Jeff’s Bull on 8lb. line.

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Redfishlaw

Folks I had a bad day.  I was having trouble loading this video yesterday so I gave up and left it for today.  I started off this morning trying to fix it when I did a really stupid thing, I deleted all my YouTube videos.  Now a computer genius I am not.  So now I get to spend the next day or two reloading them and then putting them back on my site.  But no matter, here it is, enjoy, we sure did.

The video does not due the fight nor the fish justice.  But you can see with yesterday’s post, that was one big red!  And if you haven’t read the story check out the one below.   So looking forward to Monday and Tuesday, am headed back to the Gulf for more, I can never get enough.  So thanks for stopping in.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

 

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Port O’Connor – A couple of interesting days. 4/17 -18.

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Redfishlaw

Day 1 – Tuesday

My brother Jeff had a chance to come for a couple of days,  so off to the gulf we went.  It turned out to be an interesting trip with several surprises.

Day 1 we got to the ramp at Froggie’s and the water was very off-colored and the wind was blowing pretty good straight out of the east.  We had planned to wade some but decided to head up to the Oil Cut #1 and throw plastics out of the boat until it warmed up some, the wind laid, and the tide would clear the water up.

We got there and started to throw plastics on the points and in some of the cuts.  As we worked our way in we managed to catch a few small ones when the birds started diving in the mouth of the last cut.  The wind was howling right down the cut but the trout were there.  Now most were small, and we caught about 15, but only kept 3 out of the bunch.

We also tried to catch a redfish, but other than seeing one tailing which we could not get to bite, we had no luck on them at all.  it was now about 11, so we headed around the corner to the flat by the old Coast Guard ruins, but the wind was blowing right on it and it was muddy and covered with grass.   So then we headed to what I thought was going to be a wade spot near Bill Day’s Reef, when we came around the corner and there were the birds doing it again.

We stopped upwind and immediately got bit.  Now most were small, but we did box a couple.  There were also a few catfish mixed in, so after catching a couple on popping cork, I kept at it with the plastics.  I was using a 4″ red/pearl tail, and my brother was using the Tsunamis, which he uses a lot.  About that time he got a big bite, and here is the result.

Horizontal and……….

Vertical.  It was over 20 lbs on the Boga and on 8 lb. test was one heck of a fish!

Jeff did a great job handling this fish.  On that light line, and medium spinning rod there was ample opportunity to lose it.  He took his time, did not horse it, and when the time came eased it right to me to slide on the Boga Grip.  We then did a little CPR and off he swam.  A nice job on a big fish!

Additionally, that fish  came out from under the birds.  This is the second time in a row I have caught them under the birds.  Now I will admit you have to work your way through small ones, and the occasional catfish, but there are trout under those birds, and the occasional big boy like this one.

We finished the day by keeping 8 trout, but caught lots of them.  The redfish was clearly the highlight of the day.  It only takes one thing like this to make a whole day.  This was Jeff’s biggest redfish yet, and coming on 8 lb. test made it all the sweeter.  Our anticipation for day 2 was at an all time high.

(Note:  I have the whole thing on video, but am having problems loading it to youtube, but will get it resolved and post it here in the next day or two.)

Day 2 –  Wednesday

One of the places we have pretty good trout luck is in Army Cut.  The right side heading into the bay has a flat, with of course the good drop in to the channel.  And in the middle of the bank is the cut leading into The Lagoon on the backside of Dewberry.  When the tide is falling, as it was when we started yesterday, the fish set up on the edge of the drop, right by the stake.  That stake marks what passes for a channel into the Lagoon, which is really shallow.

We started throwing topwater and immediately had three nice blow ups, which resulted in no fish, so we make another pass down the cut with the tide, throwing the topwater but had no hits.  So we fished the opposite side and Jeff caught a nice keeper on a Spook, but that was the last topwater hit.  We switched to plastics and started catching them, but they were small.

We into the Lagoon and the birds were going nuts, so we eased in there but only caught 1 trout below them.  As long as we were there we decided to throw Redfish Magic for a red, which only resulted in one small one, and one good one chasing it, but not catching.  We basically ended up wasting about an hour and a half in there.  The tide was falling hard now so we eased out to the channel and managed to add 3 more keepers on the bank leading out on the right above the channel marker.  Those all came on plastics.

At this point it was time for a wade.  We cut across the bay and tried a spot in front of Pringle, where I only caught one, and Jeff did not have a bite.  So off to Grass Island.  We started on the sand bar on the Pringle side,  Jeff still throwing the topwater, and me with plastics.   By the way our  best colors were bone with chartreuse tail, chicken on a chain, and Jeff really did well on a clear purple flake Tsunami.   I managed a 22′ red in about a foot of water, actually where Jeff had just walked.

That side of the island did not produce any other fish, so we move to the other side in about the middle of the island, basically the N.W. end of Grass Island.  This was Jeff’s first real attempt at wading, but he got the hang of it real quick.  He took off, and before long was out almost chest deep.  There were birds diving in the area and lots of bait.  And he started catching them.

 Jeff with his trout on his first real wade trip.

We ended the day there.  Most of the fish were in 4 -6 feet of water initially, but as the tide came up they moved a little more shallow.  What it really boiled down to was finding the bait and then fishing all around you.  The action was fairly steady, and we had 2 other things happen that made the day.

First, I had a small one who immediately started thrashing on top, and when I released him a huge boil, which I could feel on my leg, came up in front of me.  I knew it was a shark, but did not see him.  A short while late I released a small one and the shark went nuts trying to catch that trout.  He was frantic, and the trout was too, and I was headed for the boat.  I got a pretty good look at him and he appeared to be a Bull Shark about 6 foot long.  Now I am not scared of them, but when they are that excited it is time to put some distance between you and them.

Also, Jeff actually hooked a big sea turtle, which appeared to be about 15 or 20 pounds.  I went over to help hims release it.  It was hooked right on the edge of the shell behind his head.  He finally was able to shake him off by jamming the rod straight at the bait.

We ended up keeping 11 trout and one redfish.  We also caught quite a few small ones, at least enough to keep it interesting.  I lost several keepers while wading as Jeff had the net and I was using the Boga, and after that shark at my feet I was not interested in to much messing around with them, just a quick release.

So all in all a couple of pretty fun days.  A great redfish on light line, a close encounter with a shark of the scary kind, and a sea turtle.  And to top it off, we actually caught some fish.

So again thanks for reading my stuff.  I will try to get the video posted tomorrow, it actually turned out great.  So stop by later.  If you have a chance to go, hit the gulf, the fish are biting and the weather is fine.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

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

Coleto Creek 4/16/2012 – A tough weather morning.

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Redfishlaw

Sorry I have not posted in a few days, but I have been gone the last 4 days.  Headed to Oklahoma City to see my daughter, son-in-law, and grand baby Mia.  We had a great time, went to a Thunder game, and spent some good time with them.  We were lucky, there was a tornado in Norman, right down the road, but luckily we only had high wind, big rain, and a little hail.  Of course I had to stop at Bass Pro.

I just do not have enough stuff.  You all know how that is! 

But on to this morning.  When I got ready to leave this morning there were lots of clouds, and the wind was blowing pretty good.  At the ramp, the first thing I noticed is the lake is still coming up, which is a great thing.  I ended up staying there for a little while as there was thunder in the distance.  After a little it ended, so I headed to the coves behind the big island.

The wind was out of the east, and those were calm, so I started with a Lunker Lure buzzbait.  I caught one on my third cast, and for the next hour or so they bit fairly well.  Then here came lots of thunder with lightning in the distance, so back to the ramp I went to wait it out.  After a half hour it seemed to settle down so I headed back out, only to have a real scorcher hit fairly close, so back in I went.

It rained off and on all morning, and so I settled down with a cup of coffee and made sure there was no further lightning.  There are just no fish worth getting your butt blown off.  After I got back out I continued to throw the buzzbait, and though they slowed down somewhat, I just can not resist when it is cloudy.  I managed to catch this one, and probably only 1 or 2 more like it.

This was about the size of it for today as far as good fish (and I use the term lightly) went.

 I probably stayed with the buzzbait a little to long this morning.  I did pick up the swim jig and caught 3 on it, but was just not feeling it.  But no matter what, the fish were coming out of the green grass.  And they were “green” so you can tell they are spending lots of time there.

The better places had grass out in about 5′, and most of them came right on it.  Several tried to eat it at the boat, so I slowed down and my hook up percentage went up.  As the weather was still lingering, and as the weatherman was calling for more storms late, I decided to give it up for the day.  So my total for the day was about 15 on buzzbait, but not that good one I was hoping for, and 3 on swim jig.  Tomorrow is another day.

So what will tomorrow bring?  I am not to sure right now.  I should be hearing from my brother, and possibly Ronnie, as we have been talking about maybe Baffin the next couple of days.  It looks like the weather is going to clear out, and they are not calling for a lot of wind, so either way it will be off to the Gulf somewhere.

Again, thanks for reading my stuff.  I am trying to keep up with the reports, get in the fishing time, and try to have a life to go along with it.  But as everyone who knows me will tell you, the fishing comes first.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

 

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

Port O’Connor – angry birds.

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Redfishlaw

My friend Chris called and wanted to hit POC for the day so we decided to hit it early.  His significant other ordered up some fish for a fish fry, so the pressure was on.  Our initial plan was to leave Charlie’s and head over to the fish pond area for some trout and reds.

As we passed Big Bayou and headed up the cut and rounded the corner in to the bay, there on the  backside of Bill Day’s reef, the birds were going nuts.  Now Chris had seen them the week before in the same area, and I have seen them there lots of times, so we stopped.  One of the things that happens in our area is many times there are enough gafftops and lady fish to make stopping not worth the effort.  Well that was definitely not the case.

From about 7:30 until we left them at 9:30 they bit like a son of a gun.  Now lots were small schoolies, but some were not.  We caught fish for over an hour before I finally put on the head cam.  I did not edit this video, there are 2 clips joined just as I shot it.  And I did leave my screw ups in there for your viewing pleasure.

We caught fish and caught fish.  What color, it did not matter, as long as it was plastic and it hit somewhere around the birds.  I was using the 4″ red with a pearl belly that I have been having luck with since last winter, and Chris threw a 5″ chicken on a chain paddle tail.  Many of them hit it the minute it hit the water, and some times even if you missed them another one would grab it.  By time we decided to move on, we had put 10 keepers in the boat.  How many did we end up catching there, I do not have a clue, but it was truly non-stop action the whole time we were there.

Remember folks, when you see bird action like that, do not drive right up to them.  If you have a trolling motor, ease it in the water and ease the boat over close to them.  No trolling motor, get up wind and make the perfect drift close to them.  If you will stay out off them, they will stay up longer, but all it takes is some one to drive right through them to end the party.

So now it was off to Fish Pond.  We headed to the back with hopes of catching a redfish on a spinnerbait, but had no luck.  In fact we saw very little activity back there.  We moved out to the mouth and started a drift where the power lines cross and headed down the right side.  We managed to put 2 nice ones in the box, along with a couple of small ones.  One of those came on the chicken on a chain, and one on Rage Shrimp on a popping cork.

Chris with a couple of nice ones. 

After that we headed to Big Pocket via Mule Slough.  We drifted all the way out from the marsh and only managed to put a few small trout in the boat.  Again we tried  for reds without success.  So next, it was out to Josephine Shoreline for a little wading.  We only had 2 bites there wading, but in my case what a bite it was.

I was still throwing that 4″ red/pearl paddle tail when I caught a keeper after throwing way out on some grass.  The next cast I had one hit it the minute it hit the water.  It was by far the biggest trout I have caught in a couple of years, easily 6+.  Now it was decision time, 2 great fish on 2 casts, so I did not want to wade back to the boat to get the camera for a picture.  Turned out to be the wrong choice.  I had her in the net and was putting the stringer on her when she jumped out of the net, with the stringer in her mouth.  She took off and I was able to grab the float and pull it in, and she got off.  Now she was headed back anyway, but I sure did want a picture.  Oh well, stuff happens!

We finished up the day fishing the back way out of Pringle, and boxed a couple more, and caught a couple of short reds.  We then made a pass through Army Hole and caught about 4 or 5, with one more making the box.  At that point we decided to call it a day.

14 or 15 destined to feed Chris’s extended family.

It turned out to be a tail of 2 stories.  First the birds working them over on the backside of Bill Day’s Reef was awesome.  They seemed to move back and forth across the channel and as long as you stayed just off them it was easy pickin’s.  The rest of the day was more of a hunt and peck day.  We tried a few places we had not fished before, and while we did not hit the mother load, we learned alot.  When you head out for a day of fishing, especially in an area as big as the POC area, try to fish at least one new place everytime you go.  Not only will you expand your fishing area, you will also learn alot more about fish movements.

Again I would like to thank you for reading my stuff.  I try to keep it interesting and a little different from the normal fishing site.  So keep those cards and letters coming.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

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

Indianola and Powderhorn Lake – early morning wade. 4/8/2012.

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Redfishlaw

I am not really that big on fishing the weekends, especially the holidays.  I prefer to let the folks have them who can’t fish during the week, 1 less truck and trailer at the ramp adding to the confusion.  But yesterday was on of those days where I had nothing to do, and the wife was working, so I decided on a short wade in Powderhorn Lake.

What a beautiful morning it was.  Dead calm on arrival I was pretty sure it was going to be a topwater kinda morning.  I headed out of the marina following the stakes and ran back to the left side of Powderhorn Lake.  The area I like to fish is just above the pond about halfway back.  There is a stake marking an oyster bar that is directly behind the old platform, and you can see a small high bank right down from it.

I eased in quietly and jumped over the side.  I started with a blue and white Heddon Spook Jr., the one with the feather on the back hook that my friend Aaron showed me, and was rewarded with a fish on my second cast.  Over the next hour or so I only managed to catch 8 or so, with one small red.

Now there is a an oyster bar there that usually holds a fish or two on high tide, and you can usually find them around it somewhere.  And the bottom is nice and hard, making it an easy wade.  So I worked it over pretty good, and then waded around the area with a few other bites on the topwater, when of course the wind came up.  So now it was time for the popping cork.  I have caught several fish the last week or two using a Strike King Rage Shrimp about 20″ below the cork.  So why not give that a try?  It is a good alternative when the wind is blowing.

I managed to catch around another 8 trout as the wind picked up, but combined with the tide, it started muddying the water up.  That is one thing to remember there, if the wind blows on it, it will muddy up quick.  So I went ahead and threw a white plastic for a little while without much success.  So off I went to the pond just past where I was wading.

I have had some real success in that pond in the past, but had not been in there in a while.   On low tide it takes a real shallow draft to get in there, but it holds redfish pretty consistently.  In the water went the trolling motor, and I headed in on the left hand bank throwing that Redfish Majic.  As the tide was now way up, I was able to fish the whole thing, including the small creek in the back.  Now usually that is an almost sure thing for those reds.  But not today.

I did have a couple of “bumps” which I thought were flounder so I stopped and threw the popping cork around the old duck blind on the mud flat, thinking the flounder might be there.  Only one small trout came over the side, so back to the spinnerbait I went.  I fished the whole pond and headed out throwing it down the left side going out when I had one whack it.  After a great tussle over the side she came.

 Nice 30″ redfish.  It is hard to get a 30″ redfish in the picture when you are the one holding the camera at arms length, and you are only 68″ long yourself!

It was getting a little after noon, and since I had only one bite on spinnerbait over the 1 1/2 hours, I decided to call it a day.  The Powderhorn has plenty of trout, though I have noticed that the ones in the front of the lake are bigger than the ones in the back.  I guess about a third of the ones I caught would have measured had I been keeping them.  But no matter, there are fish in the lake right now, and if you have not fished the Powderhorn put it on your list.  And if you want to read a little more about Powderhorn Lake go to my Fish Catching Travel section in the header and read about access to the Powderhorn.

Good Luck and Tight Lines. 

 

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

Port O’Connor, Texas. Popping Cork and Wade Fishing.

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Redfishlaw

Wednesday 4/4/2012

I was lucky enough to get to fish 2 days in POC this Wednesday and Thursday.  Thursday I headed out by myself with the intention of catching a few redfish and then some trout.  The day dawned calm, and stayed that way all day until the storm came.  So my compliments to the weather man, he was right on with the wind for once.

I started throwing a spinnnerbait in the grass in the Big Bayou area on the back side of Bill Daves Reef.  The only thing I can say is it was not successful, so it was time for a change.  It was about 8:30 so I eased out into the west side of Barroom Bay in front of the last, and only house, with a pier in the bay.  What a great choice, there were literally rafts of bait everywhere with trout obviously working them.  It is really true right now, if you see a bunch of bait stop and fish.

Basically I threw everything in the box, including topwater with no success until I finally picked up the popping cork.  Over the next hour or so I managed to catch about a dozen, of which 5 or so were good ones.  I was using a Rage Tail Saltwater Series shrimp tail in white with a chartuese tail.  It turned out to be the bait of the day.  After they slowed down I started moving around and managed to find another bunch in a drain emptying off of the reef.

Thoser trout were a little better and I decided to put a few in the box for supper.

Before and………………….

After!

I caught another dozen in the mouth of the drain as the water moved off the reef.  Remember to always make a few throws to that situation.  As bait follows the tide in those spots, the trout often set up waiting for an easy meal.  The trout there were way off it, and the best result was casting to the edge of the moving water in the cut and letting the cork float down the break.  When it was just right they would eat it.

And a few words on the popping cork.  They are a great simple tool for folks who are not the best fishermen.  It is usually a matter of getting the depth of the bait below the cork right, and I like 18″ to 2′.  And when you use it, be sure to think about what you are doing.  For example, pop it and let it rest for a 5 count then pop it again.  Then try a 4 count before you jerk, but keep varying it until you get a bite.  And vary the pop, sometimes they like it jerked hard and violent, the next day they may want a small pop.

Then try to make sure you keep that up.  It is just a matter of finding the way to get them to eat it.  The trout will tell you how they want it if you listen to them.  And one thing I have learned is that the bite usually comes in the first few pops, and I usually never pop it all the way to the boat.  So for me it is pop it halfway back, and then reel it back in and do it again.

At about 2:00 there was thunder in the distance, and I could see the clouds moving in.  Not sure which way it was heading I decided to call it a day, which turned out to be a great choice.  After loading the boat at Froggies I headed home.  As I crossed the bridge in the back of the Powderhorn it started pouring, and boy was the lightning something.  In fact I saw it appear to hit the ground several times.  And then I witnessed something I have never seen before, huge puffs of smoke.  Even though it was raining, there was actually large puffs of smoke after the strike.  I can only imagine what that would do to you with a rod in your hand.

When I got back to Victoria it was clear and beautiful, but I was sure glad I called it a day.  As I was cleaning the boat I got a text from my friend Chris wanting to fish the next day, so why not?  So we made plans to go back to POC and do some red fishing and then some wading for trout.

POC  4/5/2012

The next moring Chris was wanting to catch some reds, so off to the grass banks in Big Bayuo to throw the Strike King Redfish Magic.  As you all know it is my bait of choice to catch redfish, and I like it just like I like spinnerbait fishing for bass.  We simply threw it to the grass  and moved it at a moderate speed. One thing about that bait, when they hit it, they eat it, and they do not usually come off.

I managed to catch 2 and he caught one.  As he wanted a few for the freezer in the box they went.

 Headed for the freezer.

As we only had these 3 bites, it was time for a change.  I headed to the Oil Cut near the Coast Guard station where we caught some trout last time.  They were not in the small cuts this time, but were on any point along the cut.  We were throwing plastics, and I stuck with the white.  Most that we caught there were small, and even though we caught about 10 or so, only one was a keeper.  So time to move, and to wade.

We headed around the old Coast Guard ruins to fish the large flat right around the corner.  As we rounded the corner the birds were working hard.  We anchored and jumped in and started catching them.  I managed several good ones, and had a really nice one break my line.  Chris caught several, but he forgot his net, and manged to have several get away.  He also had a couple get away when he went to string them, just one of those moments we all have on occasion.

I ended up with 4 good ones on the stringer and Chris strung 1.  As I had a rod with no mark on it I know I threw several back that would measure, so the keepers were good ones, that there was no need to measure.

That flat had lots of bait, and at times we could even see the trout slashing them.  It was a good run, we just would work to the area the pelicans were diving and there they were.  Most of the trout were in about 3 foot of water, at least the ones we were catching.  I stayed with the white sand eel type, Chris alternated with other baits.  Just to let you know, Chris was using a lot of 5″ and I used a little smaller.  Seemed the bigger fish came on the smaller baits that day.

Here are the baits I threw today.  The white was the most consistent, but I caught the biggest fish of the day later on the bottom bait.  And the Chicken on the Chain color on the third bait was also consistent, and was the color we used on the spinnerbait.

After the bite slowed down there, and believe me they were not done, it was time for another move.  We headed back to Barroom Bay to the back side of the intercoastal.  One of my favorite spots is the long bank on that side.  I stopped in front of the large orange Condo and in the water we went.

Chris in the water in Barroom.  Just to show you, we never got any shallower than that, in fact we got chest deep and threw it as far as we could and most of them were in 4 – 5 foot of water.  And notice in the background the stilt houses in Big Bayuo.

On about my fifth cast this girl came.

 

A CPR.  Not sure how big, but I will take one like this any day! 

This fish hit the 4″ paddle tail.  It seemed that they were eating the smaller baits, and those that hit the 5″ seemed to come off more often.  At this point I was letting it sink almost all the way to the bottom, then hopping it twice and letting it fall, and they would smack it.  We caught fish there consistently for about 2 hours.  By time we quit we were way off the bank throwing way out to get them.  I had 2 stretches where I went 3 for 3, then 3 for 4.  It was a pretty good run and we never got that far from the boat.

One of the things I did not get to do today was throw that topwater.  There is tons of floating grass right now, which was to bad as the fish on the flat by the old ruins were shallow and active, a perfect combination for that topwater.

So all in all a good day.  I enjoyed fishing with Chris, the fish cooperated, and the weather was great.  We accomplished his goal which was some redfish.  We caught trout in the three places we tried, and nothing broke.  There were a couple of lessons today, first do not forget your net if you are wading, and second, make sure you have your rod marked so you know what keeps.  That really is not the big a deal if you don’t care how many you keep, but if you are after a fish fry be sure you have a way to measure them.

So it is time to really start wading.  We waded wet and the water was fine.  So if you get a chance head to the coast.  The fishing is good right now, and the weather is great.  And thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

 

 

 

 

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

Weekly Coleto Creek Trip – you can still catch a good one shallow.

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Redfishlaw

After watching the weather I decided last night to go to Coleto Creek today.  About 4:30 a pretty good storm blew through and woke me up.  The alarm rang at 5:30 and I immediately looked outside, it was raining lightly, so I called up the weather radar which showed the worst was by and headed to Houston.

I got to the lake about 7:30, a slow start, and headed up to one of my favorite places to start, the coves right past the bridge.  I figured buzzbait was a good choice early, and I started off with it.  I caught 4 or 5 in those couple of coves, nothing big, but they were aggressive.  So next it was up lake even further.

Once you round the bend and head up the “river” it starts to get off colored.  I was not sure that they would hit it in that water, but they were cooperative up there.  I fished the right side going up and ended up catching 8 or 10 with  a couple of good ones.  There were several like this one, but just could not get the big one to bite.  A little clearing and it will be game on.  It takes a lot of time to download and edit clips, so I am keeping them short.  So here is one for the fun of it.

As you head up it gets muddier and muddier.  So  I eased back down to the large cove on the left, the last one up there, and managed only 2 in there.  But as usual, the big gator who lives there was cruising around, and for some reason I did not get a bite on the bank he was on.  I have always wondered if it makes a difference or not, but it seems to.

The sun was out full blast now so I decided to fish that swimming jig way up in the muddy water.  It was really chocolate way up, but I decided to give it a go anyway.  I managed to catch 3 up there swimming it.  The bites were not in cover, who needs cover when the water is the color of mud.  1 was small, 1 was ok, and then this one decided to eat it.

I’ll take one like this any day.

The last few trip to Coleto have shown me one thing, while fishing is good, the real nice fish have come swimming and flipping the jig.  And for me, the black/blue had definitely been the best.  Also, the better fish are coming where there is some color to the water.  It seems like when it is real clear, as the lower end is right now, the jig is not the bait of choice.  And of course for me that means a buzzbait right now.

At this point the wind was blowing like mad, they said 20 -30 mph, and they were right.  It always puzzles me that when they forecast 5 – 10 they are always wrong, but when it is 20+ they always get it right, of well, we take what we are given and do the best with it we can.  So I decided to head to another cove and continue buzzbait fishing.

I managed about 5 or so more, but just could not catch another good one.  I hit one more cove and the same results, small ones.  This was one of those days when I should have fished something different, but at this point the wind was blowing hard, and I just did not have it in me.  So I decided to call it a day early, something I usually do not do, but with plans to fish at least 2 or 3 more days this week, it is not like I have to fish until I drop.

Coleto is clearly on the rise, looks like at least another foot in the lake.  It is setting up nicely with all the green grass surrounding the shoreline that is about to be covered.  I also notice that when I threw the Strike King KVD 1.5 I was catching nice new grass which has really taken off.  As the lake slowly rises and covers the grass it is about to be good.  I have heard some good reports on plastics in 10 -15 feet, and that will be coming on strong as we head to summer.  But the great thing about Coleto, there is always multiple ways to catch fish, and that is why I love to fish it.  And of course my biggest problem is, I love to watch them smack it.

So thanks for stopping by.  I really appreciate all of you who do.  I wish I could answer all of your comments but it has just become to many  to manage.  I never thought in my wildest dreams that we would have such a huge readership.  But never the less, keep those comments and suggestions coming, I read them all.  And if there is something you would like me to add, or write about, drop me a line.  So if this crazy March wind will die it is off to the coast tomorrow.  I owe those trout one!

And one last word, you will see me with the buff on everyday now.  After a trip to the dermatologist I have the pleasure of burning off several layers of pre-cancerous skin and am supposed to stay out of the sun for 2 weeks.  So it is 85 spf and a buff covering my whole face for the time being.  So wear your sunscreen, it may save you the $800 for the medicine, a burnt face, and maybe even worse.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

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April 1, 2012 – a few random thoughts and an old Falcon video.

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Redfishlaw

Well spring is finally truly here.  It is hot, the trees are all budded, the mosquitoes are out, and I am having to mow the lawn to much for this early.  But there are side benefits of course.  The fish are biting every where, and the bay is warm enough to wet wade, which is on tap this week.  There are good bay reports coming from most places right now.  There is still some off colored water is some places, and of course the wind is on it’s 25 mph rampage right now, but there are trout and reds to be caught.

And locally, most, but not all, the bass have spawned, and it is time to find the big girls resting on the points and channel turns off the main spawning coves.  But there are still lots of our fish shallow in area lakes, setting up my favorite time of year, how do you like to catch them?  This time of year you can catch them shallow, especially early and late, you can flip if you like, or you can target the bigger fish deeper who are post spawn.  So no matter what your preference, now is the time to be on the water.

I thought I would share this video with you from last year on Falcon Lake.  Sorry there is no audio, but the little guy in the front of the boat kept using the “f” word.  But I guess that is what happens when you break  8lbs twice in one day and add a 9’3″ to the mix.  What a trip that was!

So there you have it, I wasn’t to excited!

I am excited about the coming week.  There will be some flippin and pitching, and then some Gulf.  It will be one of those decisions made solely based on the wind.  And while the wind won’t stop me, it will tell me where each day, but no matter what I am headed to do some wading.  After my last trip to the Gulf it is time to make up for a couple of bad days where I made some bad choices.  The best thing is it can only go up from there.

So until next time, which should be tomorrow night and several other nights this week, thanks for reading my stuff.  I appreciate everyone who stops by, and I love getting your comments and suggestions.  We are currently looking into live broadcasts from the boat, which should be a real trip.  And I intend to broadcast a video fishing report from whatever sources I can find  every Thursday.  Thanks for stopping!

Good Luck and Tight Lines!

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Fayette County – another good day to be fishing.

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Redfishlaw

My brother Jeff called Tuesday night and asked if I wanted to meet him at Fayette County Lake the next morning.  Of course I said yes.  For those of you that do not know, Fayette is a power plant lake just east of LaGrange, Texas.  Around 2,500 hundred surface acres, it is a great little lake.  It has lots of grass beds, both deep and shallow, and many areas are lined with reeds.  It has a 14 -24″ slot, which means there are lots of bass, and one of the things we like about it is that it often allows you to fish several ways successfully.  Many people fish deep as it has depths to 70 feet, we like it because you can fish shallow much of the year, and that was the pattern of the day.

We started off fishing shallow running Shad Raps, a bait that has been highly successful for us on Fayette in the spring.  Shad is the major forage, so it is a good crankbait/jerkbait lake.  We started in the Park Prairie Park cove.  As we headed down the first bank we just struck out.  And I mean not a bite.  But there was lots of action in the reeds, and so the logical choice was to hit them.  So we eased in and went to pitching.

We started catching them on Swimming Jigs, at least till I lost the only 1/4 oz. I had, and then I switched to a craw with a 1/4 oz. Texas rig, Jeff stayed with the jig.  They bit pretty consistently on almost any bank with reeds.  Most of the bites came right on the outside edge, though some were farther back in.  As Jeff only brought regular rods, it was a little tough for him, but it worked out.

Jeff’s first good one pitching a jig.  Nothing like your first attempt at it!

While I probably caught 8 to 10, and he caught 5 or 6, the jig was clearly the better choice.  The craw got bit quite a bit more, but the results were not as good.  When he caught one on the jig it was a good one, and he managed several like this, where I only caught one in that category.  But either way, they were in the reeds tight to cover.  And you would feel very few of them actually hit it, it was simply weight, and often they would swim with it.  Neither of us is that accomplished at pitching or flipping, but today they taught us a lesson.  That pattern should continue for awhile, until the majority head for deeper weeds and drops.

We did not even cover a small portion of the available reeds, but it was time to do some jerking and cranking.  I started off with the shallow running Shad Rap, and Jeff threw a Rogue Jr. in a funny orange color.   I was reeling the Shad Rap at a moderate speed, and when they did hit it, they whacked it, there was no missing them. We caught maybe 10, but the jerk bait was winning.  Not only did he catch some, he had several try to take the rod out of his hands.

After a while he made the right choice, switching to the smaller 2 hook Rapala Husky Jerk in the chrome with a black back.  They really liked that, and he caught several good ones, lost a big one, and had another real hoss follow it right to the boat.  I meanwhile threw the book at them, including spinnerbait, deep diving crankbait, a tilapia color Rogue Jr.  (they are spawning all over the lake, Jeff foul hooked a big one), and a few other assorted baits trying to see if they would hit anything else.  One side note, there are so many shad in the lake right now that we were foul hooking them frequently.  But one thing was clear, if there were shad in the area you got bit immediately.

I finally gave in and threw that 2 hook Husky Jerk, and boy am I glad I did.  I got it halfway back to the boat, where most of the better ones came, and I felt one really thump it.

You could not see the Husky Jerk it was so far down her mouth.  There is nothing like a big fish eating a jerk bait with bad intentions.

We were staying off the bank about a cast and a half.  And then jerking it along at a moderate rhythm in a jerk/jerk – pause – jerk – pause, and do it all over again.  Many of the banks on Fayette have grass beds off the bank, and I assume most of the better ones were coming out of the grass in 5 – 10 feet to eat it.    Points in the coves were clearly the best for us today. And one word on the smaller jerk bait like the Husky Jerk, it works best on 10 or 12 lb line.  Be sure to watch how it flashes by the boat to get the best action.  You are trying to simulate a dying or injured shad.

It was now about 4:30 so it was time to put the camera on my head and do a little filming.  With about 2 hours of record time and daylight left it was the perfect time.  I was hoping to get a good one on film but it did not happen.  Less than a half hour later here  comes the rain.  And off in the distance it was starting to thunder, so as discretion is the better part of valor, we quit.  So here is a short clip of one of the couple of small ones I caught in the last half hour right before we quit.  It will give you an idea of how we were using it.

So all in all a good day.  When you have a set of conditions and a lake that allows you to establish several good patterns it is a thing of beauty.  If you get a chance to head to Fayette give this a try.  Patience is the key,  but if you will stay with it you just might get that big bite.

And a side note, there was an area south of Hallettsville headed to Victoria where it must have rained a ton.  There was a trooper with his lights on, the ditch was full, and water had been on the highway.  The little creeks in that area were hauling, so maybe we will get a break in the drought.

Again, thanks for reading my stuff.  I appreciate it every time you come to my blog.  We try to give you real information and accurate reports.  So if you have any comments or suggestions let me know.

Good Luck and Tight Lines.

 

 

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Tilapia and some bass.

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Redfishlaw

My friend Aaron has a new job and is headed back to east Texas so we thought we would get in one more day of it before he heads out.  After whacking them on the Strike King Swimming Jig the last time we headed up lake to the last place we got them.

Once we got way up lake it was really off colored, which was no big surprise.  I caught a good one on my third cast, and that was the last one we got in the really off colored water.  We headed back to where the color began to clear and managed a few more, nothing big, just enough to keep it interesting.  As we headed down the long bank up the river the Tilapia were spawning everywhere.  One thing Aaron wanted to do was shoot a few, and boy did he.

These were nice big Tilapia, and basically they are spawning all over the lake on any bank that was just a little flatter.  We just eased down the bank and he would spot them and nail them.  He killed at least 10, and we could have killed a hundred if that was the plan for the day.  So folks, if you like to eat them, and shoot them, head to Coleto now.  Pick a bank, and I mean almost any bank and you will see the beds.  So Aaron was wanting some fish tacos, and now he has plenty.  The thing that surprised me was how big they were, and it was interesting to watch him shoot them.  Often they would ease out of the bed and in just a second or two they would poke their head back out, which always was a bad choice.

Of course during this time we would fish, then he would see them a shoot another one or two.  We ended up all the way up the other arm of the lake at the plant just hunting and pecking.  We were throwing that swim jig in the trash on the bank and they were coming out of it.  It interesting that the 10 or so I caught on it I only felt one actually hit.  The rest would just swim with it.  Today the blue seemed to be a little better than the bluegill color we used last time.

We caught a few like this, just could not crack that big one.  I also wanted to show you that jig, a 1/4 oz Swimming Jig with a Rage Chunk.

We also caught 4 or 5 on buzz bait, which we only threw for a little bit.  Aaron had to meet friends for supper so we called it a day at 5:30, just when they were starting up on the buzz bait.  But it was one of those days we got a late start and had to quit early, so I am sure it was the bait of choice early and late.  As the spawn is finishing up the fish are changing.  The grass is really starting to grow off the bottom in most places, and the lake is definitely on the rise.  It should set up some really nice early morning, late evening fishing on Coleto.

But for you bow hunters, hurry up and get to the lake.  The Tilapia have hit the beds in full force, and they are big.  If you want to put some in the freezer now is the time.  I have another buddy who likes to shoot them and I think I will give him a call.  Nothing like catching a few bass and filling the cooler with some good eating.

So thanks for stopping.  And remember to wear your hat and protect yourself with sunscreen.  I have not taken my own advice over the years, and tomorrow I am headed to the dermatologist for some “things” on my face.  So I am sure I will pay for my mistake, so don’t you.  Be safe out there, we only get a few days in our life to fish.

Good Luck and Tight Lines. 

 

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