So Yall Want To Learn Toledo Bend?

[Catt]

Here's some fuel for thought!

 

Were those big bass not there before 2016?

 

I think the difference in numbers has more to do with the angler than the lack of bass!

 

2016 show us the lake's potential

[Marshfly]

Back to the learning!

 

We are heading up to the lake next Thursday for a week. Is the spawn pretty much over and I'm now going to be looking at post spawn bass retreating back off the points and drains or are there still plenty of shallow bass to be caught? 

 

I had a really mediocre experience last fall catching just enough fish to tempt us back. I've learned a lot since turning my attention to bass locally after that trip and hope that pays off this trip.

[Clinton john]

Marshfly, I'm still finding spawning bass in pockets here and there.

 

You should be able to find some still in spawn come next thursday, but for the most part the bass or coming off spawn and into feed mood for post spawn around my house on SAN Miguel.

 

The more south you go in the lake the more spawning bass you should find the spawn starts in the

north part of the lake and works its way to the south part of the lake.

 

Hope this helps sir.

[RCCA]

I think a lot are done but another wave is coming on the south end, anyway. Can't report on other areas cause I haven't fished anywhere else. I say this because the fish I see in the shallows are getting bigger the last couple of weeks. Could be wrong but we shall see. Good luck. 

[Marshfly]

The house we are renting is on the LA side between Yocum and Pirates Cove so I'll be fishing the south end. Sounds like I need to spend a little time looking shallow but not hesitate to move deep if I'm just not making it happen there.

 

@Catt I want to thank you for starting this thread so many years ago. I'm on my third read through it and pick new things up every time. The analysis that you did with Acme Mapper helped a ton and is a great starting point for me. What an awesome way to give back.

[Catt]

@Marshfly The only patterns I've noticed is there aint any!

 

I've gotten reports of both shallow & deep bites!

 

Give back is what this site is about

[RCCA]

3 hours ago, Catt said:

 

@Marshfly The only patterns I've noticed is there aint any!

 

 

 

Most true thing I've ever seen on here. This year has been like that since January for me. Find something working and it may last a couple of trips at best then back to square one!  I've been lucky to have one thing at a time working at times which burns my tail cause I'd rather have at least two or three! The day I caught the 8 pounder in February I joked about the pattern being if you catch on something try something else and go back to it later. Just how it was. 

[Bassbender]

Does anybody else suspect the difficulty many are having finding the fish they typically find this year could be due to the fact the lake is so atypical this year? The lake has been several feet below pool level for months now when it usually is well above pool level in late winter and spring. What works when the water is high naturally won't be as effective when it is low. Especially when it comes to bass wanting to move to shallow (vulnerable) water, which now lacks the cover they usually seek. Does thia make sense or am i way off base. Just my 2 cents.

[Bassbender]

I apologize for not having read the preceding page before I posted my last comment.

[bayouXpress]

i unsubscribed from him when I read " the lake is 8-10ft low".    He was defending himself on another forum.  I find it not a coincidence that he comes here to defend himself and yet again spews bad information.  If you are going to publicly write about a topic do your work and get the facts straight.  Compare with multiple resources.  And not just grab the first article you get on google.  

 

He put himself in a situation with that article and he knows it.  He never before had to come join random forums to defend himself.  I have nothing against him.  If i'm going to follow a writer I expect him to do his homework.   Everyone thinks you can just put your bait in the water and you get a 10lber.  You have to work for the fish.  the fish adapt, the fisherman needs to follow.  

 

[Strikeking]

I didn't join this forum to defend myself. I don't have to defend what I wrote, I'm simply responding to comments and opinions people are posting. Nor did I post random information, as you incorrectly tried to say at ***. 

I don't care if you unfollow me. I didn't write this for you or anyone else. I wrote it for the lake. To bring awareness for the lake. To help protect the fish. Everyone said that the Elites would show that there's nothing wrong with the lake. But nobody is admitting that the weights are way down. 

People want to say I'm wrong, that's their opinion and I respect their opinions. Time will tell. If I'm wrong, the lake wins. If I'm right, and nothing is done, then you can thank yourselves for what you're left with. 

I knew this would be a hot topic, and that I would get some blowback for it. But for every 1 that's been angry, there are 10 that write and thank me for bringing awareness to what has been going on. 22,000 people read that article. So if I have one less reader because you didn't like what I had to say I think I'm ok with that. 

[Catt]

@Strikeking 

 

897,662 has read this thread & no one agrees with you!

 

.  Let's say that there are 1,000 boat ramps at Toledo Bend.  If every ramp has 20 bass harvested from it every day that weigh between 5-10lbs, that's 20,000 a day.  140,000 a week.  Over 51,000,000 per year.  No lake can sustain that.

 

For two years in a row this lake has been rated #1 in the US.  Just because you catch 5 with a total weight over 20 doesn't mean the lake is fine.  There are probably 200,000 lakes in the US where you can catch a 20lb bag.

 

I counted over 100 boats in Housen on a Wednesday.  People were there from all over the country.  Your lake, whether you want to admit it or not, is getting absolutely pounded.  I didn't write that to start a fight, or offend anyone, or to try to portray myself as a fish biologist.  But that lake, to me, did not fish like the lake that is ranked #1 in the world.  Not even close.  Especially with the new moon.  It should have been lights out all over the lake.

 

The above is totally fictitious

[Strikeking]

Now you're just being stubborn. The thread is older than the moon. 897,000 people didn't read what said. Youre using total views is only showing you're losing any logical attempt to discredit what I said. 

I believe even though you've been overly critical, you know there's truth in what I said. If you truly know that lake as well as you claim, you know it's in trouble. But like I said over and over, I didn't write it for you. And it's not YOUR lake. It belongs to everyone. 

Remember this day. When you and a few others refused to listen. You can always fish Rayburn when TB is the worlds largest dink pond. What I said won't go away. And neither will yours. It'll be here for everyone to read when the lake is a disaster. And the people who ridiculed me will be just as much to blame as the people who took knives to the fish. 

 

Cheers. 

[Clinton john]

Yawn....

[bachelorpads]

Hey Everybody.  I fished the Bend with 2 buddies April 1-3rd.  Rain and all.  It was definitely slower then i expected......but when you walk away having caught the biggest and 3rd biggest bass you have ever witnessed in the continental US that says something.  We talked to a ton of locals that had been doing really well a couple weeks ago and most of them were really working to get anything going.  Seems to me like the fish were moved quite a ways off the bank, where most bass men like to play, or there was a general case of lock jaw.  It was still a great time, and fishing next to a bunch of Pro's and guides that were having a hell of a tough time made it even more interesting.  

Things i took note of that seemed worth explicitly stating.  Toledo bend is definitely the most dangerous boating lake i have ever personally witnessed.  Don't think ripping around this lake in a fiberglass boat is just "ok".  The stump fields are awe inspiring.  I ran into people that had destroyed lower units more then once.  Take note...if you aren't in a boating lane, pay attention and don't hurry.  

The comments stating "there is no grass" is kind of insane to me.  There is grass EVERYWHERE.  Since this was my first visit to the lake I guess it could have been more insane at one point.  I expect that there was more before last years flooding and it will take a couple years to fully recover.  I see these cycles in lakes all the time but the comment that the grass is gone is definitely incorrect.

 

I found some stats from the biologists that deal with the bend a few weeks ago that took into account the total bass population determined via sampling and the total percentage of fish that encounter fisherman.  It was like .15% or something insanely low.  So all these discussions of people fishing out the lake because they eat bass or there are too many fisherman are really kind of ignorant.  The only scientific information i could find indicated that fisherman were incapable of harming this particular body of water.  All the people that have a tough time fishing need something to blame besides their own poor fishing.  It is sad but it is just the way it is.  People are unable to own up to their own failings so blame someone, or everyone else, for doing some percieved injustice in the name of the "moral right".  "you killed a bass, you are bad" is this same line of percieved moral high ground.  

 

I loved the Bend and it kicked my a***.  I will be back soon and hope all the locals and visitors keep following the rules of the biologists that use science to make rules, instead of a bad week of fishing.  People were great there.  Thanks for the great time.

[Clinton john]

Glad you had a great time sir.

 

The Bend is a awesome place to fish and live, I wouldn't dream of being anywheres but here.

 

And your correct those anglers badmouthing the lake and how it's fished and handled or doing just as you have stated, blaming someone or something for the fact that they couldn't put it together and catch some bass.

 

But all this being said I for one would like to see this topic get back to its intended direction of helping others learn how to fish the Bend.

 

And remember guys if you see a blue pro crappie with a fat guy in it, come on up and say hello.

[Catt]

@Strikeking are you really that naive!!!

 

"Let's say that there are 1,000 boat ramps at Toledo Bend.  If every ramp has 20 bass harvested from it every day that weigh between 5-10lbs, that's 20,000 a day.  140,000 a week.  Over 51,000,000 per year.  No lake can sustain that."

 

Totally & completely made up numbers!

There ain't a hundred boat ramps much less a 1,000 & there ain't nobody catching 20 bass a day weighing 5-10 lbs. 

 

All your doing is becoming an Internet joke!

 

List me 200,000 lakes that you can catch a 20# sack every day! 

 

Remember this day cause if the Lord tarries his coming Ole Catt will be here & you'll be yet another statistic!

 

Every year we have guys like you who come here insisting there are God's gift to bass fishing & after totally embarrassing themselves Seal Team 6 can't find em!

[Bassbender]

"Seal Team 6 can't find them"! LOL

[RCCA]

Ha ha it can be a tough lake. That's what I love about it the most!  The challenge and the lessons I've learned in 3 years are priceless!  Plus, along the way, I now have caught 4 fish over 8 and one over nine while learning it. 

[FishNChip]

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/lake_survey/pwd_rp_t3200_1384_2015.pdf

 

Here's the link to all the info you need.  Look at page 29, Table 12, especially the bottom of the table % of legal fish released.  How you choose to interpret this data is up to you.

[Bassbender]

Just wondering if any of the pros were trying to catch fish shallow (sight fishing) or if they were all offshore.

[Bass_Fanatic]

They all seem to be shallow

[RCCA]

Leader said he caught three on beds and the rest fat prespawn fish in 32 feet. Hell of a range lol 

[Clinton john]

What area of the lake was the leader fishing?

 

I'm thinking main lake but more on the south end of the lake.

[RCCA]

Exact words: 

 

"I caught three fish on beds today," said Hartman, an Elite Series rookie fishing only his 13th B.A.S.S. event. "Then after that, the shallow stuff was over. I caught my next 12 fish in 32 feet of water. Those fish in deep water were all prespawn fish — big and fat."

 

At one time they showed him at the mouth of Housen around the community hole I think.