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Welcome to Ricky's Guide Service
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One of the great things about keeping a log of your fishing trips is being able to go back to it and see what the fish were doing in any given month and start your next trip using the same pattern. This has paid off for me MANY times in the past and I am certain it will pay off again. A lot of people come to East Texas each year from out of town, out of state and even from other countries to take part in some of, if not the best, bass fishing in the world. Now, nothing beats an up to date fishing report, which we also have, but when that is not available logs from previous trips are hard to beat! I have compiled a condensed version of my logs that detail the patterns that I have seen time and again on these lakes. Click on the month that you are interested in to see what the fish should be doing when you get here.
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07/01/2004
Lake Palestine - TX,
July fishing on Lake Palestine should be great
Lake Palestine is just above full pool, clear and 87 degrees. During July, fishing can be just down right great if you can stand our Texas heat. You can catch every kind fish that you like to fish for. My favorite will always be the large mouth bass and here are a few things I will do to find and then catch them.
First, I will get a good map of the lake and figure out what I feel are the most productive spots to catch large bass and also numbers of bass. Now I like fishing both the shallow water and the deep water as well so I will rig up several rods with different lures to fish deep and shallow. I will rig up a deep diving crank bait in a shad color then I will rig up both a Carolina rigged fry and a Texas rig worm. Next I will rig up 1 oz. spinner bait and last but not least what I call my count down lure. Colors on the soft plastics will be mostly colors you feel good with. I know my favorites are reds and greens.
I know that most of you know what the crank baits, plastic worms and spinner baits are, but you may not know about the count down lure. The count down lure is nothing more than a jig head with soft plastic bait on it. The way I fish the count down is just what it is. I find the fish with my graph and cast the lure out and count it down to the fish. I will look for my fish on the deep points, deep creek channel bends and old road ways. I will spend at least one hour on each spot with the different lures until I feel I can't catch any fish from this spot. Now I will have several of these deep water spots to try and when you find fish that you can catch check the time of day and remember the spot because you can come back to this spot 15 minutes later each day and find fish feeding in the same spot. Another thing you can always pull up the ridges in the summer and down in the winter for best results.
Now for the shallow water, you can find the bass good early on top waters and small spinner baits. I have a spinner bait I make and sell that I like to fish around the brush and grass that catches good numbers of fish for me. If you would like to purchase some for yourself then email me or call me at (903)561-7299 and I will make some for you.
Fish slow as I always say and you will catch more fish than you can shake a stick at.
Crappie can be found on brush piles in about 14 to 17 feet of water. Jigs fished slowly over the top of the brush will produce some mighty fine crappie for you.
Sand bass and hybrids will be very good shallow and will stack up in the deep water after the sun gets up high. You can catch them on top waters and rat-l-traps early and ? oz. spoons on into the day. In June toward the last of it I caught an 11 pound hybrid on of my special spinner baits I make.
Catfish, well it's under statement to say they are doing well, for Lake Palestine is stacked full of channel cat. That's right you can find catfish just about any place on the lake. If you want catfish to put in the freezer and don't have a boat and need a guide, well I also fish for catfish.
Before I close I want to remind you if you're going to tackle the heat then be sure to take sun lotion and plenty to drink and always think safety and ware your life vest for the life you save may just be yours.
Another Lake I guide on is Lake Fork and at this time you can find bass doing the same thing on Fork as Palestine. Small spinner baits and top waters will work in the shallows and big crank baits and count down lures will work on the deep ridges.
If you're coming to Lake Palestine or Lake Fork and need a guide then email me at ricky@rickysguideservice.com or call me at (903)561-7299.
Until next month, remember to keep only the fish you can use and release the rest so our kids can enjoy the wonderful sport that we do today. Our kids are the future of tomorrow.
Good Luck and Good Fishing
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