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Leeann Tweeden bass of Fayette Lake 11-17, escape to the North 11-18, and cold trout action 11-19
Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 1:30 pm
by Cuervo Jones
I don’t know about you, but I’d never heard of Ms. Tweeden until a couple of days ago. A couple of taps on my keyboard in google revealed a LOT of her. And she’s a lot like my bass friends in Fayette Lake....very particular about who can touch her and when. Today was a quickie trip.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171117/b9829ce44edcf64d0d190b2cd03d981f.jpg)
The bank beaters were out in force and so was another kayak guy, who headed in mid-morning, missing the big surge of feeding action that started about lunch time. There was an early jerkbait bite and a couple of chubby girls stopped by to visit.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171117/75c8c453a4701678ec0b3ddaa1d11595.jpg)
Don’t be silly! Of COURSE I didn’t try to kiss them or touch them inappropriately! I’m no senator!
Things slowed down and the wind kicked up from the south. That’s when the creek channel bass punched in for lunch. 14-16 feet was the place to be.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171117/50ce49cf94003fd09d841e22e6e90a2c.jpg)
And the bass request Carolina rigged lizards. They only nibbled on jigs, but they inhaled the plastics.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171117/9439981be7b07bd49c7755db0770a3f5.jpg)
Don’t be like everybody else! Get away from those banks! Flipping and pitching look cool, but the bass are mocking you from their creek channel back porches.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171117/8fd0866d556c5d82b1828588859d15c6.jpg)
If you go to catch some of these lovely fish, don’t tell them it was me who squealed on them. I don’t need lawsuits and bad press 10 years from now.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171117/7730f4f93aaa3831c14ea764462a1887.jpg)
Then again, my bass friends are cool about stuff like that. Besides, let’s see Ms. Tweeden do this:
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171117/7007cef46041f106f28e171846a650a0.jpg)
Fat chance.
Bass are biting and getting fat! Go catch some!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Re: Leeann Tweeden bass of Fayette Lake 11-17
Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 8:06 pm
by karstopo
I always learn something of value from your reports. Them some nice photos of pond pickles. Keep those reports coming. I’ll be on the bench on injured reserve cheering for my team, go Cuervo!
Re: Leeann Tweeden bass of Fayette Lake 11-17
Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 7:53 am
by Ron Mc
my sister and BIL had a Livingston lake house for about 20 years, and the submerged channel banks near the top of the lake are always the place to find fish.
Hill country lakes are so different, 140' deep, the good structure are in the coves and submerged hills.
This is a good time of year to fish the lakes, but also the best time of year to fish the coast.
The problem with lakes the rest of the year is you're miserable by 9am, and so are the fish.
Wading cypress tunnels in the hill country creeks, it's 15-degrees cooler, and the best fishing can be at 2pm.
Big difference between rivers and reservoirs is the forage and the size the fish can reach. A 28-inch largemouth in the river may reach 10 lbs eating nickel-sized crayfish and dime-sized minnows, and would be 20 lbs in a reservoir eating shad.
Re: Leeann Tweeden bass of Fayette Lake 11-17
Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 7:56 am
by kickingback
Ah Fayette! Love that lake! Good report Sir and thanks for the pictures!
Leeann Tweeden bass of Fayette Lake 11-17
Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 9:10 am
by Cuervo Jones
Once you have a good rapport with the fish, you can find them almost at will. If you REALLY put the effort into it, eventually THEY’LL find YOU! Just wiggle your fingers in the water and watch them come up to say howdy! It works. That I’ll tell you. Believe me.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171118/693945f3befcfac921a52c913a457436.jpg)
This impending cold front has me spooked so I’m booking it out of town like this.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Re: Leeann Tweeden bass of Fayette Lake 11-17 and an escape to the North 11-18
Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 8:48 pm
by Cuervo Jones
And I’ve arrived north where it’s bitter cold and the fish look different.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171119/66b085701a775347b15a6b8044b62ee9.jpg)
Supplies acquired.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171119/93574d0c9ffe80a18ceb5c9a85cd90e6.jpg)
Climbing up, up, and away!
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171119/0236a110ea8be0abbdab84f177354d1a.jpg)
Check that temperature. Glad I brought my thermals and wool socks.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171119/fd006bdc6644ceecf2b43b9283406f4d.jpg)
Got to where I wanted to get.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171119/6bd78001c8ed44634c6a78f7c0393ba9.jpg)
Between de-icing my guides and losing rigs to the rocks, I managed to mess with a couple of these.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171119/6fdc79c90d083abd6d6c0910a8b233d5.jpg)
Time to settle in and adjust to the minuscule oxygen content of the air up here. I think my brain cells are dying faster than normal. If this is my last ever post, TKF, know I have no regrets!!
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171119/f803330ae302d8604df5d9b946ae8039.jpg)
The adventure continues tomorrow.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Re: Leeann Tweeden bass of Fayette Lake 11-17 and an escape to the North 11-18
Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 5:56 am
by Ron Mc
nice thing about winter trout fishing, hatch-matching is always midges, midges, and midges
Re: Leeann Tweeden bass of Fayette Lake 11-17 and an escape to the North 11-18
Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 9:19 pm
by Cityfisher
Your reports are incredibly inspiring and the picts.... awesome! I'm a little envious sitting here in H-Town. Love it
Leeann Tweeden bass of Fayette Lake 11-17, escape to the North 11-18, and cold trout action 11-19
Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 9:26 pm
by Cuervo Jones
Awoke to 7 degrees and an arctic landscape.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171120/0f45d93576e89c611372002459a6aa00.jpg)
I grabbed some coffee at the local gas station and chatted with the cashier a bit. Always cool to learn the local stuff. Then off to the river.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171120/16e230ab8e631684bda9c1937fa9b4fc.jpg)
Ahhhhhhhh. Only vehicle in the lot. It’s a wonderful, solitary existence for the antisocial angler like me.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171120/47a71ea99c01f15afafa82e01821330a.jpg)
The river is low and clear.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171120/89da5cf2e1895899231f86fa8b10c5c4.jpg)
The trout are home and happy to eat.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171120/e76469ef46dd09417815b1a69badb81b.jpg)
Most people only use midges in late fall and winter. But trout keep eating stoneflies and caddis and annelids and mayflies. This one ate a synthetic stone.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171120/bdbead3ab83c59b33dafd07a969cc36b.jpg)
The next ate a midge.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171120/984c60ce7f3fac60af4d9122ad615fd6.jpg)
Ice kept blocking my guides.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171120/c769739fe15779fb5e7ca0254c42933e.jpg)
But the fish kept me happy.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171120/f9c234e2b96afeabe768474e2b5d0719.jpg)
A few anglers showed up mid morning. They moved fast and didn’t cover the same water I did fortunately. Most left before the mayflies started hatching around 1:00. Off came the nymphing rig, replaced with a parachute olive (#20) and a #18 olive RS2 dropper. A #18 flashback pheasant tail got added later in the hatch.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171120/face4de0bd57e67fb24ff0a66742d292.jpg)
The trout approved.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171120/2d3814f72abc01eb046ff6cbfe1d4165.jpg)
Never caught a brookie here! Three species in one stream on the same day. Not too shabby.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171120/bb15b85d5626db31ca5ad4e99afd909d.jpg)
Hooked a lot and lost a few, caught a few, and marveled at how lucky I am to be here now.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171120/0fd0fdeb9ed9915e6773d1eaac7251b9.jpg)
Just wish the scenery wasn’t so damned ugly.
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171120/82de7714e62977be2c829331ebc9d414.jpg)
Like Max Rockatansky, I’m off to my next adventure. Not a road warrior, more like a rod warrior. Truth!
![Image](//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171120/33c077971cb525a08a5fd1fd634a49bc.jpg)
Bye buckaroos!
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Re: Leeann Tweeden bass of Fayette Lake 11-17, escape to the North 11-18, and cold trout action 11-19
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 9:16 am
by Ron Mc
random attractors often catch fish - there is no logic to the brain of a trout, though I understand Cheetos flies work well on the Guadalupe in the summer.
The best defense against icing is fish with a roll-cast and high-stick as much as possible. Dragging wet line through the guides is what builds ice, so you want to minimize the action. Of course, you can't avoid it catching fish, so you're going to spend some time knocking ice from the guides.
We went out on the Guadalupe one morning at 14-degrees - didn't slow the fish down. My reel froze instantly from the internal condensation, but freed up as soon as the ice evaporated.
Danny is wondering if we're having fun yet, but he'd have a great day, too.
(I released this 25" hen, and two weeks later, someone else caught her and submitted her for the state catch-and-release record - of course they shot an album of group photos with the fish before releasing her)
![Image](https://imgur.com/4uKOGUg.jpg)
and it got better with the sun
![Image](https://imgur.com/U8TWP6q.jpg)
Re: Leeann Tweeden bass of Fayette Lake 11-17, escape to the North 11-18, and cold trout action 11-19
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 2:46 pm
by Cuervo Jones
Re: Leeann Tweeden bass of Fayette Lake 11-17, escape to the North 11-18, and cold trout action 11-19
Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 6:51 pm
by preast
Nice coldwater action. Didn't know you were a trout/fly guy.
And if that was a veiled POTA reference thrown in, and with you it has to be, then extra nice!
Re: Leeann Tweeden bass of Fayette Lake 11-17, escape to the North 11-18, and cold trout action 11-19
Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 8:47 pm
by Cuervo Jones
Yep. First fish I ever caught was a rainbow trout in Wyoming, back when Reagan was in office. Started tying flies about a year later in 1985. I still feel most at ease wandering along a trout stream somewhere in the Rockies, but I love the coastal marshes and lakes here in Tejas almost as much!
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Re: Leeann Tweeden bass of Fayette Lake 11-17, escape to the North 11-18, and cold trout action 11-19
Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 8:53 pm
by preast
Sounds like we started fly fishing the same year (or so). I was in high school but I'd already been spin fishing since before I could remember.
Now about the POTA (planet of the apes) quote... was I reading into that? I figured you might be the kind of guy that would thrown that in for those that would get it.
Re: Leeann Tweeden bass of Fayette Lake 11-17, escape to the North 11-18, and cold trout action 11-19
Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2017 6:43 am
by Tombo
The only thing missing is the sound of a babbling brook.