2019 Fishing - Bent rods and tight lines

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

18 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

23 hours ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

fly or conventional?

Most likely fly from a raft.

i haven't fished montana or wyoming (will be floating the north platte in WY for 3 days in april though). it seems like wyoming has a reputation for consistently brutal winds. we were planning on taking a 2 week trip through wyoming and montana this summer and man, the Paradise Valley area seems damn near perfect. so many lodges around there ($$$) but all sorts of floatable water in the prettiest setting on earth.

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

2 minutes ago, DCA_HORN said:

Is that two different trailers or is that some optical illusion?

the thing covered in the back is my raft that @Pescado_Rojo likes to hump. something about the color red.

[Pescado_Rojo 19423]

9 hours ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

the thing covered in the back is my raft that @Pescado_Rojo likes to hump. something about the color red.

I can’t wait to find every possible snag on the new boat

[DCA_HORN 725]

So what is the new ride? I being a flat lander cant place it.

[Johnny Chimpo 478]

Looks like a fly fishing drift boat to me. 

[squib 1120]

Got on a decent crankbait bite today. Don’t let anyone tell you that stock hooks are acceptable. In 47 degree water, they only nip at it most of the time. 
 

 

 

Edited February 23, 2020 by squib

[fattyflattie 4639]

For you freshwater guys; think about hitting Rayburn soon. Unreal bags coming out of there the last few weeks. 

Last week an FLW guy had a 40# bag. 
https://www.flwfishing.com/news/2020-02-16-sharp-blasts-40-pounds-to-win-on-rayburn?fbclid=IwAR2vlUcCpcMlv2nDP4d-nWueV1PbtnHNeosyLBTcRj3K5WuakMn4dZeLRQE

This week, a 50# bag was brought in.  F’n unreal. 
https://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=759568

Just unreal. That guy essentially had five (5) fish that would be 80% of fisherman’s personal bests in a single day. On tournament day on top of that.  

[1leggedduck 443]

16 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

For you freshwater guys; think about hitting Rayburn soon. Unreal bags coming out of there the last few weeks. 

Last week an FLW guy had a 40# bag. 
https://www.flwfishing.com/news/2020-02-16-sharp-blasts-40-pounds-to-win-on-rayburn?fbclid=IwAR2vlUcCpcMlv2nDP4d-nWueV1PbtnHNeosyLBTcRj3K5WuakMn4dZeLRQE

This week, a 50# bag was brought in.  F’n unreal. 
https://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=759568

Just unreal. That guy essentially had five (5) fish that would be 80% of fisherman’s personal bests in a single day. On tournament day on top of that.  

My boys grew up on that lake. My oldest son is the reason I fish bass tournaments.

[bigshark88 388]

Florida Panhandle creek bite in my technical duck boat. Me and a buddy bagged about 30 of these. Scented plastics crawled along the bottom to start. Bagged one "wall hanger" on topwater at the end of the day.

[tx 3 putt 77073]

23 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

For you freshwater guys; think about hitting Rayburn soon. Unreal bags coming out of there the last few weeks. 

Last week an FLW guy had a 40# bag. 
https://www.flwfishing.com/news/2020-02-16-sharp-blasts-40-pounds-to-win-on-rayburn?fbclid=IwAR2vlUcCpcMlv2nDP4d-nWueV1PbtnHNeosyLBTcRj3K5WuakMn4dZeLRQE

This week, a 50# bag was brought in.  F’n unreal. 
https://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=759568

Just unreal. That guy essentially had five (5) fish that would be 80% of fisherman’s personal bests in a single day. On tournament day on top of that.  

do you need an extra license on the boat ?

none of my group fish freshwater, would love to hit that lake with freshwater guys. 

[fattyflattie 4639]

1 hour ago, tx 3 putt said:

do you need an extra license on the boat ?

none of my group fish freshwater, would love to hit that lake with freshwater guys. 

Not sure I follow wrt the license.  
 

Rayburn is an absolutely stunning lake.  Beautiful.  But I can’t catch fish for shit on it.  Last tournament I fished on it was ‘12 iirc (I remember JFF was making the crowd buzz with some game) and we were 50th or so on day 1. We caught 5 fish.  Not a single cull. Day 2 we fished hard all day and had 4 fish.  About 30 mins before quitting time I catch a 5.5# on a buzz bait.  We ended up 9th.  10 fish over 2 days of fishing.   Oof.   So the extra 30 min drive to Toledo where anyone can catch them is my go to.  Plus, I see at least one bald eagle a day when I fish Toledo. I know they are at Rayburn too but I never see them. 

[1leggedduck 443]

We long ago abandoned Deep East Texas first for South Texas, and now the Highland Lakes. Turned us into finesse weirdos, dropshots and such. 

[crimsonlonghorn 2306]

Can anyone here recommend a guide in Port Isabel?

We are going down to South Padre for Spring Break next week and my boys want to go fishing.

Just looking for a half day on the bay looking for trout and whatever else we can find. 

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

hey @Chewbacca saw this ad in the Drake and thought of you and your dad...this looks pretty freaking epic.

[Chewbacca 7780]

47 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

hey @Chewbacca saw this ad in the Drake and thought of you and your dad...this looks pretty freaking epic.

Thanks.  I'll look into it.  Some of these fucking ranches are so expensive we might as well go back to Alaska to fish.  At least that way you come home with a couple hundred pounds of fish each.

 

One of them cost something like $1,600 per person per day.

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

2 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Thanks.  I'll look into it.  Some of these fucking ranches are so expensive we might as well go back to Alaska to fish.  At least that way you come home with a couple hundred pounds of fish each.

 

One of them cost something like $1,600 per person per day.

yeah i was floored when i saw their rates. i can take my popup and boat and have just as good of a time. fuck all that.

[crash_davis 23113]

4 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Thanks.  I'll look into it.  Some of these fucking ranches are so expensive we might as well go back to Alaska to fish.  At least that way you come home with a couple hundred pounds of fish each.

 

One of them cost something like $1,600 per person per day.

got damned. is a high class hooker included in the package price?

[Pescado_Rojo 19423]

1 hour ago, crash_davis said:

got damned. is a high class hooker included in the package price?

well, somebody's getting fucked. 

[Chewbacca 7780]

Thinking it would be better to just go stay somewhere like Jackson and then do a couple guided float days.  Would cost a fraction of what the lodges cost.  We need electricity wherever we stay to plug in mine and my dad's CPAPs.

[4th and 5 4914]

5 hours ago, crimsonlonghorn said:

Can anyone here recommend a guide in Port Isabel?

We are going down to South Padre for Spring Break next week and my boys want to go fishing.

Just looking for a half day on the bay looking for trout and whatever else we can find. 

Skipper Ray, Ernest Cisneros, Aaron Cisneros, Gilbert Vela, Jack Barton, Walter Bode is great with kids, Mike Knox, Dave Edwards

[Mac8111 2107]

What kind of bottom are the trout hanging out in these days ?


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[crimsonlonghorn 2306]

On 3/4/2020 at 5:26 PM, 4th and 5 said:

Skipper Ray, Ernest Cisneros, Aaron Cisneros, Gilbert Vela, Jack Barton, Walter Bode is great with kids, Mike Knox, Dave Edwards

We went out with Walter Bode this morning and hammered the small Sheepsheads. Caught a few keepers and have some meat in the box as well. Thanks again for the tip. He was great with the boys. They had a very good time and already are asking to go again. 

[Zwylde 812]

Took the boy to High Island on Tuesday as it looked like the only brief window with no wind during Spring Break.  Greeted with heavy fog and low tide but a decent calm surf with some medium size rollers.  We didn't get any hits on baits cast in the second gut and only one fish on a yakked bait past the 3rd bar.  Sun tried to break through about noon but then fogged over again not to long after.  The whiting (our bait) were unusually hard to come by and the incoming tide started pushing us all the way up the road so we packed it in early afternoon in time to beat the traffic heading back home.    All in all a good day spent with the boy and he got at least one drag puller that was worth the trip.

 

 

[BearSchlong 8098]

PSA Loomis rod sale - after examining EVERY SINGLE ROD AT ACADEMY looking for a medium or medium/light casting rod with full cork handle, I found a Loomis E6X 7' medium/moderate action in the rod rack above the aisles.  Regular $199 but on sale for $95.  I know it's not high end custom but I recently broke a rod and this now joins my backups.

Who buys Medium Heavy or Heavy rods with those stupid split grip non-cork handles?  Apparently nobody, since that is about 98% of Academy's inventory.

I really just need to find a good custom rod guy.

[Mac8111 2107]

PSA Loomis rod sale - after examining EVERY SINGLE ROD AT ACADEMY looking for a medium or medium/light casting rod with full cork handle, I found a Loomis E6X 7' medium/moderate action in the rod rack above the aisles.  Regular $199 but on sale for $95.  I know it's not high end custom but I recently broke a rod and this now joins my backups.
Who buys Medium Heavy or Heavy rods with those stupid split grip non-cork handles?  Apparently nobody, since that is about 98% of Academy's inventory.
I really just need to find a good custom rod guy.

The wife got me a custom rod from a guy her brother uses a lot for rods. I just talked to him and gave him what I was looking for. Not sure of the cost since she was handling it, but I will let you know how I like the rod once he builds it.


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[Mac8111 2107]

Took the family down to POC for little spring break action.

 

Friday- the old man went wading in search of trout. Hit up a couple spots out Matagorda island that had good grass structure. Saw a little bait. No trout. We finally pulled into that front part of Mule Slough and waded that grad line looking for a red. No action. The old man was tired of the soft mud and walked back to boat. I noticed three birds diving across the way and I walked my ass all the way across the shell to other side of the flat there. It was shin deep nasty algae looking grass. Didn’t see much going on but then I walked up on a red cruising around. I walked a little further and started seeing the bait getting popped. Reds were all around crushing glass minnows it looked like. I had a pooping cork and gulp tied on out that was going to work with this shallow grass. Ended up just cutting the popping cork off and throwing the white gulp on a jig head and working it fast to keep it on top over the grass. Sure enough reds were hammering it. Second fish was 24”. I went to string only to realize my Stringer was missing. So I just kept him in the net. He was big and it was shallow, figured he wasn’t going anywhere. Sure enough, as I am fighting the next one, the 24” flopped out of the net and took off. Caught another keeper and walked him all the way to the boat in the net and grabbed stringer and walked back out there and finished off my limit. Josie’s fried and grilled up the fish that night. That grilled fish there is amazing, especially when the fish was swimming a couple hours earlier.

 

Saturday took family fishing. Ended up back in Mule Slough. Daughter hooked up with a keeper. Wife had some small ones. They got into some hard heads. I ended up walking over to same spot and sure enough redfish were still there. Caught five, two were keepers.

 

 

With them cancelling all school events for the near future, I can see me self quarantining myself at the coast soon.

 

 

 

 

 

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[Braff Zacklin 13619]

Sounds like you had a couple of great days on the water with the fam, @Mac8111. Being a filthy landlubber in landlocked Idaho, I enjoy reading everyone's saltwater updates.

I also get a kick out of YouTube channels like this one:

Been watching this guy evolve as a content creator for three years now. His skills and setup are on point. Doesn't appear to be too bad a fisherman, either.

[Masshole Horn 775]

Looking for a small outboard for my square stern canoe.  Looking at the 2.5 Suzuki or 2.3 Honda. Honda is air-cooled, never run an air-cooled outboard. Avoiding the Tohatsu and Yamaha as they're heavier.

Does anyone have experience or recommendations on those?

Or should I keep an eye on craigslist for an older 2 stroke?

[4th and 5 4914]

On 3/11/2020 at 1:39 PM, crimsonlonghorn said:

We went out with Walter Bode this morning and hammered the small Sheepsheads. Caught a few keepers and have some meat in the box as well. Thanks again for the tip. He was great with the boys. They had a very good time and already are asking to go again. 

I’m glad it worked out for you guys. Walter is good with kids.

We fished with Skipper twice last week and caught near limits of trout and reds each day. 

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

Gentlemen I’m here to tell you the fish don’t know or care that the world is ending. They’re hungry as shit and every fish in the river is looking up. Added bonus (until it decimates our local economy) is there’s nobody on the water.

Late March remains my favorite time of the year for trout fishing. I even kept one the other day...figured since there’s no food at the grocery store I’m allowed.

 

[Lat22 4015]

Pretty sure I'm not violating any shelter in place orders if I drop my boat in the water and go fishing by myself.

[davidg 4038]

34 minutes ago, Lat22 said:

Pretty sure I'm not violating any shelter in place orders if I drop my boat in the water and go fishing by myself.

Running into any ramp closures?  I saw that Matagorda shut down the harbor and ramps there.

[Lat22 4015]

Fortunately my boat is on a sling. I've heard that some people are running into deputies at the ramp.

[DCA_HORN 725]

I didn't see any evidence of this today. Ton of boats on the water. Wind kicked up a bit and the fishing wasnt as good as the past few weeks but otherwise a good day quarantining on the water.

[BearSchlong 8098]

Ramp closures? Is that legal?

[crash_davis 23113]

19 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

Ramp closures? Is that legal?

Who are you gonna call? The cops who are the ones closing the ramps? The world's gone apeshit.

I fish from a kayak. No boat ramp needed.  Aint nobody gonna invade my social distance. I'm going again this weekend. Fish know I need to feed my family.

[Lat22 4015]

7 hours ago, BearSchlong said:

Ramp closures? Is that legal?

Just as legal as the government shutting down businesses and telling us we can't leave our homes.

[Braff Zacklin 13619]

It might be legal, but it doesn't make much sense.

What's important right now is people avoid gathering en masse and sharing confined spaces, so what's the harm in having parks or boat ramps open so people can get out and explore?

Am I missing something?

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

1 hour ago, Braff Zacklin said:

It might be legal, but it doesn't make much sense.

What's important right now is people avoid gathering en masse and sharing confined spaces, so what's the harm in having parks or boat ramps open so people can get out and explore?

Am I missing something?

Don’t tread on me, bro.

[Braff Zacklin 13619]

Speaking of which, I'm jelly of your current situation. All our headwater and tailwater is blown out right now, so not many fishing options unless you wanna kick around ponds and reservoirs.

How are your rivers low enough to fish?

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

6 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Speaking of which, I'm jelly of your current situation. All our headwater and tailwater is blown out right now, so not many fishing options unless you wanna kick around ponds and reservoirs.

How are your rivers low enough to fish?

Our waters are about as skinny as they get all year (slightly up from annual lows 2 from months ago) but barring something crazy we’re still 1.5 months from anything approaching runoff conditions. That’s crazy y’all are already out of the game.

[Braff Zacklin 13619]

Yeah, it was a terribly weak winter for most of the area but supposedly above average toward the east near the Wyoming border and up north by the Park, so early melt and lots of it, apparently.

[Storm the Field 5295]

Parents went down to Keith Lake yesterday and put together a respectable little Texas Slam.

[Hook1997 5385]

Port Aransas said no fishing from any shore or beach...   If you live there who are you hurting going fishing by yourself and keeping a distance from anyone.

[crash_davis 23113]

12 hours ago, Hook1997 said:

Port Aransas said no fishing from any shore or beach...   If you live there who are you hurting going fishing by yourself and keeping a distance from anyone.

now this is beyond stupid. anyone who knows anything about fishing knows that you do not want to be anywhere near other people while fishing.

[fattyflattie 4639]

14 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

now this is beyond stupid. anyone who knows anything about fishing knows that you do not want to be anywhere near other people while fishing.

I want to be potlicking the guy with the bent rods.  Can spot them clear across the bay.   Hello friend, couldn't help but notice you were on "my spot"...

[Braff Zacklin 13619]

Agreed with all of the above. "No fishing" and "no ramp access" policies are inscrutable, especially in a time like this, when people need an outlet more than ever.

[Pescado_Rojo 19423]

19 hours ago, Hook1997 said:

Port Aransas said no fishing from any shore or beach...   If you live there who are you hurting going fishing by yourself and keeping a distance from anyone.

They also included guides as "non-essential business", so all the guides are grounded, too. And no short term rentals. I'm sure that's shutting down the Air B&B and VRBO stuff, but I wonder if that includes hotels? 

One of my buddies said fuck it and headed to Harlingen and is planning to fish until Wednesday or so. I have to admit, it's tempting but I've been fucking swamped at work.

[Hook1997 5385]

3 hours ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

They also included guides as "non-essential business", so all the guides are grounded, too. And no short term rentals. I'm sure that's shutting down the Air B&B and VRBO stuff, but I wonder if that includes hotels? 

One of my buddies said fuck it and headed to Harlingen and is planning to fish until Wednesday or so. I have to admit, it's tempting but I've been fucking swamped at work.

Tell him to pick me up on the way!  Lol. It’s times like these I wish I lived on the coast I would be fishing everyday, much better then sitting in the fucking house all day.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

23 hours ago, Hook1997 said:

Port Aransas said no fishing from any shore or beach...   If you live there who are you hurting going fishing by yourself and keeping a distance from anyone.

Matagorda not only closed the public ramps, they closed off the beach too.  For vehicles anyway.  LCRA park and everything is shut down.