slopez: I had the same experience when fishing in mid February. I caught all my fish in a place I normally wouldn't spend much time on, but stopped to fish it because everybody else was fishing the other holes. I think it was Ben (HL&S) that taught me they are where you find them. On another note, I don't believe that it is fished out but you have to factor in that all the white bass being strung up over the past 30+ days is going to take its toll on fish numbers.
It was a different world when we were boys and girls....
I had those same thoughts about the number of fish going out on stringers and how it should reduce the amount of fish I caught as well. But when the sunlight started to dim down a little towards later in the afternoon, the bite got much better. But if those other fish were still in there, it might have been even a better bite. Oh well, I still took home more than I wanted to clean.
Wow, what happened to the spring weather conditions? This cold snap could slow everything down or even cause it to come to a halt. I had plans to fish this afternoon and tomorrow with some friends but I might have to regroup on these plans and reschedule when weather conditions are better. Brrrrr. I'll just put on another layer of cloths and go any way, you never know with these fish. At least there should be less people out fishing in this weather, which means there will be more fish in the water to try and catch, if they will bite that is. LOL
Yeah, I've had enough of the cold weather. It seems like we get one or two days of nice weather and then a front rolls through. Wish we could save a few of these cold fronts for July/August.
Tomorrow looks to be a decent day weather wise. I missed the bite last year and told myself I'd at least go once in lieu of taking the boat out. Thanks to the many posts, I have a good idea on where to go. My first option for bait will be live crawfish. My dad always talks about catching whites on them. If I can't catch any in the morning I'm wondering what you experts think about these homemade jigheads. Bass seem to like them in the local ponds. . .
Live crawfish work great if you can get some. The 3/4 to 1 inch size work the best. At that size they are grey looking. But this cold snap sure doesn't help out on catching these things shallow, they will get in their hole and stay in it till the water warms up some. The small jigs work the best, white during the day. Good luck if you decide to go..... I will be headed that way soon so I should have some sort of report to post later on this afternoon or tonight. I am not expecting much, so anything is a good thing.
I always have hell fishing in the current with anything smaller than 1/16 oz., which is my preferred weight. I don't see how fishy and the flyboys (J-Moe, HL&S) do it. I guess I have some stalking to do. Also, I know most everyone knows, but watch out for the snakes. They are starting to come out. Sunday I was below the pedestrian bridge @ NB, near what I believe is called the low water crossing. Dude that was about 50 or 60 yds from me ran into a water moccasin. Although I was far from him, I instinctually still took a few steps away. He handled it way better than I would have. Very woman-like characteristics come out in me when I run into snakes.
Thanks for the reply gentlemen. Cross my fingers for some crawfish and start with lighter jigs if that isn't possible. Guess I'll bring a snake stick too!
Fished Irwin Bridge from 11 AM to 3 PM today. The Yegua is clear, clear, clear. Perfect conditions for the magical clouser and it worked like a charm. I caught 49 white bass and 13 crappie.
Fishytx, his fishing buddy and Yota showed up just before I was leaving. They were already wearing them out.
Good to see you again j-moe. Didnt have the amazing day you had but did end up with 19 to clean. All smaller fish but 19 none the less. Thanks again for all the pointers fishytx. My catch numbers have dedinitely increased with your advice. I appreciate all you share as well as others that do too. None of you have to give any advice as you have spent years figuring it out on your own. Anything that is shared is generosity. Thanks again
So yesterday I took home 18 whites and 2 crappie. But I caught a lot of under size fish, maybe another 20 fish, small crappie and whites. Also while cleaning these fish I took home yesterday there were 6 females in the bunch. Im not real sure why but this years fish on the Yegua have been somewhat smaller fish. I have still caught a few nice fish but it isnt like it has been in the past. I also saw several nice stringers leave the creek. These anglers had arrived early in the morning. Seems like the best bite has been early morning from what I am seeing other anglers leave with good stringers. And they all say the bite was awesome in the morning then it starts to taper off. Ill have to take their word on this because I am no longer an early bird when it comes to this fishing thing. Water is clear and the current continues to slow down just tad bit more every day. Good to see you again yota. Any time I can get on the waters edge and catch some fish and talk to friends, it's a good day. I enjoyed the talk time as well as the few good rod bends. The bite was slow and we all had to search for them a little but in the end we all took home a few for the grease, had fun, and of course that's the main thing right there.
Oh and the fish chart is showing from 6am to 3 pm to be the best fishing time.
Well for my first trip I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't get any crawfish so homemade jigs it was. Fished 8:30 to 11 and managed 17 whites and 1 crappie (cooler ran out of room). I'm officially hooked on this type of trip. It was a blast not having to worry about a boat. Took FishyTx's advice on light jig with white and used it the whole trip. For those who don't like using a lighter jighead check out the tip and rig setup in the link. First time I've used it myself but the visual aid helped a lot. Thanks again for all the pointers.
I walked into Newman Bottom this morning. I headed upstream to my favorite spot. I got there at 8:15. Between 8:15 and 9:30 I caught 24 white bass, then the bite slowed down. I headed downstream and fished below the trail way bridge and caught 8 more. The fishing below the trail way bridge has greatly improved as the water has dropped. The lake is only 3/4 foot above normal now. Most everyone was catching fish. I saw a few nice stringers with both whites and crappie. I also saw a few big females on stringers below the bridge. It seemed that the fish were slightly bigger below the bridge than they were at Irwin or even above the bridge.
