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Fishing Yesterday #12103807 02/21/17 12:46 AM
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texdanm Offline OP
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I went out catfishing yesterday in the Trinity River just above Lake Livingston and had one of the oddest and best fishing days in a long time. Of late it has been really hard to get shad. You can throw your net until your arms are tired and not have even a single shad. Yesterday I was getting a few but it was as if they were scattered and the best you got was 3 or 4 at a time but nonetheless I got enough for the day.

As soon as we got set in one of my favorite holes and I got a rod out...I was actually casting my second rod...the rod just doubled over in my rod holder. The circle hook had done its job and the fight was on. It was a big Gaspergou (Freshwater Drum). Over the next few hours the bite was consistent as any fisherman could ask for with hits coming along on a regular pace. Most of the time one of us was getting a take every 5 or 10 minutes with some mulitpal takes when thing got really busy.

It was real cloudy and there were times of mist not truly heavy enough to call rain. Later towards early evening it cleared off, warmed up and was super nice. The water flow was almost slack with just a slight rise that you only noticed by the things on the surface drifting into the creek rather than out of the creek mouth.

I fish this place real often. It is one of those places were even on a bad day you can usually catch enough cats for a fish fry. I live about a mile from the boat launch and usually am catch and release unless I need some fish for a fry. I have several spots like this that are pretty consistent even without chumming them.

The thing about yesterday was that everything was biting. We caught gaspergou steadily all day. They ranged from 3 to 8 or 9 pounds and were a lot of fun. The catfish were there in good numbers too. They weren't big but I only caught 2 that didn't make the 12 limit and a couple over 5 pounds. Then we also caught about 5 gar running 2 to 4 foot long Four turtles, a 15 white bass and a half dozen stripers running about 18. One of the freaking turtles was almost as big as a number 2 washtub and had a head as big as a one pound coffee can! It was a alligator snapping turtle or as we call them loggerheads.

Late in the afternoon the fish were striking and jumping all around. I'm not sure what they were exactly but they were not gar. They looked like the gaspergou or carp along with hard splashy strikes that were most likely stripers. I haven't seen gaspergou jumping out of the water like that before. In the end we brought home 3 cats and one striper for my partner to have for supper. It was a great day on the water.

I was fishing fairly sort of old school. When you get older going fishing among its other pleasures is always a trip down memory lane. I never go without thinking often of my Dad and was fishing with a couple of reels that are over 40 years old. One a ABU5000B and the other a ABU6000. Both are well used with bushings instead of ball bearings and still slick, good casting and smooth drags. The 5000B was a birthday gift on my 16th birthday and 6000 was my Dads. Back then the 5000B even had a clicker. I like doing this sort of thing and will occasionally even break out with the even older knuckle buster reels. I have my Grandfathers favorite and have used it. It is on an old True Temper stainless steel rod and the Shakespeare reel has linen line on it. I don't use it often because when you come home you have to run the line on the clothes line to let it dry before putting it up.

Last edited by texdanm; 02/21/17 04:33 AM.

You know that old saying "Some people march to the beat of a different drummer."? I don't listen to a drum at all and have meandered through life instead of marching.
Re: Fishing Yesterday [Re: texdanm] #12104588 02/21/17 02:40 PM
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Awesome post! Thanks for sharing. woot

Re: Fishing Yesterday [Re: texdanm] #12104612 02/21/17 02:51 PM
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Re: Fishing Yesterday [Re: texdanm] #12104629 02/21/17 02:58 PM
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Nice read.

Re: Fishing Yesterday [Re: texdanm] #12105029 02/21/17 06:13 PM
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texdanm Offline OP
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It was a great day. Does anyone have any ideas about the fish that were literally jumping out of the water in the afternoon. They were some sort of deep bodied fish that were a grey or bluish color. Has anyone seen gaspergou doing this? I'm wondering if it is some form of spawning behavior. Down closer to the coast where I was raised they had a spring run similar to what the white bass do up here. It was a big deal in Cajun country and people fished it actively. I don't remember them jumping like this though.


You know that old saying "Some people march to the beat of a different drummer."? I don't listen to a drum at all and have meandered through life instead of marching.
Re: Fishing Yesterday [Re: texdanm] #12115619 02/28/17 03:32 AM
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I went out again this Friday. The gaspergou were a no show but the catfish and the gar were all over us. We had a great time and kept a dozen nice sized eaters We were in the same place we were last week. That place seems to be dependable to give up something different every time I go there this year.

Fridays catch was a 7 foot surprise. My fishing buddy got a bump and set the hook but there didn't seem to be anything there. This happened a bunch of times and I suspect it was mostly the gar. The catfish were NOT bumping the baits, they were slamming it and would just double up your rod in the rod holders. The circle hooks worked great! Anyway he started reeling in and had another tug. He set the hook and there was something there. It was just dead weight and we expected a small turtle or maybe a smaller stick fish. When he got it in he found that he was tangled in another line. we checked all our lines but it wasn't one of ours. He puller it on up and got a 3 oz weight and a just huge ofset bass fishing worm hook. When he started pulling in the line there was still weight and well he pulled up an ABU Black Max 2 on a 7' medium heavy ABU rod. It hadn't been in the drink for long and with a little cleaning and new line it is good. The way the cats were hitting someone set it down and turned their heads and BAM it was gone. My buddy is sort of new to fishing so it is an especially nice catch for him.


You know that old saying "Some people march to the beat of a different drummer."? I don't listen to a drum at all and have meandered through life instead of marching.
Re: Fishing Yesterday [Re: texdanm] #12117978 03/01/17 01:25 PM
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That's pretty fun. I caught a 6 1/2' spinning setup before with a live 2lb gou behind Somerville before. I took it home but didn't look at it too much. Couple weeks later I recognized the same 3way swivel setup on a man's pole. Yup,he was the one who lost it. I told him I had it but it wasn't on me. I asked to exchange numbers and he said nah,just bring it back next week that he'd be there. Nope,that rod rode in my truck more than my wife did and I never seen him again. That was 3yrs ago. I decided to keep it now. I put the Abu reel on a new Abu pole a couple weeks ago. Pretty setup hooked

Re: Fishing Yesterday [Re: texdanm] #12124555 03/05/17 07:23 AM
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texdanm Offline OP
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It was really funny because when he started pulling in the line I laughed and told him that it might have a rod and reel on it. I pointed out that the ABU 6000 that I was using was my Dads and he had "caught" it while fishing for crappie in Rayburn. We both laughed. About 5 seconds later the tip pf the rod popped up out of the water.


You know that old saying "Some people march to the beat of a different drummer."? I don't listen to a drum at all and have meandered through life instead of marching.
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