So Yall Want To Learn Toledo Bend?

[mguidroz]

Work, work work.... no time to fish right now.

[Catt]

Y'all safe?

Several friends of mine in the Baton Rogue have lost everything!

Thank God everyone is alive!

[mguidroz]

Yep all is good... I wish everyone could say that. I have family in Baton Rouge and Lafayette but everyone and their homes are okay.

[Wingnut]

New member to this forum. Been reading through these posts and just wanted to say thanks for all the great info. We moved here to Patroon 2 yrs ago but i just recently started back to fishing again a few months ago after buying a new boat. I work 42/42 overseas and have been fishing the north end of the lake from East Hamilton where i launch up to the Huxley area pretty hard on my time off over the past few months. For the entire month of May i was hammering them nearly every day with best catch of 50+ before noon one morning fishing a cheap $1 white spinner from walmart working shallow grass beds. I was gone for work all of june and half of July so when i got back home this time it was of course way hotter. Putting anything decent in the boat the last 5 weeks has been pretty challenging to say the least. Best have been a few 3-1/2s and one 4-1/2. Not much consistency though. Ive been chunking deep diving crank baits and chrome rattle traps, working them slow in 15-25 fow, focusing on wooded points just off the river channel. Have been picking up a few fish each day, but they are few and far between. Made a few trips down to the Housen area and caught them schooling and picked up a few decent fish throwing a spook, but even then they were really finicky. Havent been able to find any schooling on this end though. Sand bass on the other hand have been on fire each evening starting about an hour and a half before sunset. Huge schools each evening showing up in the same locations and they are hitting pretty much anything you throw at them. Best bite for them ive found though is on money minnow or power bait swim baits. 

One quick question that hopefully one of you can help me with if you dont mind - i had my dad up here fishing with me a few weeks ago and he went on and on about an area called the chicken coop that he used to fish years and years ago. He's getting up there in age and likely wont be able to get in a boat after next year so i want to be able to take him out to that area, but i havent been able to find it yet. Can someone give me the approx location for it? Appreciate it and thanks again for all the great info here. 

[Catt]

@Wingnut How Y'all Are

The "Chicken Coop" is located on the Texas side between buoy markers #56 & #61. Behind the high cliffs of Newells Fishing World on the Sabine River channel just north of the Pendleton Bridge. 

[june-bug]

12 hours ago, Wingnut said:

New member to this forum. Been reading through these posts and just wanted to say thanks for all the great info. We moved here to Patroon 2 yrs ago but i just recently started back to fishing again a few months ago after buying a new boat. I work 42/42 overseas and have been fishing the north end of the lake from East Hamilton where i launch up to the Huxley area pretty hard on my time off over the past few months. For the entire month of May i was hammering them nearly every day with best catch of 50+ before noon one morning fishing a cheap $1 white spinner from walmart working shallow grass beds. I was gone for work all of june and half of July so when i got back home this time it was of course way hotter. Putting anything decent in the boat the last 5 weeks has been pretty challenging to say the least. Best have been a few 3-1/2s and one 4-1/2. Not much consistency though. Ive been chunking deep diving crank baits and chrome rattle traps, working them slow in 15-25 fow, focusing on wooded points just off the river channel. Have been picking up a few fish each day, but they are few and far between. Made a few trips down to the Housen area and caught them schooling and picked up a few decent fish throwing a spook, but even then they were really finicky. Havent been able to find any schooling on this end though. Sand bass on the other hand have been on fire each evening starting about an hour and a half before sunset. Huge schools each evening showing up in the same locations and they are hitting pretty much anything you throw at them. Best bite for them ive found though is on money minnow or power bait swim baits. 

One quick question that hopefully one of you can help me with if you dont mind - i had my dad up here fishing with me a few weeks ago and he went on and on about an area called the chicken coop that he used to fish years and years ago. He's getting up there in age and likely wont be able to get in a boat after next year so i want to be able to take him out to that area, but i havent been able to find it yet. Can someone give me the approx location for it? Appreciate it and thanks again for all the great info here. 

If you are in Patroon the chicken coop is literally right around the corner from you headed north. Best time of year to fish it that i have found is dead of winter. You will see the boats!

[Wingnut]

We live in Patroon just off 87. Patroon Creek borders the backside of my 55 acres but dumps into the lake a ways south of my place though so chicken coop will actually be south of me. Im using Navionics app on my tablet in the boat so should be able to find the spot with no issues with info you have give. Thanks a bunch. 

[Catt]

[Catt]

@Bass_Fanatic how y'all are?

Aint heard much from the Alex area!

[Bass_Fanatic]

We are fine here. We've gotten maybe 6" of rain total.  Ain't been to bad. Got a lot of people from around here heading south to help flood victims.  It's a bad scene down there.  

[RCCA]

So far, all good around Marksville too. If the Dr. would let me join the "Cajun Navy" I'd be down there helping my poor brothers and sisters. Feel real bad for them! 

[jcdogfish]

We are in the middle of it but high and dry.  My son's house came close to flooding but he is fine too.  I never in my wildest dreams thought some of these areas would flood.  There were some pretty good elevations that flooded, these were not low areas next to rivers etc.  I have to think all the development, highways etc caused the water to go to areas that never had any issues. More issues brought on by the good folks that brought you affordable health care and flood protection.  I am not believing what I am seeing.

[Catt]

I'm 65 yrs old & have lived 62 yrs on the gulf coast; some of these areas didn't flood during Audrey, Rita, or Ike.

[shaneus]

Hey is anybody up there or going up there this weekend I lost a tree at my house and if somebody is driving by 6mile I would appreciate somebody sending me a picture message to see how bad the damage is..... my neighbor called us and told us we had a downed tree but she is elderly and does not do pictures and messages on the phone

[mguidroz]

3 hours ago, shaneus said:

Hey is anybody up there or going up there this weekend I lost a tree at my house and if somebody is driving by 6mile I would appreciate somebody sending me a picture message to see how bad the damage is..... my neighbor called us and told us we had a downed tree but she is elderly and does not do pictures and messages on the phone

Shane, If you would like, I can call have Mr. Alford and ask him to take some and send them to me. He lives in the subdivision.  Then I can forward them to you. If he can't I may go up Saturday evening after work and I will take them.

[shaneus]

That would be awesome,  thanks

[LaRoper]

19 hours ago, shaneus said:

Hey is anybody up there or going up there this weekend I lost a tree at my house and if somebody is driving by 6mile I would appreciate somebody sending me a picture message to see how bad the damage is..... my neighbor called us and told us we had a downed tree but she is elderly and does not do pictures and messages on the phone

Shaneus, I'll be up there tomorrow if u need I can swing by and take some pictures.  Just need the address.

LR

[BassMan9000]

Good morning,

First of all, thanks you all in this thread for your willingness to share information. You all are very helpful, and seem to be very knowledgeable of Toledo Bend.

I am heading up to the Bend this afternoon for the weekend. I was looking for advice on a few things. I plan on fishing Negreet cove / Cypress Bend area mostly. Any reports from these areas? What depth should I be targeting this time of year?  Also, I wanted to try night fishing, I have NO experience with this so any tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance!  I will follow up on Monday with my report as my way of attempting to give back.

[mguidroz]

Welcome Bassman,

I'm not familiar with CB nor Negreet but I do fish at night during the summer months. Use the same baits at night as you would during the day. I have found once you find a spot that holds fish, at night, be patient. You may get a bite or catch a few fish then it will shutdown until the fish move in again, Good Luck  

[Bass_Fanatic]

Around cypress Ben and negreet I would focus on main lake ridges and points. Tennessee bay always holds fish.  Look for bait and fish in 18-25 ft around points in Tennessee bay.  During the day, a dropshot is hard to beat for numbers and a big crankbait will catch size and at night I like to SLOW roll a big spinnerbaits and row 10-12" worms. Good luck!

[RonnieF]

Got just a little water in my house in the back bedroom. My AC unit had 2-3' of water & went out. Just got a new unit today & flood ins people will be here tomorrow. My better half's bmw z3 had 6+ inches of water in the floor board. Ripped up carpet today and hauled outside. Lots of neighbors are a lot worse off. 

[Wingnut]

Dodged the wind and rain two days ago, fishing the north end between East Hamilton and Patroon areas from about 0700 to 1300. Caught 8 and lost about the same number. Most were in the 8 to 14 in range with 2 about 16 in. Best fish of the day was a 4lb 6 oz caught on a bleeding shad color rattle trap. He hit it on about the second crank after it hit the water. All were caught on deep diving KVD crank bait or rattle trap in 20-25' water. Tried texas rigged worm in a few different colors with no luck, however my skills fishing plastics are severely lacking. Hoping to get out again late this evening or tomorrow morning. Would post a picture but can't figure out how to reduce the size on my phone. 

[shaneus]

We got lucky with the tree, no damage. Thanks guys for the info and the help...

[Wingnut]

Took my 17 yr old nephew and my 4 yr old son out this afternoon. Tried one of my usual spots where Ive caught several 3 and 4 pounders the last few weeks and we didn't even get a bite this evening. Decided to try a bit shallower since the past week or so has been cooler with the rain. Went a bit farther north around the Wilson Creek area and found them schooling in 4 to 10 fow just off a grass bed point. We didnt tear them up by any means but did manage to put 5 fish in the boat and lost 3 others. All were less than 14 inches though. 3 caught on rattle trap and 2 caught on Zara spook in baby bass color. Had a fun afternoon. My four year old was looking at the Navionics map on my tablet and was asking what all the lines were, so I was explaining to him which lines were Creek beds and which were old roads. He immediately had a million questions- how did that road get under water? Did you use to drive on that road? Etc. Sometimes it's more about the company and the memories than the catching fish. 

[Catt]

7 hours ago, Wingnut said:

Sometimes it's more about the company and the memories than the catching fish. 

Exactly