Clear Creek Bayou Report - 3-27-2015

A friend of my mine from Virginia was in town for work and I promised to put him on some bass.  We had been planning this trip for sometime knowing he was coming down.  In fact last year he was down we were going to go, but thunder storms put a stop to that trip.  This year the weather forecast looked a lot better for a trip. Initially I was going to take him out to Fayette County Lake but he wanted to fish the bayous.  The bayous are a lot like the rivers he fishes in Virginia and was hoping to pick up some pointers.  The conditions of our bayous hasn't been great with all the rains we have had the water has stayed muddy pretty much all spring.  However during the Bassmaster Elite Tournament on the Sabine River last weekend Pro Mike McClelland ran all the way from the Sabine River to Clear Creek Bayou to fish.  Not sure how long that run takes but it had to be close to 2 hours both ways by boat.  If an Elite Pro has that much confidences in a body of water, you know there are fish to be caught.  Mr. McClelland did catch bass, enough bass for an awesome 2nd place finish and was right behind the winner Chris Lane. Enough about last weekend and lets get into what happened during our trip to Clear Creek Bayou.

After that front blew through here on Thursday I was worried about taking Fred out on Friday.  There wasn't a lot of rain with this front but the water would still be muddy from all the previous rains.  What concerned me most about Thursday's front was the high northerly winds.  When we get really strong winds from the north it tends to blow the water out of Galveston Bay and in turn the water is sucked out of all the connecting bayous.  The winds had help as the tide was already due to flow out which meant we would likely face some low water conditions.  This was not our only issue though as we would also be facing the dreaded "Bluebird" day after a front with bright blue sunny skies.  What accompanies a "Bluebird" day is also a quick rise in the Biometric Pressure that can turn off the fish.  Well as I got to the ramp Friday morning all my fears about the conditions came true and in fact the water was lower than even I expected.  It was a good 2.5-3 feet lower than a normal low tide which meant a lot of the structure we would have normally fish would be totally out of water.  In fact the water was so low we couldn't use the dock at the ramp as it was close to 6 feet above my boat. The sky was also very clear and the Biometric Pressure was rising quickly as well.  So this was really putting pressure on me to put Fred on some fish.

We left the dock right at 7:30 AM and headed up the bayou.  A couple of spots I thought might be

holding spawning bass off the main bayou weren't accessible due to the low water so I continued our

run up the bayou.  We finally came to one of my favorite spots and though the water was really low some of the structure I fish there still had water around it, plus there is a good drop off and I hoped the fish might have pulled back from the structure to this drop off.   My guess was right and Fred soon hooked up but lost the first bass of the day.  However it didn't take him too long to get another hit and land his first Texas Bayou Bass.  After Fred landed this bass the pressure was off me big time.

Now how did I have Fred rigged up to catch his first Bayou Bass?  Well I went to an ole tried and trued bayou bait the Tube Craw.  The Tube Craw is very similar to a standard Tube bait but as you can see from the picture it has some craws added.  I can say that the Tube Craws have been a very affective bait for us and it is something about those added craws that really turn on the bass.  We have used them in the bayous for a number of years with awesome results but for some reason they are extra affective on Clear Creek.  I haven't asked the bass but I'm pretty sure that these Tube Craws presentation has to be very close to how the Crawfish move and act on this bayou.  The way I rig a tube craw is very different than most folks that fish tube baits.  So to make it easy here is a video of how I rig a Tube Craw that Fred will testify works really well.

Now what about me?  I decided to fish a little bigger bait in hopes of catching a big girl to impress Fred.  The bait I picked was a Creme Lures Same Thing (ST) Beaver or Badd Bugg as some of us call them.  I rigged the Badd Bugg similar to how I rigged the Tube Craw.  Fred had caught one and lost two fish when I had my first hit.  It was one of those classic thumps that generally signals a big girl and so I set the hook hard.  My rod bowed up under the force of the fish and then the unthinkable happened, my line broke.  Only thing I could figure was my line had become nicked or weakened some how.  Needless to say I was a bit disappointed as this was a really good fish.  I did catch a decent bass on the Beaver a little later but found the bass wanted something a little smaller. Going smaller was easy, I switched to a Creme ST Craw.  Now I rigged the ST Craw on a Santone Lures Football Piglet shaky head which really lets this bait stand up once the bait settles on the bottom.  Once it is on the bottom you can shake it slightly and it makes the craws move without moving the bait and gives it a realistic appearance that the bass just can't turn down.  I finished the day using the ST Craws and though I never hooked up with another Big Girl, I was able to keep pace with Fred and the Tube Craw in the numbers department.

Now if we had landed all the fish we had bite then we would have had an exceptional day on the bayou.  Really it was a surprising day for the conditions we faced.  In fact ole Fred was able to put one better than average bass in the boat and had another that was really solid. The bass seemed to turn on a little more after the tide started to flow in.  As we fished the water level did rise about a foot, but it never got to a point where it would be during a normal low tide.  So this day we basically fished areas I've found over the years with structure in deeper water during normal conditions.   In this case this was the only structure that was still in the water because the low water had all the normal structure along the banks of the bayou high and dry.  Again if you look at the picture of Fred with his biggest bass of the day, you can see where the water line is on the bulkhead.  This picture was taken after the tide had been coming in for about 2 hours.  You can also see the muddy water we dealt with on the day.  In this muddy water we fished darker baits to start with in the morning.  Black and Blue Black worked best.  However after the sun got up in the sky we found that a good Watermelon Red Flake was the color they wanted.  The red flakes really showed up well in the water with the bright sun.   Speaking of the sun, I believe that this "Bluebird" day actually helped us with the muddy water conditions.   It let the fish see our baits better, especially the Watermelon Red Flakes.

There is one more thing that I know helped us catch more fish too.  That is Liquid Mayhem  Fish Attractants.   We saw and talked to some other guys bass fishing and they didn't seem to be having the same good luck we were having.  I know that Fred is now sold on using Liquid Mayhem.  As we chatted during the day I found out that the conditions he fishes in the Virginia Rivers is a lot like the conditions we faced from a water clarity standpoint.  The bass we were catching all aggressively hit and held onto our baits and I have to give all the credit to Liquid Mayhem.  With the conditions we were fishing the bass shouldn't have been aggressive at all.  I know for a fact that Liquid Mayhem makes me a better fisherman and everyone that I've had use it continue to use it afterwards.  I know Fred will be ordering some as soon as he gets home.

So what is the moral of today's story?  That is simple, you can't catch bass unless you get out there and fish!!  So don't give up even when the conditions are totally against you.  Just because the conditions change doesn't mean the bass move to a different location.  No they will be very near the same locations as they are under perfect conditions.  Now all you have to do is find out what they want.  So you have to work out a plan for the poor conditions and first and foremost use a confidence bait.   I wanted Fred to have a good time and catch some bass and that is why I rigged him with a Tube Craw.  I knew the bass in Clear Creek Bayou loved Tube Craws and they would give Fred his best chance at catching something. So don't sit on the couch the next time the conditions aren't the best, get out there and get after those bass!!!

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Also Checkout the great folks that help make my fishing adventure possible and the tackle I use and trust.
Santone Lures
Throw-n-Thunder
Creme Lures
Dunamis Rods
Liquid Mayhem Fish Attractants

Until next time, Tight Lines and Take a Kid Fishing!!