Bass_Fanatic

Garmin EchoMap Ultra 106sv is what you’re looking for

Jackson Hill Marina is a great place to dock the boat and go grab lunch. They make some really good burgers and it’s not far from Cassel Boykins. As for restaurants, there isn’t a lot of choices, but it would be worth the drive down to The Stump by the dam for dinner. Good food and good people. Maybe a 25 min drive. Fishing wise, you can’t go wrong throwing spinnerbaits, senkos, and jogs in bushes on points. A specially if there is grass around as well. You shouldn’t have to go far either to find fish.

Contact his son, Brian Martin. He still sells the chips.

Very true! If y’all are going to up that way I’d stay in 8’ or less. Lots of wood cover to fish up there!

What part of the lake will you be staying at? I cAn help point you in the right direction if you’d like

I tend to use rattles on windy days and cloudy days. Bright sunshine and calm I throw silent crankbaits.

The fishing is tough right now, but the fish still live there. I found fish in 52’ of water today. The Shad are all in 40+ ft and the bass have moved out with them. With the recent cool weather and the water temps just getting below 55* I think the fish are in a winter pattern more so than prespawn which is throwing everyone for a loop.

Agreed Catt. The fish are still out there, they didn’t die with the grass. It has just moved them and changed their routes. A lot of fish now suspend over creeks and river channels and follow bait. Those fish are really hard to catch, but they are there due to the Shad. There are still lots and lots of big bass in Toledo, you just have to adapt how to fish for them.

They don’t eat it everyday, but from October to May, I always have 3 tied on. They do bite it a lot better with some wind, but other than that, I’ll throw it around a lot this time of year.

On a trip to Rayburn back in early December we got on a couple of huge schools of fish. We caught them pretty much every cast for awhile then it slowed down. I picked up the arig with floro and started catching again. I caught 18 in a row with my buddy casting the same exact arig in the same exact spot without a bite. I picked up the one with braid...nothing. Picked up the one with floro and started catching again. Also, a couple weeks ago in Toledo when we caught a ton of fish I was throwing braid and a client was throwing copoly. He was catch 3-1 compared to me. I picked up the one with floro and started catching more than him. I don’t think it always matters, but I’ve yet to see a day they eat the one with braid more than the one with floro, but I have seen it the other way around quite a bit.

I’ve used both ALOT. You can catch fish with it rigged weedless, but a lot of fish I catch on the arig it seems as if they just swipe at it and I hook them outside of the mouth. I miss those with it weedless, but hook a lot of them with it exposed. I start off throwing my arig with 65lb braid. Let it sink to the bottom and slow roll it back to the boat. Learn to feel when it’s coming over a stump and don’t set the hook into a stump. If you can do that, 99% of the time you can pull it loose with you set the hook on it, it’s more 50/50. Once I throw it a few times without getting hung, I’ll pick up my rig with floro.

You will catch fish in March. If you want to fish down the bank with a senko, jig, Spinnerbait, etc that would be the time to go. In May it will be more of an offshore deal, but you can catch 50-100 everyday

I have 3 dedicated Arig rods in my boat. 2 with 65lb braid and 1 with 25lb floro. I do get bit more on floro it seems, but the braid is nice when you get hung up. Personally, the best jighead I’ve found is the V&M lockdown Swimbait head. 1/8oz. Little Dipper p, rage swimmers, and Keitech 3.3 and 3.8s

April should have a good topwater bite, but May is absolutely my favorite time for numbers.

I went on the south end yesterday. We struggled to find groups of fish. Everything we saw was scattered out. Late afternoon they did begin to bunch up and we caught 18 before heading out. I really think the shallow bite is better early in the morning, then go deep after lunch.

I had a trip on Toledo last Thursday. Figured we would struggle, but catch a few good ones, so I didn’t keep count. We had 10 or so until we found the megaschool. Sat on them for 2 hours and the three of us caught a fish pretty much every cast. Good solid fish. They were in about 28’. We probably ended up with over 100.

Fished Toledo today. Didn’t do a lot of casting, mainly graphing and looking. I did cast a few times though and caught a 4lber and a 9lber on a Carolina rig fishing creek swings. Maybe that’s a sign that things are about to change!

If only Toledo was fishing as well as Joe and LSU have been playing!

Was back on Rayburn yesterday. We boated 72 bass. Caught some on shallow points with a trap and some out deep in 18-22’. Big fish was a little over 6lbs. The lake is fishing as good as I’ve ever seen it right now.

I caught 166 today on Rayburn. PM me and I’ll give some info, just don’t want it public for the world to see.

Have you tried turning off fishreveal. I always thought it just got in the way. I see fish better without it.

Keith’s tackle put on a tournament. Took 29.94lbs to win. Also had a another 20lb bag and a few 17-20lb bags.

I saw a 29lb bag weighed in Keith’s Tackle tournament. Somebody found em!

We fished yesterday. Man it was COLD and didn’t start warming up until about 10 am. We scanned points, ledges, creek swing, river swings, roadbeds, hard spots, and humps with little to nothing to show for it. The Shad were in the creek channels in 28-32’ but never found any fish with them. We caught 7 or 8 off of one point in the Indian mounds and that was it. It is brutal out there right now. Hopefully I’ll be guiding on Rayburn the remainder of the year lol. We are killing them over there.

Sam Rayburn is fishing great right now nd will only get better. December fishing consist of traps and chatterbaits ripped through hydrilla, dragging Carolina rigs on hard bottom spots offshore, and throwing a Alabama rig and deep diving Crankbait around points, creek swings, and ledges. If your interested in a trip, call me anytime. I book up pretty fast, but I’m still open that week. Good luck. my number is 318-308-5818