We knew fishing would be tough at Bartletts Ferry for the Potato Creek Bassmasters tournament last Saturday. The weekend before it took only 11 pounds to win a local tournament with 47 teams fishing. In local tournaments like that there are usually some very good fishermen that know the lake well and fish it several days a week to keep up with what will catch bass.
In our tournament 18 fishermen cast from 7:00 AM to 3:00 Pm to land 51 12-inch keeper bass weighing about 64 pounds. There were three five bass limits and two fishermen didn’t weigh in a fish.
I managed to win with five weighing 7.26 pounds, Doug Acree had five at 7.05 for second and Stevie Wright came in third with four weighing 6.01 pounds. Glen Anderson had three weighing 5.90 pounds for fourth and his 3.71 pound largemouth was big fish.
I went to Blanton Creek Campground on Wednesday to practice and try to figure out something on Thursday and Friday. Blanton Creek is a very nice Georgia Power campground about five miles by land and three miles by water from Idlehour Ramp where our tournaments are held.
I like camping there, it has nice shady sites with electricity and water hookups and a good bathhouse with hot showers. As usual, when I pulled up to check in the attendant said “you know you can not park your boat in the campground.”
I have run into that problem every time I camp there. My boat batteries have to be charged every night or I can not fish the next day. They want me to leave my boat in the ramp parking lot, where there are no outlets. And I have to take off all my electronics and take all my tackle with me. I am very uncomfortable leaving it exposed in a parking lot.
Some trips in the past I have been able to park my boat on my campsite, assuring the attendants I would not park it outside the gravel area or on the roads. This time I had gotten a site on the water, one of only about ten that allow you to keep your boat in the water and run an extension cord to it to charge your batteries.
Although written rules in the campground say no vehicles should be parked anywhere other than on the gravel camp sites, there were six to 12 trucks and cars parked outside campsites beside the road every day.
So they do not allow anyone to park a boat in the campground since someone might park outside their campsite, but they do not enforce the written rules for cars and trucks.
Seems very unfair to me.
I was shocked to win the tournament. My elbow started hurting the week before the tournament and I got a sharp pain in it every time I tried to cast. Thursday I tried to learn to cast with my left hand, and got pretty good at it, as long as I didn’t care where my bait went.
I cast about 20 times Friday and my elbow hurt so bad I stopped. I spent most of Thursday and Friday riding points, looking for places where I could drop a bait over the side or heave it out with no target, let it sink then drag it around with the trolling motor.
I started Saturday morning on a rocky bank where I could heave my spinnerbait toward it and not care much where it hit. I hooked and lost a fish on my third cast, then lost another a few minutes later. That was not a good start.
I next went to a hump with some hydrilla on it and heaved a topwater bait out, and got a good keeper on my second cast with a topwater plug. After that I caught three on Trick worms on seawalls. Fishing them allowed me to cast in the general direction, often landing my bait on the bank, then pulling it into the water.
After the sun got high I got my fifth keeper dragging a small jig on a point with some brush. Then, with less than 30 minutes to fish, I went back to the hump where I caught my first fish.
With five minutes left to cast I hooked and landed a 2.5 pound largemouth on a spinnerbait. It was my biggest fish of the day and culled a 12-inch spot that weighed less than a pound! That made the difference between first and fourth or so.
GOOD. Water clear; 51 degrees; 0.03 feet above pool. Crappie are good in 15-30 feet on jigs and minnows. Catfish are good on liver and cut shad. Report by The Bait Shop, Post, Texas.
FAIR. Water normal stain; 68 degrees; 65.84 feet below pool. Black bass are fair on main lake points and ledges. Football head jigs, grubs, Ned rigs, crank baits, Texas rigged worms fished in 20-25 feet are having the best results. White bass are good in 30-40 feet on spoons, underspins, umbrella rigs. Stripers are slow. Happy Fishing! Report by Captain Raul Cordero, Far West Guide Service.
FAIR. Water stained; 65 degrees; 5.04 feet below pool. Water level is low, but rising so the clarity is murky. Continue to target fish near the dam, and the deeper part of the lake. Drop down on brush piles. Use a slower approach now that we are experiencing colder weather and water temperatures.
GOOD. Water lightly stained; 50 degrees; 5.37 feet below pool. Catfish are good drifting with fresh cut shad out in the main part of the lake. Report by Brandon Brown, Brown’s Guide Service.
GOOD. Water normal stain; 57 degrees; 0.54 feet below pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady. Bass are good and can be caught in grass 5-10 feet with Texas rig worms, wacky rig senko and lipless crankbaits. Crappie are slow on small jigs over deep brush 25 feet. Report by Reagan Nelson, Lake Athens Bass Guide.
GOOD. Water stained; 62 degrees; 0.54 feet below pool. Water temperatures have quickly dropped on Lake Austin. Hovering in the lower 60s. Bass fishing has been good using a variety approaches. The most effective pattern for catching numbers would be fishing a small worm around grass beds and docks. There are fish hanging out around the mouths of creeks feeding on Shad. A shallow Jerkbait and weightless fluke are good in these areas. Report by Carson Conklin, ATX Fishing.
FAIR. Water stain; 63 degrees; 0.49 feet below pool. Mayflies are hatching, so expect some topwater bass action. Bass are fair on soft plastics in the cuts, or with frogs over grass. Crappie are fair with jigs in flooded timber. Catfish are fair on juglines.
GOOD. Water stained; 66 degrees. Bass are good working worms and flukes around any water vegetation have been the most productive. The outlet will always produce some bass too. You can use small swimbaits and Texas rigged and shaky head trick worms to get bites. Some big fish gather on the rock piles out where the reeds on the right end on the way out. Cranking the dam or throwing a frog along the dam will get you a bite. Report by Bryan Cotter, Texas Hawgs. Bass are hiding in the edge of the reeds and what little grass there is holding bass. Deep humps and points holding a better size fish with dropshots and jigs. Water temperature is ranging from 62-66 degrees depending on which side of the lake. Report by David Townsend, Austin Fishing Guide.
FAIR. Water stained; 60 degrees; 2.15 feet below pool. Fishing is inconsistent right now. The typically good bird activity by gulls and terns has yet to materialize, and what few birds are present are focused on hyper-active short hybrid striped bass which flare up and feed briefly, then settle back down. these fish are tough to pin down, as they chase shad very quickly and are tough to keep up with. White bass fishing is fair in the Leon Arm, below average in the main basin, and just about non-existent in the Cowhouse Creek Arm. Although the fish are still chasing MAL Dense Lures vertically and chasing White Tornados horizontally thanks to a warm up early this week, that will likely stop again after the water drops back into the high 50s later this week. Report by Bob Maindelle, Holding the Line Guide Service. Santa has been making early deliveries on Belton Lake! Trophy blue catfish have been excellent drifting along river channels and underwater points. Fishing shallow water on anchor with fresh cut bait has produced a wide range of fish sizes. Fishing patterns are changing as we head into the winter pattern. Anglers should not be afraid to move often until they find an active fish. Report by Brian Worley, B&S Catfishing.
GOOD. Water stained; 60 degrees; 4.70 feet below pool. Catfish are fair in deeper water. Perch are good in shallow water. Crappie are fair on structure with live minnows. Largemouth bass and smallmouth bass are shallow around structure using chatterbaits and Texas rigged worms.
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 60 degrees; 1.01 feet below pool. Fishing has been excellent for big largemouth, especially when the sun is shining. Water clarity is dependent upon the amount of remaining live vegetation present and wind direction. There is up to 4 feet of clarity in grassy and calm areas and approximately 2 feet on the windblown points or coves. Bass have started to move out from the backs of creeks and are starting to congregate at the mouths of main creek channels. The larger fish are sitting on the bottom along creek channel bends or saddles off of mainlake humps. Big fish can be caught with an Alabama rig, flat-sided crankbaits, or a dark colored jig in 10-15 feet of water. Report by Blake Doughtie, Lake Country Lunkers Lures and Guide Service. Windy, sunny banks and retaining walls are good bets for black bass. Try subsurface fish patterns in 5-10 feet of water. On warm, sunny days, small shad pattern flies might produce bass around submerged vegetation. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service.
SLOW. water stained; 60 degrees; 3.86 feet below pool. Bass are slow in the early mornings, but the midday bite has been the best with Texas rigs and Viper XP Jigs on big timber around fence rows and creeks and ditches are best in 4-8 feet. Carolina rigs are good on pond dams and brush piles in 4-12 feet. Squarebill crankbaits are good around old ponds in 3-6 feet. Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. The lake level is low. Crappie fishing is excellent in the main river channel timber and lower third of the lake in 30-50 feet of water catching crappie 6-28 feet down. Fish are very healthy with big black crappie being caught on jigs. Some catches near the bridge. Report by River Bottom Boys Guide Service.
SLOW. Water stained; 70 degrees; 13.49 feet below pool. Black bass are slow with a few being caught late afternoon before dark around deeper rocky shorelines using senkos and slow rolling spinnerbaits. Catfish are slow with a few caught late afternoon into the night on cut bait. Crappie and white bass are slow.
SLOW. Water stained, 66 degrees. Redfish are being caught off the bank with shrimp and fish bites, some catches out of a boat trolling rattle traps. Channel catfish are along the rock line being caught on cheese bait. Report by Harry Lamb, Alamo Texas Fishing.
GOOD. Water stained; 55 degrees; 8.17 feet below pool. Lake Bridgeport is just over 8 feet low. Water clarity ranges from muddy in the north end to very stained in the main lake. Catfishing remains good on cut and prepared baits. The north end and the mouths of creeks have been the best areas. Sand bass and hybrids remain scattered, slabs and deadsticking main lake structure may bring a fish or two. Largemouth bass have been slow but shallow running crankbaits fished near main lake points are catching a few fish. Crappie remain sluggish in the stained water, a few fish are coming in on minnows and jigs. Brush piles and deeper docks should hold some fish. All ramps are open. Report by Keith Bunch, Lake Bridgeport Guide Service.
GOOD. Water stained; 56 degrees; 0.32 feet above pool. Black bass to 7.64 pounds are fair on 1/8 ounce minnow baits scoping and Hag’s Tsunami �½ ounce jigs in Juice Box in 1-5 feet along weed edges and on the ledges. Crappie are slow with fish up to 10 inches on white or black/chartreuse jigs and minnows in brush piles 10-12 feet. White bass are slow on crankbaits and jigs off lighted docks. Catfish are fair to 4 pounds on cut bait.
EXCELLENT. Water slight stain; 62 degrees; 15.99 feet below pool. The high winds have made it challenging some days but striper and white bass can be caught if you can handle the waves. Target depths of 28-42 feet vertical jigging, or slabbing, with �½-1ounce spoons has been the best technique. Deadsticking soft plastics has produced some nice limits of stripers of the past week. The birds continue to work some nice schools of fish most days. Report by Travis Holland, TH Fishing. Fishing patterns are consistent. Striped bass and white bass are good with jigging spoons and deadsticking in 17-40 feet of water. The afternoon seems to be the best bite. There is increased bird action leading the ways to schools of stripers and white bass. Report by Captain Aaron Dick, One Up Fishing Guide Service. Remember, the colder it gets the better this lake fishes. Throwing jigs and shaky heads with trick worms, die those tails, around those rock piles will catch a pile of bass. Crankbaits and swimbaits around the same areas will catch some big ones as well. A fluke in perch colors or even shad colors around rocks and lumber will get some bites anywhere out on this lake as well. A walking style topwater will catch some good ones around steep banks on main and secondary points. Report by Bryan Cotter, Texas Hawgs.
GOOD. Water stained; 50 degrees; 0.37 feet above pool. The winter bite on Caddo has started to really kick in good with water temperatures now around 50 degrees. The white bass and black bass are running up the river pretty good chasing shad, look for the bait on your graph or pay attention to the birds on the lane poles. Alabama rigs, rattle traps, chatterbait, underspin or swimbait will work well for the black bass. and a rooster tail works good for the white bass. I am seeing my crappie friends showing up more and more so I would assume they are biting also. As long as the clarity does not become muddy from rain or the water temperature falls in the lower 40s the bite should be good for a while. This is a great time of year on this lake that God spoke into existence. Report provided by Vince Richards, Caddo Lake Fishing & Fellowship.
GOOD. Water slightly stained, 69 degrees. Redfish are slow from the bank and trolling from a boat. Blue catfish are fair 15-20 feet on cut bait and cheese bait. Channel catfish are good around rock lines and weeds on cheese bait. Bass are slow. Report by Harry Lamb, Alamo Texas Fishing.
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 62 degrees; 27.84 feet below pool. Largemouth bass are excellent along grass edges with chatterbaits, crankbaits, and really whatever your favorite lure is. White bass are good in 30-50 with white or silver slabs spoons. Stripers are slow schooling by the dam on days with a light wind. Report by Charles Whited, Barefoot Fishing Tours.
GOOD. stained; 55 degrees; 3.76 feet below pool. 55-57 degrees; 3.71 feet below pool. The hybrid and white bass winter deadsticking bite is now in full swing! Use half ounce to 1-1/2 ounce jigs with 4-5 inch plastic flukes depending on what the winds are and drift long lengths of the lake in the deepest water 35-50 feet. Drift at speeds of .2-.6 mph using your drift mode on your trolling motor or using drift socks. If the winds are not too bad you can just drift with the wind. Thumping on the bottom of your boat will attract fish and group them up underneath as you drift. Utilizing a splasher also works well with thumping. You will find the fish suspended between 22-28 feet when deadstricking. Look for birds and loons early mornings as the fish will come up to follow the bait and feed early especially on cloudier/colder days. The crappie bite has been getting better. Target crappie with small jigs and minnows in 7-15 feet under bridge pylons, hidden brush piles throughout the lake or under docks. Crappie fisherman have been moving spot to spot finding limits. Lots of crappies in the 7-9 inch range. Limits of crappie will happen but you may catch a lot of small ones getting to your limit. Report by Brent Herbeck, Herbeck’s Lonestar Fishing Guide Service. The shallow bite continues to be good for catfish along wind blown banks and points near the mouths of major creeks where the actual creek runs into the lake. Due to the low water you can only get a few hundred yards away. Fish in 2-6 feet with fresh shad anchored on bottom. The deep bite is also good dragging bigger cut shad or rough fish in 15-30 feet drifting main lake flats. Report by Jason Barber, Kings Creek Adventures.
SLOW. Water stained; 65 degrees; 32.85 feet below pool. Few anglers on the water while the lake level is low. It is possible to launch a flat bottom boat, or kayak. It is possible to fish from the bank at Callahan State Park. Report by Scott Springer, Fish Choke Canyon Lake.
GOOD. Water slight stain; 63 degrees; 12.23 feet below pool. Blues are biting good on cut bait. Crappie are hitting minnows in 30 feet of water. Report by Lake Cisco Rentals.
SLOW. Water normal stain; 65 degrees; 0.13 feet above pool. Lots of freshwater in the lake slowing the bite until the water settles. Largemouth bass are dispersed throughout the lake relating primarily near stumps and boat houses. Crappie are slow with jigs and minnows.
GOOD. 75 degrees; 0.53 feet above pool. Number of largemouth bass on points and near creek channel ledges. Eater sized channel catfish limits are common on prepared baits. Report by Michael Acosta, Unfair Advantage Charters.
GOOD. Water stained; 61 degrees; 1.21 feet below pool. Catfish are great with lots of big catfish coming in as well as eaters. Eater catfish are great on baited holes using catfish Bubblegum, liver, worms or punch bait from 7-40 feet of water. Drift fishing natural baits can produce plenty of eaters as well as some trophy class fish. Largemouth bass have been good on shallow to offshore structure or schooling on shad. Report by Brad Doyle with Bradley’s Guide Service. Crappie are in 12-22 feet close or in structure hitting jigs and minnows. Many folks have reported catches in 4 feet north of 1097. Hybrid stripers have been schooling in 15-26 feet of water hanging on flats and drop-offs. Many anglers are trolling with a deep diver and a pet spoon trailer, slabs, or casting swimbaits or crankbaits when schooled up. Always wear your life jacket! Merry Christmas! Report by Mike Cason, Fishical Therapy.
GOOD. Water stained; 55 degrees: 2.00 feet below pool. The lake is low, best to launch near the dam. Crappie are good roaming in the river channel transitioning to the dam for the river pattern. Crappie are hitting minnows, jigs, or hand tied jigs. Report by River Bottom Boys Guide Service.
SLOW. 65 degrees; 12.39 feet below pool. Reports of a good blue catfish bite in 19 feet of water off the bottom. Catfish were 1.5-4 pounds. A group of anglers had success for gar, some small catfish and and a few white bass fishing with shad. They cast net caught shad for bait fish. Report by Weber’s Boat Landing.
GOOD: Water normal stain; 50 degrees; 0.64 feet below pool. Fishing has been excellent for big largemouth, especially when the sun is shining. Water clarity is dependent upon the amount of remaining live vegetation present and wind direction. There is up to 4 feet of clarity in grassy and calm areas and approximately 2 feet on the windblown points or coves. Bass have started to move out from the backs of creeks and are starting to congregate at the mouths of main creek channels. The larger fish are sitting on the bottom along creek channel bends or saddles off of mainlake humps. Big fish can be caught with an Alabama rig, flat-sided crankbaits, or a dark colored jig in 10-15 feet of water. Report by Blake Doughtie, Lake Country Lunkers Lures and Guide Service.
GOOD. Water normal stain; 56 degrees; 4.85 feet below pool. White Bass are fair, look for birds working or schools of bait on the main lake and in mid-depths on chartreuse and white slabs or paddle tail swim baits. Some white bass are still being caught in black water on 3-4 inch paddle tail swimbaits. Crappie are being caught on deeper structure and cover using larger profile baits and also spider rigging open water. Catfish are being caught on punch bait and cut bait in basically all depths and are moving a lot with the changing water temperatures. The warmer weather scattered the fish so you will have to work to find feeding fish, and expect the pattern to change daily. Report provided by Chad Ferguson of North Texas Catfish Guide Service.
GOOD. Water stained; 68 degrees; 45.16 feet below pool. Alligator gar rod and reel and bow fishing has slowed due to cold water. Trophy catfish are good in 8-12 feet of water with fresh cut bait on santee cooper rig. Keeper catfish are good in 3-10 feet of water on vertical structure with stink bait or shrimp on a slip bobber to keep bait about a foot off the bottom. Bigger catfish are on offshore timber. Largemouth bass are fair early or late in the day. Slowly drag deep diving crankbaits or plastic jigs over hard bottoms in 5-10 feet of water. Report by Ram Reyes, Ram Outdoors.
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 68 degrees. Bass are good on rattle traps and topwaters, shaky heads, and some dropshots in 2-20 feet of waters. Find the bait and find the fish. Report by Mark Fransen, Fransen’s Guide Service.
GOOD. Water Stained; 60 degrees; 2.34 feet below pool. Bass are good on Viper XP jigs and Texas rigs around big wood near any depth changes like creeks and ditches in 5-7 feet. Squarebill crankbaits and chatterbaits are good around docks in 3-6 feet. Carolina rigs are good on long points 8-15 feet. Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. The water is cooler, so now we have deeper fish. Black bass are slow in 5-10 feet of water with Clousers with a sinking tip line are your best bet. Focus on creek bends and drop-offs. Small streamers and top water patterns might catch active bass in creeks on warm days. Report by Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork. Lake Fork water temperatures have finally dropped into the upper 50s and the big fish are showing up and showing off. This week we have fish all over the lake in depths from 12-58 feet. You can find big numbers of black crappie at the base of shallow trees in 12-18 feet in the mid lake areas. Sometimes you will find white crappie in the same trees suspended halfway down. It is the opposite once you move to deeper water. The black crappie are higher on the trees off shore and the white crappie are further down on the trees. We have seen some bigger crappie in the 2.5 pound range being caught so the winter time big fish season has arrived. The best areas for concentrations of fish are loaded with shad. The bite has been up and down this week but my boat has put the minnow bucket up until next summer. You can still use minnows and they will produce great. Small hand tied jigs are also working extremely well this week. We should also see the aggressive fish hitting plastics and even large baits as the water cools off. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.
SLOW. Water stained; 65 degrees; 6.59 feet below pool. Crappie are fair as anglers continue to wait for crappie to move to winter patterns on deep structures. Bass are slow with a shallow crankbait or spinnerbait on rocky structure on the south side.
SLOW. Water stained: 60 degrees; 11.87 feet below pool. Sand bass can be caught with spoons. Bass can be caught in vegetation with crankbaits and Texas rigs.
FAIR. Water stained; 60 degrees; 0.35 feet above pool. Water is cooling off and muddy. Fishing is slow. Crappie are on brush piles in about 15 feet of water. Good on minnows. Bass are shallow on rocky banks good on crank baits and spinner baits. Sandbass and hybrids are schooling around the hot water outlet and on main lake flats. Good on spoons. Catfish is good on main lake flats on cut shad.
GOOD. Water stained; 57 degrees; 0.18 feet below pool. Granbury water temperatures vary from low 50s in the river to 57 degrees on the main lake. Granbury is at full pool and there is a lot of debris floating. Be careful navigating. Granbury sand bass and crappie are good on small jigs on the upper ends from in town to Tin Top. Largemouth bass are also good on soft plastics on the upper ends near points and laydowns. Some good largemouth are also being caught near major creek entrances near Decordova subdivision. Striped bass numbers are good on soft plastics on the lower ends. Bigger striped bass are being caught from in-town to Hunter Park in 20-30 feet of water. Big blue and yellow catfish are also fair on cut bait near Hunter Park on channel ledges near tree lines. Report by Michael Acosta, Unfair Advantage Charters.
GOOD. Water lightly stained; 60 degrees; 0.95 feet below pool. Black bass are slow. Crappie are fair on jigs fished on the bottom in open water from 12-20 feet deep. White bass are slow. Blue catfish are good on jug lines baited with shad. Yellow catfish are slow. Report by Tommy Tidwell, Tommy Tidwell’s Granger Lake Guide Service.
GOOD. Water normal stain; 58 degrees; 1.30 feet below pool. White bass continue to transition to a winter pattern so be prepared to move frequently from shallow points to deep water. The best days have light winds out of the south. Some fish are stacking in deep water and can be caught on slabs with a stinger hook. Report by Omar Cotter, Luck O’the Irish Fishing Guide Service.
GOOD. Water normal stain; 65 degrees; 49.25 feet below pool. Crappie are in standing timber. Sand bass are good. Catfish are good on minnows and worms. Largemouth bass are good.
GOOD. Water slightly stained. 60 degrees. Chain Pickerel are active in shallow water. Concentrate on areas with stumps, brush, and vegetation. Small bass are active in shallow areas relating to vegetation and structure. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service.
SLOW. Water stained; 60 degrees; 0.30 feet above pool. Crappie can be caught on brush with minnows and jigs. Bass can be caught on Texas rigs. Catfish can be caught on cut bait.
SLOW. Water Stained; 60 degrees; 13.01 feet below pool. The lake has risen about two feet over the week. Bass are fair with a few three fish stringers over 10 pounds. Try dragging soft plastics slowly on the bottom in 8-15 feet of water. Blue catfish can be caught on juglines with live bait or cut carp. White bass are schooling throughout the day.
SLOW. Water stained; 59 degrees; 0.14 feet above pool. Bass are slow with some fish suspended on swim baits and Alabama rigs, and soft plastics in brush and near the bank. Water is murky after heavy rains.
SLOW. Water normal stain; 60 degrees; 0.49 below pool. Small bass can be caught on Texas rig soft plastics. Fishing should pick back up after these cold fronts stabilize. Crappie are in the shallow wood, but may slide out a little with the incoming front. White bass and catfish are sporadic here and there. Report by Gilbert Miller, GTB Outdoors.
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 65 degrees; 0.51 feet above pool. Largemouth bass bite is excellent. Spotted bass schooling around the dam has slowed. Water clarity is good in coves that have not been wind blown. The fish are bulking up for the winter, and have been biting shad colored baits up in shallow coves and creek channels. Flukes, small swimbaits, or a dark colored jig around boat ramps have all produced good size fish. Report by Blake Doughtie, Lake Country Lunkers Lures and Guide Service.
EXCELLENT. Water lightly stained; 65 degrees; 3.27 feet below pool. Crappie are in 20-30 feet of water on brush piles and deep submerged timber. There are a few fish in 15-18 feet on structures, but most of them are a little bit deeper. A lot of them are hugging the bottom so you have to let your 1/8 ounce hand tied jig, minnows, or soft plastics touch the bottom and then slowly lift to entice a bite. Crappie need a bigger profile bait to zone in on. You can also find Fish spider rigging, or dragging a jig through the depth of the baitfish. Sometimes the fish will be laying on the bottom next to the dam usually no more than 100 yards off the rocks, other times fish lay at the base of the riprap where it turns into silt and they will be on the first tier of the rip rap going underwater, up to the rocks, to the dam. White bass are in 15-30 feet primarily on deepwater humps and levees, but some will be on points. Thumping the boat making noise will attract them to the boat if they are in the area. Slabs and 3-4 inch flukes have been getting them. There are also a small number of white bass inside the black water. Black water is the water along the shoreline that looks black because there is so much bait l, it turns the water black. There will be a line of black water approximately 3-4 feet thick and it’s just a little band of black going along the banks. The white bass will be swimming inside that black water with the bait so you must cast almost on the shoreline and drag it through the black water. Swimbaits 3-4 inches or rooster tails rooster tails will catch them. Expect to catch a couple black bass in your journey to the Blackwater. Look for the birds on the bank and if you see a couple of them, go investigate and see what the water looks like There are a lot of spots that got the lake that you can just walk up to the black water as it will be 3 feet from the bank right in front of you, with millions of fish swimming by! Black bass are still strong on white and chartreuse spinnerbaits with a half of a zoom motor oil worm as the trailer in 1-5 feet on rocks or concrete. Texas rig and bass jigs are pulling them out of 15-20 feet deep brush piles. Due to black water, where all the shad gather right up against the shoreline and it turns black, some fish are being found 5-10 feet all day on any kind of structure close to the shoreline, such as stumps, trees, rocks, or any kind of debris pile. If you happen to stumble across black water, back off and fish, any ledge that you can find within 20-50 yards of the black water. The swimbait bite dragged a couple inches or so above brush piles has been stellar. Along with Alabama rigs if you can take the arm beating, it gives you. Blue catfish are great in 20-30 feet on cut gizzard shad on a Santee rig dragged behind the boat at approximately .03-.05 mph. Every day the school moves so you have to locate them. One day fish will be on one side of the lake and the next they will have traveled 3-4 miles to the other side of the lake. There is a great school of 15-25 pound fish roaming out there and once you find them, it can be an incredible outcome. Every so often as an example, if the wind suddenly changes directions, you will notice on your side imaging, the catfish are now laying in the mud and are not giving you a sonar shadow, but you can see them, sitting there. If they do not have a shadow on your side, imaging that means they are laying in the mud. If they do have a shadow that means they are on the hunt and those fish are catchable. Bluegills are getting harder to find, but they are still around in the deep water brush piles, but not as thick as they were last month. Worms on a very small hook and a split shot above just to keep it in the strike zone will still produce a nice table of fish. Crickets have been king as they also catch a few crappies. A cricket cage bait holder is imperative if you are gonna use them. Report by Carey Thorn, White Bass Fishing Texas.
FAIR. Water stained; 60 degrees; 0.20 feet below pool. Crappie are fair on minnows in 12-16 feet of water on brush with chartreuse jigs. Channel and blue catfish are good on punch bait in 22-26 feet of water over drop-offs and rock piles. Report by Jess Rotherham, Texas Crappie Fishing Service. Bass are good working docks and bulkheads with creature baits, worms and flukes. A frog or topwater around underwater vegetation is working well. Do not forget a wakebait in those same areas. Report by Bryan Cotter, Texas Hawgs.
FAIR. Water stained; 53 degrees; 3.13 feet below pool. White bass are slow on humps, points and ledges in 27-38 feet of water, and on deep flats and in river channels in 40-60 feet of water. In-line spinners, jigs, swimbaits, and live bait are working. Keeper sized hybrid striper are slow to fair as well. They have been in 10-45 feet of water on drop-off ledges, the deeper parts of points, and deep flats. If you are keeping fish, please be aware that there are a lot of undersized hybrid stripers in the lake that look very similar to a white bass. Blue catfish are fair to good on cut shad. Drifting main lake flats near the river channel with active bait schools nearby has produced in 16-38 feet of water. Also with the recent rain, they will be shallow near the creeks and river mouths. Channel catfish are fair on baited holes on punch bait in 15-28 feet of water on humps and points. Crappie are fair in 6-38 feet of water. Check brush piles, bridge pilings, and submerged cover close to a drop off ledge. Cover close to drop off ledges has been best. The creeks have also started to produce. Minnows and jigs are catching those fish. Report by Wes Campbell, BendARod Fishing. Bass are slow, with the best bite in the late morning slowly dragging soft plastics on a Texas rig or Ned rig.
EXCELLENT. Water stained; 59 degrees; 3.01 feet below pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady. Crappie are in 10-18 feet on offshore brush with minnows, or tight lining straight down in standing timber. White bass are schooling under the surface in 7-17 feet. Catfish are being caught in 10-20 feet on cut bait and minnows. Largemouth bass can be caught from 2-18 feet this week on docks, timber, bulkheads, rocks with Texas rigs, jigs, chatterbaits, and spinnerbait. Numbers of bass are still on offshore brush and roaming main lake points. Catfish and white bass are on points, flats, and roaming open water. Report by Colan Gonzales, CG’s Just Fishing Guide Service.
GOOD. slightly stained; 63 degrees; 0.95 feet below pool. Water color is a good green. White bass can be caught in 10-20 feet of water. Lots of juvenile hybrids right now, so people need to watch for not keeping them. Catching all fish on Ducktracker slabs and Texas teasers. White and chartreuseReport by Michael Richardson, Lake Livingston Adventures.
GOOD. Water slight stain; 59 degrees; 1.66 feet below pool. The power plant has only one unit working now and the water temperature is still below normal. Look for bass in deeper water as their food source has migrated deeper. Jigging spoons, deep crankbaits and Texas rigged worms are working well. Crappie have picked up fishing deep brush piles in 25-30 feet with shad colored jigs and minnows. Report by Hambone guide service.
FAIR. Water stained; 53 degrees; 47.48 feet below pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady as the water starts to cool off. White bass are excellent slabbing. Bass are fair on artificials. Catfish are fair to good with nightcrawlers, minnows, chicken liver and frozen shad. Crappie are fair with artificial baits and minnows. Trout were recently stocked at the Stilling Basin. Expect the bite to improve on spinnerbaits, power baits, nightcrawlers and minnows. Walleye are good on minnows, grubs, and other artificial baits. Best of luck to you out there. Please be safe out there, watch weather reports. Life vests save lives. Report by Kenneth Wysong, SharKens Honey Hole.
SLOW. Water stained; 52 degrees; 2.21 feet below pool. Bass are slow. Hybrids are still scattered, expect them to start schooling mid-December. Blue catfish are fair on shad in 14-20 feet of water. Very few catches of channel catfish. Crappie are slow in 14 feet of water.
GOOD. Water stained; 55 degrees; 0.22 feet below pool. Largemouth bass are excellent with catches up to 11 pounds possible on large swimbaits and Carolina rigs off the bottom in creek channel swings in 12-15 feet of water. Crappie are excellent in 12-15 feet of water and standing timber and brush piles with 1/16 ounce translucent white crappie jigs on a split shot rig. Catfish are fair on cut bait or live minnows. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.
GOOD. Water heavily stained; 55 degrees; 0.50 feet below pool. There are still some large groups of bass in deeper water hovering just off the bottom, so a drop-shot has been working pretty well. A few have also been boated with a deep-diving crankbait. As always, shad imitations are in vogue. Crappie population is good. Catfish are slow. Report by Eric Wolfe, NacoTack Fishing Services. Largemouth bass are excellent on small swimbaits, Carolina rigs and dropshots. Crappie are excellent on brush piles and standing timber with a 1/16 ounce white crappie jig on a split shot. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.
FAIR. Water slightly stained; 57 degrees. 0.47 feet below pool. Bass are fair flipping soft plastics around reed bases in 1-3 feet of water. The key is to cover water until you find a good stretch that holds multiple bass. It is also important to slow down your retrieve this time of year to trigger these lethargic winter bass. Crappie were fair around main lake boat docks on chartreuse jigs and catfish were fair on cut bait and stink bait around river channel bends. Report provided by the Angelo State Fishing Team.
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 60 degrees; 1.44 feet below pool. Catfish are excellent with catches up 32 pounds possible from the bank with shad. Crappie are good on brush piles using minnows. The occasional largemouth bass catch when crappie fishing. Report by Navarro Mills Marina.
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 55 degrees; 22.70 feet below pool. Black bass are fair with reports of one 10 pound fish and a few more to 7 pounds. Cast jerkbaits in clearwater over 25 feet. Small jig minnows scoping or catching most fish. Some fish can still be caught in shallow brush with chatterbaits and Texas rig stick worms in green pumpkin. Crappie are slow on deeper trees in The Colorado River bends in 15-25 feet. Small jigs best. Catfish fair in 15-25 feet of water on cheese bait and earthworms. Upriver seems to be the best. Report by Wendell Ramsey, Ramsey Fishing.
SLOW. Water lightly stained; 60 degrees; 17.85 feet below pool. Fishing continues to be slow with few anglers on the water. The white bass are being caught using small spoons such as the Bomber slab. A few reports of crappie being caught on brush piles with BoneHead jigs. Report by Bronte Guns and Tackle Pro Staff.
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 57 degrees; 0.95 feet below pool. Lake level is holding, with our sporadic but relatively light rains, and all launches appear to be open and usable. There have been 2 unseasonable, but short, warm spells lately that have gotten the fishing more active, and I think now we should be prepared for the more normal winter to move in. All fish metabolism will slow to a certain extent as the water cools, the normal seasonal low for Palestine is about 40 degrees. Bass will have brief feeding periods in December and January until they feel the beginnings of the spawn stage, so slower, larger baits with some vibration could be more effective. Catfish should continue to be fair to good. To catch smaller channels and blues in the daytime use smellier baits. Target flatheads and larger blue catfish at night on larger live and cut bait. Hybrid stripers should be sporadic biters, with the best chances in the mid-morning to early afternoon times on bright days, often trolling. Crappie should remain deep during the winter. Live scopes will find them, as well as fishing with jigs or minnows at 20-25 feet over deeper areas where you can see them schooled, very slowly dragging the bait. White bass will also be sporadic, with short bite periods. Deadsticking a few feet over the deep schools will work in 25-40 feet. Report by Jim Beggerly, Jim’s Fishing Lake Palestine.
SLOW. Water stained; 65 degrees; 0.09 feet below pool. Catfish are in 2-3 feet on cut bait or fresh shad. Crappie are slow with very few reports of bites. Sand bass are biting on roadrunners early in the morning and late evening. The lake is full, the water is murky, but the creek is clear. Blue catfish are biting in the creek on limb lines against the bank on cut bait and fresh shed. Report by Lake Palo Pinto RV Park.
GOOD. slightly stained; 55 degrees. Largemouth bass are excellent for numbers with many fish in the 3-5 pound range. Cast small swimbaits in 25 feet of water. Crappie are good on small white jigs on a split shot rig. Catfish are on cut bait. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.
GOOD. Water stained; 57 degrees; 0.04 feet below pool. Striped bass are fair in 20-40 feet of water with live bait. Your best bet is to just put baits in the water and slowly move around with the trolling motor until you find them. Keep in mind that we are approaching deadstick season. Sand bass are fair in 20-30 feet of water with live shad or small slabs and jigs. Live shad seems to produce a few more fish than artificial. White and silver are good colors, but white seems to be preferred. Catfish are still fair to good near Rock Creek Camp. Cut shad is producing good numbers of fish in 5-20 feet of water fished on or near the bottom. Water clarity is steady at 1-8 feet of visibility and slightly stained. Report by TJ Ranft, Ranft Guide Service. Bass are moving up with the lake level rising. Target points and drop-offs with Carolina rigs, chatterbaits, and jigs. Report by JK Outdoors Bass Fishing Guide.
FAIR. Water light stain; 65 degrees. Bass are good with flukes, worms, and lipless crankbaits near the hydrilla grass edge are reported to be working for bass. No angler reports of crappie or catfish this week, but anglers can try minnows on crappie jigs near brush piles or piers to target crappie. Catfish can be targeted with worms or stink bait fished near the bottom at the prairie branch pier or over towards the dam by the valve release tower. Bluegill are biting on worms and hotdogs over at the boathouse dock. Anglers should try to use them on a free lined hook or with a hook and bobber.
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 57 degrees; 2.74 feet below pool. White bass are gathering up in big schools on southern parts of the lake. Look for big bait balls in 30-38 feet of water with 3/4 ounce slabs with 2 jigs tied above working best spread at least 16 inches apart. When fish come thru they are mostly suspended in the 20-30 feet range and reel up to the fish. Crappie are fair and relating to brush 18-28 feet deep moving on and off structure and starting to roam the deep flats. Minnows working best. Catfish are excellent around the north end of the lake around timber using cut shad working best in 10-20 ft water on prepared punch bait and cut bait. Larger blue catfish are showing up on the deep flats. Drifting cut bait as shad, buffalo or carp works best. Report by John Varner, John Varner’s Guide Service.
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 65 degrees; 1.36 feet below pool. White bass on live bait and slabs.25-45 feet on deep water humps. Crappie are in 15-25 feet on brush piles and small patches of structure, minnows or jigs. Recommend using a half ounce sinker on top of your jig. Blue catfish can be caught drifting or anchored on flats in 20-45 feet with cut bait. Report by Justin Wilson, Wilson Outdoor Connection.
GOOD. Water normal stain; 58 degrees; 2.14 feet below pool. White bass fishing has improved and can be rated good with reports of catches being made on slabs fished on the bottom in 25-30 feet of water off Pelican Island, main lake points and the 309 Flats. Hybrid striper action is fair on live bait and slabs off main lake points and Windsock Point in 30 feet of water. Lots of small hybrids mixed in with the keepers! Eatersize blue and channel catfish are excellent on punch bait n 15-20 feet of water in timber on the Richland Creek Arm of the Lake when you chum with range cubes. Report by Royce Simmons, Gone Fishin’ Guide Service.
FAIR. Water slightly stained; 58 degrees; 2.02 feet below pool. The forecasted cold will initially slow the bite as fish become accustomed the fish will really start to feed. Bass are chasing shad in the shallows and off points. When you can find grass on the south end there is usually a bass that can be caught on crankbaits. Crappie and white bass are moving in the river channel. Catfish are good in 15-26 feet of water on cut bait and minnows. Report by Captain Lynn Atkinson, Reel Um N Guide Service.
SLOW. Water normal stain; 53 degrees; 2.19 feet below pool. At Somerville marina the crappie bite is slow, bluegill are fair on crickets and worms, and catfish are fair on minnows and punch bait. On the lake crappie are slow on jigs and minnow over brush 8-16 feet of water. Catfish are good in 6-10 feet of water using cut shad or punch bait. Black bass are slow on slow moving plastics in 6-12 feet of water. White bass slow, trolling with various spoons or anchored with shad and ghost minnows. Hybrids, fair in deeper water, using cut bait and mussels. Below the dam fishing is slow. Report by Weldon Kirk, Fish Tales Guide Service.
SLOW. Water stained; 65 degrees. 45.55 feet below pool. Very few anglers on the water. The reports are very slow for black bass. The white bass are actively schooling biting spoons and inline spinners. Catfish are slow, with some reports of channel and blue catfish being caught from shore on cut bait. Report by Bronte Guns and Tackle Pro Staff.
SLOW. Water stained; 60 degrees; 0.36 feet below pool. Crappie are good trending towards excellent fishing concrete submerged structures. The crappie house is starting to draw more anglers. Crappie have a belly full of shad. Some bait fish are shallow and on structures attracting the game fish. Bass are fair casting a small squarebill crankbait along shallow rocks. Catfish are fair.
GREAT. Water stained; 60 degrees; 2.01 feet below pool. The white bass and largemouth bass are still putting on a show at Stillhouse with 2-angler catches over 100 fish in a morning. White bass are feeding on the edges of flats in the 20-foot range just after sunrise, then moving quickly deeper and continuing to feed until around 10:45 a.m. Fish can be caught as deep as 48-53 feet, especially on calmer, clearer days when the sun’s rays reach that deep on this lake’s very clear water. As of December 16, the water temperature from top to bottom was still 58-62 degrees, but will likely drop entirely into the high 50s with the chilly weather forecast heading into the weekend. MAL Dense Lures with silver bodies and chartreuse tails worked straight up off the bottom aided by a splasher are getting these results. We will likely drop back to a Bladed Hazy Eye Slab with a spinner and stinger hook going forward as the water cools and the fish slow down. There are plenty of largemouth bass and freshwater drum mixed in with the white bass in these same deep water areas. The shad-imitating 5/8 ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab is the go-to bait for these fish. Report by Bob Maindelle, Holding the Line Guide Service.
GOOD. Water lightly stained; 63 degrees; 2.85 feet below pool. Lake Tawakoni has shifted from a fall bite to more of a winter pattern as cold front after cold front continues to cool the water temperatures. The hybrid striper bite has been very up and down the last week. Lots of big wind has made it difficult to fish areas that are holding fish. Swimbaits and slab spoons are working best. Seems like the 10-25 feet range are holding fish. The eating sized catfish bite in the 1-4 pound range are still excellent. Baited holes are working best in 15-25 feet with punch bait. The trophy catfishing continues to improve weekly. Fish are being caught on cut bait in 2-15 feet. The largemouth bite has been good on plastics in 1-6 feet. Slow rolling shallow cranks are still putting fish in the boat but downsizing is working best. Report by Captain Michael Littlejohn, Lake Tawakoni Guide Service.
FAIR. Water stained; 60 degrees; 4.85 feet below pool. Catfish are good on the south end of the lake. Lake conditions continue to deteriorate with water levels continuing to drop. Certain boat ramps will be closing soon if the water level does not rise, so check before heading out.
GOOD. Water stained; 55 degrees; 0.73 feet above pool. Striper fishing is a little tougher with the full moon and warming conditions. Watch for gulls on cloudy days working the river channels and ledges. Fish are roaming deeper water in big schools, biting swimbaits and live shad. Bigger fish will move up on structure with the next cold front, settling in 8–12 feet of water on humps and ledges. Look for crappie on bridge pilings and structure in 15–20 feet of water with jigs and minnows. Bass can be caught with soft plastics on structure and brush in 8–15 feet of water. Bass will push up into coves and around docks, feeding on shad. Swim jigs and crankbaits will work off ledges and on humps. Catfishing is good. Drift cut gizzard shad and rough fish on deeper flats in 30–40 feet of water near river mouths in muddier water. Bigger fish will move up shallower as the water cools. Report by Jacob Orr, Lake Guaranteed Guide Service. Striped bass are good transitioning to a deadstick bite and using Alabama rigs. Smaller fish are in 10-15 feet on structure with slabs, swimbaits or Alabama rigs. Bird action will lead the way to the deeper fish, but on bluebird days the birds are working at first and last light. The quality of fish is improving but we are still not seeing the big fish in bigger groups like what is typically for this time of year, but expect this to improve as the water cools. Report by John Blasingame, Adventure Texoma Outdoors.
FAIR. Water normal stain; 61 degrees; 3.73 feet below pool. Fishing is good for this time of year with a late fall pattern. Bass can be caught with a swim jig, chatterbait, and spinnerbait on the bank in 1-6 feet of water. Then back out to 10-16 feet of water and catch them with a Texas and Carolina rig, or 18-25 feet of water with a spoon or dropshot. Report by Stephen Johnston, Johnston Fishing.
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 61 degrees; 42.97 feet below pool. Bass are chasing shad in the backs of coves and cuts near deeper water. Also work the deeper water docks on the main lake with jigs and Texas-rigged power worms in pumpkin colors. A rattle trap or shallow crank in any craw colors is working well right now as well. Don’t forget to throw a small craw worm or creature bait on a light line if the bite falls off. Report by Bryan Cotter, Texas Hawgs.
SLOW. Water stained. 53 degrees; 38.57 feet below pool. Water level is very low so navigate with caution. Fishing continues to be slow. Crappie are slow with mostly smaller sized catches in deeper water on structure. Channel catfish are slow, targeting deep structures near the channels. Blue catfish are suspended off the bottom in deep open water. Report by Captain Michael Peterson, 4 Reel Fun Guide Service.
SLOW. Water normal stain; 65 degrees; 0.57 feet below pool. Crappie are slow in 20-25 feet of water. Catfish are slow, scattered in 10-16 feet of water stink bait and nightcrawlers. Bream are slow on red worms in deep water. Bass are slow on trick worms and crankbaits. Report by The Boulders at Lake Tyler.
GOOD. Water slight stain; 65 degrees. The water is lightly stained with decent visibility. Water levels are still very low. The boat ramp remains closed to power boats due to ongoing infrastructure repairs. Launching kayaks and canoes, or fishing from the bank, is still viable but increasingly difficult. Careful of the low water conditions and rock piles at the ramp. Fishing against the reeds has been challenging and less productive due to the significantly lower water levels and dense grass mats. Focus on the open flats with submerged vegetation using moving techniques like weedless swimbaits, spinnerbaits, and lipless crankbaits. Jerkbaits and A-rigs can also work out in the open water. Weedless setups with soft plastics, stick baits, dropshot rigs, and jigs can also be effective around the edges of grass mats. Despite the warm December weather, start moving to winter fishing patterns, slow down your presentations and target deeper waters around 10-15 feet in depth. Report by Team YAKUSA.
SLOW. Water heavily stained; 53 degrees; 5.08 feet below pool. Bass are slow. Crappie are good in the crappie house on jigs or minnows. Catfish are fair off rocks with punch bait and shad. Water visibility is 4 inches.
FAIR. Water normal stain; 60 degrees; 0.02 feet below pool. Catfish are good using punch bait in 18-25 feet of water. Striped bass bite is getting better on live bait or trolling in 20-30 feet of water. Some Stripers being caught on top water baits. Crappie are fair on small jigs and minnows in timber in 15-20 feet on the north end of the lake. White bass fishing is slow. Large mouth bass fishing is good around the docks. Report by Captain Cory Vinson, Guaranteed Guide Service.
FAIR. Water normal stain; 56 degrees; 2.58 feet below pool. White Bass are fair, look for birds working or schools of bait on the main lake and in mid-depths on chartreuse and white slabs or paddle tail swim baits. Some white bass are still being caught in black water on 3-4 inch paddle tail swimbaits. Crappie are being caught on deeper structure and cover using larger profile baits and also spider rigging open water. Catfish are being caught on punch bait and cut bait in basically all depths and are moving a lot with the changing water temperatures. The warmer weather scattered the fish so you will have to work to find feeding fish, and expect the pattern to change daily. Report provided by Chad Ferguson of North Texas Catfish Guide Service.
GOOD. Water normal stain; 60 degrees; 0.09 feet above pool. White bass are on fire just about everywhere in the lake eating to be ready for winter. The sandies are very active early mornings and late afternoons eating swimbaits, spinnerbaits and crankbaits. Largemouth bass are on docks and structure eating just about anything as well. Catfish are decent on the drop offs being caught with fresh caught shad. Crappie are deep and very tight to structure on the bottom being caught with minnows and small jigs but need to be enticed to bite a bit. Report by Captain Zackary Scott, Zack Attack Fishing.
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Saltwater Weekly Fishing Report Week of December 18, 2024
Redfish Bay
FAIR. 66 degrees. Black drum can be caught with dead shrimp around crushed shells or sand flats. Redfish are biting as shallow as you can get on dead shrimp, or live piggy perch. Trout bite is sporadic on piggy perch. Sheepshead are around the jetty and on structure with live shrimp. Flounder giggers are producing catches of flounder. Report by Captain Aerich Oliver, Rockport Paradise Outfitters.
San Antonio Bay
SLOW. 60 degrees. Bay fishing has been slow due to the low tide and high wind. Most fishing efforts have been in the jetties for bull redfish, a few slot redfish and few drum. The high winds are blowing the water out of the bay concentrating the fish in areas with deeper water near the flats. The forecasted front will drop the water temperature so the fish will drop to deep cuts and channels. Once the weather starts to warm and the sun comes out fish will return to flats. Target areas with mud and grass, because the mud warms quicker than the sand. Report Captain Lynn Smith, Back Bay Guide Service.
Sabine Lake
GOOD. 68 degrees. Neches River points, drops and bayous producing limits of redfish with live shrimp under a popping cork. Shell flats live shrimp on a Carolina rig for sheepshead and black drum. Sabine Lake bird action midlake leading the way to trout, big bull redfish, and some slot redfish on �¾ ounce gold spoons, or ⅜ ounce jig off the bottom. Points, drops and bayous producing limits of trout. Limits of redfish at the mouth of bayous and shell flats with popping cork and live shrimp. In the same area limits sheepshead, drum, and flounder with live shrimp on Carolina rig. Lots of bait in the marsh holding fish. Report by Captain Randy Foreman, Captain Randy’s Guide Service Sabine Lake.
Bolivar
GOOD. 67 degrees. Water levels are swapping back-and-forth this week with the north winds pushing the tide out, and the incoming tide is clear. Anglers are still catching plenty of redfish everywhere. The big croakers are still being caught along with a few more sand trout, black drum, redfish, speckled trout, and crabs caught along the jetty with a few small stingrays and sharks. The surf is producing numbers of redfish, black drum, the occasional speckled trout and crabs along the whole peninsula with more activity towards Gilchrist, High Island mainly. Report by Captain Shane Rilat, North Jetty Bait Camp.
Trinity Bay
SLOW. 63 degrees. Back end of the bay good for scattered reds and speckled trout on live shrimp and artificial lures. Marshes good for redfish. Fish are moving north, with good catches of speckled trout from above I-10 in the San Jacinto river. Live shrimp and soft plastics effective. Still plenty of fish between Fred Hartman Bridge and I-10. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. Water clarity is good. Redfish are being caught well in the current and near drop-offs feeding heavily in the bottom using swimbaits, gulp curly tails and gulp shrimp. Trout are fantastic in current over rock flats and shell flats being caught on swim baits and shrimp imitation baits. Flounder are starting to really pick up on drains using swim baits and gulp baits. Drum are heavy on rock flats being caught on live or dead shrimp. Always wear your kill switch when underway. God is great! Report by Captain Zackary Scott, Zack Attack Fishing.
East Galveston Bay
GOOD. 64 degrees. Back water drains and lakes producing speckled trout and redfish on hard plastic baits and soft plastic lures. Reefs good for black drum and sheepshead. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. A few more slot-sized speckled trout are showing up, black drum, and redfish being caught on live shrimp and finger mullet. We are still getting a few reports of good fishing by Frenchtown Road, Siever’s Cut, and near the boat ramp by Rollover Pass. Report by Captain Shane Rilat, North Jetty Bait Camp. Surface water temperature 59 degrees, water clarity = Good. We have concentrated back in the marsh areas where we can get some protection. This week the Redfish bite has been good around areas where good current flow has bait up against the shorelines/grass lines in 2 to 4 feet of water. Our best solid trout bite this week has been on �¼ oz jig heads with the Deadly Dudley 5” Rat Tail in Blue Moon / Chartreuse, Fishing deeper pockets with shell, triggering the most strikes. As in previous weeks if we don’t see any nervous bait, we move on rather quickly and cover more water finding the zones where the fish are active. Report by Captain Jeff Brandon, Get the Net Guide Service, LLC.
Galveston Bay
SLOW. 64 degrees. Upper Galveston bay around Sylvan Beach good for speckled trout on soft plastics. Clear Lake producing scattered trout catches on live shrimp and soft plastics. A few redfish in both areas. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing.
West Galveston Bay
GOOD. 64 degrees. Drifting the dirty streaks in the open bay producing scattered catches of speckled trout. Those fishing in Chocolate and even Hall’s Bayou catching speckled trout, black drum, and redfish on soft plastics and live shrimp effective. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing.
Texas City
GOOD. 62 degrees. All eyes have turned to flounder. Good catches of flounder are coming from the Galveston channel, with the best bite on live shrimp and gulps. Fish up to 7 pounds have been caught. Those gigging at might are doing well. Still bull redfish and oversized black drum being caught of the dike and the Galveston jetties. Report by Captain David Dillman, Galveston Bay Charter Fishing. Anglers are still catching plenty of speckled trout, redfish, and black drum with the occasional sand trout, gafftop and big croaker. Wade fishing has been sporadic, but great during the incoming tides. Along the dike has been productive from the beginning to the end still. Live shrimp and finger mullet have been the best baits. Report by Captain Shane Rilat, North Jetty Bait Camp.
Freeport
GOOD. 62 degrees. Fishing has been good in between fronts. Redfish and trout have been good working under the birds with plastic or gulp under a popping cork. In Bastrop Bay, Christmas Bay, Chocolate Bay, Salt Lake and Oyster Lake. Brazos River has been good with reds, trout, drum, sand trout with either live shrimp or fresh dead shrimp. Flounder have been good on gulp, new penny shrimp and live finger mullet. Report by Captain Jake Brown, Flattie Daddy Fishing Adventures
East Matagorda Bay
GOOD. 55 degrees. Fishing patterns are holding steady with a consistent bite for trout in the The Colorado River with artificials, or live shrimp. Very little bird action. Redfish are good wade fishing or drifting with artificials. On calm days the jetties are producing a few catches of drum and sheepshead. Report by Captain Charlie Paradoski, Captain Charlie Paradoski’s Guide Service.
West Matagorda Bay
GOOD. 55 degrees. Fishing patterns are holding steady with a consistent bite for trout in the The Colorado River with artificials, or live shrimp. Very little bird action. Redfish are good in the sloughs and shallow water with cut bait. Report by Captain Charlie Paradoski, Captain Charlie Paradoski’s Guide Service.
Port O’Connor
GOOD. 60 degrees. Good numbers of trout can be caught on the outside of the jetties with live shrimp. Oversized and slot redfish outside and end of both jetties with blue crab or Spanish sardines. Sheepshead are biting throughout the jetty with live shrimp. Black drums are biting on the apron of the jetty with dead shrimp. Report by Captain Marty Medford, Captain Marty’s Fish of a Lifetime Guide Service.
Rockport
GOOD. 71 degrees. Tides have been low and winds have been strong. Trout are good on live shrimp and your favorite soft plastic along grass and shell in 3-4 feet of water. Redfish are great on shrimp or mullet in flats fishing drains and guts. Black drums are great on live or dead shrimp and fish bites in drains, guts and along oyster beds. Report by Captain Kenny Kramer, Kramer Fishing Charters.
Port Aransas
GOOD. 71 degrees. Redfish have been great on shrimp and cut mullet on the north and south jetty. Lots of oversized redfish. Trout are good with shrimp free lined along rocks. Black drum are fair on shrimp. Report by Captain Kenny Kramer, Kramer Fishing Charters.
Corpus Christi
FAIR. 66 degrees. Black drum can be caught with dead shrimp around crushed shells or sand flats. Redfish are biting as shallow as you can get on dead shrimp, or live piggy perch. Trout bite is sporadic on piggy perch. Sheepshead are around the jetty and on structure with live shrimp. Flounder giggers are producing catches of flounder. Report by Captain Aerich Oliver, Rockport Paradise Outfitters.
Baffin Bay
GOOD. 75 degrees. Baffin Bay is on fire with the big trout eating heavily when times are good. This is the time of year to focus on that one big fish that you want to catch really honing in on your soft plastics and corky game. When water temperatures drop fish will fall off into deeper areas closer to the deep deep areas where they go when things get very dicey for their survival. Between cold fronts when there is a sunny warm up with warm winds, the shallow water is the first place to heat up and that’s where they go to feed. So be thoughtful in your presentations during these two periods of time that we will yo-yo back-and-forth from all winter long. Use soft plastics like the 6 or even 8 inch Coastal Brew darts in natural colors as well as Down South Lures Big Smooth and Super Models on lightweight jig heads. Try Texas Custom Corky Fat Boys in the colder times and down-size a little to Texas Custom Corky Softdines during warmer periods. Report by Captain Sally Black.
Port Mansfield
GOOD. 76 degrees. Water temperatures have warmed back up, but should fall again by this weekend after the forecasted cold front. Fishing remains good for redfish and trout with good catches coming in 2-4 feet of water. Most fish are coming from potholes and grass lines. BTS and Mansfield Knockers have been solid choices. Keep an eye out for active mullet, which will help show you gamefish are in the area. Report by Captain Wayne Davis, Hook Down Charters.
South Padre
GOOD. 68 degrees. Trout are plentiful drifting live shrimp on the edge of the intracoastal at Three Islands and Gas Well Flats. Redfish are spotty on the Gas Well Flats. Sheepshead and small black drum are plentiful at The Old Causeway and small channels in South Bay. Mangrove snapper are excellent at the jetties and the end of the Brownsville Channel. Stay safe out there. Report by Captain Lou Austin, Austin Fishing South Padre.
Port Isabel
GOOD. 68 degrees. Trout are plentiful drifting live shrimp on the edge of the intracoastal at Three Islands and Gas Well Flats. Redfish are spotty on the Gas Well Flats. Sheepshead and small black drum are plentiful at The Old Causeway and small channels in South Bay. Mangrove snapper are excellent at the jetties and the end of the Brownsville Channel. Stay safe out there. Report by Captain Lou Austin, Austin Fishing South Padre.
Zebra Mussel AlertTo prevent the spread of zebra mussels, the law requires draining of water from boats and onboard receptacles when leaving or approaching public fresh waters. Get details.
Last Sunday five members and guests of the Flint River Bass Club fished our September tournament at Lake Oconee. After eight hours of casting, from 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM, we weighed in eight bass weighing about 15 pounds. There were no limits and one fisherman didn’t have a keeper.
Alex Gober won with three bass weighing 4.93 pounds. Brent Drake placed second with two at 4.31 pounds and had big fish with a 2.92 pound largemouth. Don Gober had two keepers weighing 3.62 pounds for third and my one bass weighing 1.80 pounds was fourth.
Oddly enough, a Facebook memory showed up Sunday showing one year ago I placed fourth in the Flint River tournament at Oconee with one bass weighing about 1.80 pounds. The more things change the more they stay the same, I guess.
I always say September is the meanest month for bass fishing. The water is as hot as it gets and the oxygen content is as low as it gets all year. The fish have been beat up since early spring, seeing artificial baits just about every day. So they are as smart and wary as they can be.
I used to say by September bass in local lakes know the name and price of every lure Berry’s Sporting Goods sells and can probably tell you where to find them on the shelf in the store!
I had a good feeling I could catch a bass out of grass beds on topwater first thing that morning, and I guess I was right. A few minutes after starting I caught a 13.5 inch largemouth on a floating worm. Unfortunately, the size limit at Oconee is 14 inches so it did no good.
After more than an hour of trying that pattern with no more bites, I saw a lone dock back in a cove. Often a single piece of cover like and isolated dock is a good bet for a bite.
I got no bites around the dock but while scanning around it with my forward facing sonar I spotted a small brush top off to the side of the dock. It looked like a fish was holding beside it. I cast a small jig to the brush and it never hit bottom.
I set the hook as my line moved out and landed my one keeper. Without the Garmin Panoptix I would never have known that brush and fish was there.
Later in the day, as seems usual lately, as I idled over a point I spotted some brush and rocks out in 15 feet of water on my sonar. I took the boat out of gear and cast a shaky head behind the boat as it stopped. When it hit bottom my line jumped and started moving toward deep water.
Unfortunately, that direction was across the back of my boat. I set the hook and a strong fish pulled back, and I could not control it. It cut my line on my prop!
I fished grass, blowdowns, docks, rock piles and boulders the rest of the day and caught a few short bass, but no keepers.
The last one hit with less than five minutes to fish. I cast my weightless worm to the edge of a grassbed, saw the grass a foot to the left wave as a fish came out of it and hit my worm.
Just like the first one that morning, it was 13.5 inches long! But thats not why i fish!
Lake Guntersville is special. On the Tennessee River in north Alabama, it is a grass filled bass factory. The Bass Anglers Sportsman Society ranks it in the top ten bass lakes in the nation most years.
When big tournaments are held there it is common for five bass limits weighing more than 20 pounds to come to the scales, and catches of five weighing 30 pounds are weighed in most years.
But there are two sides to this story. Bass clubs in Alabama send in tournament results and the state compiles it in their BAIT report. That report shows Guntersville has a lower percent of anglers catching a keeper bass in tournaments than all but three other Alabama lakes.
Fishing can be great there but the whole lake looks “fishy.” When you stop on a point or in a cove and see hydrilla, water willow and eel grass everywhere it is hard to decide where to cast. It looks like a bass could be anywhere, or everywhere.
The Sportsman Club fished there last weekend and our results are more like the BAIT results than the results of pro tournaments or tournaments fished by local fishermen that know the lake well.
After fishing from 6:30 AM to 2:30 PM Saturday and 6:30 AM to 1:30 PM Sunday in very hot weather, we brought 21 keeper bass weighing about 45 pounds to the scales. Nobody weighed in a five fish limit and three of the nine fishermen didn’t have a keeper.
Guntersville has largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass. The length limit on smallmouth and largemouth is 15 inches and in our tournament a spot had to be 12 inches long. About 14 of our bass were largemouth, six were spots and one a smallmouth.
Raymond English had bad/good luck and won and had big fish. His boat motor would not go into gear so he had to fish around the ramp both days, but caught six keepers, four largemouth and two spots, weighing 15.14 pounds for first and his 5.40 pound largemouth was big fish.
My six, three largemouth, two spots and one mean mouth, weighing 8.80 pounds was second, Zane Fleck had three largemouth weighing 7.97 pounds for third and Billy Roberts had three largemouth weighing 6.13 pounds for fourth.
I went up on Wednesday and camped at Guntersville State Park, a beautiful facility with good shower houses. As usual I was shocked at the number of huge motor homes and fifth wheel trailers that came into the campground, were set up and the folks went inside.
I seldom saw anyone else outside except midmorning when some came out to cook breakfast and then came back out late in the afternoon to cook dinner. I guess it was just too hot to leave the air conditioning in their home away from home, but I don’t understand driving to campground on a beautiful lake and staying inside almost the whole time.
I spent Thursday and Friday riding around looking for deep fish on ledges on my electronics. Guntersville is famous for its deep ledges as well as its grass beds. I found many schools of fish but could not get them to bite. One local guide told me they were inactive and would not feed unless current was moving from power generation, and there was no current the whole time I was there.
Saturday morning I started on a grassbed a guide had suggested, and caught two short bass and one barely 15 inch long keeper. At about noon I was fishing down a bluff bank, mainly keeping my boat in the shade, and caught a keeper spot. Then a little later on another bluff bank a good keeper largemouth it my small jig in a treetop. Those three put me in third the first day.
Sunday the grassbed produced only one short fish so I headed to my shady bank early. I caught an unusual looking fish, it looked olive green, not green like a largemouth and not brown like a smallmouth. I looked it up and it was a cross between a spot and a smallmouth, called a “meanmouth.” It had a patch of “teeth” on its tongue like a spot and, according to what I found on the internet on my phone and a text to a local guide, it was considered a spot for size limits so I could weigh it in.
I stayed on that shady bank the rest of the day and lost a keeper spot and caught two short spots. Then, with ten minutes left to fish, I caught a keeper spot. At 1:17 I thought to myself I could make two more cast before running in. That cast produced a hit on my small jig and I landed a barely keeper largemouth, giving me second place.
The bite for me was mainly about top water as there was times when you could have fished on top all day long and caught top water fish. We had perfect conditions most of the week for a variety of top water baits; results are everything and it proved out fishing over grass.
Baits were mainly about SPRO pop-r’s, buzz baits and spooks working over grass. We did have some good results on Missile Bait D-Bombs and Tight-Line swim jigs. The best was certainly the top water bite, and it really didn’t matter what to bait you fished.
Retrieve Speed and Results
As we approach winter fishing or late fall feed up this becomes a time of year that one of the most critical things that people do wrong shows its head. When you have trouble catching fish this time of year, it has a lot to do with how quickly you retrieve your bait while fishing!
There are many ways to work a bait and certainly many of them require you to work them very quickly to produce the action the bait was designed for; however working that bait certain times of years require you to slow down and we are approaching that critical time now!
Let me give you an example, many of us are successful at fishing a frog when we burn it across a grass mat. Excellent example of when and how to catch fish; burning it does require you to change speeds and tempo many times to be successful. If you’re burning the frog without stopping, slowing, or speeding back up, then you could very well have the wrong tempo required to get a bass to bite. When your best buddy tells you to burn it and they will bite does not necessarily mean he never slows down, or stops the bait to change the tempo, this can be a critical piece of retrieve speed.
All baits we fish with require thought on the presentation; and many times the presentation you use at first light may need to be changed drastically to get the same bite at 11am. Fish are more active many times at 6am than they are at 9am and retrieve speed and tempo needs to be changed many times as the day progresses.
Lastly tournament anglers are a perfect example of critical retrieve speed. Many times a tournament angler hits the water for a practice day and really slays the fish. He goes back to the same spot at the same time of day during the tournament and can’t get his fish to bite; why? He is fishing with a different tempo than he did during his practice time. Not realizing how critical this can be, his body is hyped up and the speed and tempo at which he catches fish in practice has changed! His adrenaline changed his tempo and hence his bite.
Thought is everything in retrieve speed!
Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Servi
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You never know when or where you’ll connect with the fish of a lifetime
PARK FALLS, Wis. (October 9, 2024) – Sometimes referred to as “a foot deep and a mile wide,” the sprawling Susquehanna River rises in Central New York’s Otsego Lake and drains over 27,000 square miles in three states before dumping into the Upper Chesapeake Bay. Bisecting the entire state of Pennsylvania and containing a rich forage base, the Susky is full of spunky smallmouth bass… for anglers who can get to them.
Shallow and rocky, the Susquehanna is the domain of the jetboat; ideal craft for skimming over and around treacherous rocks and ledges that would destroy an ordinary bass boat. Susquehanna fishing guide, Joe Raymond, bought his first in his twenties and now runs a 300-HP Rock Proof River Rocket. He’s been guiding anglers on the Susquehanna for over 15 years. In that time, he watched his clients catch a lot of big bass. A couple of weeks ago, Raymond caught one of his own.
“For George and me, we looked at this picture and were absolutely shellshocked,” Mike told viewers in his intro. That speaks volumes, given the Acord brothers’ some-50 years of experience fishing on the Susquehanna River, not to mention the hundreds of big smallmouth photos they see from their customers each and every year.
Raymond described the series of events leading up to the historic catch.
“Tom (Mills) and I had talked about fishing a Williamsport Bassmasters Charity Tournament for Toys for Tots,” Raymond said. “We’d only fished up there a couple times and it had been a few years. We remembered both times being a dinkfest, but we decided to do it and have some fun while supporting a worthy cause. There was a big thunderstorm the night before. My roof was leaking and I didn’t sleep at all. We didn’t have much of a gameplan and just headed upriver in the dark to a spot we’d had some success at before. There was already a boat there so we just kept going.”
Raymond says they finally pulled into a spot and started fishing. “The plan was for me to fish for a limit and Tom to target a lunker,” he recalls. “I was throwing a 3” Z-Man MinnowZ swimbait on a weedless jighead and I kept losing fish. Nothing big, but it was aggravating,” he says. When Raymond opted to switch to an open jig, a new sort of misery crept in. “I started to catch a few small ones, but I was getting snagged on almost every cast. I told Tom I was done and we had to move.”
The pair bounced around to a few spots in the largely unfamiliar water without a lot of success. “There was an area up there in one of those pools we had passed… it looked so good,” Raymond says. “We agreed it had to have fish, but we’d never caught anything there during our two prior trips to this part of the river. We decided to try it anyway.”
The pair arrived at the back end of the pool and Raymond started fishing his 3” MinnowZ on a 7’ medium-power St. Croix Legend X spinning rod paired to a 3000 Vanford reel with10-lb. smackdown braid and a 10-lb. Tatsu fluoro leader. The curse continued. “I broke off again… like right away… and had to tie on a whole new leader,” Raymond says. “Tom was throwing a Ned rig in a current seam and he had broken off too.”
Raymond was sick of snagging up, so he tied a fresh EZ Money-colored Z-Man paddletail with a weedless jighead onto the fresh leader.
“There was a log on the bottom in the back of this pool in about four feet of water. I made a cast to it and flipped the bail closed after giving the bait a couple seconds to get down,” Raymond says. “I reeled tight and felt weight and immediately thought I was snagged again… then I felt movement. I hit this thing and it came screaming up and did a backflip in front of the boat. The fish looked huge, but I was still trying to process what had happened and how big the bass actually was. It only took a couple more seconds before I realized what I was fighting.”
“When a guy like Joe Raymond tells you to get the net because he just hooked the biggest smallmouth of his life, you move quickly,” Mills says. “The fish was just digging behind the boat puking up crayfish like crazy. The water was so clear it was like watching the scene in an aquarium.”
“The fish fought so hard,” Raymond says. “I was thinking, is this real life?” Then the St. Croix took a deeper bend and the fish took off downstream.
Raymond snapped out of his daydream and took the MinnKota off of Spotlock to follow the big brown bass that was now peeling line and headed for some rapids. “We caught up and netted it,” Raymond says. “Both of us were staring into the net and going crazy like a couple little kids.”
Raymond weighed and measured the fish quickly before snapping a couple of photos. She stretched the tape to 24 inches and bottomed out at 7.19 pounds. Later, the fish would weigh 7.08 at the tournament weigh in.
“I just kinda lost it,” Raymond says. “Like any guide – or any serious fisherman – I obsess over big fish. I’ve celebrated with so many of my clients after helping them catch personal-best bass over the years. This fish is the first over six pounds I’ve ever caught on the Susquehanna, and only the second over seven anyone I know has ever heard of from the river. It wasn’t a super-fat fish, just thick all the way through and super healthy. I actually know the guy who caught the other documented 7-1 back in 1981. His name is Russell Fuller. I heard the story over and over when I was young and was always suspect until I got the chance to meet him and speak with him later in life. He brought the mount into the restaurant a few years ago and I was blown away when I saw it. He caught his in the spring, basically right behind the house where I now live in Duncannon. It was a 23” pre-spawn fish, so it was quite a bit fatter. Mine wasn’t as deep but was an inch longer.”
Raymond has a few key tips for all smallmouth anglers.
“You never know when or where you’ll connect with the fish of a lifetime,” he says. I certainly never expected to run into this fish in the spot we were fishing. I was lucky that I had just re-tied my leader. We’ve all gotten lazy about knots and leaders and it always bites you. I learned this early as a guide. If you cinch down a knot and it doesn’t feel right, or your leader knot gets hung up in your guides, or you feel some nicks in your leader, take the time to re-tie and avoid disappointment.”
Raymond is also a firm believer in using the best gear you can afford. “I’m not rod heavy; I’m rod particular,” he says. “Unlike a lot of bass fishermen who have a dedicated rod for every specific presentation they make, I’m the guy who has a handful of different rods that I like and trust with a few powers and actions that suit the lines and lures I most often fish. There are a ton of great rods on the market today. For me, it’s hard to beat the quality and performance of St. Croix and specifically their Legend X series. These rods are made in the USA, light, load up great, and are extremely sensitive. It’s the same with the lures I most often use. Z-Man ElaZtec plastics mimic everything in this river a smallmouth eats and the material is incredibly soft with unmatched durability. For me, that means my clients can catch a bunch of fish on a single bait before I have to replace it. The Z-Man MinnowZ swimbait is the best bait ever for guiding. They can be rigged in a bunch of different ways to match the conditions and have a shimmy almost like a spybait on a slow steady retrieve. You will catch fish hopping them on the bottom and burning them through the water, too.”
Finally, Raymond encourages anglers to handle all fish with care and to release the ones with the genetics that make better fishing possible for everyone. “I think most bass anglers are in the same camp about caring for big bass and releasing them healthy, but we still have some archaic regulations and procedures in some states, especially when it comes to recognizing record fish,” he says. “In a lot of states, you just can’t get a record fish certified without killing it. No record or recognition is worth killing a huge, old fish. The very same day I caught my fish here in Pennsylvania, a guy fishing a tournament in New York caught a nine-pounder, which would have smashed the state record. He called the DEC and was told to put the fish on ice until someone could come out and certify the fish the next day. He would have had to kill it to get it certified. That’s a huge problem. To his credit, the angler – Dante Piraino – knew better and had no part of that plan. After it was weighed and revived, he adamantly directed tournament officials to put that fish right back into the St. Lawrence River with all the rest of them. States need more protocols and procedures that make it easy for people to certify fish like this without killing the fish. These are genetic freaks and all of us need to let them continue to do their thing.”
For up-to-date information on fishing in the Susquehanna River, or for tackle recommendations, contact Susquehanna Fishing Tackle at 800-814-7433 or via their website, sfttackle.com.
Water Level: The lake level stands at .64 feet ABOVE full pool.
Water Temp: Temps are hovering in the upper 70s on my Garmin
Water Clarity: Nothing significant to report on the clarity of the lake, it’s typical clarity for June.
I have been on Lanier for 4 of the past 7 days. The fishing was very good for numbers with some good fish mixed in to keep things interesting.
There really has not been a lot of changes in what I have been doing since my last report. Top water is still the most productive pattern day in and day out. I expect this to continue until the water temps creep up into the low to mid 80s range. When that happens, the thermocline will become more prevalent, surface O2 levels will decrease and Anglers will have to get more creative with presentations.
For now, it’s time to enjoy the famed topwater bite that Lanier is known for. My focus is humps and point in 25’-35’ FOW. Chrome if it is sunny, bone or more subdued colors when it is cloudy.
This is also the time of the year where it is a good idea to have several different styles of top water baits available. Anglers may need to vary their retrieves and bait profile to figure out what the fish want on any given day.
Lastly, I want to hit on our old buddy the shaky head. While Top water rules the roost for most days, the shaky head can still be a trip savior. Anglers often don’t think of the SH as a June bait, but it can be extremely effective on days when the fish just don’t want to play ball or when Anglers are just looking to give fish a different look. I throw it in the same areas as I do top water, I am just slowing way down. A 3/16oz Davis HBT head with a Trixster Tamale is my go to set up.
The daily videos I publish cover these techniques in greater detail and all other techniques that were effective over this past week. In these videos, I cover the conditions, part of the lake, and how I caught fish (or did not) for most days that I am on the water. All subscribers will have access to all historical videos as well (261 previous videos). You can sign up and view videos at https://jeffnail.uscreen.io
Lake Lanier Fishing JournalDaily updates on bass fishing at Lake Lanier. Created by Jeff Nail Fishing and Guide Service.jeffnail.uscreen.io
For the new few weeks, I have the following dates available: June 15-18 and 21. July: I am pretty open for all days after the 8th. If you are interested in a trip, please reach out and I will get you on the calendar.
Jeff 770-715-9933 [email protected] jeffnail.uscreen.io Jeffnailfishing.net
The first weekend of May might be a little on the soggy side, with warm temps and a light to moderate south winds. Hmmm… sounds like pretty good fishing weather to me. The extended forecast indicates lots of cloud cover through the week, and an increasing chance of rain late in the week. The bite reminds pretty good for Bass and Stripers, although we are seeing some changes with the warming water temps. The lake level dropped last week, .28 feet, to a level of 1071.23 that is .23 above full pool. We’ll call the core surface temp 72 degrees.
Remember to be sure and tune into Capt Macks Epic Outdoors Radio each Saturday AM, 4 to 6 am. on WSB 750 Am. Yeah, it’s early, but I’ll be up with a pot of coffee and some Fig Newtons waiting to take your hunting and fishing calls.
Striper Fishing
The bite is good, and the techniques are really the same as recent weeks. The fish are also using the same types of structures and areas, with maybe a little more emphasis on the Herring spawn. The fish are pretty catchable when you find them so stay in the move until you locate them. Free lines and planers continue to account for good numbers of fish, but the down lines are still producing and are perhaps a bigger part of the pattern than in the last few weeks. Keep in mind the floating down lines, they are often a good technique at this point in the year. Herring and Gizzard Shad are catching fish, with shiners also still being effective, the shiners mostly on the free lines. Pulling the baits around shallow humps, reef poles, and points is a solid pattern, best in the am, but effective all day.
Looking for the spawning bait fish remains a good strategy, find the bait fish spawns and the Stripers will likely be nearby. Shad and Herring may spawn on almost any type of rock or hard surface. Look around the ridge pilings, seawalls, rip rap or rocky banks. The fish that are around the bait concentrations may be shallow, especially early. After the bait fish activity slows or ceases, the Stripers may stay in the same area, just backing off into deeper water and relating very loosely to the structure.
The pitch bite remains very, very good, perhaps one of our most prolific patterns each year. To respond to a couple of questions; What exactly is pitching? It is just finding a likely structure that is holding fish, securing the boat with spot lock shallow water anchors, and casting or “pitching’ a live bait, on Lanier general a Herring to the structure. Easy enough, but there are a couple of pointers there will catch more fish. Firstly, once you pitch, lob may be a better description, to the point, fish with your rod tip low. The reason being, many of the fish, especially the Stripers will eat the bait and swim towards the boat, fast! Maybe faster than you can reel. If you rod tip is high, you lose the benefit of being able to lift the rod on the bite which gives you the ability to take up several feet of line, aka slack. Also, I prefer not to set the hook, but just start cranking until you feel the weight of the fish, then lift the rod, keep reeling and that should get the hook set. I prefer a circle hook over the octopus for the pitching technique
Bass Fishing
April Was a very good month, it’s early, so far it looks like May will continue that trend! The patterns of the last few days are continuing, I think we can just add in a few post spawn patterns that are emerging. Are the fish still spawning? I think so, however, I think there was a big group of fish that spawned on that last full moon that be will be finishing up soon. I still think we will have another group of spawning fish, maybe not as big as last month, so the shallow water patterns will still have merit, we’ll just have some post spawn patterns to add variety.
With water temps in the low 70’s we should have shallow fish anyway, regardless of the spawn. You’ll still have the advantage of catching fish on many baits, the same baits that have been effective in recent weeks will still be catching fish. The soft plastics, jerk baits, spinnerbaits, swim baits (both soft plastics and hard baits)and top waters continue to produce. One footnote on the spinnerbait bite I have discussed so much recently: as the fish leave the banks the spinnerbaits will still have application. The technique is the same as mentioned in earlier reports, just deeper. Fish the bait slowly enough that is following the slope of the bottom to get the bait down into 5 to 12 feet. a heavier bait may also be a plus in getting into the appropriate depth range. Banks with cover will still hold fish, it will most likely be that shallow offshore structures will be more prolific. Target long flat points, shallow humps, deep stump flats and shallow brush tops.
Keep an eye on the spawning Herring, find them and you find the fish. What to cast? Again, lots of choices will get the bite. Sashimmy Shads and Lanier Baits Magic Swimmers, are a couple of consistent producers. Soft plastics on the lead head, and top waters should all get the bite. The same baits will have application for any schooling fish you see chasing bait, and that is occurring frequently now!
Call it a tale of two Sinclairs. Or a tale of three lakes in only three days. Last weekend showed how fast bass fishing can change this time of year.
Last Friday I met Ricky Layton to get information for my GON April Map of the Month article. The weather guessers were right for a change when they predicted high winds, bluebird skies and cold weather. That combination is usually the kiss of death for fishing in the spring.
Ricky said we would meet at Bass’s Boat House, an old marina where the clubs used to put in back in the 1970s. It was near the dam and the water might be slightly clearer in that area, and we would be more protected from the wind. All this spring the flooding rains have made our lakes fill up with very muddy water.
We waited until 9:00 AM to go out since it was cold. The first two hours seemed to show the weather and muddy water was working against us. Ricky took me to some places he had caught good fish the weekend before, but the water was even muddier than it had been and we got no bites.
At 11:00 Ricky was starting to look at the article pattern and caught an eight-pound largemouth on a bladed jig. The fish was up shallow near a grass bed, the pattern for April. That is a big fish for Sinclair, it has been a long time since I have seen one that big there, although there have been several that were close the past few years.
About noon we started fishing and marking places for the article, working bass bedding and shad spawning areas. Ricky caught a five-pound largemouth out of a grass bed on what will be hole #2. A few minutes later he caught one weighing about six pounds there.
The next place we fished Ricky caught another fish right at six pounds, on the same pattern, halfway back in a creek with grass beds up shallow on the bank. One of the last places we fished he landed his smallest fish of the day, one that weighted about 3.5 pounds. In all that time I landed one weighing about 2.5 pounds, but my excuse is I was too busy netting his fish and taking pictures and notes to fish.
Ricky ended up with five bass weighing a conservative 28 pounds. That is the kind of catch you dream about and expect on Guntersville, not Sinclair, especially under bad weather conditions. The water temperature was 58 to 59 degrees where we fished, making those big largemouth were looking for bedding areas.
On Saturday Ricky took his son fishing at Sinclair. Although colder, the weather was better, but the fishing was not. He said they did land a seven-pound fish out of hole #10 but their best five weighed “only” about 14 pounds, not great compared to the day before.
I could not wait to get on the water Sunday morning in the Flint River Bass Club March tournament at Sinclair. I should have known better.
After fishing from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, 13 members landed 20 bass weighing about 36 pounds. There was one five bass limit and five people didn’t catch a 12-inch keeper.
Travis Weatherly won with five weighing 9.02 pounds and his 4.99 pound largemouth was big fish. My three weighing 7.47 placed second and I had a 4.57 pounder for my biggest fish. Niles Murray placed third with three weighing 5.75 pounds and Brent Drake came in fourth with three weighing 4.20 pounds.
The cold air made me shiver on my run to my first stop. Luckily there was enough wind to keep the fog down, it was wispy and hanging just off the water. But there was enough to make it scary trying to watch for all the floating wood.
I stopped off a grass bed that was perfect for the pattern Ricky caught his big fish on Friday, but my heart sank when my temperature gauge hit 49 degrees. A nine or ten degree drop just had to affect the bass. It surely did affect my optimism!
I fished three places in three hours without a bite. Around 11:00 the weak sun was warming the water a little, raising the temperature to about 51 degrees in the cove where Ricky caught a six pounder. I cast a Chatterbait across in front of a grass bed, something thumped it and I set the hook.
My rod bowed up and the fish headed for deep water. I just knew I had a six pounder on, but suddenly my line went slack. The fish just pulled off without me ever seeing it.
At noon I was in the area where Ricky caught two fish, hole #2. I was very down, fishing half the day without a keeper. The water had warmed to 52 so I had some hope. I cast my Chatterbait into some grass and hooked the four pounder I weighed in. That improved my attitude a lot.
After another hour of fishing without a bite, I caught a two pounder in front of some grass, then at 2:00 PM landed my third keeper, a one pounder, from another grass bed. That was it. I fished hard for the rest of the day without another bite.
