Fish-Bait's Fishin' Report (5-28-07) freshwater

[Fish-Bait]

Got up at 5:30 a.m. yesterday morning and hooked up the whaler, been yearnin' for a day I could hit the Leaf between the Petal bridges and catch a few spotted bass, but my day didn't go as planned.
Well, at 10:00 a.m. my 5 year old son, (and fishin' partner) decided he would finally wake up. Now this young-un' is always up by 6:00 a.m., but noooooo not today! I asked him what he wanted to do bein' as I had missed the morning bite and he say's "Daddy, I want to go swimmin'". I say "hey, wanna go wade fishin'?" At first he was a little hesitant in givin' me an answer, but when I told him we were goin' to stand in the water and fish at the same time a smile quickly appeared across his face. :)
After unhooking the boat and another tackle preparation we were off to fish the ripples. I tell you what, for summertime catfishin' on the Leaf and Bouie Rivers you cant beat those shallow riffles and eddies. Those channel cats will lay right behind em' just like a spotted bass and when you plop your bait in them it's on like a chicken bone!!
It ended up bein' a great day yesterday for me and my partner. Bait of choice, 40-50 count peeled shrimp. Final tally-6 channel cats (two keepers and one that wreaked havoc on my partner's ultra-light-I think that cat is still headin' down river). Biggest landed was about 2 pounds, smallest was about 8 inches long. He thought it was neat to stand in the river and fish. He told me that he thought we could only do that when we go to the islands. As usual his attention span on fishin' lasted about 15 minutes and then it was off to find the "she-shells" and throw rocks in the water, but he would come runnin' when I hooked one and of course I would have to let him reel it in.
So for supper tonight we have two fresh channel cats and about a pound and a half of shrimp, see, You Can Have your BAIT and Eat it too!!!:clap:
Your Community Fisherman,
Fish-Bait

[Fish-Bait]

I've been meaning to make that trip down Black Creek for awhile. I have had several offers to go with folks but I haven't committed yet, don't know why though, guess I am just so dadburn busy these days. I mostly go on a spur of the moment type deal. I'll bet it's pretty shallow right now and would make for some good fishin'.
Them ole bream usually bed around the full moon thru the summer. I haven't tore em' up so to speak this year but I have caught some nice ones.
Maybe somebody could give me an idea or a timeline for a good float trip, say half a day or so. Where to put in, where to take out and all that stuff.
I got a little 12 ft. jon boat with a trollin' motor that would probably suffice for the trip.

[Fish-Bait]

Forget the trolling motor and pack light, your little john boat will work fine. You may have one or two drags along the way. We always put in at Big Creek Landing and floated to Brooklyn. Black Creek Canoe Rental shows the float time to be 3 hours but that don't take into account fishing time. We'd float from one deep hole to the next, catching 2-8 fish out of each and then move on. We usually made a 7-8 hour trip of it.
I got a couple days of vacation left that have to be used up by the end of June. I think I will reserve a weekday and make that trip. Shoot, I am gettin' excited already. What did you usually fish with? Crickets, beetle-spins and what-not?

[EricStratton]

I got a couple days of vacation left that have to be used up by the end of June. I think I will reserve a weekday and make that trip. Shoot, I am gettin' excited already. What did you usually fish with? Crickets, beetle-spins and what-not?

Not to step on Hawkeye's toes, but to answer your question, I always fish with beer...Even if you don't catch a thing, your trip has been worthwhile..

[Fish-Bait]

Not to step on Hawkeye's toes, but to answer your question, I always fish with beer...Even if you don't catch a thing, your trip has been worthwhile..
I usually take beer with me when I fish, but I don't when I take my little partner with me. Now if it's a trip with "The Boys" then look out....cause I'll put a few down the hatch for sure.

[Fish-Bait]

It's pretty sad that I don't know much about the area around South Forrest County/Stone. I have heard that there is some awesome fishin' down on those creeks. Maybe this will be my next endeavor. I have floated Tallahala several times as also the Bouie and Leaf, I think it's time to try my luck a little farther South.

[CircusRide]

Fishing sucked this weekend. Tenn-Tom in Aliceville and Demopolis......nothing. Paul B.......nothing. Bogua Homa........nothing. 12 total bass.

[EricStratton]

I guess there's an echo on the rig.

[Fish-Bait]

Yeah.I can not wait to be off this complicated animal Thursday.
It probably wouldn't be to bad if we could still fish,but they said that it looked unprofessional.What a crock.
What a joke fotno_ . Next thing you know ya'll be wearin' Dockers and ties on that rig.!!!!

[SouthChic]

Good story, Fish-Bait. :)

I also got up pretty early Monday morning (about 4:45) and headed down to La France (south of Waveland) with my hubby and in-laws to fish for the day. The wind was unreal, but thank goodness we could get up in the bayous to keep from rocking out of the boat. I caught 2 specks, 1 flounder, and about half a dozen croaker. My paw-in-law tied fish heads on some line and hung them over the boat and got about 20 blue crabs that way. We had a good time; it was nice to just be out there. :)

[Fish-Bait]

Good story, Fish-Bait. :)

I also got up pretty early Monday morning (about 4:45) and headed down to La France (south of Waveland) with my hubby and in-laws to fish for the day. The wind was unreal, but thank goodness we could get up in the bayous to keep from rocking out of the boat. I caught 2 specks, 1 flounder, and about half a dozen croaker. My paw-in-law tied fish heads on some line and hung them over the boat and got about 20 blue crabs that way. We had a good time; it was nice to just be out there. :)
From what I understand the winds have been terrible down there and messed up the trout bite. They say reds have been o.k. but there hasn't been anything to brag about. This has been one of the windiest years I can remember. Maybe mother nature will run out of breath for awhile so we can get back "out front".
Fish

[SouthChic]

From what I understand the winds have been terrible down there and messed up the trout bite. They say reds have been o.k. but there hasn't been anything to brag about. This has been one of the windiest years I can remember. Maybe mother nature will run out of breath for awhile so we can get back "out front".
Fish

Yeah, we talked to a man that lives down there on the bayous and he said the wind has been that way for about a month. :confused:

[Fish-Bait]

Yeah, we talked to a man that lives down there on the bayous and he said the wind has been that way for about a month. :confused:
Back when I was a kid (sometimes I wonder if I still am) when I would get home from school (lived in Pascagoula) and mom would let me go fishin', I would get so mad after I made the mile bike ride to the beach and there would be white caps....I used to want to build a huge plywood wall down the beach so the water would be calm and make casting easier...boy I had an imagination.:)

[SouthChic]

Back when I was a kid (sometimes I wonder if I still am) when I would get home from school (lived in Pascagoula) and mom would let me go fishin', I would get so mad after I made the mile bike ride to the beach and there would be white caps....I used to want to build a huge plywood wall down the beach so the water would be calm and make casting easier...boy I had an imagination.:)

LOL! That's understandable. It was white capping Monday in the gulf so that's why we stayed in the bayous.

And my husband and I were talking about that the other night - that men never grow up. :) Y'all just have grown up toys now. :-D

[bpitt]

Has anyone noticed that EVERY time fishbait goes fishing, he catch's something? I think he's full of crap...........

[Fish-Bait]

Has anyone noticed that EVERY time fishbait goes fishing, he catch's something? I think he's full of crap...........
I do post pictures...crap you say? Maybe....here is one of last year.....don't know if the thumbnail will work though....let me know if it does.

[bpitt]

So where did you buy those catfish? Jacks in Purvis, the triangle seafood place?

[Fish-Bait]

So where did you buy those catfish? Jacks in Purvis, the triangle seafood place?
When's the last time you saw a 49 lb. Tabby at a seafood joint? Let me answer that for you....NEVER!!!!:-D

[bpitt]

So where did you catch a 49lb tabby? Tell my your 'honey holes'.

[bpitt]

Tell me dammit, tell meeeeee!!!!!!!!!

[bpitt]

Can you tell that I DON'T catch something everytime I go?

[SouthChic]

I do post pictures...crap you say? Maybe....here is one of last year.....don't know if the thumbnail will work though....let me know if it does.

Wow! Where did you catch those?

[bpitt]

You know, I did catch some like that last year, but somebody stole them outta my boat.

[Fish-Bait]

I figured I could get the ball rollin' with that shot. Those are actually another fella's fish. Me and the partner just couldn't resist takin' a few pics of em'. Although the exact area wasn't given up, those fish in that pic came from an area North of Sims bridge?????? This fella told me he had camped out every spring on that part of the river and ran limb lines all night for the past 15 years or so and this was double what he had ever caught up there before. On this particular day me and the partner went from Sims to Mahned to the fish camp. It took about 7 hours that day because it was pretty shallow for the whaler. We stopped one time about 3 hours South of the Sims bridge on a soapstone bluff and absolutely smoked the cats. We filled up a 36 quart ice chest...not too big with drinks and what not in it, in about 45 minutes to an hour. We caught mostly channels but had a nice tabby also. Needless to say it was a good day to be on the water.

[bpitt]

That rocks, dude, especially when the start biting good and the kid is there.

[Fish-Bait]

We use to set trot lines and limb hooks near that long sandbar (on west side of river) camp just north of Simms bridge. It was sort of the watering hole/fish camp for many off-duty LE, presided over by "Wildman" Garraway. We caught tons of cats when the water got right.
The water was right that day...that is until a fella' cut his pond dam on a 40 acre impoundment!!!! Fishin' was good until the pond/lake water started stirrin' up the river. That's when they quit bitin' in the hole we were fishin'. Even just idlin' down the river you could cast a snagless sally over into a boil and was bound to get a spotted bass to nail it. This particular trip was my partner's first "all dayer" and he was a handful while we were boatin' down river, but he has greatly progressed in his boating skills over the last few trips.:clap:

[gonefishin]

There are some great floats in the stone county area on red creek. Two that come to mind immediately are from highway 49 to city bridge road and highway 49 to ramsey springs. The 49 to city bridge float is about 4 hrs, but if you want to make it a camping float you can go on down to ramsey springs which is another 9-10 hours depending on how much you stop. Another good float is from a place called stump texas to highway 49. It's about 8-9 hours. You can get on google and follow red creek to see the bridges if you don't know much about stone county. I would imagine red creek is pretty low right now though.