Bass_Fanatic

I have spent a ton of money looking for the perfect fb jig rod for under $350. Here is what I have bought and used: 1. Powell Endurance 714 cef (Great rod. Handles jigs up to 3/4oz really well. Perfect action, but a little short for my liking) 2. Powell Endurance 775 cef (A little too stiff for fb jigs IMO) 3. Dobyns Champion 735 (GREAT rod. THis and the Powell 714 would be tied for my 2nd favorite) 4. Dobyns Champion Extreme 784 ML (Favorite fb jig rod for 1/2-3/4oz figs BY FAR) 5. G Loomis E6x 894C JWR (eh, it works, but not very sensistive) 6. Megabass Destroyer x7 EMFT ($600+ rod. Most Ive ever spent on a rod only to be let down. It’s rated for up to 1oz, but starts getting over powered at 1/2oz) 7. Phoenix Recon 764 (Now my flutter spoon rod. Didn’t handle jigs well IMO) 8. St. Croix LTB 7’1” MH/F (Hated the way this rod felt. Super tip heavy)

I fished Toledo Friday and Rayburn Saturday. We caught 44 total Friday between a day trip with Mr. Skip Adams and then fishing a few hours in the afternoon with my college guys I’m coaching at Louisiana College. Had some pretty good fish for the way the lake is fishing right now. I stayed out of the way Saturday for a college tournament and went to Rayburn. One of my college teams came in 7th out of 119 boats and qualified for the national championship. We caught fish on a 6xd in 18’ of water and some on a trap in shallow grass. Most fish came on ledges in 18-23’. On Rayburn we didn’t get many bites, but when we did, it was good fish. Caught a 7, 5, and 4 and missed a couple more real big ones. Deep brush and shallow grass both produced good bites for us.

The deep bite has been very tough to pattern. Here today and gone tomorrow. There are a few fish out there, but they are on the move. The shallow bite has been more consistent

That’s a tricky question. Main lake I’d be looking in the 18-25’ range, but in the back of creeks I’d be in 12-15’

It’s the first major creek north of the Pendleton bridge on the LA side

It seems as if the shallower docks are holding fish better than deep docks right now. Look for docks in less than 10’ of water.

Squarebill, chatterbait, jig, and shaky head. Maybe a whopper plopper or chug bug if you can get them to eat top water.

The entire lake holds fish, they just relate differently in different areas of the lake. The easiest fish to pattern coming in with no knowledge would be Lanan and San Miguel. This time of year docks are pretty consistent and those two areas are full of them. 12-15lbs shouldn’t be too hard to get and you may be able to catch one big one to put you up to 16-20lbs.

I’m a firm believer that the potential for the biggest bag on the lake is going to be deep 365 days a year. The problem right now is that the fish are not schooled up and are roaming around chasing bait. The shallow bite is picking up and 12-15lbs up shallow is very doable. The top water bite is picking up and the trap bite is just around the corner.

You won’t catch a 6lb smallie, but I’d say there is nowhere that will give you a better chance at catching a 6lb+ LMB than Rayburn.

We had a good time Friday, even though the wind never let up on us. We got on a school on a roadbed and caught plenty, but like Amateur Hour said, no size to them. Left them biting to go find something bigger, but all the fish that were in brushpiles last week decided to leave.

I would say to drive to Sam Rayburn. It is fishing great right now! You would have a really good shot at beating your Pb.

I use a 1/4 oz teardrop weight with a 2/0 roboworm rebard hook tied about 10” above the weight. As for plastics, I use a 6” roboworm 99% of the time. Every once in a while Ill put on a Yamamoto shad shaped worm

I’m hoping it fires the fish up, we need something. Toledo continues to fish tough right now. Not many people are catching much or anything right now.

Caddo hands down

Craig is a good friend of mine too! Glad to see him win.

Guys, if you are looking for something to do this Saturday come check out CenLas Blessing of the Hunt at Longview Baptist Church in Deville, La. Will not cost you a penny and you will leave full of good food and with some great prizes. Guns, deer stands, crossbows, game cameras, etc. ALl for free!

I fish the main lake 90% of the time and when I go into creeks, I just about always fish the mouth. I’m convinced main lake fish spawn on top of humps. As for the fall, yall can have the backs of the creeks, Ill stay out on ledges on the main lake. The shad ball up tight and the fish are active. October is one of my favorite times of the year on the main lake.

Fish will start to go into a fall pattern even when it’s hot. I personally think the shorter days are more important than cooler weather. But, the transition may be spread out a little more due to warm water, so you may not have as many fish moving into the creeks as you would with a few cold fronts. They are starting to move that direction, it just may take them a little more time to get there.

TMac521 and I fished yesterday afternoon together. To say the fishing was tough is an understatement. Didn’t see nearly as many fish yesterday that I’ve been seeing the past few weeks and the ones we did find were suspended chasing Shad. Ive never had much luck on days like yesterday when you see little pods of 2-4 fish busting shad all over the lake. The baitfish aren’t balled up real tight right now and the fish are very scattered chasing them. When we would find a small group of fish somewhere, we had to hunker down on them just to get one or two bites. The fishing was rough, but the company was great. I always enjoy meeting guys from the forum, and TMac was no different. Great guy!! Fishing should get much better with some rain and a cool front to start cooling the water down some. Once the water starts to cool the shad will ball up and the bass will be right behind them.

If you can find a used Powell Max TW exclusive “squarebill rod” you’d be in heaven. It’s 6’9” H/mf composite. I have 3. I went through 7 or 8 $150-$250 rods before I finally found these. Perfect rod IMO

Hey guys, just wanted to let y’all know that I have two dates in the September open (7th and 14th) and 3 in October open (5th, 12th, and 26th). Pm me if your interested in a trip. September and October are two of my favorite months of the year!

Try Green Acres in San Miguel or Wildwood Resort.

For schoolers I always have a lucky craft slender pointer tied on. It will catch them every time. But I rather throw underneath them to look for a bigger bite.

I had a reallly good time Friday with Amateur Hour. We graphed around most of the morning. Found quite a few fish hanging on some ledges and points. We didn’t fish until mid morning. Fished maybe 30 min and caught 4. At 11:30 a storm blew in and it POURED!! Waited under the pavilion at cypress bend for an hour and it never really let up so we called it a day. Chris is a great guy and a lot of fun! It’s always good to share a boat with someone that quickly becomes a friend. I think Chris left with a better idea of what to look for and how to identify fish. Looking forward to the next time we go!