[Jeremy]

Monday, I put into Pflugerville around 3 P.M. I started drop-shotting drop offs. The first drop was in 6 FOW. I caught one on my first cast. Subsequent casts yielded nothing, so I moved to another drop off in 8 FOW where I caught another one. Again, follow up casts were fruitless, so I pulled the anchor and drifted. I covered some water searching with a lipless crank. I caught a buck bass a ways out on the lipless, so I trolled over and set the anchor, as it was, a drop-off into 12 FOW. I caught over a dozen small males from anchor. Beautiful weather. Off at 7 P.M.

Today, I took the yak over to the C&R Pond. The wind was gusting up pretty good, around 25 or so. I put in at 4:45 P.M and paddled across. I anchored and cast at the spillover. I caught a fun-fish. Tonight is taco night, so I released the fish and headed home. Off at 5:15 P.M.

 

[Jeremy]

Yesterday I took the yak over to the C&R to try my new zig zag anchor cleat in the swirly wind. I was able to position myself for a medium length cast to the shoreline veggies. I chopped three inches off a retread Zoom Z-craw Worm and Texas-rigged. I should have had no business making such a dangerous cast so tight to the reeds. The fish was tight to cover, bumped my lure and broke for open water as I reeled down and swung. Fish on!

I worked down the shoreline and got two more strikes on the Z-craw worm but missed. I also got a vicious strike on a square bill that was probably a sunfish. A family of five in a couple of yaks launched and raced each other up and down the lake. I found a flipped RC boat in the dam reeds and left it up at the pavilion.

 

[BassinAg]

Jeremy, have you looked at installing a anchor trolley on your yak? They are a pretty simple DIY project and I love mine, although I did resist it for a while. I also have those zig zag cleats on my yak and I love them.

 

[Jeremy]

Because I fish from anchor quite a bit, the anchor trolley has a lot of appeal for me. I have an impromptu system of routing the anchor line from the zig zag cleat to around my centerline mounted rod holder for anchoring off the bow. I route the line under the aft cargo bungee clip for anchoring off the stern.

I store my yak upside down on a couple of saw horses in the side yard. (The hull will fill with rainwater if I leave it right side up, recall the design flaw I mentioned in the other post.) I’m thinking resting the yak on the gunwales might damage trolley line guides. Additionally, I kinda like the aesthetic of clean gunwales, not cluttered with track and the like. My yak is only 10‘ but I could see a trolley being necessary on a 12‘ or longer.

 

[Jeremy]

I took the yak to the C&R Pond at 3:30. I cast TR BBH to a clump of reeds. If I’d flown it another inch, I would’ve reeded it for sure. Perfect cast = Fish on! I fished for another hour and missed one and got a cutie-pie. Off at 5:30.

 

[BassinAg]

Beautiful fish.

 

[Jeremy]

I got nostalgic for the neighborhood pond. I rode the bike down the hill. I brought the one-two combo of 1/16oz TR finesse worm on a bait caster and 1/8oz Road Runner on the spinning rod. I had a nice pearl curly tail on a fresh white Road Runner. Now a tree has it. I tied on another Road Runner and continued counter-clockwise around.

A young man was fishing clockwise and as he passed I asked if he’d gotten bit. He said no bites yet, but he wanted to get out and fish before it gets really cold this week. I told him I will probably continue to fish in the cold.

I noted he was throwing Ned rig, so I holstered the finesse worm as I approached the water he just fished. I slow-rolled the horse-head underspin with chartreuse curly tail. Bam, Fish On!

 

[BassinAg]

Well done Jeremy. Hopefully you taught that young man something about fishing while he was there.

 

[Jeremy]

He said he’d been fishing LBJ and Decker recently so I hit him up for some tips for LBJ. By young man I meant in his twenties. Since I’m more than twice his age, he’s a young man to me!

 

[BassinAg]

That makes sense. Of course you are still a young man to me so there is that.

 

[Jeremy]

I will always look up to you

 

[BassinAg]

Now that is funny. But I am your elder so I guess there is some sense in that.

 

[Jeremy]

I didn’t want to let you or the young man think I wasn’t serious about going fishing in the cold. I thought about those who go fly fishing in a snowstorm...

I layered up and coasted my bike down the hill to the neighborhood pond. The weather was mild, 41°F, north wind @ 15 and some light rain. I started in the lee. I got a good tug on the finesse worm, probably a short-striking sunfish. I pedaled around to the windward side and cast out the roadrunner. I caught two on the roadrunner. I guess the colder, the better, huh? My line twisted up so the roadrunner was done. I went back around to the lee and made a few futile casts with the worm. I pedaled back up the hill in low gear.

 

[just plain bill]

Gosh, you youngsters are fanatical about fishing. I didn't leave the house yesterday (wed) and probably won't again today.
Woulda drove to Ventura to golf but bro is only off Sunday. Toyed with staying in phx, but that's about a thou with room and food and, you guessed it, golf. Looks like I'll hunker down here. Save some money... I think that means I can spend some of that thou on...what? I already got another order coming from tackle warehouse, and one coming from Team Ark (check out their Topwaters in clear white, and lipless cranks!) I can't help it if I'm a sucker for free shipping on $50 or more!

 

[BassinAg]

Bill, I am with you. Only reason I went out was to feed the deer and take the trash out. Jeremy, you are an animal. Of course at least one of us here on this forum went out in a snow storm to fly fish (for 3 casts) so there is that. Maybe it will snow this weekend for you my friend.

 

[Jeremy]

More then likely, I will get out for an hour or two. Then I will spend the rest of the weekend organizing tackle and putting on fresh line.

 

[just plain bill]

well, here's the precip coming down. i def aint going outside now!

 

[just plain bill]

posted some ARK order pics in the gear forum. get a tissue before you look. you know, to wipe the drool off...

 

[Jeremy]

Yesterday I took the yak to the C&R. I only got one, but it was nice fishing in short sleeves.