Catching the Elusive Stocked Trout

The trout truck has come and gone and you are lined up on the bank with dozens of other fishermen, who are not catching fish. My old fishing partner Terry Turner developed a method of catching stocked trout that rarely fails. In fact, when we fished we heard a lot of remarks like " Watch those two old coots. They always catch trout." When we limited out and left there would sometimes be a scuffle to take our spot. Terry and I made it our goal to fish every stocking in the Fort Worth area and try to catch 100 trout in a season.

 Alas, Terry is disabled and cannot fish except in the handicapped areas these days, and I am not as nimble as I once was. But this past two weeks Weatherford put 300 good-sized trout in our local pond, and I have gotten to go 4 times between weather events. I caught 3 two days after the stocking and 5 the 3 times since, all by using the method described here. That is 18 trout in two weeks.

 First, you need a good ultralight rig wound with 4 or 6 pound test line. I use 6 pound Trilene XL.

 Then rig the terminal tackle as shown in the picture. Tie a small snap swivel to the end of your line using a Berkley knot. There are lots of web pages that tell you how to tie the knot. Insert the eye of a 1/4-ounce bell sinker in the snap. Then make up a leader of 4-6 pound line. I use 6 pound Berkley Trilene XT. Notice I use XL on the reel but XT for the leader. Tie a surgeon's loop knot in one end and a #20 Mustad gold treble hook on the other. The finished leader should be 12-18 inches long. A lot of people scoff at using a #20 hook. I really do not know why. Fly fishermen use much smaller hooks all the time.

 

Put the loop of the leader in the snap and close it.

 Now take a pinch of Berkley Floating Power Bait for trout about the size of a pinto bean and mold it on the hook. Test to see if the hook floats with the amount of bait that you use. Use the minimum amount of bait that will float the hook. The idea is that the sinker rests on the bottom and the bait floats up off the bottom 6-12 inches.

 

Cast your bait to a likely looking spot and tighten the line just enough to bend the rod tip slightly. Do not drag the weight on the bottom. If you do you will mess up the floating bait that will pick up trash off the bottom. Trout do not want dirty bait.

 Watch the rod tip closely. If it jerks then raise the tip to set the hook. Avoid a hard jerk. That is only 6-pound test line.

 You may ask, "What is a likely looking spot for trout?" Most of the stocked ponds will have an aerator. Cast your bait just outside the ring of disturbed water on the shady side. If there is no aerator look for a spot where there is shade on the water. Cast to the edge of the shade. Terry and I observed that stocked trout tend to school and then circle around the pond. You will get bites when they pass your spot and then no bites until they go all the way around and pass you again. In a big pond that can take quite a while. After a few days they will break up the school and lurk in a favorite spot waiting for food. Try fan casting around you until you locate them. Remember that stubbornness is a virtue when it comes to fishing. It may take a while for Mr. Trout to find your bait.

 If you follow these instructions exactly you will catch fish if the are biting at all. I feel for the fisherman who dangles a big hook beneath a bobber and wonders why he does not catch fish. Most of those folks are not interested in learning if you try to help them.

 

 

The Panfish Tackle Bag

My tackle bag is a large 10 by 12 by 14 inches. It has six 8 by 12 inch trays and pockets on three sides. It weighs about 40 pounds. When I am in the boat it sits just behind my chair and is just perfect for the job. But when I fish from the bank it is just too large and too heavy for me to carry. About a couple of years ago I realized that most of the weight and bulk was equipment for black bass and crappie. I decided to make up a bag just for panfish. My wife gave me a much smaller bag for Christmas that year. At our house we avoid getting Christmas and birthday gifts we do not want by publishing "wish lists" a few weeks before the event.

The new bag is 8 by 8 by 10 inches, not counting pockets. It has four 7 by 10 inch trays. It is still pretty large, but it weighs a fraction of the large bag and I can carry it OK.

The first tray contains hooks and weights. One row has six compartments containing all the pinch-on split-shot sizes from #2 down to size bb. Having six sizes lets me match the bobber or use the weight I want without pinching on a string of weights. I use the kind without the tabs that are supposed to make them easy to remove. The tabs also catch on the rocks. If you want to remove the round shot use a knife blade or diagonal cutters.

The second row has bell sinkers, again in six sizes. I rarely use bell sinkers, but if I do I want to have the correct weight without using multiple sinkers.

The third and last row has gold Aberdeen hooks in 5 sizes from #2 to #10 and a compartment for size 8 cricket hooks. As you can see at this writing I am out of the best size, #8, and almost out of cricket hooks. It is time to make an order.

The second tray contains bobbers and wobblers. A wobbler is a float secured on one end, while a bobber is secured on both ends.

The first compartment has Thill and Eagle Claw wobblers in three sizes: 7/8 inch, 3/4 inch and 1/2 inch. I generally use the 7/8-inch size, but at times a smaller float and matching weight is called for.

The second compartment has 3/8 inch and 1/2 inch slip bobbers. The third compartment has 7/8-inch bobbers. I use a 7/8-inch Thill bobber 90% of the time, paired with a #2 or #3 split shot.

The next columns contain miscellaneous bobbers I sometimes find useful. When the time comes that I need more space I will take them out. The last column also contains the Rainbow Plastics Gizmo bobber stopper and beads. I use the Gizmo bobber stopper all together. It is the only kind that will wind on the reel and let me set it deep.

Moving on, the third tray contains the artificials I use. The most popular are the Panther Martin and Mepps spinners in both gold and silver. In addition I have Super Dupers in two sizes and gold and silver. The Kastmaster is good for casting long distances. The rooster tail is an old stand by. I also have an assortment of flies and poppers and small Roadrunners.

The fourth tray is not really for sunfish. It is there because at Lake Weatherford the yellow and white bass and bluegill are all mixed in together at my favorite spot. I like to catch yellow and white bass and crappie, too. The fourth tray contains an assortment of 1/16 oz.  jigs in various colors. It also has several small spoons. Last are 1/4 oz. Jig heads I use for plastic shad.

My tackle bag has pockets on three sides.

The right pocket also has holsters for the long nose and diagonal cutters. The right pocket is for tools. It has a heavy duty line clipper, a Swiss army knife, and two flashlights plus spare batteries. I got both LED flashlights as a promotion from Home Depot. One is a six LED mini that puts out an amazing amount of light. The other is a head band mounted job that has either two white LED's or a single red LED. It is great for trying to put on a #10 hook in the dark.

The left pocket has whatever artificial bait I am carrying around at the time. Right now it has yellow and chartreuse Berkley Crappie nibbles, Phantom 3-inch Shim-Me Shad, and a can of Zoo Meds crickets I plan to try one of these days. It should have an assortment of Berkley worms, grubs, etc. but I am out of them.

The center pocket is a catchall. Right now it has a digital scale, a measuring tape, two stringers, a Thill lighted bobber, a package of bobber light sticks.

Retired rocket scientists do not guess. The digital scale has reduced many a 3-pound crappie to 1 pound. When I worked at the marina we used to say that the actual weight of a fish was 1/2 the eye ball estimate.

In addition to the tackle bag I usually carry a 3 1/2-gallon bucket with a ruler on its lid.

That with two rods and reels is about all I can manage. But what more do you need?

Exotic Fishes in Texas Waters

While fishing for sunfishes in Texas waters you may encounter strange looking fish that take your bait. In this post we will discuss some of the more common exotic fishes.

First, let's understand that most of these fish were not put there by TPWD. They are the result of "bucket stocking" by individuals who dump fish in the lake either because they have outgrown their aquarium or because of a misguided belief that they would benefit the lake. In particular a number of Asian species have made their way into our lakes and streams in because they are prized food fishes back home. Others are native to the US and are moving into more and more waters in Texas as global warming advances north. And a few are the result of legitimate research programs by TPWD.

The Cichlids

The most common family of exotic fish you are likely to encounter is the Cichlids.

Rio Grande Cichlid (Rio)

The Rio Grande Cichlid (Rio) was first found, as the name implies, in the southern parts of the Rio Grande River. However, the fish has now established breeding populations in large springs and rivers of Central Texas' Edwards Plateau including the San Marcos, Guadalupe, San Antonio and Colorado rivers. Our TFF members in the San Antonio area frequently catch large fish. Chuck Dewey, who writes under the pseudonym of Banker Always Fishing recently announced that he had caught a new state record Rio which weighed 2.02 pounds on Lake Dunlap. The fish was a little over 11 inches in length and had a girth of 12.25 inches. The new record fish is shown below, courtesy of Chuck.

The TPWD website states:" Rio Grande Cichlid are distinctive in that they exhibit cream and turquoise colored spots, giving them a speckled look. Background color varies from very dark to light olive. Lighter colored specimens usually exhibit five dark vertical bars. Both dorsal and anal fins are long and tapered extending behind the caudal peduncle (fleshy portion of the tail). Unlike tilapia and most sunfishes, which typically have three spines on the anal fin, Rio Grande Cichlids are equipped with five to six anal fin spines. Adult males may also develop a pronounced "hump" on the head which is not present in tilapia."

The Rio is a vigorous feeder, which can be taken on a wide variety of baits, such as worms, crickets and dough baits. The fish fights like a bluegill.

Temperatures cannot go below 50 degrees Fahrenheit if the Rio is to survive and breed. In suitable water the fish is a prolific breeder.

Blue Tilapia

Another common Cichlid is the Tilapia. Blue Tilapia were introduced to Texas waters because of their value as a food fish. In particular Lake Fairfield and other power plant lakes provide an excellent habitat. A temperature of 60 degrees is required.

Because Tilapia are not classed as game fish they are usually caught in cast nets. It is illegal to possess a Tilapia that has not been gutted.

The Tilapia are omnivores, meaning they eat both plant and animal life. They are caught on small pieces of worm, and are reported to be vigorous fighters.

Aquarium Escapees

A large number of  exotic fish are released into Texas waters by hobbyists who buy or are given aquarium equipment and enthusiastically set forth to raise the larger captive fishes. After a few weeks or months the honeymoon is definitely over. Maintaining filters, heaters, air pumps and lights definitely take the thrill off watching the little devils eat 5 bucks worth of food. So the fish are dumped in a local pond, lake or stream where some of them grow to considerable size before they are killed by a cold winter.

Oscars

The Oscar is a Cichlid, which grows to 18 inches in length and 3.5 pounds. It is a colorful bad-tempered fish which will eat just about anything that falls into the water, including  crayfish, worms, and insects such as flies or grasshoppers. They even eat small mice. Crickets are also good live bait. Since these fish eat fruit in the wild, it can also be used as a type of bait.

The Oscar is reported to be a good food fish along with the other Cichlids. If caught it should be killed. It is illegal to return the fish to the water. A temperature of 55 degrees F. is required, so in Texas power plant lakes are the primary habitat, although reports of Oscars being caught in warm reservoirs are not uncommon.

Pacu and Piranha

Pacu is a common name used to refer to several species of omnivorous South American freshwater fish that are related to the piranha. Pacu and piranha have similar teeth, although the difference is jaw alignment; piranha have pointed, razor-sharp teeth in a pronounced underbite, whereas Pacu have squarer, straighter teeth in a less severe underbite, or a slight overbite. Additionally, full-grown Pacu are much larger than piranha, reaching up to 60 pounds in weight in the wild.

Piranha have the reputation of existing in large schools, which attack any animal, including humans, unlucky enough to fall in the water. South American fishermen frequently have circular scars from the razor-sharp teeth.

Fly fishing for Pacu in the Amazon has become a popular tourist destination.

When bait-fishing in Pacu-stocked ponds, anglers in are advised to use circle hooks, size 2 or larger, and wire rather than nylon leaders which are easily broken by the Pacu's teeth. Since pond Pacu often nibble at the bait before taking it, anglers should let them swim away with the bait. If the angler simply allows the line to tighten, the circle hook will slide to the side of the fish's mouth and embed its point there.

The Pacu and Piranha have invaded Texas waters. A confirmed report recently appeared in the media. While I worked in Lake Weatherford Marina several Piranha were brought to the marina for identification, although we suspected the person who brought them of being the one who raised them.

They are considered excellent food fish.

Any exotic fish caught in Texas should be killed rather than released, except of course for the Rio, which is a prized native fish.

First offense for possession of prohibited fish species is a Class C misdemeanor in Texas, with a maximum $500 fine. But subsequent convictions boost the charge to Class B and Class A misdemeanors, which carry possible jail time as well as heavier fines. A person caught releasing a live, prohibited fish in Texas faces a Class B misdemeanor for a first offense, and repeated offenses can bring state-jail felony charges.

Matching the Hatch

Today's post is by Michael Cox, a popular fisherman from Selma, Texas, who often fishes with Chuck Dewey. Mike is retired from the Marine Corps. He posts on the TFF as USMC_Gy_09. Mike shares with us the advantages of baiting the fish with their natural prey .

Matching The Hatch

Michael Cox

Matching the hatch is a popular phrase that has been used by fly fisherman to describe the process by which they select certain fly patterns. While this procedure is generally used for trout fishing, I believe the same principles apply to fishing for sunfish as well. There are many types of insects and other aquatic life that spend most of their life cycle either in or around the water, and this makes them perfect forage for sunfish.

I recently experienced  a terrific example of using the matching the hatch philosophy while fishing Lake Dunlap; a river lake located just outside of San Antonio in New Braunfels. I was fishing with my friend Chuck and one of the first things we noticed while walking down to our first location was the amount of mayflies that were in the area. They were everywhere you looked; along the docks and boathouses, in the bushes and trees, and many dead in the water itself. Even with all these visual clues, I started fishing with worms (my personal favorite bait) as usual and the bite was fair. A lot of the time, though, the fish were approaching my bait, studying it, then turning away. Very frustrating!

 A mayfly landed on my hand and it triggered a memory of something my daughter Rebecca did. A dragonfly landed on her hand when she first started out fishing. She managed to catch it and I jokingly told her that it would make good bait. She surprised me by sticking it on the hook and throwing it out there. Not more than a second or two after it hit the water, her bobber went down and she reeled in a nice sized redbreast. Meanwhile, my worm is sitting out there unmolested.  She continued catching and using the bugs she found around the water and proceeded to out fish me by a large margin.  Something I hadn’t thought about in some time.

Back to the recent trip on Dunlap with Chuck. Well, I grabbed the mayfly and threaded it on my hook. I threaded on the hook through the thick part of mayfly’s body, much like you would thread a cricket. I pitched my line back out there and the results were amazing. Not only did the fish not hesitate; it attacked the mayfly with enthusiasm. I set the hook and reeled in the biggest redbreast sunfish of the day. I thought this might have been a fluke, so I caught another of the thousands of mayflies around, threaded it on, and the result was the same: no hesitation on the part of the fish. I continued this for many more fish and tried going back to worms. It was like night and day. Where I was getting a bite on every mayfly I used, the worm would produce maybe half of the amount of strikes.

Here is a picture of how I hooked them

The hatching of mayflies, stoneflies and other aquatic insects usually happens in spurts with many insects emerging at once. Their adult lives are short-lived, especially with mayflies, so taking advantage of the hatching period is important. Obviously, the best time use similar looking baits is during this major hatching period. That does not mean a big bluegill or other sunny won’t bite a mayfly while no hatch is going on, but you will have much better luck if you fish during these periods. However, the larvae of these insects may live in the water for up to 4 years or more.  Fishing with the larvae of these insects can be effective year round for this reason. Although much harder to come by due do the fact they live underwater, artificial lures resembling the larva can be effective.

Matching the hatch isn’t exclusive to aquatic insects. The same concept can be applied to terrestrial insects, fish, and other aquatic life. While the use of minnows and frogs is usually thought of while fishing for other larger predatory species of fish like bass and crappie, many sunfish will aggressively feed on newly hatched fry and tadpoles as readily as any bug. On Lake Calaveras, southeast of San Antonio, one of my favorite baits to use is little slivers of cut shad. Shad is abundant on the lake and is the main forage source in the lake. Terrestrial insects that live near but not in the water are easy prey when they fall in. Look for overhanging bushes and tree limbs. Sunfish will sit and wait near these areas and wait for grasshoppers, caterpillars and other insect to fall.  A good place to fish is under trees with the tell-tale “webs” of webworms and tent worms. They are hard to miss. It will look like a tree has been taken over by a giant colony of spiders.

The main advantages of matching the hatch are quantity and familiarity.  There will be a lot of bait in the water and fish will be aggressively feeding on it.  Insects, fish, and amphibians usually lay eggs in the hundreds or thousands to ensure some of the young will survive until they can reproduce. Since the hatch is native to the area, the fish will readily identify it to eat. There are some disadvantages to trying to match the hatch as well.  The hatches are generally short-lived, so it may provide difficult to fish this way on a consistent basis.  A lot of the insects are fragile, and they will usually only last for one bite which means constant rebaiting.  Generally speaking, you will have to catch your bait to use as well.  I think the end result of using natural bait found around an area outweighs some of the disadvantages. So go out, look around and give a shot. Flip over some rocks or logs. Look in the trees and bushes. You might surprised by what you find. (Just watch out for poisonous creepy crawlies).

Cooking our Catch

Cooking Your Sunfish Catch

Now that you have your sunfish filleted, washed and chilled it is time to cook a meal.
I usually serve a dinner of sunfish, potato and cornmeal muffins.

Because of the cooking time I usually get the muffins into the oven first. Here is the recipe:
1 cup regular flour
1 cup fine yellow corn meal
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup Canola oil
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees while you are mixing the dry ingredients with a wire whisk. In a separate container mix the eggs, milk and Canola oil. Whisk well. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients. Pour into muffin tins greased with spray Pam and bake for 14 minutes in the 425-degree oven. Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes and then remove them from the pan. Run a knife around them if they try to stick. Serve the muffins with honey and butter or margarine.

　
The potato can be either French fries or potato salad.

To prepare the French fries cut large potatoes into strips 1/4 inch thick by 3/8 inch wide. Heat an iron skillet filled with at least one inch of Canola oil. Carefully drop the potato strips into the hot oil. Cook until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Be careful not to break the fries while stirring. Remove the fries from the hot oil with tongs and drain into a paper towel. Pat the fries dry with the paper towel.

If you have to watch your cholesterol then substitute German potato salad for the fries. The potato salad can be made from fresh potatoes or Hungry Jack dried potato flakes. There is little or no difference in taste.

Here is the recipe:
3 cups mashed potatoes prepared from fresh boiled potatoes or potato flakes per the carton instructions
1/2 cup Vlasic brand sweet relish
1 tablespoon French's yellow mustard
While the mashed potatoes are still warm mix the ingredients thoroughly. Adjust the mustard to taste. Serve the salad warm.

Spread the sunfish fillets on a piece of wax paper. Then add seasoning to your taste. I spread the fillets with yellow mustard and sprinkle with black pepper. If you are allowed salt then salt lightly. There are all sorts of seasoning available. If you have a favorite seasoning use it instead.

Use the same pan and oil you prepared the fries in. Roll the fillets in corn meal and drop them into the hot oil. Cook until golden.

By the way, I tried one fish just scaled and gutted. It was not a happy experience. Although the tail tasted good like a crispy chip, I got a mouthful of fine bones when I tried to eat the fish. Advocates of "cook 'em whole and eat them all" may be able to eat the bones, but I am afraid of getting one lodged in my throat or stomach. I think I will stick with filleting.

Serve the meal with Lipton's ice tea and a home made cobbler. This one is from blackberries from my berry patch. We also raise peaches so sometimes it is a peach cobbler.

　
　
　
　

Cleaning Your Catch

How to Clean Sunfish
Before we get into actually cleaning the fish, take a look at the tools we will need. First, we need a cutting board to hold the fish. I use an old commercial board with a spring clip. Then we need a sharp knife. For the small fish I use a 4-inch blade Rapala knife. For larger fish a 6-inch blade is useful. Then you will need a bowl of clean ice water for the cleaned fish and a bucket for the trash.

　
There are two basic ways to clean a sunfish.

Some folks simply cut the heads off, scale them and gut them and fry them whole.

A much better way in my opinion is to fillet them. Critics say that filleting wastes too much. Actually if well done filleting gets all but a small fraction of the edible fish. It is simply a matter of do you throw the bones away before or after you eat the fish.

Step 1. Place your victim on the board with his head in the clip. Make one vertical cut just behind the gills all the way across the fish, being careful to stop the cut when you feel the backbone.

Step 2. Turn the blade flat and along the backbone.

Step 3. Cut along the backbone stopping just short of the tail.

Step 4. Fold the fillet back so that it is flat on the board.

Step 5. Cut the fillet loose from the skin.

Step 6. With the fillet flat on the board cut out the set of small bones.

Place the fillet in the bowl of ice water while you do the rest of the fish. The ice water will keep the fillets crisp and fresh.

Next time we will cook our fillets.
　

Lake Mineral Wells

Saturday, September 17. I went out to Lake Mineral Wells this morning. It was a beautiful morning - nice and cool with the air washed clean. The lake got 1-1/2 inches of rain yesterday. Lake Mineral Wells is an old handicapped fisherman's dream. It has bass, crappie, catfish, rough fish and sunfish. More importantly, it has a lighted deep water fishing pier with handicapped access. From the pier the fishing is usually good. It is much better in other parts of the lake. But I can fish off the pier without falling on the rocks or rough shoreline. And it is 12 minutes from my house. Admission for old coots is only $3.00.

Early I fished for the little channel catfish. I still am not catching over 1 in 5 bites. They love stealing the blood dough bait.

When the sun came up I switched to the ultralight rig baited with worms. I prefer crickets but I fed all my crickets to my daughter's school bearded dragon. I kept it while school was out this summer.

I caught the usual assortment of sunfish with an exception - a redear. Since I usually use crickets I almost never catch a redear. This one is the first I ever caught at Lake Mineral Wells. It is pretty short stuff compared with the ones Chuck and his buddies catch at the South Texas spots.

I kept 12 plus the redear, and threw back all the rest. I am going to use the 13 to illustrate an upcoming post on cooking your catch. My wife and I enjoyed eating them.

The sunfish at Lake Mineral Wells are always small. I have fished out there for 15 years and caught literally thousands of sunfish in the 6 to 6-1/2 inch range. A park ranger saw me catch the one in the picture and told me he had seen others at least twice as big caught there. That would be 13 inches. He also told me the lake came up 4 inches last night, while the flood gage measured only 2-1/2 inches. That helped me with calibration of his eyeballs.

The fish were all caught in one spot in six feet of water. When the worm was placed in one spot I caught fish. Two feet away and I caught nothing. I figured that was where they were bedding but the fish ranged in size from 2 inches to 6 inches and several different species. They would not be bedding together. There was something down there they liked.

When the wind switched and became brisk the fishing stopped. I came home to make photos and clean fish. My wife and I had filleted bluegill for supper. They were delicious with corn muffins and potato salad. An upcoming post will talk about filleting the fish and another will show you how I cook them.