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!