thediscochef

I had heard PK was fishing well, glad to see it's for real! That is a stout smallmouth for where I live and some nice northern LM. It does hurt to be on a school and get blanked...that happened to me in Central TX once, on a school of striped bass. Totally uninterested in the swimbait that netted like 18 in an hour the day before. I still can't make it make sense. But I would count any day down here with a chonky smallmouth as a win. Looks like an otherwise solid day to me. Great work!

Nice PB! Sounds like a heck of a fight, and a real commitment to go get it 25 yards is a swim! A lot of people don't get that much story to go with their PB, I don't know anyone who went out into the water to go get theirs. That's metal honestly though, I don't think I have what it takes to do that one

Thanks! Felt good to feel a heavy again, it's been a while. Second biggest bass I've ever caught off the bank, shy of a shore PB by about 2 ounces and overall by about a pound and a quarter. Absolutely inhaled a minimax, hooked about as close to the gullet as it gets while also being hooked in the roof. First time in a while I've been able to fit a whole hand in a fish's mouth.

The scale says that night fishing is here. Largest measured fish of the year, 6lb 8oz is where the scale stopped. Classic. I got my one good one and that's a wrap for tonight. Probably coulda done more but now I'm strategizing lol

The year of pain continues, this is all I got this morning. Water temps are touching 80. Massive amounts of shad all around but nothing feeding on them. I guess I'll try night fishing, I'm lost at this point lol

I do believe summer is arriving, neddin on the rip rap bringing in some bass. Will be hitting the night fishing up soon.

Expensive accidents are the worst part for me. followed closely by getting skunked after trying too hard.

Well I had an exhilarating morning but not in the way you want to. On a farm to market road near Ray Roberts, a car pulled out in front of me as I crossed a side street. Were I not a skilled driver and had I not been paying attention, I would have t boned that person at a solid 55+mph and I can guarantee at least one hospitalization. Woulda been a real bummer the day after mothers day. Instead, I managed to swerve around his front using a little bit of extra pavement from the road he was proceeding down. Amazingly he only tagged my rear bumper and left a little scuff on the rear driver sidewall. I turned around to go exchange info, but driver had taken off. All that early morning driving spent drifting around surprise deer paid off I guess. Then I snapped off a couple nice chatterbaits near the marina. Eventually I got to the spot I was trying to reach in the first place...and behold. A nice bass, with a friend, and perhaps a hybrid crappie? I like A frame spinnerbaits now. Anyway. It was nice to hook into a nice bass and not die in the process. Can't top the fishing above, probably never will, but I live to fish another day.

??? One of these days I'll catch what I'm fishing for. 2023 is for the birds, so far. Gonna need things to improve

Fair point, I don't usually think of chickens when I think of birds. They're more like food with legs to me. Obviously birds. But the flightlessness really makes me forget that sometimes. Same thing with ostriches. Like yeah, thats a bird. But it's mostly just delicious

Toledo Bend might be the prettiest shoreline I've ever fished around, absolutely beautiful. The lake is massive. Saw some gators which was cool. Fishing wasn't great for me but my buddy had a solid numbers day, I'll take it though. Weather became a challenge. Our guide was actually a member here once upon a time, great dude and I'll surely be back out with him again. Man knows his sonar and that's how we managed to land bass.

PBs don't lie, mine came on a vision 110, GP Stain Reaction, all stock. Best tree branch I ever hooked into, it turned out to be a bass.

I love herons so much, so metal yet such goofballs. My favorite bird 100%

I max out around 3 hours for a day trip, my general rule is that I want to spend at least as much time fishing as I do driving, but there's only so many hours in a day. A 12 hour day, with any activity, is fatiguing. I usually stay within 30 minutes of home.

Not a great one unfortunately. Boat didn't catch any above 5# that we could tell, I boated two fish all day. I missed about 8 fish on a dropshot, as far as I could tell they were just tiny spotties playing with the tail. I'm about 99% sure we were fishing on the backside of an eastbound low pressure shortwave which would explain the lockjaw and congregation to 30+ FOW. Didn't see any bass shallower than 10 FOW. I had hoped for significantly better but that's fishin - somewhere between casting and catching. Guide did his best, d**n good with his sonar but locating them is only part of the equation. I know that we would have done significantly better with a different barometric setup. To be on the back side of a system like that and still catch as many as we did was admirable.

Thinking about this a lot, two of my better days this year were like this. Heavily camped areas, coves next to popular campsites. Found a tree to stand behind and cast around, pulled in 10-12# bags in an hour or two of fishing both times. One time had a 4# hit about three feet on the other side of the tree I was behind. If I stepped out, the bite died.

Love me some zombieposting. Your best days will be Wednesday and Thursday as it is a pleasure lake as much as a fishing lake and the jetskis are real Friday thru Sunday. You have some options, quite a few really. There's guides that will take you on Grapevine but I don't know how many of them actually focus that lake. The Texas Fishing Forums site may have some leads on a guide. Grapevine is also one of the few places in DFW that is regularly stocked with smallmouth. If you can't find a guide, I would go to bass pro like you said and fish up at the dam at night if you can - right where the dam meets the bank on the south side, there's some decent rip rap there. Without wheels that will be a hike. There are also places on Grapevine with kayak rentals, but they're not the fishing kind. An Uber may be a good solution. If I'm in town I might be able to show you a spot or two. Do note that DFW lakes face much pressure and downsizing is often a successful strategy for numbers but not necessarily size. You may be able to find a TPWD gear donation thing but I would check with the local high schools. May also be a question for the TFF folks. I'm not a huge fan of that site but it is great for local info. I would volunteer to buy leftover gear at a cut rate but I honestly really don't need more gear, a donation somewhere else is far preferable. DM me if there's anything you think I might be useful for, I don't know Grapevine super great but I have hooked into a few decent bass there.

My only real question: can I have the boat? I never cheated in a walleye tournament, I swear!

Glad you found one man, always feels good to get that pull. I know what that's like and it really makes me appreciate each fish. Here's to hoping that turns into 2 next time, 4 the time after, 8 the time after that. Get em! ???

Caught a couple at Purtis Creek today. Then went and saw a teener at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center where they breed the sharelunkers. Good times. Toledo Bend tomorrow.

I hardly ever get the luxury of super clear water, max vis in most places at Ray Bob is about 4-6 feet on a good day. I love clear water because I often get the chance to actually see how the bass react to seeing the bait in full - makes for better presentation in mud. Clear water is less of a workout too - less imparted action needed to make the bait work. I usually try to find a tree near the water to hide behind and wear clothes that match the sky or shore depending on the terrain. Gradual rise of the shore = sky camo. That said, a wary bass in clear water is less catchable than the same one in muddy water, makes life hard sometimes but when they're biting aggressively...it doesn't matter too much

Gonna get my first crack at Toledo tomorrow, was gonna hit Rayburn but the guide says it's slow right now. Big time excitement!

Born to fish, forced to Wipe(r) Finally found something other than gar feeding on the threadfin spawn. Things seem to be slowing down a bit in the spawn areas I'd found, but I assume it won't fully be done until after 5/5 full moon. Work for the next five days so no fishing

that sounds a lot like how I learned about the abundant beaver population at Ray Bob

I swear, sometimes all I have to do is get on this website and gripe loudly enough and magically bass start to appear. Darndest thing. I like to think y'alls supportive nature plays a part in catching again lol Wipers, Sandies, and spots, three of each around 8-9am. Felt good to get the line tight again but would like to find some LM. That tiny Spot had some pretty crazy belly proportions going on...it was up in some boulders going nuts on threadfin. No problem finding shads either, and the roughed up thumb is always a favorite tactile sensation.