A Canoe Trip and the 2021 Great Catfish Final Total...

I don't think I'll make it out to fish tomorrow on the last day of the year so I went ahead and counted up this year's catfish tally. We ended up harvesting 491 catfish on 21 fishing trips to the lake for an average of 23 per trip. I did not count white bass, breams, crappie, largemouth bass or the small ankle biter blacktip sharks we caught at the beach. I also did not count canoe, swimming or skiing trips in the trip total. 

The fish count looks a bit down as I mark that we recorded 592 fish last year but if not mistaken that's all species so we are probably pretty close to the same I would say. After all those other fish, except the sharks are swimming in my belly. Shark is good but sometime we all have to start those baby steps to save the planet and that was one of mine for 2021.  

Today Matt and I made a canoe trip to the Walnut Slough paddling trail on B.A. Steinhagen. This has been a panfish hotspot for us and I did not expect much today but with the mild temps the small bream were in the shallows. If we don't have much of a winter those big girls might show up soon. Matt holds up 9 bream, probably males on the smallish side but certainly good to fry and eat whole. We did CPR, catch, photo and release these fish. . 

There must have been a heck of a spawn on this lake the past spring because we caught a literal bucket full of these small largemouth bass. All fish caught on either 1 inch Charlie Brewer Crappie sliders or the scented Gulp Baits all fished on 1/16th jig head.   

Don't worry we did not eat this little gator that slipped up on this log wearing a water hyacinth as camo. Like the small bream we caught he will get bigger.  

Matt with a small bass. 

One thing we did see was an airboat spraying for the invasive species giant salvinia. I'm really not sure which other plants are invasive and which are not but this is fast becoming a topic on the Sam Rayburn Fishing Report Facebook page. 

Bass fisherman, in addition to not trusting what chemicals are being used like to have hydrilla, another invasive plant species that happens to be good for the fishing. Salvinia is not good for fishing because it quickly covers a lake and kills wave action and oxygen content.  Fishermen think the spray kills the good plants along with the bad ones. 

Both plants clog docks, ramps, beaches and restrict some recreational activities. Fisherman from Louisiana where salvinia has taken over whole lakes seem to favor spraying. Texas and Florida fishermen think kill the grass, kill the lake. 

I have not made up my mind. I don't like chemicals in the water. I almost always catch fish. I think those guys in the boat should wear some protective equipment. There was a slight chemical smell to the air after they passed.    

A blue heron stands in a clump of dead water hyacinth probably killed by spraying. 

In the new year I'll keep up with water issues, wait for the big panfish to move in and maybe this weekend we can start a new catfish count. As I scrolled through the old blog posts looking at the fishing trips of the past year it was crazy how the grandkids had grown.

Here's to growth for all.