Old Bull Bream...

The canoe is my fitness test. Can I load it and unload it? Can I paddle? Will I lose my balance and turn it over? What if I need to go potty? There are a lot of things that have to happen for a canoe trip and with the heat index topping 100 again today all this is a good work out for a 65 year old man. It did take 64 ounces of water, two juicy pieces of fruit, a good hat, plenty of sunscreen and a cooling swim but I have a fish dinner for later on this evening.  

When I'm out in the canoe I'll take any kind of catch but I really love to target the bream. They fight hard on light tackle and believe it or not these big boys like this actually pull the boat around a bit. The fish were kind of scattered today with one here and one there mostly so kind of tough fishing but hey, what else do I have to do today? 

The bait they wanted was a 1/16 oz. beetle spin. I used to say that these were made in Louisiana by Cajuns who knew exactly what size the lure needed to be to fit in a bream's mouth. Now they are made in Pacific Rim countries and brought over here in shipping containers stacked on cargo ships longer than Carl Perkin's Cadillac but the people making them do seem to know the size of a breams mouth.

It's the first time in a while that the old favorite Charlie Brewer Crappie Slider was not effective. That's ok because sometimes after a day of throwing the 1/32 oz jigs my shoulder feels like I have spent the day throwing air punches while filming multiple saloon fight scenes in an old western movie. On my new whippy fishing pole the beetle spin flies a bit freer.        

Fishing spot for the day was Ratcliff Lake. The recreation area was built by the CCC in 1936 and before that the lake was used for logs and water by the Central Coke and Coal Company that operated there from 1902 to 1920. I think as big and strong as these old bream were they had been around since 1902. 

Total for the day was 6 trophy size bream. They will make a good supper. For a good video on bream fishing click here for the Louisiana Sportsman page. I like their info which seems to be more down to earth that the Texas fishing videos you find. 

I have been suspecting my favorite bream spot at old Dam B might be grown too weedy to fish with light line but if we got a bit of rain and I get the canoe in the truck I'd try it out.