Red_Ranger04

Safe travels sir, let us know how you do!

Went out last Thursday Skeeter_Bug! The fish are in the grass, the ones that are not in the grass are chasing shad in massive schools all over the lake. It's no problem to go out and catch 50+ a day, finding ones with any size is what's challenging. I got on several schools of fish throughout the week and could catch as many as I wanted but fish over 2 pounds are rare in those schools, I was catching the schoolers on a chrome rat l trap and a yellow magic. The bigger fish I caught were in the grass and holding tight to cover. The fish in the grass I caught were all caught on beaver style baits. Surface water temps were close to 80 in the mornings warming to mid to high 80s during the day. We are looking at some steady cooler nights coming up in the forecast and I think some stellar fishing is going to be kicking off within the next couple of weeks, Big Sam is looking great and I think this fall/winter is going to produce some giants. Hope this info helps!

2 months with no fishing? I would die! If I go a couple of weeks without hitting the water I start having withdrawal. Hope you get back out there soon, I think Rayburn is in great shape right now!

Yes Roblo my lifelong chase is over! I'm gonna start chasing my teener now, lol. I must say when that fish came out of the water for a little head shake my heart almost stopped( especially with a mouth like that).Something I will never forget!

Thanks, it was really unexpected! I was flipping hay grass over around deer stand area with a strike king rodent when she bit. It was close combat for sure, right at the boat. I had to lip her about three times because she still had a lot of fight left in her. I'm still in shock, I've been fishing Rayburn my whole life and that is the biggest bass I've ever pulled out of there. I've definatly got the fever now!

I finally got her, my first DD!! 10lb 4oz caught today at 500 pm!

I have to work this week but I will also be at the ramp Friday morning hopefully! I will let yall know how I do. Let us know when you catch ol' Bessie( or give us a report )Roblo, lol!

Roblo I'm off this weekend but I avoid Rayburn like the plague on holiday weekends. Heck I avoid Rayburn every weekend during the summertime, I work the DuPont schedule so I get a lot of days off during the week. Come hunting season I get to the boat ramp and I'm the only one there, you should the smile on my face( ear to ear)! Fall is also one of my favorite times to fish Roblo. I seriously think that Rayburn is starting to turn over, fish are starting to group up and chase shad and are getting harder to locate. They are calling for lows to be in the mid to low sixties next week, it's getting close!!!! I'm ready!!!

Roblo I think it's the vibration the bait was making and noise the guides produce as wind goes through them!! They get vicious in attack mode, lol!

Roblo as far as the bugs are concerned I like to use the OFF deep woods! It contains a lot of deet so it works really well after the initial burn, I also wear a long sleeved sun shirt and that also helps keep the skeeters at bay. At night I usually know where I'm fishing pretty well so I turn all my graphs off, the dimmest of light will attract bugs. The last couple of times I have been out after dark it wasn't the bugs I had to worry about, it was the bats!!! The slightest of noise created by the rod or bait they will go crazy over, I was throwing a chatterbait and the bats were just swarming me. Rippinlips I don't know where you will be putting in at but on the main lake the only area I wouldn't run would be the Black Forest area which starts at mud creek and ends right before caney flats. You can run it but you just need to run on one side or the other, meaning follow the bank on either side of the lake. Just keep in mind to keep your distance on the big main lake points as some of them do come out a good ways. North of the 147 you just have to use good judgement and pay attention to the visible timber.I would suggest getting a good topography map of the lake. Hope this helps, good luck!

Ripping lips I would suggest targeting main lake points and fishing the exposed grass lines. The fish that are chasing shad are really grouped up and following big groups of shad. If you can find a group of active schoolers it can be really fun. I fished yesterday evening and into the night til about 0130. I picked up a couple between dark and midnight but from midnight til 0100 they really turned on and I caught 10-12 fish within that one hour window then they just shut down. All the fish I have been catching lately have come on a Texas rigged curly tail worm on the edges of the grass. Hope this helps, good luck!

Been meaning to get on here and give a little report on fishing just have been busy. Went out and fished last wedsday and Thursday. I believe the cooler nights have really helped the fish group up, they are chasing shad like crazy in very large schools. If you can get on a larger school you can really have some fun. Been fishing from caney to julie creek and have caught the fire out of them. In the mornings I have been throwing a medium diving crankbait( bomber ff shad ) on the flats of main lake points and about 9am the fish become less active or move following the shad. In the evenings I would throw a curly tail worm ( Kriet worm ) to edged of the grass on main lake points and catch them good til dark. Haven't got into any bigger fish, the two days I fished the biggest would have went about 4 lbs! I had a blast though. I will be going out Monday evening and might do a little night fishing, will report back. Hope this info helps.

The water level on Rayburn has been really jacked up this year. I can't seem to find any fish in deeper water. Hopefully if the water level starts lining out the fish can get in a pattern. I always try deep water fishing but have been having to go to shallower to get bit.

Thanks guys, she was a beautiful fish. God was good to me for giving me that one bite, was very grateful. The fish was 26 inches long, I feel that if it had been fed up or full of eggs it would have definatly been over ten. I was just fishing the outside grass line of some flooded hay grass with a Texas rigged curly tail worm. The fish was in roughly ten fow.

I would say if it's in the U.S. it would be Cali, Texas, or Florida.

Went out today(Monday) from 7 til midnight. While I only caught three fish one of them was 9 lbs. All the fish I caught were before dark, can't seem to get them to bite at night. Caught the nine around 8 pm and it was well worth the trip.

Pitching is all about pin point accuracy as stated above. Depending on the waters you fish, the way the bait hits the water could be just as important. On the highly pressured lakes we fish here in east Texas the bass can get real finicky and the more quietly you can present the bait the better odds you have at landing that fish( especially big mamma). So just as a part of practice I try to minimize the splash as much as possible by simply stopping the baits momentum right before it hits the water, sounds easy but it takes some practice to master it. Hope this helps!

Went night fishing last night and only caught 3 smaller fish, I fished til around 2 am. Went back again this evening and caught several small fish, only 2 would have been keeper size. Roblo I would say a good 2d and dsi graph would be good. I have a lowrance 7hdi and I'm happy with it. With that being said lowrance and hummingbird have always been the ford and Chevy of fishing graphs. I must say Garmin and raymarine make some really nice graphs. Buddy of mine is running garmins and if I ever win the lottery that's what I'm gonna put on my boat, jmo.

+1 I either keep mine in ziplok freezer bags or in cheap plastic bins from Walmart in the original packaging. I started doing this after my experiences with worm binders!

Thanks for the report Roblo. I grew up fishing big Sam and my dad has always been a bank beater so naturally that's how l learned how to fish. Up until roughly 2-3 years ago that's all I did was beat the bank and now that my confidence is strong offshore I have no problems trying to figure them out off the bank. I by no means have deep fishing figured out but I have gained enough confidence to do it. When you start marking fish on your graph and catching the fish you mark it's truly addictive, I love doing it. Like you said, you need a decent graph to get good at it though. I still have enough will power if it's not happening offshore I will ease closer to the bank. Deep cranking has become my habit, I can't hardly put down the 6xd and dd22. Gonna go out Tuesday and Wednesday night and look for a fat girl, I will report back and let yall know how I do.

Most favorite: Trap bite in late fall and late winter/ early spring. I also enjoy fishing jigs of all kinds, big Texas rigged plastics and also enjoy deep cranking. Least favorite: anything finesse, don't have the patience to do it!

I've been having good luck on Texas rigged curly tailed worms here east Texas.

I was fishing in 10-15 fow Roblo. Good luck, let us know how you do!

January-Febuary are usually the coldest months here in East Texas. On big Sam in January I usually have a lot of luck with a football/structure jig being fished fairly slow in deeper water, I also like fishing a trap to. I try to target creek channel bends or ledges with timber. Went out today from 4 til dark, fished main lake points with flooded hay grass. Didn't slay em but didn't do to bad, caught ten with two being in the three to four pound range. All fish were caught on Texas rigged zoom ol monster and strike king recon worms in June bug and red bug.

I can't put my finger on it. I think it has to do with fluctuation of water level. The lake came up really fast and now it is dropping really fast. At first I thought maybe the shad haven't moved out and are keeping the fish in the shallow cover, but I've been marking big balls of shad on my graph but not schoolers. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right areas, it's really starting to get frustrating though! Good luck on the trip Roblo and be sure and give us a report.