Jones Lakes 6-Jan-2024

[deptrai]

The ramp was packed again. A mix of duck hunters, tournament participants and kayakers. Even though I arrived before sunrise, almost all of these folks had already launched and there were a small number of spaces left to park vehicles without trailers.
This was the tide prediction for the day:

tide.JPG (28.05 KiB) Viewed 1579 times

Low tide in the morning and high tide in the afternoon…what I call an incoming tide. On the water, what I observed was water gushing out of the back lakes and into the ICW until about 2pm. There was a light/moderate NNW wind all day that must have had more of an influence than the tide. As I made my way from the Boat Ramp Crew Change Spot to the entrance of Jones Lakes in the morning, I was travelling with the tide. I only had to dodge two barges…one was passing another that was parked.

Marker at the entrance:

A new experience for me today. I saw the wake of a fish out of the corner of my right eye. I made a quick backhand toss and the fish picked up the Diezel MinnowZ before I put the reel into gear. 7:57 and I had my first keeper. 21”. Sorry about the blood. I was too excited and bled it before taking a picture. Watching the surface for wakes and out-of-place ripples is something I just started doing after learning this from some local podcasts. A few months ago, I wouldn’t have caught this fish.

[deptrai]

It was a 4 hour grind until I was bit again in one of the back lakes at 12:09pm. I’m thinking water temperature had something to do with it. It was 55-56F most of the morning in most of the places I was at. I hooked this fish after the waters finally warmed to 60-61F.

With a light wind at my back, I was slowly drifting along a bank when it just started to look fishy. I was approaching a drain with good water flow, a couple of Snowy Egrets on the bank and finger mullet splashing. I hooked this guy at 12:42.

I had another bite in the same area and I’d usually turn around and make another pass. As I was a long way from the ramp and already had a limit, I just kept heading towards home.

I stopped at one of my favorite deeper water spots on the way back. On the way out, I passed through it quickly because I thought there were duck hunters nearby. There were a bunch of what I thought were decoys in the water. It turns out that they were real ducks and I spooked them all as I passed by. I hooked what was probably a slot Red, but it came undone before I could get a look at it. Two casts later, I landed this shorty at 2:06pm:

Continued on my way home. When you see this, you have to stop and make a cast.

[deptrai]

If unsuccessful, you need to get closer and make another (better) cast.

I landed a forth slot of the day at 2:23.

Of course it was the biggest and had to be released…I’ll catch it again next time. I stopped at this drain in the morning with no success, but I have landed a slot Red here before. All four slot Reds landed were between 21” & 24”.

By this time, the tide was mostly slack and I made my way out to the ICW for the two-mile return. Water level in the first Jones Lake was higher than in the morning. This is what I expected due to the tide prediction. Three barges passed heading NE towards Freeport just before I jumped in. Only one other passed going the same direction (NE) before I landed. As usual, 90+ percent of the parking lot was empty by this time.
The duck hunting must have been really good. I heard lots of shots all morning. I never saw another boat or kayak in the Jones Lake system all day. I’ve actually never seen another kayak in there…fine with me. I love the serenity. I’m reminded of the early COVID days when Oregon closed a bunch of boat ramps and I would sometimes have entire lakes to myself.

Dave

[Ron Mc]

If unsuccessful, you need to get closer and make another (better) cast.
...

My biggest fly rod red, 32", wading Fence lake, made me cast 7 times.
She scooted right past my feet and began grazing again upwind.
Not lining her for 6 casts probably skipped my heart beat a few times.

[TexasJim]

deptral: I have the same experience with the tide predictions versus reality. They say incoming, and it's flowing out for hours. Good catches! I've only been able to catch short Reds and flounder lately. Which flavor of MinnowZ was that? Looks very dark. A friend catches with The Deal and Mood Ring, neither of which our local tackle shop seems to have. A Winter Texan friend catches a lot on Beer Run, which are stocked here, but are always sold out. I have few left. I also catch now and then on Opening Night flavor. Like your detailed reports. Wish I had some catches to report. TexasJim

[mwatson71]

Thanks for a fantastic report. I have only been out once in the past three months, and it was a wade fishing trip in Port Mansfield. I haven't had a kayak out in a year.

[deptrai]

Which flavor of MinnowZ was that? Looks very dark. A friend catches with The Deal and Mood Ring, neither of which our local tackle shop seems to have. A Winter Texan friend catches a lot on Beer Run, which are stocked here, but are always sold out. I have few left. I also catch now and then on Opening Night flavor. Like your detailed reports. TexasJim

My go-to color is Mulletron. I started with the Slam Shady color, then ran out one day and had some of the Mulletron in my bag. It appears to work better for me. I've tried two other colors without any success.
I'm a cheap a$$ so I purchase wherever is the least expensive. That usually ends up being online from outside of Texas. If you spend a certain $ amount, the shipping is included (no such thing as free shipping) and no sales tax. I spent 10 years in Oregon and got used to the no sales tax thing!

The great thing about Z-man stuff is that it never dies. You can catch 30+ fish on a single bait.

What I am a big believer in is the Pro-Cure Shrimp flavor. The 2 oz. gel bottle lasts a long time. I squirt a bit on either side and rub in with my fingers. Re-apply every hour or so.

Dave

[shoffer]

Fantastic report, Dave. I don't have the patience for Jones Lake, but you seem to do well there most of the time.

as for Mwatson71, his drought is my drought, as I start today a two-week trial on a case that I have been working on for 4 years. After Jan. 26 or so, I will be out there again.

[Dandydon]

It's good to hear from Messrs. Watson & Shoffer, kayakers in the Hobie Navy.
They are busy doing law cases while I'm busy recovering from colon surgery. Boo hoo.
Am looking forward to this Summer when we shall all fish again.

Sent from my SM-G973U1 using Tapatalk

[karstopo]

Very nice. Hard to pass up those mini drains when the water is coming out of the marsh, I certainly can’t resist making a few casts into and around them. I guess most of the better flounder are out in the gulf still or otherwise I bet you’d have a nice flattie or two in your fish bag.

Seems like the more I fish a spot, the more I learn about it. I think it is fun to go back to places again and again trying to unlock all the secrets there. In my experience, most all of the marshes off the ICW are constantly getting the deck shuffled and recharged. The ICW is a fish super highway. Sometimes, the fishing is good right on the edge of the ICW, but boat and barge traffic can be a little obnoxious at times for fishing on the edge of the canal.

There have been good trout at times in that area if you are into those. A friend of mine took his cousin over there for the cousin’s first saltwater trip and the cousin caught a 27” trout in Jones Lake for his first speckled trout. Kind of spoils it starting with a near trophy fish. My BIL caught a 31” for his first ever trout and he doesn’t even like to fish, it was a work outing, there is no justice in this world.

Anyhow, thanks for the adventure. I can’t wait for my own, hopefully before too long.