It Happens to the Rest of Us.

In the last two scouting trips I've caught a combined total of four drum and one blue cat. Now why on earth would a guide tell the public he hasn't been producing fish? Aren't guides only supposed to post when they are successful? I'm sharing this information to show an honest insight into what goes on during the slower months of the year when I'm preparing for the busy time ahead. I also want to give solace to folks out there who are struggling trying to find fish.

It's the middle of February, it's starting to get warm out, and as a fisherman I am ready to be catching fish. I've got one more guided deer hunt to conduct this weekend, but my instincts are already pushing me towards sinking bobbers and running trot lines. Needless to say, I'm getting itchy. I know of two spots that I can go and catch crappie, white bass and hybrids a plenty, and it's tempting to go there because I am very confident I'll have success. Scouting is scouting because it forces me to learn a new area, whether it be a creek, river or lake. I can't grow if I go back to the same productive spot time after time. I've also been doing this long enough to know for a fact either Mother Nature or the general public will mess these spots up, reiterating the fact that I need to stay ahead of the game.

I've been strictly focusing on Ft. Worth lakes, trying every tactic I can think of for producing fish at this time of year. One might say "well, if you can't produce fish, what kind of guide are you?" The answer to that question is simple: I'm a guide who knows February and September can be the two worst months of the year, and what I learn now will produce limits at a later time and place.

Although the fish haven't been treating me well, I have by no means gone home empty handed. On all the lakes I've fished, I have found a TON of new structure, both natural and man made. This kind of treasure is going to make my life really enjoyable when the right time comes along. I have also spent a lot of time sinking new brush. I do this for two reasons: one, there is nothing more rewarding than hard work paying off and two, with technology improving so quickly and cheaply, we have a duty to protect our resources and help improve their habitat.

I have no pictures and not much too offer aside from the water temps were 49-51 before the rains hit. The only other thing I have is a saying that I tell myself after a long day of fishing, with very little catching: "eliminating water where the fish weren't biting is just as important as knowing the areas where they are biting." Makes me feel better anyways

I have a few friends that are guides and when we fish together we almost always look for water that neither of us know so that we can find new spots. So I can appreciate your honesty in this situation. The ones that post their limits every time they go are rarely the ones that are trying to learn, but the ones that already have their spots. There are exceptions to this, but not very many.

I have kept a pretty good journal of two seasons in tawakoni at the boat slip. So far this year, I have one 8.5 inch crappie, a few trash fish and a 4 lb channel cat that was delicious. This is the latest, by more than three weeks, I have failed to keep a crappie at the slip.
You did find the lemonade in all that. Well said

Good stuff Laner.

Fine work Lane! Sow the seeds and wait for the harvest.

I think one of the hardest jobs I know of is being a 'good' fishing guide.
Kudos to you and your wanting to be honest (however I never believe any one that fishes)
and trying to build a better business..

It is very easy to determine which guides you want to fish with and refer. Keep tabs on thier many media types of posts and info and compare to their web/facebook pages. IE: You never hear from/of them except for a facebook post that always shows a full cooler or limit!!

Great post and good luck with the business expansion.

You do have a gift Lane. Maybe it's time you embrace the fact that you just might be the "World's Greatest GOO guide"!

...from one serviceman to another I

Thanks brother

It is refreshing to hear your honesty and perspective. I look forward to contacting you as a guide when conditions improve.
BTW, what lakes do you guide on? I live between Lewisville and RR

What is a "Goo"?

freshwater drum aka "gaspergou". That was the first fish I caught on our trip with Lane, then we caught crappie, crappie and more crappie. (and maybe a catfish or two)

I Couldn’t agree more , feb and sept can be a very tough time to catch them consistently for me as well. I really enjoy days where I catch them good but I also enjoy the tough days that move a lot, eliminate water and put in lots of time scanning the lake and marking new stuff to terrorize at a later date.

Yea, searching for those new hotspots does at times seem like a waste, until you find a new hotspot, then you totally forget the struggle to find it. I decided to focus on the Brazos, got a neighbor that grew up on that system, and is helping speed the learning curve. Keep up the tough work and god bless...

I've only dabbled in guiding but just as a normal fisherman that is one of the things that I struggle with the most. It's so easy to go back to the same spots knowing that you will catch fish but there is something about going to a new place and hunting them down. Once you find them after hunting them down it is such a great feeling. Every year I make myself explore new areas and new creeks and have thus given myself several options depending on the conditions. Some creeks clear faster, some creeks hold fish no matter what and some only hold them when certain conditions are present. I enjoy learning to read water and hunt fish down. The creeks have taken me 10 years of trial and error and I continue to add to that arsenal each year.

Bravo Lane. Well done.

Well if you catchn goo those crappie ain't to far away.....

That is the only way to stay consistent.

Goo guide!!! Say it ain't so!!

Good posts, thanks for the encouragement. I met another guide last Saturday, he was by himself and told me he was keeping up with crappie (his trip for the day got cancelled due to rain) and he was checking new water. I don’t know if I could be a guide, but I would like to try sometime.

Lane, would you consider posting a picture of how you build your brush piles? Being a guide, you've learned what seems to work for you and for us just beginning to build brush piles, it'd be great to see what to build. But if this is something that you'd rather not do, I completely understand. I wouldn't want you to do anything that take away from your business as a guide.

Sorry I haven't responded much, been down in Goldthwaite running doe hunts all weekend! Now it's full time fishing until September.

Lollygagger, I will do my best to get some good pictures in the next couple of weeks of the brush piles we are building. I've already sank all the others that I've built, but we have plenty more material to put out before spring gets here.

As far as the Goo (freshwater drum) fishing trips go, I'm going to charge top dollar for these trophies haha