Welcome to another week of Anglin’ with Austin. I’ve been on the water since 3 a.m. Wednesday and it is cold out here. There aren’t any other boats out and I’m catching fish. Wish you were here — I could use the extra body heat.
I posted a message on Facebook for good friend, and fellow angler, Paul Landreth, asking if he had any humorous fishing stories he’d like to share. Paul’s a funny guy and he’s kept me laughing over the years. Without realizing it, I’d posted my message to his wife, Regan’s, page, and within the hour, she had a story back to me. I’d heard the story before, but this version wasn’t exactly the way Paul had related it to me.
Fishing ever after
Paul was hitting the bass tournaments pretty heavy a few years back. He spent many weekends chasing fish while his wife and two beautiful little girls stayed at home. He searched for ways to get his wife involved in the sport. His passion for fishing would become her passion and they’d fish happily ever after, every weekend.
I’ve got to hand it to the bass people, because they’re smart.
They developed a parallel universe to go along with the standard bass tournaments — Bass Couples: The two of us. Paul figured that this “togetherness” fishing would be the perfect avenue to introduce Regan to fishing. Regan agreed, scheduled the babysitter, and this is where a good idea went south.
If you want to get your significant other out of the house and enjoying the good life of slime and tossing lures in a cold environment, you’d better put some fish in the boat.
In February, tournament day arrived and it was cold and rainy. Regan got herself decked out appropriately in her husband’s favorite camoflauge coveralls. Her green and brown camo outfit was modestly accented with a flowing pink boa type scarf and matching gloves. Cabella’s take note; couture accessories department are right next to the stink bait.
Round One: Regan was not the least bit interested in seeing how fast the boat would go on a cold, wet day. Paul, under four layers of clothing and with rain pelting his face, couldn’t see her expressions or hear her grumbling. Skimming across the water at warp speed, Paul eventually noticed Regan’s lack of enthusiasm and decided to move directly to round two — locating fish.
Round Two: From spot to spot, Paul showed Regan the schools of bass on the sonar. They pitched lures until they were blue in the face, or so he thought. Regan had actually developed that eerie shade of blue about the time they left the boat ramp.
Not a fish hit the boat that day and poor Paul, who’s heart was in the right place, but the fish and mother nature had an axe to grind. Regan has never been back out no matter what the weather conditions.
The moral of the story is don’t try to introduce a new angler to the glory of fishing during these cold, wet months unless you have fish caged up somewhere. In the past, I advised that anglers not take kids out on certain types of trips and this advice should also be applied to your significant other.
Fly fishing isn’t difficult
The movie “A River Runs Through It” was huge for the fly fishing industry. FYI...A new movie called “The River Why?” is coming out in 2010, and is expected to be just as good.
One problem with rookie fly anglers is that a lot of people think they can’t fly fish because it looks too difficult. The truth is, fly fishing isn’t difficult.
Anyone that can hold a rod in his hand and tie a knot can master this unique art. Television and movies only show the difficult techniques of fly fishing because it looks better on film.
The technique most widely used on the Guadalupe River — and many other rivers — is called nymphing. The fly fishing industry is now making Czech nymph fly rods specifically for this technique. This rod is 10-to-11 feet long and all you have to do is sling your flies 5-to-15 feet out in front of you. If you would like to learn a little more about fly fishing, visit www.actionangler.net.
Fishing Report
Canyon Lake Report courtesy of the Canyon Tackle Box — 11 feet low.
Boat Ramps Currently Open — Canyon Lake Village ( No. 1), Toms Creek (No. 6), Potters Creek (West), Little Jacobs Creek (No. 17), Jacobs Creek (East), Lake Canyon Yacht Club (No. 12) and Canyon Lake Marina (No. 19).
All others are closed due to low lake levels and seasonal park closures. All of Cranes Mill Park is closed until further notice for renovation. The piers at Cranes Mill and Potters Creek are both closed.
Largemouth bass are good early and late in 3-15 feet of water using watermelon seed, green pumpkin, and watermelon candy colored soft plastics. Texas rigged, carolina rigged or shaky head is the preferred method as the lake temperature continues its drop.
On windy days, 3/8 ounce white spinner bait against wind blown points is recommended for good action. Watch for schools on top by the dam early. Use a small top water plug or spook for action. Small mouth are fair throughout the day in 6-20 feet of water on rocky points, piles and ledges jigging watermelon seed or pumpkin yabbies (crawfish).
Striped and white bass are good early on the surface in the area of Randolph and Ramp No. 1 using a top water plug or shad colored spook.
Also check for schools in 20-30 feet of water. Use a 1/2 or 3/4 ounce jigging spoon for action. Trolling in these areas with crank baits is also recommended. Use different depths to find the fish. A shad rap is recommended for shallower running and a DD22 or Hot Lips Express for the deeper runs.
Crappie are fair through out the day using live minnows in timber and brush piles in 10-25 feet of water toward the mouth of the river. Channel cats are fair on the edge of creek and river channels using stink bait and chicken liver in 5-15 feet of water. Blue cats are good in river and creek channels using live perch, cut shad and stink bait in 14-25 feet of water. They are moving into deeper water. Yellow cats are fair in the river and creek channels using live perch and shad in 14-25 feet or water.
Lake Dunlap and Placid — Largemouth bass report is slow on both lakes, crappie are good at Lake Placid on live minnows around boat docks, channel cat are good on both lakes with chicken liver and Big Marv’s cheesebait. Blue catfish are good on cut shad and yellow cat are good on perch and goldfish.
Tip of the Week
My good friend, Don Abernathy, gave me the LED 101 this week and I wanted to pass it on to you.
If you are thinking about lights in the boat, LED lights are the way to go. Don builds his own instrument panels for some of his aircraft and lights them with strictly LED lights. You can buy the expensive strips from any store or you can do a little reading on how to wire up an LED and visit an electronics store for your equipment for pennies on the dollar. Visit http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners It’s not hard.
