we headed down the bank, they worked way ahead of us, and then they turned around.  We were pretty far off the bank when they ran between us and the bank.  Normally that would get me hopping, but I realized, they were actually working the jugs, just picking them up and re-baiting them as they went up and down the bank.  So guess what?  They were there first, and they were fishing.  So when something like that happens to you, and it does to all of us at times, stop just a minute before  you get mad, it may not be what you think.

Started a twitter page.

There are a lot of things I would have thought might happen in this world, but me having a twitter account was not one of them.  I started it because they recommend it as part of a blog.  So here we go with that.  I just may become a regular tweeter, whatever in the hell that is!

New Year’s Resolutions.

We often make them, then they just do not happen.  Well I wrote mine down in an earlier blog and I am going to keep after it.  One of the things I intended to do was fish with new folks.  I am off to a good start.  So far this year I have fished with 5 people I never fished with, and I intend to keep it up.  So if you get a chance, take someone new with you, it can lead to a new lifetime friend.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

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Fayette County Lake

Posted on May 12, 2012 by Redfishlaw

Fish Catching Travel

5/9/2012

There is a gentleman, fishytx on the Austin bass fishing board, that has been reporting great fishing on Fayette County Lake.  Some days he has caught over 100 bass a day.  Now my brother and I have fished Fayette quite a few times, and have been fortunate enough to have several days like that, so off to Fayette we went.

You know how some days you just have a good feeling about things, like this might be the day?  Well in this case it was. On arriving I thought I was in the Twilight Zone, there was not one car at the ramp.  It had been drizzling all the way there, enough to put on the rain suit when I got there.  When Jeff arrived, we loaded the stuff and in the water we went.

The wind was blowing a little, and just lightly misting.  We stopped at one of the bigger coves and out came the shallow running Shad Rap for him, the small Rapala Husky Jerk for me, both in silver with a black back.  We started near the back of the cove and went to jerking, and the fish went to biting.  In the first hour alone we boated over 20, and it kept up all day.

It stayed cloudy until after noon, and the fish still kept cooperating.  We were just jerking it along, jerk, jerk/jerk, jerk. jerk/jerk.  Some were barely ticking it, some were just on there, and some tried to jerk the rod out of your hand.  As the day progressed it just kept going.  After the sun came out, it slicked off and got hot and humid, it seemed the fish moved a little bit deeper, off of the edge of grass in about 5 feet of water.

Jeff switched to the big Husky Jerk, which I thought was not that great an idea as they were feeding on small shad.  I was so wrong.  That little larger bait went a little deeper and they continued to eat it.  I switched to a Smithwick Rogue Jr. in a sexy shad color, and the catching continued.  The next picture gives you a good example of how our day went.

Here is my brother Jeff, alias Shoe Dog.  First time he ever caught 2 on one bait.   Kind of hard to tell who was going to eat who.   And there is his favorite bait to jerk on Fayette, the shallow running Shad Rap.  That thing catches Fayette bass!

So here is the pattern.  Almost every fish we caught came starting about a 1/4 of the way in the cove, any cove.  They would be from there until the back end.  The best banks had the tall reeds, with grass in about 3 – 5 foot of water.   We stayed off the bank until we could just reach it, any closer and you caught to much grass as the bait got down there, any further out and it just did not work.  One quick tip, if you get grass on the bait  a couple of casts in a row, jerk the rod tip up when you jerk it, it keeps the bait a little shallower right over the grass, they can’t stand it.  But what really made the difference?  Shad.  Where ever we found the shad flipping, we got bit.  And many times it was multiple fish, it was awesome.

Obviously clear line was important, and the smaller light baits like the small Husky Jerk and Shad Rap work much better on 10lb. line, with the bigger baits we were able to get away with 15, though I stayed with 10 all day.  And when we jerked it, it was not a real hard jerk, just a pulling jerk and letting it set for a second.

We caught quite a few like this, especially in the morning while it was still cloudy.

This fish made the picture cut because of how he had that bait.  That is the big Husky Jerk, he hit it from the front like a ton of bricks, and if you notice, he had the head of the bait down in his throat. 

So now to the video.  The fishing was so good that I did not even get the video camera out until 3:30.  At this point the sun was out and the wind had died.  It really got hot and sticky.  The fish were still biting, so I figured since we were not staying until dark, it was time to shoot a little video.

I turned the camera on at 3:30, and shot for 93 minutes.  When I edited it I only removed the no fish moments, everything else is in the exact order it happened.  I had to make 2 as I can only download 10 minutes at a time to utube, plus it takes about 6 hours to do each one.  So why do you care?  We figured we had caught well over 50 by then, and that was being way conservative, it was a heck of a lot more than that.  So we wanted to see how many we were catching in the middle of the day, no wind and no clouds.  Well folks see for your self.  If we caught this many then, we really whacked the snot out of them when they were biting, and I use the term in jest, all morning while it was cloudy.  Now they did not average the size we caught in the morning when it was perfect, but at that point we were in a catching frenzy and did not give one hoot.  There is Part 1 and Part 2, in the order it happened.

And now for more……………….

So there you have it.  Did we catch a 100? Maybe.  Did we care at that point?  No.  It was just one of those days that happens when it all works.  Now we never caught that big fish, which kind of surprised me when you catch that many.  I am sure if we had fished plastics and jigs we could have caught some bigger ones, but I never look a gift fish in the mouth!  I did  catch 2 on a swim jig, both good ones.  One I even caught with the jig hanging over the side while we cut across the back end of a cove.  It was just one of those days.  For shear numbers it is hard to find another lake like Fayette County.

Fishing is a wonderful thing.  Those of us who love it get something out of it that is often hard to explain to others, but we know the feeling it gives us.  So make time when you can, and take a kid, or someone who does not get out much.  Share that feeling.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

 

 

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

Coleto Creek/Lavaca River 5/8/12.

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Redfishlaw

Coleto Creek Last Friday.

Thought I would post these together as I am heading out of town for a couple of days of bass fishing.  So look for a report on Friday as we are heading to Fayette County tomorrow and then to Somerville Lake on Thursday.

Friday I headed to Coleto Creek for a few hours of fishing.  It was not going to be a long day as my wife and I were going to the CCA banquet in Victoria with friends that evening.  And by the way that was a good time, and of course we did not win anything, and we laso exercised great discretion and did not buy anything either.  With a trip to Canada and Africa looming financial responsibility is the word right now.

I headed up river as I usually do when I start on Coleto.  Of course a buzzbait was first out of the box.  After  about a half hour, and 1 fish it was time for a change.  Last year at this time I could not keep the good ones off it, just show you how things change from year to year.  So next out of the box was the Scum Frog.

Not having thrown it since last year, of course I missed most of them.  But the good thing was I had about a dozen hits in the time I threw it.  Of those I managed to catch 6, so not a bad average, and I did miss a good one.  So folks, they are on that frog on Coleto.  It should only get better as the grass is growing to beat the band, and it is getting closer to the surface, which is when that frog really shines.

As I got way up, and the sun came out, I decided it was time to do some flipping.  Now I am not expert at flipping, this is the first year I have added it to my arsenal.  So off to a trashy bank and I caught this one right off the bat.

This was the first one I caught, no giant, but I will take her anyday.

I caught one about 2 casts after this so I figured it was time to put on the video camera.  Well you know how the best plans sometimes work out, or don’t.  I filmed for about an hour, and when I got home and reviewed it I caught 5 more, none of which justified making you watch.

I am still just easing along trashy banks flipping to any cover I can see.  Most of the fish still seem to come out of small grass clumps near cover.  Basically just hop it along and hold on.  After about an hour, I shut off the video camera, they just were not cutting it, when of course this one came.

 I still have the camera on my head, but it was not on, wonder why I did not take it off?

So on again goes the video and I could not catch another good one.  I headed back down lake looking for some calm water to throw that frog.  While I did not catch another good one, I had enough hits to keep it interesting.  Frog time is here, for the amount of time I threw it I got plenty of bites.   So start watching for the beginnings of the grass mats.  And if you can find a good one with deep water close, you will be in business. While I generally use the Scum Frogs there are lots of good ones on the market, so find one that works for you.

One thing about the frog, the more you throw it the more fish you end up hooking.  You just have to remember, give it just a second before you set the hook.  I have my best luck actually setting the hook like you are using a Texas rig worm, just drop your rod and reel down and bust them.  So next week it I will spend some serious time working that frog, and hopefully there will be some video to go along with it.

I ended up catch about a dozen or so for the morning, not bad, it was just enough that when I needed to hit the road I was not ready to go.  But I had some boat cleaning to do  before I got ready for the banquet so I called it a day early.

Lavaca River Monday.

I wish this next report had a little more to offer, but it just did not work out that way.  Having not been to the river since this winter I decided to head there Monday.  Now I have no experience there outside of winter fishing so there were not preconceived notion about what would work.

As we have had not appreciable rain I decided to head down river a ways and start about half way to the bay.  The first bank I fished was the one right above the first  cut leading to a deep creek.  Nothing was happening at all, until I got right on the point and caught a redfish that measured on a soft plastic.  So I switched to a Redfish Magic for an hour and did not get another bite.  So I headed down to the bank right above the cut leading into Swan Lake.  I fished the shallow bank there and managed to catch 4 trout, all of them on that red/pearl paddle tail.  As the tide was ripping I used a 1/8th jig head.  Of those 2 measured so in the box they went for supper.

Since it was slow, I next tried a deeper bank without success.  Since my plan was not to go into the bay, but to see what was still in the river I started working my way up.  I caught a couple of more reds, thought they did not measure.  Those came on points or a cut leading into a marsh.  I kept alternating with the Redfish Magic and plastics, but they just did not seem to want the spinnerbait, though I threw it a lot.  I did lose one real hooter on plastics.  Every once in a while I have a brain fart, and when they are on it and swimming with it when I lift up, I forget to set the hook, which I managed to do a couple of times.

I just kept working my way along the bank, fishing long stretches basically without any luck.  So off to the first bank again, where I caught another red and 4 more trout.  Of those one measured, which was fine as I needed 3 for supper so it worked out.

So no pictures, the biggest was 17″, and the other just made it.  For the day it was 3 redfish and 8 trout.  Now that is not quite what I had in mind, but I did learn several things.  First, there are still a few trout in the river, but they were clearly bunched up, none seemed to be scattered.  Clearly the farther down the river you go the more trout there are, and next trip I will concentrate in the area where the river dumps into the bay.

Second, there are obviously reds in the river.  I am not sure why I did not get more bites on the spinnerbait.  That is something I will work on another day.

Third, I did not catch anything on a main river channel bank with a deep drop.  Now I am not sure whether that was based on my bank selection or where they are positioned.  Most came on slopping banks with the boat sitting in 8 foot or less.  So was that important, only another trip will tell.

It was a learning experience for me.  My river fishing experience is limited, but it was nice to try something different, and I look forward to trying the river again.  So not great wealth of information to share with you, but sometimes we learn just as much when we don’t catch them as when we do.  For me it has always been in the doing, but don’t get me wrong, it also in the catching.  But every once in a while it serves us well to get out of our comfort zone and try something, and some place new.  Fishing knowledge is a cumulative thing and you never know when that change will result in a great day.  It did not happen today, but there is always tomorrow.

Side Note.

If you want to see some cool topwater videos from the manufacturer of some very interesting mouse lures visit Aiden James Lures or visit his utube videos.  Nothing like an awesome topwater bite!

http://www.youtube.com/user/ajlures

http://ajlures.com/

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

 

Posted in Fish Catching Travel | Leave a comment

Redfish Magic – Keller Bay and Indianola

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Redfishlaw

After a week of not getting out as much as I like, I did get out a couple of hours after daylight Thursday.  As I had some work done on the house and was not able to fish the last few days, I was excited to be heading out.  I put in at Indianola and headed down the Powderhorn Ranch shoreline about half way to POC.

I started with topwater, and as I have just not had a real good run with it lately I was determined to catch some on it.  I fished in the 2 – 4 foot range without even a pass.  After a while my brain kicked in when I noticed the bait right on the shoreline in about a foot of water.  So I turned around and was only knee deep when I got multiple blow ups.  I finally managed to put the hook in a nice fat 21″ trout.  I thought it was the start of a good thing, but it was not to be.  I ended up having about 10 knocking it out of the water and just generally not eating it, and I only boated that one trout.

So it was time for a change.  I went back to the boat and got the 8lb test with a light 4″ MirrOlure in the electric chicken on a 1/16 jig head.  That ended up answering the question of why I missed so many on that topwater, they were reds.  Over the next hour I caught one more good trout, and 5 reds, 2 which measured.  They were located on that stretch down from the dock with all the grass on it.  As nothing was really doing wading, I decided to head across Lavaca Bay to Keller Bay.  One of my favorite wading banks is there, so off I went.

As  I entered the bay I decided to stop and do a little Redfish Magic spinnerbait fishing.  Of course I wanted to catch a couple, and I also wanted to show you, via the video, how I basically fish that thing.  Well I managed to catch 4, including a nice fat 25″.

The best one of the day, and I was glad to have him.

Those of you who read my stuff know I am always raving about the Redfish Magic, and with good reason.  For me it works, and it really gives you a weapon that can work on windy days.  It works in off colored water, and if you have a trolling motor, can be a fun way to fish.

Basically just let the wind or the tide take you down the bank, keep a cast length off, and slow roll it.   I generally try to keep it close to the bottom.  Not only does it catch reds, I have caught some of my best Flounders on it.  And one tip, if you feel some light bumps or ticks, re-fish the area with flounder in mind, it is often them.  Here is some of the video I shot that morning.  I try to keep them short, they are a lot of work to load and edit, but I wanted to give you a little idea of how to use it.

After messing with the reds for awhile, I decided to wade a couple of banks in Keller.  I waded the first one on the right as you go in, and the one all the way across along the big field.  Unfortunately it was not successful, in fact I had one bite.  The problem was the wind was howling right down the bay, so I headed back to Indianola.  And nothing like a ride across Lavaca Bay with a 25mph wind.

I headed to the back of the Powderhorn, past the marsh on the left side, and jumped out of the boat at the marker on the small oyster bar.  There were a few trout there, and I caught 4 nice ones there, but that was the only bites I had.  2 of those came on that MirrOlure electric chicken, and 2 on the popping cork with the Rage Shrimp.  I think the popping cork helped in the wind.  I will give that Rage Shrimp credit, you can catch alot of fish on one, it is tough.  I just wish the Rage Craws were as tough.

As the wind was really blowing now I decided to call it a day.  So my keeper total for the day would have been a limit of reds, and 5 or 6 trout, if I were keeping them.  Not a bad morning, though I think I could have done a better job trout fishing.  But some days we fish better than others, and some days the fish cooperate better.  That is what keeps us fishing, you never know.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

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Getting Bait.

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Redfishlaw

I received the following nice comment Stan Hall, Ph. D. after he read my page titled  “Memories – Never forget the ones who got you there.”

“This is perhaps one of the best ways to pay homage to those who helped mold you into who you are today. I believe every fishermen has a similar story and I want to thank you for reminding me of that old flat bottom aluminum boat, the trusty zebco 33, grunting for earthworms before the crack of dawn, and ending the day with a stop at the local store for a fanta grape soda. ”

His nice comments got me thinking about getting bait.  Growing up I was the all American kid on a bike, riding to any place I could catch a fish.  For me getting bait started out simply digging in the garden for earthworms with my dad.  Now those worms were good enough for the sunfish and bluegill, but as my fishing world expanded, I needed cooler bait, and growing up in Iowa there was always more.

As it began to warm in the spring, and the rains began to fall, out came the flashlight and the hunt was on.  We had huge night-crawlers, big, fat, and juicy.  And if our timing was right, we could catch them by the hundreds in the wet grass.  Now they were good for everything, especially the catfish and carp I had declared war on.  There was even this guy over by Rich’s house who sold worms out of his fridge on the porch on the honor system, you just had to be sure you had a quarter.  And I must admit, I owe him an apology, there was a time or two I just did not have that quarter.  But as my fishing world expanded to the mighty bass, so did the kind of bait I had to get.

Next it was frogs.  Now let me tell you, there is nothing like a small frog on a hook trying to swim around moss in the pond.  It was like jaws, he would struggle, and then boom, disappear in a boil as he was sucked into the vacuum.  It must have sucked to be that frog.  And if you got real lucky, you could get one of those big bull frogs to bite your line if you got it close enough to him.  We had some great bites from bass on those big bull frogs, but to this day I do not remember ever landing one, wonder if we did?  And in those days, the thought of eating those bull frogs never crossed our mind, no Cajuns in my family.

And there was always the crawdad.  We would wade the small creeks that were full of smallmouth when I was a boy, creeks that have long been straightened, muddied and finally silted in.  We would turn over a rock, grab that crawdad without letting him pinch us, and float him down the creek into the riffle.  It was the most exciting ways to fish for me, to feel that small tap, set the hook, and watch as that smallmouth exploded out of the creek near the reeds.  Those were the days.

Later, while fishing below the dam at the Skunk River, one of my favorite fishing holes, I saw one of the big guys using a net to catch shad to use as bait for catfish.  And one time he brought up the net, and not only was it full of shad, it had a crappie and a small white bass in it.  Now that was a revelation to me that those kinds of fish were in that river, I though there was only catfish and carp.  That really got me to thinking, if those fish were there with those shad, maybe that is what they like to eat.  So off to the local store Max and I went to get a small seine, and it was game on.

After that we caught all kinds of what to me at the time were exotic fish, like crappie, white bass, a small northern pike, and even a bass.  That dam became the place to fish, and we got crowded out by the “old guys”, all because we caught some bait.  But that seine with a crappie and a white bas lead to a life time pursuit of what we call game fish.

I have seined bait, cast netted bait, sabiki rigged bait, dug bait, and bought bait.  I have used live bait as big as a couple pounds on offshore rigs, and as small as a crappie minnow in a pond.  And then something happened, my pursuit of game fish became basically an artificial bait thing.  It has been a sure and steady progression to get to this point, and except for a couple of blue cat expeditions, I haven’t got bait in a long time.

Now I did get some bait this morning, at Academy.  In fact, I get my bait at Academy, and Bass Pro, and Wal Mart, and on and on.  It does not involve getting wet or dirty, crawling around at night, nor any of the other fun stuff that made getting bait a good time.  There have even been a few times when getting bait far out did the fishing, and in fact, there has a been a time or two where I ate the bait when all else failed.  (Yes, it was shrimp, no, it was not the worms.)

So while I really no longer get bait, I appreciate the art of getting bait.  It is an honest activity that not only helps us catch more fish, it makes us a better fisherman.  It is a way to get closer to the fish, and the outdoors.  So if you are like me, some big time lure guy, remember, getting bait is an honorable thing, and it does not make a fisherman less of a fisherman, it makes him more of one.  Just a thought.

Random things.

The poll I conducted made on thing real clear, you want more how to articles.  So I will take it to heart.  With video  I can not only show you some fish being caught, but it can be added to pictures and information on specific ways to actually catch more fish, so look for those in the very near future.

Coming in #2 was more fishing travel stories.  So I will try to not only schedule more trips out of my comfort zone, but will include the important information such as ramps, lodging, and other stuff you need to go.

Also coming in at #3 was folks wanting to see reports from docks, marina, and bait stores.  I am compiling the list of places right now and hope to have one ready for you each Wednesday.  And I will ask them not only for whatever fishing report they have, but also what bait is available, and what they are selling the most of, and if you all can think of anything else I should ask let me know.  I figured that would be a good day as it is a couple of days before the weekend.

I am going to spend the next couple of days at the Gulf.  My topwater fishing has been less than stellar, even though I have been in plenty of trout.  So my plan is to spend a little more time chunking it, I have heard reports of some good topwater fishing, so I need to figure it out.  Nothing better than a 20+ incher smoking a Spook Jr.

I did get out for a few hours on Coleto Creek Monday, and managed to catch some ok fish on buzzbait right off the bat.  I then headed up to throw the swim jig some and thought I caught 6 or 7, just could not put the hook in the big one.  Oh well, one of the joys of being able to fish pretty much at will is there is always another day, and the next couple are it.

This is one of 4 like this I caught on a main lake grass bed.  The fish are now starting to show up on grass areas with access to deep water, it is just a matter of you being there when they are shallow, otherwise it is plastics on the edge.

And one last thing

And if you have never thrown a cast net here is a video that taught me in 10 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOUkj2h2LjI

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

 

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Coleto Creek on Tuesday.

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Redfishlaw

Had one of those times we fisherman just live for.  I slept in this morning after a long day at POC yesterday.  So after getting a few errands done, I hitched up the Carolina Skiff and headed to Coleto.

I headed up lake intending to see if I could still catch a few on buzzbait.  That did not work out, in fact it resulted in exactly no bites.  As the wind was blowing I thought maybe spinnerbait on a windy bank just might work, and alas, only resulted in 1 small fish.  So at this point it was time to slow down,  There was not a cloud in the sky, so in spite of the wind, it was time to head to a bank that was loaded with cover and swim that jig.

The first place I fished was far up lake, and the water color was just right.  I started flipping the heaviest stuff I could find, and was rewarded with this guy.

So now things are looking up.  This fish was awesome, I shook the jig off a grass clump and he rolled up right next to the boat and ate it.  One of those strikes that seemed like a dream!

I was throwing a black/chartreuse jig with a Strike King Craw Chunk in the Okeechobee craw color.  I kept at it down the bank I choose and caught 2 more, so it was time for a move.

I headed even farther up lake, again looking for the trashiest bank I could fine.   I switched to more of a pitching presentation.  Just pitching it into the cover and swimming it out.  It can be a tough time feeling them in the wind.  But by the same token, when your line moves 5 feet from where it was it, might be time to set the hook.  I caught a couple more small ones when this girl showed up.

Now things are really looking up.  Sorry about the no shirt thing, but folks it was hot.  And notice, the jig is gone, when they wanted it today, they ate it.

So I just kept going down the bank, working every piece of cover, pitching it to grass clumps, swimming it, and shaking it as I went.  Now folks, this is not fast fishing, and you won’t get the action of a topwater, buzzbait, or spinnerbait.   It is slow, but what it does is catch big fish.  I want to give a shout out to my friend Aaron who taught me this.  And if you read my stuff you have seen him here with big fish.

Just reeling, twitching it over anything I feel, as I float down the bank.  At this point it is hot, the sky is clear as gin, and the wind is blowing.  Normally not a great combination for catching lots of big fish, but for once I made the right call.  I added a few more when here we go again.

This was a big fish – how big I do not care!  I am just glad she shared the day with me!

That was the last big one for the day.  I probably caught 10 today, maybe a few more, but as a group they were good ones.  I would have been happy with my top 5 in most tournaments I ever fished.  I called it a day way early, nice to be home at a more reasonable time.  But of course I can not help but think about what I might have put in the boat if I had stayed the 2 1/2 hours until dark.

Right now on Coleto I have been finding them in the real heavy stuff.  When you fish the jig you have to pitch it in there, and I mean right in the junk.  It takes a little getting used to, and I am sure you can substitute a worm, but the key is cover.  When I am flipping, I use a heavier jig, at least a 3/4 and sometimes an ounce to help get it down when the stuff is real thick.  They will usually hit that immediately or on the first shake or two.

When pitching it, I have been using 1/4 swim jig,  Basically just toss it to the stuff and swim it back.  I use a craw on back, usually the Strike King craw chunk, or the Zoom Vibra- Craw.  With either you want those pinchers vibrating.  And then just swim it along and shake it any time it hits something, and hold on.  You will feel some of them, and some will just start swimming, so watch your line.  And remember, it costs nothing to set the hook.  Trust your instincts, if you think it was a fish it usually is.

So if you get a chance try this technique, it works.  We can all learn something new, and that may be the very thing that gets you a nice bunch of fish when things are tough.

Again and again let me thank you.  Everyday I get more readers, and I appreciate it.  There are some great trips coming up for me in the next few months.  I am so excited to be heading to Canada and finally adding a muskie to the done list.  And then South Africa for some offshore fishing.

And one last word, please vote in my poll.  I really do care what you think, and want to cover things you want to read about.  And if you have other comments send them to me.  I can not answer everyone, but I promise I read each and every one of them.  Thanks.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

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Port O’Connor – A Monday trip.

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Redfishlaw

Had a chance to hit POC yesterday, and it was an interesting day.  The wind was blowing out of the northeast at about 20 mph and is was a cool morning.  When we got there the wind was blowing right down Saluria Bayou but the birds were diving everywhere.

We started out in the mouth of Oil Cut #1, and headed in, and the birds were working the whole area pretty good.  We basically drifted back in, and there seemed to be trout in most of it.  I managed to catch maybe 2 that were keepers, and my friend Chris managed 1.  We caught quite a few in there, but most were small.  All of them on plastics.  But one thing that became evident immediately was that I had the right plastic, and that kept up for the rest of the day.

 The 4″ Soft minnow in the Electric Chicken – The bait of the day.

This was clearly it.  So a few words about this particular plastic.  I like it for a  couple of reasons.  First, it is fairly tough and you can catch several fish on it before they tear it up.  Second, it is a little thinner.  I believe that the reason it works so well is I throw it on 8lb. test, with a 1/16 jig head.  It falls a lot slower, and has a great action.  Of course when you are using lighter line, you will break a few more off, and the lady’s will also bite more of them off.  I ended up going through almost a whole package, but if I have to use that many baits because they are eating it, I will suffer along.  Enough about that, suffice to say the light line, light jig head, and it’s great action combined to catch fish.

We were headed to Big Pocket via the Saluria and when we were on the way there were lots of birds diving on Gross Reef so we made a stop.  The water there was way off colored and we only managed a few trout until I picked up the popping cork, and it helped attract them so we caught a few more, and when the wind drifted us past them we left for Big Pocket.

Next we went to Big Pocket.  We made one drift and I picked up a couple of rat reds, and I believe Chris picked up a trout or two.   At this point the tide was out and we ran in to the point in the center of the pocket and jumped out.  There was a small ditch leading from that point that was about  4 foot deep.  I worked it over pretty good, and managed to take 5 more rat reds, and 2 really nice flounder out of there.  Mike headed out to the edge of the reef and managed one good trout.

If you see small “puffs” of mud be sure to throw it in there, and if you don’t get a bite, drag it.

I caught both those flounders dragging it through “puffs” of mud.  They gave themselves away, and I probably should have had a couple of more.  It is hard sometimes to let them eat it when our natural inclination is to set the hook.  After we worked it over, we headed up into Lighthouse to make a couple of drifts out.

We started in really shallow water there and drifted out.  Here we caught several.  Now during this time it was really becoming evident that the plastic I was using was the ticket.  Chris tried lots of different things, and caught fish, but hands down it was that MirrOlure 4″ Soft Minnow.  One thing we noticed here, as in the first couple of places we went, was they were in the clearer water, the usual for trout.

 This turned out to be the best of the day, though I did catch one more later about like it in the bay between the Saluria and Grass Island.

We basically caught trout almost everywhere we fished.  Like it has been for me it was a matter of wading through the little ones.  Now we were not keeping fish Monday, but by time we headed back to the Saluria and behind Grass Island we had probably caught about a one limit or so, not bad for a morning.  When we got back there there were pods of birds diving in the whole area.  We made multiple drifts, catching some here and there but just did not seem to have them down.  At this point I did not have any of my bait left, so I tied on a dark Tsunami with a chartreuse tail, and Chris also went with a darker bait.

We moved to the channel leading to Grass Island and made a drift down along the stakes leading to Grass Island.  The fish were there.  We caught a bunch, lots of small ones, but had one of those moments where it was a bite on every cast for awhile.  They seemed to be in the channel more than out in the bay.  By this point it was time to call it a day so we headed in.

All in all a good day.  As we were not keeping fish I can not tell you how many keepers we caught, but it was enough for me.  I wish I was not out of baits, but it was interesting once we switched to darker colors we started catching them pretty good.  So who knows whether it was the place, the time of day, or we just missed the other color.  Either way there is nothing like catching them fairly consistently most of the places we went.  Of course we had some slow times, but we did not blank anywhere we tried.

So what is next?  I am headed to Coleto Creek as soon as I publish this to see if I can get in on an afternoon bite.  After that I am headed to Lost Wages for a couple of days.  When I get back it is time to move to a few other places, look at some different water, and hopefully find some more fish.  I appreciate you all reading my stuff.  And please take the poll at the bottom on the left hand side.  I want to write about things you want to read about, so let me know.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

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

A few random thoughts.

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Redfishlaw

It is Sunday and I am just catching up on a few things today.  If you will notice on the side of my blog there is a poll.  I would really appreciate it if you would vote.  The goal is to make the site better for you all.  So what would you like to see more of?  How-to articles on actually fishing with certain baits and techniques, more travel articles with information on how to do it, ramps, facilities, etc?  How about a weekly fishing report from local fishing businesses on the coast?  Let us know, we just want to publish things that you want to read about, so vote today.

Am looking forward to the next 2 days.  After a couple of days at POC where we had a great time, am excited about heading to the Gulf and seeing if the bite is still on.  Things should have settled down after our storms on Friday, and with a warning trend, and little wind, I expect the bite to be great.  Hopefully there will be no more real close encounters of the shark kind.  So watch for new reports the next couple of days.

So keep reading below for the latest report.  I finally have resolved my utube problems, and there is a cool video of my brother catching his bull red on 8lb. line.  So keep stopping by, and no matter how tough it is, I will keep fishing.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

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