Well we have returned from the BIG lake with some success. I will try my hand with the pictures.
The big one 9lb
9lb
9lb
5-04 on a swimbait
I will try and break it down by day.
When we finally got there Ed and I launched out of Red Bud as we had to get our license at Wal Mart. We ended up down by Rattlesnake Island and had no success in the afternoon throwing jigs or swimbaits.
We launched later in the afternoon and the water temp had gone up to 55.8 by around 4pm. Went to the State Park and finally picked one up on a Brown and Black jig with a Paca Craw trailer. That was it until darkness fell then we picked up 2 more on a Texas rigged Brush Hog that was Black with Emerald Flake, biggest at that point was around 3lbs.
03/29 – Launched around 7:30am and caught most of our fish up north around Nice. Water seemed to be the warmest there early in the week. Water temp in the morning was 52-54. We ended up with most of our fish caught on 5” Senkos in Watermelon or Watermelon W/ red flake while almost dead sticking them. Very few came on the fall.
03/30 Fished the Keys for a while with very little success. This was my chance to bring home the big one but my nickname for this trip and until I can seal the deal is going to be Bobby Ayala! If you can remember the closing pitcher for the Mariners you will get the joke. Anyway I missed a good fish on a swimbait early. So we decided to fish further in the Keys and flip some. I stayed with my Brush Hog I mentioned earlier and flipping very slow along the tullie bank. We heard some commotion behind us and watched a couple fishing for Crappie hook into about a 3lb bass. I had turned back around to say to Ed it’s always the new people that catch the big ones. In the mean time I had picked up the slack line and felt the feel on the end of my rod that meant only one thing. Fish! I also watched my line swim off to the right very slowly. So I reeled down and gave the only hook set I know how to do and that’s from my pinkie toe to the last hair on my head….. I broke my line. Snapped it right off, 20lb test. Boy you can only imagine what came out of my mouth after that! That was my best chance I believe at the big one in Clear Lake.
By Thursday the water temp in the north end was around 60-61 degrees. And let me tell you….. It was on! When we pulled up to a spot the Russ had told me about, thanks Russ, I threw out at the mouth and BAM a 3 pounder. Next cast a 5-04 another cast was a small one but the action for the next hour was unreal! We ended up with around 12 fish all on swimbaits. At this time they were inhaling the bait, not like before. In fact I hate to bring this up but the 5-04 I caught actually was bleeding when I brought her up to the boat. She had eaten the s/bait so much she had it down her throat and was severely bleeding. I put her in the live well for over and hour but she ultimately died. We gave her to some people that actually eat fish (yuck).
Friday morning was real cold and the water temp had dropped 4 degrees. Boy was it a hard bite. The afternoon bite was the best bite overall by far. That’s when it happened! I will try and explain this as best I can. You have to remember that I have not seen a fish of this size and I am supposed to be the experienced of the two of us. Well let me tell you that was out of the window after I saw this fish jump!
It was a cold late afternoon when Ed and I pulled up into what I call cell phone cove (ask Henry). Nothing special but a slight breeze blowing into a set of docks. Seems like the place where fish would hang out? I was throwing a 5” swimbait and Ed was throwing the for mentioned senko. I was trying to keep the boat out of the docks because of the breeze blowing us. Ed had casted into a dock and had a bite. He missed it but said that fish felt big. So he fixed his senko and threw back into the same spot about three more times when wham! Ed says “this is a big fish”! I did not say much at first as I am trying to keep the boat out of the docks. Then the fish jumped! Oh my god! Ed yells DONKEY! I happened to see this fish come all of the way out of the water and I freaked out. I ran to the back of the boat and grabbed the net. By this time we are both yelling and laughing so hard I can barely see with all of the tears. I then run back up the front of the boat to hit the trolling motor and get us and the fish away from the dock. Ed fights this fish like it was the fish of his life, it probably was. I have my line all over the boat and we are still yelling Donkey at this point. Finally he gets sit up to the boat and I netted it all 9lbs of her. Biggest fish I have ever seen! During the fight of this giant fish, Ed was laughing so hard he actually peed a little bit. I am sure he is not going to like that I told you but it brings it into perspective the size of this thing.
We are going again in October and then in late April next year. I woul
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Clear Lake Ca (Read 3982 times)
