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FLT Flash Fishing Report!

Not your Daddy's fishing report...

E-mail James

October 1, 2025: If you read my last post you probably realize that I'm having website problems..

It ain't over yet..

And I ain't happy..

But rest assured I am working on it.. But if you never see an update from me again you may surmise that I have deep throated one of my 1911's..

Either that or I have still not figured this motherfucker out..

I'm hoping for the later..

September 8, 2025: Ever go thru one of those times when you feel like you're a nail, and everybody else is a hammer.. And no mater how many fires you put out, another one is burning your ass?

Well that's the way it has been for the last couple of weeks. But maybe I am finally getting some of the flames tamped down. And hopefully that light I see at the end of the tunnel is not from another fire..

I have been fucking with my site hosting company for the last two weeks.. When they start talking about site migrations I just want to jump off a cliff.. This is the second time it did not go "Seamless" like I have have been told it would be..

But if you are reading this I reckon the motherfucker is working.. Glad I am not using it to make a living..

Ever have the internet go out at your business all day? No phone.. No CC machine.. No license sales.. No TV.. And did I say no internet?

This technology shit has taken control over my business, and me as well I guess.

And last week I got a new POS (point of sale, not the commonly used term, piece of shit) machine, to accept all forms of payment, including Bitcoin..

Swipe.. Tap.. Insert.. Applepay.. Googlepay.. Smart watch.. This motherfucker does it all..

Cause I guess all the generations after mine will never carry a sawbuck in their pocket..

Personally I feel naked if I don't have a hundie or two in my wallet.. Yeah I have Capital One in there as well.. But what if she only takes cash?

And I haven't been on the water in two weeks.. Did not get to go dove hunting.. And the hurricane out in the Pacific turned into a nothing burger as well..

No fun for Jimmie..

We have had a bit of rain in the area on a couple of occasions. Back on the second we got about an inch, and it ran all the birds out of the area. And last weekend we had a lot of storms around us, and it finished the job.

But this is supposed to be a fishing report, so we'll give that a go.

There has been very little traffic on the lake as of late, and I mean only a handful of boats during the week. So I don't see too many fishermen and I don't hear too much.

But what I hear is that the same old same old is still working.. And that means that pretty much what you want to throw will work. Squarebills very shallow.. Texas rigs from dirt to twelve feet.. And dropshot's and shakey heads will catch good numbers of fish.

Weekend before last the Laredo club had their championship contest, and it took less than stellar catches to win the money.

First place was 21 and change, with second and third place stringers coming in at 16 and 15 pounds respectively.

Last weekend all anybody wanted to talk about is dove hunting..

Like I said. It has been a slow period.. But August always is.. I just gotta keep reminding myself of it..

I hope to get on the water tomorrow for a bit in the morning.. We'll see.

Launching remains about the same.. NO Veleno access to the lake.. Off the point at state park. Easy to do..

The lake has dropped a bit more, and we are down to about 254.. About forty seven feet low..

We should catch about six inches of water in the next five days due to a bit or rain around Eagle Pass and Laredo..

But no real water on the way.

Cooler weather is on the horizon, and in thirty days the snowbirds will start rolling back into town. And we'll start the winter cycle all over again..

It is certainly not too late for some more tropical activity, but if something doesn't happen in the next two weeks we will most likely get skipped for another year.. Here's to hopin'.

Last week there were a bunch of young fellers in town.. Influencers I reckon you'd call em.. They do a lot of stuff with Mystery Tacklebox..

Anyway we had a good conversation here in the store, and talked about marketing and fishing and about old school shit the way we used to do it.. And I think both sides got some insight into how the other generations think, and or thought.

It's a brave new world out there.. And technology rules the day. I'm an analog man in a digital world as I have stated before.

We did some on camera stuff and if it turns out good enough to air I'll share the link with you..

It was fun having the youdes in the store..

The water is cooling off ever so slightly, and I know before long the fish will recognize it, and it will be on.

Not that it has been bad, but big fish have been pretty hard to find as of late.. Or numbers of them anyway.

Hopefully I will have a hands on report for you tomorrow.

And if you are out there, I'll see you on the water.

August 25, 2025: It's been a while.. But there has not been a lot to report on.. August can be a beat down around here with the heat and all, but it looks like the tide may be turning.

Last week my site was down for four days.. Due to a site migration.. Changing servers.. They really should not have sent me that feedback request..

Dove season is just over a week away, and like my Daddy always said, "There'll be water in every cow track come opening day.."

And that is the norm in a lot of Texas, as those fronts finally start to cross The Red, and even venture down to the San Antonio area. Which is what has happened in the last week.

Our place up near Devine has basically gotten skipped by the rains, but it has been all around us..

Here In Zapata, I got 1.25" at the house on Saturday evening.. About .65 here at the shop three miles away.. As the crow flies anyway..

According to reports from home, the whitewings are still as thick as flies on watermelon.. I hope they stick around long enough for me to whack a few of em..

Speaking of whacking.. We are still whacking the small fish around here, as numbers are holding up pretty well, but numbers of big fish are not being reported in any considerable fashion.

I am hearing of a few good fish, bigger than six pounds.. But no one I have talked to has put together a big sack as of late.

This weekend the Laredo boys will have their championship event, and it will be interesting to see what they bring to the scales..

Last month there was a twenty eight pound bag and another that went twenty five.. Lately thirteen to fifteen has been about it for me.. And that is highly unexacting cause I ain't weighed a fish in a few months..

But I'm a decent judge of cattle, horseflesh, women, and bass.. Probably poorest on the women part..

You can learn a lot about horses by slapping them on the ass.. You can get a guess about their demeanor by their reaction.. You can also get kicked in the nuts..

Works on women too.. And the same reaction can occur..

But I digress..

The lake is still dropping, and we are down to 254.25. That's 47 feet low give or take. And nothing on the horizon..

Is it possible that the continental US might get skipped entirely by a tropical storm this year? I'd be fine with that but I'd like a few to go up the Sea of Cortez's ass.

Gulf storms very rarely send any real water to our watershed..

Atlantic storms seem to be staying out in the ocean, and the Pacific storms have pretty much headed west as well. And the Caribbean has been kinda quiet also.

We'll see. September still has a lot of potential for development.. But so did Twiggy and nothing ever grew there..

Launching at the state park is no sweat, and you do not need four wheel drive at this point, if you launch out on the point.. Good drop off and solid rock.. You can launch on the sandy beach as before to the left as as I have spoken of many times. And the drop off is much closer as the flat area is now about gone and you do not have to back out in the water very far.. And it is smoother as well, and pretty level.. No sweat..

Best bait is still a bit of a tossup.. Some folks like me are still stuck on the senko style baits, which continue to produce numbers of fish. A squarebill is being thrown by most all fishermen at some point in the day.

A dropshot, a shakey head, and a jig are also being used by some.. Good numbers can be caught with the dropshot.. It will catch fish when nothing else will. I have proved it too many times.. But I hate it anyway..

A small spinnerbait is also catching fish..

Rock is the common denominator.. But brush piles have been holding some quality fish, though the numbers are so-so. They are not all created equal.

A buddy of mine caught two five pounders fishing for crappie.. Your results may vary..

There are a few flipping fish to be had as well. And some of them can be nice sized.. Get in the backs of creeks between the dan and Tigers.. Four to six feet of water seems best..

But overall the really big fish are on summer vacation.. Now go prove me wrong and send me some pics..

See you on the water.. If I ain't here before noon.. You know where I am..

Come see us..

August 14, 2025: It's the middle of August, and we're riding a hot streak that any gambler would like to be on.. I heard on the news how many days in row we have been over a hundred, but I can't remember what it was.. More than fifteen.. And we're not going to break that streak for another week the way it appears..

But as afore stated, it is August, and for the next couple of weeks the only way that streak is going to get broken is if some rainy afternoon comes along. And that would be welcome indeed, as the wetter than normal early summer is a distant memory.

And the hot and dry is taking a toll on lake levels as well, as the lake is dropping about an inch a day. We are down to 254.73, or 46.29 low.

We are releasing about six cubic meters a second more than Amistad, and when you factor in usage between the two lakes, and evaporation, which has to be off the hook currently, an inch a day is what you get.. Which don't really sound like that much till you look at it a week or two later and holy shit another foot gone..

This pretty much takes launching at the County Ramp in Zapata out of the play book. I don't recommend it for any boats at this time.

Launching at the state park it is still no sweat, even with two wheel drive. At this level there is a perfect launch point on the end of the point and your back tires are not even in the water. I did it Tuesday with zero issues.

Fishing is still good for numbers, but I have not caught a fish over five pounds in my last four trips. I have caught the shit out of the smaller fish, up to three pounds, but no biggies.

Tuesday we fished mostly rockpiles on the main lake, and there are still a lot of fish on them, despite me telling everyone to go out there and whack em. Not all of them are loaded, but you are going to catch some fish on all of them. Some of them you may catch a dozen or more fish off of. And move twenty yards to the next one and repeat.

Surprisingly, we caught probably close to a dozen fish off the hardwoods that are near or surrounding the old houses. This is unusual for me, as I have flipped them a hundred times and never caught a fish off one..

Maybe it has something to do with something.. But hell if I know what that something is.

Most of these rockpiles have less that five feet of water on them, and several you can see the tops of beneath the water.

And they are some rough and chunky son of a guns and are very good at making you retie your shit. I am using an eighth ounce lead weight the vast majority of the time. Even though I get my tungsten at cost, it is not too smart to throw a two dollar weight into that vacuum. It ain't a matter of if you are gonna hang up, but when.

Take a lot of hooks with you..

A senko or a senko style bait is a good choice, but I am sure there are other baits that will work as well.. I did throw a Rage Craw the other day with good success, but I did not throw it Tuesday.. If it's working, don't fix it..

A squarebill.. Crawled.. And I mean crawled.. Just enough to get it to hit the rocks will also catch em. Almost just pulling it along like dragging a worm till you feel contact.. Any faster and you will be tying on another one of them as well.

I have heard some rumblings about fish being caught on a jig as of late.. From several people. I guess I will have to tie one on. From what I hear these fish are on ledges.. Not necessarily deep ones, but out to about fifteen feet. But as shallow as right near the bank.

There are always fish in shallow water on Falcon.

There were about seven or eight boats at the launching area on Tuesday, and as you can imagine there is not a lot of boat traffic here during the week. Some of those boats are chasing catfish or gar.

There have been quite a few folks down chasing their prey with bows as of late. And with pretty good success. Most of the fish they are shooting are open water fish that are rolling on top here or there. You gotta be fast..

Most of the big rolling fish I am seeing are out in front of Tigers, but they are all over the place..

I haven't run into any white bass lately, and have not seen them on top anywhere either.

Catfish are always friendly, and lately a lot of eating size catfish have been caught in the standing timber, in water less that eight feet deep, back in the creeks or on some ridges in the main lake. If the cormorants are roosting around there, there are whiskerfish under them..

Crappie of any size and number are still harder to find than a Democrat in Austin. Well I guess that ain't really accurate.. Austin is full of em.. Maybe I should say an elected Democrat in Austin.

I guess it is a nice time of year to be up north, escaping the Texas heat.. But I reckon they will face plenty heat when they come back.. Petulant bastards.. Bunch of window lickin' fucksticks..

I find it funny that they would escape to Illinois to protest Gerrymandering by the Republicans in Texas, while the state of the Illini is the most Gerrymandered state in the nation. You know Jimmie hates hypocrisy..

And this is about the biggest example of it I have seen in a while..

What else is happening..

The new and improved Justice Department is doing a deep dive into former department heads over the Russia Collusion bullshit.

Wonder if there are any puckered assholes in that fine batch of public servants..

There should be.. But here is my prediction. Not one of them motherfuckers will do a night in jail over any of the bullshit they pulled..

It really irks me to see the smug and pompous looks on their faces knowing they are above the law..

I'd get arrested for farting in an elevator.. But then again, I am just a dumb redneck fisherman..

But I know my place, and I am alright with it.

In other earth shaking (maybe literally) news, a giant comet, asteroid, spaceship, planet killer rock or something like it is hurtling thru space headed in our general direction.

Some folks say it is an alien space probe, sent here to check up on us or something of the like.

I for one do not believe it to be an alien craft.. It is traveling too slow. If we can see it coming for months before it gets here, it ain't no interstellar life form at the controls.. Any civilization that is capable of interstellar travel, and knows we are here, would certainly be capable of bending time travel to get across the cosmos..

I seen NCC1701 break warp nine on occasion.. So this fucker ain't being driven by no ET's..

I think it is just another space rock that we ain't seen before..

But who really knows.. Jesus might be ridin' it.. Spurrin' it high and headin back to earth.

Get your affairs in order..The end could be near..

But I'm betting we will still be fishing next year..

I heard a guy taking about how the world as a whole needs to have a plan on how to deal with some aliens who show up at our door. Or in orbit.. (I'd like to sit in on that G7 forum..)

I'm kinda thinking we would not be negotiating from a position of power when that does happen.

I think it would be more like what Richard Pryor said the cops told him when he got arrested..

"Hands up! Pants down.. Spread your cheeks."

I know David slew Goliath, but.. Maybe we better start looking for some good rocks..

Well get your ass down here and catch some fish if you've a mind to.. I don't think the world is coming to an end any time soon, but it's best not to take any chances.

See you on the water!

August 4, 2025: The joys of Summer.. And around here Summer should always be capitalized.. Not in the monetary vernacular, but because it is freakin hot..

And this week might be the hottest stretch we have had so far, because truthfully, it has not been that bad.. Sure we had a couple of two or three day stints of 100+.. But this week we are supposed to surpass the century mark every day..

I ain't complaining.. Like some wise man once said. "You ain't gotta shovel sunshine.."

I wonder how many people die from cold related shit, like wrecks, hypothermia, snow storms, slips and falls on the ice.. Compared to how many die from heat related stress..

I have seen a hunnert slip and falls on the ice videos, on Americas Funniest Home Videos.. But I ain't seen a soul slip on a shadow..

And I'm not really sure how that shit is considered funny..

On a few trips into the cold country, I myself have gone Apolo Ohno on a sidewalk or two.. And that's what I was screaming as my ass hit the concrete.. "Oh-No!"

Worst one was when I shattered an untapped half gallon of Lem Motlow's best.. Tragic indeed..

Hence I do not go north of San Antonio after Thanksgiving..

But I digress..

But if you know Falcon fish, you know that they do not give a shit how hot the water is.. I do believe they thrive on it, even if the fishermen do not.

Last weekend, the one that encompassed the first, the Laredo boys had their monthly tourney, and it took twenty eight pounds to win it. Second place was around twenty three, but they had a seven that croaked, and in their rules you cannot weigh a dead fish at all.. Or replace it..

This summer time heat is hard on big fish. But they said it was tongue hooked and croaked in ten minutes..

Whatcha gonna do.. Fish Tacos..

I have fished three days of the last six, and of course not past 1:00. It does get toasty out there.. But at least we have nice low winds, instead of the thirty plus gales that had been haunting us for the last month. But I will have to admit, when it quit completely yesterday about noon, it was an oven out there..

Last Tuesday, Jay Grieshaw and I went out doing a little scouting, and we took my shit cause it had not been run in a month.. Pitiful..

We were off the water by 12:30, and we caught about eighteen fish, mostly on wind blown points, and some rough rocky ledges and points, from the dam to the Tigers. Our best fish were two about four pounds.

Best baits were senkos, and I put on a Rage Craw in Falcon Lake Craw and whacked em pretty good on it as well.

Thursday a buddy from east Texas was in town, and we hit it up till about 12:30 as well.. But we fished a different pattern than Jay and I did.. We did not catch any big fish, best being a fish about three and a half. But we had an easy thirty bass..

Yesterday he and I went out again, and we expanded a bit on what we did on Thursday, and we had forty two at 9:08.

We were in the truck at 12:15 and we had fifty seven that came in the boat.. And missed and jumped off a dozen easily.. Most of these fish were in the twelve to fifteen inch size, and we had a couple of threes I would guess. Of course we weighed nothing.

We're going again tomorrow so don't look for me here till the PM..

Everybody likes to catch big fish.. As do I.. But until one bites I am having a ball whackin the shit out of these two pounders..

2025 has been an incredible year on Falcon.

Also last week I had eight coon-asses down here, on their semi-annual excursion.. And the food and drink were to excess as per the norm..

Jimmie is getting too old for this shit..

We had caught about ten inches of water the second half of last month, but we have given at least half of it away. And for this year we have wavered between where we are now and not more that two feet in either direction. Amistad has passed on zero water from their gains in the last six weeks.

If you did not know the lake and showed up here and looked a the banks, you could be easily convinced that the lake was at pool. Except for the fact that you ain't launchin on concrete.. The vegetation has grown right up to the waters edge, and into it some.

There are also some areas where a bunch of Tulies, or Reeds, depending on your vernacular, have popped up, and there are several places where they are a hundred yards long. Would like to see about three feet of water on em when the spawn comes.. It'd be time to put those scrape rods back in the boat.

The top water bite is still very hit and miss.. I have heard stories about some folks doing better than I have.. I'm probably not sticking with it long enough.. Gonna give it a try again tomorrow.

Launching is still no problem, and this last week saw a good number of boats going out of the Veleno.. But if we continue to fall as we are, I don't see it lasting very long. I think it is about over. Shallow draft boats should have no problem for a bit.

School starts up next week, and it is only three and a half weeks till dove season. We still have a ton of birds around here, and I am worried they might eat all our crops.. So I am going to try and help alleviate the situation..

I do get worked up about it, and if there is anything I like better than fishing, it is bird hunting.. Anything that flies, but doves are my favorite.. If you'd a asked me that question forty years ago, I might have added one more thing to the list..

It sucks getting old.. But not for everything. I still get as nervous as an egg in a hailstorm a few days before the opener..

Twenty six days till Labor day.. And my annual problem has reared its ugly head again.

Where in the fuck do you get a hot dog bun that will actually hold more than the fuckin' weenie.. And I'm not even talkin about a brat, a sausage, or one of them jumbo dogs that "plump when you cook em."

This is twenty fuckin' twenty five.. Why can't the bakeries figure out that when you put a squirt of mustard and a weenie in the bun it is at max capacity..

Look around you Buttercrust.. Lizzo don't drive no VW bug.. You can't park a B-52 in a two car garage. And Shaq don't wear size 10 Nikes..

And a hot dog ain't a hot dog without some mustard, ketchup, relish, chopped onion, chili, and shredded cheese on top.

And I'm talkin about a lot of chili where it is dripping off your fuckin elbows by the time you get to the end of it.. Cause once you start there's no stopping till it's gone..

And If you are a square head like me, maybe you'd like to put some kraut in there as well..

I have heard of putting P's in V's, (younguns vernacular) but this is ridiculous.

Our buns need to be transformed from V's into C's.. And I mean a capital C..

Give me some room for my weiner!!! This is a problem that has plagued me my entire life..

I know I live in a food desert.. But If you know where some big buns are, I'll pay the freight..

Being you read this far, I'll tell you where we caught all those fish.. Old house rock piles.. Main lake.. It happens a lot this time of year.. And it has been so windy that they have not been messed with much..

Not a lot of big fish, but fun fish..

New fishing licenses go on sale a week from Friday.. Don't forget to pick yours up..

Last weekend before school starts.. Get your ass down here!

July 22, 2025: Things have dried out around here this week, and the chances for rain have gone down to about nil.. And we have had some windy and dry days. If you hang your clothes out on a line to dry, by the time you get through hanging them, you can go back to the beginning and take them down..

The water that was in the river is now in the lake, and about like I figured, we came up about ten inches. Not a bad measurement in a porn movie, but as for floating a boat, it really leaves some to be desired..

But honestly that is about what we expected. I got a lot of calls from people asking how much water we were going to get, and I hated to disappoint them with my answer, but it is what it is.

It is hard to grasp the enormity of the lake, and what it takes to really put a bunch of water in it. If we were twenty feet from full, this last shot of water might not have raised the lake two inches..

The river will have to get to major flood stage and stay there for several days to really make a difference.

Meanwhile we wait. Some more..

But honestly fishing couldn't get much better. The summer pattern has pretty much set in. And the pattern affects the fishermen more than the fish. We ALWAYS have shallow fish here on Falcon. And the dead of summer is no exception.

Right now, squarebills and spinnerbaits are catching fish in the shallows. Really good numbers have been reported the last two weeks. A lot of these shallow fish are smaller, but there are some good good fish mixed in.

For fewer fish, but better size, fishing in water ten to fifteen feet deep, on rocky breaks and in brush piles, is a good bet.

Deep crankbaits and Texas rigs are good for these locations. A shakey head and a drop shot will catch fish on the rough rock ridges, and main lake drop offs along the river channel between marker two and three.

A couple of weeks ago, the Tigers were a graveyard. But they have since awoken and very good numbers of fish have come out of there recently.

I don't have any reports on mainlake rockpiles, as it has been just too windy to fish the open water.. But Lord knows I want to.

This Saturday the Laredo boys monthly tournament will be held. So we will see what they come up with.

I have still not been back on the water.. Today makes twelve days.. And twelve days makes me a bit irritable..

There's always something.. And then there's the freakin' wind!

I guess I am turning into an old man faster and faster all the time.

This new water does make the county ramp more appealing, and I reckon if you want to fish this end of the lake it is now a viable option. It is still only about thirty inches deep out at the mouth of the creek.

The extra water at the state park launch site really doesn't make a lot of difference. As we have been up and down a foot from where we are for the last eight months. Just go easy..

Other than that, once you are on the water it is all good.

Come get you some..

Dove season is only about forty days away, and I am really looking forward to it. There are a lot of birds in our area, and I am fired up to help reduce the numbers.

New licenses for the "new year" go on sale on the fifteenth of next month, so don't forget to to renew yours before the time comes. And you quail hunters, don't forget to put that plug back in your shotgun.. Or if you got a new gun be sure it is in there.. That's one of the most written tickets in the field.

I have ordered me a new set of insoles in preparation for standing in front of that freakin' license machine for hours on end.

I hope to get out soon so I can give you a hands on report. But fishing is good.. Get your ass out there!

Till then..

July 16, 2025: I really did not come on here today to talk about fishing.. But if you must know, fishing is still good. Numbers are very good.. Squarebills on rocks, and soft plastics on rocky drops are doing well.

Medina Lake bass club is supposed to be here this weekend, after a long hiatus, and we'll see how they do upon their return.

But fishing has been pretty good for a long time.. Maybe longer.. And if you ain't been here you have been missing out.

I really came on here to talk about water, which may be a little redundant.. Some folks say that is all I ever talk about. But for good reason. Water is life. For us and the fish..

Here is a pic of our water pumps for the town. Currently not being used.. We are relying on portable trailer mounted pumps to feed the water plant.. That are sucking water out of a hole that was dug to drop the pickup lines in. From what I understand.. But that has been going on for months..

Our water quality from the tap is shitty tasting, smells of chlorine, and has alum settlement that is still settling in your glass. Safe to drink, but far from desirable, and farther from tasty.

We have no choice but to shower and do laundry with it, so if I smell like Clorox, it is authentic, and not some new cologne made by Proctor and Gamble..

Bottled water is big business in Zapata, and thousands of cases a week are sold here.. But not cause we are trying to look cool drinking some fashionable water, it's just that we really have little choice..

And if you are paying three dollars for a bottle of Smart Water, I hope it works as advertised.

And having all these issues, you'd think that the IBWC would send us a few feet of water that Amistad just caught.. It's not like they do not know our plight.

Supposedly they are keeping Amistad low to prevent farther erosion thru the sinkholes, until dam repairs can be implemented. From what I hear, there is not a dam thing being done out there. Seems odd that they hurriedly moved eleven feet of water here a couple of years ago, but are now content to hold the seven and a half feet they have captured since.

Or did they move that eleven feet for some unknown reason.. So we could have a good spawn in the spring of 2024?

I don't think so Tim..

The fact of the matter is that their communication skills suck. They give out next to no information as to what their current plans are, and certainly not what their long term plans are. They are government employees and I reckon they have no need to talk to the peasants that are under their feet.. I reckon we should just be glad that we still have water coming out of our faucets..

Remind me to send them a thank you letter..

Relationships die because of poor communication and a lack of transparency.. Wonder why people hate the government..

We are going to be getting a little water.. But only because of the Grace of God, not because of the IBWC.

Some generous rains fell on our skinny watershed between here and Del Rio in the last ten days, and some of that water is hitting Laredo as I type. It is not a lot of water, but I think it will put about a foot of water in the lake, maybe a bit more..

It should get us safely back on a concrete ramp here in Z town, and give us an acceptable clearance over the silt bar at the mouth of the creek. There have been a few boats traversing the bar.. But it is certainly not for the weak of heart at this level. And you won't run into ten feet of water till you hit marker ten..

What will it do to the fishing? Probably not too much, but it is quite liable to trigger a wave of summer spawning fish which we see here all the time. Some folks don't believe me but I reckon they can't believe their lyin' eyes.. The evidence is all to clear, year after year.

Where do you think a six inch fish came from that you caught in September thru November?

Speaking of small fish, we have a ton of them right now. Lots and lots of fish from ten inches to thirteen inches long. I am sure a lot of them were born just after the first of the year. They are eating like pigs, and growing like the national deficit.

And you can often pull up on a point and catch a bunch of them in a row.. If there are shad, birds, and a friendly wind on that point, odds are there are going to be some good numbers of fish there. And regularly there will be a big son of a bitch mixed in.

So gird your loins and be prepared..

Years ago I thought girding your loins had some sexual context to it.. Somehow related to slamming the ham..

But no..

It does come from the old Hebrew language, and has to do with tying a belt or sash around your waist, to secure your robe, or tightening your waist before going into battle.

Maybe that is where the weightlifters learned it from. Trying to prevent them selves from 'busting a gut'.

I reckon the old Hebrews were not into ham anyway..

Well. Maybe slamming it, more than eating it..

A lot of Texas lakes have greatly benefited from the recent flooding, and certainly we know it came with a cost.

But as we all know, in Texas, the next drought begins right after the flood waters recede.

We'll see what this rise on the Rio Grande brings us.. It'll take at least five days for it all to settle out and we'll see where we are then.

If the IBWC don't decide to let it out..

See you on the water! Hopefully some of it new!

July 14, 2025: I know it's been a couple of weeks since I have written, and I have been reminded of that a few times.. But I have had a lot of irons in the fire, and truthfully the fishing report has not changed a lot.

Fishing is still good, and some days the numbers are excellent. And when you catch a lot of fish you're going to run into a few good ones..

A customer just left the shop and he said they had forty-four fish yesterday before noon. Big fish was a 6-4 and lost another quality fish as well at the boat. That shit is gonna happen..

Last Thursday I had a buddy in town, and we had a similar experience.. I have been telling you that I have been throwing a topwater early, because I want a replay of last summer, when we wore their asses out on a Whopper Plopper.

And the first stop we made on a windy, rocky, point I chunked that sucker out there, reeled it about two feet.. And this big mother fucker whacked the shit out of it and did not get hooked. Looked like you dropped a watermelon in the lake from 10,000 feet..

Gave him multiple more opportunities to play again, but no dice.. And that was the end of my topwater action for the day.. Although I did not fish it too much.

So we slide up the bank to the next gravel bar, and I catch a rat on a square bill. About a minute later my buddy grunts and says that this one ain't a rat..

So that fish kicks his ass for about thirty seconds and we see her come up a few feet from the boat, and she is between six and fifty pounds, and then she goes back down.

And makes a run and cuts herself off on the big motor prop..

Well we shoulda just put it on the trailer about then..

Of course we did not, and we headed out into the open water to fish some old house rock piles. And we caught several chunky keepers and some dinks, but nothing that would weigh four pounds.. And maybe only one that would weigh three and a half.

And by ten thirty the wind was howling, and we are both too old to enjoy that shit.

And speaking of wind, it has not stopped since last Thursday. I did not go yesterday either for the same reason.

I said last time I wrote that getting old ain't for pussies, and I reckon I have reached that milestone..

There were not a ton of folks on the lake the last week for the afore named reason. This week doesn't look much better when it comes to wind. But the fish don't mind it a all.

Crankbaits are still doing very well, and squarebills on shallow points and just off ledges have been catching good numbers. The Spro in Cell Mate and Citrus Shad are great choices.

I have not spoken to a lot of folks that have fished, but I hear that you can pretty much catch em your way. As in a dropshot and a shakey head. Yall let me know how that goes.. I ain't doing it.

I am still throwing a Texas rigged Dinger in Cali Craw gold or Elders Magic. I know them dogs will hunt..

But I reckon most stuff will.. You just gotta get out there and show it to em.

A lot of the reason we went out last Thursday was to fine tune my FFS, and figure out why I get NO SOURCE intermittently. Pisses me off all to be damned..

I have read and watched every video available on the subject, but am still having trouble on occasion. Working on it..

I hate computers, phones, tablets, smart tv's, wireless connections that don't connect. Shitty cell coverage, passwords, website issues, CC processing machines, and about anything electronic these days.

And it ain't like things are going backwards, and we are going to be less dependent on these gadgets in the future. That's about as likely as Joe Biden winning the Tour de France..

As a matter of fact, I believe in the next decade, we will be beating, walking, talking, robots, with tire irons and baseball bats. Might be best to use a wood bat so you don't get electrocuted when the mother fucker shorts out..

I think I'm going back to a cane pole and crickets..

Well unless you have been living under a rock, you know all about the flooding in Cen-Tex and the hill country. No doubt this is about as bad a thing as one could imagine, and our hearts go out to all the families that are affected. The loss of life is astounding.

What can one say, except that we grieve with you, and that we are praying for you, and will continue to do so.

We'll talk about water and lake levels next go round, cause suddenly I am not in the mood.

Come and see us when you can..

July 1, 2025: I don't know about you, but for me it is damn hard to believe that one half of 2025 is already in the books.. I'm aging faster than a barrel of Old Number 7 in Lynchburg..

I was looking in the mirror the other day, and it is plain to see that the guy looking back ain't the same one that was there a decade ago.. My Daddy always said that getting old ain't for pussies..

But then I saw on TV, Rosie bitching about something or the other, and when I saw her face on TV, I suddenly realized that I must be drinking from The Fountain of Youth..

Maybe I ain't doin' so bad after all.. Or maybe a diet of just carpet causes you to get fat and ugly.. They always told me it was lo-cal..

But I digress..

Fishing remains good here in South Texas, and quite frankly, we're about the only water in South Texas you can put a boat on. Sad but true..

Putting a boat on the water here does take someone with a sense of humor, but it is certainly no big deal. Even cavemen are doing it..

The lake has wavered within a two foot level plus or minus since the first of the year. We catch a little.. We loose a little.. And we SHOULD remain close to where we are for the next month or so, unless something weird happens..

Which is entirely possible as the IBWC could drain the lake to find a 10 mm socket they dropped off the dam..

Or we could have a major rain event and be spilling water out in the next month..

I doubt if Vegas is putting out odds on either as of yet.. But we'll see..

Last weekend there were a lot of boats on the water, as the Laredo boys had their monthly tournament, and SAPD bass club from San Antonio was also in town.

Not to mention it was a nice weekend with not to windy conditions and a lot of fun fishermen were out.

Numbers were very good with a few folks telling me that they had not caught this many under's in years. We do have a giant class of fish coming, but you already knew that because I have been talking about it forever.

The Laredo group fished a one day tourney on Saturday, and their results are as follows. The winners had a twenty three pound bag, followed closely by a twenty two pound sack, and third place came in with twenty and change.

SABC fished a two day cumulative event, and their weights were a bit more spread out, with stringers that ranged from forty down to twelve pounds for the first three spots.. Some folks only found the little fish..

Most fish came from rocky locales, but some folks caught some decent fish flipping trees.. Been hearing more and more about the hardwood bite as of late.. But it can be as spotty as a Dalmatian pup..

But from what I hear, you can catch a biggun every now and then flippin' them trees.

A crankbait and a senko have been hard to beat, as they have been for a while.. But I also hear that a dropshot and a shakey head will catch some fish, and often good numbers..

I personally would rather drop an anvil on my toe than throw a drop shot.. Not quite as many moving parts as a C-Rig but just as revolting.. I have already tied more knots that a Persian rug maker and I am good at it.

But it don't mean I like it.. Just broke off a Carolina Rig.. Oh Joy! Let's tie three more fuckin knots..

We have had some rain in the last few weeks, and the country looks great. We had the four inch version a couple of weeks ago, and we have had over one and a half inches here at the shop in the last three days. Rainfall varied widely depending on which cloud you got under. I got a half inch less at my house four miles away as the crow flies..

Yesterday we got a half here, and at the state park it barely got the ground wet. Most of the rain skirted the east side of the lake, and people who braved it had good results.

The fish are biting..

We have more rain in the forecast for today, so we will see what happens.. The tropics have been busy, especially the Pacific.. We'll see what brews up in the next couple of months. And of course the rain we are getting now is from the tropical depression that was short lived in the Bay of Campeche.. Keep em coming..

I have not been on the water in fourteen days, as I have had some issues to deal with. Last week I had cataract surgery (told you getting old sucks) and the doc said no fishing for five days. Hope to get out there soon so I can give you a report first hand. I still believe the son of a bitches will bite a Texas rig..

There is actually a bit of water in the river above Amistad, and they could catch a foot before it is over. Have no idea if they will give it to us, but if they did, we could get out of the Veleno again.. But as of now, I would not try it..

On another note, catfishing and gar fishing have been excellent. Especially when the river has a little current in it. Folks that have access to the river between Zapata and San Ygnacio have been whacking both species..

Friday is the Fourth Of July, marking 249 years that the United States of America has existed on this planet. Of course we no longer resemble what the land looked like at the inception. And of course none of us look like we did the day we were born either.

We all grow, surely in size, and hopefully in spirit and intelligence. But some seem to resist being sponges for the latter. One surely has to work at it to remain ignorant.

I think it was Einstein that said, "The difference between Genius and Stupidity is, that Genius has it limits."

I am not sure a truer witticism has ever been uttered.. And looking around the country today one would be hard pressed to argue with those immortal words.. They didn't save his brain in a jar for nothing..

In any case, when you are lighting the Charcoal this weekend, keep in mind all those who went before us to create, maintain, defend, and improve this greatest concept of human interaction that ever existed on the planet.

And don't ever forget those that are doing their best to fuck it up..

Keep America, America. Do your part.. Speak out with courage and do not let the noisy ragged fringe dissuade you..

Happy Birthday America!

Juneteenth, 2025: I reckon some folks are FTD today, but I am here at work and hard at it.. Of course it is 8:00 and I ain't seen a fisherman one as of yet. I did have my weekly delivery of the Zapata County Times delivered.. All the news that fit to print.. And some that ain't..

I shoulda slept in.

It's been a slow week around here, with damn few fishermen on the lake, and for good reason.. The wind has been howling all week and even at this level this lake is no fun with three foot waves .. There is still a big body of water out there and I am sure the water is well aerated as we speak.

I got out for a few hours last Sunday, but the wind was a bitch and I had a TM battery poop out on me.. So my trip was cut a bit short, and we were on the trailer by ten thirty.. With my battery problem fixed, I planned on Tuesday, but the wind convinced me to puss out.

So I don't have a personal report for you. Other than we caught a few crankbait fish and actually a few flipping trees.. As we were forced to the backs of creeks with the high winds and no power from the dilithium crystals..

The big bass tournament was won last weekend with three fish over seven pounds, and no fish weighing eight or better was caught. I hear they had twenty something boats in the fray..

Weighing one big fish this time of year makes good sense.. Keeping five is going to kill a lot of fish with water temps this warm. We've had this conversation before and we'll leave it at that.

After the rains last week, we caught about fifteen inches of water, and we are now sitting at 255.17, or 46.03 low. Despite the increase in water level you still cannot get out of the Veleno safely.. We need another foot before I would give it a try in a bass boat..

Launching at the state park is still no problem. 4X4 is a plus but probably not essential.

And if you are wondering, no the park has still not done a thing to improve the road to the launch area.. I am sure you are as shocked as I am..

The Pacific down in South America has sure been active so far, and right now there is a Cat 4 storm out there that is supposed to make landfall tomorrow or late today.. Not gonna make it far enough north to do us any good, so we will wait on the next one.

We have a small rain chance tomorrow, but it don't look like much..

On the water, fishing remains pretty good if you can handle the waves. Crankbaits are doing their thing both shallow and deep. But not deeper than about fifteen feet I hear. And I did not fish any of that on Sunday.

A eight or ten XD or the big Spro will get you bit if you have the will to throw those deep runners.. I love throwing a crankbait, but I better be getting bit on those deep running big billed mo-fos cause I get tired of cranking them pretty quick.

A Texas rig or shakey head is a good choice still.. When ain't it..

Nothing is going to change around here for the next three months. Unless we get a big shot of water.

Numbers of little fish are off the hook, and I see really good things coming our way. If they ain't here already..

Forage is still plentiful, and the fish are looking very healthy, and the little fish are as friendly as a fat chick at a frat party..

And just as mean and mad as that gal the next day in English 101, when you won't make eye contact with her.

If you ain't seen it, Zoom has come out with a new 6" fluke. Its between the Super Fluke and the Mag Fluke and I have been throwing it a lot as of late..

They are only making it in a half dozen colors or so for now, and most of them are white or close, and the only ones I have obtained so far are watermelon red.. Which just happens to be the most popular color on earth. Well this part of the earth anyway.

I have thrown it here and at Sugar and the fish really like it.. I plan on throwing it a lot more.

I love new and innovative products, and as you know I have come up with some real winners back in the day.. And I have an idea that is bound to be popular with a lot of folks..

I watched a lot of the US Open golf tourney last weekend, and I believe I have come up with an idea for really improving the golf ball.. And if Titelist or Callaway can pull this off, they will make a fortune..

Ears.. That's right. Ears for golf balls..

Cause all weekend long I heard player talking and yelling at their balls.. And not once did they listen..

Words being thrown around quite often were: Sit! Go! Stop! Cut! Bite! Don't spin!

I think with AI and all, a ball could be programmed to learn a few basic words.

And all I want for this mind spring of an idea is four dozen of these new balls.. And a free round of golf at Augusta..

But if the motherfuckers work, I don't guess I'll need more than one..

One other thing I saw on TV was the riots going on in LA and the like. And I saw a lot police officers on horseback doing crowd control..

Which seemed to work pretty good. But those guys need to go to the library and check out the VHS tape of "A Knights Tale."

Get you some of those jousting sticks where you can poke a hole in the motherfuckers that need it..

Nothing breaks up a riot faster than making some human shisk-a-bobs out of some unruly sum-bitches..

And thank the Founders for the right of free speech. It makes it so easy to figure out who the idiots are.

I have some other ideas for riot control, but in this day and age I reckon it is just a little too barbaric..

But these fuckers, who are waving Mexico's flag, and burning ours.. Well I guess they are just too fuckin stupid to see the irony and hypocrisy there..

We were all born ignorant.. You have to work at it to stay that way..

And being a liberal woman or man is basically saying that I have to pretend to be stupid.. And we know you're not..

Pull your head out of your ass, and do and support what you know is right.. Not what some other freak show says is right..

I reckon that is enough for today.. I'll be back with new great ideas soon.. How do you get on that Shark Tank show..

See you on the water..

P.S. Next Tuesday I will not be in the store, or at least not till late. I have appointments in Laredo and not sure when I will get back..

June 12, 2025: It don't always rain here in Zapata, or this area of Texas in general.. But sometimes when it does it can do it extremely well. Some of the best thunderstorms I have ever seen have been here in Zapata county.

And we had one of them here two nights ago.

The wind blew,

the shit flew,

The rain gauge said,

More than two plus two..

And once again the storm tracked right down the Rio Grande thru the valley thirty miles wide on both sides of the river.. We'll see if them bastards turn the spigot off this time.. But I ain't holding my breath.

It rained above us but not with the intensity that it did here. Laredo got two plus inches in some spots and the rain went all the way up to Eagle Pass. And the river got on a little rise but nothing to write home about. But I'll write about it here.

We are up a foot in the last thirty hours, and I expect we will catch another six inches or so before the local creeks play out and the river goes back to the urinary output of a piss ant..

It could do a little better but not much..

Fishing has remained pretty darn good, and over the weekend there was a little tourney that was actually run out of Mexico over in the Salanaias.

Top stringers both days were twenty eight something, but also decent numbers of twenty pound plus bags weighed in.

I had some buddies here that fished Monday and Tuesday, and they had two eights each day, and the usual story about the ones that got away.. They wanted to fish yesterday but it was too wet to get to the launch area at the state park.

I am sure it is fine today as we had sunshine and a breeze all afternoon. It does get slimy but that clay dries out in a hurry.. You would think they could run some gravel in the low area on the way to the launch..

Who the fuck am I kidding.. That'll never happen..

From the sound of it, it appears the deep crankbait bite is producing some good quality fish. Heard some good things about it this week.

A shakey head and a Texas rig in the same areas are still catching fish. Ten to fifteen feet of water appears to be a good depth for some bigger fish. You can still catch some smaller fish, with an occasional big one mixed in on a squarebill on windblown rocky banks. I am even hearing that the Tigers has awakened from its slumber and some good fish have been caught in there.. It has sucked for me the last two times I fished it..

Overall fishing is still pretty damn good.. But for the most part people are staying away in droves.

But if you know.. You know..

I hear there is a tournament being run out of the state park this weekend, and from what I understand it is an hourly big bass deal.. I don't have all the details but I hear it is on facebook. Check it out if you're interested..

There has been a handful of storms and disturbances down below Mexico in the Pacific, and I think that three of them have actually been named. There is another depression cooking now in the same area. Seems that as been a good hatchery for storms to form the last two weeks.

Nothing major has come of any of them, as water to the north is still too cool to allow for significant development. About the time they get as far north as the tip of the Baja they fall apart.

But the area has been very active, and who knows. Maybe this is the year.. Course I been saying that for a long, long, time.

Remember a couple of decades ago when there was this big uproar about the folks in Canada clubbing baby seals.. I do believe some of this was done for century's by the Inuit's as a means of providing food, and for the manufacture of clothing. It was also done commercially, which was probably the reason for the big uproar from the multi acronym animal rights groups.

And if you have never had chicken fried baby seal, covered in whale fat gravy you are really missing out.

I am sure if they made it here in Zapata, they would also cover it with cheese.

In any case, if any of you seal clubbers are now out of work, it is possible you can slide down the Pacific coast to warmer climes, and get a job in Los Angeles.

Cause there are certainly some motherfuckers down there that need clubbing.

I am all for free speech.. And God knows that I have certainly used the first amendment on my tiny platform for years.

But I don't think I have ever incited violence against any human on the planet.. Although a lot of humans really need an ass kicking..

I am sure however, that I have suggested some violence on the gar and the fuckin cormorants..

What is it about California that makes so many people so fucking crazy, and just plain stupid?

It might be easier to cure cancer (if they really want to) or to solve Pi than to solve that equation..

I was on the corner of Haight and Ashbury in San Francisco in 1969.. Of course I was a thirteen year old boy from the sticks, but even at that tender age I told my Daddy, "These people are whacked the fuck out.."

It was then that I first realized my genius.. (tongue in cheek..)

But since then the disease of liberalism has spread far and wide, and has now ended up in epidemic proportion..

And I don't think there are enough seal clubbers left to get the problem under control..

Well hang in there folks.. Pray for more rain and don't let the world get you down.

And if you need some therapy Falcon Lake can give it to you..

See you on the water!

June 2, 2025: Well with the official start of summer not scheduled till the 20th, it appears that Mother Nature has jumped the gun a bit this year.. But when you think about it, I guess that date is true for the Yankee states.

But down here we have had summer for the last six weeks. And we had a short streak of 100 plus a couple weeks ago, but the last week has seen a lot of showers around, and we have been topping out in the middle nineties. Supposed to approach the century mark later this week. Our water temps are right around the eighty mark.

And with the start of June we have officially started hurricane season, and although most don't know it, we already had a named Pacific storm last week. Alvin petered around along the Baja tip and had a good track predicted, but he only had chipmunk sized nuts and did not manage to do much.

Maybe Simon and Theodore will have more oomph..

There is another area developing down along the southern coast of Mexico.. And don't worry if you are not playing the home game, I will let you know if something real comes of it. I now have the NHC page back in my favorites and I check it most days..

Will this be the year?

Fishing remains pretty good.. At least for those who are spending some time on the water. Unfortunately for me, I am not one of them. I finally got on the lake yesterday after an almost two week hiatus.

In my defense, I spent all day last Sunday putting new countertops in my kitchen with full back splashes and reinstalled all the plumbing. I'm too old for this shit.. In my past life I spent many days laying under kitchen sinks.. And if I never have to do it again that will be just fine.

But back to the fishing.. Yesterday me and my old buddy Ted got on the water together for the first time in a long time. Ted is no Spring Chicken (neither am I) and in January he will be 90.. He has a few mobility issues, but we got him in the fighting chair and he did fine.. He had the first three fish of the day on.. But the landing percentage was at 33%.

I finally let him have his old Waterloo scrape rod and his hooking percentage went way up..

I have been running a lot of windblown points lately, but that pattern was not exactly on fire yesterday. We still caught a few on squarebills doing that, but honestly the senko did better than the hard baits, even on the shallow rocks.

But most of our fish came in water at least eight feet deep. And we caught a few out of brushpiles in the twelve foot range. I never did get Ted on a biggun, but I managed to catch one fish about six pounds off a ledge in about eight feet of water. Here's a pic of Ted holding one of this years spawn.

My fingerprints are all over this..

Saturday the Laredo boys had their monthly tourney, and their results were less than spectacular. I heard there were a lot of small fish caught.. But the top three stringers went 18, 15, and 13 pounds respectively.. Nothing to write home about..

And right now I can tell you that there are a shit ton of little fish in the lake. A lot of ten to twelve inch fish out there.. And they are eating and growing fast..

It is not at all unusual right now to see a lot of these fish schooling and whacking the shad about.. Throw most anything in there while it is going on and you're going to get bit.. This is typical summertime behavior here on Falcon.. So always have a square bill tied on. And sometimes you are going to catch something bigger.. A lot of times..

I am not sure what would not catch a fish right now. I think that getting around them is the biggest deal. I had been throwing the Dinger in Elders Magic as of late, but yesterday they really liked the Cali Craw Gold color.. I put a tip of chartreuse on either.. Fish catching machine..

I have been selling crankbaits of every color as of late, and I am not sure what is not working.. But I can tell you that the cell mate color from Spro is a good choice..

There are a lot of good baits out there, but in today's climate I certainly cannot stock them all.. Wish I could. But I do believe I've got what you need to catch fish here..

The old rock houses also have fish on them. Not all of them but a lot.. Light weighted soft plastics are best, but you are gonna hang up some.. Well.. A lot actually.. Throwing tungsten on them is not a good idea unless you are a trust fund baby.. But if you lose all yours I got more..

A shakey head is still doing good from most reports. A fat trick worm will work. Dark colors seem to work best in deeper water/low light conditions. Although our water clarity on the south end of the lake is very good right now.

Launching remains the same.. No boats out of the Veleno unless it is a duck mud boat or an airboat.

Launching at the state park is great off the sandy side (left) of the point with four wheel drive. Two wheel drive can be done if you are in the exact right spot. But it can be a bit tricky if not.

I hate it, but it is what it is.

The flipping bite is spotty at best.. But a lot of times in the dead of summer the fish will use the shadows as a hangout.. I'll let you know when it starts if it ever does. I did catch a fish on a top water bait the other day, but yesterday they ignored it. But there were not many active fish up shallow for me yesterday. Will try again soon I am sure.

Lake levels stabilizing right now.. But who knows what's coming.. Or going..

Well plans are in the works for the Joseph R. Biden presidential library.. I guess this will be the biggest building in the city of Scranton.. The place where ol Corn Pop grew up. A street savvy kid with hairy legs and a nose that could sniff out a prepubescent little girl a block away..

And land there for the project should be pretty cheap. Cause when you drive down the road your windshield gets covered in oil, and you'll probably get cancer.. Or possibly be eaten by cannibals..

Or so I hear..

Tough neighborhood..

The Democratic National Committee is already doing a book drive to help populate the many shelves that will certainly be available. Great efforts are being made to procure first editions of many publications.

And yesterday their website put out a wanted list of books that they are looking for. And if you have one of the ones on their list you can donate to the library for the low fee of $499.. And become a part of history..

Most in demand is Dick and Jane's, 'See Spot Run'.

Followed by the Dr. Seuss' classics, 'The Cat In The Hat', and 'Green Eggs And Ham'.

Hunter was also excited to participate with acquisitions, but when he found out it was Dick and Jane, and not Dick in Jane, he withdrew his name from consideration as curator..

Of course presidential libraries are also part museum, so there will be many artifacts on display as well.

A green Corvette convertible will be on display, surrounded by many file boxes of who knows what all.

A faux beach with a lawn chair and umbrella. Several pairs of vintage aviator sunglasses. A bicycle with training wheels..

A full size Baskin Robbins mock up. A pointy white hat..

And large box of Depends..

And of course you always see displays where you push the red button to hear a narration describing the display you are looking at.

And the first one you come to will have a pic of Obamma. And when you push the red button what you will hear is the immortal words of Barry saying, "Never underestimate the ability of Joe Biden to fuck things up"

And there will be a few items from Joe's closest family members.

There will be a copy of Dr. Jill's Phd diploma.

An exact replica of Hunters laptop. A crackpipe.. Results from a 23 and Me report..

And a crumpled up copy of an ATF form 4473..

Well at least ol Joe finally beat Medicare..

Do you remember a year or so ago when Biden was asked if he would pardon his son.? On several occasions.. And he emphatically said "NO" he would not pardon Hunter..

Tums out that that is one of the only truths he told while in office..

When all the pardons were issued he did not know if the zipper went in front or in back..

The autopen is mightier than the sword.

Who knew pre-pardoming someone was a thing?

I have been to confession many times, but I never got forgiveness in such a broad manner without first admitting the sin..

All this pardon shit is ten times the magnitude of Watergate and some of the most hypocritical political shit I have ever seen.

And you know how Jimmy hates hypocrisy.. This shit reeks..

And it is going to take a while to get the stench out of DC.. Hopefully the cleanup and disinfections is underway..

Well till next time, keep your powder dry and your reels lubed up..

And come see us when you can.. See you on the water..

May 21, 2015: Well we're three weeks into May, and only about a week away from the official start of Hurricane season. Forecasters are once again predicting an above average year for the US, but I don't put too much confidence in their ability to predict numbers.

Will there be some? Sure.. But only God knows how many and where they will hit, and the only one he has told is Mother Nature.. And she certainly as the ability to hold her tongue.. We'll see when we see.

And after last year it is certainly obvious that you don't have to live near the coast to be adversely affected by one. Last year Helene took her rains six hundred miles from the gulf to deliver horrific rainfall amounts to North Carolina. And it will be years till they fully recover, if that is even possible. Many lives were lost and the destruction of property was indescribable.

And if you have read any of my writings for the last twenty years, it may sound to you that I like hurricanes..

Truthfully the only ones I like are properly positioned, and properly sized.. None of which I have seen in fifteen years. And we certainly do not get to pick the where and when.

Big Bend to Zapata can certainly be considered a desert. Some spots worse than others. But Zapata is included in what is known as the Chihuahuan Desert. Our annual rainfall average here is about eighteen inches, but we can vary wildly.. Either way.. But even in an above average year, our lake levels do not get a lot of help with local rainfall.

It may save us water, if the valley gets soaked. Sure. But the big rains are rare on our water shed between here and Amistad.. It can happen, but it is rare. Last time it happened was back in 2018.. And we caught about fifteen feet of water.

And what a blessing that would be about right now.

We'll see what this summer brings, and hopefully some good Pacific storms will fill Mexico's lakes on the Conchos.. Cause as I have said before, that is where the big water comes from.

This morning we are sitting at 254.7, down about 1.80 feet in the last five weeks.. And we are dropping very slowly as we speak. If you are dreaming of Mexican water coming to Falcon in a way that will help lake levels, cut it out.. It ain't happening..

If you have heard the chatter on the National stage that Mexico is giving water to Texas, you need to read the fine print.. That water is for the valley, not for the fishing industry on Falcon Lake. As has been demonstrated by our falling water levels.

Until Texas and the feds get serious about providing water to west texas this will be a problem well into the future. Sure we will have times when we have abundant water. But more years than not we will be short..

If we can move electricity all over the country, we can certainly move water.. I have been saying for years that it is past time to dig that ditch from NE Texas to the Pecos.. Oklahoma and Arkansas would probably love to share some water with us at certain times. We could help them, and help us..

What the fuck is a few billion anyway these days..

But until that happens, I am still hoping for a benevolent storm to pay us a visit. With the proper parameters, of course..

Fishing is still pretty good, but results vary from day to day. And a lot of it is dependent on the wind. Too much.. No good. Too little.. No good.

A friend and I fished on Sunday, and were off the water by eleven. We had about eighteen fish with a seven and one near six. Wind was livable till about ten. Then it got breezier that we liked. No good.

I fished yesterday and there was nearly no wind at all.. We caught about fifteen with no fish over three, and were off the water at 10:30.. No wind. No bueno..

Some fish have returned to offshore rockpiles, aka old houses, and the seven I caught was off of one of them.. Along with several other nice fish. But not all rockpiles are created equal.. Funny how they are hanging on some and not others.

Numbers are certainly coming off of wind blown rocky points, and I have a couple that have been good to me. A squarebill is the ticket there, or a small swimbait will work as well. Shad pattern..

Main lake rock near the river channel is still good shit. From marker two to three. Sit in twenty plus and cast to the rock. Throw a senko or similar.. Take lots of weights and hooks.. Good quality fish are being caught there on the right days.. Concentrate on the shoreline changes.. Those dips and jut outs are better than a straight bank. Fish those points on the ends of the long ledges that are out of the water.

It ain't rocket science..

The Tigers have been slow for me and my friends.. Ain't sure what to say.. But I have not found them there as of late. I am sure they are in there, but I have pretty much lost contact with them. I have a theory I am going to try next time out..

The riprap on the dam has turned from smokin to frozen, and fish there are few and far between. For me anyway.

Yesterday I caught one fish on a Whopper Plopper. And this will probably lead me to ruin.. As I will be chunking that thing when I should be throwing something else. One of my customers said they caught a few on top as well..

I will report on the progress of the topwater bite. I hope it gets as good as last year..

Launching at the state park is easier at this level than it was a week ago.. Put in on the left side of the point as you go out. Look at the buoys and put in in line with them or slightly west,, Good slope.. Solid bottom.. It gets rocky and some rough as you go toward the point.

Don't know what he near future holds for water levels.. IBWC has not put out a report since the 13th.. Good ol Government work ethic.. It'll never let you down..

Here's a few bits of wisdom I gleaned this week.

It's hard to become a millionaire with a minimum wage work ethic..

From a traffic report I heard on the radio: Be careful near exit six, as there is a "large object" in the left lane..

Yeah.. No shit.. There are a lot of large objects in all the lanes.. They're called cars and trucks. A little specificity would have been nice.. Like it's a box.. A refrigerator.. Or a mattress that blew off the roof of a Prius.. (Don't say you ain't seen it)

In hard times, learn to shop with some discernment. The last few years should have taught us a lot about that.. Some shit you just couldn't get, and what you could, cost double.. Like my Dad said, stock up when it is on sale.. And if it is free, take two..

Buying a sleeve of ProV1's at the clubhouse is about akin to buying a Bloody Mary (or several) at the airport bar.

Not a bargain price at either.. But I've done both many times.. And why in the fuck did I think I would make it to the turn on only three balls..

And one political note.. Re: Like with Trump talking to the Houthis about them fucking with shipping and attacking American ships.. And the Houthis seem to have ceased/slowed their attacks because we have been bombing the shit out of them.

I would go on TV.. Make nice with them and say that we want to be friends and get along and all.. But when the cameras are off and the press is cleared from the room, I would tell their leaders that if they do not quit, and I mean immediately, we are going to bomb you down to the sand, and stick an IED so far up your ass you'll taste it before it goes off.. Same with the Iranians..

That should do it.. But I am sure we will pussyfoot around and put up with their shit for decades to come.. Hope I'm wrong..

Next time I go out I am not taking a bass rod. I'm going to go look for some crappie.. And I'll report what I find..

Till then..

See you on the water!

May 14, 2025: Summer has arrived here in Zapata this week, and I reckon it is arriving in your town if you are anywhere in South Central Texas. We were 104° yesterday and allegedly we are heading for near 110° today..

I don't know if it will get that hot, but I'll take it over blue jeans and jackets and long sleeved shirts any day. The laundry load is certainly decreased in the summer, and as far as I know you never have to shovel sunshine..

So bring on the heat and get some sun on your meat..

Yesterday we got some fish delivered from PAW, and the number bandied about was somewhere around 250, 000. I tried to count em but them little motherfuckers swim too fast..

I wish we had more cover in the water, but it is what it is, and the volunteers that scattered the fish around the lake did the best they could to release them in areas that at least had some hardwoods and some chunk rock so they at least had a chance to hide a little bit.

It is always a guess as to how many fish that are stocked will survive to maturity, and we used to throw out 5% as a number, but it is always a guess. And of course that percentage can vary wildly depending on the cover available.

We did not get any fish last year, and some of that was by design. We had a tremendous spawn as we had a lot of water in the thick cover that was inundated by eleven feet of water we got from Amistad. And by the time PAW had fish ready to deliver we had dropped all that water out of the trees and were pretty much down to the bare banks.. Not unlike we are now.

Two years ago we also got lucky when we stocked, as we were enjoying a rise in lake levels and we had a lot of thicketry in the water when the fish arrived.

All this stocking is good, but it cannot come anywhere close to what a good natural spawn can do. And keep in mind that stocking fish is not meant to increase to number of fish in the lake, just to influence genetics.

Mother Nature has a way of balancing all lakes bass populations, and their growth rates and general condition, and we all know that it all boils down to water quality, forage, and most importantly habitat.

And all these things are interdependent on each other. You're not gonna have a good forage population if you have not good habitat..

Grass equals Bass.. The three word poem as old as time..

We have damn little cover in the lake right now. But fortunately we have a shit ton of bait swimming around out there. And while the bass may have to work a little harder to catch their lunch, as ambush locations are hard to come by, they seem to be doing just fine. And we have a very healthy population of fish, and fortunately, we have a big population of small fish. And I see the next few years to be as awesome as this year has been.

And just because it is hot certainly don't mean the fish aren't biting. We had six or seven boats out yesterday spreading out fish, but that did not start till about noon. And most all of them fished the am before the work started. And all of them said the fish were very active yesterday. These fish like hot water.. And we got some..

Thanks to all who helped out yesterday.. This is immensely better than how most lakes get stocked.. As in back down the ramp, and dump em out.. Gracias!

This weekend Alamo Bass Club is coming to town, and they have some good fishermen in their ranks and I am looking forward to seeing how they do. Sunglasses, sombreros, sunblock, and plenty of water..

Launching down at the state park is no sweat, and actually it is pretty easy at this level. And I had time to kill yesterday waiting on the fish trucks, and I surveyed what looks like the best place to launch. And as you drive out the point you will notice two buoys out in the lake that are the no wake buoys that led to the old canal. If you line up those two buoys and back out right at em you're on a rocky slab like flat that is good and solid. I did not try it but it looks like a two wheel drive truck would have no problems. But anywhere in that area with four wheel drive is no sweat..

The reports are all still good.. The fish are in the summer time mode of off rocky drops and on windblown points.. Bush piles are still a bit hit and miss.. Think rock..

In other news.. The liberal media found out this week that our past president might have had some cognitive issues.. I have no idea why they would come out now and speak of it as if it were some revelation that was just discovered.

As a matter of fact, they were complicit in convincing the stupidest of motherfuckers that he was sharp as ever and on top of his game.. When anyone with an ounce of discernment could see after thirty seconds that the cheese had done slid off his enchiladas..

And these talking heads all say that the white house staff deceived them. If that is the case then they had their heads so far up their asses that they had no possible way to be objective on any front. And they weren't.

And I can't believe that anyone that calls themselves a journalist could be so stupid.. No use doing any investigating or questioning any thing at all..

Just swallow the party line, including the hook and the sinker..

I'm glad what we all knew to be true has finally been admitted by the left wing media. And if you think that they did not know what was up then I will have to question your intelligence. Even they are not that dumb.

The whole fuckin' thing was, is, and has been a conspiracy from the time they were hiding him in the basement back before the 2020 election.

But you already knew that..

I hate these hypocrite finger pointing motherfuckers.. And I hope their news outlets go bankrupt and they put reruns of Hogan's Heroes and Gilligans Island on in heir place..

You can only sell bullshit so long.. Cause sooner or later even the most dim-whited are going to start smelling it..

Well that was fun.. And if you want to have some, get your ass down here and go fishin.. Cause I cain't catch em all myself..

See you on the water..

May 8, 2025: Part Two! Just heard that we are supposed to get fish next Tuesday, May 13th.. If you would like to help distribute some fingerlings about the lake give me a call and I will give you the details.. They will be stocked at the State Park.. If you have a boat and want to help out it would be great.. You do need good working livewells of course. Things could change, but that's the day it is planned..

Call me at 956-765-4866 or email me at NoWeighers@aol.com if you have questions or want to help. They usually arrive between 10:00 and Noon.

May 8, 2025: We're a week into May, and so far it has been a wet one. Last Saturday night we got an inch and a half in the middle of the night, and Wednesday morning, and I mean early morning, like 2 AM, we got hammered by a super cell that dropped two to four inches of rain in an hour. And some of the best light show shit I have seen in a while.

And I swear the the thunder was arriving before the lightning.. It was one of those that everybody was talking about.. Especially the folks in San Ygnacio, as hail beat the crap out of a lot of folks vehicles.

The creeks between us and Laredo were/are running but it won't be a big difference maker.. But It cain't hurt.

Anything to help alleviate the insatiable thirst of the valley.. I ain't sure what is happening with all the water that's going to the river.. Hopefully it is all going to good use..

Even with the two feet of water from Amistad, we are down right at a foot and a half in the last two weeks. Not to mention all the water they are taking out of Sugar..

And if you are down here, or are coming down here, do not attempt to go out of the Veleno.. Or you might end up like these guys..

See the problem? Yep.. No running lights being utilized...

The silt at the mouth of the creek is probably less than one foot under the water.. So unless you got an airboat do not attempt to go out from this end now.. That mud will create a suction to the bottom of your boat that would make Linda Lovelace proud.. And there will not be a happy ending..

I will say that the fish like dropping water better than they like rising water. And the bite is still pretty good, but some days are diamonds and some are coal.

I fished last Sunday and on Tuesday. And results were not spectacular but they were good. On Sunday we had about fifteen fish, being on the water from about 9:30 till maybe two. Two fish about four pounds were the best.

On Tuesday I believe we had seventeen, and we were the first to launch, but were off the water by Noon. We caught two fish about four, and one that was just over six. Jay went with me on Tuesday, and he threw nothing but giant worms.. And while I tried to force him to put a crankbait on, he said he was only fishing for bigguns.. And he did catch a four plus on a 12" gnarly worm from the past.. And a few others.. But the crankbait worked best..

We caught a few on a senko as well.. We flipped some trees in the back of one of the no name creeks south of Tigers, and had only one bite.. But on the way out we saw a newly exposed gravel point sticking out with a few egrets sitting on it.. So WTF we were only a hundred yards from it and the waves were lapping on it pretty good so we putted over and Shazam! Those fish were stacked up on it like Twinkies on Rosie's kitchen counter, and we caught about ten or so including the six on it.

We tried a couple of similar looking points in the general vicinity, and caught a few, but the first one we stopped on was certainly the best.

But the answer to the question is this.. If you see water and waves on a gravel or rock point or bank, and there is a flock of egrets there, chances are that there is a shit ton of shad up there. And if there is a shit ton of shad there, there are going to be bass there.

It ain't rocket science.. I also had another fish on that was kicking my ass, and I brought him/her/it towards me about twenty yards.. And the son of a bitch came off..

I have a love/hate relationship with crankbaits. But honestly fishing one is a lot like witchcraft.. Someday's you can put a spell on the motherfuckers with it, and some days you're jinxed from the start..

But I'm gonna say Tuesday was a good day.

Don't you just hate it when your crankbait just stops.. And you're looking out towards it and your line is ripping upwards and you know that big bitch is about to come out of the water like a Trident Missile.. Twisting and turning and shaking her head like a dog shittin' peach seeds..

Well actually I love it. But many times the bait goes flying like sparks from an anvil.. (Man I had a really good analogy to use there but I am trying to keep this R-rated or less..)

I caught my PB on a crankbait, so I ain't going to badmouth em too bad. But they can be hard on the heart..

I know I have been talking a lot about the Spro in Cell Mate color.. And for whatever reason, them bastards are liking it right now. Last summer it was all about Citrus Shad.. And maybe we'll get there. But for now I won't leave home without at least two tied on..

If you remember last summer, we were wearing them out on top water with a Whopper Plopper.. It was a little later in the year, but I want to be the first to know if they are going to eat it again this go round. So I tied one on and had it on the deck on our first stop, I threw a squarebill a bit and caught a few dinks, so I picked up the Plopper and was going to wail that fucker out there about fifty yards across the point..

Well not recalibrating my cast from a bait that weighs a half once, to one that weighs about three, caused me a backlash of biblical proportion. So needless to say, I did not get to check out the topwater bite..

That looks a lot better than it did before I reeled about fifteen feet of line on top of it. Two cormorants were trying to lay eggs in it.. That's something I can fix this afternoon.

There are damn few folks out on the water during the week. I think on Tuesday, a beautiful day, there were maybe eight rigs at the launching area.. Notice I did not say ramp.. We are still off the point and will be for the forseeable future. But it ain't a big deal.. Especially when you know what might be waiting for you out in that water.

Some of the better fish I have caught the last two trips out, have been in about 10-12 feet of water on main lake rock, as in along the river channel from State Park Cove to the boulders at marker three. You can easily sit in twenty five fow and cast to the bank. Somewhere in that range you are going to find the fish.

Throw a soft plastic like a senko or a worm on a Texas rig and you will catch some fish. I have high confidence in several spots right now, and I am going to get out there as soon as I can and see if I can expand on this theory..

Theory my ass.. This shit is working..

Don't forget this weekend is Mothers Day. So don't get your ass in a crack by forgetting.

Love you Mama! See you soon.

And I hope to see you soon, here in the shop, or on the water!

April 30, 2025: It's the last day of April, but the way the wind has been blowing you'd think it was the middle of March. So I did not fish Sunday or yesterday, and quite frankly it has given me a case of the redass.. Some ranchers reported the barbs being blown off fences..

Tomorrow looks like it may be a day a man in less that the Queen Mary might survive.

And with the winds being what they are, there are damn few fishermen out on the lake. I was in here all day yesterday and never turned on the cash register..

Cain't say I blame anyone for not venturing out in that shit..

Last weekend the Po' Boys were down here, and while they specialize in having a good time, the fishing contest is still front and center. And few of them a fish a lot, and they fish a different format than most tournies.

They weigh three bass and five white bass a day. Which is an interesting concept.

Most of the fishermen caught fish, and a bunch of four to six pound fish were caught. I did not hear of a monster being brought to the scales. And I don't have final results.. When I get them I will pass them along.

The tournament concludes with the prize drawings, award ceremony, and a giant fish fry on Saturday evening.

Thanks to all of you who stopped in!

They have been pulling water out of here pretty hard, and I have no idea why, as stated in my last report. But amazingly they quit last night and we have kinda leveled off. We are sitting at 255.22, down over a foot in five days. And about four inches lower than we were on the fifteenth of the month.. So water caught, and even more released..

More in the news yesterday about Mexico repaying some water debt.. But no direct statement of from where and when. I can say that they are moving a shit ton of water from El Cuchillo to Sugar, and they are letting a lot of it out into the river below us.. Of course this does nothing for our water level here at Falcon. Except maybe save us some..

Sugar is at 103% as of this morning. Seems like they could have done that earlier instead of robbing us.

Rain is back in the forecast for the next four or five days, and we'll see what materializes. Who knows this time of year as we could have a flood or a drizzle..

Today there were two boats on the lake. One got here at 11:00 and headed south. One returned and stopped here at 1:00.

They caught a few fish but had boat issues and fished close to the ramp. I did not talk to anyone who fished yesterday.

Generally the consensus is that the fish are all postspawn, and the quality fish are living in ten to fourteen feet of water. Off points and break lines. I am certainly going to have to change my game plan the next time out.. If I ever get there. I do have a bunch of ledges I want to try. And several I have not fished since the fall..

So all in all, there is not a lot to report on.. Slow times around here. So if you are looking for a place with some elbow room, come on down.

I hope to be able to give you a hands on report before too long. The wind will quit one of these days..

April 24, 2015: Optimism has been defined as hopefulness or confidence in the successful outcome of something. And I have always been an optimistic person.. But optimism can also set one up for disappointment on a regular basis.

Some folks look at the glass as half empty.. Some look at it as half full.. I try to look at it as refillable..

I'm speaking metaphorically of course, and in my case the glass is Falcon Lake..

And I am beginning to wonder if option three above should be removed from the equation..

In the last three months, Falcon has been up and down more than a hookers panties.. (I was gonna use the stock market, but I like the hookers panties better..)

But when you look at the numbers, we are actually .65 higher than we were about a month ago.. And .61 higher than two months ago. But we have had a high frequency of getting water and letting it out..

And speaking of letting it out, they are.. And for what I have no idea.. Three weeks ago the entire valley was under water..

Last week I was optimistic that we were going to catch some water. They let two feet out of Amistad, and we have squandered most of it already.. We actually came up about six inches, but by the end of the week it will probably be all gone.

And while this is supposed to be a fishing report, it seems that I spend more time talking about water than I do fishing.

And after all these years I have discovered that fish don't live very long if they ain't in the fuckin' water..

So I am always optimistic that we will get more.. And just like the Cowboys, maybe this is our year..

I think the Cowboys and the IBWC need new management at the top..

As we head into a new hurricane season, and a football season, optimism is high.. Will it be another year of no water and no playoffs? Or will one or both break out and shock the world..

Fishing has still been very good, and traffic on the lake has subsided as most of the Winter Texans have headed for locales far north of Texas. And I am about out of playmates for the next few months..

This weekend however, the group known as the Po' Boys have made their return to Falcon, for their annual soiree of bassin' and bullshittin'. They have been doing this for over forty years. Their fishing contest will be Friday and Saturday. Always good to have them in town..

Wind has again been a factor this last week, and it makes it hard to fish open water of course.. And traversing it can be no fun either. But it has been doable and a few have.

I fished Tuesday morning, the first time in two weeks, and I did not catch them as good as I did the last time out. It was windy and cloudy, but manageable, and I ran up the lake past the Tigers and fished some rock where I have been wearing them out.. But the fish were not on the bite like the last few times I was there.

We caught about fifteen fish hop-scotching around the lake, and even peeked into the Tigers for a few squarebill fish.

There were about ten rigs at the ramp when we put in. And strangely enough, we were the only boat on the dam for the first hour, and saw no other boats in the Tigers in the hour we were in there.

Evidently they knew something I didn't..

We caught 80% of our fish on moving baits. and the fish did not seem to like the senko I been killing them on.

We were off the lake by noon, as my mojo was not working that day.

I did talk to some folks yesterday that did good, and one group said they had thirty something fish, but I did not see a lot of folks. I should have more info after this weekend.

It is still all about rocks.. And these fish will be out on ledges and offshore rock as the spawn is all but through. But there are always some shallow fish, and the bank beaters will still catch fish.

The shad spawn is waning, but there are still some up on the very shallow rock. Windblown gravel will have a lot of bait and birds on it.. Throw a square bill or a spinnerbait up there. I think it is time to get my Whopper Plopper back out..

But I think that after nine in the morning it is time to get a bit offshore on some ledges and brushpiles.. Or long points that taper into deeper water..

Summer is coming, and we are now chasing post-spawn fish.

Adjust accordingly. Of course someone today will whack em in two feet of water..

Launching remains the same.. And for now you can still get out of the Veleno. We'll see how long and hard water releases go, but if they continue as they are today, another week and it will be marginal at best.

I hope you and your family got together over the Easter weekend to celebrate the resurrection of our savior Jesus Christ. Keep in mind how trivial all the things I discussed above are when you look at the big picture.

We are here for a very short time.. Try to leave things better than you found them, and don't be afraid to leave all the goodness you can here on this earth. God will provide you with plenty more when you die.

He is Risen!

April 16, 2025: I guess whomever decided to put up these eyesore windmills in our county did their homework. I mean I guess you'd want to put up windmills where there is wind..

These Mo-Fo's gotta be making a fortune.. Cause it is a windy son of a bitch..

Wind kept me off the water on Sunday, and yesterday things just did not work out, and I haven't been on the water in over a week.. And it's killing me..

But plenty of other folks have, and they're all making me jealous because I have not gotten out.

Reports are still excellent, with good numbers of good fish still reported. Lots of five to eight pound fish are still being caught.

In a nutshell: Go throw a senko on the dam. It is amazing the number of fish that have been caught there in the last two months.. And it don't stop.. Crazy..

I can't believe it keeps cranking them out with all the boats that camp out on it.

But if you don't like crowds, that is no big deal either.. Fish are being caught on rock from the Tigers south.

Just go fishing..

If you follow along with Falcon, water levels, and Mexico, you have probably heard a lot of talk about Mexico paying some of their water debt back to the US.

It appears that we finally nave an administration with some nuts, and they cut off water allocations to Mexico down around Tijuana, where we give water to Mexico out of the Colorado.

Which in turn motivated Mexico to release some water for the farmers in the valley below us. Which is a bit of a puzzler with the things that have happened lately.

Let me fill in the blanks.. I have three things to address..

Several months ago, Mexico and the US came to an agreement to put water out of El Cuchillo and Sugar lake into the Rio Grande. Which can be done with their canal system that has the means to divert water into the river instead of just along the river on the Mexican side to Mexican farmland. It is a hell of a system they have and water from these two lakes irrigates thousands of acres.

And as luck would have it, big floods occurred in Mexico near Monterrey late last summer, filling them both to over pool for a while.

And while these waters are 100% allocated to the Mexicans, as per the 1944 treaty, instead of just letting it make its way through the system unused, an agreement was reached to put it in the Rio Grande and let US farmers use it, and what was used would be credited towards their water debt.

Also, Sugar ran over the top of the dam for months until recently, and I am not sure where that water ended up. Either in the river or down their irrigation system.

Someday when you are bored, go to Google earth and follow the irrigation ditches that run along the border in Mexico.. It is impressive.. And how far south they go is really amazing.

So I am not sure where we stand in that agreement as of now.. Have we received water from them as per that agreement as of yet? Hell if I know..

Currently Sugar is at 97% of pool and El Cuchillo above it is at 93%. Lots of water in that System. And if another big rain occurs in the Monterrey area there is gonna be a shit storm from all the flooding that happens..

Item two:

Less than three weeks ago the Valley got hammered with rainfall, and some areas received more than 20 inches.. Lots of areas had more than ten. It rained seven and a half at the dam, and got heavier as the rains headed south.

So why the valley needs water right now I do not know. A lot of crops were flooded out.. But maybe a few acres did not get enough to satisfy their needs.. Although I cannot imagine them needing water now.

But in spite of my feeble imagination, right now they are releasing 37 cubic meters a second from Falcon.. And we have dropped more than six inches in the last ten days.

You fuckin' figure it out..

Item three.. Which relates to the hairy sack action I mentioned above..

When Mexico was told to go pound sand when they asked for water out of the Colorado, they decided to pay back some of their water debt, post haste.

And water is heading our way out of Amistad as I type.. And it started last Sunday morning from what I have seen. The water is just now hitting Laredo, (mid day Wed.) and it should start to influence Falcon levels starting tomorrow afternoon.

Release rates from Amistad are running about 120 CMS, so we are going to be about 80 CMS ahead of our release rate, if things remain as they are. But who knows..

These are current observations. And I won't speculate about what will happen.

But I will speculate this: I imagine what the Mexicans are doing is releasing water they own out of Amistad, and giving Texas ownership of what they deliver.

None of this water coming to Falcon, is coming out of Mexican lakes that are located in Mexico. With one small exception.. Luis Leon is releasing about 8 CMS and this water will end up in the Rio Grande at Big Bend.

And I have no idea if that will last.. I have no ideas how long the releases from Amistad will last..

IBWC communicates with its dependents about as good as.. Well let's face it they just don't communicate worth a shit..

Never have.. I guess that with only a hundred and fifty million plus ($150,000,000) budget they just can't afford a public relations and information officer.. Times are tough all over...

DOGE should look at this..

So how low Amistad will go, and how much we'll catch are both good questions. And I'll let you know as soon as they let me know.. Don't hold your breath..

Well I got a lot more to say, but I am typed out..

But next time I'll give you a report on the party of perpetual outrage..

Spoiler alert: They're so fucked up..

Fishing here is still great.. Why you ain't here I don't know..

See you on the water!

April 9, 2025: We have had some weird and wacky weather as of late, and a lot of it relates to the wind. As in last weekend. And it blew so had that the fleet was grounded last Saturday and Sunday.

And we ain't talking about a south wind, but a full blown gale from the north, as I reckon Mother Nature decided that winter wasn't through with us yet. We had lows in the forties the last few mornings, and that is fairly uncommon in these parts. It is April after all.

A few other things happened as well.. Last writing I was talking about all the rain from here to the valley. And some places south of us are still recovering from the flooding that occurred. And will be for a long time. It was a true disaster for some folks..

And the ground is wet from the dam to Brownsville. But it still did not stop the Mexicans from releasing four inches of water from the lake last week.. Like I have said in the past.. I have no fuckin' idea what IBWC is doing or will do with the water..

The Veleno here in Zapata ran for three days, and the gar made a run up the creek to spawn a bit. Which had the locals excited as they pursued them for a few days till the water ran its course.. I heard the water was waist deep under the 83 bridge for about twenty four hours.

If you are a gar lover, don't be concerned.. We have millions of them fuckers..

But it has turned dry around here, with the three or so inches that fell here in Zapata just a memory. But it did wonders for the fields and fauna. Our normally drab and dreary dry season plants and trees have exploded with blooms and flowers and it is downright beautiful to see. The Retama trees are totally covered in bright yellow blooms. The Spanish Daggers are toped out in their usual white hats, and the Wild Olive trees are in particularly extravagant dress as we speak.

Here's a pic of mine right behind the shop.

It is amazing what a little rain can do to this country..

Well I guess we should talk a little fishing, but I reckon that anybody that wants to know what is going on around here already knows.

We're kicking their ass..

It has been as good as I can remember in the last six or eight years. It is no big deal to go out and catch thirty pound stringers a lot of days, especially if you know the lake a bit.

And numbers can be really good, and yesterday I wish I had had some kids with us, and I would have just sat there and took fish off the hooks and rebaited. We had an easy fifty fish, with a lot of scrappy two to three pounders in the mix. We did not have a really big bite yesterday, and our two biggest were a 5-14 and a 5-2.

I had another one on I'd have like to seen, but operator error caused a malfunction in the hookset function. Actually it was poor hook/bait selection on my part.

I had a 4/0 wide gap hook tied on that I was using on a senko.. But I decided I was going to put a Mag Fluke on there to see if they would bite it. And I was too lazy to retie a bigger hook.. Although I had already retied ten damn times after breaking off in the rocks on many occasions.

I gotta go back to lead on these rocks..This tungsten shit is getting too damn expensive..

But anyway.. First cast I threw the big fluke at a rock pile, this sumbitch gets a hold of it and I set the hook.. Thought I had it going my way.. Fish taking drag and swimming around in open water. And just came off.

No hook penetration.. My bad.. But I did find out they would bite the big fluke.. Threw it a bit more but was having trouble sticking them and was out of big hooks.. Next trip.. Heavier line and bigger hooks.

A week ago yesterday, we caught thirty plus fish, and were in the truck at noon. We weighed a bunch of fish and kept track of our best five. We had 29.54 and had two six pluses and a bunch of fives.. Had another twenty pound sack to go with the top five.

It was an awesome morning..

With the new water, launching has remained easily doable, although it is still off the bank as in before described locations. No sweat.

We are at 256.69, or 44.51 low. We are about two feet away from launching at the Butterfly. And if you're wondering, we need at least eight feet to launch on the concrete at the sate park.

Sounds like a tall order. But we are approaching our wet months (if there is such a thing down here) and who knows, this might be the year. It's gonna happen sooner or later..

Fish are being caught on a plethora of baits, and spinners, cranks, and soft plastics have all been good. I do believe a senko is the best thing going, but I am sure some folks will argue with me.

I still think most fish are ten feet and in, and you can catch a lot of fish right off the rocks.

Lots of quality fish are being caught.

We do have a very good crop of fish just under keeper size. And one year from now they will weigh three pounds.

And we have enough light cover water in the water to provide some protection for this years fry. Hopefully we will retain the water we now have..

We will be receiving some fish this year from PAW, and I will be looking for help to spread them across the lake on the days they arrive. I will give you all the notice I can, but when it happens it happens.

Not too soon of course, but not too far either.. So put it on your calendar.. Just circle the next two months!

If you haven't fished down here in the last few months, you have really fucked up. But there's still time..

And if you make it, I'll see you on the water!

March 31, 2025: March has come and all but gone, and it is hard to believe that a quarter of the year has already passed. But time flies when you are having fun, and this year has been the best spring of fishing we have had in at least a half decade.

What do you think about the term, a half decade? I heard the big executive from PBS use it the other day when they were questioning her about some of the ridiculously liberal, batshit crazy things she said five years ago.. But she couldn't remember saying them as it was a half decade ago..

Holy shit, I remember every fish I have caught in the last five years.. Errr.. Half decade. Maybe some folks' memory ain't as good as mine..

A woman can usually remember if you left the toilet seat up back in 2002..

Ah, but I digress.. And ladies, don't think I am picking on you, I'm just complimenting your memory's..

If you have been watching, I am sure you noticed that we had a shower go across the lower border last week. Here in Zapata, we got three inches of rain. At the Tigers it rained about five inches, and at the dam it rained seven plus, depending on who you ask.

The farther south you went, the more rain you saw. Lots of communities had ten inches or more, and a few specific spots received over twenty inches of rain..

And when I said we need people standing on rooftops, I meant on rooftops north of Zapata. Not that I would wish a damaging flood on anyone. But floods are a fact of life just like droughts.. And one of these days the pendulum will swing back the other direction and we will have a lot of water in the lake.

Hope the rooftop model does not come into play when it does..

We have come up about two feet since the start of the rain event. And I think we are topping out, but I am sure we will catch a few inches before the rain influx is over.

The Valley should need no water for quite some time, except for flushing toilets and washing the remnants of some exquisite carne guisada off plates.

So if Amistad keeps the release rates it has held to for months, we should to continually rise bit by bit. I'm not talking about anything dramatic..

And of course WTF knows what IBWC will do with releases..

Now here's some shocking news. And no I'm no talking about electro fishing or Ben Franklin.

Your US government, for the first time since the signing of the water treaty with Mexico, has refused a water release request from Mexico out of the Colorado river. Eighty one years later and finally someone with some hairy balls steps up and says; "NO".

Wonder if we will keep our resolve. I wonder if the Mexicans will give us some water.. I know they don't have shit to give.. But neither do we, if you look at Lake Mead..

I'm certainly following this story.. And I'll keep you updated.. But I bet you kids have the internet too..

Even with the rising water, the fish continue to bite, and bite good. Sometimes these Falcon fish get a little squeamish when the lake is on the rise.. But it does not appear that is the case right now.

Good numbers and good quality are still being reported, as I spoke with several anglers this afternoon that caught em good.. And I heard good reports from the weekend.. There have been dozens of six to nine pound fish caught in the last few days.

I did not get to fish yesterday. I was at the ranch, putting a radiator in a tractor.. What fun..

But I am going out tomorrow morning for a few hours to get my itch scratched.. So if you don't find me here, not to worry.. I'll be back shortly..

It appears that bait selection doesn't matter too much, although some times one bait might out perform another.

But overall, especially when to comes to plastics, most all of them are catching fish.

I would not fish deeper than ten feet. Of course I rarely do anyway.. But the best numbers certainly seem to be from there to the bank.

Fish Rock.. And then fish some more rock.

The spawn is certainly not completed as of yet. It's true many fish have competed the cycle, but there are a good number doing it as we speak.

A senko and a crankbait are still caching a lot of fish. So are bladed baits.. But as previously mentioned, I don't think there is a bait that will not work if fished in the right location.

I'm gonna tie on a Whopper Plopper tomorrow morning just for shits and grins.. There's a lot of shallow fish up there..

Launching conditions are back where they were three weeks ago.. And you can now get out of the Veleno again.. Still shallow at the mouth, but it is much more doable.. And a lot less scary..

Overall fishing is good, and I'm gonna give it an 8.. Which is pretty darn good.. And we have been right in there for months.

Meanwhile.. In other sports news, FFS is still kickin' ass in Professional fishing. The Final Four is in San Antonio next weekend, along with the Texas Open going on at the same time..

And Democrats are still some ignorant motherfuckers..

Now normally I am not that harsh on the democrats.. But what I see them doing right now is about as hypocritical as any one thing in their history.

And you know how Jimmy hates a hypocrite..

A few months ago they loved Elon Musk, and hailed him as the savior of the environment for providing electric vehicles. And they tried to guilt and bully all the rednecks into buy an EV in order to save the planet.

And this week they are burning up Tesla dealerships, and torturing motorists that are driving them. I am afraid someone or two is going to get a lesson in FAFO..

And I have been laying off the political commentary since Trump got back in office.. Just to see how things would shake out.. And of course it is still way to early to tell.

But I am certainly watching with amusement all the crying and hand wringing that s going on.

Last week one thing thing I heard from the democratic leaded ship made me actually bust out laughing.

They still think that their policies are the correct ones to solve all of Americas needs and wants.

And actually the statement that was released went something like: We know have a great message for the American people and our policy's are fantastic.. What we had was a messaging problem, in so much as we were not able to get the electorate to understand where the democratic part was headed..

I don't think it is a messaging problem at all.. As a matter of fact, I think the American people know exactly your vision of what America should be.. And the overwhelming majority thinks your aspirations are a piece of shit.

I have been saying, "Wake Up America!" for years.. And it appears that a lot of America has.

Let's hope the trend continues..

Get you ass down here while the fish are still stupid..

Cause I'm working on educating them every time I go out..

See you on the water!

March 24, 2025: Man.. I wish I was fishing today.. Light winds.. Highs in the eighties.. Fish jumping on the bank..

But I am gonna have to wait till tomorrow till I can get out of here.. I did get in a pretty full day yesterday..

And we caught em good.. A bunch of three to five pound fish, and I got lucky and caught an 8.23. My best in a few months.

We fished the dam yesterday morning, and it was the first time I had been there in months.. Although I know a lot of folks have been catching a lot of quality fish there. I just hate the crowd, and I have a self imposed hundred yard rule..

But I have noticed that not everyone else does.. But I also know crowds of fish collect crowds of people..

And the traffic on the rip rap can get a little thick.

Here's a pic of an 11.02 that came off the dam on Sunday.. Joey from Louisiana..

He also had an 11 on Sugar the day before.. He was fishing with Jay.. I'd say he had a couple of good days.

I am still not seeing a lot of double digit fish being caught here on Falcon. A shit ton of six to eight pound fish, but not a lot of DD's. I hope that don't sound like I'm complaining..

Cause this is the best fishing I have seen here in years. And probably more people here than I have seen in years.

Of course you can't put a boat in a Mathis.. Can't put a boat in at Choke.. Cain't put a boat in at Canyon.. Medina.. Nope.. Amistad right at record low..

It certainly makes sense to come here. And the fishing is great..

Launching still sucks.. See below if you have not been keeping up.. Doable but a pain in the ass..

I'm saying state park only for now boys.. And girls..

But once you're on the water, it is all peaches and cream..

If you ask three different people what the best bait is, you'll probably get three different answers.. If I'm one of those people I am going to tell you it is a senko.

Squarebills and spinnerbaits. Chatterbaits..

And it is still all about rock, rock, rock..

Some folks are telling me that a good number of fish are spawned out.. I ain't seen one yet.. It is my opinion that there are still a lot of big fish moving up.

The water is dropping as we speak, and we are loosing an inch every two days or so. Of course they seem to vary release rates daily, so who really knows what will happen tomorrow.

When you are at Falcon, and your background looks like this, you know you are here at the right time. Of course this pic was taken a week or so ago.

When the Huisache are solid orange, the bass are on the beds..

Can you imagine the tops of those trees being twenty feet under water.. Thousands of acres of them. And the farther you go on bank the bigger the trees get..

When this motherfucker fills up, it's going to be a disaster.. And in two years or less it will be total anarchy..

I've seen it a few times.. And I sure hope I get to see it again.. While I can still fish..

I don't know what else I can tell you to get you down here, if you have not heeded my words by now.

You're missin' out if you haven't made a trip here in the last few weeks.. There' still time!

March 18, 2025: Fishing continues to be excellent here on Falcon, and if you ain't been down here to get you some, well that's your bad..

And after a few breezy but fishable days to end the week, yesterday and today got really sporty, with gusts that will make things uncomfortable out there. I am sure there are some spots you can hide, but getting to and from them would be interesting. And I'm too old for that shit.

Today is Tuesday, and my usual day to play hooky, but I have opted to ride it out here in the shop. Much to my chagrin, as I know where there are some biting fish, and I would love to be out there beating on them.

I did get to go on Sunday, and we had a good day, putting thirty two fish in the boat. There were three of us chunking baits, so that helps, but we did manage to miss a decent number of fish. I'm gonna blame that on windy conditions, as we were fishing a lot of open water with senkos and light weights to try and keep from hanging up in the rocks.

Which really didn't help, as I reckon each of us retied at least five times throughout the day. Those rocks are some hungry son of a bitches to say the least.

Of course the wind was out of the north, and it is not my favorite.. Or the fishes..

The bites were really light, and most of the time I'd say it was just tension on the line. Rarely would one of em really whack it, so you had to be on your toes.

Now a moving bait they will slobber knock and a few times on crankbaits they would just kill it..

We got out early, and fished all open water till about two thirty, and we headed to the Tigers to fish some ABF water.

ABF in the FLT glossary is an acronym to say, 'already been fished'. But I don't think it really matters.

This is the second outing in a row where I fished behind another boat that beat the same bank not ten minutes earlier, and still caught them pretty good. I am not really fishing in the logjam of boats that are on the north bank of Tigers. I have spent a lot of time there in the last few weeks, but not as of late.

My favorite thing on the shallow banks, and I'm talking banks, not humps or islands, is a chatter bait with a little boot tail white swimbait trailer on it, with the boot dipped in chartreuse.

Any irregularity along the bank deserves an extra cast or two. The smallest of points or bump outs in the miles of gravel banks seem to make a difference.

A spinnerbait will catch em there as well, but Sunday the chatterbait out caught it two to one.

Our streak of catching a seven pounder came to an end on Sunday, but we did catch two over five. I'm blaming the north wind.

But in five out of six days of fishing, with last Friday being a no go because of wind, three of us, in random combinations of being in the boat on different days, caught fourteen (14) fish over seven pounds. Only one of them was over seven and it was an 8-2. We also had four big sixes in the mix.

And we also broke off on three or four good fish.

I have heard similar stories from several groups of fishermen as well.

Did I say it's killin' me to be in here?

Of all the big fish we caught, only one or two were spawned out. But I guarantee you it is going on right now.

A lot of folks are starting on the dam in the morning, and if you are headed there you better get up early, as it is a popular place. But for good reason, it has had a lot of big fish on it.

The mainlake points from the dam to marker three all have fish on them. As do the pockets in-between. Anywhere there is gravel or rock you could catch a fish. Long tapering points that have wind blowing across them will have fish on them. Sometimes a bunch.

Rock houses on the river have fish on them as well. Flipping trees is still hit and miss..

We seem to have an incredible class of fish from six and a half, to seven and a half right now. These fish are between three and four years old, and in their prime.. Bad Bad Leroy Brown would not mess with these Motherfuckers in a knife fight.

I would not go out there without a senko, a chatterbait, a spinnerbait, and a squarebill.. I am certainly not saying that you can't catch em on something else, but those are a good place to start.

Tomorrow looks like another windy day, but Thursday looks pretty good, with diminishing North winds. Friday it's back out of the south with a vengeance but the weekend looks good from here.. We'll see..

The lake is dropping again, and we have lost about six inches in the last week.. Who knows where we are headed..

Launching at the county ramp is probably out.. Launching at the state park is still working decently at the same area we have been using for months. They actually bladed the road somewhat at the state park. Could have gone a little farther but it is a great improvement..

I have been telling you to get your ass down here, and a lot of you have. And I have heard no complaints.. Except for the wind.. Which has been kicking our ass on some days.

But when it's nice out, it's on..

Not sure how long this will last.

Not sure how long I'll last..

If I ain't here, I'll be back soon..

And if you don't see me in the store, you'll see me on the water..

March 13, 2025: Holy Cow.. You should have been here.. You should be here.. You better get here.. It's on..

But like a pint of milk from a truck stop cooler, no one is really sure of the expiration date. Not sure when this will stop. Or slow down. But the last few days have been the best I have seen in a few lot of years.

How many times do you get to go fishing, when you know that sometime during the day, you are going to catch a seven to nine pound fish? It don't happen all that often.. But right now, and the last few days, it's been all but guaranteed..

Bullshit! you may say.. But it really ain't.. It has been that good.

I have sold baits of every description, to fishermen of every description, and as much disparity as that may bring to mind, the common factor is that they are all catching fish.

From the Dam to Pierces cove, there are not many stops that will not yield a few fish.. And some stops are really good.

The Tigers are still the most popular place on the lake, and for good reason. It has probably been the most consistent for producing good numbers and quality fish. That being said, it has also attracted more traffic than a whorehouse during shore leave.

Some people camp out on known favorite spots and wait for the fish to come to them.. And some folks play the revolving door game and cycle through the gravel bars, points, and islands that decorate the big body of water in the big bay that is the mother of the Tiger arms.

I love spotlock, but I pretty much belong to the second group. And on Tuesday a buddy and I had a 7-1, a 6-15, and a 6-8 all from the Tigers in about three hours.. With a lot of other nice fish in the mix.

We ended up with a thirty pound best five.. And I thought we did pretty good.. Until we talked to a few other folks.

Fact is, that a thirty pound bag has been real common this week. And heard of several approaching forty.

Yesterday I hopped in a friends boat at two o'clock, and we fished till six. He already had two sevens in the morning, and he caught another 7-8 at about five o'clock.. I'd say he had a good day.

As did I, but I never caught anything over four.

And everyone I talked to this morning said they had really good days the last two.

None of the fish I have seen this week have spawned yet. I did hear from some fellers this morning that all the bigger fish they caught yesterday were spawned out, but none of the fish they caught the day before had done the deed yet.

But I can assure you it is going on as I type.

And it is killing me to be in here this am.

I'm gonna include a couple of pics just for reference as to what the fish are looking like.

This 10-2 was caught by Josh Peace, a water wagon fisherman, who with a few buddies comes down here every March. Two pics.. Same fish.

This one was caught by my buddy when we were fishing on Tuesday. 6-8 tub of a fish..

These are the meanest, fattest, healthiest, fightingest fish I have ever caught. As mean as any fish in Mexico.

But then again, where are we..

I caught one on Tuesday on a chatterbait, that hit kinda close to the boat. The 7-1 I spoke of earlier. And I told my partner I have a gar on here, this ain't a bass.. As it circled the boat and stripped drag. I was shocked when she came to the top..

Did I mention that it is killing me to be in here?

Lots of these big fish have come from water two to four feet deep. Gravel is good, but some fish are coming off the rip rap on the dam, and some are on trees.. And I don't think there is a place where you could not catch a fish right now if you stayed there a while.

We flipped forty trees in the back of Government cove yesterday evening with only two bites. But I know some trees are holding some fish during some times of the day, according to reports. That big fish pictured above came out of two feet of water in the woods in the back of State Park Cove..

In any case, I told you to get your ass down here last week.. Some heeded my advice and are whooping it up.. There's still time..

But that milk could curdle any day..

If you don't find me in here, you'll see me on the water!

March 6, 2025: It's been said that March is a windy son of a bitch.. And so far the old saying is pretty much right on track. And I am sure that no mater where you were in Texas on Tuesday, you had your hat blown off, your lawn furniture relocated, and got a couple of eyes full of dust. I pity the contact lens wearers.

Even yesterday the dust was still hanging in the air, and it is still hazy today. Of course this was a westerly or northwesterly wind that brought a lot of west Texas dust to south Texas.

But not to worry.. Today we are supposed the have wind from the opposite direction.. Maybe it will take some of it back.

But for now out around Midland they will be able to hit oil by drilling a foot less..

So all in all Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were pretty windy.. But Tuesday was truly something you don't see very often.

A couple of weeks ago we had water temps in the low seventies, and the fish were going crazy in the shallows.. And the shad were up there thick, and a small shad spawn appeared to be happening.

We have struggled to get the water back to the low seventies, and yesterday the water was about 64 early, and got to about 67 by two thirty.. That was on the open lake around the Tigers.. I am sure some shallow protected areas had warmer water. But we were in the high forties yesterday morning at daybreak. It it turned out to be a beautiful day.

There is no doubt that these fish are in full blown spawn mode, and there are reports of fish that have been caught that are spawned out, and fish that are gushing eggs when handled.. It's happening..

Our second stop yesterday morning was on a rockpile in Government cove, and my partner got his ass handed to him by a very nice fish.. We saw half of it before it broke him off on a crazy run. I'm guessing it was between six and eight pounds, but I needed another half second of visual to get an exact weight on her.

The usual display of language did ensue..

We fished till about two thirty and did not hook another big fish. But we made contact with a good number of fish.

We fished well away from the crowds in open water on the main lake. I did hear of some nice fish coming from the Tigers. But no giants that I heard of.

This week is going to be a mix of fishable days, and some that will be a bit bumpy on any water that's not protected. But fishable it will be, and the time is now. Tomorrow looks quite inviting..

We caught all of our fish on Senko type baits. I did throw some crankbaits, and had a few whack the hell out of it, but never hooked one. And it did not take long to figure out they liked the soft plastics better.

I have heard of fish being caught on big squarebills, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, (that I threw some of yesterday w/o a bite) and shakey heads.. As a matter of fact, I have heard of fish being caught on a lot of different baits.

I think right now it is just about getting it in front of one. Fishing the senko very slow will get more bites.. Stop.. And then slow down, as I like to say.

I had one yesterday on a Dinger, very near the boat, about take my rod from me after I had not moved the bait in five seconds. I thought I had something special, but alas it was merely a three pounder that was hell bent for leather.

These sumbitches are so strong and full of piss and vinegar.. I have been catching them for years, but they still manage to surprise me on occasion..

The lake is holding steady, and has been for about two weeks, with very minor change. So launching remains the same. I did have a buddy launch out of the Veleno four days straight with no problems.. But be advised the depth at the mouth of the Veleno is minimal.

99% of folks are putting in at the state park.

I am not going to call the fishing stupid, but it is good, and should only get better was the water continues to warm. And I expect the shad back on the banks very shortly.. And then the numbers game should really be on.

Get those Red Eye shad baits ready..

Well.. Yall been paying any attention to the doin's up in DC? I am trying not to overload on news coverage, but it is impossible to not glean a bit of imput just by being alive. I am sure some folks live in a cave.. And they are probably just as happy as you or me.. But I am kind of an infomaniac.

I am glad to see the border shut down, except for legal immigration, which has always gone on. And if you are wondering if anything has changed around here, I can tell you it has not. As a mater of fact, this is about as chill a place as there is in America.

I guess entertaining is a good word, for watching all the parasites freaking out about their gravy train being cut off. If indeed it is. There is no doubt that our government is a bloated beast, with shit being done behind the scenes that we cannot even imagine. I hope they keep turning over rocks.

I think it was Lee Iacocca, who ran both Ford and Chrysler for many years, (not simultaneously of course) that said that every year you should fire the lowest performing 10% of your employees. Because if you can't do better than the bottom tenth, you should find another field of employment.

I agree whole heartedly.. And I have adopted that style of management here at FLT. And being I am the only swinging dick here, I fire myself at least once every ten days. Like yesterday.

But then again. I guess I am the top performing employee around here as well. Quite the conundrum..

May have to have an executive meeting about this..

I need to go, but before I do, I need to say something about eggs.. I had chickens for many years.. So my theory is not without background. Although a lot of folks think I'm cracked. When the government tells you to kill hundreds of thousands of laying hens, do you think the raw egg numbers might go down?

You don't make chickens in a factory and spit em out golf balls, you have to grow em.. How can some of these people be so stupid.. And what the fuck is it with eggs anyway. I don't think anyone is going to die with fewer eggs on his plate. Might even help with that bad cholesterol.. In a few months those pullets will be shitting out eggs left and right.. And then you can OD on em.. For 2.99 a dozen..

I have not seen a shortage of eggs in Zapata.. Yeah they are charging a fortune for em, but yesterday they were stacked in the store as high as a giraffes ass..

I think the people who are whining about this need to get laid.. They need to take it over easy..

And avocados.. Here in zapata they have been fifty cents a piece for months.. I guess they found someone to pick em. Bell Peppers were two for a dollar the other day.. Some motherfuckers are picking them..

Guess the world is not coming to an end after all.. Well I have to go outside and do some archaeological exploration out on the south side of the shop. I have to dig the boat out of the sand.. Glad I had the tarp on it.

Where's my Indiana Jones hat...

See you on the water. Or more likely, here in the shop.. Come get you some..

February 28, 2025: The second month of the year is shot in the ass, and as it comes to a close we are seeing a warming trend with the air and water temps.

Last weeks cold and miserable conditions really set our water temps and the fish activity back. Water that was seventy two, was cooled to sixty two, after three days of highs in the forties with zero sunshine.. Nasty, cold, damp shit.

Things have started to rebound, with warm days early in the week, but we did have a cooler and wet day yesterday, as we picked up about a tenth of an inch of precip scattered throughout the day, with a few passing showers. Which did run a few folks off the lake.

Reports from yesterday, which was the first day that the water had warmed into the middle sixties, were somewhat better than the previous two days. But as always, some folks whacked em, and others struggled.

But one thing is for sure, the warmer the water gets, the better the fishing will get. I believe we are on the doorstep of some really good shit about to happen.

Location and timing seem to be paramount when it comes to having a good outing. I talked to folks yesterday that whacked em on deep crankbaits, in about ten feet of water, and people who struggled in shallow water. Of course I talked to people who caught em good in shallow water as well.

Location, location, location.. It's not just for real estate anymore..

After hearing all the details from a decent number of anglers, I have extrapolated a general assessment of what is going on.

Best Baits: I have been told often that a C-rig is one of the best ways to catch fish on the shallow gravel. Some folks are putting a senko on there, or a lizard, or a fluke, but there is probably nothing that will not work if you are around the fish.

There is also the moving bait crowd, that believes a squarebill or a spinnerbait is the best choice. And a lot of shallow water fish have been caught this week.. Like really shallow.. Like two feet. Common denominator is rock.. Gravel better than chunky rock.

Hardwoods have not produced many fish from all reports. I flipped two hundred trees on Tuesday. First one I flipped into I caught a fish. And that was the last one. Crazy how that shit happens.. It wasn't the first time..

Location: There is no doubt the Tigers are the most popular place on the lake. Just like I told you it would be a month ago. That north side of the big bay in Tigers is loaded with gravel covered ridges ad humps, with deep water very close by. And in there right now there are a lot of these ridges just out of, or just under the water.

It is not uncommon these days to see dozen or more boats in a four hundred yard stretch. Unusual for Falcon, but not under these circumstances. As big as the lake is, we are still fishing small.

All of the fish I have heard of and caught, have come from Pierces, (marker7) to the dam.

And quite frankly, there is nothing wrong with Government Cove or State Park Cove either. I had a big numbers day in Government Cove about ten days ago, before the cold spell.

Of course during that time, the water was 72° and the shad were all over the banks. I did hear that yesterday a bit of shad activity in the shallows had returned. And I am quite sure they will get thicker and thicker this week as we head back to seventy degree surface temps.

Of course a lot of those fish were just up there eating, and that had little to do with spawning fish.

But anytime you are on Falcon and the shad are thick in water less than four feet deep, get out a squarebill or a spinner/chatter bait and have some fun. Because you have just landed on nirvana.

Of course most folks are down here trying to catch big fish.. And I dig it.. But I'm not necessarily looking for big fish. I just want all the fish..

The lake level has remained stable this week, and I guess that is a good thing. At least we haven't lost any water.. Launching remains the same as it has been the last few reports.

It is a bit of a rodeo if you are by yourself. But once the truck is parked and you are in the boat, all that disappears and getting around is easy.

Here in Zapata the exit out of the Veleno is at minimum tolerances. Some boats have come and gone, but it is not for the weak of heart. It is less than two feet deep at the mouth of the Veleno. If you must do it, get past the bridge and stand on it..

A buddy of mine had a 10-15 on a squarebill in two feet of water on Tuesday. (Spro Cellmate)

I have fished a shitload of that kind of water lately.. One of these days I am gonna whack one of them big son of a bitches.. But I reckon a big fish for me hasn't been in the rotation just yet.. But I know it's coming.

And you probably got one coming. All you gotta do is get your ass down here.

See you on the water!

February 21, 2025: It has certainly been a week of ups and downs when it comes to the temperatures.. And right now we are in the middle of a down period.. Down with the temps.. Down with the number of fishermen.. And down with the catching.. Cause it is fucking cold!

As I type it is about 38 degrees mid morning.. We did not see any freezing rain as was predicted.. But we are into day three of cold, after two days in the eighties on Monday and Tuesday. And we have not achieved a temp above forty eight degrees in the last forty eight hours.

Water temps yesterday were reported at sixty two, by some die-hard's that braved the cold.. And I am sure they are under that this morning.

That's a full ten degrees lower than they were about ten days ago.

So right now I am not sure what the fish are doing.. It was reported slow yesterday afternoon.

However, on Tuesday, when the water temps were about sixty seven, the fish were very active and a lot of good fish were reported. I fished about five hours on Tuesday, but the size of fish I caught was dismal compared to what I heard everyone else caught.

I think I am developing a complex.. Fishious minisculious..

I always said I was a small fish expert, but this shit is getting ridiculous. Numbers are OK but I can't land on a big fish.

Enough about me..

I was saying I had not seen a DD fish in quite a while. Tony Coatney caught this one just over ten on Tuesday.

And while we're posting pics of big fish, this is the biggest fish I have seen in several years. But it came out of Sugar, and it is a true giant. David from Colorado, caught this fish while fishing with Jay Grieshaw. It tipped the scales at a whopping 15.14 pounds.

Needless to say it beat his old PB by quite a bit. That fish was a true motherfucker. And of course it was released to maybe break the lake record in a year or so.

But back here on Falcon, a LOT of quality fish were caught before this current cold streak. And I don't imagine that most of these fish are going to wander too far.

Most of the best fish were caught shallow.. Like in four to six feet of water.

I am still getting reports of fish being caught on every bait known to man, short of water dogs..

But overall, a C-rig is probably one of the best going, along with a shakey head. Fished slow in either event.

A crankbait will catch a shit load of smaller fish. To which I can personally attest.

Spinnerbaits are catching fish as well.

The Tigers are a hot spot as I predicted a month or so back. The fish are spawning on the gravel bars as they did two years ago when we had similar conditions. No surprise..

And this area has attracted a lot of boats. For good reason.

Water levels have stabilized for now, but who knows what's coming. Some folks are still running out of the Veleno, but I don't recommend it.

Down at the state park, all is well, but of course we are still launching of the bank, and I don't look for anything to change in the near future.

I do look for fishing to get good again next week, as we are headed back to the eighties on Monday and Tuesday. But this weekend might be a bit tough with the cold water temps.

But you gotta go when you can go.. And if you can, look for the next warm period you can get down here on.. It's gonna be on..

If I ain't in here next Tuesday.. I reckon you can figure where I am..

See you on the water!

February 12, 2025: If you haven't been here in the last week or so, you have really fucked up. Fishing is as good as I predicted, and for some folks it was even better with sacks several days in a row approaching forty pounds. And that is without a giant in the bag, as I have still not heard of a single ten pounder in the last month.

There have been some close calls, but no double digit fish that I have heard about. Of course I do not talk to everyone.

Six to nine pound fish have been really common, and if you come and fish a few days you are going to get on em and will likely catch a few quality fish. But you will certainly catch a shit load of fish.

I finally got out of here yesterday for a few hours, and it was one of those days when you wish you had some young-uns with you. There was a light north wind blowing, which I hate, and I didn't want to run north till it let up. So I ran around the corner from the boat ramp (state park) to a point that the wind was blowing across.

I set up downwind of it of course, and before I could get the trolling motor in the water there were some fish knocking shad out of the water two feet high. Those shad were doing their version of Jesus walking, as they knew they were about to meet their maker.. It amazes me to see how fast bass are when they are in pursuit of shad on top of the water.

I picked up a rod with red eye shad on it, and I don't think it got wet before something got it. I caught a fish on my first four casts, and then had two knock the hell on the fifth but did not get a fish to the boat on that cast.

And then proceeded to wack the hell out of em for about forty five minutes. I left em biting although it had slowed a bit. But there were no bigs mixed in and a three was about the biggest I caught.

So I moved on and the biggest I caught was not over four pounds. Fishing more rock, and flipping a few submerged hardwoods I saw on the AT. That shit is growing on me by the way.. I'll admit I am a screw in fuse in a circuit breaker world.. But I am starting to get the hang of it.

I still can't make much happen flipping trees. And no one else has said anything about it either. So if anyone is catching flippin fish it is the world's best kept secret.

Maybe I need to hire Musk to check it out.

There were a lot of boats on the water yesterday, and I'd guess there were thirty or so at the ramp.. And thanks to the guys who helped me launch and retrieve my boat.

Well it ain't really a ramp.. I guess I should say where we are putting in.

That's what really sucks; is that if you are alone there is no dock. You may not have to get your feet wet.. But you might.. And don't think the state will put a dock out there. They could give a fuck.

But once you get your boat in the water it is all smiles.. The lake is easy to run, but do keep in mind we are forty five feet low, There are certainly rocky humps ans long points here and there. Especially in the Tigers.

So read the water, and keep an eye on your map. Run the creek channels if you are not sure where you are.

Running the main lake is not a problem. And by all means if you have a question, stop in or give me a call.. I'll help you all I can.

There is a shitload of bait in the water. Lots of threadfin, and some larger gizzard shad as well. And if match the hatch is where it's at, then there is good reason I was throwing a Red Eye Shad in Citrus Shad yesterday. And I recommend you have one tied on. Of course I caught them on a tilapia pattern trap, and a Spro in Citrus Shad as well.

A senko is catching a shit ton of fish as also. Some folks are throwing it on a C-rig, some Texas rigged, or with a nail weight in the ass.

Of course I have heard of every bait there is catching fish. Even a soft swimbait.. Anything shad imitating.

And I don't know what a bass thinks a senko is.. But they do like it. Worms, lizards, and flukes are also working.

Aw fuckit, just get your favorite bait and get out there and throw it. I wish I was out there now as I have received a few reports from the water that the fish are going crazy.

We do have a bit of weather to contend with in the next week, with some good looking days and some not so good looking weather days mixed in. But I don't think it will be severe enough to back these fish off..

I saw 68 degree water early yesterday, and 71 degree water in the Tigers after lunch. Warmer Tiger water could be caused by all the hot exhaust from a shitload of 250's running all over the place.

I knew the fish were going to go off.. Hope you paid attention and are down here..

There's plenty of fish for everybody.. Come on down..

February 6, 2025: Well.. I don't want to sound too giddy.. But if you have been waiting for me to tell you to get your ass down here..

You might want to get your ass down here,.

We are on the edge of some really good fishing, if we are not there already..

I have not heard of any giants being caught, but four to eight pound fish have been fairly common.

And it has become more and more common to hear of big numbers of fish caught.

I can't promise what is going to happen in the next few days, but I am anticipating a big move to spawn by some bigger fish.

For what it's worth..

Water temps were over seventy yesterday evening, and that happened in a hurry. On Sunday the highest I saw was in the back of some shallow pockets and it maxed out at sixty three.

Yesterday evening in the Tigers seventy was common out in the open water..That was after two nights of lows only around sixty five.. And highs nearing ninety.

And fishing as been good mid-days into the evening as well.

As a matter of fact.. I don't know what the hell I am doing in here.. Well.. Other than trying to keep the lights on..

Shallow running baits like traps and square bills are catching numbers of fish on rocky points and gravel bars. I am sure that any moving bait is going to catch some fish.

Shit anything could work right now.. A buddy of mine left here a bit ago and said he is catching them on the Plum Ol Monster on a C-rig.. And a C-rig with a senko on it has been reported good as well..

I am still throwing a Senko or a Dinger for the most part when it comes to soft plastics..

On Sunday I caught three nice fish in the three and a half range flipping hardwoods. But I flipped a lot of hardwoods.. A lot.. But that was before the big jump in water temp, and I will be back to the trees before too long.

This report is a bit all over the place.. But to say the least, I am excited about the fishing as it stands right now.

You can still get out of the Veleno if you want to launch on this end of the lake. But the fuckers in Mexico are drawing a bunch of water out of Falcon right now.. I have no idea why, when they have all the water they can hold in Sugar right below us..

We have dropped about eight inches in the last ten days.

Launching down at state park is still easily done with two wheel drive..

I guess I won't get back out till Sunday.. And it is killing me..

The air is warm.. The fish are biting.. And the democrats are having a full blown meltdown. I am not sure how much better things can get.. Next thing you know the lake is going to fill up..

Our new president certainly has things stirred up. And I have to admit I am enjoying sitting on the sidelines taking it all in. I hope we can actually get rid of some of the absurdities that have been uncovered as of late. And I am quite sure they are just scratching the surface on finding where a lot of your tax money is wasted.

I hear we are going to be taking over the Gaza Strip, and I figured I would get in on the action and open a salt water branch of Falcon Lake Tackle on the Mediterranean.

So I went to Zillow to see what was available, and I'll be danged, but Dollar General has already bought up all the good lots..

I really don't think the democrats bitching and grandstanding is going to get a lot of traction with the American people.. Well except for the radical fringe.. Which is about 5% of the population in my estimation.

But their rage is all they have left.

I am not sure how it will all work out.. But I did vote for a bull in a china shop, and I think that's what we are getting so far.. If you wanna make an omelet.. You gotta break a few eggs..

Well.. If you ain't doing anythng I would tell you to get your ass down here for the next four days..

Cause this shit will put a smile on your face..

See you on the water!

January 28, 2025: Well we're past the cold arctic air that was plaguing us all last week, but have another day to get past before we begin a relatively long streak of warmer weather.

We did break out of the cold and clouds last Sunday, and highs reached about eighty. Which felt so good it is hard to describe. But I was down with a stomach bug that included all the stuff you don't like to talk about, and it kept me on dry land for another Sunday. Which means I have not wet a line in over three weeks. However..

My buddies that did venture out on Sunday found water temps sitting in the high fifties.. And you can guess what that does to the fishing around these parts. If you have been paying attention. I have told you before that these fish do not like cold water, and that statement was validated on Sunday, with the catch rate being poor. And as it turned out, water temps bottomed out last week right about where I thought they would, at about fifty six at the low point. Maybe a degree or so cooler in some spots.

I heard from several fishermen on Sunday, that they caught one to three fish. And these people have been spending a lot of time on the water here, so they know what they are doing. But after being trapped in the house all week, most were more than ready to get on the lake. Although they were fully aware of the finicky nature of these fish during a cold spell..

But hold the phone..

Tomorrow we are supposed to be in the low eighties. A day that will supposedly start a streak of two weeks with daytime highs of at least seventy, and many of those days near eighty or slightly above. And the important thing is that nighttime lows will not be below the current water temp, of right under sixty.

And with all this information at hand, one would reasonably expect water temps to bounce back in the next few days. And maybe by this weekend we will see some water temps that will push the readiest of bass to hit the spawning areas.

These fish really like to have water in the sixty three or sixty four degree range, and preferably for a few days consecutively, to really get going.

And then some years we we have warm and cold and and warm and cold the spawn never seems to be concentrated at all. But usually when we think it is on, it has already been well under way.

So what does one make of all the gibberish I just typed.. Hell if I know.. But if I had time to kill, I'd get here Friday and fish thru next Tuesday.. This could be the spell that we have been waiting on..

And I don't mind getting some on me when the proverbial shit hits the fan.

During the warm weather days next week, don't be alarmed if you should happen to miss me here at the shop. Somebody needs to be out there on the water to supervise.. But I'll be back soon.

I'll be back by early afternoon if I am not here.. But if you are needing something please give me a call and I'll make sure to get you taken care of. I'll also be open for an hour or so in the am before I head out. As of yet I have no schedule and will be playing it by ear.. A lot of it will depend on what I find on Sunday.

Launching remains the same, with the lake loosing about a half inch of water in the last five days. No problem on either end with a two wheel drive vehicle. A sense of humor is a good thing to possess while you are getting to the launch areas at either end of the lake.

No one in Zapata or at the state park really gives shit about the launching conditions it appears.

Here in town the dock at the inoperable ramp could easily be moved out the the point where the concrete ramp is great. It would take all of two hours but I guess it is too much work..

And down at the state park, blading the "road" out the point we are launching on is way to much of an ask. But at least they are letting us put in off the point.. Which is more than I can say for the state park at Choke Canyon. I hear they won't allow anyone to put in if you don't use the Calliham ramp. And for a big boat I hear that is not possible.

I reckon a light flatbottom or a kayak are the only ticket there. That lake might be good for the lucky few that have equipment fit for the application.. Should be light traffic out there this spring.

You can easily put your big bass boat in here, at either end of the lake. But if things go like I think they will, the best fishing will be from Pierces south. (Marker 7)

I don't know about you, but I personally have enjoyed watching the first week of Donald Trump's second presidency.

It has been hard to keep the brain matter cleaned off the inside of my TV screen, as I watch all the liberal douche bags heads explode on a daily basis. But their brains are tiny and it's not too big a mess.

You might say, "James.. You're watching CNN and MSNBC?"

Hell yes. This is the most entertaining programming they have ever exhibited.. Well at least since election night in 2016 when Hillary lost to the Donald. That was pure broadcasting gold..

I gotta admit I get my fill of it in a short period of time..

Do you remember back to 1954, when the US government implemented "Operation Wetback."

Well I don't either but I have read all about it.. Of course at the time I was not yet alive.

At that time, I was actually a man trapped in a woman's body.. But then I was born..

Anyway, I reckon this deportation program at the time was just as controversial. But I think this ejection of no count motherfuckers is righteous, and past due as a ten month pregnancy.

And the sooner we get these freeloaders and criminals out of the country the better.

And no one needs to explain to me about how they are all just seeking a better life.. There's a right and a wrong way to do things..

An immigrant is one thing.. A illegal immigrant is another.

I know I am preaching to the choir for the most part..

And while you are googling Operation Wetback, google what it takes to become a Mexican citizen. That will open your eyes.. It is certainly no easier than the system we have in place.. And you don't hear them saying they need to change theirs.

I am looking forward to the coming months and years, and I hope the folks we now have in power do not lose their zeal for their jobs.

If you don't like it.. Tough shit.. I had to suffer thru four years of Biden bullshit and eight years of Obamma oppression..

And to quote Ol' Barrok, "Elections have consequences.."

See you on the water!

January 24, 2025: It's ben a cold SOB down here the last week, but it appears that we are headed into a slight warming trend this weekend. Highs are predicted to be in the upper seventies, and it can't get here too fast.

Yesterday would have been better, but tomorrow is OK.

Water temps on the lake this am were right at 52° and that is as cold as we have seen in several years. I have not heard of any dead tilapia but they very lethargic to say the least. And I am sure the bass will be getting some easy pickens if they aren't too cold to move.

A few folks ventured out yesterday, but it was still too cool for most. I don't have a lot of details on what was caught but I did hear of a few bass and a bunch of white bass.

I was saying earlier that the bass need a signal that winter has come and gone before they will hit the shallows and get the spawn into high gear.. And I don't have a clue as to whether winter has gone, but it surely has come.

And I promise you that when the water warms to the middle sixties, and and hangs out there a few days, the shit is going to hit the fan. These fish are ballooned up as I have ever seen, and they are ready.

The lake is holding steady the last few days and we are sitting at 257.22. And at this level a lot of folks are going out of the Veleno again, which is easily doable in most any boat.

The state park launching remains the same.. I launched there last Saturday evening with two wheel drive no sweat. I did not fish but was on a different mission. That was the last nice day of the last six. Today is nice but cold.. But headed for the sixties later I hear.

So basically no one was fishing before yesterday this week. We had wind, cold freezing temps, and on Tuesday I guess it was, we had ice on everything. It was pretty for about thirty seconds.. Lows got to about twenty four.. Which is a bitch for most plants around here.. Including several of mine..

I hope we are past the worst of winter, but like I always say, February always throws in some late month hysterics that really piss me off, and generally fucks the fishing up for a week. Time will tell.

I am sure I will get a lot of reports after this weekend because a lot of folks like me have been penned up and are chomping at the bit to get out there.

And I will pass on what I hear, but I can't believe the fish will be overly cooperative till the water warms a bit.

But if you see a warming trend in the next little bit you might want to get your ass down here..

See you then!

January 14, 2025: Days like today make it easy for me to remember why I like summer.. Cause this shit sucks..

Cold.. Cloudy.. And allegedly soon to be wet. The three headed monster of south Texas winters has us in her grasp.

And she's choking the fuckin' life outta me.. I just can't seem to get warm..

And with these conditions I guess it is easy to figure that there are not a lot of folks out on the water. Well they're ain't.. Only one I know of but them crazies are from Minnesota.. And they think it is a balmy day.

Water temps have dropped into the middle sixties early, and only when the sun is out will it get to about sixty eight in the afternoon. And I can tell you that these Florida Strain fish like cold about as much as me.

So there are very few fishermen out, and they are catching very few fish.

Water levels have remained pretty much steady. Getting a little.. Letting out a little.. We're sitting at 257.03.. Or just about 44 feet low. And we have been within a half inch of that for two weeks.

From the looks of the forecast, our water will not warm much for the next week, although Saturday looks to be a nice day. But it will be short lived as we are supposed to be back to about freezing on Sunday night..

That's about all there is on the fishing front.. Cold and colder..

Well we're due for a power shift in DC this next week, and all I can say is that no one on earth, short of the devil himself, could do much worse for America than the dementia ridden, lying, conniving, thieving, lecherous, war mongering, and anti American POS that is in office as we speak.. Oh I forgot to throw in hypocritical.. Cain't forget that.. That's my fav..

Of course I do not believe that most events of the last six months, pertaining to being president, had much to do with him. I don't think he knows which shoe goes on which foot. But I am sure the puppet masters have plenty of handlers taking care to get their desires and needs satisfied before his timely exit.. Which can't happen fast enough.

He did say this week that he is leaving the coming administration a strong hand to play. I guess we all have an opinion.

He did pardon everyone but usama bin laden.. To include his son whom was pardoned for everything he has done since he was circumcised.

After stating unequivocally several times that he would not.. But I am sure that you, like me, were never stupid enough to believe that.

You couldn't write a crime novel with as much corruption as the real life drama played out right before our eyes..

And we say that other countries are too corrupt to deal with..

Taking over from this mess is like a surgeon at the ER, when a patient is brought in in three different bushel baskets. Got run thru the corn picker.. Gonna take some serious cutting and stitching to put this one back together again.

Anyway, hopefully this will all be a bad memory pretty damn fast.. But we'll see what else he can fuck up in this last week.

I forgot to include saboteur in the list of accomplishments above.. But what else could you call some of his latest Executive Orders?

Now. Don't get me wrong.. America showed up at the ballot boxes and demanded change, as seventy something million of us hated what we were seeing..

And we damn well better see some promises delivered on..

You Republicans have the fuckin' ball. Now quit your bickering and backbiting, pull up your panties, and get to fuckin work.

No excuses.. Or one of these days we might see a real insurrection. Hoping not..

God Bless America.. Cause we sure need it..

January 7, 2025: Here we are a week into 2025, and I reckon Mother Nature finally snapped to the fact that she had not sent a winter front down as far as us. And frankly I'da liked it if she'da forgotten to send us any winter at all..

But alas, the wicked Yankee weather has made it's way south of IH 10 and a we're suffering with some seriously cold shit. For us anyway.

Lows around thirty and highs about forty are supposed to be sitting on us for the next three days. It is middle fifties this afternoon, but we're heading down the slide starting tonight.

Jimmy is not a happy camper.. And it is going to cloudy and wet and just plain nasty till at least Friday afternoon.

I am sure you can still catch some fish, but I fished enough crappy days back when I was tournament fishing.. I'm over it..

There is only one person I know on the lake today.. And that is Matt Reed. They had a shitty day yesterday, but today he texted me that he and a client have over thirty pounds that include these two fish he just sent me pics of..

Jeff with a 9.25 and Matt with a 8.04..

So evidently if a man is pissed off enough at em you can still catch em on a shitty day.

This cold weather should get the fish the message that winter has arrived. And I would expect that by Friday our water temps will be in the fifties.. With more cool and wet coming next week. But when the water warms back up. I'm expecting a full blow move to spawn by these fish that are ready to pop.

Over last weekend fishing was reported good, by several boats that whacked them in already shallow water. Spinnerbaits and lipless cranks accounted for a lot of fish. Numbers were decent with a good number of fifteen inch fish mixed in. Moving baits appeared to be best. Some five to seven pound fish were reported.

Of course I do not hear about all the fish caught.

If you want to catch some white bass, put here in the Veleno and go troll between marker nine and ten.. Something shiny.. Some really nice sized fish are being caught.

Another thing I logged on to tell you about is a memorial service for Robert Reissig that recently passed away, and if you read this blog you already knew.

If you knew him, or would just like to pay your respects to him and his family, a Celebration of Life gathering will be held at his home in Four Seasons Park here in Zapata.

It will take place on January the nineteenth (19th) from 2:00 till 4:00 in the afternoon. A giant meal will be served, and memories of Robert and his life will be shared.

Stop by if you can, and if you have any questions at all just give me a shout.

Well if my computer don't freeze up, (literally) I'll give you a report on water temps later in the week.. But I doubt if I'll talk to many fishermen the next few days.. At least any that are fishin..

See you when I do!