After yesterday’s pre-frontal fishing, we saw a wind shift around 3:30 am with cold, dry winds then coming in from the NNW and eventually due N.
This 5 pound, 38″ longnose gar hit my slab and was located amidst a school of white bass. Through the year my clients and I hook many gar, but land very few. Gar have a long, bony snout with offering very little for a hook to grab hold of.
This setup typically yields good fishing UNTIL the N. winds begin to die. This is an indicator that the pressure change associated with the front is nearly complete, and the pressure is now at or near its highest point and will remain that way until the high pressure system breaks down. Fishing then gets very difficult.
This morning, we were ahead of the power curve and got on ’em early and stayed on ’em all morning and then some.
I began by flatline trolling a circuit from Area 363 thru 703 and 316 over to 704. I experienced solid action over the entire route, boating 13 white bass in the first hour on the water.
Next, some mid-depth action broke out in “Trough 707” (BA: 6HG) with lighter action over to the E and W at 705 and 706. Sonar showed abundant, bottom-hugging fish here in 16-21 feet of water. I worked them over with a slab and from 8:35 to 10:20, they were really jazzed — hitting a smoked slab, chasing hooked schoolmates, etc. After 10:20, things cooled down a bit and I had to work for every fish I caught from that point forward. I found during this time that an extended pause in my jigging stroke was effective.
When all was said and done, I boated exactly 105 white bass and a 5 pound, 38 inch longnose gar. Of the white bass boated, only 3 were short (that is definitely NOT the norm!). A majority of the fish were right at 12.25 inches and very “stocky” looking with wide backs, convex bellies, and thick tail sections — just really healthy looking fish.
TALLY = 106 FISH, all caught and released
TODAY’S CONDITIONS:
Start Time: 7:35a
End Time: 1:20p
Air Temp: 40F at trip’s start.
Water Surface Temp: ~54.5F
Wind: Winds were N10-13.