Breaking Fish and a Beautiful Evening

I'm glad I decided to go out tonight. They were calling for small craft warnings and it never happened. Found some nice pods of breaking fish almost immediately. They were up and down fairly quick, but the fish stayed in the same general area. For ten minutes there was one other boat, but as soon as the fish went down the guy took off (they came back 5 minutes later). I'm getting addicted to this mid-week fishing thing. No boats and no pressure makes for a relaxing evening on the water.

Break in the Heat Wave

Waited until 6:30 to get on the water today. Way to hot for me in the middle of the day. Picked up several fish around some local structure and found a small pod of breaking fish as well. All the fish were in the mid-upper teens. I need to go out on Sunday night more often, only a few boats for miles.

Bad Timing

Well, it wasn't perfect timing but I decided to get out on the water with my son anyway. We ran around looking a bit, but the current wasn't moving and he wasn't in the mood to stay out too long. No one home today, but at least my son had a chance to practice his boat maneuvering skills. I did managed to get out again later in the day and found some dinks, but the wind kicked up and I had to head back. Not the best of days, but my son was a trooper coming along for the ride. If we get into some nice fish, I can normally convince him to go along the next time. Today wasn't one of those days.

First Real Bird Show

Zipped out after work for a few tonight and found some birds working. After hitting a few spots unsuccessfully, I finally found them. Surprising they were in shallow water (10'). For about a solid two hours they were in a feeding frenzy and most of them were between 17"-20". But after things died off (at least from the birds) the bigger fish started taking over. Nothing huge, but many more that went over 20". By far the best night in awhile for me.

Top Water Catching

With a break in the wind window, I headed out early this morning. Couldn't decide to head north or south, but ended up going south. After not seeing much activity (birds), I moved my way into shallow water. I was at the right spot at the right time. Almost immediately after starting my drift fish started to break the surface. At first it was just one here and one there, but then it was in full swing. No birds, no boats, just me and plenty of fish. Stayed with them for about an hour before I headed home. Most were 18-20", but I did catch a few that probably went 22-23". They were in 20' of water that was 74 degrees.

A Little Drumming this Morning

What a great morning to be on the bay. Almost immediately after leaving the inlet I found big pods of rain bait. Didn't see any fish under them, but there is a lot of bait in the bay right now. Since I only had a few hours this morning I stayed close to home and found a nice school of croaker. Within a two hour span I probably caught at least 25 of them before it was time to head home.

First sign of birds working

Had a chance to get out with ShortyLong tonight. It was a great evening to be on the bay even though the fishing was slow. Started off marking some nice fish but we had no current so we decided to head south. Didn't have any luck at all south, didn't even see any signs of life. Went back to were we started out the day but unfortunately we couldn't locate the fish we had marked earlier. For a moment we thought the bite was going to start because we did managed to pick up a 20"er and lost another fish, but we were wrong. The fish we did catch had some really bad marks on her that most likely came from a net (we think). What to do next? Maybe back south? Finally we found signs of life. The first time this year I found birds working. By the looks of the splashes they probably were nice fish, but they were moving too fast for us to keep up. It just wasn't meant to be tonight, but it was a great evening to be on the water with Mr. SL.

CCA Tournament

Well, a long day is finally coming to a close. It did start off great. On my second cast, right at day break, I landed a fish...sweet!!! To say the least, it didn't last long. I marked fish ALL DAY, but they weren't interested in most of my dozen flies I tried. Picked at them for most of the day, maybe 10-15 or so but it was slow. I did manage one fish that went 20" and I should have kept it, the second place fish was only 20". Oh well, maybe next year. The May/June worm hatch put a damper on today's bite. Even with a slow bite, I had a lot of fun. This is truly one of the most enjoyable events during the year and I'm already looking forward to next year (and the newly created fall event).

Pre-Tournament Search

In light of entering tomorrow's CCA tournament I thought a little exploring was in order today. I need all the help I can get with the quality fisherman in the tournament. Hit several spots and found fish at most of them. Nothing too big but most were keepers (just barely). The last spot I hit had some better grade of fish. Perfect, at least I know where I'll be heading at first light.