Saltyredneck

4/17 we put 18 keepers in the boat from sun up to 5pm. Frogs, wacky, and jigs. Jigs, bama rigs, and fb jigs seemed to be the best in 8-15 ft mainlake humps for the past two weeks. Weather has to be right to get them fired up for the frog bite. Need a good wind.

Had 18 keepers by 11am this past friday. 3/4 of them on topwater. The rest on wacky and jerkbaits. Midlake. Went back out after the rains around 1pm and caught 15-20 thirteen inch fish with 5 keepers. Had to end the day early around 3pm. Best 5 went 19#s. Most of the fish had eggs.

3/22 Cold front the morning of and rain over the weekend had the fish lockjawed all morning. Did manage a 4, 2.5, and another 2.5 on wacky worms. Arnolds, big Bass, and negreet were very stained. Huge amounts of pollen eliminated sight fishing completely. Missed several fish that just moved the baits and lost a giant in some buck brush with two others breaking off. Most of my fish were caught close to the mouth of the coves in 7-9 ft where visibility was best. Every bite was faint. Heavy rains had the beds under 2 ft of where they normally are. Best temps were btw 54-56 with dirty water getting up to 57 by 12pm. Short morning but i think the bite wouldve gotten better as the day progressed. Oh well. Back again in april.

Does anyone here beside me target spotted bass? I like to load up on them this time of year and throughout the summer/fall. Since have been discussing spawn, has anyone caught spotties with eggs or any signs of spawn?? What depths do spotted bass typically spawn at? I assume its deeper than that of largemouths. I have have been catching spots in about 10-12ft close to their summertime hangouts, but no where near the numbers the same area will produce in April/May/June. I tend to get on spotted bass near hard bottom drop offs or islands close to deeper water.... certain times of the year I can dial my watch to where they will be. Seems like spotted bass aren't really a thing of interest in toledo bc they dont get very big... but i love catching those lil suckers. Cranking, carolina, topwater... you name it. If you dont like catching em, I surely will go get some of that tasty meat for my family. Just point me in the right direction!!!!

22# bag was caught on the calcasieu river a week ago... Top 5 went: 6.76 6.32 3.08 3.35 2.71

Fished Friday from 1pm to 7pm... didnt get my first bite until 630pm. Fished all of indian mounds anywhere from 5-25 ft, then went to the back of hausen. water was stained and didnt stay for long. Ran to Oilwell and fished some spots with no bites. Headed across to LA side and got 6 keepers in 30 minutes off a brush pile in 9-12 ft of water on drop shot. Saturday went back to the pile and caught 3 keepers in the first 30 minutes of the day then the bite shut down. Stayed around Negreet all saturday to only manage two more keepers. A buddy of mine caught a 5,6, 6 1/2 on football jigs in 10-12 ft on humps with structure. All the fish i cleaned had 1/2-1" shad in them. Salters, Big Bass, and Arnolds cove were dirty.

Heading up around 11 fellas... thanks for the info about Slaughter and north. Heard some great reports yesterday down south around 6 mile. 12 ft grass drops... main lake and creeks.

Will be at big bass marina tomorrow around 3pm. I plan on running north to coves around pendleton... how is the water looking in Paulo Gaucho or Slaughter? Would appreciate any help as that could help me decide whether or not to go north vs. south. Big Bass cove is chocolate milk from the marina to the bridge. I never have an issue finding fish... It's me and my 5 year old's first father son trip so any help would that would make things go a little smoother would be appreciated!!! Message me if you don't feel like divulging on the board. Always willing to trade a little info.... I don't BS on here or give false info. I find the forum to be very helpful and if i cant be on the water then someone should enjoy catching fish in my absence.

Fished yesterday from Pendleton LA side to Big Bass... heavy fog limited my ability to run north like I wanted. Boated my first keeper around 9am on a spawning flat in Negreet with a Stop N Go presentation. Three casts later I had my second 2lber in the boat. Worked the creeks alongside the flat and the flat pretty thoroughly with chatterbaits, senkos, rattltraps, and brushhogs. Moved out of the area and fished further north around Turtle Beach/Cypress bend. No bites. Switched over to a split shot fluke and boated another 2lber near cypress in 10 FOW close to spawning flat. Fog lifted around 1pm so I moved over to Texas side and caught one more keeper with the same approach in Oilwell. The majority of flats were around the 49-50 degree mark with our best temp reaching 52 on the texas side around 2 pm. I suspect the fishing only got better as the day progressed, since the air temps were 78 degrees and the sun was shining when i left at 230pm. I scanned several groups of fish where creek beds intersected with the main creeks running to flats in the 15-20ft range. Tried finesse tactics with drop shots but to no avail. Our camp crew fishing separate areas only managed 1 keeper in one boat and 2 keepers in another. The water was pretty in most of the coves we fished (Negreet, Oilwell, Cypress, Lowes) The back of Big Bass is very stained.

Anyone hear about the 9lber caught this weekend in the Ratltrap only tournament?? My buddy who fished it said it was his only fish weighed in... he caught it flippin a trap like a jig in a grass mat. LOL. What a way to win 1000$.

Tuesday looks to be the day... a little rain never hurt anyone. As long as i don't see lightning I will be on the water. Would definitely appreciate a water temp/clarity report Sunday or Monday from anyone fishing from as far north as Paulo Gaucho all the way to Hausen.

IF this weather holds up like its showing for Sat and Sun... a nameless someone will be heading up there either Monday or Tuesday to try for redemption. I am that mad at em right now!!! That's what paid time off is for right??!!??!?!?!!

Calcasieu river has several local access points... Anthony Ferry boat launch, White Oak park, Sam Houston State park, English Bayou launch off of 171, Riverside Park/Launch in Westlake. You can also make the drive to Sabine River and fish Nibletts Bluff Park.

Old friend of mine came in 2nd place in the Texas Trails with 26lbs. As for my trip... boated 3 keepers Saturday. All on 3/4oz spinnerbait. All fish came out of small creeks leading to spawning flats.The fish we caught were holding right near structure sticking out of the water right next to these 15 ft dips in the creeks. Baits used: T rigged senko, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, ratltrap, bladed jigs, bama rigs, split shot flukes, drop shots, jigs, t rigged brush hogs, and DD22s. I scanned several groups of fish suspended anywhere from 5-10 ft in 15-20 FOW... just couldn't get them to bite. I fished anywhere from 5-25ft... fished secondary points, main lake points, some of my mid level structure waypoints, banks, spawn flats, grass, structure... you name it. Stayed around Lowes, all the way from the beginning of negreet to the very back, and all around Big Bass. Not an ounce of sunshine the whole day kept the water around 53-54 degrees. Best i could find was 55.8 degrees in the very back of coves at the end of the day. Everyone i talked to around mid lake struggled Saturday. I wish i would've made the run up north like i wanted to, but you can only do so much when you aren't fishing out of your own boat. I didn't fish Sunday, but wish i would've. Several of my buddies boated around 6-10 keepers that morning ranging from 5-12 ft in some of the same areas. Come on spring temps!!!! Get here already!!!

Been a while since i was able to fish the big pond and report but here goes my first report since august.... Fished Lowes, Oilwell, Negreet, and ended in Big Bass Cove Saturday morning... only three short fish to show for my efforts. Most of my time was spent scouting structure and areas I wasn't familiar with. I did manage to find a few bass on electronics in 15-20 ft of water. 37 degree overnight temps and 50 degree water temps had them lock jawed. I did catch a few on drop shot around 1030am, but boy did i have to work for them. Lost one on rattltrap in the back of a cove in negreet around 11am but had to call it a day bc I was "only there to pick up my boat" and the Mrs. wouldn't have been a happy camper if i would've stayed longer. They are ready to move up and are staging in creeks right near spawning flats as most have said. I hope to get back up after this cold weather wears off. I saw a lot of potential in the coves i visited with a lot of healthy grass and spawning areas. I did hear a great report in the San Miguel area that same afternoon from a buddy.... when the water warmed up the 4-8 FOW bite was on fire. Best water temps i could find was in Negreet, but the water was stained badly. All other areas were between 50-52 degrees by 11am.

Looks like a front will be rolling in around the 11-13th... would think shallow water is going to pick up around then.... IF it hasnt already. As mentioned before, I would key in on grasslines right about now. I found the largemouth holding close to 10-14 ft grass edges. I was reluctant to travel further in past the grasslines. I am sure people are catching both shallow and deep depending on the areas. Negreet was nonexistent for me this summer but picked up on my last trip. Hopefully i can get up there when the topwater bite picks up.

Did pretty well Saturday morning. Limited early with a mixed bag of Kentuckies and Large Mouth. A few on topwater early, then finesse fishing. 15 ft to 20 ft drop off. Fished around Lowes all the way to Oilwell Cove. Sunday morning another mixed limit... played catch and release for a while with Kentuckies. Finesse, Cranks, and topwater in 10-22 ft. Sunday afternoon was my best numbers trip by far. Fished one area to grind out about 30 or so kentuckies in less than an hr. At one point i had 5 casts and 5 hookups. Caught them on isolated structure in 10-15 ft. Had a guy troll up to me to get in on the action and BOOOM... he hooked a 10+... watched this baby jump several times then as he got it to the boat it made one final run. SNAAAP!!! Monday morning was a solid limit of largemouth. Six of the 8 coming off topwater early. The others were caught with a dropshot.

No recent reports fellas??? Will be fishing from Lowes to south indian mounds this weekend. Targeting grass lines and points in 20-30 ft of water... Hopefully the bite picks up.

Didnt get to night fish due to family illness, but i did get to fish Sat and Sunday morning. Saturday only yielded 2 fish (both keepers) from daylight til 9 am. Deep points with grass. Sunday I hopped around a bunch. Fished Tennessee bay, Lowes, and Millionaire. 6 keepers total. Had to finesse fish the entire morning... what a grind. TOUGH two days of fishing... and HOT as heck.

Hope to post a report after this weekend. Will be fishing this afternoon and heading back out around 2am. I will be concentrating on ridges and points near grasslines. 20-30 ft. Anxious to try out the livingston lures... see what all the fuss is about.

well we all know that the weather man is wrong more than most... windfinder.com is calling for 15-23 mph gusts from 10pm to 1am Fri/Sat and 15-18 mph gusts from 10pm to 1am Sat/Sun out of the South. Guess we shall see Friday if its gonna change... wont know til I go!

Do any of you night fishing guys find the solunar tables to be accurate about the peak times of fishing?? Major (22:02 - 23:59) Of course other factors come into play (wind, clouds, temps, etc.) ... but generally speaking would you use these tables as a guide? Trying to decide if i am going to make a full night trip on the full moon or just pull a 2am to 9am type trip. Any advice?

Believe me i fish structure 99% of the time. Forget anyone even mentioned "schooling". LMAO.

Schooling by definition to me is actively feeding/chasing bait to the top of the water in groups and/or under the water. Just like Yellow fin tuna/speckled trout/redfish pushing bait balls to the top of the water, these bass are working in larger than normal groups to push these shad up in the water column. I could be wrong but that's my take on "schooling". Schooling is just a confidence booster for me. Shows me that bass are actively feeding in the area and bait is using the area in some way. I dont chase them bc they dont stay up long enough. But i will work a high percentage area where they are schooling.

Just bc you dont see them doesnt mean they arent schooling... you are targeting the correct locations. Shad are deep this time of year and will follow these underwater highways back and forth. The schooling has been short lived depending on the size of the bass. Smaller bass have been schooling longer periods of time... larger bass are for short periods. If you find a cove with schoolies, grind out the area until you find em.