Shanon

What does everyone call the different types of grass at Toledo Bend? I know Hydrilla & Milfoil (pictured below)- but what do you all call the hay-colored grass (tough) found outside of Indian Mound? This is the type that we have success fishing behind in the evening during warmer days. Is there a term for the slimy grass that can engulf a spinnerbait blade?

Hello Everyone - Hope all is well on the Bend after the crazy spring weather. Our group of 8 guys are coming up to fish the first 10 days of April. We usually fish the last 10 days of March but we stayed home to enjoy Easter with our families (I see the Easter Bunny enjoyed a day on the Lake and caught a bass haha). Now for my question - We fish what I would call Mid South area (Lowes - Negreet down to Indian - Pirate's Cove). What's the consensus on the spawn in general? Has the water fluctuating set them back a month? or is it business as normal - some have spawned - some are - and some have not yet? We are the usual suspects that beat the banks, grass and both sides of any stick-up. Has the water in my area stayed stained since big rains or is it clearing up in between washouts?

Thursday 22 keepers (5 people) 40 Fish caught Friday 26 Keepers ~40 Fish Caught Saturday Rainout Sunday am 2 Keepers Swimbaits - Wacky - 3-6ft of water next to grass beds Arnold / Yokem / Harpers (north of Indian) Water 62-67 After Rain temps dropped to 55-57 and bites shut off All fish over 4-5lb released biggest caught 6.5 lbs on black blue wacky under tree in Harpers. We are here till Saturday-hopefully I'll post some more Shanon

We have a group that always fishes the last 10 days of March at the Bend, The full moon is this weekend and it got us talking and I'm wondering this: Over the past 20+ years we don't catch as many fish the few around the Full Moon. We catch great numbers 2+ days before and after but not as many on days at the full moon. Other factors in spring greatly affect catches like super cold fronts, high winds, heavy rains, etc but I was wondering if others notice any let off at a Full Moon? We always catch better on the New Moon all day. Shanon Our trip starts on March 20 (wife just said my spirit is already there waiting on my body)

Nice Fish Wesley - What's even nicer is seeing the water up next to the buck brush in the background. Way to go Mother Nature!, Even looks like more rain coming early this week. Haven't searched for results of the big tournaments this weekend - Was there a ton of fish caught? Anybody talking about patterns? I see that Catt has pulled out of the creeks and that most of recent reports show lots of smaller fish in the shallows. My gang is predominantly topwater - We fish it all day mostly. 4 Days and counting till we are on the Bend. Can't wait.

We are 1 week away from a 10 day guys trip on the Bend. So excited I can't stand it. I asked earlier about the drought & grass - I know the aquatic grass grows fast - but how has the drought affected arreas that were high and dry and used to be (hydrilla, milfoil, or coontail)? Did non-aquatic grass start growing and does it (being flooded) produce good or bad habitat for the fish?

Hi All, Our annual trip from southeast Louisiana (Gonzales) is coming up at end of the month. I'm so glad to see the water rising. Looks a more rain headed there this weekend. I have a few questions. I've seen the maps with the newly recut lanes (safe to run at at 163) - That was a smart move - just wish more lanes would have been cut down. With the very low water last summer are the lanes still clearly marked? I knew the LA side had added tons of markers. Our gang fishes from Negreet to Pirates & Indian to Lowes. Is all the grass still going to be located in the same areas? Meaning did the low water hurt or help grassy areas that may have dried up for months? On the fishing report side - I've heard mixed reports - Some guys are killing them and some guys are struggling. My local buddies were having a blast in Febuary but it seems to have slowed down in March. Maybe it's all of the extra roaming room the bass have with the rains. Sure wish Catt would at least check in once in a while. We only fish Toledo Bend once a year (10 days straight at end of March) - But I monitor this forum daily from mid Jan to May. So you guys keep of the great work in posting and keeping us travelers informed. Shanon

Ok Guys, I'm looking for software or APP to use as an electronic fishing logbook. I want the following features besides standard entry info.... If I enter past date & location (zip, town) it will retrieve past weather data, moon phase, Would like pulldowns for data entry instead of typing past 10 year of analog logbook. Would love to be able to use PC & smartphones Icing features would be custom tags like lake level or tide info. Is anything out there close? Shanon

Can anyone tell me where United Bay is? We ran into a couple fishing a small aluminum bass boat ~16' with a 50hp, that told us they we catching over 20 small (short bass) in United Bay. We talked to them in the cove just south of Negreet (but above Esto- Big Bass). They were throwing rattletraps. I seem to remember my friend from Slaughter creek talking about United Bay but we could not find it on the map. We filmed most of our normal fishing spots that were high & dry with our phones. This should help us next year when the water comes back up to normal. Enjoy the Bend - My gang now cuts all the bass baits off for storage and starts tying on popping corks and gold spoons... Look out cocodrie here we come.....

Here's my annual report: We (5-6 guys average) fished March 24 afternoon to April 2 evening. 1-2 boats mostly and sometimes 3. Areas fished were Arnold (lots of grass) - & Lowes Creek (Lots of timber & grass). Indian Mounds, Harper, Negreet, Yokum & Pirates were alll hit atleast once. Colder north windy days (5-10mph) produced the best for us - Calm warm cloudy or sunny days were slower. We are top water lovers so those baits get an unfair advantage. The Chugbug outperformed the rogue. The wacky outperformed texas style. Colors for soft plastic (Black/Blue laminate & Watermelon black pepper). Best numbers of bites came when boat was in 6-8' water throwing to bank or to deeper water. Bites came in bunches (everyone would hook up in a 15-20 minute stretch then nothing for a hour or so). Big fish (2) were about 7 pounds with a couple of more in the 6 pound range. Total bass(including short fish) for the trip caught 298. Total keepers were 138. We don't keep anything close to 5 pounds. On the last Saturday we caught a ton of fish in the Arnold Bay grass using swim baits (skinny dipper in Houdini color). Absolute blast. I personnaly did catch any keepers but my partners and other boats caught 4-5 keepers each in a 1 hour stretch before sunset. Like others have posted you can throw topwater all day and get bites or swirls. I did manage to lose my personal best at the boat. In Pirates Cove I had a huge topwater hit on popper that I had just re-tied to remove a nick near the bait. She hit it and made a couple of runs before i finally got here to the boat - she then did a figure eight for a while before spotting us in the boat. She then did what my partner descibe as a Nemo and went straight down pulling drag - the next thing I notice is how hard she's pulling and it snapped above the bait. Made my stomach hurt. I have know idea how big the fish was. But when one of you guys catch her with that little Yozuri Popper send me a picture. We had great weather all week long and even with the low water we never hit any stump when we didn't want to. I actually like being able to see the boat lanes - just remember to idle to your spots when out of the lanes. Hope this helps other people find their fish: Negreet - very little grass and not many fish caught Yokum - spotty grass - not many fish caught Lowes - stumpy & grassy - lots of fish (don't have to stay in fingers hint-hint) Arnold - biggest grass flat we found thanks to earlier poster - tons of short fish. Harpers - good grass and a few good bass Pirates - Only fished half a day (not much grass or bass) Shanon

Sorry about posting the error on the TOBI - It looked legit. It seems the webpage has been taken down that I linked to. My favorite bait to throw at the Bend is the gold rogue. I can't wait till Thursday - We have very spotty internet service while at the cabin we rent - but If I get a signal I'll try and send reports to you guys. I also plan on catching some with a new topwater frog I just purchased (Kopper's Live Target). This bait looks great. If I was a bass I wouldn't make to 3 pounds.... Again sorry about the miss post. Here's our plan: [*]Don't hit any stump unless trolling. [*]Start the day with topwaters next to bank & grass (Rogues, frogs, flukes,) [*]Step back with Senko's during the day along with weighted flukes, brushhogs [*]Back to topwater later in the evening [*]Repeat for 9 days of fishing 10 days - 8 good friends - hopefully throw back more than we keep.

Welcome to Spring!! It's time for my krewe of bass pirates from Ascension Parish to attack the Lake. We'll be arriving Thursday am for a 10 day guys trip. For all of you that put away you jackets and other winter gear - I'm sorry. Last year at this time we made it snow on the lake. We stay in the Esto Cove on La side. Most of our normal holes are high and dry right now but we'll still hit the normal areas (Negreet, Indian Mounds, Pirates, etc) till we figure them out. Either the fishing has slowed down or people are holding back on their reports. A few weeks back I was getting daily great reports but not much lately. I saw that the Texas Oilmans' got cancelled http://www.tbocbass.com/Toledo_Bend_Oilmans_Classic/Special_Announcment.html meaning less pressure, but I'm sure the weekend anglers are still enjoying this beautiful weather. Can someone give us a current pattern that they are using to catch fish? We'll probably start topwater early - switching to deeper baits mid day and ending back up on top in the evening.

I just ordered a pair of Green Mirrow 580 Glass Fisch's off of ebay - Not yet received. $75.00 less than list price with no tax. I'm hoping they're legit. I have had many sunglasses over the years. Revo's glass, Maui Jim's, H20ptic's, and Sam's Club MemberMark (aluminum frame spring hinges polarized). I've got 3-4 pair of cheapos in the boat now. I believe if you only try on sunglasses to determine how much you like them that's only have the battle. After 8-10 hours on the water your eyes will feel more fatigued with cheap optics. Did any of you ebay 580 buyers get "knock offs"?

Fished all of the last Spawns at Toledo Bend for last 20 something years minus 1 (2006?) when the water was super low also. Catt and others can you give us some shallow water spawn patterns that's unique at the 165 level. I guess I understand that the fish just move to set depth to get ready, but all of the grass that we had been finding in 2-6 water will now be dry. Are there a lot of deeper grassy flats that are now in 2-6 feet of water? In short does the lake fish the same - just further away from natural bank or should we concentrate on more on hard structure if there is a lack of visible grass? With all the warm weather and the great fishing reports the last few weeks it seems like people are catching a lot of quantity & quality this year. Is this as hot as it's been and is it because of the weather or lake level? Last one of the Day: This prolong low water level would leave me to believe that certain bank lines are now exposed to potentially driving rain which may have more dirty runoff than normal. Is the lake dirtier now after a hard rain than normal lake level? Shanon

Great article Catt - I wish I would have gone on with my instincts - that the fish would be better off stressed without the hook instead of quickly released. Her mouth was big enough it would have been liking working under the hood of an old Ford Truck.... I fished out of a 22' bay boat - they waves were not coming over my bow (thankfully). But wind blown to me trolling motor fighting - bowed line - crooked boat - AND the water not getting messed up by the bank (meaning the grass or mats are damping the waves or swales at the shorline. Baitfish=Bass=Hookups (paw-paw use to say) Enjoy the Bend....

Here's my annual spring update: 3.5 guys fished March 18 -thru March 27 some rain some wind (some hard) some cold some SNOW (go figure) & a few nice trips (70 sunny - light wind) Stayed at Big Bass Marina Cove in Esto- Fished Indian 10%, Negreet 10%, Oilmans Cove and Harper's Cove 60% & Pirates Cove 20%. 86 keepers - ~130 dinks. Biggest caught in Pirates on Mar 27 6lb-13oz which TIES my personal best (also on TB) sure thought she went over 7. She had broken of one of you guys watermelon seed super fluke (gut hooked) we removed my black/blue wacky and the super fluke and line but I didn't cut out the hook just released ofter photo near the military recreational area. Fish were deeper than we like to fish - but they could be caught on WIND blown banks with grass points. The last trip Saturday night we caught them shallow with topwater rogues (fun-fun-fun). Overall we did OK. we released all the fat ones and anything over 5lbs. Prior to the fronts we we catching 12-15 keepers day - then would drop to 2-4 keepers day per boat. Strangest day would have been the Saturday (March 20) the day the coldest front blew in (Also TOBI). The pressure was dropping like crazy and we fished right up until the rain after lunch and caught NOTHING. I would have thought that would have been the best outing??? :-? :-[ Most fish caught on wacky followed by rogues. Some spinnerbait, brushhog and texas worm. My uncle and step dad are fishing this week (Lanana area) and should do very well if this weather keeps up. I hope I'm still reading this thread in 10 years.

I won't be back till next spring probably but I'll keep my eye on the topic till then. Question on Negreet area: For the past 20 years (each spring) I travel into the Negreet area from the south. Everytime there are always boats fishing the steep bank on the south point as you enter the cove (before the first finger to the right). Naturally we have stopped a time or 2 but have never caught a fish there. Is there something special about THAT point and are we fishing it incorrectly? just curious....

In the 10 days we were there we fished the Mounds during the week. Last year the mounds produced daily limits during low pressured week days but this year The Mounds were not better than any other place we found. I like the mounds because of the amount of fishable area close together, Lots of outside grass, long fingers when windy and access to deep and shallow water. I would love to know how many baits those bass see in the spring.... For you guys that really know the Mounds area, There is a spot on the long island in front of the 2 deep fingers, on the north side close to the cut through area that has a big pocket with an opening. There are some well seasoned fish. Everytime we went there we waited our turn to throw baits even though boats had just left and other boats were waiting. This place just looks to good to pass up. I *** you guys that get to fish this place on a regular basis...Nothing's better than that moment after the hookset and you hear that line tighten up and make that tight string noise. Shanon

Here's my update: 6 guys fished from March 19 Thursday till March 27. We didn't Saturday due to that constant wind creating 4 foot swales and stirring up mud at every point. But we had enough great weather to boat over 210 fish and with 109 keepers. We had 1 guy catch a 7lber took pics & released near Big Bass Marina. The fish that we kept were split 50/50 males to females. It seemed in the back of coves only the bucks were left protecting the fry. Let me say what we don't fish with: white spinnerbaits, carolina rigs, or crankbaits/rattletraps. You may now figure we fish topwater & soft plastics. The first half of the trip the topwater bite was on as more than 50% caught with a twitchbait. The second half was all WACKYWORM. We threw 2 colors (watermelon pepper or Black/Blue Lamaniate). Black and Blue caught more quality fish. The topwater bite ended on the rising water. We had to back off the bank and fish outside grass lines slow. We log every condition during the trip (I don't have the log with me) but we caught more fish on bluebird days than the cloudy days. My earlier posts indicated where we fished. I only get to fish the lake once a year and I absolutely love Toledo Bend. I was extemely happy with the LA side adding new bouys. They were very easy to navigate after dark on our way back to camp. Texas side needs to catch up. After Thursday's storm we noticed a lot of bouys blown out of place. Is there anyone to contact or does a regular maintenence crew keep people out of the trees? If anyone's getting ready to go bring your wacky worms (and o-rings) - throw at every point with submerged grass. Already booked next year's trip... Shanon

We fish this square: Indian Mounds to Lowes Creek Then Negrett down to Yokum. We mainly foam the water near the bank. We love the topwater bite as much as anyone - Is anyone catching bass early in the morning of the buzzbaits? Cohen - I too would be interested in the knowledge of the rising water and the spawn. I've always heard (in the past) when they would drain the lake down in the spring this would be extremely bad for the eggs at the shoreline. Then I heard that these same bass started making deeper beds. So What will the rising water due to those Already spawned and prespawn? Shanon

Great Report fishfor$, We are headed to the Bend from Gonzales, LA on Thursday for a 10 day guys trip. We love the lake and this time of fishing. With this fast rise coming on how does this affect the fish in a week? Can we expect the Generators to cut on this week and a drawdown to 168.00 forthcoming? Thanks guys for a good topic. Shanon

Great Post - As All agree.... We have a half dozen assult member team from Southeast LA that travel to the Bend each spring - we stay in the Big Bass Marina cove, and primarily fish areas near there (from Indian Mounds to Lowes & Negreet to Yokum. We are Atchafalyaya spillway bred Bank Busters (trying saying that 3 times fast). We'll be fishing the last 2 weeks of March this year, all of us fish from Bay boats....we used to get laughed at on Toledo Bend We love the Mystery of the Bend - Catch'em one way today and a totally another way the next. Last year we killed them in the grass at Indian Mounds, 15 years ago the red rattle trap on the football field (Arnold Bay) was fast and furious. I'd love to have your patience and fish the ouside grass lines but to finally throw after (3 trys) that 3 treble hooked orange rogue under that branch - behind the back tree next to the opening in the grass mat from hell AND worrying about PLAN B after she makes the commode flush is too much of a rush. Now for my question: When fishing the south area of the lake in March do you feel it's better to stay away from over-run areas on the weekends(Indian Mounds, etc) and try and find virgin waters or is the presentation more important (like following a spinnerbaiter with a senko or fluke)? I've often heard that it's not so much where you fish but when - When they start feeding they feed everywhere. Well - I hope everyone has a productive spring spawn - I feel like I'm personally going to pull us out of the recession if I continue to go BassPro & Cabelas. Shanon