Fishing Megathread: Looking For Big Girls Who swallow

[Brisketexan 105147]

Just now, Braff Zacklin said:

Felt soles might be a lifesaver for you, but there's a great deal of ongoing debate regarding their impact on rivers. Already outlawed in a few states with many others considering doing the same.

Yeah, as I understand, in the cooler-water bodies where whirling disease is a thing (infecting salmonids).  So, for Centex rivers (save the Gaudalupe), not a concern.  And I think my felt soles MIGHT even have studs.  It's been a while, I have to check.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

20 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

QFMFT.  We still base our of there often but fishing it proper?  Not in many years.  The fishing was declining before the freezes of the last several years.  To be expected when you can’t pack another boat into the fishing center or froggies lots Fri thru Sunday.   Thursdays are the new Friday’s, and still more people on water than ever was before.   It’s going to get worse before it gets better.   Need to start saving for Bluewater I guess.  

Speaking of crowds I'm taking the family and grandson (2.5 yrs) to Matagorda on Thursday to stay for a couple of days.  Fortunately the place we are staying you can walk to through the dunes to the beach, because the beach has basically been 4wd only the last couple of years.  So much traffic and so little rain, it's either soft powder or rutted all to hell or both.  Crazy.  

[fattyflattie 4639]

1 hour ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Speaking of crowds I'm taking the family and grandson (2.5 yrs) to Matagorda on Thursday to stay for a couple of days.  Fortunately the place we are staying you can walk to through the dunes to the beach, because the beach has basically been 4wd only the last couple of years.  So much traffic and so little rain, it's either soft powder or rutted all to hell or both.  Crazy.  

Yeah seems like they used to blade it down to 3 mile, but last few trips I’ve made it certainly wasn’t.  It was still better from entry to 3, than the rest, but was still 4x4 or bust.   It was pretty gnarly down to about 10 miles where we got out.  The shark guys are multiplying like rabbits, as well.  Committed group there. 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

1 hour ago, fattyflattie said:

Yeah seems like they used to blade it down to 3 mile, but last few trips I’ve made it certainly wasn’t.  It was still better from entry to 3, than the rest, but was still 4x4 or bust.   It was pretty gnarly down to about 10 miles where we got out.  The shark guys are multiplying like rabbits, as well.  Committed group there. 

I have a 4x4 but hate driving there on weekends.  Especially when high tide is at noon like this week.  Idiots park all crazy and you can’t get around them without going into the nasty stuff. Lately it’s been the entrance that gets all torn up. 

Edited June 19, 2023 by Judge Roybeanbag

[davidg 4038]

Gotta suck when a small shark bite DQs a $3.5mm fish.



https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12208555/Fishing-team-lose-3-5million-prize-619-pound-blue-marlin-caught-disqualified-competition.html

[Jerry Callo 8703]

Same thing happened to Santiago.

[Mac8111 2107]

Well. Let’s get a collection going …


https://www.facebook.com/groups/264790694105922/permalink/1336020740316240/?mibextid=DcJ9fc

[Mac8111 2107]

Well. Let’s get a collection going …


https://www.facebook.com/groups/264790694105922/permalink/1336020740316240/?mibextid=DcJ9fc

If you haven’t seen this death trap in action yet ….

https://fb.watch/lnhRtvg-OV/?mibextid=l2pjGR

[Braff Zacklin 13577]

4 hours ago, Mac8111 said:

Well. Let’s get a collection going …

Post/avatar agreement level: 100%.

[fattyflattie 4639]

Won’t be long before Eric figures out how to get two of these on the back.  Just lol that my rig was fast when I built at 70-71, now it’s literally middle of pack to somewhat slow.  Unless it was a L&B BG 20 it wasn’t going to out and out pass you (pre-linered Stingray and no one had bubbles on the extremes yet)   That said, 210k after being tourney trail used and abused…
 

 

 

[Al Czervik 1229]

Went out with Deep Sea Headquarters on Saturday. Free-lined a Sardine on a small hook and no leader, as per the rec from the deckhand. While the entire boat was catching Red Snapper we hooked into this Wahoo, lucky catch, glad it wasn’t a Kingfish. 37 lbs, 48” fillets. 

[Braff Zacklin 13577]

2 minutes ago, Al Czervik said:

glad it wasn’t a Kingfish.

'splain this to a landlubber, por favor.

[Pescado_Rojo 19416]

20 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

'splain this to a landlubber, por favor.

Wahoo = delicious, firm white fish. Probably one of my favorite fish to eat. 

Kingfish = oily, not great table fare. It's okay smoked in fish dip, but otherwise...meh. 

ETA: They are similar looking fish, and Kingfish are much more prevalent in the summer in the GOM

Edited June 27, 2023 by Pescado_Rojo

[Mac8111 2107]

Let me help you.

[Al Czervik 1229]

4 hours ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

Wahoo = delicious, firm white fish. Probably one of my favorite fish to eat. 

Kingfish = oily, not great table fare. It's okay smoked in fish dip, but otherwise...meh. 

ETA: They are similar looking fish, and Kingfish are much more prevalent in the summer in the GOM

I was prepared to do the Kingfish ball thing had it been a King but the deckhand assured us during the fight that it wasn’t a King or a Shark.  Both of the deckhands were just as excited as us. The guys at DSH do a great job of helping folks on the party boats. 
 

Sautéed a piece tonight and it is excellent.   

[4th and 5 4914]

4 hours ago, Mac8111 said:

Let me help you.

 

absolutely perfect

 

4 minutes ago, Al Czervik said:

I was prepared to do the Kingfish ball thing had it been a King but the deckhand assured us during the fight that it wasn’t a King or a Shark.  Both of the deckhands were just as excited as us. The guys at DSH do a great job of helping folks on the party boats. 
 

Sautéed a piece tonight and it is excellent.   

eat it raw, it is amazing

then take a hunk of it and blast all sides real quick and eat it rare, serve it over a nice salad

[Brisketexan 105147]

Well, really needed to clear my head this weekend. Hit the llano by myself. Realized it had been 5 years since I’d cast a fly rod. Then realized that I didn’t exactly have a pretty cast back when I practiced more, so it was plenty ugly now, as rusty as I was. And it was goddamned hot on Sunday.
But it didn’t matter. I had the stretch of water to myself. And staying in the river kept me cool enough.

Fished a hopper, was able to place it where I wanted often enough to get a fair number of blowups. But they were all tiny, and the hopper was just a touch too big. Hooked one little-ass bass, but he was pretty.

The water was good for me. I spent a few hours thinking about nothing but my cast, where the fish would be, and then my next cast. House finch landed right next to me. The frogs started making their racket at 7:25 on the dot. I got off the water at 8:00. It was still 104. Realized how thirsty I was, and downed the drinks I had in the cooler.

Listened to Jason Isbell on the way there. Listened to Willie, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, and a hodgepodge of others on the way home.

Need to go back with my daughter. We’ve got some stuff to work through.

[tx 3 putt 76968]

looks like a little slice of heaven 

[cactusflinthead 27598]

https://www.ketk.com/news/local-news/lady-angler-catches-world-record-largemouth-bass-in-texas/

 

San Angelo huh?

[Born to Run 6569]

looks like a little slice of heaven 

You dig hand jobs from dudes with sausage fingers covered in slime from a tiny bass? Do you my man.

[Born to Run 6569]

Any recs on an a fly rod for Reds? My homie just broke my 8wt bass fishing. Preferably 4pc as I'd also like to take it to Alaska. What line are yall using these days.

Love my TFO 5 wt so far.

I only fish fly on saltwater a few days a year so not looking to spend too much, but I like to have some range.

[Brisketexan 105147]

You dig hand jobs from dudes with sausage fingers covered in slime from a tiny bass? Do you my man.

I’ll have you know, those sausage fingers know a thing or two about jerking a…wait…

[Pescado_Rojo 19416]

10 hours ago, Born to Run said:

Any recs on an a fly rod for Reds? My homie just broke my 8wt bass fishing. Preferably 4pc as I'd also like to take it to Alaska. What line are yall using these days.

Love my TFO 5 wt so far.

I only fish fly on saltwater a few days a year so not looking to spend too much, but I like to have some range.

If you want to stick with TFO, look at the Mangrove Coast or Axiom II. Both should be around tree fiddy. Outside of that, Orvis Clearwater or Recon if you want to spend a little more. The Recon is around $500. The Clearwater should also be in that tree fiddy range with the TFO rods. 

I use Scientific Anglers Amplitude Grand Slam lines on all my saltwater rods. It's pricey at around $120, but makes a huge difference loading the rod fast for those 50-60 ft Redfish shots. I could nerd out for hours on fly lines, but I'll refrain. If you end up with a medium-fast rod, the Grand Slam lines might be a bit heavy (they run almost 1/2 a line weight heavy in the shooting head) so I'd look at the SA Mastery Redfish line. 

[Jerry Callo 8703]

11 hours ago, Born to Run said:

Any recs on an a fly rod for Reds? My homie just broke my 8wt bass fishing. Preferably 4pc as I'd also like to take it to Alaska. What line are yall using these days.

Love my TFO 5 wt so far.

I only fish fly on saltwater a few days a year so not looking to spend too much, but I like to have some range.

I would check out the TFO's as suggested by Rojo.  I have an 8wt TiCrX (which is now the Axiom II-X).  Pulled it out of the case after 10 years and realized I did not clean the salt off very well and lost one of the large eyelets.  With very little effort, I able to get a replacement section for $60 and the rod is good as new.

The Axiom II is fast action and the II-X is extra fast.  I'm not sure if I am good enough anymore to cast the extra fast rod well.  The fast rod would probably better - my 5wt is the equivalent of the Axiom II.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

@fattyflattie glad I’m not there (in Matagorda) this weekend, apparently the entrance is blocked from stuck vehicles and more up and down the beach.  

[fattyflattie 4639]

5 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

@fattyflattie glad I’m not there (in Matagorda) this weekend, apparently the entrance is blocked from stuck vehicles and more up and down the beach.  

Oof. Sand looks good but what you gonna do with that water?  I don’t do holidays on the water (get off my lawn!!1!) unless it’s Thanksgiving or Christmas.  I’m sure some fine citizen from Braz county is going to make a killing with his snatch strap and mudders.  

[Pescado_Rojo 19416]

I wonder how many times that kid in the Tacoma has said “it’s a pre-runner, it’s just as good as a 4x4”

[fattyflattie 4639]

4 hours ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

I wonder how many times that kid in the Tacoma has said “it’s a pre-runner, it’s just as good as a 4x4”

People get stupid driving on that beach.  It’s really not hard to navigate it if you know how to handle sand.  I see it every. Single. Time.  

[troph 24807]

It’s about to get real…. 30 days of heaven but it might end in divorce…
 

backyard creeks:

roaring fork a 3 minute bike ride away…

 

 

Edited July 2, 2023 by troph

[troph 24807]

On 6/27/2023 at 9:34 PM, Brisketexan said:

Well, really needed to clear my head this weekend. Hit the llano by myself. Realized it had been 5 years since I’d cast a fly rod. Then realized that I didn’t exactly have a pretty cast back when I practiced more, so it was plenty ugly now, as rusty as I was. And it was goddamned hot on Sunday.
But it didn’t matter. I had the stretch of water to myself. And staying in the river kept me cool enough.

Fished a hopper, was able to place it where I wanted often enough to get a fair number of blowups. But they were all tiny, and the hopper was just a touch too big. Hooked one little-ass bass, but he was pretty.

The water was good for me. I spent a few hours thinking about nothing but my cast, where the fish would be, and then my next cast. House finch landed right next to me. The frogs started making their racket at 7:25 on the dot. I got off the water at 8:00. It was still 104. Realized how thirsty I was, and downed the drinks I had in the cooler.

Listened to Jason Isbell on the way there. Listened to Willie, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, and a hodgepodge of others on the way home.

Need to go back with my daughter. We’ve got some stuff to work through.

That’s it man. And the llano is still fishing small imo, next time I go I’m taking my 3 wt.

[troph 24807]

On 7/1/2023 at 6:36 AM, Pescado_Rojo said:

If you want to stick with TFO, look at the Mangrove Coast or Axiom II. Both should be around tree fiddy. Outside of that, Orvis Clearwater or Recon if you want to spend a little more. The Recon is around $500. The Clearwater should also be in that tree fiddy range with the TFO rods. 

I use Scientific Anglers Amplitude Grand Slam lines on all my saltwater rods. It's pricey at around $120, but makes a huge difference loading the rod fast for those 50-60 ft Redfish shots. I could nerd out for hours on fly lines, but I'll refrain. If you end up with a medium-fast rod, the Grand Slam lines might be a bit heavy (they run almost 1/2 a line weight heavy in the shooting head) so I'd look at the SA Mastery Redfish line. 

TFO and a Ross reel was mine but I gave the TFO away and only have my over priced Scott.  I don’t know fly lines at all, anything that makes a 60 ft cast more likely is a must though. I think I need to learn it.

[Sawbonz 27565]

We’re going to be in Sarasota in late July. Anyone know of a guide down there for offshore? We’ve been in the panhandle a lot but never that far south

[troph 24807]

Day 1 I didn’t strike out! Fished the evening, with a caddis dry fly. The river (tucked up by the bank) caught some looks but it was the creek that got the bite, coulda been the time of day. Bugs flying everywhere around 7:30pm, water was boiling a bit. Fish seemed to like the smaller bugs, mine wasn’t small. I also think my line was right for the river but too heavy for the creeks and I was too lazy to change.  Still got two bites and landed this little one. Couple of jumps and splashes. Knots were good and lasted, no tangles, cast was pretty solid too, nice first full day here. i’ve come a long way since 2018/2019. I’m pretty satisfied.

 

Edited July 3, 2023 by troph

[Born to Run 6569]

If you want to stick with TFO, look at the Mangrove Coast or Axiom II. Both should be around tree fiddy. Outside of that, Orvis Clearwater or Recon if you want to spend a little more. The Recon is around $500. The Clearwater should also be in that tree fiddy range with the TFO rods. 
I use Scientific Anglers Amplitude Grand Slam lines on all my saltwater rods. It's pricey at around $120, but makes a huge difference loading the rod fast for those 50-60 ft Redfish shots. I could nerd out for hours on fly lines, but I'll refrain. If you end up with a medium-fast rod, the Grand Slam lines might be a bit heavy (they run almost 1/2 a line weight heavy in the shooting head) so I'd look at the SA Mastery Redfish line. 

Sincere thanks for all the info and time you put in this post. Going to shop around with this guidance.

[troph 24807]

And then it happened. A few small catches during daylight (pics below) then BAM easily 10-12 all at once after sunset as it turned dark. 2 on at once 3 times. Big ones too. Just madness. Complete insanity.  No pics. It was insane. I was shaking from adrenaline it was nuts.
 

 

 

the view on the ride back… I’m in shock how fast that was and how unreal the action was. 

Edited July 4, 2023 by troph

[troph 24807]

Drake hatch might be better than sex, the afterglow sure as shit is. Wow. WOW.

[horn4life 3760]

On 7/1/2023 at 1:38 PM, Judge Roybeanbag said:

@fattyflattie glad I’m not there (in Matagorda) this weekend, apparently the entrance is blocked from stuck vehicles and more up and down the beach.  

Doesn't anybody have enough smarts to get on your hands and knees and dig yourself out?  I always carry a shovel, but hell I would dig my ass out with my hands if I needed to.  I remember a few years back I screwed up and ran my old Expedition too deep off the beach nest to the Packery Channel.  I only had two wheel drive and I was basically the last guy fishing the jetty on an offseason weekday.  But I remained calm and did the old back and forth, just a couple inches at a time at first, then a foot or so until finally I had a couple feet of compacted sand that I could use to gain a wee bit of momentum to get my ass out.  But that last goose of the accelerator is the death nail, that only lets you spend more time digging. 

That sand looks pretty loose, and if the entrance clogs up it's a disaster, as more and more folks are forced to stop and lose momentum with more and more getting stuck.  Hope it High tide!

[Chewbacca 7780]

Doesn't anybody have enough smarts to get on your hands and knees and dig yourself out?  I always carry a shovel, but hell I would dig my ass out with my hands if I needed to.  I remember a few years back I screwed up and ran my old Expedition too deep off the beach nest to the Packery Channel.  I only had two wheel drive and I was basically the last guy fishing the jetty on an offseason weekday.  But I remained calm and did the old back and forth, just a couple inches at a time at first, then a foot or so until finally I had a couple feet of compacted sand that I could use to gain a wee bit of momentum to get my ass out.  But that last goose of the accelerator is the death nail, that only lets you spend more time digging. 
That sand looks pretty loose, and if the entrance clogs up it's a disaster, as more and more folks are forced to stop and lose momentum with more and more getting stuck.  Hope it High tide!

Not a traction board in sight.

[fattyflattie 4639]

20 minutes ago, horn4life said:

That sand looks pretty loose, and if the entrance clogs up it's a disaster, as more and more folks are forced to stop and lose momentum with more and more getting stuck.  Hope it High tide!

Looks like only one of the pics was near the entrance (mile 1-3). For years and years they kept that section bladed for the folks who couldn’t figure it out. It always gets bad right at 3 miles, as people start turning left to get to the bay, and for some reason it’s a prime spot for circle work.  After that, it’s just loose sand similar to the 4x section of PINS.  Just 20 miles of keep you head on a swivel and throttle steady.  The biggest challenge is the shark guys parking in the path sometimes. 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

1 hour ago, fattyflattie said:

Looks like only one of the pics was near the entrance (mile 1-3). For years and years they kept that section bladed for the folks who couldn’t figure it out. It always gets bad right at 3 miles, as people start turning left to get to the bay, and for some reason it’s a prime spot for circle work.  After that, it’s just loose sand similar to the 4x section of PINS.  Just 20 miles of keep you head on a swivel and throttle steady.  The biggest challenge is the shark guys parking in the path sometimes. 

That and generally my buddies and I would plan our driving around the tides, so we weren’t going down or back at high tide.  

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

2 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

2 hours ago, horn4life said:

Doesn't anybody have enough smarts to get on your hands and knees and dig yourself out?  I always carry a shovel, but hell I would dig my ass out with my hands if I needed to.  I remember a few years back I screwed up and ran my old Expedition too deep off the beach nest to the Packery Channel.  I only had two wheel drive and I was basically the last guy fishing the jetty on an offseason weekday.  But I remained calm and did the old back and forth, just a couple inches at a time at first, then a foot or so until finally I had a couple feet of compacted sand that I could use to gain a wee bit of momentum to get my ass out.  But that last goose of the accelerator is the death nail, that only lets you spend more time digging. 
That sand looks pretty loose, and if the entrance clogs up it's a disaster, as more and more folks are forced to stop and lose momentum with more and more getting stuck.  Hope it High tide!

Not a traction board in sight.

I always keep two towels on hand in the winter. I wonder if that works on sand too?

[davidg 4038]

Not a traction board in sight.

It’s like they don’t ever overland, bro!

[Chewbacca 7780]

It’s like they don’t ever overland, bro!

You want to get out of snow or sand? Maxtrax.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

1 hour ago, Chewbacca said:

4 hours ago, davidg said:

It’s like they don’t ever overland, bro!

You want to get out of snow or sand? Maxtrax.

This bed liner cut in strips and rolled up works fine in sand. 

[Braff Zacklin 13577]

1 hour ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

This bed liner cut in strips and rolled up works fine in sand. 

You're not fooling me with that ... again!

[horn4life 3760]

16 hours ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

I always keep two towels on hand in the winter. I wonder if that works on sand too?

Towel is better than nothing!  It can sort of help you compact the sand if you are gentle enough with the rocking.  Good thing is about a towel if you think you can make it out you just haul ass and leave it behind.

My hillbilly engineer brain also says think about yanking your floor mats out and using those for traction pads in an emergency. (or your kid's lego mat! 😉 )

[troph 24807]

just get the trax things from amazon. they can be one and done but hey whatever. sometimes you fellas just want to make things hard (yes there's a joke there).

[4th and 5 4914]

We ran a trip to the SPI jetties, saw some tarpon, no hookups, then went up the beachfront. Picked up a few limits of snapper on trout rods at a honey hole about a half mile off the beach. South of the Mansfield jetty We found large schools of menhaden and birds working and there were tarpon everywhere. We must have seen over 100. Some

even right off the boat. Close enough to gaff. Just could not get a hookup - except for some sharks. Trolling motoring  live mullet and menhaden and casting DOA bait busters. Then came in the Mansfield jetties and ran the flats back to SPI. Over 70 miles round trip. Been eating snapper all week. 

[troph 24807]

11 caught over 3 days. Tonight cut short (2 caught though) due to a kiddo, a bike wreck on a trail, and bloodied up knees, elbows and hands.
 

But this creek explodes at dusk:

 

nothing and I mean nothing to see or catch from about 12:30pm until dusk.  Then BAM. Buffet table. learned a lot from the locals, really good people.

Edited July 6, 2023 by troph

[troph 24807]

Probably taking most of the weekend off.  We are playing in a tennis tournament and doing some mountain biking classes and trails in snowmass. But tonight I decided to move slow, breathe deep and fish methodically. Opposite of chaos as the fish did their thing at dusk.  Paid off, 10 caught, 12 hooked.  No stupid mistakes it felt great. Set up with two caddis flies and lost the smaller one on a fighter, but kept fishing the single through the end of the night. All in all an epic solo outing. 

**edit: I've been told the fly pattern is a drake or a attractor pattern that mimics a drake. fly shop says it was a caddis. someone is jerking me around. don't care had sex, I mean fish.

beautiful fish. I’m in awe of the abundance here. 
 

 

for those keeping score, 21 trout caught in 4 trips on the water. same creek. will get on the river when the flows drop some more.

Edited July 7, 2023 by troph