dcmclassic

I was seeing the same thing. I fished a few hours this morning and decided to avoid the crowded points and ledges and found some decent ones flipping shallow shaded cover that was close to deepwater.

I'm at the lake now, haven't had just a whole lot of luck over the past few days. Tried deep, shallow. The ones that I've caught have been shallow and deep. Everything from a plum trick worm in the grass to a DD22. I just can't seem to nail down a pattern this trip. We've been fishing mainly the Paulo Gaucho branch of the lake. I have found a lot of suspended fish right around the thermocline just can't get them fired up. Still beats fishing Lake Houston though. Edit for 7/1/16 So today has been decent. Spoons for suspended bass around 15ft, jigs and drop shots around shaded docks during the middle of the day. The spoons have produced around bridge pylons for us today. Also ran across some decent size schoolies,

I spent the weekend up there and it was one of my worst weekends on TB. And I grew up on the lake...... I just couldn't get on them and stay on them. I look back now and I could have made some changes. On Saturday and Sunday I didn't really do much running though just to stay away from the crowd. Saw lots of guys ignoring no wake zones, running wide open through stump fields, cutting off other anglers. I made the run from Harborlight to Indian Mounds Sunday evening after the tournament traffic died. Picked up a couple little ones in the grass, my guess is much of the lake was picked clean during that tournament.

From everything I've read, Gemini built a pretty hot hull. Depending on the condition of the outboard and the weight he carries and several other factors I see no reason his boat couldn't run 73 with a good 150 behind it. Mine runs low 70s loaded, full of gas, two people and Power Poles. Its only a foot longer with 50 more hp, and almost certainly a much heavier hull.

I feel like you think his boat will not run 73?

Might as well feed my gift cards to the bait monkey. Untitled by Dustin, on Flickr

I've noticed that even my 7ft MF Mojo feels stouter than my MH Falcons. Thanks for the suggestions guys, going to try an Avid X and go from there. Have to sell a few rods first. I love my Falcons but I just don't feel they are advancing like some others, so I want to try something new.

Idk how old you are but there are always options for the willing and capable. Get a dog, go fishing, take a few days off and get out of town to a lake, river, woods etc. You could always look for a different job. The military is probably one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life, I know there are plenty of others that will say the same thing about themselves. Heck if you have some money saved up grab a buddy and take a road trip. Don't let one chick dictate your life, that doesn't happen until after you get married

Nobody keeps them in stock around here, TW, GM and BPS all stay stocked up on saltwater stuff. Edit: Gander Mountain may have some Avids, but the store in Spring, TX is a pretty sad place.

I'm considering stepping out and getting a St. Croix Avid or possibly a Legend Tournament. Are these comparable to the Falcon Caras and Lowriders? One thing I love about my Falcons is they are really light weight and sensitive. I'm not sure what action/power I would be getting yet, probably something to use for T-rigging since I know that will allow me to use the rod a lot to see if I like it. I've tried every brand out there except the mid-upper level Croix rods. I know they have a big following on this site. Anybody have a suggestion for a St. Croix starter in the Avid or Legend Tournament? I have a Mojo Bass that's been ok for the price point.

Why I'm a better __lazy__ angler than you. I'll tell you why........Actually no reasoning is needed. I think some good info could come out of this thread though. Already learned some dropshot stuff.

Currently: Memphis May Fire- Vices

After fishing Bull Shoals and Norfork this past summer I've been really wanting to get into more smallies. My dad, myself and my son plan on taking a trip to Belton and possibly Canyon this spring. Those Ozark lakes were super clear even with high water, are the TX highland type lakes the same way? Any tips for either lake? I grew up fishing the shallows, we never really fished the highland reservoirs. I did OK on BS and Norfork but not great(I was up there in August). I just figured I would downsize some presentations and use more finesse tactics than I usually do with lmb.

I use a MH for squarebills and lipless. Typically I'm throwing them around lots of stumps and hydrilla. My squarebill rod is a Falcon Lowrider20 lfc-5-168S Aoy ed. Its a moderate fast. Just what I prefer. My lipless rod is a 7' MH Bucoo. Which is a med fast. I will throw lighter lipless on a spare medium sometimes in open water.

I only use the 5 range on two rods, the two that are primarily for fishing the divers. 6.4 on the squarebill rod and 7.1 for the lipless is what I have found to be my favorites. I have thought about changing to a 6.4 for smaller cranking rod.

I just spent more money on swimbaits than I ever have. I ordered some Reflexion handpoured swimbaits. Ordered some LT weedless and solid body to fish on swimbait heads. I'll try and post a review after I get them. They look pretty promising and have some great reviews. I couldn't quite convince myself on a Hudd yet. But I also ordered a BBZ1 6" slow sink, and a Catch'em Caro Henrieta J wakebait. Which I know isn't technically a swimbait. Funny thing is I've had these items in my cart for about two weeks just trying to decide if I wanted to spend that kind of money on lures.

Depends on if you have a reel and what reel you have for it. I personally would throw throw traps or squarebills if you aren't fishing them around a lot of heavy cover. Or another crankbait rod. A lot of guys including myself have multiple cranking setups, I have one for larger/deeper cranks, shallow/light cranks, squarebills and one for traps. So four cranking setups for me. Or put it in the rack in the garage and build up a nice stock of spares or a nice lot to sell.

Try the BPS in Pearland. Everything else you would be looking for won't be there but they usually have a nice pistol grip selection.

I have two old pistol grips that were in service until recently. One is at least 20yrs old and a BPS TS MH 6' that was shortened to 5'8". And an old Berkley 5'6". My daughter is using the Berkley and the BPS was finally retired for a Falcon Cara T7 6' MH that Falcon had laying around on a shelf. It has the shorter handle but its not a pistol grip. Its an essential piece of my arsenal when looking for reaction bites in really tight spaces. thread jack- Can't bring myself to use spinning gear for traditional T-rigging, can't really see the benefit. I keep my spinning gear to finesse swimbaits, dropshot and light shakey heads- which I just recently started using on a regular basis.- end of thread jack

I don't need the prescription part yet but I know Maui Jim offers a lot of models in prescription. That's what my dad uses and he loves them. I have Maui, REVO and Oakley. The Maui's by far have the best polarization for seeing into the water. Plus their customer service is excellent.

My dad told the fog was ridiculous today. He said most of the day he couldn't see his boat house. We have been having good luck in the Palo Gaucho branch of the lake, even with the water being a little more stained than other areas.

The baitfish are gathering in HUGE schools in random deep creek channels. If you can locate the schools a spoon or dropshot should produce some fish. Last weekend I came across probably the biggest baitfish school I have ever seen. Guess I need to get an SD card for my df.

For solid body paddletails I like the Reaction Innovations Little/Skinny Dippers, Zoom Swimmin Fluke and Megabass Spark shad. I also throw a couple that are designed for salwater like the Down South Lures due to them having a red shad color thats killer in my local muddy water lake. Hollow body I like the Basstrix, the SK shadalicous look great but I didn't care for the action on them. I don't have and Hudds or anything of that nature yet. I have found that the RI Skinny Dipper swims more level with a heavier weighted hook. Unweighted or a light weighted hook gives it a lot of body roll. I mainly rig the Zooms on a darter head and fish them in heavy grass. Spark shad on a round jig head with an open hook. Everybody has a different preference.

Just found this thread. I grew up fishing on TB. The last two weekends we have caught a ton, nothing over 4 lbs though and nothing deeper than 10 ft and caught more on a shaky head than the t-rig, which I always have laying around. I think the warmer than normal water, higher water and no hydrilla have kind of thrown things off a little but they are still there. We nailed them on points close to deep water and some large shallow flats. We found several huge schools of baitfish in creek channels but nothing chasing them. The magic color seemed to be Candy Bug. Lots of good info in this thread. Good job everybody.

I grew up in Bass Cats if I planned on owning any other boat besides a cat it would be a Legend or Phoenix. I've been to the Ranger, Legend and BCB factories and for me personally I won't ever own a Ranger. I didn't care for the plant or the attitude of a very long term employee that was the tour guide. But that's me......my uncle has ran Rangers since the 80's and won't run anything else. I would heavily consider dealer location and dealer atmosphere/attitude also. I feel they are pretty much all good boats now. Bass Cat or Phoenix would get my vote out of your options. Bass Cat will treat you like royalty, Rick Pierce hand wrote a letter to thank me for buying a Bass Cat. Showed us anything and everything we wanted to see at the factory. They are first class. Cats run fast, smooth and dry. Some people don't like the trolling foot pedal placement but most people adjust rather quickly and end up loving it. If you have any questions about the BCB models I'll help with anything that I can.