Marshfly

This is the best advice in this whole thread. No one knows what body of water you are fishing so suggesting techniques and baits to try doesn't make any sense. Getting on the water with another successful fisherman will teach you more in a day than you could learn in three years worth of solo trips. If it takes hiring a guide for a day to do that, then do it. Even if it means sacrificing a few solo trips to pay for it.

Alright guys, I'm struggling. I can normally scare up a few fish everyday I'm up here but I fished all day today and yesterday afternoon with only a few bites and no fish in the boat. I've been staying around the white oak and hurricane area but ventured up to Lowe this afternoon. Been flipping creatures in the brush. Squarebills and spinnerbaits in he open areas. And to top it all off, my Lowrance is telling me that my Hotmaps Platinum chip is expired and won't show anything so I'm running on the terrible base map and a hotspots chart. Any help would be very appreciated.

What are you running around in? I'm headed up tomorrow morning and will be in a bright blue 22' Yellowfin Flats boat with a SHO running around the area north and south of the Indian Mounds. Come on over and say hi if you see me.

Thanks a ton for the report @operationgrass!

I would definitely not drop the trolling motor. Way to easy to be confused as a jerk that is coming right on up someone fishing rather than being courteous, unfortunately. Frankly, if you're set up in a channel, you have to expect that, at some point, someone will come past with the big motor on. Around here, we always drop to idle to go past fisherman though.

Willow Oak. https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/texas/recarea/?recid=30270 But nevermind, I looked at Google Maps and there is no way to keep the boat in the water behind the campsite. I'm going to stay at Indian Mounds. But the area right around Willow Oak looks awesome for spring fishing...

I'll be by myself. Is the ramp at Willow Oak pretty close to the camp sites? I'll have to walk back and forth to shuttle the truck and boat.

Well, looks like I'm headed up to the Bend for next weekend. The wife is driving the kids up to grandmas for easter week so I'm going to head to one of the NF campgrounds on the Texas side on Thursday morning and grind it out until Sunday. Anyone have any tips on the best one's for primitive sites on the water so I can keep the boat on the bank rather than pulling it out every day? I'm thinking Indian Mounds just because it's centrally located.

I'm coming over here from the Louisiana side for some advice. I'm taking the family camping up there next weekend for the long Mardi Gras weekend and we are bringing the boat. I'm wondering if anyone has fished there lately and how it is fishing now that it's been a couple of years since they reopened it. Any tips would definitely be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

So, we're back home from the lake. This is our third trip in the past year. Having grown up fishing the bayous and marshes around Houma, I am continually humbled by how much different and challenging lake fishing is. I guess I'll have to break down and hire a guide for my first day on the next trip up there if I want any chance of doing more than just scratching out a fish here and there. Over 4 days I'd say I put a total of 12-15 fishing the boat with two of those being keepers. Tough to put it simply.

Thanks!. We were in Houssen this morning and just couldn't figure it out.

I'm keeping the boat at the house we rented in the water. It about halfway back in Negreet.

Started today on the big flat at the mouth of Negreet. Picked up a couple small fish that were schooling on a trap. Moved to La Nana and found a spot where a creek hit the main creek and the water dropped for 5ft to 30ft in the feeder. Threw a sexy spoon and got nailed by a 3 pounder. Moved towards the back and found some fish schooling on shad on top so hung out for an hour or so casting at blow ups. Picked up another 4 or 6 small fish on the trap and one more keeper on an Alabama rig. Being from Houma, these were my first two fish on a flutter spoon and an A-rig so that was pretty cool. Might change it up and head to Houssen in the morning and throw a buzz bait around lily pads. I bought a few of those Cavitrons from the constant recommendations on here. It's amazing how squeaky they are right out of the box and how slow you can reel them.

Got to fish the little cove we are in towards the back of Negreet for an hour or so just before dark today. Had a blowup on a Plopper right under a cypress tree and a few bites on a 10" ring worm. There were fish hitting little bitty glass minnows on top the whole time but I couldn't get them to bite. Threw the plopper, a shad colored square bill, and a fluke with little success. And help would be much appreciated. Still trying to figure out where to head in the morning.

That's what it was at last October. Just looked at the USGS page. It sure is dropping steadily.

So, the wife and kids have talked me into bringing the tube to the lake this time. Is there any realistically safe area to pull it without having to worry about tearing off my lower unit on treetops?

We are going to need a report. This thread has been mighty quiet.

That would make me cry as well.

Catt, you are welcome anytime on the boat. Anytime.

You know, you can just cut the line and leave the hook in the fish. Sometimes that's the right thing to do. You spend more time removing the hook than it would take to retie. If you are going to be taking pictures and don't have the camera/phone right there ready, you can quickly put the bass in the live well and get it filling up while you get stuff together. I do that often. Then you can take the pics and put the bass back in the live well to recuperate before releasing it. That way you can watch it periodically to make sure it doesn't flip over.

17 days until we head to the house on Negreet. Man, that snuck up on me!

Thanks a ton!! That's right around the corner. I had to run from just north of Kites Landing to the other side of the lake at Fox's last time.

Who has fuel on the lake around Pendleton? I found Fox's in Housen last spring and I know Big Bass has fuel but they are only open on the weekends in the fall. The house we rented is towards the back of Negreet so looking for something kind of close to that.

We've got our house booked for fall break at the beginning of October. Last two trips have been to a little cove just north of Kites Landing. This time we have a house in a cove on the north side of Negreet. Pumped for my third trip to Toledo Bend.

Agreed. My redfish tournament partner and I often end up talking with other anglers at tournaments and they start talking about sponsorships and pimping stuff out on social media and talking up products, etc. He's a physician and I own a successful business. We both just chuckle and comment that if we took all the time to do that stuff we might not make enough money to fish all of these tournaments.