Uncertain, TX. -- Johnson’s Ranch Marina, situated on the banks of the Cypress River at Caddo Lake, reeks with nostalgia. The Marina first became headquarters for many early day Caddo fishermen back in 1903. The marina was “modernized” in the middle of the past century when piers and docks were built and concrete ramps were poured. Several cabins to house visiting fishermen were constructed on the hillside adjacent the marina. For 53 years, Mr. Bob Curtis owned and operated the marina. Mr. Curtis passed away a couple years ago at the age of 100. I remember first meeting Bob a quarter century ago. His headquarters was a comfortable padded chair behind the counter inside the marina and, although blind in his later years, he was as sharp as a tack and always stayed current on fishing patterns. I had the distinct pleasure of visiting with Mr. Curtis on a weekly basis while gleaning information for a fishing report I did for a major Texas newspaper. We became friends and I enjoyed visiting with him a few times each year when I came to Caddo to fish, usually with my other Caddo buddy, guide Billy Carter.
I was happy to learn that Carter took over management of the vintage marina about six months ago. Billy and his wife Dottie own Spatterdock (www.spatterdock.com); several comfortable lake homes that they rent to folks wishing to take in the sights and sounds of Caddo. Billy also guides fishing and duck hunting trips on the lake.
When I arrived at Caddo this past week to enjoy a few days fishing for crappie and white bass, I was happy to see Billy running the show at Johnson’s Ranch. Billy’s roots run deep at here. He’s spent a lifetime fishing and hunting this outdoor wonderland and it seemed perfectly fitting to see him filling the shoes of Mr. Curtis.
Billy’s handiwork was obvious, the marina buildings have been restored to the way they looked back in the middle of the past century but great care was obviously taken not to ‘change’ anything. The same old worn wooden planks that covered the buildings and docks were left in place. As I walked into the marina, a distinct feeling of nostalgia swept over me, it was like stepping back into my boyhood days, the place reeked of the nineteen fifties!
Henry Lewis (Mr. Henry) is another Lake Caddo legend. Henry has been guiding for crappie here since his boyhood days in the early fifties. Henry fishes from a roomy aluminum boat, just as he has the past fifty-six years and uses Calcutta poles with live minnows for bait. Henry has learned the seasonal patterns of crappie and, in my opinion, knows more about catching this sometime finicky species then anyone alive today.
My buddy Phil Zimmerman and I joined Mr. Henry for a morning of crappie fishing on the first day of our visit to Caddo. Our plan was to learn the current crappie pattern, then fish on our own for a couple days.
Mr. Henry is a very methodical fisherman. He has a ‘route’ that he fishes and right now, the majority of the fish are located in the mid to lower lake. In his memory banks, Mr. Henry has the location of hundreds of stumps, brush piles and old gas wells, no GPS coordinates are necessary! We moved from one bit of cover to the next.
“No need in spending more than ten minutes at each spot,” says Henry. “If we don’t get a bite, no need wasting time where the fish aren’t!”
We picked us some nice size crappie but, as Mr. Henry tipped, the fish are in transition right now.
“Crappie are scattered now, but by the third week in October,” he told us, “they and huge schools of yellow and white bass will be packing the river channels. Then, we will be fishing brush piles along the submerged ledges. This is when the fishing gets easy, we often pull several fish from the same brush pile and it’s not necessary to move around so much.”
Zimmerman and I learned a good bit about navigating the lower end of the lake while fishing with Mr. Henry and spent the next couple days fishing on our own. Billy Carter is responsible for introducing the masses to the sport of catching the lakes extremely plentiful yellow bass. He began guiding for “yellows” a quarter century ago and has taught many of his clients how to catch them.
I’ve learned to love fishing for these good eating, scrappy little fish. Zimmerman and I employed the time tested techniques of dropping small bits of minnow near bottom around channel intersections and bends in the river but it soon became obvious that yellow bass, just like the crappie, were in a period of transition. That third week in October is when the Cypress channel becomes packed with yellow bass and, there they will remain the entire fall and winter. We did catch some jumbo size white bass. White bass were also in transition but small schools had already moved into the river’s current.
They would ‘blow up’ on a school of shad for thirty seconds, then sound. We had our best luck by trolling down-sized Chatter baits. Using this method, we were able to locate the roving schools of whites. When we caught one, we would make several passes through the area until the school dispersed.
If you’re looking for a great ‘get away’ this fall, consider spending a few days at Caddo. Book a crappie trip with Mr. Henry or learn the nuisances of catching yellow and white bass from Billy Carter. I’ve done both and can guarantee you will have a big time. If you like to pull your RV, the State Park is just down the road from Johnson’s Ranch or, you can rent a fishing cabin or lake house at Spatterdock. For more information, call Billy or Dottie Carter at 903-789-3268 or the marina at 903-789-3213.
Listen to OUTDOOR WITH LUKE CLAYTON RADIO at www.catfishradio.com . Contact Luke at lukeclayton@prodigy.net.
LEOPARD WITH A BOW! I’ve never had the opportunity to travel to Africa to hunt but have visited with many buddies that have. I’ve read most of Capstick’s writings and have come to believe the Cape Buffalo and leopard to be the two most dangerous big game animals in the world. Most authorities agree that trailing a wounded leopard is extremely dangerous. Kenneth Tallent owns North Texas Archery and Outfitting in Farmersville, Tx. and the Circle T Bow hunting Ranch near Commerce. Kenneth has traveled the world extensively while bow hunting. He recently returned from an African bow hunt where he harvested a total of 15 big game animals, including a 156 pound leopard and massive cape buffalo bull, all with his trusty Mathews Bow.
It’s one thing to use a scope-sighted big game rifle and bag a leopard coming to bait at 100 yards, but quite a different endeavor to be armed with a compound bow and have a total of THREE leopards walk within 6 yards! Tallent says he and his Professional Hunter (PH) were concealed in a canvas ground blind about 15 yards from a tree containing bait for leopard. His PH tapped Kenneth on the shoulder and indicated a leopard was close. Kenneth watched a total of three cats, a female and two Toms, walk within spitting distance of the blind. The bow hunters shot was true and Kenneth harvested the bigger of the two Toms at a range of 15 yards. Luckily, the shot was right behind the shoulder and the big cat hit the ground and never moved.
I’ve shook in my boots while bow hunting wild boar on several occasions. The closest to real danger I’ve encountered was on a hunt in the Sulphur River bottoms where I stalked along the top of a creek bank and surprised a big boar that was bedded in the mud. I drew my bow and, luckily, dropped the boar with a spine shot as he was climbing the creek bank, popping his tusks and coming at me like a steam roller. I can only imagine being on the ground, 6 yards from three leopards, with nothing separating us but a layer of canvas!