Monday, May 25, 2015

Lake Bastrop - Missed Adventure

I had really looked forward to a special fishing trip last Thursday and even took vacation from work. My plans were to go to Lake Bastrop and meet up with Scott Dorsey of Throw-n-Thunder Lures. As it turned out on Thursday morning a front was pushing through the area around Bastrop and it didn't look good.  With both of us having over 3 hour drives to get to the lake, we decided that with the forecast it was best to cancel the trip.  I was really looking forward to fishing with Scott for the first time.  Fishing with Scott meant we would be throwing spinner baits and by spinner baits I mean those Killer TNT spinner baits I throw all the time. There was a bit of a problem though as my research on Bastrop didn't find a lot of folks fishing spinner baits or reporting catches on spinner baits.  This meant I had to come up with a game plan to not only fish spinner baits on this lake but also hopefully catch bass on spinner baits.  So why don't we take a look at this game plan and the research I did during its development. 

Lake Bastrop is a 900 acre Power Plant lake that is just north of the town of Bastrop and east of Austin.  After looking at some maps and reading about the type of structures that is found in the lake I had to wonder why folks weren't catching bass on spinner baits.  The question I had to ask myself; were they not fishing spinner baits or were they just not fishing spinner baits right?  This lake has some well defined points leading into deep water, creek channels, some standing timber but most importantly it has grass lines and weed beds.  Now if you can't catch bass on spinner baits in and around grass lines and weed beds then you have to be doing something wrong.  Even though I had never fished the lake I felt like I could put us on bass that would hit spinner baits, and besides the bass in this lake likely had never seen a TNT quad-blade spinner bait. So how did I come up with a game plan on a lake that is a 3+ hour drive away?  I used the tools I had at hand as well as my 50 years of bass fishing experience.  So what are these tools that I speak of having?  They aren't anything special and most of you have the same tools that you have at your disposal on your computer.   In fact I wrote and article a while back on how to plan a trip to new water.  If you have time here is a link to that article - Planning a Trip to New Water

The first thing I did was a Google search on the lake.  I found the Topo Map shown above which was a great start, here is a link to the full size map - Lake Bastrop.  Also the Texas Parks & Wildlife site had some great information about the structure found in the lake at this link - TPWD - Lake Bastrop.  The TPWD site also had some tactics information that could be useful to folks new to the lake.  Next I grabbed  some satellite pictures using Google Maps. Then the last piece of information I searched for were up-to-date fishing reports on the lake.  Here is where I got very little information at all as there just doesn't seem to be a lot of reports.  With all this information in hand, I sat down and started to study.  The one thing I noted was even though this lake is not very big it has just about any type of structure a bass fisherman could want to see.  Not only does it have the ones I mentioned above it also has some mid-lake humps that really look promising to take a look at if everything else failed.

Now I do have to tell you before getting in to the details of my game plan that I originally wasn't going to share this with folks.  I was going to keep it to myself and use it on an upcoming trip to see if I was right.  However I thought why not share it as it might help someone put some bass in the boat and that is what I like to do, help folks catch more bass.  Now I do ask if you read this and decide to give it a try on Bastrop, please give me some feedback. After studying my research materials I decided to start off in the north end of the lake where Scouts Creek enters. The water in the area should be moving a little, but it also might be a little stained as well.  Bastrop is noted for having fairly clear water and we all know that clear water can be tough to fish.  So I was looking for something with a little stain and with all the rains we have been getting it should be stained some at this location.  Looking on Google Maps I could also tell that this area had some standing timber and a flat along the creek channel that looked like it might have some grass on it.  Prime territory for spinner bait fishing if you ask me.  Now if the Scouts Creek area didn't pan out to produce some bass, our next stop would have been heading over to Hot Water Flats and working the weed and grass down towards Tower Point.   There is also supposed to be a stump field in the bend in the creek called Stumpy Bend on our way to Tower Point.   If we hadn't gotten anything to eat our spinner baits by the time we got to the end of Tower Point then we would head to Stumpy Bend and see if anything wanted to eat a jig and craw.  We wouldn't stay at Stumpy Bend long fishing jigs as the goal of the day was to prove we could catch bass on Throw-N-Thunder Spinner Baits.

Now I'm not sure about you folks but this ole boy always likes to have a "Plan C" in his back pocket and so the next stop would be the Mid Lake Flats in behind Aretha's Point.  From the Google Maps picture it seemed that this area had the most weed and grass beds.  Now if this area didn't get our spinner baits eaten, then our time fishing would almost be over as both of us had a long drive home.  Still I didn't want Scott to go home and not catch any bass so I had a "Plan D" in my pocket also.  Plan D didn't include fishing spinner baits but I hoped it would get us a few hits before we had to head home.  This plan called for use to locate and mark a couple of Mid Lake Humps and see if there were fish on them.  If the humps looked good on the fishfinder then I'd toss out a buoy to make them then get on the trolling motor.   We would then fish Carolina Rigged Creme Scoundrel worms by casting them on top of the of the hump and slowly working them down the side.  I had read a lot about this tactic being affective on Bastrop so I was sure hoping if all else failed it would get us some bites.  So there you have it folks, there are the plans I didn't get to use.  I believe that these plans would have put some bass in the boat for Scott and I if we would have had the chance.  I also believe they would work for other folks heading out to Bastrop this time of year to catch some bass.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to take that trip in the near future to find out for myself.  However if any of you beat me to the lake give this a shot and let me know how you do.  Like I said it isn't 100% guaranteed to catch bass, but I have enough confidence in this plan to use it in a tournament on this lake.  So good luck and I sure hope it helps someone out there.

Until next time, Tight Lines and Take a Kid Fishing!!!

You can also Follow me on
Twitter - @BHOAdventures
FaceBook - Bounty Hunter Outdoor Adventures
YouTube - Bounty Hunter Outdoor Adventures

Also Checkout the great folks that help make my fishing adventure possible and the tackle I use and trust.
Santone Lures
Throw-n-Thunder
Creme Lures
Dunamis Rods
Liquid Mayhem Fish Attractants

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Clear Creek Tournament 5-16-2015

The last of the Bayou Bassin' League Fall/Spring tournament series was held on Clear Creek Bayou yesterday.  The Houston and Clear Lake area of Texas had received as much as 12 inches of rain the first part of last week and by mid week Clear Creek was almost 12 feet over normal.  In fact you couldn't even see the dock at the boat ramp on Wednesday the 13th.  Needless to say all of us had our fingers crossed that we wouldn't get any more rain even though it was forecasting 50% chance or better.  Some how other than a few light showers we were spared any really heavy rains between Tuesday and Saturday so the conditions were safe enough to fish.  In fact by Thursday evening you could see the dock again but it had a tree on it that was blocking good access to ramp.  We have to give credit where credit is due and on Friday the Park Services folks removed
the tree so everything was set for Saturday's tournament.  The fishing conditions were going to be rough we knew going in, but I don't think any of us thought they would be as tough as they turned out to be.  A few of the guys even Pre-Fished on Thursday and Friday and they were catching some fish.  It had to be better on Saturday and hey we have all gotten used to catching bass in muddy water.

Saturday turned out to be a very nice day for fishing.  It wasn't overly hot and there was some cloud cover to keep the sun from beating us most of the day.  The rains also held off, but there were times the skies didn't look to friendly.  Even though the day was nice the bass really weren't nice to us at all.  There weren't any limits caught though most of us caught fish that were under the 14 inch minimum. However with this bunch of fishermen someone is going to find some fish.   That was the case so lets get to the out come.

As they normally do ole Tyrone and his partner Robbie found some keepers. They weighed in 3 bass which was the most keepers of any team taking big stringer at 5.86lbs as well as big bass 2.42lbs.  I can say you have to be on top of your game to unseat this team out of 1st.  .

Now these next guys aren't any slouches in the bass catching department.  Raybo and son Cameron brought 2 bass to the scales for 3.94lbs which put them in 2nd.
In 3rd place was a new comer to our tournaments, but I think we will be seeing more of James who was fishing by himself.  Even though he didn't have a teammate he was able to put 2 keepers in the boat that tipped the scales at 3.48lbs.   Welcome James it was great meeting you and we hope to see more of you at these tournaments.
In 4th was Jake and Brad as they were able to get one keeper in the boat on the day.  It was a really good fish for the bayous!!!
All the rest of us tied for 5th place as none of us could get a keeper in the livewell.  I can't speak for how the day went for the other guys that came in empty, but for Brett and I it was tough.  It wasn't that we didn't find fish from time to time, it was we couldn't land fish.  On the day I broke off two bass and lost another good fish that hit a spinnerbait.  I am please to say that even though it was a bad day I'll be applying for a new world record.
That fish has to be the smallest fish ever to be caught fairly hooked in the mouth.  I don't know it's total weight because the scales wouldn't go that low.  The other good thing that I can say that came yesterday is how well my Skeeter performed.  As you may know I've put a lot of work into her over the last month and all that work paid off big time!!

Hey even though it was a bad day fishing I had fun and I think I can say the same for everyone.  Folks it's not all about catching fish, it is about getting outdoors with a group of great guys that love the sport.  When ever you have that chance it makes for a good day in your life!!!  For those of you interested in fishing some of our Bayou Tournaments you can click on this link for the Bayou Bassin' League website for more information.   You can also go to their Facebook page by clicking here BBL Facebook  to see more pictures and stay up to date on things happening real time.   The dates for our next series tournaments should be released in the near future.


Until next time, Tight Lines and Take a Kid Fishing!!!

You can also Follow me on
Twitter - @BHOAdventures
FaceBook - Bounty Hunter Outdoor Adventures
YouTube - Bounty Hunter Outdoor Adventures

Also Checkout the great folks that help make my fishing adventure possible and the tackle I use and trust.
Santone Lures
Throw-n-Thunder
Creme Lures
Dunamis Rods
Liquid Mayhem Fish Attractants


Wednesday, May 13, 2015

The Carburetor Rebuild Adventure

This is for you Do-it-Yourself boat motor mechanics out there and I know there are a few of you, or at least I hope I'm not the last. As you may know from my earlier articles I have a new boat and it was having some issues.  These issues were a result of it sitting for almost 2 years with the new gas we have to buy with up to 10% ethanol added sitting in her carburetors.  If you have done any reading on this new ethanol gas you will know it can cause some big problems if the gas is not used quickly.  Point is the gas goes bad and if left in carburetors once it goes bad it will form a varnish that will clog up all the jets and ports.

My motor is a 1990 Yamaha 150 Pro-V and from all the research I've done on this engine I've found they are pretty bullet proof if well taken care of by the owner.  That the previous owner had taken good care of this engine was very evident in its appearance.  In fact when I asked to look at the boat
he even drained the old gas and put some fresh in the tank.  When we tested it on the hose she fired right up and idled smooth.  So I ended up buying the boat only to find out she wouldn't get on plane and wanted to die if you pushed her past 2200RPMs under load.  So my research began into troubleshooting this problem.  I did all the easy things first like changing the filters, fuel pumps and spark plugs.  This didn't help so it was time to dig in and rebuild the carbs.  This sound like it might be a big job, but it really isn't so bad at all for us Do-it-Yourself mechanics.  The fact is this isn't my first rodeo on rebuilding carbs as that started many years ago when I was racing stock cars. It continued on as I worked on all of my vehicles, well up until the time that you had to own a NASA computer to figure them out.  I also did all the maintenance and repairs on every boat motor I've ever owned including rebuilding the Johnson 88spl on my Cajun Bass Boat I still own. By the way my old Cajun is for sale and would make someone a great bass boat.

OK enough with my history of being a Do-it-Yourself mechanics and on with the actual rebuilding of the carburetors.  I started at about 7:00 AM Friday morning and had the carbs off and the first one disassembled by 8:00 AM.   I had taken out all the brass jets and other screws from the main body and removed the bowl, floats and valve assembly as well as all the plastic parts.  I then submersed themain body and bowl in some Berryman's Chem-Dip.   The Berryman's Chem-Dip come is what looks like a paint can and it has the solvent in it as well as a dip basket.  You just place what you want to clean in the basket and dip it in.   The directions tell you how long, but for what I was doing it would be 2 hours.   Now I must warn you there are two versions of the Chem-Dip, one is a California version that is also sold in some other states as well as on line, then there is the original version.  From what I understand the California version doesn't work very well, but I'm in Texas so I was able to easily find the original. I also have to warn you not to put any gaskets or plastic parts in the Chem-Dip as it will eat them. The original version does work awesome for cleaning carbs!!!  Now to clean all the jets and screws
that I removed I used Berryman's B-12 Chemtool.  I put them all in a glass jar with a screw-on lid then sprayed them down with theB-12 until they were all covered.   Then I placed the lid on the jar and from time to time over an hour I'd shake and swirl them around in the jar.  After an hour I carefully removed them from the jar and then took a copper wire brush and a small piece of copper wire to clean them out good.  Let me tell you some of these jets were completely clogged from that ethanol gas.  It took me some time to get them all perfectly cleaned. This process was to clean some and let them soak some.  Once I was happy with how they looked I blew them all out with my air compressor air gun.  I made sure that air could easily flow from all the jets.  I then started to dissemble the second carb.  When finished I put the second set of jets in the same jar with the B-12.  When this was finished it was time to get the main body and bowl out of the Chem-Dip. I removed them then placed them in a water bath.  Water is used to disperse and neutralize the Chem-Dip.  I then placed the second main body and bowl in the basket and lowered them into the Chem-Dip.
 
At this point I took a short break to go check to see if the mail had come and if my if my Carburetor Rebuild Kit was here.  I had ordered and aftermarket kit made by Sierra because I could get it here in time for Friday or so I hoped and also because it was about $40.00 cheaper than the OEM Yamaha Kit.  When I got out to the mailbox I found my kit inside and was very happy.  I took it in the shop and made sure it was the right 18-7759 part number and that all gaskets and parts were in the package.  Once I knew the kit was right I started putting the first carb back together.  Again I took my air compressor and air gun and completely blew out
both the main body and bowl.  I made sure that air could easily pass through all the ports on them before I started to reassemble the carb.  Once the first carb was back together it looked almost like a new carburetor. Then over the next few hours I completed the process on the second and third carbs.  Everything was going smooth or maybe it was too smooth so to speak.   I had the carbs back on the motor and hooked up by my planned 3:00PM and she was ready for a test.  When I was pumping up the bubble to push gas into the carbs it seemed to get hard faster than normal but I didn't pay much attention to it until after the motor wouldn't start.  It was then that I realized the gas wasn't flowing into the carbs.  I checked a few things and tried to pump the bubble some more but nothing.  I pulled one of the drain screws to be sure I wasn’t getting any gas and it was bone dry.  By this time it was after 4:00PM and time for me to get ready to take my wonderful wife out for our weekly "Date Night".  The motor and carbs would have to wait until Saturday morning which meant I'd likely not get any fishing in this weekend as Sunday was Mother's Day.

Saturday morning found me up at my normal 5:30 in the morning.  I got the coffee on and waited for it to get light enough to start work, but that was over an hour away.   I had finished 2/3 a pot of coffee by the time 6:45 rolled around and I could get to work.  I took all the carbs off the motor and into the shop to see if I could find out what was wrong.  I knew it had to be something with the floats and shutoff valves but what.  So I pulled the bowls off and did some adjusting to what I thought was right and put them back on the bodies.  Only way of knowing if this was the fix was to put the carbs back on the motor.   I had that finished by 8:00ish but my wife was still asleep.  Now most of us smart married men know that a happy wife is a happy life and so I didn't try to start the motor yet.  It was just an extended coffee break.  In fact it was going to be one of those two pot mornings as I got the second going.

My wife crawled out of bed about 8:30 and with the excitement of getting the boat going good plus all the coffee I had drink, I was wired.  I warned the wife what I was going to do and headed out the door.  I started by pumping up the bubble again and this time I could tell gas was flowing.   However this time is seemed to take longer than normal but I counted that to no gas being in the carbs at all.  When I started to smell gas though I looked and saw it pouring out of the front of the carbs.   So I had gone from the floats and valves not letting gas in carbs to them not stopping the gas once the bowls were full.  It was back to the drawing board or in this case work bench.  I took the carbs back off and headed back into the shop for more troubleshooting.  This time when I tried to pull the bowl off the first carb I found the float was stuck and the bowl wouldn't come off.  In fact I ended up having to break the one float to get the bowl off.  I also had difficulty removing the bowl on the other carbs as well.  What this told me was the floats were bigger than the original floats.  I was a little mad as there was no instructions in the kit that told me the floats might need to be sized and after paying $120.00 for the kit one would think all the parts would be right.   Well I was lucky as all the original floats were in good shape besides being pretty dirty.  I cleaned them up and put them in the carbs.

I got the carbs put back together with the old floats and back on the motor.  I pumped up the bubble and everything seemed to work as it should.  Once the bubble became tight, I turned on the water to the hose and then tried to start the engine.  To my absolute pleasure the engine purred to life at the first bump of the key.  It sounded really good and would rev up, but of course that was with no load so a water test was in order.  I knew I wasn't going to get a chance to put her in the water today as we were now babysitting our granddaughter.  Also my wife had plans she needed to do in the afternoon and so there would be no water test for the new boat.   However my wonderful wife knew I was disappointed and came up with the solution that I loved.   She asked for me to take her on a morning boat ride for Mother's day.  Hey what better way to test my carb job than with the woman I love, right?  

Sunday morning found us launching the boat about 10:00AM on Dickinson Bayou.  I could tell the motor had more power as I backed her off the trailer.  I watched with much anticipation as my wife parked the truck and trailer then headed to the dock.  She climbed aboard and secured her PFD in place before taking a seat.  I eased the boat towards the “No Wake” buoy as the excitement about what would happen started to rise within me.  I glanced at my wife and could tell she didn’t know what to expect either.  I was somewhat concerned as we did have 20mph winds gusting to 30mph out of the southeast and with Dickinson Bayou pretty much running east to west this meant a crossing wind.  I wasn’t concerned about waves as no matter how much wind we have the bayous really never get rough.  I was concerned with this wind getting under the bow once we were on plane.  As we pass out of the “No Wake” zone I stepped down on the “Hot Foot” and my girl jumped forward way quicker than I had expected.   She was on plane in a second and moving fast.  I didn’t get her wide open at this point as we need to cross under the railroad bridge first.  Once we clear the railroad bridge there is a pretty good straight and wide stretch that is fairly protected from the wind.  When we got to this point I opened her up and she responded by bringing tears to our eyes and the skin on our faces started to flap.  She quickly ran up to the 5600RPMs she was supposed to get with the new prop and was picking up speed fast.  At about this time the cross wind came into play and started to make her get a little squirrely so I backed off some.  Needless to say I was very happy!!!  We did spend the next hour riding up and down the bayou to my wife’s delight and mine as well.

Now as far as the Sierra Rebuild Kit, I’ll never get one again unless a Yamaha OEM kit is not available.  I don’t believe that you should have to make modifications to parts after spending that much money and if modification are necessary Sierra should have pointed that out in their sales description and also in instructions contained in the kit.   The Berryman products are top notch in my opinion but be careful not to get the California version of the Chem-Dip and you should be very happy as well.

Until next time, Tight Lines and Take a Kid Fishing!!!

You can also Follow me on
Twitter - @BHOAdventures
FaceBook - Bounty Hunter Outdoor Adventures
YouTube - Bounty Hunter Outdoor Adventures

Also Checkout the great folks that help make my fishing adventure possible and the tackle I use and trust.
Santone Lures
Throw-n-Thunder
Creme Lures
Dunamis Rods
Liquid Mayhem Fish Attractants



Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Killer Texas Bassin' Combos

Now why do I call these Killer Texas Bassin' Combos?  Easy answer is they really do kill the bass and they are combos made up of Santone Lures of Mt. Pleasant, TX and Creme Lures of Tyler, TX.  Also let me tell you that not only are these bass catching combos here in the Lone Star State they will catch bass anywhere they swim!!!  So where do I start as there are more then one of these combos.  Well I guess I have to start with my favorite and the combo I used to win that tournament back in January.

Santone Lures Rattlin' Jig and Creme Lures ST Beaver (Badd Bugg)
Now this is a very simple combo that is truly affective on those big ole hawg mommas.  You just take your favorite colors of each and mate them together to get a match made in heaven!!!
This combo can be affective anytime of the year that you find bass feeding on crawfish.  Now I do have to say don't for get the Liquid Mayhem Crawfish and soon to be out Garlic Crawfish or Crawlic.  I also have to warn you to keep a tight grip on your rod because when they hit this they really hit it hard!!!

Santone Lures Rattlin' Jig and Creme Lures ST Craw
Now when I still want to be fishing a jig but I'm looking for something with a little smaller profile then I go with this combo.   Now I do prepare the jig by cutting off the back of the skirt so that it is even with the back of the hook.
Trimming the skirt does two things for you, first it makes the bait appear smaller and two it actually gives the bait more action.   Once more don't forget to put on some Liquid Mayhem and hold on to your rod.

Santone Lures Rayburn Swim Jig and Creme Lures Reel Scremer
Folks I will say right now that this combo is my go-to bait a lot of days.  Heck there hasn't yet been a body of water that I have fished that this combo hasn't caught fish.  Again this is a simple combo to put together.
This combo is very versatile as it can be fished many different method.  Two of my favorites are slow rolling it down a weed line and a medium speed retrieve while twitching the tip of the rod.  It is also very affective in lay down timber and brush.  Heck I can't think of many types of structure that you can't fish this combo.  Once more don't forget the Liquid Mayhem but the Garlic Minnow is my favorite flavor with this combo.  Also once more keep a tight grip on your rod!!

Santone Lures Wobble Hawg and Creme Lures ST Beaver (Badd Bugg)
There are times when the bass just won't hit a jig and I really hated those times but not anymore.  That is because I've found when I know there are bass there and they won't hit a jig, 9 out of 10 times they will hammer this combo.
This combo changes up the action of the bait over a jig and there are time that action is what is needed to get bass to strike.  You really have to see this thing in action as it really does look awesome in the water.  I know I sound like a broken record, but don't forget that Liquid Mayhem Crawfish and hold onto your rod.

Santone Lures Football Piglet and Creme Lures ST Craw
Sometimes when the bass won't hit a jig it is because the jig is bigger than the crawfish they are feeding on. Don't worry this combo has that covered.
With the Football Piglet you can make that ST Craw shake and dance while sitting stationary on the bottom to give that bass something he just has to eat.   Fish this on your finesse rod and you really open up all kinds of new structure like skipping it under docks.   Hey you know what I'm going to say, don't forget the Liquid Mayhem!

Santone Lures Texas Finesse Jig and Creme Lures Scoundrel Worm
This combo gives you another option in your finesse fishing tactics.  You can fish this as you would a shaky head but the skirted jig gives you some added action that will cause strikes.
I've had some big ole bass come out from under docks and out of deep brush piles when using this bait.   Also you can fish it more aggressively than a shaky head, in fact play with your retrieve and find out what the bass want.  Yes I'm going to say it again, don't forget the Liquid Mayhem.

Santone Lures Football Piglet and Creme Lures Scoundrel Worm
On those days when the bass are really being tough then this is the combo you need to be fishing.
With the flat edge of the Football Piglet and the floating qualities of the Scoundrel Worm you can tease just about any bass into biting.   Work it really slow and make it wiggle that floating tail until it drives the bass insane and they have to hit it.  When the bite is that tough you don't want to take the chance of a bass hitting and spiting out your bait because it has a bad taste.  That is why it is so very important that you do not forget the Liquid Mayhem when you are finesse fishing.  You work hard for that bite, make sure the bass will hold onto your bait once they hit.

Folks these are just some of my favorite Texas Combos.  With the great baits from Santone Lures and Creme Lures there are really endless combos you can try.  Hey there might be a combo you come up with that even I haven't thought of trying.  You really owe it to yourself to give these baits a try as they will put more bass in the boat, well they will if you don't forget the Liquid Mayhem!!!

Until next time, Tight Lines and Take a Kid Fishing!!!

You can also Follow me on
Twitter - @BHOAdventures
FaceBook - Bounty Hunter Outdoor Adventures
YouTube - Bounty Hunter Outdoor Adventures

Also Checkout the great folks that help make my fishing adventure possible and the tackle I use and trust.
Santone Lures
Throw-n-Thunder
Creme Lures
Dunamis Rods
Liquid Mayhem Fish Attractants

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Halls Bayou 5-2-2015

The plan was to go to Clear Creek Bayou to test the boat repairs and also practice for an up coming tournament, those plans changed.  It was my Son-in-Law Brett's birthday so taking him was his birthday present.  He was going to meet me at Walter Hall Park at 7:00AM and we would see how the motor ran and do some fishing in the process.  I got to Walter Hall about 6:30 and realized that this was the weekend of the League City Town Fair.  They had the ramp closed so I had to make a quick call to Brett so we could change plans.  He was almost there so I told him to just head to my house and I'd pick him up.  I knew this weekend was also the Strawberry Fest in Dickinson so the ramp on Dickinson Bayou would also be blocked, so we would be heading down to Halls.  We didn't make it down there until 8:00ish and the water didn't look very good.  It was the color Halls gets this time of year and the fishing can be tough.  Add to that it was a Blue Bird day and the tide never moved a lot so yes the fishing was tough.

Well I guess I should start out by tell you about the boat.  I did the maintenance I spoke about in my last article.  Replacing all the filters, fuel pumps and spark plugs.  I also decarboned the motor with a mixture of one can of Seafoam to one gallon of Gas.  I put this in a small 3gal tank and ran the motor for 5 minutes on the hose.  Then I let the motor sit for 10 minutes and then ran it for another 5 minutes.  I repeated this process 4 times before hooking the main tank to the motor and running it for 5 minutes.  It did a good job of cleaning all the carbon that had built up.   The motor continued to start with just a bump of the key and it idled really well so I had high hopes I'd fixed the issue.  Now it was time for the real test and that was in the water.  We launched the boat and soon I had her pointed south.  I eased her along in front of the Halls Bayou Bait Camp waiting to get clear so I can give her the gas.   As we cleared the Camp I eased into her and at 2200 RPMs she started to bog down and try to die, just like at Fayette.  This time to see if it was a carb problem I started bumping the chock and sure enough she would surge forward.  I did this until she hit 3200 RPMs and then she took off like a Scolded Dog.  We ran down the bayou about 3 miles in hopes that maybe the Low RPM jets might clear.   When we stopped it was at a spot that I'd catch some nice bass earlier in the year so we fished for an hour.

As we got to some structure that is off a slight point we were met with a good size gator.  This girl was in the 7-8 foot class and didn't seem to be the least bit worried about us.  We kept fishing and she hung around about 100 yards down the bayou.  She just swam around like we weren't even there.  Hey I don't have any problem with gators as long as they don't try and visit me in the boat.  Brett and I tried our best to get something to bite but either they weren't home or they were lockjawed big time.  We tossed them a bunch of different choices too, but nothing.   So after about an hour we decided to head back north where there are more lay downs and shade.  I tucked the trolling motor back in its riding position and took my spot at the helm.  The motor fired right up with a bump of the key just like it always does and I turned her and headed north.  I tried to see if she would go on her own but nothing doing.  She hit the wall again a 2200 and I had to bump the choke to get her to 3200 again.  As before once she got to 3200 we were off to the races.

We ran about a mile or so to a part of the bayou that is normally pretty good to us and stopped.  I got the trolling motor down and we started working the shore line.  We threw just about everything at them and still nothing.  We had worked close to a mile up the shore without even a bump.  It was getting a little frustrating to say the least.  It was Brett's birthday and someone had forgot to tell the bass they were invited to the party.  We weren't giving up just yet though.  We were talking about heading north of the Bait
Camp to give them a try when we saw our second gator of the morning.  This one wasn't as big as the first but it was still a 5-6 footer.  This one seem to want to race us and I was able to get a little closer to it  for a better picture as we were heading that way.  It was about that time we heard another boat coming down the bayou.  It turns out it was someone that reads these articles and recognized me even though I was in a new boat.  Les I did enjoy chatting with you and your wife for a while.  Sure hope the Liquid Mayhem I gave you a try helped you catch some more fish.   Chatting with Les kind of confirmed to Brett and I we needed to head further north.  Les had told us that he and his wife had caught some bass and he had lost a pretty good one earlier north of us.   So after they left I pulled up the trolling motor for another run.

The big motor once more started right up but I also had to use the choke trick to get her up on plane again.  Once we got to the Bait Camp I brought her off plane and idled up past the bridge at Farm Road 2004.  Once we were past the public ramp there at the bridge I shut the motor down and was back on the trolling motor.   Brett and I started working the shore line again with various baits.  It really seemed like all hope was lost when suddenly Brett set the hook.  It wasn't a very big bass but it was a bass none the less and it had hit a white spinner bait worked in the shade.  At the time I was working a Creme Lures ST Beaver so I put it down and picked up the rod with an Acid Perch Rayburn Swim Jig from Santone Lures.   I got a pretty good bump at some point after that but missed.  Brett had also switched to an Acid Perch Rayburn Swim Jig and soon after was hooked up again. Once more it wasn't a very big bass so we didn't take a picture.  Brett score one more bass before we called it quits and it was also on a swim jig.   As for me, well I'm sure hoping my new Dunamis Rods Swim Jig rod gets finished soon.   I was having a bad time of missing strikes and when I did get the hook in them they came off. 

We had worked about a mile past the boat ramp and turned around and worked the other side of the Bayou on the way back.   As we came to the ramp I told Brett that I was going to go under the bridge and skip my swim jig up under the bridge pilings.  This was a good call and I made a really good skip cast, maybe my best cast of the day.   As I worked the Rayburn Swim Jig back out of the pilings it got hammered hard.  I set the hook and the ole rod bowed up really nice and the drag slipped.  I knew I'd hooked up with a really good fish.  Now if you have read many of my articles about fishing these tidal bayous you will know that not every time you hook up with a good fish it is a bass.  In fact I catch some monster Redfish in Halls while bass fishing.   However today, it wasn't a Redfish and we soon knew that as a big bass came up and shook her head the first time.  There was a lot of hooting going on and Brett was headed for the net.  Finally we had a fish that was going to be more than worthy of a picture.  It was all for not though as she came up next to the boat with another head shaking dance and came unglued.   Rats and double Rats!!!   Well that was my day, I couldn't get a fish in the boat.  I was frustrated for not being able to set the hook good and not getting any fish in the boat, but I didn't feel the way I do when I'm normally skunked.  I guess that is because at least I had some fights.  Besides this was Brett's birthday and he did catch some bass so mission accomplished.  Well mission accomplished for Brett at least, but I'll be rebuilding some carbs this week to see if I can get my new boat up and running right in time for the next tournament.

Until next time, Tight Lines and Take a Kid Fishing!!!

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Also Checkout the great folks that help make my fishing adventure possible and the tackle I use and trust.
Santone Lures
Throw-n-Thunder
Creme Lures
Dunamis Rods
Liquid Mayhem Fish Attractants