A short afternoon trip after a few days off

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GoDoe
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A short afternoon trip after a few days off

Post by GoDoe »

I took a few days off from this fishing vacation to go on a different kind of vacation. I ran up to San Antonio to stay with a fishing bud and go chase some feral hogs with our bows. I needed a break from the subpar fishing conditions. It was nice to not be on the water trying to make a day of a day that need not be fished. We didn't do any good on the hogs either but it was fun to get outside. We saw lots of deer and a few turkeys and did see hogs every outing but just couldn't close the deal with our bows.

We were sitting in our spots Sunday morning when the sun came up. We walked in to the sounds of turkeys gobbling on the roost. By 9 we decided to call it a day and head our separate ways. He back to SA and I back to my RV in Aransas Pass.

I got here about 11:30 am and threw all my stuff out of the truck and fixed a quick PB&J. Hooked up the Solo and tried to remember where all the gear was to make an afternoon of sight fishing happen. I was sure I would be missing something when I hit the water because of my haste in getting ready. Turns out I didn't forget anything.

The clouds were thick when I left the park but it looked like they might just burn off as I launched. 10 minutes later I was up and poling. There was a brightness to the day but no direct sunshine as I made my way thru the first lake. I was bumping some nice fish but just couldn't see them in time to get off a cast. The water was a little off color from tidal movement and on the first shoreline I must have spooked 20 fish. Frustrated but encouraged I made my way along to water skinny enough to see the fish if they happened to be there.

The sun had begun to pop out for brief periods of time and I was seeing fish. The wind had also picked up which of course complicates the process of trying to lay the push pole down, pick up the fly rod and cast to a sighted fish before the skiff floats over them. I screwed up several before finally getting a 23" fish to eat the fly in 10" of water.

For the next couple of hours I was seeing plenty of targets when the sun would light up the water and I cast to about 30 fish. Some I misjudged and some just ignored my offerings but 4 more read the script. I landed three of those and broke one off. I had some fish refuse the fly that I was sure would not. They were up very shallow, like backs out of the water, cruising. I figured if they are doing that kind of hunting then my olive crab ought to be just the ticket. More often than not I had to watch them drift right on by the fly I had laid in their paths. I got an 18, 23, 23.5, and a 25.

I only spent about 4 hours total on the water but was good to see fish and they seemed to be in more of a summer pattern. They were not on an aggressive feed but at least some of them were willing to give me a tug. After last week's cloudy cool weather I am looking forward to this weeks forecasted sunnier days.

John
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Cuervo Jones
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Re: A short afternoon trip after a few days off

Post by Cuervo Jones »

The fish I managed to spook last week (fewer than the week before) weren’t actively feeding. Only resting. No tails, few wakes, lots of spooked puffs of mud.


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jeff89
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Re: A short afternoon trip after a few days off

Post by jeff89 »

Man, I dinked around in cow trap lakes on the upper coast yesterday and did nothing but scrape gel coat off the bottom of my Gheenoe. Awful. The water is just too off colored and using a push pole in that muck is no fun. I think I decided that I'm just going to make the 2.5 hr drive to POC and actually enjoy the time on the water in the future.

GoDoe - you always seem to bang out some fish! Tuesday/Wednesday look primo, good luck!
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