Hello, anglers.
We are looking forward to the
Thanksgiving holiday with lots of out-of-town family coming for a visit.
Some are grandkids
who are expecting to get in some fishing time. I already have
their rods ready to go as this is a very special time in their
lives as well as mine. It really is not so much about fishing as
it is just being together. However, I have never been on
a family fishing outing when catching fish did not make a good
trip even better.
You can be sure that I have a secret spot or two for the kids and, if the weather will be kind, we should get them in some
fish.
The lake level is 167.7 feet with minimal generating at the dam several times each week with one unit running from 4-6:30
p.m.
Water temperatures are falling and are running from 59-63 degrees with the lake in great shape as north Toledo is lightly
stained, midlake is mostly clear and south Toledo is very clear.
As normal, there is some stained water in the back half of major feeder creeks with major creeks on the upper end of the lake
the most stained.
Last week, with a strong cold front rolling in, we had lots of north wind, bright sunny skies and high barometric readings
most of last week so we had to make some adjustments as to how we fished.
Basically, we went from slow to slower with presentations. As a matter of fact, several of our better bass picked up the worm while it was sitting on the bottom completely still,
which is a presentation sometimes called “dead-sticking.”
If there was a common thing that I said
to clients last week it was “Slow down a little more” realizing that
“slow” is a relative
term and depends on several factors, but I think you get the
message. It
On the south end of Toledo (from Housen
Bay to the dam) we have hydrilla (submerged grass) sometimes growing
out to 18-22
feet and many of our solid bass last week came from the outside
edge of the hydrilla on a Texas-rigged Berkley Havoc Bottom
Hopper as well as Trick Worm. We also have pepper grass and it
does hold bass, but it almost never grows in water deeper than
8-10 feet.
The best Bottom Hopper color was shady
watermelon candy while other good soft plastic colors have been
watermelon candy red,
watermelon candy, watermelon purple flake and candy bug. Both the
bottom Hopper and Trick Worms are 6.25 to 7-inch straight-tail
soft plastics that come through grass really well.
We did catch a few good bass on slow-moving Stanley Vibrashaft (Double Willow half-ounce with white skirt) as well as Jeane
Lure’s 3/4-ounce Double Willow in white and black. Both spinnerbaits had at least one of the two blades that was gold and
copper and these were worked slowly over shattered grass as well as worked on outside edge of grass line with best results
in low-light conditions with a ripple on the surface.
With more moderate weather this week the spinnerbait bite will improve.
Norton’s DLN crankbait is also working it on the outside edge of grass with best colors firetiger, blue and chartreuse and
sexy shad.
We continue to also use jigging spoons
(1/2 and 3/4 ounce) as well as drop-shot rigs in 25-45 feet. My favorite
drop-shot
worm currently is Bottom Hopper Jr., which is 4.75 inches with
best colors watermelon and shady watermelon candy. These worms
are in the Berkley Havoc series and are currently hard to find but
distribution is increasing.
The crappie fishing was good last week before the front with several good reports, including a report from avid perch jerker
Sherry Perkins from DeQuincy, who fishes in the Six Mile/Sandy Creek area of south Toledo.
Perkins said in one recent trip they caught close to 50 crappie plus a few bass and catfish all on live shiners. Most of the
crappie were quality fish with two weighing just under 3 pounds.
Readers might remember a photo of
Perkins and some of her crappie catch we ran a few weeks ago. She and
her husband catch
a lot of big crappie. They were fishing brush piles between 20-25
feet of water. Yellow bass have been in good supply in depths
of 30-50 feet on spoons and tailspinners.
Joe Joslin
is a syndicated outdoor columnist, tournament angler and pro guide on
Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn. His column appears Thursdays.
Contact him at 463-3848 or joejoslinoutdoors@yahoo.com or visit www.joejoslinoutdoors.com