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Well, here is the official Falcon Lake report. Let me address a few things before I get into the fishing.
Safety: I felt completely safe. When I hit Laredo, I saw over 20+ Border Patrol in about 2 mile intervals parked on the side of the highway. There were numerous BP boats patrolling the water as well. I was never stopped, but I did see them out there.
Hotel: I stayed at Oso Blanco and it was priced right. $50 per night with a huge room and 2 big, soft beds. The room had a full shower, TV, fridge, microwave and table. It was more than what I needed. I drug my kayak in each night (just in case…). They also had an “adult game room” and a bar on site that were both open late. The private boat ramp was adequate and provided to some nice water to fish.
Food: I brought stuff to make sandwiches because I am cheap…..but I did venture out and ate at “The Steak House” restaurant and had an amazing chicken fried steak, fries, beans, rice, salad, toast and chips/salsa all for $8!!!! It was amazing. I also ate at “Taco el Tejano”, however I was upset that no one spoke English and couldn’t help me decipher their Spanish menu. I had to guess what to eat.
Falcon Lake Tackle: I stopped in and spoke with Tom and he was a great guy. He showed me a map, recommended places to fish, eat and sleep. He showed me a few tackle options and didn’t try to sell me “the shop”. He provided me with all of the info I needed.
Now…..on to the actual fishing. After I checked into the hotel, I decided to drive over to “el Tigre Grande” and scope it out since that was where I would be fishing all day Thursday. It was Wednesday evening about 5pm when I arrived. I launched and decided I would stay within 200 yards of the launch because it would be getting dark soon. I fished the trees in 6 to 16 FOW with the following baits:
• Assorted plastics: 10” ol monster, zoom speed-vibe, large rattle snakes, WW’s, magnum flukes, 10” curly tail worms, assorted craws…all in watermelon/red, watermelon/candy, watermelon/magic, watermelon/flash and good ‘ol RedBug.
• Top water baits including poppers and Rapala X Rap
I only had a few bites and was unable to hook into any of them. I spoke to a few boats coming in that evening and none of them had any luck.
Thursday morning I launched again at The Tiger about 6am. It was foggy and water temp was about 84. I decided to fish the wide hard bottom flat next to the launch until it was light enough to see. Came up empty, so I went to fish the tree line to the right of the launch. It extended out about 100 yards into the water and it was in about 12-15 FOW. I fished this with the same assorted plastics from the day before until about 8am. At 8am…….the front blew in, and the 5mph winds went to N/NE winds of 20-25mph with 30mph gusts. IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO FISH ANY TYPE OF OPEN WATER, so I headed down deep into the trees where PB’s couldn’t go. I needed to find some cover. From 8-1pm I fished deep in the trees…..without any bites. I threw 3/4oz SB’s in natural shad and white, assorted plastics again, swimbaits, jigs in browns and greens, and I even attempted to throw CB’s in shad and craw patterns. Again……I came up empty handed! At this point the wind was so bad, I was taking waves over the side of the boat and it was getting unsafe for me. I decided to head in and take a nap.
Thursday evening I launched at the hotel ramp and fished the adjacent areas. Again I fished the same patterns I was told…..the trees in 10-15 FOW. I threw everything I had and then some. As the sun started to set, I decided to fish a cove that had some tree cover and was sheltered from the wind. I threw plastics, jigs and TW. Guess what……..I came up empty again. As the sun set, I loaded up and went to the hotel. I decided not to fish Friday and I loaded up and early Friday morning I headed to Fayette. I caught 10 fish in just under 2 hours at Fayette!
I’m not sure why I couldn’t boat a single fish. I am guessing that the front shut down the bite? While I was there I never saw the pressure below 30.32%. It averaged 30.32 to 30.40% the entire trip. Perhaps the pressure/wind/front gave them lockjaw?? Anyways, I am gonna go back, but with a big boat so I can actually cover water a little better and find the fish.
A few movies:
WINDY! ----> [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJVPAztl8-c[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crjgrtMm1ak[/media]
A few pics:
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Well, here is the official Falcon Lake report. Let me address a few things before I get into the fishing.
Safety: I felt completely safe. When I hit Laredo, I saw over 20+ Border Patrol in about 2 mile intervals parked on the side of the highway. There were numerous BP boats patrolling the water as well. I was never stopped, but I did see them out there.
Hotel: I stayed at Oso Blanco and it was priced right. $50 per night with a huge room and 2 big, soft beds. The room had a full shower, TV, fridge, microwave and table. It was more than what I needed. I drug my kayak in each night (just in case…). They also had an “adult game room” and a bar on site that were both open late. The private boat ramp was adequate and provided to some nice water to fish.
Food: I brought stuff to make sandwiches because I am cheap…..but I did venture out and ate at “The Steak House” restaurant and had an amazing chicken fried steak, fries, beans, rice, salad, toast and chips/salsa all for $8!!!! It was amazing. I also ate at “Taco el Tejano”, however I was upset that no one spoke English and couldn’t help me decipher their Spanish menu. I had to guess what to eat.
Falcon Lake Tackle: I stopped in and spoke with Tom and he was a great guy. He showed me a map, recommended places to fish, eat and sleep. He showed me a few tackle options and didn’t try to sell me “the shop”. He provided me with all of the info I needed.
Now…..on to the actual fishing. After I checked into the hotel, I decided to drive over to “el Tigre Grande” and scope it out since that was where I would be fishing all day Thursday. It was Wednesday evening about 5pm when I arrived. I launched and decided I would stay within 200 yards of the launch because it would be getting dark soon. I fished the trees in 6 to 16 FOW with the following baits:
• Assorted plastics: 10” ol monster, zoom speed-vibe, large rattle snakes, WW’s, magnum flukes, 10” curly tail worms, assorted craws…all in watermelon/red, watermelon/candy, watermelon/magic, watermelon/flash and good ‘ol RedBug.
• Top water baits including poppers and Rapala X Rap
I only had a few bites and was unable to hook into any of them. I spoke to a few boats coming in that evening and none of them had any luck.
Thursday morning I launched again at The Tiger about 6am. It was foggy and water temp was about 84. I decided to fish the wide hard bottom flat next to the launch until it was light enough to see. Came up empty, so I went to fish the tree line to the right of the launch. It extended out about 100 yards into the water and it was in about 12-15 FOW. I fished this with the same assorted plastics from the day before until about 8am. At 8am…….the front blew in, and the 5mph winds went to N/NE winds of 20-25mph with 30mph gusts. IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO FISH ANY TYPE OF OPEN WATER, so I headed down deep into the trees where PB’s couldn’t go. I needed to find some cover. From 8-1pm I fished deep in the trees…..without any bites. I threw 3/4oz SB’s in natural shad and white, assorted plastics again, swimbaits, jigs in browns and greens, and I even attempted to throw CB’s in shad and craw patterns. Again……I came up empty handed! At this point the wind was so bad, I was taking waves over the side of the boat and it was getting unsafe for me. I decided to head in and take a nap.
Thursday evening I launched at the hotel ramp and fished the adjacent areas. Again I fished the same patterns I was told…..the trees in 10-15 FOW. I threw everything I had and then some. As the sun started to set, I decided to fish a cove that had some tree cover and was sheltered from the wind. I threw plastics, jigs and TW. Guess what……..I came up empty again. As the sun set, I loaded up and went to the hotel. I decided not to fish Friday and I loaded up and early Friday morning I headed to Fayette. I caught 10 fish in just under 2 hours at Fayette!
I’m not sure why I couldn’t boat a single fish. I am guessing that the front shut down the bite? While I was there I never saw the pressure below 30.32%. It averaged 30.32 to 30.40% the entire trip. Perhaps the pressure/wind/front gave them lockjaw?? Anyways, I am gonna go back, but with a big boat so I can actually cover water a little better and find the fish.
A few movies:
WINDY! ----> [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJVPAztl8-c[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crjgrtMm1ak[/media]
A few pics:
