    
Fishin' Magician
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Votes: 0 | | Posted on Tuesday, September 24, 2002 - 1:07 am: | |
Subject: fish report 9-23-02 Southwest Fishing Charters- S
SOUTHWEST FISHING CHARTERS Report 9-23-02
Lakes: Calaveras & Braunig in San Antonio, Tx.
Greetings; Time not only flies when having fun, and fishing too!
No excuses; I wish I was able to update this report daily.
Summer was milder than usual, but still served up water temps in the upper 90's for about 4 weeks. The reds really fell off, the stripers disappeared, but the big blue cats hung in there pretty strong. Robyn Harred of San Antonio put the 'whammy' on one of the nicest blues of the summer. She may only be eleven, but this little gal really was taught properly on how to handle a rod. Her big Blue Cat hit a silver spoon trolling at about 25 feet. Leaving her about 30 minutes of rod bending time to think about it before she got her first look at old whisker face; 23 pounds of cat fish nuggets! The blues are still in deep water until the temp dips later in the fall.
The red fish bite this year has been none like I have ever seen in the last 15 years of guiding; to date we have caught approximately 1,170, this year alone. They started early in February and stayed strong till the summer heat topped the 98 degree mark in August. Then the rains came. Boy did they! After all settled down, temps dropped, water cleared, and the action was back.
Stripers were slower than normal this year. The rebound looks as though we're in for a good fall pattern. On the better days, we're seeing up to 20 on a half day trip. Most of them have been keepers, being the good thing. As for the smaller fish; hope this absence isn't a sign for next year. The fisheries crew reports that their gill net studies shows numbers "UP" above normal in the lake. The striper bite has been good this past week and looking to really get good since temps are coming down. I was told striper stockings were down this year due to new hatchery systems being re-built. With all plans on time, we should be back to above normal striper stockings come spring.
Reds! That's what most clients want to hear. We have caught more reds in the past week than we have caught in the last month!!!! It's a shame the reds can't pull off a real spawn in these lakes. Due to the lack of salinity in our lakes; the eggs won't fertilize. This is why we get those wonderful stockings of juvenile fish each spring. Fall brings all the reds into a 'hormonal' pattern beckoning for them to due what nature guides them into each fall. The school sizes we are seeing has been terrific! The females eggs appear to be about 70-80% developed. This is the good news. We should have these fish schooling for maybe another month! The males are starting to really drip with milk when boated. This pattern has these fish in an extremely finicky (hormonal) mood. We have been trolling through the school 2-3 times with no hits, then the next pass may yield 2-3 hits at the same time. Last week, Dr. Rocky Mariscal fished a 5 hour trip; yielding 19 hook-ups, boating 10 reds from 8-16 lbs. with up to 3 on at a time. Keeping three reds for 45 pounds sounds like a fish fry to me. Then, Michael Swetman with two buddies took the boys out, ending up a 4 hour trip with 10 reds that went 8-14 pounds. This is where the "no upper slot" in fresh water adds spice to a trip.
To sum it all up; falls here, temps are in control of the patterns we are seeing. It's been pretty good the past week, with projections of these patterns to last into early November, as long as we don't get hit with multiple harsh cold fronts before then, driving lake temperatures down too low.
Electronics is the big key to locating these fish. Bait fish have been schooling tight and moving out into the deeper water. Watch for structure changes and fish below the thermocline. With temps dropping; remember to reduce lure speed, size, and line size. Your drag will make or break you this time of year. Don't go at them as a muscle man, think, soften your technique, and enjoy the fight! Most clients think my equipment is too light; until they slow down and get a real experience of a great fight where you need to "think" about what you're doing. I have broke most of my clients of this "deep sea pumping stuff" they think you have to do. Let the equipment do what it's designed for and leave that TV garbage at home. You'll feel more, experience more, learn more, and really appreciate the power these fish have to offer. Memories last longer than the fight.
So until the next nibble occurs, may screaming drags and monstrous fish romp in your dreams!
Take care, start winterizing your boat and equipment, and don't forget the kids in your outdoors adventures!
Jeff
Our new mobile phone number is (210) 383-1119 |
