So Yall Want To Learn Toledo Bend?

[HitmanFO]

Well guys, I didn't know quite what to expect, since this was the first time I've been bass fishing when it is really cold, but I did not expect to get skunked! And not even just skunked... we did not get a single BITE. We tried everything in our arsenal and fished all kinds of different places.

We put in at 7:15 at Fin & Feather. I was planning on going to the coordinates that Catt posted, but never did... instead, we went due north from boat ramp and into the middle of Housen and fished there. We fished grass, the face of the grass, and the channels out there... from 4 to 25 feet deep... with C-rig and Tx-rig plastics, cranks, traps, and spinnerbaits. Then we moved to the north side of Housen and fished the mouth of one of the coves. Next we fished Housen Flats... then moved over to Six Mile flats... then came back into Housen and fished the whole length of a cove/creek, all the way to the back. There was one boat tied to a stump, fishing... he was talking to another guy in another boat and said he caught a 4-lb'er. The other guy said he caught 1 dink. That's the only fish stories I heard that day.

We got out at 12:30 or so, ate lunch at Sportsmans, then put in again at Willow Oak. Again, we tried all kinds of lures, all kinds of different structure, varying water depths... nothing worked. At the end of the day I was actually throwing a jig with a worm trailer (I've never jig-fished before), just in an effort to try something different and SLOW DOWN. That was my catch-phrase of the day... "If I think I'm fishing slow enough, I need to SLOW DOWN." ;D

But anyhow, after a visit from the game warden at the boat launch (I've launched at Willow Oak 2 times and have been checked out by them both times... no problems... just crazy how they always hang out back there), we were on the road headed back home at 4:15 or so.

The water temp was 50 deg in the morning, and the warmest water I found was 53 deg throughout the day. It was a bluebird day with a steady, but not too strong, north wind. We spent 30 min to 1 hr at each spot we went to and fished as slow as we could stand to. I also ripped a trap and a spinnerbait through the water, just to try something that the fish probably weren't seeing that day.

Just being out on the water was fun, and trying out some new gear made it worth it, but not seeing/hearing/catching a single finned life form of any type was frustrating!

alwayslooking, I'd have been happy with a catfish!  At one point I told my buddy, "Shoot, let's go perch jerking just to put something in the boat!"

[alwayslooking]

well, if you went straight north from the ramp, you didn't miss Catt's place by much,,just a little to the west,,

[Catt]

Just goes to show you never can tell I had two buddies struggled like y'all to catch 3 fish and 2 other buddies limited out on jig-n-craw on the south bank of Housen'.

I usually go on my birthday which happened to be today which coincided with our Church Contada in which I do the lighting; any who I didn't go.

[alwayslooking]

Catt, did you get a primary structure or pattren from your friends? would be curious to know what i overlooked....And happy birthday,,

[Catt]

I can tell y'all right now from personal experience the south bank of Housen' will always out produce the north bank hands down. On the north side of Housen' Bayou I'll fish Hurricane, Ashmore, and Bull Branches themselves but nothing along the banks in between. On the south bank I will fish from the main lake to Fin & Feather and from the 3 rd buoy west of Fin & Feather to the very back. This does not include grass flats like the one mentioned above and other located away from the bank.

[HitmanFO]

Happy birthday Catt!

Wish I'd have had that bit of "north vs. south" info on Saturday!  ;D

The guy that said he caught the 4 lb'er was tied to a stump right at the mouth of a cove on the south side.  I don't have my map with me to get the name, but it is the second cove on the south side, coming from the main lake... penetrates really far into the peninsula. But anyhow, the point is, he was on the south side, fishing right out at the main bay (not deep in the cove), so that concurs with your info.

Well, better luck next time, I guess. 

But, why were the bass on the banks on the south side of the main bay?  This is my first "winter bass fishing" season, so I have no experience of my own to draw from.  Do you have an educated guess/opinion on why they were located where they were?  Was the water warmer for some reason?  Maybe the prey was located on the south bank since there was a north wind?  Is the structure there more conducive to the conditions we faced on Saturday than it is elsewhere?  Just trying to figure it out... trying to make sense of it.

[Catt]

That's a lot of questions but I like it

You have ask a lot of questions or how else you gonna learn!

If you notice on any countour map Housen' Bayou at it's deepest runs from the tip on the south bank all the way west to the first cove before Fin-N-Feather. At about Fin-N-Feather the bayou runs almost directly down the center of Housen' Bayou Cove. There is a gap along the south bank that far what ever reason does not hold many bass and I seldom waste time fishing it; that gap is located from Fin & Feather to the 3 rd buoy west of Fin & Feather.

On the north bank I will hit the first 2 points and then up and down both sides of each Hurricane, Ashmore, and Bull Branches themselves but not the shoreline between.

Re-read this thread again and see if y'all can notice mention of a key depth? This is the depth you want to fish when fishing the shoreline or main lake structure; always and I stress "ALWAYS" start at this depth keeping your boat on the contour line while casting shallow or deeper. You will have to learn which areas to fish and which to aviod!

[fishfordollars]

That submerged point just west of that 3rd bouy produced a 6 11 for me while fishing with Catt earlier this year. Watermellon/Red trick worm fished wacky in about 8 foot of water. Ya'll better listen to the Catt.

[Dalton Tam]

Have you ever fished around the North Toledo Bend State Park area? I haven't fished on Toledo Much but me and my dad took a ride one vacation up north Toledo because it was so nasty and sloppy we didn't wanna get out on the lake.... We went to this run down old store called "Jolly Rogers" which was on the Louisiana side. This store was completely covered in poloroid pictures of fish and "game" killed on Toledo. It was a due East wind blowing and was about 42 degrees. The man told us that the fish should be biting. Me and my dad kinna shook our heads like Wha'  :. We went back to our cabins on San Miguel and my dad decided to take out and try fishing. We ended up going straight across from the North Toledo Bend state Park boat ramp. We caught 22 bass. Biggest was a little over six lbs. Caught a few around 4lbs and the rest were from 1-3 lbs. We only caught them on one bank of about 150 yard stretch. So my question is did we just get lucky or is this a decently productive area to fish?

[Catt]

North Toledo Bend State Park is situated on a peninsula which extends into the reservoir at the mouth of Bayou San Miguel; this area is known world wide as the "1215" area.

The "1215" area is know to produce both quantity and quality bass year round

[5Biguns]

Did You and your dad Go all the way across San Migel or did you stop and fish the point that stickout about 200yds from the ramp?   That little point is a Good one and also the Island to your right as you are leaving the ramp.  It has a nice 12 fotto flat with quite a few drains running  through it.

[Catt]

Between now and April we will start seeing some of the best fishing of the year but the weather is going to be less than ideal. Do not let the weather stop you from going just dress properly unless the forecast is for high winds or lighting; high winds can be dealt with but not on the main lake.

In my opinion the 3-4 days of weather with stable air temps and 30-50% chance of thunderstorms is stable weather. Unstable weather to me is high bluebird skies one day, thunderstorms the next and back to bluebird skies.

This time of the year start paying attention to main lake points and major points located near the mouths of creek channel coves. Contrary to what you have been taught about bass in cold water I will have a Rat-L-Trap tied on and within easy reach.

[Dalton Tam]

North Toledo Bend State Park is situated on a peninsula which extends into the reservoir at the mouth of Bayou San Miguel; this area is known world wide as the "1215" area.

The "1215" area is know to produce both quantity and quality bass year round

Oh cool... I thought the 1215 area was only where the road crosses. So the 1215 area covers a vast area? Where does it start?

[Dalton Tam]

Did You and your dad Go all the way across San Migel or did you stop and fish the point that stickout about 200yds from the ramp? That little point is a Good one and also the Island to your right as you are leaving the ramp. It has a nice 12 fotto flat with quite a few drains running through it.

Yea lol I'm a little emarrassed about what I did though. We were texas rigging watermelon purple lizards and brushhogs. NOTE: I was only 12. I hooked into several descent fish.... I didn't have my drag set and kept missing them because the spool kept spinning free. I thought something was wrong with it and then my dad showed me... but yea I felt retarded. I've come a long way since then 

[5Biguns]

Don't feel bad, It happens to all of us!!

I wish I had a Quarter for every fish I have missed because I forgot to tighten the drag when got the rods out of the locker.   ;D

[Catt]

North Toledo Bend State Park is situated on a peninsula which extends into the reservoir at the mouth of Bayou San Miguel; this area is known world wide as the "1215" area.

The "1215" area is know to produce both quantity and quality bass year round

Oh cool... I thought the 1215 area was only where the road crosses. So the 1215 area covers a vast area? Where does it start?

There are 3 ways to view the location of certain areas of the lake; Physical, Historical, and Rumored

The 1215 area on Toledo Bend is where I cut my bass-fishing "eye teeth". When people speak of "1215", this covers a vast expanse of water from the mouth of San Miguel Creek to where the old 1215 Hwy. comes into the water, better known as Blue Lake Landing. Here you'll find flooded brush in up to 10 feet of water, laydowns by the thousands, several types of grass, drains and ditches running every which way through acres of flats, old roadbeds, humps surrounded by deep water the list is never-ending.

[Darrin]

Guys,

I am enjoying your discussions, I am from Arkansas so not familiar with Toledo Bend but alot of great information on here.  I talked to Jack the other day about Falcon and he was a great help, if any of you need any information about lakes up let me know will be glad to help any of you all.

[5Biguns]

North Toledo Bend State Park is situated on a peninsula which extends into the reservoir at the mouth of Bayou San Miguel; this area is known world wide as the "1215" area.

The "1215" area is know to produce both quantity and quality bass year round

Oh cool... I thought the 1215 area was only where the road crosses. So the 1215 area covers a vast area? Where does it start?

There are 3 ways to view the location of certain areas of the lake; Physical, Historical, and Rumored

The 1215 area on Toledo Bend is where I cut my bass-fishing "eye teeth". When people speak of "1215", this covers a vast expanse of water from the mouth of San Miguel Creek to where the old 1215 Hwy. comes into the water, better known as Blue Lake Landing. Here you'll find flooded brush in up to 10 feet of water, laydowns by the thousands, several types of grass, drains and ditches running every which way through acres of flats, old roadbeds, humps surrounded by deep water the list is never-ending.

Catt, this is where it gets TUFF for me.  When There is only limited Good structure in an area I can usually Isolate it very easily, BUT when you are looking at an area like 1215 with 100's of possibuilities, how do you narrow down your search personally?  Do you just Go to the highest percentage areas that you can see on the map?   :-/

[Catt]

How do you narrow down your search personally?

Do you just Go to the highest percentage areas that you can see on the map?

Housen', Six Mile, Palo Gaucho, Patroon, Huxley, Martinez, Brittian, Negreet, Slaughter, La Nana, San Miguel, San Patricio, Tenaha, Siepe, Mill Creek, Texas Islands, Louisiana Islands

Pick one & stick with it until you know it frontwards/backwards, burn a lot of gas idling around following the shore line and zig zagging bank to bank. Start at the creek channel and work towards the bank, study the map to find GPS location and hit the water.

To start right now by reading Tom Redington's Lake Fork ReportDecember 21, 2009, look under "Location Pattern"; detailed and simple explanation of how to follow bass from late-December through much of April.

[5Biguns]

Yeah I Like Toms articles.   I was talking specifically about 1215.  With so much Structure in the area. How do you narrow down the search before you get on the water?

I could never  really define the 1215 area in 4 days of prefishing.

I have been sticking to Negreet, Indian mounds, Lowes and Lananna as far as structure because our tourney is always out of North toledo bend state park.  But I think I might need to go north this year since our tourney is a month earlier than normal.   

[Catt]

If I were fishing a tournament that launched at North Toledo Bend State Park and I had not been on fish the previous week some where else on the lake then I would concentrate on the 1215 area and San Miguel.

My point is to learn Toledo Bend at a accelerated rate, learn one area at a time; what y'all need to keep in mind is it took me 38 years to get to this point.

"Main lake grass beds near the mouths of these coves are holding fish now, as are main and secondary points inside the covesprovided there is deep water nearby. During warming trends, follow bass back into the creeks and check the edges of grass flats and creek channels."

What is your strongest technique? What is your second strongest technique?

Some of the productive patterns in the past two weeks have been Deep Cranking, Spinner Baits, Texas Rigs, Jigs, Spoons and Drop Shot.

DLNs and DD22s on outside grass lines both early morning and late afternoons.

Spinner bait bite has been double willows with white/chartreuse skirt fished slowly through submerged grass in 10-15'

Texas rigs and Jigs on outside edge of grass in 12-25'

Spoons and drop shot in depths from 25-50'

[Dalton Tam]

Glenns wife keri sent me some really nice swimbaits for the Christmas exchange... I was wondering how productive you have been with them and if they work during the spawn. Also... I was wondering if you have ever done any good fishing in the back of San Miguel. My buddy Chance won third in the National Highschool tournament last year and I know that's one of his father's favorite locations along with the 1215 area.....

[Catt]

Swim baits have produced limited success in my boat but I'm quite sure it's due to operator error

I've won several dollars fishing San Miguel

[5Biguns]

Thanks  Catt!  I really like Lowes and negreet better than anywhere on the lake.  but I have not fished Howsen much.

[5Biguns]

Fishfordollars, I saw earlier in this thread that you purchased the HD map for toledo.  I have been trying to for weeks and when I pull up the buy HD maps page it doesn't list anything for Lousianna and No toledo listed for texas. 

What am I missing?  :-/  I know it is there because it shows the HD version available when I have the maps tab open.