Chilly day at school...

[Agitated88]

I finally succumb to the realization that this “lake” fishing is pretty simple…but, lake “catching” is a different animal all together. After numerous trips to Lake Konawa with subpar results, I finally swallowed my pride and sought some local knowledge. I have been in contact with local guide Shawn Morales at www.crosswindsguide.com for the last few months, and the guy has done everything but swim under the boat and hook the fish for me. So, this weekend, I left my boat on the trailer, and my son and I spent the day with Shawn on his boat. I wasn’t overly optimistic, since we had our 1st major cold front come through, and as we arrived at the ramp, the truck temp gauge was reading a chilly 28 degrees.



We see Shawn motoring up to the dock in the ice covered Falcon, we load up, and head across the lake. I cannot say enough good things about Shawn, for someone who makes his living off taking folks fishing, to basically open his “little black book” up to me…well, to me, that speaks volumes about his character. As we motor across the lake, I’m astounded to see hundreds, if not thousands of diving ducks, and geese all over the lake, too bad I don’t have a really good camera, there were more than a few gottaflylee opportunities I would have loved to capture.



The fog rolling across the lake, ducks silhouetted by the rising sun, very tranquil. We pulled up to our first spot and Shawn pulled out a couple spinning rods and suggested we live line some of the Shad and see if we could catch a few Large Mouth. Let the learning begin…Shawn’s first bit of instruction was to use smaller hooks than I had been using…he opt’s for 3/0 whereas I usually use 5/0. For live lining he uses very light line, again, he wants the baits swimming as much as possible. Almost instantly, both JV and I are reeling in one bass after another.

Mostly in the 2-3lb range, with a couple 4+.



After having fun with the Large Mouth’s, Shawn recommends we try for some Sand Bass/Hybrid’s. We put away the spinning rods and pick up the bait casters. Again, Shawn is rigged up much the same way that I normally use, but, again, he opt’s for very light leader on his bottom rigs to allow the bait to swim more freely. More of Shawn’s local knowledge…I typically drop the bait to the bottom and usually take two cranks to get the bait off the bottom…Shawn said to take at least three. Funny how just that little subtle change in presentation can make such a difference. Again, JV and I were catching Sandie’s left and right…nothing huge, but, excellent size for eating.

Here are two of my nicer Sandies




By now, we’re running low on bait, and Shawn pulls anchor and recommends we do some “slabbing.” We drive back over to the other side of the lake close to the dam…Shawn pull’s out the “slabs” and we get rigged up. The slabs we were using are 1oz, white/chartreuse, white/blue, with a single treble hook on the bottom. Drop straight to the bottom, one crank, and bounce the rod tip…bam, bam, bam, bam…it was literally non-stop for over a hour…again, no monsters, but, loads of fun. We kept a few of the bigger fish for the cooler, and a few of the smaller one’s for bait. After catching 40+ Sandie’s, Shawn tells me it’s time to show me how to catch some Catfish. Once again, it’s time for me to further my Konawa education. We re-rig, this time with 1 ½ oz egg sinkers, 3’ floro and 6/0 circle hooks. Shawn has filleted some of the smaller Sandies and uses an entire filet on each hook. We set out 6 rods and wait. Almost instantly…tap, tap, tap…I grab the rod to set the hook…big ass WHIFFF…Shawn is finding humor in my frustration. Shawn proceeds to explain that I need to leave the rod alone…let the circle hook do it’s job…sure enough couple minutes later, tap, tap, tap, rod doubled over…make a few cranks in the rod holder…fish on. For the next 2+ hours it was literally non-stop and we smoked some real nice Channel Cat’s.




JV is claiming bragging rights with these two…



All in all, I consider it a real good day…I got to spend the day with my son, we caught a load of fish, and hopefully, Shawn has imparted some of his knowledge into me.

[worthless]

good stuff right there. can't beat a trip like that.

[Agitated88]

good stuff right there. can't beat a trip like that.

Thanks...we had a blast and I was able to put some meat in the freezer.

[clt_capt]

A little local knowledge and the advice of a pro never hurts. Glad you gor to spend some quality time with your son.

[Agitated88]

A little local knowledge and the advice of a pro never hurts. Glad you gor to spend some quality time with your son.

Couldn't have said it better myself Fred...we're headed back down Thursday, I'm taking a few guys that work with me and we'll see if we can can have a repeat performance.

[Catcher's Mitt]

dat gum fish whispers. i hate them. lol looks like he really knows how to catch them and put y'all on a good time for sure. Thanks for sharing.

[Agitated88]

dat gum fish whispers. i hate them. lol looks like he really knows how to catch them and put y'all on a good time for sure. Thanks for sharing.

No doubt Shawn know's a thing or two about this fishery...

[seapower]

Look's like a really great day, in more way's than one. Any day fishing and you don't learn something new, well, you're just not paying attention. Thank's for the story and pic's. Make's me wonder why I quit fresh water fishing????? Frank

[gottaflylee]

SWEET!!!!!

Great report ans this shows that a day with a guide is worth the coast of the charter. Makes the learning curve go straight up. Well done and congrats on a great day on the water!

[Jer]

That's an awesome lake fishing trip. Thank you for the PM pointing it out to me, I'm going to feature on the front page.

I have never caught freshwater catfish, but I will "later than sooner".

Now that's a big bass (?) on the last picture.

I need to go fishing.