Christmas!

I was hoping to come back and write a post about ice fishing, but alas, I could not convince the other Christmas reunionites of my fiance's family to head out and do it.  Too bad, really, because it was an unusually warm, yet icy, winter this year.  Ah well.

My Christmas gift from my amazing fiance was to be turned loose in a Bass Pro Shop (which I've never had the pleasure of shopping before).  I came back with about $20 in bait, lures, and hooks for my own purchasing and a gorgeous 7 foot medium-heavy action catfishing rod for my gift from him:

Her name is Veronica.  She's a Bill Dance/Quantum (Zebco?) rod and spinning reel combo, 2-piece, rated up to 40 pound test and I just strung her with color-changing (UV sensitive) 20# line.  She is beautiful.  I love how it reels, the handle on the reel, the balance, and the fact that I can easily pull it apart to keep from busting it in my car.  I cannot WAIT to hit the water with it.

In the meantime, I bought a bunch of stuff to make catching trout with Marcy (my other rod) a bit easier, including tinier hooks, leaders, hatchery bait, salmon eggs, trout dough, and sparkly crappie nibbles (I needed more of those anyways - EVERYTHING loves crappie nibbles).  I also picked up a bluegill-shaped lure because my fiance insisted I should try catching bigger fish on bigger lures.  I think he wants me to catch more bass, heh.

The weather is total crap for fishing right now, so I'm going to wait until the weekend to try out Veronica or the new trout baits.  Right now the pressure is up, it's windy, and we have a constant chance of rain.  This weekend, though, clear skies, no rain, and colder water.  I'll get those trout yet.

-CC

Things I've Learned While Failing to Catch Rainbow Trout

That it is easier to catch catfish.

No, seriously. I fished something like a total of 12 hours so far in 30 degree weather and didn't get so much as a nibble. The trout were jumping all over the place, biting every single bug that hit the water, and completely ignoring me. These were stocked trout.  I thought it would be a piece of cake, fo sho.  Fail.

I was all set to stack my freezer with them, too. Trout are my favorite eating fish, second only to bluegill (which are delicious, if you've never eaten them!). Oh well, it's only the beginning of the season for them - many more weeks to try!

Here's what I learned (from advice, obviously not from experience).


The Basics:

1. They have really, really good eyesight, and are so freaking picky. 4# line is great, 2# is best. Keeping give-aways like weights away from the hook-side of your leader will do better than making a big, obvious splash with bobber, weight, lure, all that jazz right next to each other.
2.  Along those same lines, hide the hook really well.  Those fuckers will just know.  They'll just know.
3. A (probably) awesome rig would be a swivel with a weight attached, and a leader attached to the same swivel.  The bait would ideally float the hook away from the bottom.  The weight will depend on the kind of water, and the length of leader will, too.
4. Just leaving it out there for ages will not usually work, and on the other hand, neither will tearing up the water reeling it in too quickly.  Unless you're fly fishing, the best cast is one you let sink for a couple of seconds, then reel in at a moderate pace.

Baits/Lures:

1.  Recommended baits (completely cover the hook):  corn, marshmallows, Powerbait, worm, fake corn, dough.  Don't look at me, I couldn't get them to bite.  Then again, I didn't have any Powerbait!
2. Recommended lures:  1/16 or 1/8 oz rooster tails or panther martins, small mepps spinners

Aaaaand that's all the info I've gleaned so far.  I didn't expect fishing for stocked fish to be quite so difficult.  Maybe that was all obvious to everyone else - but I'm used to fish with horrible eyesight and whiskers.  It doesn't help either that the pond is seriously overfished (though in the winter time it's mostly due to birds, because the hardcore fishermen who are willing to stand in the cold aren't fishin' at the city pond).  I'll post more when I start catching (I'm about to go on vacation in Iowa, so probably not going to hit the water again until New Year's), and I'll let you know what actually works.

If I can't get *anything* to work this season...I think I'm going to just start getting my trout from the store, for goodness sakes.  Fuck trout.

I wanna go back to catfish.

*grumble grumble*

-CC

Fishing Alone

This morning I decided to do something I normally don't do - fish alone.  Usually I bring my fiance along - he helps me tie setups, de-barb hooks, remove hooks from fish-lips/eyeballs/faces, take photos, yada yada yada.  Of course, this means I don't get to fish nearly as often as I'd like, for two reasons:

1. My fiance does not care much for fishing.  He loves it when he catches fish, and he likes to play with them when I catch them, but he hates hurting them, hates waiting around, doesn't care for keeping them/cleaning them, and doesn't usually see the fun in sitting around in the dark/cold/heat/wind while I throw a line in the water.  I don't mind, but I don't like making him do something he doesn't particularly like.
2. Our schedules almost never line up.  He's usually just waking up when I'm going to bed, and I'm getting ready for work by the end of his day.  Bleh.

That blows, for someone with a newly developed passion for fishing.

Anyways, this morning after work I decided I NEEDED some alone time by the water, so I packed up the camera, the tackle box, my favorite pole (Marcy), and my fishin' license and headed out to one of the less frequented fishing ponds - right by the police station.  It's less frequented because it's terrible fishing and there are police everywhere.  = Less overfished.  Unfortunately there are an abundance of turtles and very little structure, plus the water is incredibly low and the morning was blowing in rainclouds.  Oh well.  I had to be in the area anyways.  Someone drove too tired and didn't notice the school zone sign in time to slow down.

(That someone is me.)

ANYWAYS.  Fishing by yourself is a lot more fun than I'd anticipated.  Instead of worrying about making conversation, scaring away fish, boring my fiance, or being rushed to leave - I just got to focus on fishing.  I tried some new lures, mostly shooting for those elusive sunfish and bass I KNOW are in there somewhere.  I got a lot of turtle nibbles, but thankfully, none of them felt like ripping apart my lures or line.  It was nice.

Toward the end there when I'd mostly given up, had fished all the way around the pond from every angle and depth and determined nothing was biting, I was daydreaming and letting a gulp minnow on a tiny hook with a crappie nibble sit about a foot or so away from a bobber out toward a shallow side of the pond.  Since I wasn't paying attention or keeping my line tight (not so easy from bank with a bobber, imho), I didn't so much notice that I had a bite as realize something was swimming away with my minnow.

Whatever it was swam sideways and toward me, making it easy to reel it in.  When I got it toward the dock I realized it was a catfish.

BECAUSE I CAN NOT CATCH WHAT I'M GOING FOR, NOT EVER.

It's cool, though, because I freakin' adore catfish.

So I pulled the little guy in and *duh duh duhhhh* got my very first hook out of a fish all by myself without getting spined!  Go me!



I wound up heading home around noon because these weird city folks were backing up a boat of some sort to the pond and gesturing wildly about...and I didn't really want to hang out for that.  That, and some restaurant had started to cook food that smelled AMAZING and I had not yet eaten.  So I went home.

I think this should become a regular thing.  Extremely relaxing.  :)

-CC

Navasota River, 11-20

I picked a rotten day for fishing the 'sota, but the weather for us was grand!  My fiance and I took out the new puppy dog (check her out!) to chill under the hwy 30 bridge.  We didn't catch more than nibbles, and thankfully for my pride, neither did any of the other folks fishing out there.  Okay, one dude caught a couple of foot-long cats, but that wasn't exactly the exciting catfish/gar day I had hoped for.  What can you do?  It was cloudy, a little windy, and the water's so bloody low there isn't much luck anywhere, at least for yours truly.

We did have a great time, though, and it really was beautiful.  There were a lot of bodies, though.  The spot we were fishing by was apparently where people cleaned their fishies, there was a deer leg, the rest of the body a ways off, and its organs further off in a neat little stack.  Oh, and there was a wild boar, equally ripped up.  *shrug*  I caught a lotta branches!

It's a pretty easy river fishing spot, though, so you can bet I'll be out there more.  A new friend said he could probably boat us out on Somerville in a couple of weeks, and another new friend said eventually he'd invite us out on a weekend canoeing trip - sweet!

Yay for making fishing buddies!  :D

-CC

Photos from the Weekend of Catfishing

Hey!

You remember that hole I got in my hand from holding a cat wrong?  Well, earlier that weekend I'd been out at a city pond fishing them out for the channels TPWD had just stocked it with.  They were depressingly small, but once I found where they were hanging out, it was loads of fun pulling one after another out of the water!  I finally got the pictures I took of them, so here are the results (for all of 2 or 3 hours fishing, heh - they didn't start biting until the sun actually came up):

All caught in the AM of October 23rd

He had some really pretty green on his face.

No fun!!  Someone nibbled and when I set the hook, I snagged his tail.  Ouch!

This guy was a croaker.  I remember him.

Some day I'll stop obsessively taking photos of every single fish I take out of the water, but in the meantime, I hope you enjoy the pictures!  :)

-CC

Skunked!

I skunked out harder than I have ever skunked before yesterday.

I started at about 9 AM (I tried to get out sooner, but work prevented me) at the same lake I caught the crappie and catfish that spined me.  Expecting similar results, I was pretty displeased with the tremendous lack of success.  I'm blaming the weather.  It was freezing and the wind made casting a serious pain.  I tried to use it to my advantage, but I don't think I have the mad skills.  Banking in the cold and wind kinda sucks.

I got three bites over the course of that trip - all crappie I believe.  Makes sense, considering what I was fishing with.  The first one let go after the first grab.  The second one put up a fight for a bit, jumping out of the water halfway in and DROPPING OFF THE HOOK.  Yay, barbless.  The third was a pull and release, just like the first.  I just can't set in those guys.  Everything else, but not them.

I moved on to fish the pond I caught the bass in for the afternoon and into the early evening.  It's small and has a great variety in cover, shade, sun, and depth, so I thought surely I could find something that wanted to bite.  I started at one end (since last time I only got to fish two spots) and worked my way ALL THE WAY AROUND.  Nothing.  I spotted one fish, but couldn't get it to bite, and got a few nibbles from something that couldn't get its mouth around my hook.

It chewed off the tail of my lure.

At least no one else out there caught anything.

Finally I fished for an hour or two back at the lake again after dark, since the wind had calmed down, the water had had time to warm, and, well, why not give it one more shot?

This time, not so much as a bite.  That might have been attributed to my inability to cast further than 15 feet due to the cat behind me that hung out with us the whole time.  Actually, we still have her.  Hoping to figure out where she belongs by the end of the weekend.

...I caught the wrong sort of cat.
-CC

First Trip Since Mah Injurah!

FINALLY got back to fishing today!

I wasn't sure I'd be able to, since finishing my antibiotics meant my fiance could immediately get me sick with this awful chest thing.  But, hacking and sniffling aside, I got to fish.

We tried the Brazos River first, but couldn't for the LIFE of us figure out where to park in order to fish beneath the bridge.  We determined it wasn't worth getting towed - there weren't many good spots for banking anyways.

We then decided to try a pond near our apartment that we'd actually never been to.  I'm sincerely glad we did.  While the bite was not extraordinary, I did pull this guy outta the water:

Caught on a crappie grub lure on a small white-headed hook

He was a 13.5 inch LMB caught in the shallow, separated end of the pond.  There actually appeared to be several fish his size over there, which was surprising, given how shallow it was.  My theory is the weather - it was about 60-65 degrees and windy.  The sun was just starting to warm up the water, and I think they dug the different temperatures on that side.  Oh, and minnows!  He was released to continue to grow big and strong.

The silly thing is - I was going for sunfish at the time.  I gotta work on this whole "catching what you're aiming for" thing!  I'll be heading out to that private lake I got spined at tomorrow hopefully, to do that place the right way.  I'll let you know how it goes!

-CC

Oh Dear

We're sitting at over $3,000 right now for the ER bill to pull the silly catfish spine out of my hand.  It may go up.

I know hands are fragile, and mine are important, and infection is highly likely, and blah blah blah...but next time?  I'm just gonna try harder to rip/cut the sucker out.

3k?  Gonna put a serious dent in my goal of buying a canoe!

-CC

"Catfish Gloves"

My fiance's father heard about the hole in my hand, and bought me a pair of "Catfishing gloves."  How freakin' nifty is that?  I haven't seen them yet, but I'll take them out with me the next time I go (soon...sooooon) and let you know!  Hopefully they won't take too much slime off the catfish (they need that stuff, donchaknow), but most importantly, hopefully there won't be any more doc trips for me!

Hmm...you don't think I'll be teased too much for wearing them?

I think before I go out again I ought to also buy me a scale and a big net for pulling out big fish.  Not that my hopes are particularly high, but those are a couple of things one should probably have on hand, right?  Ya?

See ya!
-CC

Allllmost

My fiance was THIS close to letting me fish again last night.  He'd be at a game, though, so I'd have to fish alone.  We figured it probably wouldn't have worked out too well if I'd caught anything.  I still have that hole in my hand, and I probably shouldn't go rubbing fish slime all over it before it closes up.  -.-

Oh well, soon soon!

A cold front came through, and I'm still not positive what that means for fishing.  (Yeah, by the way, I AM new at this heh)  I heard a story the other day that someone was out fishing when it hit, and just like that, the bites stopped completely.  I also heard that the fall is great for cats, and that November is an amazing month for crappie.  I suppose it depends on what you're fishing for.  I personally prefer catfish, sunfish, and lately sparked an interest in crappie and trout.  In any case, I'm not putting up my rods for the winter!  :)

Here's a photo of what I caught out at a local private lake the same night my hand got stabbed:

I'm not very familiar just yet with fish that aren't cats or sunfish, but I'm mostly certain that's a cute little crappie.  This booger took five bites before I actually got him onto the pier (I mostly bankfish - at least, until I can afford my canoe), and when I did, he fell right off the hook!  That's what I get for fishing barbless!  :p  He was caught on a black- and orange-eyed hook with my killer combination I usually use when going for sunfish - a Berkley Gulp! pumpkinseed grub and two chartreuse crappie nibbles - at around 7 or 8 pm in just a few feet of water.

Hope you guys are getting more fishing done than I am until this silly hole heals up!  Have a happy Halloween!

-CC

First Post, WOOH!

It occurred to me about an hour ago that I would sincerely like to start writing a blog (because I need another blog?) about my latest favorite hobby - fishing!  I'm not terrific at it just yet (fishing, not blogging), but I learn fast and I love to post pictures!

So here I am!

My favorite thing to fish for is, you guessed it, catfish!  I also love fishing for sunfish, that is, sunfish love to bite my line.  I live in Texas, and love checking out new lakes I haven't been to yet.  Unfortunately, I got poked in the hand a couple of days ago by a catfish I had no intention of catching, and I'm not allowed back to the water until the hole heals.  Check out the inch-long spine:

 

Is that not incredible?

I'll letcha know next time I go out!  :)

-Corycat