Work It Slow...

   It's about that time folks- time to water test your waders, bust out your fleece and put your fishing rods away for a few months... wait, what?

   There isn't a month that passes by that you can't catch a bass, and especially if you're near source water of a spring-fed, artesian river (I'm looking at you guys near the Comal and San Marcos Rivers), the water stays warm enough to keep the fish fairly active, if you know how to tempt them. Cue up the winter tactics folks, as October leads into November and we see the cooler nights and less available sunlight (less hours per day and a lower angle during the winter, means cooler water temps) we notice the bassin' tactics have to change. This leads me to my first suggestion... pay attention.

   As some friends and I hit the San Marcos River this past weekend we quickly noticed the bass bite was slow. We hit the water at 7:15am on a clear Saturday morning, just as the sun peaked pink and orange above the horizon. Mid-October cooling kept us at an enjoyable 62˚F, and the water in the high 60˚s. As the 3 of us pressed on we hadn't caught more than 1 fish between us in the first 30 minutes, and that just being a small Largemouth. So we quickly regrouped and discussed the details determined to dial them in quickly. The facts:

   1. The water temp was cooler than it had been, as was the air temp. Days are getting shorter. Water is colder.
   2. They hadn't nibbled on a worm, a craw or top-water popping flies. The one dink caught was near vegetation and struck a shallow crank in sun drenched shallow water.

   But knowing why the problem exists is only half the battle. Figuring out how to make the bass bite is the other half. So, we changed it up. We resolved to dive deep, play it slow, give the bass something to play with to test their prey. In short- we tapped into wintertime tactics...

    I threw on a Zoom Baby Brush Hog in watermelon/red flake. Another friend rigged up a watermelon flake lizard. I pulled in the first keeper fish of the day, a Smallmouth, caught off the bottom, in current. All it took was casting the lure back upstream and allowing it to sink in the water column until it reached the bottom. Then a pop or two and the bass took the lure while the line was slack. My line started to move. I reeled in the slack enough to feel action through the 20# braid and 20# fluorocarbon leader. I could feel her working the lure in her mouth and after a few seconds I set the hook and made a clean lip hook.

   Notice how torn up her tail was... seeing this a lot on all species of bass (for the past 2 months, indicative of spawning aggression, like our constant flooding and then lack of rain for 3.5 months has them confused).

   It wasn't long before we were each catching them off the bottom, every bass before lunchtime (sans the first one) was caught off the bottom. We started catching big ones too... near 20". They all fought with vigor also... we each thought our bass was going to be bigger than it was, but that makes it more fun.

My biggest of the day came on a BBH, a Largie at 18".

   As the day warmed up so did the water and consequently so did the fish. After lunchtime and with direct sunlight the bass started moving higher in the water column and moving over shallow rocks in calmer water to warm up. We started catching them on worms and craws again in the afternoon.

   Lastly, I got to paddle my buddies Diablo Adios for awhile and fell in love with it. I've had my eye on these boats for awhile, notice they're made in Martindale, Texas, and also see they're perfect for the waters of Central Texas. It also didn't hurt that I caught a Guadalupe bass while on this kayak for less than 10 minutes.

   So remember folks, as the mornings remain cool bust out your winter tactics and as the day warms up dig the summer tactics out again. But keep in mind... winter is coming.

Get Skinny!

No, I'm not talking about your waistline- I'm talking about hitting shallow water and here's why.

   As our days start to shorten and our temperatures drop, bass are tuning in to their instinct to feed. Right now they're trying to soak up as much food as they can in order to survive "winter" (which is almost a joke here in Texas). In order to prey on their meals bass need two things really- energy and a good hiding spot.

   First, and I'm going to revert to a little empiricism here. Sunlight = energy, everyone remembers the cycle of sunlight to poop, and how basically all sources of energy on Earth are sourced back to sunlight. Well, a bass is this simple also (though it obviously gets energy from food as well), but just like humans would prefer to be in the sunlight on a cold day (if we have to be outside at all, at least it's a little warmer in the sun), so do bass. In essence, they prefer the warmer areas of the river, especially earlier in the day when they have an opportunity from a long night. In the shallow, limestone-surfaced foothills of the Balcones Escarpment, these bass will often swim into 6"-1' of water to warm up. Bonus points if the there is a sneaky little spot to lay-in-wait for prey to pass by.

   Which brings me to the second point- bass like a good place to hide. I've harped on this before and really stress that targeting the small hiding spots in skinny water that a bass could possibly fit in, are the keys to massive strikes and larger bass.

    So stick with me here... imagine waking up on a cool Saturday morning in early "fall" in Central Texas. Cloud cover keeps the sun from breaking through immediately upon rising, and the first chill of the cooler days-to-come lingers in the river bottoms... what would you do? I knew you'd say that...

    I grabbed my rods and kayak and quickly headed to the Guadalupe River for the few hours I had before my afternoon plans. Lurker and I slid in the water at Gruene and the sun had just fully broken through the clouds as I rigged up a baby brush hog. Lurker proceeds to float in front of me, casting the bank and pulls out 3 juvenile largemouth before I even feel a tug. I'm not a patient person, unless I'm fishing- I knew my time would come. As we float down casting the bank, I start to focus in on accurate casts (something else I harp on, for good reason!). If a cast isn't just right I might even turn around, paddle up and re-cast it. I'm that adamant. In this case, it helped. As we paddle to the first set of rapids, I linger off to the side and focus on the sun-baked eddies to the sides of rapids, in water that's less than 1' deep, full sunlight, all solid beds of limestone. I see some grass hanging over the edge of the water, its blades tipping in. It was a tough skip to get it under with a T-rigged 1/16oz BBH, but she fell perfectly, just inside the grass. Through the crystalline waters I see a bass lurch forward and suck up my lure. I pause for a split second... and *wham* set my hook and the fight was on. The beast bolted out of the grass across the limestone bed. The water was so skinny, and this pig so feisty, she skirted across water merely inches deep, her dorsal and tail slicing out of the water like the freshwater shark she was impersonating. She took me to the current and begin to fight it upstream, a worthless endeavor as my Penn drag keeps her at bay, allowing me to slowly man her back to the kayak. By now Lurker has paddled over to watch and help boat the bass. 

   I'm trying to teach Lurker to bass fish with confidence and to pinpoint big bass, this lesson couldn't have been more succinct- accurate casts to well-positioned ambush points in an area where bass SHOULD be at that moment. High fives were passed, pictures taken and the fish was released back to the waters in which she came, hopefully with the mindset to tug on my line again one day.

Accurate Casting is King for River Bassin'!

    As I introduce people to the sport of kayak fishing, and specifically to kayak fishing the rivers of Central Texas, I often find myself explaining a few simple tricks to increase the likelihood that they'll connect with a decent bass. I'll reiterate a few of those points here, but first, I must stress that accurate casting is King. Paramount. Requisite. Imperative. 

You get my point.

   What do I mean by accurate? I'd say you should be able to cast to an area 3' in diameter or less. Sometimes a difference of inches can mean no fish and a lunker. If you can cast to an area 1' in diameter, I'd say you've got the skill needed to target trophy bass in Central Texas.

   This brings me to my overnight camping trip along the Colorado River this last weekend. I landed 3 large Largemouth and 1 great Guadalupe Bass with accurate casting. Every now and then you'll get a dink, but the majority of the fish I'm pulling out of tight holes along bank cover are hogs. Bass are ambush predators, if you drop a lure 1' from their face they literally have a split second to respond. As a bass they have to make the decision so quickly, it's a reaction and the accurate cast gives you the advantage of surprise. They don't want that potential meal to disappear if it's that easy to collect. If your lure looks perfect, they literally have ZERO time to decide, and you have the advantage.

My tips for landing these.

1. Think small, cast small. Cast into the tightest of holes. Don't be afraid to cast over a log or limb. It might make the landing difficult (prepare yourself prior if you do hook up) but you will miss 100% of the fish you don't cast too. Big bass love pinch points and traps in the 1-2' behind between logs/branches and banks. The bass below was holed up between the tall reeds and water hyacinth you see over my right shoulder, right next to the fallen tree. Casting in that shallow, little transition point brought out this chunky LMB. 

2. Horse them out of the hole early. When I set the hook I horse them out early, before they realize the fight is as tough as it is. I'd rather yank them out in the open and fight them there then let them use all their energy near the cover and structure of the banks.

This bass struck the craw across the algae mat from me, under the cover of the elephant ears. Horsing her out early was key to keeping my line from getting wrapped around elephant ear stalks (hard to slice, even for braid) or algae matting (hard to pull through due to weight). Getting her out in the open early allowed me to fight her in the open water, which also makes for a safer release.

3. Hit the small eddies right above and below rapids. I especially can't stress this enough for Guadalupe bass and larger Largemouth and Smallies. An eddy that is 2' in diameter, or a shelf point along a rock wall that creates a current-less spot is a perfect ambush point for larger, predatory bass. This Guad pictured below was in literally a 6" deep eddy along a rapid, under a low hanging tree. Casting was difficult, I missed a few strikes (and I'll change my lure after missing two, so as to throw the fish off a little longer and increase my chances of a third attempt). This Guad hit a thinner craw on the 3rd time and NAILED it.

4. Get out there. Just go. Focus on every cast you make. Make every cast as perfect as you can. Don't let a lure hang sideways. The old and big fish don't get that way by being stupid. If something seems wrong or off about your lure, you aren't going to get a strike.

Good luck folks!

Fishing the San Marcos River in late summer

   It's about the time of year that our nights start cooling off and for the first time since April we see the mercury dip into the 60s. With shorter days and cooler nights the water temperature begins to drop, as does the sir temperature. This encourages a remarkable behavior in at least a few species. For the Black Bass family we notice an uptick in appetite, sated only by their love for any creature that inhabits freshwater. But this consequently creates an uptick in the amount of time fisherman try to spend on the water. Especially before cold days (you know, like the 3-4 weeks of winter we get around here).

   This past weekend- Labor Day weekend in America, I had the opportunity to float down the San Marcos River for an overnight trip between Martindale, Texas, and SH130, a toll road crossing of the San Marcos River. I would be joined by Sparrow and Steve who are on the opposite ends of the kayak-camping spectrum. Sparrow has been down this stretch and camped it numerous times. Steve had neither been down this stretch or camped out of a kayak before- but both are very capable fishermen. We put in at Spencer's/Shady Grove Campground (quite possibly the nicest folks and easiest put in on the upper San Marcos River). We didn't wake up early to get on the water, we just made decent time and were all on the water by 9am. 

   We meandered through the deadfalls, babbling rapids and cool water. Brian whipped his fly rod, I casted soft plastics and Steve cranked shallows lures. We hadn't been on the water very long before I pulled out a decent Largemouth.

The author with a 17.5" Largemouth bass

   Now I've been trying to get Steve confident in soft plastics for awhile. As I casted and kept getting strikes, he saw that they could work effectively, I gave him some pointers (accurate casting to the bank, where bass will hide mid-day, proper lure action, etc.) and soon enough Steve was catching them too. Not to be outdone, Brian hooked some up also.

   Steve and Brian both managed LMBs near 17.5", but Steve yanked out a 16.5" Smallie (pictured above) that put him over the top for the day. Throughout the day the bass were aggressive, all 3 populous species (LMB, SMB and Guadalupe bass). As I chunked plastic after plastic I started to mix it up. I first began with a Zoom Baby Brush Hog, Texas-rigged in watermelon/red flake (a go-to of mine). Soon after I ripped some of those up I wanted to show Steve that it wasn't necessarily the lure that was getting them. So I started chunking a watermelon/red flake Havoc Pit boss (T-rigged). After catching a few on those,  I switched to a watermelon/red flake Zoom Speed Worm and caught a few on that as well. Now, to top it all off- I was burning through plastics, and the aggressive bass were literally tearing them up on every second catch or so- I had to show Steve that no matter what color it was, as long as it was casted close to the fish and worked in a believable fashion, you could get a reaction strike on any lure. Cue the tequila sunrise curly tailed worm, and an arching cast upstream to the base of a submerged, mid-stream tree trunk and bam! a Guadalupe Bass took me for a ride. Then I switched it over to a brown lizard (with red & green flake) and did the same exact thing. Not only was I grinning ear to ear, Steve was too because he had new weapons in his arsenal. 

   Meanwhile, Brian is having luck switching between a craw pattern sinking fly and tossing a pumpkin worm. Steve watched as literally every lure caught fish and he slowly transitioned to a soft plastic user... until we literally had to stop using so many in fear of not having enough for day two. All in all we managed a dozen bass a piece, all aggressively taking a lure on the fall or sweeping it up in the current. 

   One technique worked really well for me in the hot mid-day sun. We know bass transition to deeper water as the surface temperature rises, and in rivers that deeper water may be difficult to find, however, on the San Marcos it isn't that difficult. Knowing that steep mud banks descend into the depths and shallow flood banks are the gradual slope, I casted within one foot of the bank along the mud cliff and I let my creature sink to the bottom. As the current drags me along I pop my lure up (if it's a worm or creature) or swish my lure sideways and let it fall (if a lizard or craw). 9 times out of 10 this resulted in a Guadalupe or Smallmouth picking it up off the bottom (maybe 6'-8') in current (since the current favors the steep bank). Especially if you can skip or drag up and over a submerged rock or structure, often times a Guad or Smallie will hang out right there.

   That night we enjoyed sausage and Ramen noodles (after Brian cleared the water moccasin out of our camp site). Silently the water drifted by as we slept under the stars...

    We all three woke up early and hit the water quick. We weren't but a few hours from our take-out and we wanted to ensure the bite was still on. Again, I managed the first bass (a Guad) and it was a day filled with Guads and LMBs for all of us. Brian lost a 5-6 lb. LMB at the side of his boat but boated many other bass and Steve managed to catch only Guads all day.

   All in all we had a great trip and I know Steve will be back to camp with us and will continue to expand his use of soft plastics.

Guadalupe River C&R Record Guadalupe Bass Video

I just wanted to share this video I made showing me catching the Guadalupe River Catch and Release Record Guadalupe Bass this past August. Enjoy...

New Water

   We all love fishing new water, and why shouldn't you? New sights, new smells and new fish. With new fish comes some work figuring them out though and that's where I'd like to offer a few tips...

   First, lower your expectations and give yourself the time to learn. Even if you've heard the fishing is phenomenal, remember that you're probably behind the learning curve to begin with. Remember that you'll have to deal with trials on a first-timer's basis. There are new rapids to assess, or new boat ramps and access points to figure out. Expecting to just get wet and catch a fish quickly is unrealistic and setting yourself up to be disappointed. If you can, join some folks experienced on that waterway. Enjoy that you're experiencing something new. Try to talk to other fishermen on the water to see what they've noticed (this might be easier in Texas and specifically on Texas rivers where not only are they friendly fishermen but you end up passing within yards of them when the water is low).

   Next, start with your confidence lures and make adjustments. You should spend the time to factor in a few things (water clarity, water speed for rivers, sunlight conditions, temperature... you know- the basics) but don't drift too far from starting with something you're confident in. This will greatly reduce the time it takes you to learn the fish habits and locations. Expecting something to work because you fished this river about 20 miles downstream of here, or because this lake looks like that other one, isn't going to help you analyze trends- which is what good fishermen do- YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS. If you're a crankbaiter, then start off there and work towards finding what the fish want. If you're a jig flipper, then you're going to feel confident working with jigs and tailoring jigs to find the fish. Imagine going from a jig, to a jig with a thin and long trailer, to a drop shot worm- that progression shows similarities between each step. If the drop shot works, sick with it. Start with confidence lures and work towards successful lures.

Author with a chunky LMB on his first run down the Colorado River. Going with others who were experienced on this river and sticking with a confidence lure helped get this girl to the boat.

   Lastly, keep track. Failures are truly failures if you don't learn anything. We've all heard a similar idiom. However, successes aren't nearly as successful if you don't learn anything else other than, "Hey we caught a lot of fish." Take the time to go back and analyze (or even record) ambient temperature, sunlight (weather the last few days actually), water temperature, clarity, flow, depth, thermoclines, fish depth, fish movement, structure and cover conditions, bait, technique, tackle specifics and anything else you can think of that influenced the bite. Looking at trends over time (seasonally and annually) as well as focusing on specific water bodies will help you master fish trends and water bodies. As time passes you'll get better at fishing new water. New water will begin to look like old water and you'll have more successful "first runs."

The author with a second run bass down the Colorado River. Analyzing trends from the first trip and adjusting the technique to colder air and water temperatures helped bring this hefty Largemouth to the kayak.

The Gar-dalupe...

Gar are notorious in Central Texas for long runs, barrel rolls, missed hooksets and snapped lines. I can't tell you how many times I've been fishing on a soft-lipped day and my lure starts to run and I go for a bass hookset, only to yank back a weightless thread of line without my weight, hook and lure. Gar are the bane of bass fisherman sometimes... but every now and then a bass fisherman will specifically target these and other species, step out of his comfort zone and have a great time doing it.

   I love bass fishing through and through. Throw me on a kayak, send me down a Central Texas river and let me chase Guadalupe bass to the end of my days and I'll die a happy man. But, I can't deny that when it comes down to it, I love fighting fish, pitting my wits against theirs, and seeing who comes out on top. Recently, I had a chance to go see my buddy, who I'll call "Ocho", at his stretch along the Guadalupe River outside of Gonzales, Texas. This length of the Guadalupe is lined with cattle fields, turning the water a stained brown typically, with clarity generally around 1'-2' on good days. Dead falls abound along the banks which are characterized by steep walls on one side, and a flood plain on the other. Ocho's stretch is about 2/3 of a mile long with about 100 yards of usable bank. Add to this the fact that the cows access water at the most convenient bank, muddying it up, that pushes us to an access along a muddy bank with a steep climb to about 15' above the water. This means anything we do is generally going to be laborious and we end up muddy. What a way to spend a Saturday night in early August, where the temps might get below 80˚F.

   I was waiting for Ocho in his driveway when he got off work, adult beverage in hand. After a few minutes of BSing we headed down to the river with our kayaks to try to catch some bait for the night. We had decided, in an effort to fulfill my BFA search, to target catfish and gar since this stretch is difficult to bass fish. We scaled down the muddy bank after a cursory glance for water moccasins and eased in to the water with silence. We were targeting sunfish for bait for a night of fishing.

   With earthworms in hand we proceeded to try to outsmart the perch and managed 5 in about an hour. Generally catching perch isn't a problem on the Guadalupe, but as clarity is mucked up, the ability go the aggressive sunfish to find your bait goes down. After awhile we had decided that this amount of perch and the remaining worms would suffice for the night. Between perch and worms Ocho and I had drug in our fair share of cats, but never a gar. Admittedly, the few gar I have caught have actually all been on Ratltraps (of all things).

   We used 130 lb Dacron line and 3/0 J-hooks. We floated our baits with small balloons and suspended them 1'-2' below the surface across the middle of the river channel as well as near eddies along the bank. We eviscerated the sunfish and used their innards to bait our hooks. Then we waited... and waited...

   Our first run was a blue catfish, about 22" long who quickly made her way to the cooler.

23.75" Blue catfish caught on perch guts

    After a few pictures we focused on our other lines and quickly heard a rolling splash sound. We raced down the muddy embankment to our kayaks and shoved off into the dark. Fighting a large catfish from a kayak is an experience to enjoy. Letting her wear herself out on your rod is an enjoyable experience (need I say more?). By the time we got this gal to the surface I was worn out. We measured her at a hair over 30" and was close to 20 pounds. As we got her to the bank and readied her for the cooler, we decided to look at her innards to see what she was eating. Besides perch guts and perch chunks (what we expected) we found some 6 or 7 corbicula fluminea (Asian clams) and one large bone segment, about 5' long that was sharp as hell and resembled a fish or small mammalian rib.

30" Blue catfish near 20 pounds

   So after nearly 2 hours we had raked in two decent blue catfish and filled our small cooler. We were getting tired. We had promised ourselves a trip to Lake Wood to bass fish in the morning and we had to decide whether to suck it up and pull an all-nighter or to call it a night and hit the sack for a few hours before sunup. Instead, our rod made that call for us.

   A long slow run slowly ticked away the minimal amount of drag set on the Penn Battle II.  Runs were slow and paced with intermittent stops. After a few minutes of anticipation, I tightened the drag and leaned back in to my rod, letting the leverage and the hook do all the work. Sure enough, this caused the fish to make a long and will head shaking run. As my kayak lurches one direction and the other my slack is taken up to bring a nice Long-nosed Gar to the surface and the second she feels air she lets loose with an aerial display which soaked me to the core. She tail-danced like a sailfish, jumped like a marlin, dove like a halibut and fought like a gator, but she was hooked and she realized it. Her realization isn't a sign of capitulation nor does it show a willingness to acquiesce to my desires. So, in all of her toothiness, she decides to make it difficult. She wouldn't stay still once we got her on the kayak and (forgetting our gloves) made us want to race her to the shore. We taped her out at 49.25", just shy of a Big Fish Award. She was the story of the night though and the envy of all of our friends who didn't make it out.

49.25" Long-nosed Gar caught on perch guts

    So don't be afraid to get out of your comfort zone and fish. At Texas Kayak Fisherman, the local forum for San Marcos/New Braunfels has a monthly tournament (just bragging rights, winner chooses the following month's tournament) and we challenge ourselves to focus on different species besides bass. 

   Learning the ways of other fish species allows us to form a picture of the aquatic ecosystems we enjoy. All of these fish have their own link in the chain and the exclusion or extinction of one can have a rippling effect on the rest. We may have favorites but one species is no more or no less important than all the rest. We should each do our parts to respect the native species, learn what we can from them and do what we can to protect them.

   So don't let the dog days of summer get you all glum because you haven't caught a bass over 18" in 4 months. Instead, target other fish who are just as fun to catch, are more active this time of year and offer a great adventure for all who respect them.