Curing problem plastics

Wether it be straight out of the bag or sitting in your tackle hoard for years soft plastic worms of all kind have one thing in common at one time or another. The bends.

Pardon the pics, I'm working through the blogger app on the ipad. Anyways. Theres a very simple solution to the seemingly lure ruining curves and twists that has been good to me. As simple as "cooking" them.

Now I don't mean simmer on high for 30 minutes. I'm talking abut a quick dip just to soften the plastic into remembering its original shape. This also works with flys that have mono weed guards. A speedy submersion into hot water and they will return back to the desired location. My technique is to boil the water in a pot and then turn off the heat. Let the water sit for about 30 seconds and then drop the problem children in. Let them sit for 20 or so seconds depending on plastic density. I like to stir them gently to ensure total submersion and effectiveness. Then lay them out either flat or hanging off an edge until dry. I like hanging them, I think it helps the plastic stretch. Don't worry about the surface being sticky. They will return to normal when dry and cool. They might be tacky, but if you put them back in the bag with the original oils you will never tell the difference. Just don't put them on a dusty surface or throw animal hair on them.

They might not be perfect all the time. But they will damn sure fish better!

Yeah.

https://www.costadelmar.com/press/costa-del-mar-fantail-sunglasses

If there were a pair of sunglasses that would fit right into this blog's mantra
then these right here would be the pair. Obviously green, making the best
out of water quality reguardless of the color. If I wasnt such a
cheap ass and only bought Academy Renegade polarised
sunglasses at $10-$15 a pop then I might invest in my personal attitude
 adjusters. I just lose glasses man, I scratch them, they get stolen, shit happens
 to my shades ya dig? But these spensive ones sure are nice....................
 before the inevitable.

Beautiful Fall

Fishing involves a lot of speculation. A lot of educated guesses. And then just a little bit of luck when you have a day off during a stretch of good weather. I rarely see the latter. But I'm always full of the previous! These two trips involved all three. A stellar day of flounder fishing in November(you can only keep 2 flounder in Texas in November) and another day about three weeks later with my daughter in Moses lake. We have been turning the Late October/early November trips with the kayak into a yearly ritual. When flounder are often plentiful along the shoreline and red fish working shrimp under small pods of seagulls a likely occurrence. I live the gulf coast in the fall. Its no doubt my favorite time of year. Hunters are tending their lease or in the blind, and anything is possible. Big fish are in shallow water all day usually because of the mild temps and plentiful forage. Perfect time for a wade fisherman. Although winter wading comes in a close second and summer night wades right behind, fall is just the most comfortable.  

 Some fish get lucky, the moss covered popping cork surfaced several yards in front of me and I snagged it, releasing this black drum to finally get a well deserved meal and have a fighting chance.

 After catching three flounder in fifteen minutes on gambler flappin shad, I quickly switched to my flyrod to try and land a saddle blanket the hard way. Too bad the fish pretty much stopped biting. I did manage a few smaller fish though! It was a real treat.
Below, the first of three quick flounders caught. 5 and 5 1/2 pound beauty's,  headed for the BBQ.

 Now for the next trip.

 My daughter Lily. She is a fish catching expert. Now to get her to fit into waders! Haha. She loves going in the kayak. I cant wait to be able to afford a small john boat. She will truly be hooked. We ended up with 3 nice reds and a couple small(16-17inch) flounders and one trout about 2 pounds. She reeled them all in. Daddy just hooks them.

Days not forgotten

I haven't forgotten about you. You beautiful little collection of memories. I just lost the cord to connect my camera with the computer. Which has put me back about 5-6 post. Don't worry, there are some good ones in there. They include guns, fishing and other manly shit. Big flounders, pig hunts, kids fishing. BTW, kids will just eat up all your alone time.


Until Santa comes, keep you money in a fense post and your guns loaded.

smarter fishers

 Wildflowers make the best corsages.

 I have tied this fly about 10 times and have yet to fish it. Hope it swims well.

 Fish on at San Luis Pass!

 The word of the morning was top water. The morning bite was a little off. Fish were in the area but from 5AM until about 8 I only had 3 bites. From 8 to 10 I caught probably 8 trout fan casting and wandering back and fourth on a knee to thigh deep flat that the incoming tide pushes onto. The flat is unique. It has a shallow point on one side and dead end bowl that is breaking through to a small drop off. The area that holds fish on normal tides starts in about waist to chest deep water and pushes up into shin deep. The best spot is about 40 yards long and 40 yards wide with the sweetest area as big as a school bus. This is the attention that is what makes finding and dialing in new spots a little easier. Walking the whole area and making a mental picture of the bottom and remembering that picture. In an area like a pass into the gulf the bottom changes all the time. Major changes might take years but subtle and more localized changes in bottom contour might be obvious during weeks or months during the season. Its important to a wade fisherman to pay fucking attention. In the scheme of things its not really a lot to remember. It will help you catch fish.

I love dolphins. Porpoise, whales, water mammals. Not sea lions. Fuck them. But dolphins are awesome. These were two different pods that were one family. They watched us fish a reef point and we watched them fish in the channel. On our way in we ran into them again and slowed down to take a picture. They sensed our curiosity and actually swam alongside the boat as we putted along at idle speed and watched us just as we watched them. It was amazing. I fucking love dolphins.

stayin busy

Ronald McDonald, you creepy dogg.

tying up some size 8 articulated marabou streamers. I'm addicted  to articulation. Trout, bass, maybe even some saltwater or foam perch patterns. Lets see where this goes.

Moons align = "log fishing"

Well it happens about once every couple years. I'm sure it happens multiple times for those without children or those that are blessed with the proper motivation to make a living on the water. But for a normal juicer like me, it seems like rare air. As a fisherman it always seems possible. Always seems attainable. With the turning of the tide or the moons rise or suns set. The magical alignment of planets represented by unknown triggers in a unique environment experienced by few. It  passes as another number on your i-calender. And for those who regard magical planet similes as I do....I'm glad you might not know what the hell I'm talking about. Its not always apparent at the moment why the situation is the way it is. Sometimes it takes time passing to recognize why things change. And sometimes it just needs to rain its ass off and then warm up big time. Rain god moves the fish around. Thank you rain god. You are always welcome around these parts.

We arrived and they were biting. We left with an hour before sunset and I let three big blowups on my topwater tell me to quit while I was ahead. I missed the blowups, but we had so many good fish I was glad to just watch them bite. I think we had close to 10 trout 25" or better released on tops and corkeys. 2 sevens, a six and a half, and the rest 5-6 lbs. longest was almost 28" Fatties. FML.

 That's me! Maybe Ill try a different hold. The fish is all resting on my hand. Looks sick. It was actually super healthy. Rurrlurrsd.

 release the 7

 That's a six

 another 7 still swimming

 dude wrecked me. The new sinker original works great. Small twitches like walking the dog underwater. Small, small twitches.

 A couple nice fish on top in these pictures. There were three of us. I think we each caught over 20 fish, and out of those fish probably 85% were released. We eat meat. Feel free to comment.