draino

I happened upon this thread searching the site after running into the same issue in uploading files, but glad I found it for two reason. One, those baits that Baitmaker produced are absolutely breath-taking and enjoyed viewing them. Second, you answered my question about upload size. I probably should have waited before putting the picture along with my user name. I wonder if the more likes you receive the greater the size.

Planning a trip to TB for Saturday. Weather is looking good. I spent a fair amount of time doing some armchair fishing this week after getting access to Navionic maps. The 1' contours of the maps on my laptop are amazing for off-water study, but not sure if some areas are correct. Some creeks and contours don't quite match up, seen where some of them actually go up hill. Question for Catt: Do you know if any cofferdams were put in the lake bed or bayous before it was impounded? We will probably put in at Alpine and hit the Palo Gaucho area again, though reports from there hasn't been promising. With a SW wind of only 5mph we may round the corner and head up towards Carrice. Or thinking about checking out some of the real estate along the Western shores North of the Pendelton Bridge and South of Patroon. Navionics map is showing a few creeks coming off the main channel and Patroon into a large relatively shallow area with several mounds. Any experience or reports from that area?

We did make it Monday. Got skunked, but my brother picked up a couple of small ones on a CR with a fluke further into Palo. A bad day fishing can actually be a good day. The weather was nice, but the South wind was too much on our small boat to fish in the open waters around the flats. Gotta keep more options available in protected areas. Thinking about going back this Saturday. Gotta question about contour maps and electronics, if someone has the answer. The printed maps I have show limited contours (12', 32' & 52') that indicate where the main channels run and some larger flats. I recently viewed a webinar on youtube of TB where a Navionics app was used. The contours on the map were 1' and provided a very detailed picture of elevation changes. I have experience reading contours from doing land navigation and orienteering, and creating contour maps for orienteering meets. The problem is that I'm not ready to drop a lot of money on electronics for the boat, but would like to get my hands on some better contour maps. Any idea of where to get digital copies? Thanks.

I would also like to send out a big thanks to Catt for starting this very informative thread along with the other anglers who take the time to posts their reports, tips and ideas. I've been lurking over the past several months, going back and reading the posts and trying to take in as much as I can. My brother and I purchased a boat a few years ago and have really enjoyed the time together, but realize there's a lot more to successful fishing than luck. We spent most of our first couple of years fishing Caddo, but after a couple of trips to TB last summer we've been spending most of our time there exploring and learning different parts of the lake. We've decided to take the advice given earlier to focus on one area and learn it well and really interested in Palo Gaucho area, but the last couple of trips hadn't produced much. I looked at the coordinates that Zefman78 posted on 3Fed and thought about fishing around there several times, but each time the wind was too much to try it (got a small boat that doesn't handle in the wind well). We're planning to head out there this Sunday and will likely put in at Alpine to give that area a going over. I'll let y'all know if it truly was a better than a good day at work.