Bass_Fanatic

Caught a 7.14 and broke on one over 10 Saturday. As far as good launches on the south end, that state park and pirates cove are always in good shape.

Hard to beat the Shellcracker G2

The rain won't affect the fish because the majority of them are deep. I went yesterday and caught 20 or so.

Rage craw in wtml/red

Yep...best 5 fish. Trying to keep everything pretty basic, dont want to get to in depth, this is more of a fun thing than a money maker. If yall want to do some big money tournaments in the future, thats an option, but lets just see how many will show up for this one. Here are some very generic, simple rules. Rules 5 fish limit per fisherman in boat. Toledo Bend tournament will have a 14 inch limit on large mouth and 12 inch on Kentucky bass. Weigh-able fish are Large mouth and Kentucky bass only. Stripper bass, White bass, or Small mouth bass are not weigh-able fish. Each team is penalized 1 pound for every 5 minutes late. Each team must be out of the boat by the weigh in time. This also applies to big bass weight. All fish must be taken with rod and reel on artificial lures, trolling will not be permitted. All local and federal laws must be obeyed. No alcohol during tournament hours. Live wells can be checked before tournament. 2 fisherman per boat only. US Coast Guard approved life vest must be worn and secured while the main engine is running. The engine kill switch must be attached to the driver while the main engine is running. There will be a 1/4 lb deduction for every dead fish weighed in. If big fish is dead there will be a 1/4 deduction also. If there is a tie, two places are added together and then split. Take off at safe daylight and weigh-in at 3:00 p.m.

100% payback. We will pay 1 place for every 5 boats. 1-4 boats = winner take all. 5-9 boats = 70/30 split. 10-14 boats = 60/25/15. 15-19 boats 50/25/15/10. Also 100% payback for big fish, winner take all! Hows that sound?

We will launch from cypress bend and take off at safe daylight (5:40ish). Weigh in at 3 back at cypress bend. $60 per team + $10 big bass. I've got some good scales we use for our club I'll bring. Get there early enough to pay and get to meet a few people before take off. I'll be there at 4:45 or so to take up money and meet n greet.

Ok so far we've got ManyBoy, henrylewis, and myself. I've also invited a few guys around where I live. I think we are up to 5 boats for sure and about 5 maybe's. The more people we get, the better. Should be alot of fun and hopefully at the weigh in we can share what we did with one another to try and help one another out for future trips.

How about a fruit jar on July 5th? Safe daylight to 2 or 3 oclock? I figured a few of us will be up there that weekend, might as well get together and some some friendly competition. What do yall think?

I throw nothing but 10XDs on one of my Tatulas and I love it!

Wait into October when the grass starts dying. The arig shines October-May around here.

A shallower hook will pass through the fish. I have a pond with very picky Florida strain bass in it. The only way I can catch better fish 6lbs+ is to use a live bream. I let the bass completely swallow the bream with a 4/0 EWG and then reel them in. Once landed, I just cut the line and let em go. More than once I have caught a fish with a hook passing through.

Read the Toledo Bend thread on here and see what the weights that have been reported in there have been. Toledo Bend is one of the hottest lakes in the country right now. Just last week I weighed a 11.72lb bass (I didnt catch it, a guy needed my scale lol) and then had 24lbs in the boat in under an hour. The spring time is a great time to catch big fish too. You can sight fish on the south end of the lake or back out and catch em on traps and A-rigs. I weighed in 26.5lbs in my club tournament back in March up there with a 10.2lb kicker.

When you get into a school of fish so thick that you can feel your bait bouncing off of one fish and into another its not hard to see how you can catch 4 at a time. Like I said, Ive only boated 4 in one cast one time, but Im pretty sure Ive hooked up with 4 a few times and 5 a couple of times too. When you get that many fish on though its hard to keep em all buttoned. Come on down to Toledo Bend next May and I will show you what I mean!

No pics here...Im still using an old Pantech "dumb phone". I can send a text message on it...sometimes lol. I did post a report a couple years back of one of the better days where I doubled up and tripled a few times. http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/100875-ill-never-top-this/

I've doubled close to 100 times on the arig, tripled about 15 times and even quadrupled one!

I've got rods by both brands. Got 1 duckett and 13 Powells for a reason...

I got on the water yesterday at 6:30. Had a guy idle up to me and asked for a scale. I pulled out my scale and weighed a 11.72lb fish he caught trolling a crank bait. It was a stud!!! I then fished around mid lake and had 24lbs by 830. Caught a 6, a 5.5, and two close to 5lbs, and a 3.5. Had a lot of 3lbers too on a football jig. Big fish weren't on the jig tho. Fished till 1am and didn't catch a fish after dark. The main lake was too rough to fish after dark so I was scrambling looking for new stuff in creeks. Sounds like others caught em at night tho. That's how it goes I guess.

Anytime! I'm leaving here in an hour and fishing through the night tonight!!

Good luck man!

Flutter spoons can be awesome this time of year. I would recommend a long rod, 7'6" or so, 20lb floro, and a 4.5-5" spoon. Don't be afraid to throw it around deep brushpiles. It will hang up, but most of the time you can use the weight of the spoon to knock it loose. Some days I let it sink to bottom and rip it 6ft off bottom and let it flutter all the way down again and some days I work it more like a big worm, just small hops off bottom. Experiment and see what the fish want. I hardly ever start out with a spoon, but if I catch a few off a brushpile or ledge on a crank and they shut off I will pull out the spoon!

I actually disagree with most people here. I throw my squarebills on a Powell Squarebill rod which is a H/MF rod that has a ton of backbone. To me, squarebills are meant to be thrown into the thick stuff and when one hits it I want to be in control. Using 17-20lb floro and a H/MF rod has helped me land hundreds of fish this year on a sqaurebill. I have used every other rod possible and this one seems to do the trick. With that being said, you are just flat out going to loose some fish. Thats just the way it goes.

I use a 7/0 Gammy EWG for 12" worms and a 6/0 Gammy EWG for 10" worms. Give the fish a second to inhale the entire worm before you set the hook and you will have no problems.

40lb, 50lb, 65lb, and 80lb will all work just fine. I opt for 65lb braid for most situations that call for braid including frogs.

They are great punch baits!