FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

“SAVE OUR WATERS”

*******************

The Wade Right Fishing Belt

Brought to you by

The Best Wading System on the  Planet.

After Mondays post I got this comment from Jeramie.

I was on the lake today as well! I hit the water around three and by 5:30 i had caught 20-30 bass all on crankbait. Ive never tried trolling but after reading your post i think im gonna try it. I ended up with a nice crappie and one of the biggest white bass ive caught on coleto. Keep up the good work on keeping me informed on coleto. Today was first time ive fished it in months

First thanks for the comment and kind words.  I love it when folks send them, it lets me know you are all are out there.  And what makes it even more interesting, the last couple of days as I am trolling it is running through my mind – crankbait.  And though I did not throw it any, just trolled, it will be first up tomorrow.  Clouds and big wind, should be perfect for crankbait so thanks for the tip.  So as I prepare this the night before I reminded – Sometimes when you are fishing listen to the little voice in your head, unless it is telling you to break your rods and jump in the lake when it is going badly.  Nice job on the bass.  Go to the top of the page and click on techniques, there is a new post on trolling for whites.  Good luck, and if you give it a go let us know.

Weather 

62/79.  Mostly cloudy, breezy, and very warm.  25% chance of rain.  Wind SSE 15 – 25 mph.

Lake Level

One Year Ago  98.28 msl!   Tuesday  94.22 msl.  Today  94.17 msl.  (Down over 4 feet since last year and the decline continues.)

Activity Periods

Major 10:34 am to 12:34 pm. Minor  2:28 pm to 3:28 pm.

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The new Knockin Tail Lures are coming soon.  

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Wind, wind, and more wind!

This was a big girl!  The watermelon red stick worm strikes again.

Can you say windy?  It was blowing pretty hard when I dropped the boat in the lake, and it continued to pick up until it achieved “my” critical mass.  But time I finally gave it up it was an easy 25 mph+ with higher gusts.  And coming from the SE there was not many places to get out of it, and most of those were not the “right” place.

Starting up lake fishing a crankbait parralell on channel banks it took me an hour to catch a bass, and it was not much.  The first one hit a DT10 Rapala crankbait.  The wind was pounding right up river and right on where I had been catching them.  So I kept after the crankbait as the wind blew me along until I was almost where they were biting so time to switch to trolling.  To make a long story short, 6 jumped on trolling.  And of those 6 not a one even made me want to get the camera out.  And they were just scattered at that.  So time for one more stretch of crankbait so switched to a 1.5 square bill which only produced one really small bass.

Then anther boat came up and basically fished the same stuff, who knows, maybe a reader.  If it was sorry about that but the wind clearly changed things.  They were just not there like they were Tuesday.  It only took an hour and a couple of passes to get sick of that so time for a change to the swim jig.  And of course caught a small one on my first cast, and then it took over an hour to get my next bite.  It was a little surprising that they were back in a cove, but with the water temp 63 up lake they could be anywhere.  Then as I passed a tree top I tossed the stick worm into it and wham, fish on.  And as you can see from the pic above it was a real one and turned a marginal day into a success.  Winter fishing is inconsistent at times, tough to figure out occasionally, but it does produce some big fish.

A nutria, or one big swimming rat!

After catching the good one I only had one more bite over the next hour, and with the wind howling at this point it was just no fun.  So at 1:00 I tapped out and headed to the ramp.  I was first out this morning and there were 2 boats taking out at the ramp when I got there.  The only other boat was fishing the hot water discharge, where several big strings have been caught lately, and is always an option on any power plant lake.  Other than the couple at the ramp I only saw 2 boats when I was fishing all 3 days this week.  Not sure if that is a function of the fishing or the new $17 entrance fee.  As you know I opposed it, but it looks like one side affect is I have had it to myself.

Looks like this wind will not quit and is expected to blow 30 mph again tomorrow and into Saturday.  There were small craft warnings on the coast, and will be again tomorrow,  rightly so.  It really was humping along today and when the hassle outweighed the fun time to call it a day.  So tomorrow will be a get my stuff together day, new line, check boxes, organize the boat and baits in preparations for another 3 or 4 day fishing next week.    The weather includes clouds and the possibility of some showers, and the wind will be ok.  But they are forecasting a record high in the low 80’s Wednesday.  This has been one crazy winter.  Have a good weekend and if you get out on the water be nice, be safe, and catch em’.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

“SAVE OUR WATERS”

*******************

The Wade Right Fishing Belt

Brought to you by

The Best Wading System on the  Planet.

As I was trolling along today I thought about how much I like trolling.  Whether on the open ocean fishing for sails or marlin, crankbaits for white bass, or gigantic baits for muskie, stripers, it has always kept my attention.  I guess it is just the anticipation and not really knowing what is coming next.  And today was a perfect example of that.  And for you folks who think trolling is just dragging crap around you could not be more wrong.  It is a technique like any other method to catch fish.  Depth, color, speed, location, just like any other technique there is a way to do it, and if done right puts fish in the boat.

Weather 

37/67.  Sunny with a 4% chance of rain.  Wind  NNE 10 – 15mph.  (Small cold front blowing in.)

Lake Level

Yesterday  94.22 msl.  Today  94.21 msl.  (The slow but steady dropping lake level.)

Activity Periods

Major 8:50 am to 10:50 am.  Minor  2:28 pm to 3:28 pm.

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The new Knockin Tail Lures are coming soon.  

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The wind was blowing 15 mph right out of the north when I dropped the boat in at 8:30.  It had cold front written all over it.  Not sure how much farther the lake can fall but it is coming down and the changes are really apparent every day.  First was up lake to hit a couple of spots and then check on the white bass.  Little did I know that after catching 4 on plastics it would be another 24 trolling.  I love this time of year.

The boys are back just waiting on the girls.

With the wind blowing fairly hard out of the north and a mile high sky I managed to come to the right conclusion.  At times in early spring when the whites move up they go to the softer banks, mud, clay, that hold the heat and are out of the wind as much as possible.  I think it probably has more to do with the shad.  Still running a shallow Shad Rap on 10lb line that gets about 4 1/2 foot deep, and the smaller Shad Rap with a bill that runs about 7 foot, and both caught fish.  Trolling about 2.5 mph, it was best right on the edge of the river channel.

2 of the 4 crappies.

They are not as far up as usual, a combination of the white bass hoard is not there yet and the falling water, which is leaving the “good spot” less that 5 feet deep.  Once I figured out the depth, 6 was good, with a few out of the channel in 10ft+, it was consistent.  While not fast by any means these fish are the vanguard, it will only get better.   The bank I was fishing was as protected as it could be from the north wind and fairly calm.  You could occasionally see a shad flip, and of the 24 I caught trolling about half could be seen on the locator.  I like that, see fish, then a little while later whap!

Best of 4 on plastics.  And of the 9 bass trolling this was a good one.

I kept after it until about 3:00 and ended up catching 10 whites, 9 bass, 4 crappies, and one gar trolling.  It is so close to “on” that with the good cold front we have coming, and the next moon, it will be as good as it gets on Coleto.  The white bass are never all that big on the lake, which is puzzling.  The numbers are usually ok, but of all the places I have caught them Coleto just does not have the jumbos.  It is not the Nueces River by any means.   And speaking of that I will be headed that way in a month, or sooner depending on the reports.

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Got the new Bass Pro Master Cataloge and there is nothing particularly new worth mentioning.  They send this one and that one, which I look at a couple of times, save all year, and then in the trash they go.  I rarely buy anything out of the cataloge, usually at the store.  Now if there is something I like a lot and it turns up on the Bargain Cave, maybe, but I like to put my hands on stuff before I buy.

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Tomorrow is installing the new stove.  Then the weather looks like it might go to crap, with high winds forecast.  And once that passes it will be back on the water.  The year is starting off with a bang and the next couple of months will be the usual epic.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

“SAVE OUR WATERS”

*******************

The Wade Right Fishing Belt

Brought to you by

The Best Wading System on the  Planet.

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This guy hangs around a trail were the hogs come down to drink.

This year started off with a bang.  Not because of the numbers, but every once in a while you get a “real” bite.  It has been years since I caught a flathead and today a nice one jumped on.  They are basically live bait eaters and I guess I hopped the plastic just right because he smoked it.

Weather

50/70.  Times of sun and clouds with a 2% chance of rain.  Wind  S 5 – 15 mph.

Lake Level

11 days ago  94.31 msl.  Today  94.22 msl.  (The slow but steady dropping lake level.)

Activity Periods

Major 8:05 am to 10:05 am.  Minor  1:52 pm to 2:52 pm.

That was a tussle.

*********************

The new Knockin Tail Lures are coming soon.  

*********************

The water temp was 62 at the ramp when I put in, the fog was lifting, and the wind was dead calm.  The drop continues, and as I have not fished there in a couple of weeks it was real evident how far the lake has dropped.  There was only 2 plans today, first was to check and see if the white bass are there yet, then try some new places.  I got both done.  First was up lake to pitch to a couple of good places, then troll for white bass.  While it is a little early, they are coming.

A couple of nice ones.  Stick worm and Pit Boss.

The Bass were not having it early so I started trolling.  The area the white bass normally go is now only in the 6 foot range and after trolling with Shad Raps I finally got a couple of bites farther down the creek.

Not big but telling.

I spent more time doing that than I should have but did not want to miss them if they were farther down.  Making a couple of passes about a mile long, from 4 foot out to 15 foot the only bites were quite a bit farther down than normal, which  I suppose may be a function of the water level.  So while they did not add up to much it won’t be long and every time I am out I will check them because I love catching them in the spring.  And you never know, crappie and bass hit the Shad Rap so something is usually tugging on the end of the line.

The wind came up and from then on it was hunt and peck.  They would not touch a spinner bait, a couple jumped on the bl/bl swim jig, the others all came on either a stick worm or the Pit Boss.  And I finally fished a white swim jig but not a touch.  Next time it will be back to the bluegill colored one as even in plastics dark colors has been best.  But the Pit Boss has been the most consistent for me and will get bit almost any bank you fish.

The best bass for the day.

For me the wood is still the ticket, but of course not all the wood.  And with the water dropping which piece of cover has fish changes each trip as things  get shallower.  Over the rest of the morning until I quit at 3:00 it was same old, same old, a bite here, a bite there.  Then one thumped it pretty hard and when I set the hook it felt like it was caught on some brush, and then it started moving.  It was real apparent it was a big fish so I took it easy, kept it out of trouble, and then put the Boga to it.  Flatheads are one cool fish.  Huge mouth, they love live bait.  I had a run a few years ago in Arkansas where I caught quite a few one summer on crankbait, though most were small.  It sure was fun catching a big fish no matter the flavor.

So not a bad day, just real spotty.  This warm weather is not helping things along, and when combined with the ongoing drop it is just not “spring” yet.  If the water temps stays in the 60’s, 61 was the lowest I saw and it warmed though out the day, we might have an early spawn.  And the white bass are probably a little confused but the next moon will get things going.  It was around a dozen fish the hard way today, hopefully it will be a little better in the morning.

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For the last 8 years I have done a resolution/plan for the blog in anticipation of the year to come.  Not happening this year.  Of course there are travel plans, new places, and hopefully some new faces.  But there are a couple of goals, but as I get a little older the nature of those goals has changed significantly.  Here is my hope for this year.  Nobody dies, the boat keeps running, and I remember every day on the water is a blessing.  The big adventures we will do this year will take care of themselves, it is the little things that make every day a success.  But most of all the simple plan – Stay happy to be alive and getting to spend it outdoors.   (It has taken me many years to realize the fish will come in spite of my worst efforts.)

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I had a deja vu moment watching Major League Fishing this weekend.  They were on the mighty Bull Shoals Lake and the fishing was good.  The winner was throwing a buzzbait most of the day, I cut my buzzbait teeth on Bull and Norfork, and it brought back tons of memories.  The biggest – When they got ready to take off the comments were “I can see bottom clear as a bell” in what is considered deep water in Texas.  Mid summer it often looked like you could see a dime in 20 foot of water.  And to add to the Bull Shoals moments this week one of my Facebook friends caught the heck out of them there.  Since I am going there early spring it got my blood running.  Throw in a little fly fishing for trout on the White and you have a perfect multi-species trip.

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The only holiday regrets are I was hoping to fish with a couple of folks, one was gone then we were gone, the other I had things to do.  So hopefully that will get remedied fairly soon.  I will be fishing up a storm the next couple of months.  It will be back to the lake tomorrow then Wednesday I have to hang around waiting on the new stove.  And after that it will be back on the water.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

“SAVE OUR WATERS”

*******************

The Wade Right Fishing Belt

Brought to you by

The Best Wading System on the  Planet.

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Talk about 2 different sides to the same trip, this one had it.  The Boss wanted to see Lady Gaga in concert in Las Vegas for her Christmas present, and since it was close to Zion National Park in Utah plans were made.  First up would be Las Vegas.

Now I did not know all that much about Lady Gaga other than a few of her songs and she was in A Star is Born, which I did not watch.  So I had no clue what was coming other than it would be extravagant, and it was.  In fact, it was one of my favorite concerts ever and I am an old (Me.) rock and roll dude.

The Boss was not to excited.

The only description of her I can give is she is freakin’ fierce.  For over 2 hours she rocked, and after attending concerts for over 50 years and seeing the best, it was tear it up rock and roll.  As the Boss described it, “Road warriors on steroids.”  The band rocked, and she literally pounded it out.  I can not tell you how surprised I was.  She added personal comments through out and if I learned one thing about her, besided her musical prowess, she is a good person.  And her “Monsters” as she calls them were in full roar.  Another life lesson, remember to not judge the book by its cover, you just might be wrong.  What a concert and I would go again in a minute.  And then it was off to Zion.

*********************

The new Knockin Tail Lures are coming soon.  

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ZION NATIONAL PARK

It is about 3 1/2 hours from Las Vegas, you actually cross the corner of Arizona on the way, to Springdale Utah, the entrance to the park.  When we got there our first surprise, it was really, and I mean really, busy.  The weather was in the low 30’s at night and 40’s during the day, which combined with the holiday, had folks flooding the park.  And other than a little snow on a bigger mountain range there was none in the park.

We stayed at the Lodge in a cabin inside the canyon.  There was almost no internet, phone, etc, it is one big canyon.  It is so busy that they run a shuttle most of the warmer part of the year to get into the canyon, and if motel and lodge reservations are enough it runs over the holiday.  That meant we could not drive to the end of the canyon, but no problem.  We were there to hike and see the park, and we did just that.

The first morning we hiked a short mile hike, which was rough and high, with cool cliffs and a view to die for.  It was not real tough, but you better be in shape for many of the trails.  Then in the evening we did another mile on a different trail, which went along the Virgin River.  We then did a 3 mile easier hike at daylight the next morning to get some mule deer pics, and that was a real success.  With the varying colors of the cliffs and mountains it made for a sunrise that no picture could do justice.

We also made a long drive out of the park and through the country side to see the rest of the area.  It is cool country, basically high desert, with lots of mule deer.  And the surrounding towns are small, one of those areas you have to want to live there.  But the folks were nice and we enjoyed our stay.  I will say, it was way to busy for us, not a real outdoor experience, unless you like sharing your hike with a 100 of your closets friends.  But we can knock that one of the list.  We have really enjoyed visiting our National parks and will continue to visit new ones as often as we can.

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We had made all of our reservations early like we always do when Frontier Airlines threw us a curve ball.  They moved up our flight back to Austin from noon to 8:00 am, which was a problem being 3 /2 hours away.  So we came up with a plan, we decided to drive to the edge of Nevada and stay in a small casino for New Years Eve.  The lodge did not charge us for leaving a day early, nice of them, so no big deal.  So we did the morning hike and then headed to Mesquite Nevada.  Then we had a brush with greatness.

We check in and head to the bar to have a cold one and play video poker.  It was really crowded so Nancy got a seat and started playing and I was just standing next to her.  I start yacking with the guy next to me, a local, when he goes “Here comes Robert Duval”, which turned out to be a friend of his.  Turning around it really was him.  They chat a second, and he pats my shoulder and then Nancy’s and says hey.  As the Godfather is my favorite movie of all time I just hope my jaw was not hanging open to far as I was speechless.  A brush with greatness.

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There are a few other observations on this trip.  Frontier Airlines is cheaper, but you pay for everything, and the seats do not lean back and give a new meaning to hard.  And the leg room is short, so like all things, you get what you pay for.

And they fly out of Austin at the South Terminal, which reminds me of terminals in Jamaica or the Amazon jungle.  Obviously they are upgrading with all the traffic out of Austin, and the road in is a breeze from this side of town.  And being able to park right across the street was great.  But if you fly on them be sure to look up the South Terminal or you will have a bus ride to it from the main terminal after your ride from parking.

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We stayed at New York New York in Las Vegas, it was very busy being the holidays and there were lots of families in town.  And one of my pet peeves then reared its ugly head.  I just do not believe in taking kids on gambling trips, period.  I have always believed it is a bad idea to have your children thinking gambling areas are places for “family” vacations.  If they want to go down that road later in life fine, but we go to have adult fun, and your kids are not on our schedule.  Plus there is lots of “visual” information that is not the best for kids if you get my drift.  (In fact I saw a new one that was raunchy even by Vegas standards.  Nude Bed Dances.)  But as we headed from the hotel to the concert the door we went out had a disturbing sight.  As kids are not allowed on the gambling floor there were probably 25 kids all sitting on the floor along a wall, waiting.  Just seems wrong.

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One evening we had dinner reservations at Hell’s Kitchen.  Talk about over rated, and super expensive, it definitely is the all time disappointment in fine dining.  It is a big place and they run them through there by the hundreds every night.  It is assembly line cooking, the Boss gave her meal a C and mine was only a little bit better.  To be fair the service was top notch and personal.  We have eaten some fabuous meals in our travels, and this did not even make the top 25, even giving it a break.  When it is all said and done, if you are headed to Las Vegas save your money, all hype and little substance.

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That about does it for this trip.  Overall it was a great time and a great way to end the year. Of course once we got home there was some significant catch up including heading to Lowe’s to buy a  new stove Friday.  Now that we are finally caught up fishing will return to the forefront.

So life goes on, which for me means back to the fishing.  Of course I will be watching the NFL playoffs this weekend and then back at it Monday.  Looks like the weather pattern is going to remain fairly stable and nice even for South Texas this time of year.  Not sure that will get us any closer to “real” winter fishing. but it could bring us an early spring bite as far as the bass are concerned.  And I will be doing the wind watching thing as the Upper Laguna and I have some unfinished business.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

“SAVE OUR WATERS”

*******************

The Wade Right Fishing Belt

Brought to you by

The Best Wading System on the  Planet.

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Another year in the books.  It had it’s highs and lows, some great travel, and I am thankful to be able to share it with you.  While at times it seems it is all about the fish, but that has never been the point with me.  After fishing for decades I have learned a very important point – It is in the doing!  And looking back I did my part.

January

The best big girl of the month and a good start to the year.  This is a real one.

I had a good trip to Falcon but no real giants.  But always an adventure.

Spent several days chasing white bass, one of my favorite spring activities.

And you never know what might jump on when you are trolling.

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February

The white bass continued to bite but the bass were really tough.

 

  But I started catching catfish and that would happen several times this year.

And I made the bay a couple of times and it was good. 

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March

The trout fishing was good at POC.

The bass fishing on the lake sucked and the whites slowly quit.

But I did manage on big girl this month.

We went to Big Bend, our pursuit to see as many animals as possible this year began.

The cactus were in bloom.

Always a great trip!

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April

Falcon Lake fattie!

And a couple of more.  When she is good she is very, very good.

The were biting some on Coleto but it was the beginning of a slow year.

And I caught a couple of lake trout in Montana.

And we saw some cool animals.

*********************

The new Knockin Tail Lures are coming soon.  

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May

Yellowstone with the Wolf Trackers.  One great trip.

Ain’t nothing but a grizzly!

A true bucket list trip.  But there was more to come this year.

The Chandeleur Islands and the Controlled Descent Paddle Shad.  Another great trip with the Wade Right boys!  Can’t wait for this years trip.

The fish just keep on coming.

And there was a catfish explosion on the lake.  Crazy!

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June

And other than a few trips to the bay it was a slow month.

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July

And we were back in Colorado.  The Continental Divide from 11,000 feet.

Hiking with my best friend.

The bass fishing remained slow on the lake but it was still possible to catch a nice one.

Fayette County did not disappoint.

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August

Slow on Coleto but some beautiful sunrises this month.

It was another slow month around here but Fayette coughed up another fattie.

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September

Ocean run salmon from the Columbia River in Oregon.

Astoria Oregon, one cool town.

And the Boss with a Deschutes River rainbow.  It was a good trip to Oregon.

The awesome sunrises continued on Coleto.  The fishing?  Not so much.

But I did manage one good one this month.

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October

Good start to the month.

The fishing on the lake was slowly picking up.

Got to test the new Knockin Tail prototype and in spite of high winds put a bunch in the boat.  It is going to be a killer.

And the winter creek and river bite started.

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November

The Lavaca River turned on.

And the lunatics escaped the asylum for a couple of good days at POC.  Good times with good friends.

And my first real one on my own  fly rod trout fishing in South Fork, Colorado.  Doing it by myself like a big boy.  One good time.

It was an easy dozen the next day.  All browns.

Then the Boss got in on the act on the Thompson while we were visiting Estes National Park.

And the animals in the park cooperated better than we could have hoped for!

And we did a little hiking in the new snow.  This trip was another great outdoor adventure with my buddy.

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December

The lake was still producing the occasional big girl.

And the Controlled Descent Paddle Shad produced my biggest trout this year!

No giant but the lake is finally worth the trip after a slow year.

And we finished the year with a morning hike to the overlook in Zion National Park.

And I never forget how lucky I am to be able to share it all with my best friend.

Zion National Park.

Water soothes my soul and every day I spend in the outdoors is a blessing.  We only get one run at this folks and I never forget how lucky I am.

It is hard to put last year in perspective, and even harder to tell the story in pictures.  My photography skills will never do some of these places real justice. but I try.  As I put this year in the books time to look forward to the next one.

The Chandeleurs is already set, and the then other biggie, back to Africa.  A few days on the Zambezi River chasing the mighty Tiger fish, then off to Uganda to spend two days in the jungle viewing gorillas in the wild.  This trip will be a true bucket list trip but it will not be the only trip in our future.  We are already setting a date for a return to Colorado and more fly fishing.  Falcon is calling me as is my old stomping grounds in Arkansas.  Along with the lakes it will be some fly fishing on the White River.  When I used to guide there I never thought I would be fly fishing the river.

So a big thanks to the Boss for being my best friend and travel agent.  And thanks to those of you who came along with me.  Never forget every day in the outdoors is a bonus day not subtracted from your days on this earth.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

“SAVE OUR WATERS”

*******************

The Wade Right Fishing Belt

Brought to you by

The Best Wading System on the  Planet.

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Weather

74/56.  Areas of fog early then partly sunny and warm with a 3% chance or rain.  Wind  SE 5 – 15 mph.

Lake Level

10 days ago  94.43 msl.   Today  94.31 msl.  (Steady dropping like a rock.)

Activity Periods

Major 11:05 am to 1:05 pm.   (No early morning for me!.)

*********************

The new Knockin Tail Lures are coming soon.  

*********************

For me fishing Christmas Day is becoming a regular thing the last decade.  It is always nice and quiet and it was today.  The Boss was working today so time to hit the lake as I won’t be fishing the next week.  It was really foggy this morning and I waited as long as I could stand it.  The lake was almost fogged in and I hung out and drank coffee for a half hour until the sun started burning it off.

The lake is noticeably lower, if that is possible.  There is brush I was catching them in just a week ago that is now on land.    And boy has it cleared.  The water temp was 62 – 65 degrees and there was a light breeze.  I hit a couple of pitching spots and caught 3 or 4, all small.  I did have a couple hung me up today, one was on quite a while but I just could not get him out.  Comes with the territory.

The 2 best pitching.

And I figured since I was up lake time for a quick trolling pass just to be sure the white bass are not there yet.  And they weren’t but 3 bass jumped on and a couple of more missed it.  That is about par for the course this time of year but it won’t be long.  I look forward to the white bass run every spring and have been chasing them 40 years.  After a while I gave that up, but will check on them every trip until they get there.

A deer swam the lake.                           The biggest bass trolling.

The wind picked up so time for windy banks.  Spinnerbait, buzzbait, and a shad looking crankbait did not produce a bite.  I hit several places and just could not get them going.  At this point no bites so I picked up the blue/black swim jig and ended up catching 7 and missed several more.  They were on windy banks, half came right on stumps or cover, a couple near nothing, and a couple more way off the bank cranking it real slow.

Love that swim jig.

The only problem with that was most came on 2 banks, then I went over an hour without a bite.  At 3:00 I called it a day.  It was one of those run back in the other creek and fish out but there was not enough time to justify it.  The day was interesting and after that little swim jig run I have a few ideas on places that might hold them.  And I did not fish it up lake at all so it was by far the best bait today and has real potential.  Might be time for a white swim jig, it was always a good bait in the winter when we had grass.

So fishing Christmas day is in the books and another year has gone by the wayside.  Funny how the days may seem slow but the years fly by.  I consider myself beyond lucky to be able to fish as much as I do.  It becomes more and more about being outside and less and less the end result.  I’ve caught a couple of boat loads in my life so nothing left to prove in that department.  Time this year for some more fly fishing, catching a Tiger fish on the Zambezie, and who knows what else.  So many fish so little time, nice thing about it, fish live in cool places.

Hope you all had a great holiday no matter what you did.  2019 is in the books and I will be back with you with more fishing fun.  Spring fishing is right around the corner in South Texas.  And definitely time to head back to the Laguna and catch a big one.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

“SAVE OUR WATERS”

*******************

The Wade Right Fishing Belt

Brought to you by

The Best Wading System on the  Planet.

*********************

Merry Christmas!

Sorry for the few reports the last week or two, but family duty called.  With Christmas taken care of, and the Boss working her usual holiday schedule, time to look at the weather as I have a few days to myself.  And it looks fine so I am headed to North Padre for a couple of days.  I thought about staying down at POC but it is not the same.  I have no preconceived notions how this might go, that is what makes these short trips what they are, but the activity periods look good coming in the middle of the morning.  Time to pack and organize as it will be up real early in the morning for the 2 1/2 hour drive to Bird Island Basin.

Weather

Monday  70/40.  Mostly sunny with 0% chance of rain.  Wind E 5 – 10 mph.

Tuesday  72/53.  Partly sunny and pleasant with 3% chance or rain.  Wind 5 – 15 mph.

Tides  (At Bob Hall)

Monday  Low   6:25 AM    -0.5  High   3:19 PM     1.7.

Tuesday   Low   7:07 AM    -0.6   High   4:16 PM     1.8.

Activity Times

Monday   Major  10:12 am to 12:12 am.  Minor  3:47 pm to 4:47 pm.

Tuesday   Major  11:07 am to 1:07 pm.

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The new Knockin Tail Lures are coming soon.  

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A tale of 2 days – figuring it out.  Day 1.

 Dropped the boat in at Bird Island Basin at 8:00 and headed to my favorite area on the King Ranch Shoreline.  For the next 2 hours I tossed it all, and I mean all of it, without a bite.  Topwater, plastics, soft jerk bait, and could not buy a bite.  So after wading for what seemed like a couple of miles I finally headed back to the boat for a move.

A couple of miles down there is a flatter area with grass that usually holds a few, with “usually” being the operative term.  At this point I am getting concerned, not a touch.  But I kept after it working shallow to deep.  Changing  colors, alternating baits, zip.  From above my waist to ankle deep I could not get anything going even with bait flipping in the whole area.  So across the bay to the island side and a bank with a good drop that has been known to have a red of two.  But guess what?  Nothing, I mean I can not get a bite.   This is starting to be a problem.  I am not that experienced there, but this is going really bad.  To add to the pain there is not really any wind.  But still, the water temp was 61 and clear, which is ok, but at this point I am really puzzled.

Nothing big but finally.

With the wind barely blowing I decided to change tactics.  I decided to drift and use the popping cork.  The last bait I thought I would use was a popping cork, but it is one of the best trout locators there is.  And I happened to have one from the creek with the last of the cheap ass plastic shrimp they like so much.

I tried to stay out farther than I could wade and it only took a little while before I found some.  To make a long story short it was an easy 25, most like the smaller one above, but I was catching fish.  I did throw some plastics but I kept moving until I found the place where I would start in the morning.  And day 2 was a much better day.

Day 2

Day 2 started off completely different for several reasons.  On the way to Bird Island at daylight it was foggy, but on arrival the bay was clear.  So quickly in the water and headed to the waypoint from yesterday afternoon and as I got close the fog blew in big time.  Since I was running the shoreline I just slowed down and stopped on the waypoint.  Since quitting time was early to get home and get organized for travel it was a make it or break it wade.

That’s more like it.

It was only 42 degrees on leaving the ramp, and the fog really made it chilly.  It took me a little to get on them, and while the bite was not fast by any means, the fish were more like the size you expect there.  They were in water a little more than waste deep, and wanted plastic fished on a light jig head, a 1/16 seemed to be the best.  When you flip the smaller jig head off the bottom it falls slower and more erratically, giving them a chance to smack it.  And the ones that did bite thumped the snot out of it.  (Note:  There was bait everywhere I fished both days and that did not seem to be all that important there was so much.)  Both the new Knockin’ Tail in pumpkin and the 3″ DOA Cal in Chicken on a Chain thing got bites, but it sure seemed the smaller the better.

Before I quit at 12:30 a nice limit jumped on with a few others in the same range.  Unlike the day before, no small ones, which may just have been a function of the popping cork.  A rat red finally jumped on but that was the size of it as far as redfish goes.  it was interesting how as soon as the fog started lifting they bit a little better.  And I kept trying the soft corky style jerk bait and topwater, but they were just not having any of that.

So I call the day a success.  It was nice to figure it out some and why on the few times I fish down there I stay at least one night.  If it is tough, or you don’t figure it out on day 1, you still have a fighting chance.  And if I was going tomorrow I know exactly what I would be doing and where.  But tomorrow is Christmas Day, and I had to get back so I can do what?  Go fishing on Christmas Day like I have done off and on for years.  No better present than that.

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And this from Facebook.  Here is the Coleto schedule for the year, good information to know when the lake might be busy on a particular weekend.

Coleto BassMasters 2020 Schedule:
January 11&12 Bastrop
February 15 Coleto
March 21&22 Stillhouse
April 18 Coleto Open Invitational (tentatively)
April 19 Coleto
May 23&24 Somerville
June 13 Coleto
July 11&12 Choke Canyon
August 15 Coleto
September 12&13 LBJ
October 17 Coleto
November 14&15 Fayette
December 12 Coleto

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We leave for Vegas and the Boss’s birthday present.  It will be Lady Gaga in concert, which should be spectacular, then off to Zion National Park for our last trip of the year.  Talk about a contrast.  Vegas, then a cabin in the mountains without TV, lots of snow, and hopefully some good wildlife viewing.  This will be the 4th or 5th trip west this year, we love the outdoors and mountains, and the more we go the more we like it.  Should be a great way to wrap up the year.

But first it will be off to Coleto in the morning.  No big early start but as it will be the last day of fishing this year maybe I will stick a big one.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.  I hope you and yours have a safe and Merry Christmas!

Good Luck and Tight Lines

FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

“SAVE OUR WATERS”

*******************

The Wade Right Fishing Belt

Brought to you by

The Best Wading System on the  Planet.

*********************

The last 2 days have been fun.  First up was the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge with the Boss to see the whoopers and whatever else was out there.  Then this morning I ended up fishing the lake for 4 hours while the cleaning lady was at the house.  I try not to get to  close to work, it might stick!  As far as the fishing goes it was going to be a short morning so I could get the truck detailed for the trip to see the grandkids.  It turned out to be not to bad considering.

The turkeys were running amok this morning.  Girls on the left and boys on the right.

Weather

81/69.  Low patchy clouds with 20% rain.  Wind S 15 – gusts to 40 mph.  (I did not look at the forecast before I went so I was a little surprised how windy it was.)

Lake Level

Friday   94.43 msl.   Today  94.37 msl.  (Back to dropping like a rock.)

Activity Periods

Minor 10:17 am to 11:17 am.   (Only time I was out this morning.)

*********************

The new Knockin Tail Lures are coming soon.  

*********************

I followed a boat in as it was just peaking daylight, and we were the only 2 there.  The water continues to drop but the temp had come back up a couple of degrees, in to the high 60’s, which is nuts for this time of year.  The wind was basically howling and it was nice and cloudy.  With only  a few hours to fish I headed up lake, got out the spinnerbait, and never put it down until I quit at 11:30.

When this size eats a spinnerbait they smoke it!

It was blowing hard enough that all you had to do was point the boat down the bank and off you went.  It was not fast by any means, but it is good to see a few more of the “medium” size bass.  For a while there it was all small with the occasional big fish.  They are still next to cover, but where continues to change as the water falls.  The decline is slow but steady and the fish are definitely moving with it, it has/is just a matter of figuring out where they have moved to.

The only other one out of 7 that would have measured.

I could not ask for a better spinnerbait day.  While it may not be the best bait right now, one: I love it, two: Easy to fish in high winds.  I am fishing a 3/8th tandem with a big willow on the back.  Still making a wake, the best bites seem to come when I get it up making a bulge, and then slow it down as much as possible.  They really are not interested in chasing anything fast, but as windy as it was today pitching was basically out of the question so spinnerbait was it.  At least the ones that did bite whacked it.

As it got later in the morning I headed down lake and it was a total bust.  For an hour and a half not a bite in the clearer water.  The fish I have been catching down there have flat disappeared.  So keeping to the schedule I called it day at 11:30 to be responsible.  But for a short morning, and not fishing all the places I have been catching them, not to bad a result.  But hey, I was fishing!  Like I said the other day not wishing for a blizzard and 10 degrees, but it needs to cool off a little to get to the “real” winter fishing.

I forgot to tell you something about the other day.  The  critters were really moving around, saw big gators, deer, an eagle, and a couple of ospreys having a good day fishing.  But that was not the highlight.  As I moved down the bank there was a couple of big boils, thought it might be a gator then a little head popped up.  It was an otter!  What a cool animal, the first one I have seen here.  Not sure if they are rare or common in Texas, but whatever, it was a great moment.  We all need to remember that it is not always about the catching, and seeing all that the other day made my day whether I caught fish or not.

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Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

The weather was beautiful Saturday and the Boss wanted to hit the refuge and see the whoopers and take a hike.  It was our second time going, and as usual we saw lots of wildlife.  And thank goodness we bought real binoculars, if we had not had them we would not have been able to spot them.  So we ended up seeing 2 pairs of whoopers, along with all the stuff below.  They are one awesome bird.

Real tricky!

Birds, birds, and more birds.

The Refuge was full of ducks.

They may not be much for eating but they are cool looking.

We are not big bird watchers, prefer things with hoofs and paws, but it is amazing the number of different birds.  Every kind of duck, shore birds, herons, egrets, and tons we could not even guess what they were.  For real bird lovers this has to be a bonanza and a bucket list place to visit.

This guy was cool whatever it is.

There were a couple of big boys out today!

Last year we saw lots more gators, but this year is so dry that some of the ponds are gone. It looks like the 2 big boys above took over the big pond and ran the others off.  We did see a real giant, all we could see was his back as he was way across the lake.  But that thing was a giant, and I have seen lots of big ones.

The armadillos were out and we did see one snake.  And when we left we saw 4 or 5 deer including a little basket buck.  With the hunting going on there right now it did not surprise me to see them in the no hunting area.  Of course we hiked up the observation tower, and a couple of other observation areas, and there was something moving everywhere.  And there were several boats off the shoreline wading on what I could tell were reefs.  The wind was calm and it looked perfect.  A nice way to spend the afternoon as we continue on our wildlife viewing adventures.

This has been a good year in that department.  Wolves, grizzly, black bear, bison, elk, mule deer, coyotes, fox, gators, Bighorns, mountain goat, to name a few.  And our quest will continue at the end of the month as we will be visiting Zion National Park in Utah.  There are bighorns, lions, deer, and ringtails to name a few.  Who knows, we might just get lucky.

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I do not know if GBRA is noting reduced numbers with the fee increase, but it sure seems like there are a lot less people on the lake.  Of course with the fishing less than stellar it has probably affected the number of folks fishing.  And as far as I am concerned, great, it seems like I have the lake to myself, but that is purely a selfish reason.  I am still against $17 to get in, that is to much.  It will be interesting to see how it affects things this spring.

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It has been a good week around here.  Fished 4 days, caught fish, made the park, it has been all about the outdoors.  The weather has been fantastic most of the week, but looks like that might change.  But we desperately need the rain.  Still over 14″ down, it is dry as a bone.

We head out for a few days with the parents and then the grandkids.  Looks like the weather is not to bad up there which will be nice.  Seems like every winter when we head that way it is either nice, like last year, or nuts like the year before when they closed the interstate.  I like a little winter but do not miss that foot of snow, 40 mph north wind, and 10 degrees thing.

And when I get back it will back to hard at it.  This time of year only comes once and I will be taking full advantage of it.  Hope you all have a good week, we will.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

“SAVE OUR WATERS”

*******************

The Wade Right Fishing Belt

Brought to you by

The Best Wading System on the  Planet.

*********************

Ahh the best laid plans.  I stayed up a little later hoping to sleep in, which was a complete failure.  So at 5:30 I got up, looked out as fog was forecast, then  hooked it up and headed to the lake for a short trip.  The new plan was to fish until noon and spend a little time with the Boss who has been hard at it.

Weather

79/56.  Very warm with plenty of sunshine.  0% chance of rain.  Wind E 5 – 10 mph.

Lake Level

Monday  94.43 msl.  Today   94.43 msl.   (That little bit of rain slowed the descent a little.)

Activity Periods

Minor 8:27 am to 9:27 am.   (Spot on as it was over by 10:00.)

*********************

The new Knockin Tail Lures are coming soon.  

*********************

I dropped the boat in as daylight cracked.  There was no wind and it was real obvious that what rain we got added a little color.  Along with that the temp has dropped around 4 degrees with much of the lake around 65, with some less.  So with no wind blowing it was time to go pitch, which turned out to be a good choice.

Bite number 2 this morning.

And a little props to the Berkley Pit Boss.  Using it seriously the last month or more I really have learned to appreciate what a good bait it is for pitching.  They really do hold on to it a lot longer than other plastics, which gives you another second to get the slack out and stick them.  And when combined with a lighter tungsten sinker they just don’t feel it.

The Pit Boss getting it done.  The 3 best of the morning.

They are still really tight to any cover but of course not every piece has a fish on it.  Most of the good cover has deeper water close, they don’t like hanging on the flat stuff. This is a cover water, pitch it to cover, hop it a couple of times, and if no bite reel in and do it again.  And if the cover looks to good toss at least 2 pitches to it before moving on.  And be very watchful as half of them just start swimming with it.  As the lake falls they are moving out with it and stuff I was catching them in a couple of weeks ago are now barren.

The bite started off pretty good and by 10:00 they literally quit.  I fished a few more places and called it a good morning.  It was probably around 8 with at least a couple of good ones, and I do enjoy the hand to hand combat.  When pitching it is important to retie often, the next bite might be a real one.   The last 2 weeks almost every one of the 5 days I have fished the lake there has been a shot at a “real” one.  This is the time of year to catch a good one and I intend to take every advantage, I love winter fishing.  And I am not hoping for some terrible weather but winter can get here anytime.

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This is the last of the cheesy flip phone picture, I finally sucked it up and replaced the camera.  And it was $60 off, when does that happen, and as it is the same one there is no learning curve.  Also I fixed the post from yesterday so those pictures are now up.  Hopefully that is the last of the photo issues.

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That is it for today.  The last 2 weeks have been good and I am really looking forward to the next couple of months.   Have a safe weekend and if you get to fish hope you catch some.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines

 

FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

“SAVE OUR WATERS”

*******************

The Wade Right Fishing Belt

Brought to you by

The Best Wading System on the  Planet.

*********************

Weather

65/56.  Sun through high clouds with a 1% chance of rain.  Wind  NE 10 – 15 mph.

Tides

 Low  8:30 am. – 0.35.   High  9:27 pm.  +1.37.

Activity Periods

Major  7:28 am to 8:28 am.  and   12:49 pm to 2:49 pm.  

*********************

The new Knockin Tail Lures are coming soon.  

*********************

Knockin’ is Right!

Since I had a few of the new/prototype Knockin Tail Lures to try I decided the creek would be a good place as they are in there pretty thick.  I rigged 4, 2 white and 2 pumpkin, on a 1/8th glued screw lock.  That was all I wanted to take, plenty to know how well they work, keeping the others for the laguna.  Turned out 4 was plenty.  The lure could not be any better named, yes it knocks, but the better reason, they knock the snot out of it!

Did not get a new camera yet but did take a few.

The plan was to slow roll it, and it turned out to be the only way I fished it.  The first one smacked it, the last one smacked it, and it was game on in between.  Slow rolling it on a tight line it was not the usual bump, tic, trout messing with it, it was a full on eat.  They literally ate it, most with the body in their mouth.  And not only did I miss very few, the hook up ratio to bites was super high.  Get a bite, fish in the boat.

The Pumpkin was first up and after catching a few a “real” one ate right at the boat and I broke 10lb. line setting the hook.  (Dang it!) To keep that from happening again I loosened my drag way up.  When you are slow rolling you are in direct contact unlike when hopping it, so it is easier to break as the line is tight when you set the hook.  So I set the drag so that when setting the hook it would slip big time.  From then on, until I quit, I caught trout.

On my 19″ bass measuring board.  It was several like this today.

They liked the Pumkin a little more than the white, but they were not that choosey, and it may have simply been a function of water color.  There was a little slack period when the tide died, and though the fish got a little smaller, they kept on biting.  Today was an easy low estimate of 25+.  I fished for 6 hours and caught them everywhere I fished until I quit.

Once I got the speed down it was flat fun waiting for them to stop it.  I rarely slow roll but the new Knockin Tail is perfect for slow rolling and that was confirmed right away.  The tail works like a charm.  And one really nice flounder made the boat, plus a nice limit of trout or two.  Guess I never did throw it in front of a redfish.  Right before I quit I lost one more big fish of some sort, but they way they were hitting it  that was only one of a couple that came off all day.

 

This flounder whacked it!

I hate to tell you this as they are not available yet, but they are coming.  Wish I could show you a picture but not yet.  Sometimes we get to thinking the Texas Coast is the center of the fishing universe, but it is far from it.  There is a big world of fishing out there and today confirmed something else for me.  This is going to be a great swim bait for bass, killer on smallmouth and walleye, plus most anything else that wants to eat it.  This thing is something different that they have not experienced before, and it promises to be the real deal.  I don’t mean to gush like a girl, no offense to you ladies out there, but that thing works!

********************

The latest assault on our waters comes from San Jacinto River near Humble.  “It” turned the river “mysterious” white color for what appears to be a week.  It contained unknown “substances”, and TCEQ did not test it.  Why?  And with several possible places of origin it is another case of industry polluting from breaks in retaining ponds.  But in the article there is no final resolution, or maybe letting them get away with it was the final resolution.  This happens on a regular basis around this country and until we start holding folks feet to the fire things will not change.  If there is no real “penalty” what is the motivation to change and repair.  The bigger question is often what do we pay our state employees for if nothing really happens?  Just wondering.

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I want to thank Michael, owner of Controlled Descent Lures, for letting me have a small amount of input on the new Knockin’ Tail.  It has been fun and if today is any indication there are good things to come.  Now it is a matter of waiting for the final product.  It not only catches trout, but looks like it will have real application for those of us who are multi-species guys.

We will be visiting the my parents, then the grandkids, for a few days then it will be back at it.  Can’t wait to get to Bird Island Basin and chase some big trout.  Can feel the thump just thinking about it!  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines