Thanksgiving Overnighter 2012

View from the road

Well I guess this post is a bit overdue being that its now March and I'm writing about a trip that I took back in November of 2012.  But no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get this trip out of my mind.  It was one of my most memorable trips taken, with good company, an absolutely humongous and breathtaking lake, and some of the most memorable runs that I've ev
er had.  My buddy Nick and I had decided to try a new lake which looked promising for large buffalo and large carp.  In fact, an 85lb buffalo had been bowfished out of this particular lake - which is bigger than my PB of 56lbs.  So I was excited to say the least!  We had the trip scheduled for the Monday-Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  First light at Monday morning, Nick picked me up and we packed his Ford Edge all the way to the brim and headed to the lake, about a 3 and a half hour drive from Houston.  With all of the excitement, it felt longer.

Baiting up the swim in the dinghy

When we got to the lake, we immediately pulled out the rods and started marking the potential swim we found.  We found a nice looking swim about 100 yards from shore - 20 feet deep, on the other side of a weed bed that was about 15 ft deep with a few ledges in the swim.  It was close to some very deep water further out as well.  The campsite we were in was also pretty nice with picnic tables, bathrooms, showers, and you could park relatively close to your campsite.  There was a nicely mowed lawn that we set up camp on, and walked down to the beach to set up our fishing rods and bait up.  On this particular trip we had brought an inflatable dinghy and roughly 25-30 gallons of bait in 5 gallon buckets comprising of 15 gallons of maize, 10 gallons of chick peas, and 5 gallons of small particle mix.  We set up the marker float and then took our H-buoys and marked out a long section of swim.  We then went out in the dinghy and dumped about 7 gallons of bait in between the markers, figuring we'd blank for awhile and then the fish would move in and we'd haul.  We also took a fish finder that I made portable and confirmed the features we had marked with the marker floats.

Fresh catfish - yum! 

After getting all the bait in the water and rigging up our rods, we set up camp and settled in for the long haul, with alarms and rods set and method made.  As I said, we were fishing roughly 100 yards out.  I was just able to hit that distance with a 3 oz method lead and a small method ball with my 3.5TC Daiwa Black Widows.  Nick was able to hit this distance easy
with his 3.5 TC Gilbert Huxley Rods and a larger method ball.  To me, that really shows you get what you pay for.  We had to wait a few hours and Nick got his first run.  Unfortunately it was a channel cat, and not the monster we were hoping for.  But it was legal size so we decided a fresh fish dinner was in order.  It was the perfect size for us each to have a nice size fillet.  What an awesome shore lunch!

One of my all time favorite sunset picures

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, with no more runs.  As we settled in for the evening, the sunset became spectacular.  It offered some great photo opportunities which we took.  We decided to settle in for the night  If you've ever fished overnight with alarms, you know that feeling where your ears are super sensitive to any noises as you're waiting for that alarm to go screaming off.  As I went to sleep that night, it sounded like big rocks being thrown into the water - a sure sign of big buffalo in our swim.  At 1AM my alarm beeps once.  My rule is that I won't get out of my tent unless the alarm beeps 3 times.

Delkims at dark

My alarm beeps twice a few seconds later, and a third time after that.  I start getting up out of my tent and my alarm turns into a solid ring!  I have my first run and it sounds like a screamer!  As I run down to get to the rod my reel is in full melt down just singing away as the fish runs.  I pick up the reel and engage the drag and to my surprise the fish does not stop running at all.  It's like there's no pressure on the fish!  I give the drag a full turn in hopes of slowing the fish from its monster run, but to my surprise it speeds up.  I'm now to a point in my reel that I've never been before.  With roughly 300 yards of line on my reel, I'm starting to get worried about this fish.  As I tighten the drag a half turn more I feel the dreaded "pop" of a lost fish.  Reeling in shows me that I had bent my Daiichi 2571 Boss Hook - NOT a good feeling.

Looks like paradise to me...

The rest of the night was quiet, with no more runs to speak of.  All I could think of was that monster run that I had.  The next morning Nick and I cast my line out and we walked out the distance that the fish had run in that short time.  It was 80 yards and I was kicking myself for having 120 yards left on my reel and pressuring the fish too much.  I tried not to think about it too much.  After having a breakfast of sausage and eggs, we decided to top up the swim with some more bait.  We went back out in the dinghy and topped up the swim and then settled in for the day.  We waited, and waited, and waited with nothing to show for it.  Before we knew it it was already dark and time to go to bed again.  Oh yeah, and it was getting cold too!  That night we had high hopes that the fish would move in and we would haul.  Unfortunately, it was to no avail, as the lake was kicking our butts.

Fog rolling in on the lake

The next morning we were feeling pretty discouraged.  We had put out quite a bit of bait with nothing to show for it except for one lost fish and a small catfish.  We had set a time to leave of 2pm, and our hopes were dwindling.  On the plus side, the lake looked amazing. A fog had settled in over the lake in the early morning that made for some really neat pictures.  We decided we weren't going to take the dinghy out and put any more bait out unless things started going nuts.  For some reason I decided to top up my swim with my spod rod and redo my method.  After putting out 3-5 spods and redoing my method, I sat down without really expecting much.  The wind had started to blow up in our faces and was churning up the weeds which made it interesting fishing as well.  However, within 10 minutes I had a screaming run and a fish on!  As I played the fish, I felt the familiar "pop" of the line.  Not knowing what happened, I reeled in to see that the fish had snapped my 20lb Spiderwire EZ Braid Hooklink.  Needless to say, I was not happy.  Nick and I tested the hook link to find that it was breaking at 7lbs....complete garbage!

Tools to try to conquer the sea

We tested some other braid that I had, 50lb powerpro, and it was showing to break between 26-30 lbs...definitely good enough to handle large fish.  I started immediately tying new rigs, but left my old rigs out there.  While in the middle of tying my new rigs, I got another run on a second rod.  Not wanting to bend the hook or break the hook link, I let the fish take a lot.  This third fish ended up running through a snag that I could not get it out of.  We decided to go out in the dinghy and head to the other side of the snag to see if we could free the fish, but to no avail.  To make matters worse, the only leverage I could get on the fish was to bend the rod, and I ended up breaking my 3.5TC Daiwa Black Widow!  That makes 3 for the fish, 0 for me!  The rest of the day was uneventful as we broke down camp without another run and broken hearted as we left all of the monsters in the lake.  We didn't catch the fish we had come for, but it was an experience and a challenge that I need to take on again.  It's hard for me to get that many days in a row off work to spend on a fishing trip, but the lake still calls my name.

Moral of the story: Make sure your gear is up to the task.  I could have lost 3 fishes of a lifetime (and I like to think I did!).

Float Fishing Houston 3-16-13

So in my quest to become a better angler, and in my laziness to not want to carry all of my gear to the lake and set it all up for a quick fishing session, I decided to load up a bass rod (7' medium action), some All-Stock pellets, and a small bag of spoiled banana maize and head to one of my new favorite spots to fish in Houston - Brays Bayou.  I bought some Crystal Wagglers off a Chinese seller on eBay at an unbeatable price, and decided to give those a go.  They were $3 for 20 wagglers, can't beat that! I made it there about 9am and my friends Nick and Mike were already in full set up.  I decided to set up about 50 yards down the bank from them.

My entire kit included:

Medium size back pack with hooks/shot/floats, sun block, etc.
Chair
Bucket of pellets
Bag of spoiled maize

Assortment of Crystal Wagglers

Arriving at the bayou there was some current and wind pulling the water out towards the gulf.  I learned these were not ideal conditions for the waggler, as they do not take much weight to set them correctly in the water - just two very small split shots for even a 5" waggler.  This made it difficult to hold the bait in place as it wanted to skip across the bottom.  In the end, I just left the waggler laying flat on the surface and figured when the fish picked up the bait I would see the float shoot up and then under, but I was missing out on the float popping up to indicate a bite.  With the small amount of weight under the waggler, I could only cast about 6 feet off the bank anyways.  To complete the rig I used a bobber stop set to depth and a #8 barbless hook. 

Can you spot the float?

Nick and Mike had not had much luck when I arrived, and sometimes the swim takes awhile to get moving.  After it's moving, it usually pretty productive, with grass carp, common carp, and smallmouth buffalo all coming out.  This particular swim is a channel cut down to roughly 14 feet in the middle and the edges have quite a drop about 4-6 feet out.  This is the main feature and what the fish seem to hold to on both sides of the channel.  I put one piece of maize on my hook and casted the float to this feature.  I threw some All Stock Pellets over the top.  These pellets are nice because they disintegrate, leaving only the scent of bait in the water with only my bait actually there to eat.  I was messing with my floats quite a bit trying to get the hang of them and was pretty pessimistic about catching anything.  I had the right attitude though, of learning and just getting out to enjoy being out.

Bayou fishing at its finest

My plan was to fish for three hours, and bait a spot and fish it for 30 minutes, move to a new spot for 30 minutes, and a third spot for 30 minutes.  If I hadn't caught, I would move back and fish those spots for 30 more minutes each to see if fish had moved into them (Do you think this is the right approach?  Comments?).  I was approaching 30 minutes on my first spot when my float shot under and I set the hook.  Being on light tackle was something to get used to and I ended up pulling the hook on an unknown fish close to the bank.  Oh well, it was better than nothing!  I decided to stay in that spot and rebaited with another piece of spoiled banana maize and threw some pellets over the top.  About 30 minutes later I landed a 10lb plus grasser, my first ever carp species on the float!  I C&Red that guy (no Pics) and kept at it.  I ended up fishing for three hours like I promised myself (and my fiance) and headed home a happy camper with 3 grass carp over 10 lbs on the bank and a less than 10lb common who fought harder than the grass carp.

I have to say, it was a blast fishing for those carp on light tackle, and I enjoyed every minute of it.  It was also liberating to be able to make only one trip from the car to the bank.  Float fishing is definitely something that I still could use some practice with, but my confidence is up having caught on it now.  I think there's a lot to be said for trying it out in the right swims.  What do you think?  Suggestions or comments?  Please leave them for me!

Product Review: Gardner Pocket Rocket XXL

Recently I made a great cast with my spod and hit a concrete culvert and shattered the plastic, creating the need for me to buy a new one.  After researching different spods, I decided on trying out the Gardner Pocket Rocket XXL.  I was a bit skeptical of this spod having not seen one of them.  I was concerned that the XXL spod would be too big for my spod rod to handle based on it being marketed as XXL.  My current spod rod is a 12' 3.5lb TC Daiwa Mad Dragon which is basically an extra rod that I have at the moment.  Most spod rods are 4.5-5lb TC so you can see why I was worried about a product marketed as an XXL.  I paid $8.66 for this spod.  This spod is marketed as having a larger capacity without the bulk of other spods that casts accurately and can also float as a marker. It is made in orange, yellow, and fluoro colors.

The Good:

Gardner Pocket Rocket XXL

• This spod is a really light spod compared to other spods that I've had with a similar capacity.  This is nice as my spod rod is not as heavy as it should be.
• Due to its design, this spod is very easy to be accurate with.  The marketing here does not lie.  It flies true through the air and I was actually able to cast this spod farther than my marker float with a 3 oz lead.  
• This spod is well balanced for the amount of bait it delivers to the swim and its accuracy and distance achieved.  
• The spod can deliver cloudy/milky liquids and does not lose smaller particles through holes in the side like other spods.  Also because it does not have any holes, you can fill with water from the lake and have weight to cast to measure distance and clip off.  

The Bad:

Gardner Pocket Rocket XXL 

• This spod is marketed as being able to be a marker as well.  I did not see this as being a very good function of this spod - despite it being highly visible in the yellow color that I used.  
• This spod does not empty as well as other spods I have used.  It tends to stay on its side rather than go verticle as it does not have any foam in the spod at all.  Occasionally when reeling this spod in, some of the bait would still be stuck, especially in the tip of the spod.  
• Reeling in the Gardner Pocket Rocket XXL can be a challenge.  It tends to plow through the water until it gets close enough to you.  As a result, it can make you pretty tired if you're spodding heavily and you cannot spod as quickly because of all the drag the opening creates when you reel it in.  Modifying this spod to come in nose first would be more preferable.  

Recommended Use:

• Overall this is a good quality spod for the money.  I like the way it is easy to cast and I like the amount of bait it delivers.  It fits in an all around category and can be fished with a range of test curves (lighter to heavier).  There are some other spods on the market that have advantages over this spod like delivering larger bait quantities and/or being able to be reeled in easier.  However, I think you will be pleased with this spod.  

Have you ever used the Gardner Pocket Rocket XXL?  What do you think about it?  Leave your comments below!