So Yall Want To Learn Toledo Bend?

[Catt]

@mguidroz that's my favorite summer pattern

[mguidroz]

Catt its mine too now....lol I started fishing this pattern with the lack of grass on the lake. It has been very consistent for me. I don't tournament fish anymore so you will seldom see me on the lake during daylight in the summer. I will fish Friday and Saturday nights this coming weekend and will report the good/bad.

[Catt]

Starting in late May through early September you'll find me working that pattern.

Grass was just lagniappe!

 

Y'all recognize this!

[Bass_Fanatic]

Is that on the south Housen bank? Out near the mouth? I've caught some good fish on something that looks just like that there.

[mguidroz]

No but I like the looks of it. 

[FishNChip]

Looks similar to something I saw on the N side of Housen between Ashmore Branch and Bull Creek (maybe a little more west) when water was below 162.  Gin clear.  Could see a long ways down.

[Catt]

20 hours ago, FishNChip said:

Looks similar to something I saw on the N side of Housen between Ashmore Branch and Bull Creek (maybe a little more west) when water was below 162.  Gin clear.  Could see a long ways down.

944!

[FishNChip]

Think I may have marked it.  Haven't been back to that spot since that trip in 2011(?).

[Catt]

Was talking with an old buddy about that spot in the picture!

Running west from Fin & Feather to the boat lane going into 944 (Bull Creek), there's a small island that the boat lane pass on the east side of; y'all know where that's at right?

From about a 100 yds before the island & past the island on the east of the boat lane there are a series of ridges/humps.

Well my old buddy pulled a Paul Elias catching 10 bass that weighed 50+# on a Carolina Rigged Grande Bass 5" Snake O, color trophy hunter & a Bill Norman NSX Butter Shad.

That was Sunday & Monday night

[FishNChip]

Sweet.  It's nice when an amazing outing like that comes along.  Even more amazing is my remembering that spot.  I guess the memory circuits aren't as fried as I thought.  Anyway, headed up to TB on Monday for the week with the family.  Probably won't night fish, at least not in Housen since we are staying on Indian Creek.  Will definitely check that location out along with a bunch of humps, ridges, and ledges mapped out in between.  Seem to recall some smaller feeder channels squiggling all through the area, maybe even between the two humps in the photo.  Hopefully the fish haven't moved far by the time we get there.

[mguidroz]

On ‎7‎/‎27‎/‎2016 at 11:25 PM, Catt said:

Was talking with an old buddy about that spot in the picture!

Running west from Fin & Feather to the boat lane going into 944 (Bull Creek), there's a small island that the boat lane pass on the east side of; y'all know where that's at right?

From about a 100 yds before the island & past the island on the east of the boat lane there are a series of ridges/humps.

Well my old buddy pulled a Paul Elias catching 10 bass that weighed 50+# on a Carolina Rigged Grande Bass 5" Snake O, color trophy hunter & a Bill Norman NSX Butter Shad.

That was Sunday & Monday night

How far east of the boat lane are the humps and ridges?

 

 

 

[RonnieF]

Do any of y'all night fish the new moon? The way my schedule offshore falls during the summer, i'm home for the new moon.

[Catt]

10 hours ago, mguidroz said:

How far east of the boat lane are the humps and ridges?

 

 

 

The ridges start right off the boat lane & continue east towards Ashmore.

24 minutes ago, RonnieF said:

Do any of y'all night fish the new moon? The way my schedule offshore falls during the summer, i'm home for the new moon.

I fish every moon phase there is with good results. 

New moon is when ya wanna fish deep offshore structure, you can do good shallow near the bank but it's hard to stay off stumps.

[RonnieF]

I guess it fishing lighted boat docks, it might make it a little easier but I guess the deeper spots would be less pressured. Thanks Catt.

 

[Bass_Fanatic]

My best night trip came on a new moon 3 years ago. My top 5 weighed over 36lbs.

[Catt]

I started night fishing for bass 44 yrs ago, usually starting in April & stopping in October. I have kept detailed records of all my trips day or night!

When I first started night fishing it was 3 days prior to & 3 days after the New Moon. The reason being was like many others I looked at just the effects of the gravitational pull only. With the sun, moon, & earth in a straight line during the New Moon the gravitational pull is three times stronger than the Full Moon. 

Coming from a saltwater background I knew the tidal movement was stronger during the New Moon & that had a huge affect on fishing. But not so much on bass in non-tidal waters.

After 10-12 yrs of record keeping & fishing every possible moon phase I realized it didn't matter.

[FishNChip]

Catt:

Throughout the course of this thread you have provided invaluable information.  But none, I think, more important than what you just said.  Literature is chock full of solunar tables and prime times telling us when we should fish which can trap us into a mind set.  If you only fish full and new moons (which I have personally been guilty of) then you don't have a true comparison.  Detailed records and objective analysis tell the real story.  The best time to fish a non-tidal system is when you can!

Excellent post.

You may specifically be referring to night fishing.  But, since I've waded into the subject, let's question the Holy Grail.  Do your records indicate better success fishing the full moon during the spawning months?

[Catt]

When we throw out the word "spawn", we have changed the entire discussion!

During the spawn are the bass located where they were because of the moon phase or because of the spawn?

I probably pay less attention moon phase & water temperature during the spawn than any. If you pay too much attention to moon phase & water temperature you will miss a large portion of the pre-spawn/spawn.

Moon phase & water temperature are guidelines or points of reference, not all bass do the same thing at the same time. 

Humans are "visual" creatures, relying heavily on eyesight; this is the #1 attraction to the full moon & water temperatures.

Bass are predators, they like hunting & ambushing their prey, darkness covers up their presents.

Man was created hunters...some of us have forgotten how!

[FishNChip]

Well put.  To be fair to the tables, I guess they aren't really trying to tell you which days to fish, but which time period, on any given day, the fish are likely to be more active.  And this, of course, can be altered by local conditions.  So as your data suggests, quit worrying about it and just go fishing.

[RCCA]

I agree. Anytime you can is the best time. This becomes even more true when you can't go at all. It's killin' me! 

[mguidroz]

Ok gents, my son and I fished Friday and Saturday nights from ~ 7:30pm to 3:00am with very little success. We fished the Indian Mounds, Housen and 6-mile (creek channel swings with wood) from 8 to 25 fow with crankbaits, TR and CR. Colors used were green pumpkin, junebug  redbug and shad color CBs. We caught a total of 8 fish with 4.6lbs being the biggest. Where did the fish go I was catching the week before??????

I saw a 33.51lbs sack was caught Saturday night.

[RCCA]

I wish I knew. I'd sure tell you. 

[Catt]

#1: location

#2: timing

The bass could be on a morning bite

The bass could be on a mid-day bite

The bass could be on a evening bite 

Or they could be feeding at night

[FishNChip]

Just back from a week on TB.  Day time fishing is tough right now.  Can't say about night fishing because we were too beat at the end of each day to give it a try.  Maybe more cloud cover and a little rain would help (it would sure have helped cool us off).  Graphed lots and lots of bait fish with following game fish, but most schools were below 20 ft, which was below the thermocline, and you couldn't beg a bite.  Those fish were not active.  When we did find fish in less than 20 ft, they would only bite for a short period each morning and evening.  For example, main lake point on the south side of Mill Creek.  Lots of quality fish schooling.  Threw everything but the kitchen sink at them for more than an hour one afternoon.  They ignored us for about 45 minutes then bit for 15 and quit again even though they continued to bust shad.

Spent 8 hours on Wednesday with a successful TB tournament angler as payment for a custom punch rod I built for him.  Took me to a number of brush piles he laid out on humps and ridges.  Managed two 3 lb class fish on carolina rig on a brush pile and a dink punching hydrilla.   Later in the day, three barely keeper fish and several short ones on carolina rig on secondary points with brush piles up a secondary creek with an in blowing wind.  Once the wind quit, so did the bite.

On Monday. we did manage a few fish from the south side of Housen.  Late afternoon my son hooked one on a deep diving crank bait and when he got it to the boat, there were 5 quality fish following.  Thought we had hit the jack pot but that was just TB throwing a teaser our way.

To sum up, right now, TB is HOT - and I'm not talking about the fishing.  Can't wait till October.

[Catt]

Sure is quiet round here!