texasfishingforum.com logo
Main Menu
Advertisement
Affiliates
Advertisement
Newest Members
TraeMartin, Power-Pole CS, T-Rigger, JoeGoes, EcKo
119150 Registered Users
Top Posters(All Time)
hopalong 120,565
TexDawg 119,510
Bigbob_FTW 94,875
John175☮ 85,892
Pilothawk 83,259
Bob Davis 81,465
Mark Perry 72,280
Derek 🐝 68,311
JDavis7873 67,416
Forum Statistics
Forums59
Topics1,037,799
Posts13,934,694
Members144,150
Most Online39,925
Dec 30th, 2023
Print Thread
Lesson learned, I seriously need to work on my diversity #14346084 04/18/22 12:11 AM
Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 952
Z
z289sec Offline OP
Pro Angler
OP Offline
Pro Angler
Z
Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 952
Went to Tawakoni this weekend, when we got there, Friday afternoon, wind was from the Southeast. DId a little dock fishing, and picked up some bait for Saturday. Nothing caught. Saturday morning got up, went to the lake, 57 degrees, much stiffer Southeast wind than forecasted, and foggy, and misty, but tried some shallow water action with zero luck. Made three moves, and same scenario. Wind moved to straight South, and picked up a little more, Decided to just fish the biomass entwined in the bait balls, and hope for the best. Managed two blue cats that weren't even legal. Wind moved to Southwest, picked up some more, cleared off, and we made a couple moves. Got a few bites, but the fish wouldn't commit. Even downsized baits, and hooks, and still nothing in the boat. Called it a day, and headed in.

Made some lunch, and headed out to the dock, to try my luck there, as the wind was still ripping. Same story, bites, but no commitment. Wind calmed down to almost nothing, so I thought we'd take the boat back out for some evening fishing. Back to the cabin, and the wind picked up, as a front blew in and shifted to the Northeast.....hard. Decided to just fix a couple of ribeyes on the grill, and catch bait off the dock for Sunday.

Small thunderstorm came through around 4:30, right as I got up and had my coffee. Loaded the rest of our stuff up, and went out this morning, foggy, 53 degrees, slight Northerly breeze, but not too bad. Got one bite up shallow, took half my cut bait, and left the hook portion. LOL. Started moving around the lake, as the wind picked up and moved Northwest, and it started misting rain, still fishable, but turning cooler with the wind blowing. No dice. Wanted to try another couple spots, and tried, but the wind moved straight out of the West, another front blew in and it started raining, not hard....but raining still. Temps were still 53-54 degrees. Tried a Hail Mary under and around the 751 Bridge and fought a Twenty mph wind, with whitecaps, before we called it a day, and loaded up and came home. Skunked again.

Of course, we got ten minutes from the lake and it was clearing off and 65. Go figure.

All we needed was the wind from the East, some snow, and hail, and we could have had every meteorological condition there is. LOL

Tough 48 hours for fishing.

Last edited by z289sec; 04/18/22 11:59 PM.
Wet Rooster Jigs Fishing Super Store
Re: Lesson learned, I seriously need to work on my adversity [Re: z289sec] #14346120 04/18/22 12:48 AM
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 866
Bluecat Bob Offline
Pro Angler
Offline
Pro Angler
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 866
That does indeed look like the stars were against you, David!

I think it's high time this wind thing went away for all of us. Well done for sticking with it though. I am not so sure I would have.

Hopefully the wind will start to die down a bit this week.

Tawakoni is a tough lake. A friend I met at last years get together, Henry from Midlothian, took me there on his bass boat. He told me I had to be patient. Thirteen hours later I got the big bite, last drift, last cast.


Retired from the grind and enjoying life and the great outdoors ### Formerly Texas Brit ###
Re: Lesson learned, I seriously need to work on my adversity [Re: z289sec] #14346140 04/18/22 01:16 AM
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 635
K
KEGracing Offline
Pro Angler
Offline
Pro Angler
K
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 635
Tough weekend buddy, but it just makes the good days feel that much better. You worked hard for it, so the fish owe you some!

Hope the steaks were good, and the drinks were cold! At least you were not loading and unloading a race car, listening to the track dryer all weekend, just to never make a pass... sure you have been there!

Tight lines to come!

Ken


2014 Premier Alante 235 RF tritoon. Momma's boat. But I get to fish on her.

A country boy will survive... but those who cross him?

Cedar Creek personal best:
Blue Cat 31.55 lbs
Hybrid 6.2 lbs
Crappie 2.1 lbs
Re: Lesson learned, I seriously need to work on my adversity [Re: z289sec] #14346253 04/18/22 10:10 AM
Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 1,405
Catfish Tim Offline
Extreme Angler
Offline
Extreme Angler
Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 1,405
Man that hurts... when you put in that much effort and get nothing in return. I think someone took all the cats out of that lake. It seems like all the reports you hear from there are just like yours.


Catfish Tim
🐟🐟"If it doesn't have whiskers, it's just bait"🐟🐟
Romans 8:1

Re: Lesson learned, I seriously need to work on my adversity [Re: Catfish Tim] #14346934 04/18/22 11:57 PM
Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 952
Z
z289sec Offline OP
Pro Angler
OP Offline
Pro Angler
Z
Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 952
I talked to two guys in their 70's at the ramp, that have catfished there for 40 years.


They said in the last 10 years the catfish population, especially the big ones, has gone downhill dramatically. Don't know how true it was, but their claim was noodling, and trotline fishing was to blame.

Looking at the long-range forecast, wind doesn't appear to be going anywhere till at least May

Re: Lesson learned, I seriously need to work on my adversity [Re: z289sec] #14347992 04/20/22 12:04 PM
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 499
S
skeetmaster Offline
Angler
Offline
Angler
S
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 499
David, Tawakoni is a fickle witch!! I've been handed a couple of serious butt whoopin's by that lake. It's also gifted me some of my best memories! I'm beginning to wonder if we're married...LOL.

You know, I've heard differing opinions on the big fish population there. I have to believe that the future looks good for that fishery. My friend Henry caught a 72 pounder there last fall (and he CPR'd it like I always do!). I feel like the majority of guys that love catfishing are conservation minded. The old school way of catching and keeping everything you can is definitely the minority now. I don't think the small percentage of people that keep bigger fish is cause for the decline in any fishery. I say small percentage because there can't be that many people who harvest trophy size cats. For anyone reading this, try to think of how many people you personally know that keep trophy sized cats. I don't know any. The only problem I can see is that once a lake gets a reputation for producing monster fish, you get an influx of people from other states and certainly you have a few guys that catch a 50 pounder and decide they're going to keep it for some reason or other. I don't know anyone that keep fish to mount anymore. Especially not catfish. My trophy room is full of framed, enlarged photo's.

You know, it's also possible that as we get better at targeting trophy fish, we could be affecting the fish in a different way. Do you think that a 50 or 60 pound fish survives being caught multiple times in the winter when they're being brought up from 40 or more feet? I know we burp them and get them back in the water, but how many old men can handle a long, drawn out fight at the age of 60 or 70? Just because we watch them swim off, how do we know that they survive the stress they just went through? I guess if they weren't we'd be reading reports of trophy fish found floating in the lake. I don't know, just thinking out loud.

I wonder if the problem with trophy cats is more the result of not enough harvest of smaller, eating size fish. I had a friend who had about an 8 or 10 acre pond (actually it may have only been an acre or two) that was loaded with crappie and bass. The average fish we would catch when we were young was less than a pound. After years of that he started keeping a lot of fish out of it and eventually it started producing really good sized fish. He also learned that he had to regularly fertilize the water so that the zoo plankton would flourish. That helped the forage base so there was more food. I'm definitely not an authority on any of that so I could getting my facts wrong here. Relying on my memory these days is sometimes an exercise in futility! I'm sure there are some other people on here with a lot more knowledge that might be able to add to the conversation.

Just food for thought!!

Oh and David, nice work keeping at it through all that! That's the only way we end up with successful trips! Learning what works and what doesn't is half the fun! I hope that new rig is all you had hoped it would be!

Last edited by skeetmaster; 04/20/22 12:07 PM.
Re: Lesson learned, I seriously need to work on my adversity [Re: skeetmaster] #14348611 04/20/22 11:13 PM
Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 952
Z
z289sec Offline OP
Pro Angler
OP Offline
Pro Angler
Z
Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 952
Zero complaints with the boat. I absolutely love it. Although I bought this boat to more easily handle the wind, since I had a pontoon before. But the winds weren't 20-25 and higher gusts every day when I had my pontoon. This is getting ridiculous, and no end in sight. I don't care what kind of tank you have; boat management is a nightmare in this kind of wind. Bank fishing even blows.

Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread

© 1998-2022 OUTDOOR SITES NETWORK all rights reserved USA and Worldwide
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.3