Slop Bowl report 9-Apr-2023

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deptrai
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Slop Bowl report 9-Apr-2023

Post by deptrai »

I bought this fancy new light/flag to enable legally fishing at night. I launched super-early and it was still dark out so I got to put the new toy to the test. Mosquitoes were thick and I considered heading home or to another body of water.
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Another 4-mile paddle to the furthest back lake. Water was rushing out of the system pretty good so I was afraid to stay back in there too long. It was already shallower than the first time I was there. This time the results were the same. I didn’t get a bite. There was an east wind pushing me fairly decent...just enough to be uncomfortable.
I started to make my way out and fished the entire time. Just when I was beginning to think I might get skunked for the first time in a long time, this guy saved the day.
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About 15 minutes later, my final catch of the day materialized.
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Other than one boat that passed me on the way in, I was the only fisherman in the system all morning. I have to remember to go fishing on each Easter Sunday. I once took my boat to the Coronado Islands on a Saturday, July 3rd. I was the only boat at the islands and landed my first Yellowtail on my own boat. Also got pulled over by Homeland Security coming back across the border with two of my Mexican friends, but that’s another story.
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I’ll be back to the Slop Bowl. Maybe not soon, but I’ll be back. There is so much area to explore back there. I dream of a day when I turn a corner and see a school of Redfish or Trout and have them all to myself. Time on the water.

I really wish I would have switched to a different body of water. I was eaten alive by those mosquitoes. I even used two different sprays very generously. A 40% Deet spray on my body and 20% Picaridin Insect Repellent on my clothing. I still came home with ~50 bites. I just ordered Permethrin and will soak my clothing in it before going out again. I have a dry suit and it is 100% effective in eliminating mosquito bites, but it gets too hot to wear in non-winter months. The bites must have happened in the first two hours of the morning, because the wind machine knocked those things down when it started.
I’ve read mixed reviews of the Thermacell thing.
Until next time.

Dave
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motoyak
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Re: Slop Bowl report 9-Apr-2023

Post by motoyak »

Thermocell...it works in still conditions
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karstopo
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Re: Slop Bowl report 9-Apr-2023

Post by karstopo »

Love me some yellowtail sashimi.

The Slop Bowl sure is huge if you count all the various interconnected lakes and drains. I never got much beyond the first two forks except the one time.

Jones Creek is another marsh and Lake system that you might consider checking out. Deeper water between the lakes. More chances at better trout than maybe the Slop Bowl has.

Cedar lake Creek would be another system, there’s a little ramp way up in the San Bernard Wildlife Refuge. It’s a surprisingly deep creek that goes all the way to the ICWW, long paddle, but the lower half has plenty of structure and a big lake by the ICWW.
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deptrai
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Re: Slop Bowl report 9-Apr-2023

Post by deptrai »

Jones Creek sounds intriguing. That may be my next destination.
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Re: Slop Bowl report 9-Apr-2023

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I found that old photo of the big Slop bowl redfish my friend caught. I’m sure it was caught on a Norton bull minnow in Texas Roach because that’s about all he threw.

Jones lake One that adjoins the ICWW is shell hell. The entire lake is studded with hull wrecking live oyster reef. If the water is clear enough or low enough, you will see the shell and be able to avoid it. My friend in the photo took his cousin to Jones Lake One on a maiden voyage for the cousin and his cousin caught a 27” trout in the lake, his first trout ever. What a way to start!

There are paths through the shell of Lake One and the best one is over on the North side where the cut to Lake #2 is. Lake 2 has shell only around the edges. Lake 3 and beyond essentially have no shell.
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Re: Slop Bowl report 9-Apr-2023

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68BB1095-C48B-4817-898B-38C6EEA07778.jpeg
Shell free Path to lake #2
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