Lake San Antonio S.W.A.T. Assault Vessel Road Trip with the Bros. 9/23 – 9/24/12

I've been trying to put together a road trip to Lake San Antonio for the last couple of months with my homeboys. We finally got everybody on the same page this past weekend and off we went. I wish we could have put it all together a couple of weeks earlier… when the Striper bite apparently, was off the hook. :Envious:

No worries, this road trip was more about a long overdue get together with my Brothers from different Mothers than about catching fish. So we left our wives and girlfriends at home and hit the road. :Razz:

I want to thank couple of Lake San Antonio locals for the up-to-date intel, you know who you are… :Wink:
Thanks for trying to get me up there a couple of weeks ago when the bite was hot. Really wish that I could… next time!
Also, extending my appreciation to a couple of FNN members who also gave me some vital information. :Cool:

I’ve fished this place many times with Bob (TroutOnly) and learned quite a bit about this quiet jewel of a Striper lake. It’s all about the timing at this lake and the anglers who hit it up at the right time will be nicely rewarded.

We wanted to leave early Saturday morning, but I had an unexpected fire to put out at the office so we didn’t end up hitting the road until around 2:00pm. I told the boys to go ahead and tow the boat up there and I will drive up by myself to meet them later. They refused to leave without me… thanks guys. :Group Hug:

We got to the lake about 7:00pm and went through the Quagga Mussel inspection. Man, these guys were quite thorough, even with my Pyramid Lake tag, they were very careful checking to make sure everything was dry. Talking to one of the guys at the gate, he told us that a couple of weeks ago, they were pulling out 8 to 15 lbs Stripers like they were going out of style and there were massive boils everywhere. :Envious:

Went to the launch ramp and spoke to a fisherman who was putting his boat on the trailer. He got one Lineside all day on topwater, looks to me about a 8-10 lbs fish. Same story, he also told us that the bite was hot a few weeks ago… :Rolls Eyes:

We put the boat in the water around 7:30pm. We wanted to troll for a little bit, but was losing daylight fast, so we opted to head straight to one of the coves to anchor down for the night and try our luck at Catfishing. Something new for me as I was just recently trained in the fine art of Whiskerfish hunting by the “Legendary” Team TrollToon… Terry and Chris. :UDaMan:

We had a blast catching Catfish all night. I don’t think there was 15 minutes that went by that somebody didn’t reel up a fish. Sometimes we even had multiple hook-ups. :Shocked: I’m pretty sure we caught between 30-40 fish in total. Most of them were smaller 1-2 lbs, which we let go, but we also caught 15 or so in the 4-8 lbs range. Ended up keeping the bigger fish for the upcoming fish fry! :Big Grin:

Here are some pics and I’ll narrate the rest of the way…

Putting the S.W.A.T. Assault Vessel in the water…


I love fishing with da boys… I don’t have to do any work, I just supervise, lol


Enjoying the leisurely sunset cruise to our spot.


Simply beautiful… there is a God! :Big Grin:






As soon as we anchored down, the action started…

Catfish porn!
My first catch of the night.


John and one of his many Kitties…


Sokha (Troublehook) gets into the action.


Another nice one for me…


Binh (Badbeat) did some damage too… when he wasn’t sleeping, lol


A quality fish for John.


Sokha got himself a nice one.


Another keeper for me!


Casualties…


I didn’t get a single minute of sleep all night… as soon as you close your eyes a bell or a clicker would go off, lol :Smile:
The boys took turn passing out on the boat. We were all bundled up… it gets quite chilly on this lake at night.

Binh and his green good luck blanket. :Wink: Check this out, even when he is sleeping, he had his rod in his hand with the line wrapped around his finger. He would get a bite, wakes up and reel in the fish, too funny. :LOL:


Sohka was dead to the world… I slapped him with a Catfish and he didn’t even wake up, Hahahahaha


Lights out for John…


The next morning I told the boys to pull anchor and we set off on the troll looking for boils.


We trolled and trolled and trolled… pretty much did a lap around the lake. Trolling all the hot spots that Bob and I discovered in the past. Shock’s Alley, the Meat Bucket, Kewly’s Corner, now renamed Judas Corner, lol, jk. :LOL: Metered a few concentration of fish but couldn’t get them to play. Trolled a variety of bucktails and swim baits at different depth… still no love from the Linesides.

Around 10:00am we worked our way back to the cove where we started and wouldn’t you know it… spotted a few sporadic boils in the distance. :EyePop: We jammed over there and cut the engine, slid up to the action and started casting like madmen… the boils were over so quickly, each only lasted for maybe 10-30 seconds max and they were gone. We saw about a half dozen quick boils and could only reach a couple. As soon as we got on top of the boil, it vanished. :Angry: The Shad they are chasing is quite small, maybe 2 inches.
In hindsight, we should have stayed put in that cove and waited for the boils to materialize. :Idea:

On one of the quick boils, I made a cast and hooked up… thought I was on a nice Striper because it fought like champ… and this Bronzeback hit the deck, nice fish, but not what I was expecting, lol




We hung around trying to chase phantom boils for another couple of hours and decided to head home. Off the lake by 1:00pm. I wasn’t looking forward to the 5 hour long drive… :mad:

It was a beautiful day to be on the water.


A couple of the keepers.


My supermodel pose, lol


Binh (Badbeat)


Sokha (Troublehook)


Our buddy John.


Even though the trophy Linesides eluded us this time around, I still consider this a successful trip. Nobody got skunked and there was plenty of laughs and good times with good friends. Thank you Binh, Sokha and John for joining me on this long road trip. I know you guys will enjoy your bounty and I hope we can do this again soon… until then, peace my brothers. :Big Grin:

Have a great week everybody!

Arthur (Wingnut)


“Happiness in life is the elimination of the unnecessary.”



Parting Shots.

My Catfish dinner Sunday night, compliments of the “Iron Chef.” :Big Grin:
Cajun Style Spicy Catfish with steamed rice and Sour Fish Soup (Canh Chua Ca).




I asked Wingnut Pug what she thinks about Catfishing… :LOL:

Sorry to hear you guys came up short on the linesiders, but sounds like you had a great time out with the boyz!:Wink: Not to mention some fun pulling on the kitties and one heck of a nice smallie! Nice going out there...and damn you with those food shots! :Envious:

talk to you soon...
Don

Ain't that lake a trip?

Freezing at night and mega hot within 12hrs


Catfish saved the day! Thanks for the report

Arthur,

When I got your text Saturday night and you informed me that you guys went on a Northern road trip and were out night fishing for the kitties I just had to interrupt my Buddy Trolly's intent focus and concentration trying to get some kittys of his own........:LOL:

Me: Hey Trolly, wake up your not going to believe this!

Trolly: What?

Me: Arthur, Binh, Sokha and John are at San Antonio night fishing for whiskerfish!

Trolly: No way! That's awesome! I knew he was hooked after last week, I knew it!

I've got to say that text made the evening for Team Trolltoon! We couldn't have been happier!:Cool:



I had so much fun reading this post My friend and the pictures made my day! It looks to me like you all had a great time and I wish Trolly and I could have followed you guys up there. The pictures of the guys so focused in stealth mode made me feel pretty good that Trolly and I taught you well last Saturday night in the fine art of sneeking up on the catfish........absolutely awesome!:Wink:

But most of all, I feel pretty good that you now understand the Team trolltoon SWAT logo at certain times will actually mean.......... "So, Whiskerfish are Tasty":Envious:

Great job guys! and I'm heading out right now to get me one of those catfishing blankets just like Binh's!:Cool:

My favorite Wingnut pictures right here..................:Wink:

Pretty close quarters with 4 manly men sleeping on it...:Shocked:

To bad the jail birds didn't stick around and play.:Sad: But you guys managed to do a pretty good job on filling the cooler

WWO

Ahh...Yes!.....the ol' ....saying!.... "You should have been here two weeks ago...the Striper bite was off the hook!" :Rolls Eyes:
I've never caught a fresh water line side.....it's still on my list. I went to DVL too early this year for it to happen, the lake was still up side down.

I'm happy to see all my boyz out there having lots of fun and rippin' on some kitty lips! :Beer Toast: WTG men!

As always Arthur.....thanx for another excellent report with pic's! :Cool:

I'll see you at the up coming HG-4 my friend!

SP Dan <"))><

Arthur,

Well looks you guys had a great time despite the lack of striper activity. Plus with Mr. Whiskers making up for the stripers absence and a couple nice smallies on the top water it was a road trip and successful night/ day of fishing anyways. I see Team Trolly has taught you well. Iron chef putting the finishing touches on the nights catch.. Good times and memories made. Well done guys.

JerryG

Brother Arthur,
Good to see you and the boys getting out for the overnighter.
Looks like the kitties were out in full force there and y'all managed to clean up the lake a bit..:Smile:
That shot of Lynns sour fish soup just looks awesome. Is it spicy? :???:
One last thing, I think Burt Reynolds wants his pose back...:ROFL:
Look forward to seeing everyone at HG4,
Robert
<><

Great report and pics. I was lucky enough to get out there a few weeks ago and the bite was crazy. Still looks like a great trip.

Great report on the Tone.
Yes, the stripers were active on top a few weeks ago although I had little luck with them this time around.
Just couldn't get out as much as I'd like.
Catfish at the lake are always a good alternative to chase away the skunk during warmer weather.
Few people realize how good whisker fishing is there.
They also bite quite readily during the day.
What was the hot bait for them on your trip?
Last time I was there they were going off on chicken livers.
Best bite seemed to be in about 25 ft. of water near the trees.