Fishing Megathread: Looking For Big Girls Who swallow

[justhookit 4191]

Little dude was apparently rooting for another team.

Edited March 6, 2022 by justhookit

[justhookit 4191]

And ok last post on this unless anyone has questions but we fished next to another boat all day long. They were the 3rd place boat. Kicked their ass, and we know them well but that’s another story. Anyway, we had  engine trouble the day before so were a little concerned about the run in. Lines out was 3:30, so at 3:00 we had double the points of the 2nd place boat so made the call to head home early to give us extra time. That was probably the best feeling I’ve ever had in my fishing career. we’ve won other tournaments and all of them were worth a lot more money but this was far and away the most satisfying win we’ve ever had.

Props to my captain Brennan, our mate Dorrian, and our old mate Manuel. Will always love fishing with you guys.

[justhookit 4191]

Doubled up, bitches.

[PRONG HORN 3159]

 

 

https://www.moodygardens.com/flyfishingfilmtour/?fbclid=IwAR0r-UBw58oKN9MzfZFnKrPkRnSSE1Oy_gkDABjIExqU9C8YO01WBzysX4Y

 

[Sbbruin 21887]

On 3/6/2022 at 8:44 AM, justhookit said:

Doubled up, bitches.

IMG_0293.MOV

Link not working.  

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

It don’t take a million dollars to feel like a million dollars.  Props to you and your boat Justhookit. White bass though.

 

Edited March 9, 2022 by Judge Roybeanbag

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

14 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

It don’t take a million dollars to feel like a million dollars.  Props to you and your boat Justhookit. White bass though.

 

 

Edited March 9, 2022 by Judge Roybeanbag

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

Sorry for the double post.  Too excited and crappie.

Edited March 9, 2022 by Judge Roybeanbag

[hookemATL 11889]

Where you finding them Judge and what fly they taking?  I’m a real quick scoot from the San Gabriel and really want to try and hit white bass run this year 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

It was on the San Gabriel, but quite a hike.  I’ll try to post a map tomorrow.  There are a couple of sand/gravel bars in a bend that hold fish.  When I say a hike I mean a mile or so. Bright colored zebra midges seemed good.  If you just want to catch fish, use a spinning reel with a Thomas bouyant spoon with bright colors.  You’ll lose a couple with treble hooks in the brush but...  

 

Edited March 9, 2022 by Judge Roybeanbag

[justhookit 4191]

15 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

Link not working.  

Yeah I don’t know what’s going on. I’m just uploading videos straight to surly. At some point when I get some downtime here I’ll upload some of these videos to YouTube. We fished yesterday, taking today off, and then fishing again tomorrow. We’ve got a pro photographer on the boat for those two trips taking video with lots of drone footage. I’ve seen a few clips already and it’s going to be badass.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

11 hours ago, hookemATL said:

Where you finding them Judge and what fly they taking?  I’m a real quick scoot from the San Gabriel and really want to try and hit white bass run this year 

So if you park at the canoe launch in the top right hand corner of this pic, there is a trail that runs along the back side of those pastures, more or less, and will take you to the bends on the left-hand side of the picture where the gravel bars start.  That's where we usually fish.  The pics I posted were from Sunday.  Usually not crowded there at all because it's a long hike, you will have some boats or kayaks come by occasionally.

 

[Sbbruin 21887]

3 hours ago, justhookit said:

Yeah I don’t know what’s going on. I’m just uploading videos straight to surly. At some point when I get some downtime here I’ll upload some of these videos to YouTube. We fished yesterday, taking today off, and then fishing again tomorrow. We’ve got a pro photographer on the boat for those two trips taking video with lots of drone footage. I’ve seen a few clips already and it’s going to be badass.

Yeah, I think it needs to be hosted on either Vimeo, YouTube, or something like that.   Doubled-up on what?  Stripers?  Sailfish?

[davidg 4038]

2 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

So if you park at the canoe launch in the top right hand corner of this pic, there is a trail that runs along the back side of those pastures, more or less, and will take you to the bends on the left-hand side of the picture where the gravel bars start.  That's where we usually fish.  The pics I posted were from Sunday.  Usually not crowded there at all because it's a long hike, you will have some boats or kayaks come by occasionally.

 

Looks like there is access from the road right where it says Dickerson's River Bottom.  Lots of cars parked on the side of the road if you zoom in on google maps.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

16 minutes ago, davidg said:

Looks like there is access from the road right where it says Dickerson's River Bottom.  Lots of cars parked on the side of the road if you zoom in on google maps.

Yeah but you can’t get into the wildlife refuge from there easily, and the better fishing is around the hook at the left bottom center of the pic, because it’s so shallow at Dickerson’s they can’t get past there.  

Edited March 9, 2022 by Judge Roybeanbag

[Masshole Horn 777]

I think Dickerson's is "the steps."

Been there many times.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

12 minutes ago, Masshole Horn said:

I think Dickerson's is "the steps."

Been there many times.

If you want to brave 100 other people fishing, then go there.  If you want to work up a sweat before you put your waders on, follow my instructions.  Either way hey fishing!

[Masshole Horn 777]

4 minutes ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

If you want to brave 100 other people fishing, then go there.  If you want to work up a sweat before you put your waders on, follow my instructions.  Either way hey fishing!

Agreed. I was gonna mention get there at 4:30am if you want parking.

Just repatriated to central texas, looking to get my kids out on the water soon. Will try the boat launch + canoe.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

1 minute ago, Masshole Horn said:

Agreed. I was gonna mention get there at 4:30am if you want parking.

Just repatriated to central texas, looking to get my kids out on the water soon. Will try the boat launch + canoe.

Oh wow, man, didn't realize you had moved here.  The hike I mentioned is doable for kids above about 8 or 9, matter of fact one of my buddies has 10 yr old twins that we took with us last year.  They hauled 2 trash bags with them and got a scouting badge I think, for picking up crap on the trail.

[Masshole Horn 777]

4 minutes ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Oh wow, man, didn't realize you had moved here.  The hike I mentioned is doable for kids above about 8 or 9, matter of fact one of my buddies has 10 yr old twins that we took with us last year.  They hauled 2 trash bags with them and got a scouting badge I think, for picking up crap on the trail.

Yeah, I got back on Thursday!

Gonna miss the river smallies in New England, but it will be nice to revisit my old haunts and meet up with some of y'all. 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

14 minutes ago, Masshole Horn said:

Agreed. I was gonna mention get there at 4:30am if you want parking.

Just repatriated to central texas, looking to get my kids out on the water soon. Will try the boat launch + canoe.

Not sure where in the Austin area you are located, but you should take your kids out to Reimer's - probably won't catch any fish but they will get a real taste of the Hill Country.  

 

Edited March 9, 2022 by Judge Roybeanbag

[Masshole Horn 777]

I took them there on a hike when I was in town house hunting! Love Reimer's!

[Jerry Callo 8727]

On 3/9/2022 at 11:14 AM, Judge Roybeanbag said:

If you want to brave 100 other people fishing, then go there.  If you want to work up a sweat before you put your waders on, follow my instructions.  Either way hey fishing!

I was out there a couple weeks ago.  Ended up with 3-4 whites like the ones on your stringer.  I usually walk down at the steps, cross the river and fish from the opposite bank.  When the fish are running, I've caught up to 50 in a matter of a couple hours.  I usually get there pre-dawn and don't have much problem with other people.  Combat fly fishing is one of my specialties.  

I hiked up your way last year or the year before, probably on your recommendation.  That is a bunch of walking and there are very few spots to fish with a flyrod.  

Thought about heading out there this weekend, but I'm afraid the cold front is going to turn them off for a few days.

 

[Sam Lin 3561]

4 hours ago, Jerry Callo said:

 Combat fly fishing is one of my specialties.  

This should be a televised series, airing right after BattleBots.

[justhookit 4191]

Well ok, it turned out sort of good.

 

[USCATX 1078]

Anybody catching white bass on either the Llano or Colorado around LBJ?  We are up at the lake for a few days and tried the Llano slab yesterday and whiffed hard with zero sign of any fish.  Well I take that back, my son did catch one little 10-12” guad on conventional tackle while I was fly fishing. 

[Jerry Callo 8727]

On 3/13/2022 at 10:59 AM, USCATX said:

Anybody catching white bass on either the Llano or Colorado around LBJ?  We are up at the lake for a few days and tried the Llano slab yesterday and whiffed hard with zero sign of any fish.  Well I take that back, my son did catch one little 10-12” guad on conventional tackle while I was fly fishing. 

I suspect you'd have increasingly better luck as the week goes on because of the warmer weather.  That Friday/Saturday cold snap probably paused their run for a few days.

[hookemATL 11889]

too damn windy yesterday but got my eldest some good practice time with the spinning rod. She actually got pissed at me for helping too much after awhile. I need to get her on some fish!  We’ve got a camping trip this weekend at Grelle Rec Area in Spicewood so fingers crossed we can get a few. Girl loves her fishing🤘

[Jerry Callo 8727]

17 hours ago, hookemATL said:

too damn windy yesterday but got my eldest some good practice time with the spinning rod. She actually got pissed at me for helping too much after awhile. I need to get her on some fish!  We’ve got a camping trip this weekend at Grelle Rec Area in Spicewood so fingers crossed we can get a few. Girl loves her fishing🤘

If you don't find the fish as Grelle, the Narrows is not far and it's on the main river channel.  Probably more likely to find the white bass running up the main river channel.

[hookemATL 11889]

Thanks for the tip!  I am bringing light tackle, my fly rod, and her youth rod just to cover our bases. Got some mealworms to guarantee at least some panfish action, but would love to get into some bass (white or others). Excited that the weather will be greatly improved from this past weekend, when we were originally slated to go camping. Lot easier to have fun with kiddos without 25mph winds at 30-40 degrees. 

[Masshole Horn 777]

I'll be hitting the San Gabriel above Granger at the boat launch Judge pointed out tomorrow around 6:30.

I have an extra seat available in the big green beastly canoe that is open to whoever would like to try to find some whites. Please bring a life vest as only one adult vest made it back with me.

I'll be primarily fishing conventional, scouting for a return trip with the kids on Saturday.

[Jerry Callo 8727]

I'll be hitting the San Gabriel above Granger at the boat launch Judge pointed out tomorrow around 6:30.
I have an extra seat available in the big green beastly canoe that is open to whoever would like to try to find some whites. Please bring a life vest as only one adult vest made it back with me.
I'll be primarily fishing conventional, scouting for a return trip with the kids on Saturday.

How'd you do? I was scheduled to fish the Guad tomorrow, but the guide called it due to wind. Going to hit up the Steps in the morning for a couple hours.

[Masshole Horn 777]

Caught a tiny largemouth and one white.

Guys at the steps we’re catching some, but not on every cast like you get sometimes.

[troph 24905]

1 hour ago, Masshole Horn said:

Caught a tiny largemouth and one white.

Guys at the steps we’re catching some, but not on every cast like you get sometimes.

Elusive. 
 

My granddad (grandad in law RIP) would fish the whites in an aluminum skiff on lake Kiowa a private community north of Dallas small lake really nothing anyone would ever write about. He’d catch a couple dozen at a time. Always find them running and get up in them. He was in heaven then. Hope he’s enjoying a good run now too. 😞

[Jerry Callo 8727]

Wind was howling this morning while rigging up at the truck.  On the river below the Steps it was calm - the high bank really blocks the north wind.  Caught four whites in about an hour on the fly.  Still no large females.  May go out again tomorrow or Sunday.

[Pescado_Rojo 19428]

28 minutes ago, Jerry Callo said:

Wind was howling this morning while rigging up at the truck.  On the river below the Steps it was calm - the high bank really blocks the north wind.  Caught four whites in about an hour on the fly.  Still no large females.  May go out again tomorrow or Sunday.

Try the rodeo. There were a bunch out there the other day. 

 

[Masshole Horn 777]

33 minutes ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

Try the rodeo. There were a bunch out there the other day. 

 

REK on Thursday! I'll update the thread.

Kids want an adventure day Saturday, so we might head to bastrop and motor upstream as far as we can on the Colorado. Explore some islands, fish, and wade around a bit.

[hookemATL 11889]

Be careful. Legends say theys Squatch in them parts. 

[hookemATL 11889]

Why is organizing and getting shit ready for fishing so satisfying and calming?  Goddamn I love it. 

[Braff Zacklin 13662]

So yesterday turned out to be a fun day. Hooked into a slew of rainbows and hybrids pre-staging for their spawn.

They were taking anything--streamers, nymphs, San Juans, eggs, dries, you name it. They were even swinging at bobbers. One thing to watch fish rise for a dry, another thing to observe bow waves approaching your strike indicator and then seeing a trout breach in an attempt to swallow it.

[RMac5 1551]

So freakin envious! Thanks for the pics.

[justhookit 4191]

Just going to leave this here. Marlin, sailfish, tuna today and would have caught more but my captain couldn’t stop looking at this Tica girl. Also caught a manta ray by accident and it took up well over an hour of our fishing time. We thought it was a big tuna or a foul hooked marlin.

[Pato del Muerto 52598]

@justhookit

successful endeavor with Josh today!  102lb total and had to throw the biggest red back (pic is on a real camera so can’t post yet) 

 

do you have a rec for where I can get some of this cooked up tonight?

Edited March 26, 2022 by Pato del Muerto

[justhookit 4191]

6 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

@justhookit

successful endeavor with Josh today!  102lb total and had to throw the biggest red back (pic is on a real camera so can’t post yet) 

 

do you have a rec for where I can get some of this cooked up tonight?

It’s been a long, long time since I’ve taken fish anywhere at home. My first guess would be Fins. They do an outstanding garlic fish dish and I’m sure they could also do grilled/blackened. Or ask Josh. Glad y’all had a great day. We are taking yellowfin tuna we caught yesterday to a restaurant here in the Quepos marina. Can’t wait.

[Pato del Muerto 52598]

Just now, justhookit said:

It’s been a long, long time since I’ve taken fish anywhere at home. My first guess would be Fins. They do an outstanding garlic fish dish and I’m sure they could also do grilled/blackened. Or ask Josh. Glad y’all had a great day. We are taking yellowfin tuna we caught yesterday to a restaurant here in the Quepos marina. Can’t wait.

Great. Saw that one. Found an online list of about 10 that do it, didn’t know if any are better or worse than others. 

[justhookit 4191]

6 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Great. Saw that one. Found an online list of about 10 that do it, didn’t know if any are better or worse than others. 

Where did y’all end up? There are definitely places you don’t want to take fish but most are good enough to excellent.

[leaf 699]

11 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

@justhookit

successful endeavor with Josh today!  102lb total and had to throw the biggest red back (pic is on a real camera so can’t post yet) 

 

do you have a rec for where I can get some of this cooked up tonight?

I wish that I would have seen this earlier. If Rockport isn't too far for you to go.  Paradise Key is good.  They will fry, grill, blackened or jerk style the fish.  I recommend the jerk style.

[Pato del Muerto 52598]

Ended up at Fins. Brought 5 lbs for the 4 of us, had them do it 4 ways. 
 

Got the pic off the camera of the big red we threw back. Guide said over 40”, I think that’s the longest his ruler was. 
 

kid on the right caught it- he’s 5’1 and maybe 100 lbs.  and it was our first red of the trip so he had no idea what he was in for. 
 

if you are wondering about perspective, he’s holding it against his chest.

Edited March 28, 2022 by Pato del Muerto

[justhookit 4191]

@Pato del Muerto how was the food? We had really good stuff there all fall. Nice red.

[Hook1997 5401]

Ain’t that the truth as summer coast fishing approaches.  Lol