Socked by winter

Float nets few fish, cold feet

— Familiar as these waters are, they are not friendly in winter.

Our relationship will mend in warmer months, when the Caddo River extends its loving arms to embrace wade fishing and swimming. Friday she was ice-cold, and I was well aware that a dunking could have dire consequences.

Still, I love her as much as ever.

Rusty Pruitt and I were a couple of weeks early for our usual February float trip on the Caddo between Caddo Gap and Glenwood, and we probably picked the worst day of the week for fishing. Conditions included high pressure in the wake of a cold front, bluebird sky, fierce wind and bitter cold, both in the water and above. However, one does not always go fishing when he wants, but when he can.

The first challenge was finding a canoe. Last summer’s drought hurt the canoe business on the Caddo so badly that our usual outfitter went to North Dakota for work. Our next option was more interested in cutting brush than renting us a boat, and he told us so.

Facing a wasted day, we returned to Glenwood and pulled into a small parking lot in front of a tiny little shack with a makeshift sign that said, “Lucky’s Canoe Rental.” I called the number on the door. A man answered, and I asked, “Are you Lucky?”

“Sometimes I am,” he answered warily.

“Well, I need to be. I got a fishin’ jones goin’ on real bad, and I need to rent a canoe!”

He gave a deep belly laugh and said he’d be down in fiveminutes.

Lucky’s fee was almost half of what other outfitters charge, and that included shuttle and a deep conversation with his 3-year-old son about the many virtues of homemade cookies.

Floating conditions were ideal. The river was at about 3.6 feet, high enough to carry a boat swiftly and cover most of the rocks, but slow enough for easy drifting through the deep holes. The water was stained, which I hoped would give small mouth enough confidence to leave cover and prowl in the bright sunlight.

The wind was a problem, though. It blew straight upstream faster than the water moved downstream. That meant we had to paddle through the long holes, which turned drift fishing into drag fishing.

Pruitt and I wore layers of clothing, and we needed them. I wore Under Armor thermal bottoms under sweat pants. Up top I wore a Tshirt, a wool pullover and a Polartec jacket. That jacketis the greatest. It’s light but very warm, and it baffles all but the heaviest wind into submission. I covered up with L.L. Bean fishing waders and felt-soled wading boots.

The one thing I overlooked was heavy socks, and I regretted it.

Experience dictated that we blast through all the great-looking water around Caddo Gap and begin fishing at the mouth of what Pruitt and I call the Secret Spring. We always catch some big small mouth bass and Kentucky bass there on a variety of flies and plugs.

Pruitt fished a combination of shad imitators on his fly rig, and I fished a shad colored Excalibur stick bait. I like to let the current carry it downstream about 100-125 yards and then retrieve it at variable speeds while twitching. Its path follows a thin rock and gravel ridge that partitions the river current from the current from the spring inflow. Small mouths station along the ridge, andI usually catch three or four big ones.

It didn’t happen Friday. Either they weren’t home, or they weren’t biting. I suspected the former. Given the conditions, I suspected the fish were hunkered at the bottoms of the deep holes.

It also didn’t help that most of my smallmouth kit is geared for fishing in spring, summer and fall. Most of my lures are various shade combinations of watermelon and pumpkinseed. Dark lures are better for fishing in cold weather. I have one bag of Yamamoto twin-tailed grubs in smoke/pepper/blue flake. I’ve had them for about 20 years and never caught anything with them until last February, when they were all the fish would bite. Thatwas also the day I caught a 4-pounder, my best Caddo River smallie to date.

I fished them Friday on a modified drop-shot rig featuring a quarter-ounce Sipsey sinker. I really like this rig for creek fishing because it resists snagging while drifting. Also, fish don’t sense the pressure off the weight when they bite the lure, so they hold it longer. The bite feels different than that on a Texas rig or shaky head, and it takes a miss or two to get in tune.

That’s how it happened Friday. The fish were indeed in the deep holes and seams, and they seemed to prefer the twin-tail about 30 yards behind the boat. They hit it hard, too, not the subtle bite we usually associate with winter fishing. They were all decent fish, averaging about 14 inches long, but we didn’t catch many. I was disappointed that one of my most dependable holes - a deep pocket at the end of the Flag Hole - was a bust, as wasmy favorite topwater bank.

As usual, we arrived too late to fish the great looking pools above Glenwood, but we didn’t mind. The sun had set, we were hungry, and my feet were numb from cold.

I’ll be back soon, on a better fishing day. I’ll have better socks, too.

Sports, Pages 24 on 02/03/2013

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