Been going early in the mornings to the little creek that runs through Belton. I had been having a blast catching the bass in there for a few weeks now on the fly rod. Went last Thursday and was wearing them out as usually the spotted/Alabama/ Guadlupes; whatever they are were aggressive as usual then they just absolutely shutdown right at 0800 which was odd since they will usually stay active until 1030 or 1100. The shade was still kinda good on the water. Switched from a “Sneaky Pete” to a clouser and got a huge grab that took off and popped the line. Retied and got another strike about three casts in. Thought I had a big largemouth but turned out to be about a two-pound channel cat. As the sun came up on the water I noticed there was a school of about twenty of those things foraging in the run I was fishing. Since I was not really rigged for them I moved another pool up to see if the bass were active there. No dice on the bass just more catfish.
Yesterday I decided to target the cats. Grabbed some minnows from the Mickey’s gas station around the corner from the house and was on the water by 0645. It turned out to be the same as last time bass bit aggressively until 00800 or so and then shut off. This time I noticed the cats moving upstream through the riffles and into the run and pool I was fishing. School was a little bigger probably in the neighborhood of forty fish. A good mix of solid fish and dinks. Caught three for the stringer and the bite slowed so I moved to the next pool. Cats were there too, in force. I could see several more larger fish than at the original hole but only managed nine and ten inchers. Poked around awhile longer mainly just looking. Most pools and deeper runs held good sized schools of catfish while the bass that could be seen were hugging the banks in very shallow water along with long ear and green sunfish.
It was fairly warm when I started around 78 degrees under fair skies with a light south east wind at around 2 to 3 mph. Water temp was 72. Was up to 84 when I left around 1030. If the water was up, I’d love to put a smaller yak on this water as transportation between pools. Looking at public access I think a short float could be devised. Right now the water is down though the springs in the bed of the creek are still pumping water pretty good. Rocks are starting to get slick with algae.