Dougw

Thanks... Yeah... I kinna figured paying would get better security than not paying. Do you know if there's any vegetation up the river? Pads? Hydrilla?.... anything? Guess I'll find out for sure when I get there but a little advance info never hurts.

O'tay... I'm absolutely tired of getting my buttinsky kicked on Toledo Bend. After reviewing/analyzing the last 6 years I've been going there I've landed on one glaring issue. I've spent the last 5 years trying to unlock the mid-lake area. I am not a "mid-lake" fisherman - period. The last 30 years of tournament fishing found my success up the river. Being as we put in at the Army Ramp getting up the river was a bit challenging for me. But... gonna give it a try this time. I'll be there from 5/9 - 5/15. Basically 7 days. What are the functional ramps up lake/river at the current water level of 171'+/-. Doesn't have to be a "good" ramp. Biggest concern would be security. The further north I can launch the better - I think.

Yesterday was "fun"... Today was even mo'fun. Spent yesterday in/around Indian Creek. 'Bout 3:00 decided I'd better put it on the trailer. 15-20 NNE blowing right in on the ramp. Got one shot at putting it on the trailer. Whew... I picked the ramp down by the dam because the weather channel said "wind out of the NW. NO... it wasn't! It was out of the NE!!! Put in at the army ramp today. Loading/unloading was easier that was all. Caney was rough. 2 days and I've yet catch a black bass. Several whites but that's it. I'll admit to spending a lot of time on ActiveTarget. Frustrating sums it up pretty well....

No feelings hurt here! Ok... so my brush was a tad broad. My comments about screwin' up the spawn was focused on those fish that dropped their eggs but the hatch has not taken place. No doubt fish just now, or within the last week, coming up to spawn can, and will, adjust accordingly. But you are correct about the water level in April. It appears, based on historical data from the last 6 years, that 170 seems to be the target level for April.

Yeah... I know. Nice sack of fish you got there! Takes me 5 days to round up that many keepers. I do not know what it is about me and Toledo but it has kicked I disagree for the last 6 years. Seems 170' was their target. Shut the generators off at mid-night last night. The new generating schedule is not posted yet.

Wonder why... SRA is deciding to screw up the spawn? From 170.82 4 days ago to 169.9 today and still running both generators 24hrs. Head scratcher fer sure....

They're hard to crack! There were fish on the bed(s) in Caney first week in March when I was there. I didn't see'em but I had several folks tell me they saw'em but couldn't catch'em.

Once again I'll be on TB from Wed-Sun. Naturally I check the weather. Oh... wonderful... Wednesday wind - 5+10=15mph WNW Thursday wind - 10+15=25mph NW Friday wind - 10+15=25mph NW Saturday wind - Light and Variable. I've been beat to death by "Light&variable" WNW@6mph Sunday wind - 10+15=25mph S Yeah... think I need to find some fish close the the ramp in Caney Creek! The reality is a person should never have to leave Caney Creek to catch a decent sack. I believed that 6 years ago when I first started fishing the ABA that puts out at the Army Ramp. For the first two years I did not leave Caney Creek. And... I the best I ever did there was 2nd but mostly it was middle of the pack finishes.

My preference is enough water to float the boat off the trailer in the morning and enough water to float it back on the trailer in the afternoon. Gotta a couple of places I won't even go if the LvL is below 171'. I can go there but kinna pointless to do so.

172' is indeed the designed full pool level(conservation level). Anticipated levels of 175' is also planned for. The bone of contention between the SRA and lakeside property owners was the max drawdown level. To my knowledge, prior to reaching an agreement several(many) years ago, there was no limit and the lake was regularly pulled down below 168' rendering docks and other lakeside facilities unusable. Hence the landowners legal battle to limit how far the SRA could pull the lake down to generate power. An agreement was reached and the limit was set at 168'. That's not to say the lake can't go any lower than that - it can. But the SRA can't willfully pull the lake down below that level for power generation.

I went back n' forth over the dam/spillway 'bout a dozen times or so last week. I can assure you they are releasing no'mo that the law requires. Precious little water seeping out the gate. Another factor of water loss that many fail to recognize as a significant source of water loss is evaporation.... Lotta surface area on TB!

Fished last week Wed - Sun. Spent most of my time from Oil Well cove or North of there on the Texas side. I did hit Six Mile and some spots in Housen on Wed. 1/4oz 1 knocker put a few fish in the boat as did a c-rig. As expected a lot of boats on the water - A LOT. Bank was getting beat to death so I moved off shore - not exactly the best idea I had all week. Bait fish I found were mainly located in 30-50 fow. On Saturday (tournament #1) I ran from the Army ramp to just North of Cypress Bend on the Texas side. A bit of a bumpy ride getting there and when I ran back @ 13:30 it was even mo' bumpy. Just glad it wasn't a North wind blowin'... ABA tournament on Saturday was won by Tater Reynolds with 14.40. There was another 14# sack weighed in for 2nd and 3rd came in at 10#s+. There were 20 boats in the tournament. I weighed in 1 fish for 1.97#s and finished in the middle of the pack(9th). There were two other tournaments out of the Army ramp on Saturday the Fort Polk Bassmasters and the Army ramp open tournament. One of them, I don't know which, took 16#+ to win. The Sunday ABA tournament was the only tournament going out of the Army ramp. I stayed in Caney(Pirates Cove) all day. Tried shallow and deep. Caught a 4.02 in about 14' of water c'riggin' around 10am and pounded that area for the next 3 hours with the c-rig - nothing to show for it. Moved to another point and got several bites and finally put the second fish in the livewell for a total weight of 5.73#s. Again... Tater Reynolds won tournament #2 with 28.80#s and took big fish with one weighing 8.80#s. 14#s+ took second and I think 8#s+ took third. Word was Tater was done bass fishing ~10am and then proceeded to put 25 crappie in the boat. And again I finished in the middle of the 11 boat field with my 2 fish. Water temps all week moved from 52 - 64. Saturday where I fished the water temps didn't get above 55 degrees that I saw. Sunday in Caney creek temps were ~63 degrees off shore.

Structure and cover with time of year in mind. What kind of electronics do you use? Side/down scan and ActiveTarget/LiveScope are pretty valuable tools...

ABA District 111(LA) Saturday. 13 Boats 15.51#'s to win(Came out of 34 fow)(Had to edit... saw "51.51 won it...." 8.77#s second place 4.57#s BF

All you mentioned plus traps/sq. bill around shore line mud lines. Better docks had deep(er) water nearby but it wasn't an absolute requirement.

Fisher of Men two day regional on Toledo took 24+ to win. Pretty much reflects what I encountered last week.

Me an'a friend were there Tues - Thurs. Spent the first three hours Tuesday morning under the marina dock while the heavens opened up. When it broke from raining put the boat back on the trailer and headed to Big Bass Marina, where we're staying. Got the truck unloaded, the weather cleared, put the boat back on the water. Idled a bit scanning the roadbed and artificial fish structure out in front of BBM the went to take off. Just before the boat broke over the engine sneezed(sorta) then died. Would crank, wouldn't budge. Put the trolling motor down and went fishing. Ended up being the lower unit locked up. Prop shaft seal is broken n' pushed out so will be filing a claim this morning later. We stayed all three days. Spent one day at the Army ramp(Wed.) and two in the Big Bass Marina cove. We caught a fair number of fish each day working dock. One day pitching One Kockers under/around docks was the ticket the next day it was pitching plastic around docks. Our best 5 fish day was maybe ~15#s. Did manage a 6.75#er on a c'rig at the mouth of Big Bass Marina cove near the island on the main lake side in about 13' FOW.

It works just fine - surface to the bottom. The difficult deal is keeping your bait in the cone angle. Sometimes I could... Sometimes I couldn't. But I could see the fish and know they were there. The neat thing was being outside of one main lake cove. I think I was on the point north of Negreet and south of Cypress Bend. I was down scanning at the time and could see one or two fish. Soooo... dropped a spoon on'em. They swam over n' looked at it but didn't seem interested. I made some hops 1'-2' off the bottom with the spoon and there must have been 50 or so fish swarming around that spoon. I could see them swim into the cone angle. I got one bump and never caught one of those fish. Had I put a drop shot down there who knows? But I didn't. For sure there is a learning curve but with only one trip I was able to make it productive for me and it showed the promise it has. I have zero regrets on the purchase. One of the things that was a distraction for me was the mount. I have an Xi5 trolling motor. The very first time out I had fabricated a mount for the Xi5. It worked but it was cumbersome at best and manual tiller steer/aim. The initial unit I received was defective so the trip out with the Xi5 mount produced nothing. Then I made a mount utilizing a Ram mount arm. That's what I used on my trip to Toledo. It worked but the tiller steer/aim was a PITA. Also stow/deploy was a pain in the neck though at times I had a much lower opinion of it.:>) I'm finishing up my 4th shot at a workable mount that fits my Gambler and I think I've got something. It's electric steer and has a stainless steel mount utilizing and Xi5 trolling motor shaft.

Have you invested in Mega Live yet? I put ActiveTarget on my boat but have only been out once with it. On that one trip I can honestly say I caught fish I would not have caught without it. Been busy engineering an electric steer/aim system that would work on my Gambler. Should finish it up this week then I'll head back to Toledo and see how it work for real.

Aaaaannnnddd...we have a winner!!!!!

The answer is most likely - yes.

Might wanna take some fish too! Was there last Tue-Thur. Concentrated on main lake point with c-rig, jig, T-rig. Main baits were the TrickStick and baby brush hog. Avg. about 10 fish a day with no size. Worked from Lowes creek down to Six Mile. Tried spooning and saw a ton of fish come look at the bait but only got one tug on the spoon. Was trying out my new Lowrance ActiveTarget. Had battery problems for all three days so didn't get to play with it much but from what I did see it is a difference maker. I caught fish I otherwise would not have. I was chunking a trap. I could see fish below my trap coming back to the boat. Killed the trap and let it flutter down. Wham.... non-keeper in the boat. I stayed in areas where I could see fish and caught some simply because I knew they were there and didn't make a couple of cast then leave.

Yeah, I got the LiveSight, not installed yet, due to the 40 degree cone angle. Also ordered the ActiveTarget transducer, which delivery has slipped from 1/4/21 to 1/20/21. One of the things I find interesting about the live sonar technology is the number of folks commenting on being able to see stuff that side scan did not reveal

Yur'a humminbird guy - right? Got your eye on the Mega Live that's supposed to roll out in march? I have an Lowrance ActiveTarget on order that's "supposed" to be here in about a week.

Thanks!?