Corpusfishing.com

[Prof. Salt]

Saturday I wanted to fish, the the heavy recent rains meant that the river and bay would probably be dirty with fresh water. I arrived and made the paddle over to my area before daylight, and as I sat and waited for the sunrise I began to see the water was indeed a dirty brown color. I began to work the shoreline and realized pretty quickly that my usually productive area was not going to be so good this particular morning. There was just too much runoff clouding up the water. So I quickly began the 1.5 mile paddle to a set of lakes that were more protected. With the unusual morning high tide, they were flooded and should be holding fish. As I worked into the lakes I knew to head towards the back edges where fish would be advancing with the water in their search for breakfast. And that is where I found them! The first fish was early on when I rounded a corner. He was swimming against the grass, back out of the water and just asking for a lure. I softly pitched it just offshore from the fish and he turned to investigate. I held the lure still for a second and could see the fish poised right above it. A slow crawl forward brought buy-in and the fish slammed the lure with that lovely hard thump that I hoped for. As the fish fought, it spooked another red farther along the shore but I had the first fish in hand and was excited that it might actually prove to be a good morning. I worked quite a bit of empty shoreline before encountering the next fish, way in the back of a larger lake. I could see three reds working in and out of the shallow shore, and as soon as I was inside of comfortable range I timed a cast to put the bait in front of one fish. It was immediately slammed and the dance was on. Three or more fish spooked this time, but with 2 out of 3 in the bag, I was feeling good. Around the next little bend in the shore I spotted another pair of fish, and one was big. I waited for that one to give me a good opportunity and placed the Trick Shot about a foot away. The fish immediately rushed over and stopped, trying to locate the morsel that had demanded attention. As I began to retrieve the fish struck and here we went again ...but two runs later the hook pulled. Evidently the fish ate and immediately began to run before getting the bait all the way inside its mouth. The hook set on the outside of the lip and didn't have enough purchase to keep us attached. Oh well, I checked the bait and moved ahead. Within a couple of minutes I spotted another fish back in a cul-de-sac. It was too skinny for me to sneak in with the kayak so I sat still outside the entrance as the fish worked out toward me. Before it could get to me though, I noticed a tail wave about 12 feet away in the grass. As it went down it left a faint wake heading toward open water. I had the fly rod in hand, and pitched the fly ahead of the tail where I assumed the head of the fish was. My aim was off and the fly snagged the fish on the rear dorsal fin. This created havoc as the fish ran for deep water, and it blew out the other fish I had been waiting on. Oh well, since the wind was coming up I put the fly rod away and went back to the plastics...

The next little side lake had several fish working one shoreline, and one of them was a real slob that looked like it might be too big to keep. Oh I was going to try and catch it, but I was prepared for the possibility it would have to be released, lol. This fish was more tightly wound than I expected, and as the lure landed ahead of it, the fish bolted forward and inhaled the little plastic. The reel cried as line poured off, but not as much line left as I expected because of how shallow the water was. The poor fish couldn't find enough water to get completely submerged, so it spent a lot of time just rolling around in the mud without putting excess pressure on the line. I got it in pretty quickly and pulled out the measuring board - 27.8" meant my limit was done and I could just have fun with anything else I found! As I finished that first side of the lake system I bumped into several more fish, and most were hungry. I finished with seven eats, and five of the fish came aboard. A couple more clew up on the bait but didn't manage to get it into their mouths. Oh well, I'll take that for a morning that was expected to be slow. It was a good reminder that spots that produce on an outgoing tide might be very different than locations that pay off on an incoming tide. As the water rises many of the fish will follow the water into the back ends of those lakes, so follow them as they explore new areas, and enjoy more success.










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[TexasJim]

Great report and pics, Glenn! I fished Estes Sat. morning, and expected dirty water, but it wasn't bad. Higher water than recently. I found reds, but they wouldn't eat anything I was chunking. I need to bring my Viking over and let it follow yours around and maybe learn how to find the hungry fish! I'm sure the Viking would do well, but the pilot's probably not up to a 9-11 mile paddle. Always enjoy your informative catch reports. TexasJim
_________________
TexasJim
"Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time"

[ziacatcher]

Nice job once again Glenn. In Texas gym, I understand what you're talking about ruin your kayak for 11 mi. I don't think it's something I can do

[awesum]

Your stick-to-it-ness amazes me.

Great job!

[Prof. Salt]

Thanks, but I never know where the fish are until I go searching. Structures are important, but there are miles of them to check. I think a lot of it is learning to slow down enough to avoid alerting the fish (and learning not to make noise with the paddle against the mud). Once I got my "turtle speed" adjusted, fish started popping up closer than I thought possible.