2018 – Fishing Reports

10/20/18 Self-chartered Bass Fishing and Duck Scouting Trip

Two participants had a good time fishing and scouting for ducks on Lake Stillhouse Hollow.  Randy Rowley caught a 16 1/2″ bass on a fire tiger colored Strike King Red Eyed Shad lipless crankbait.  Jim McGee caught a 14 1/2″ bass on a bass colored Bill Lewis Rattletrap lipless crankbait.  They also saw around seven flights of ducks – the largest being 18.  They also found a spot to hunt on the island and a spot near the island.

They had the lake to themselves.  It rose 16′ last week.  Riversbend Park was closed when they got there.  The gate attendants told them that they were closing Union Grove Park as they were leaving, along with the other boat ramps.  They will remain closed until the water recedes.  Walking in might be the only option for duck hunting there this season.  The same will probably be true of Belton, which is 11′ high, and Granger, which is 7′ high.  For the Murphy Report it looks like someone siphoned most of Randy’s boat gas.  🙁

6/22/18 Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip

Three fishermen and Mr. Murphy had an eventful morning on Lake Pflugerville on 6/22/18.  Randy Rowley caught four bass in four casts at the dam, but lost two at the boat.  All were caught on a Rapala square bill brown and orange crankbait.  Roland Olivarez then boated four bass, two on a watermelon red Yum Dinger worm, one on a Rattletrap, and one on a River Runt.  But the real story was the hydrilla.  It was thick enough to walk on in some places.  It really limited where they could go, because it would gunk up Randy’s trolling motor.

On the northwest side of the lake Randy threw a chatterbait against the reeds and got it stuck on one.  He had to take his boat over to it to get it free.  His trolling motor stopped working in the thick hydrilla, so he took the blade off and there was a lot of weeds and fishing line behind the head.  He cleaned it out but the trolling motor still wouldn’t work so they started paddling.  They made it about 200 yards but it was very slow progress and they were going into the wind.  They decided that walking the boat in would be quicker so they jumped in the water and walked the boat the remaining 300 yards to shore.  The fishermen also ran into Wayne Weilnau in his kayak.  Wayne later reported that he had no bites.

6/16/18 Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip

Two fishermen had a good conversation at the 6/16/18 Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on Lake Georgetown (aka The Dead Sea).  No bass were caught.  There was some surface action, but we eventually determined that they were carp.

6/14/18 Chartered Crappie Fishing Trip

Three fishermen had a good time at the 6/14/18 Chartered Crappie Fishing Trip on Lake LBJ with Charles Whited of Barefoot Fishing Tours.  The three ladies (our first all-ladies trip) caught 17 crappie, about 10 perch, two catfish, and one largemouth bass that weighed about four pounds!  Dalee Trevino caught the largest – the bass.

6/7/18 – 6/10/18 Self-chartered Bay Fishing Trip

Ten participants had a good time at the annual bay fishing trip at Port O’Connor.  The weather was hot and a bit breezy at times, as is typical of the coast.  Although we didn’t catch a lot of fish, we did catch some whoppers.  Harley Chu had the biggest fish caught – a 41″ bull redfish (he also caught a 38″ one).  Burl Fulenwider caught a 40 1/4″ bull redfish and a 28″ bull redfish.  Zack Tumlinson caught a 39″ bull redfish.  Jim McGee caught a 38″ black drum.  Binh Chu caught a 37″ bull redfish.  Yuri Gonzales caught a 26″ bonnethead shark.  Wayne Weilnau caught an approximately 28″ long Jack Crevalle and had another one break his line.  Wayne also caught a 24″ redfish.  Randy Rowley also had a Jack break his line.  (We know that they were Jack’s as we sight casted to them.)  Mark Moore caught a 24″ speckled trout.  Randy caught a 24″ bonnethead shark.  Thanks to Wayne for opening his home to us, to Daryl Shipper and Wayne for bringing and sharing their boats, and to Daryl for heading up the event.  Randy led a devotional called Catchers of Men.

5/28/18 Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip

Three fisherman had a good time fishing on Lake Pflugerville on 5/28/18.  It was hot and the projected 9 MPH wind never materialized.  Jim McGee and Randy Rowley both caught three bass (with Randy losing another one right at the boat) and Chris Rowley caught one bass.  Jim’s last fish was a whopper – a 21 1/2″, 4.87 lb. bass caught on a Zoom Fluke.  The other fish caught were dinks (below the legal limit).  They were caught on crankbaits and topwaters.  We chased schoolies for well over an hour, but they didn’t stay up top for long.  Randy managed to catch two on a Whopper Plopper.

5/7/18 Chartered Striped/Hybrid Bass Fishing Trip

Eleven fishermen had a great time at the 5/7/18 Chartered Striped/Hybrid Bass Fishing Trip on Lake Buchanan with Empty Pockets and Boss Striper guide services.  The five fishermen who fished with Empty Pockets caught 13 hybrid/stripers and four catfish.  The six fishermen who fished with Boss Striper caught 26 stripers and ten catfish.  Daniel Fulenwider (Burl’s son) caught the largest – a 24″ striper.

4/14/18 Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip

Three fisherman – Randy Rowley, Roland Olivarez, and Mr. Murphy had an eventful morning on Lake Pflugerville on 4/14/18.  It was chilly, but that is not why we had the lake to ourselves – it was the projected 15 – 25 MPH winds with gusts up to 30 (Pflugerville is a “no gas motors” lake so that means that mainly kayakers fish it; probably the projected winds made them decide to sit this one out).

Randy had trouble keeping his boat in a straight line by the dam, so they went to the other side of the lake where it was calmer.  They caught four bass, all below the legal minimum length (14″).  Randy caught three on crawdad red crankbaits (a Norman DD22 and a Norman Deep Little N) and Roland caught one on a red and black spinnerbait.  We also saw a carp aggressively chasing something in the shallows and a tree that a beaver had felled.

The wind started to pick up, so around 10:30 AM we decided to call it a day.  On the way in to trailer Champ (Randy’s boat) the wind blew both of his jackets into the water and the waves took them towards the dam.  Randy went and got his camo jacket, as it had his phone in it, but the estimated 25 – 30 MPH wind was too much for his trolling motor.  They had to walk Champ back along the shoreline around 200 yards to the ramp, mostly on slippery moss-covered rocks.

3/31/18 Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip

Three fishermen had a good time fishing Lake Pflugerville on a windy and overcast cay.  Randy Rowley caught three bass, the largest being 17 1/4″.  Ryan Rowley caught two bass, the largest being 17 3/4″.  All bass were caught on red crawdad colored lipped crankbaits (Strike King 6XD, Norman DD22, and Rapala Scatter Rap Shad Deep) by the dam or the rocks.

3/25/18 Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip

Four fishermen had a good time fishing Lake Decker on 3/25/18 on an overcast day, although they were all skunked.  Randy Rowley had one hit on a watermelon red fluke.  The bass, other than having lockjaw, appeared to continue to be in pre-spawn mode.

3/5/18 Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip

Four fishermen had a good time fishing Lake Pflugerville on 3/5/18 on an overcast day.  Randy Rowley caught two non-legal largemouth bass on a red River-2-Sea Biggie Poppy square bill crankbait.  Roland and Lena Olivarez and Chris Rowley were skunked.  We only saw one kayak fisherman and one bank fisherman.  The bass, other than having lockjaw, appeared to continue to be in pre-spawn mode.

2/24/18 Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip

Three fishermen had a good time fishing Lake Austin on 2/24/18 on an overcast and windy day.  Roland Olivarez caught a 14″ largemouth bass on a lipless crankbait and had another one on that got off at the boat.  David Olivarez and Randy Rowley were skunked, although Randy had something bump his swimbait three times (it was probably a perch).  We only saw one other fisherman near Mary Quinlan park.  The bass, other than having lockjaw, appeared to be in pre-spawn mode.

2/19/18 Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip

Three fishermen, and Mr. Murphy, fished Lake Decker on 2/19/18.  The weather forecast called for 10 – 20 MPH south winds, but when they got there it was calm, so Randy Rowley decided to head along the NE bank using his trolling motor.  A piston in his gasoline motor on his bass boat had detonated the previous July and, rather than rebuild a 21 year old engine, he sold it for parts.  That left the trolling motor and two paddles as their means of propulsion.

Two hours later, and having thrown every type of bait they could think of without success, they decided to head back the way that they had come.  The wind had picked up, so Randy turned his trolling motor up to half power.  As they progressed the wind became stronger, causing him to continue to increase power to the trolling motor.

They rounded the corner of a cove and that is when the full force of the wind hit them.  Randy estimates that it was between 25 – 30 MPH.  The waves were white-capping.  He turned the trolling motor’s wheel to full power, but they were making almost no headway.  He informed Jim McGee and Roland Oliverez that they would need to assist the trolling motor with the paddles.

They started to make headway but the more that they got into open water the stronger the wind became.  They only had about 200 yards to go when they stopped making headway.  After a few futile minutes, Jim and Roland were worn out from paddling and Randy’s legs were worn out from trying to keep the boat headed into the wind with his foot-controlled trolling motor.

They went over to the reeds, hoping that they could pull themselves along with them, but they were too fragile.  Randy was just about to hop into the water and pull the boat along when a bass boat came to their side of the lake (they hadn’t seen one for around half an hour).  Randy managed to flag them down.  A man from the other boat and Randy hooked Randy’s tow rope between the boats and the rescuers towed them back to the dock.

In hindsight, Randy stated that he should have headed SW towards the dam.  They then would have had the wind push them along on the way back.  To add insult to injury, none of them got a bite!