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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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03/30/2006
Fork and Palestine - TX,Tyler
April Fishing Looks Good with Rising Water
Well we all thought the rain would never come, but with a three inch down pour our lakes have begun to rise. All our lakes have been anywhere from three to as much as nine feet low and a lot of folks have been calling and emailing me wanting to know what's the low water going to do to the spawn. I told them that I couldn't see us going into April without rain, but if we did that the fish will take care of themselves. They will make their nest out on the sandy flats near the area where you found them when the water was high. I also told them that if the water does come up well that might change things up a bit.
The water has started to rise now and for those that thought they had the fish found, well think again. With the rising water the fish that haven't yet started their spawn will move further back into the shallows into the heavier cover in places that make them feel safe. The bass will make their nest in grass beds, on top of flat top stumps, on the top of old road ways and just about every kind of high spot they can find.
The bass you find in these places are the bass that stay shallow most all of the year and are the most preyed up on by fisherman. These are the first of the bass to move up to spawn. You can expect to have from three to four waves of shallow water fish move up and spawn. Now when I said waves of fish, I mean groups of fish. There will be a group move up and stay until they spawn out and their eggs hatch out which will take some where around 72 to as much as maybe 100 hours depending on the cool weather. If it stays warm and the surface temps don't drop below 60 degrees then it would be the lesser amount of time and if the cold comes in at night then it could be the greater amount of time. This batch of fish will then move back out and in about three to five days we will have another wave move in and repeat the process.
Now you can find bass spawning in the deeper water, but they will be a bit later due to the water temps. These fish can be found spawning on the high spots, in the top of old stumps just as the shallow water fish and these will be larger fish most of the time. The deep water spawners can be found in five to twenty five feet and when you find them well you can bet that there won't be just one or two in the area. This will be a place where you can catch several big trophy fish and never move your boat.
The way you will locate the deep water bass is to use a good depth finder that will show you the depth and also be strong enough to pull the fish out and separate them from any structure that might be on the lake bottom. A unit I like is the Lowrance locator. They make many models and most are good from the older models such as the x65 all the way to the new GPS/depth finder models such as the new color 332 model. Now all locators come with both an automatic mode and a manual mode both modes will work but I like the manual mode best for it will show more detail and separate the fish out from the cover better.
What you will do is watch your locator for any kind of change on the bottom such as drop offs or a rise in the lake floor. These will be good starting places for you to concentrate on. When you find these places you will want to move back and forth over the spot to try and locate where the fish are holding. After you find them then it gets easy all you have to do place your boat in a good spot near the place where you found them holding best and begin casting.
Here are a few lures I use to catch both shallow water spawning bass and deep water bass.
First, the shallow water bass. I like to go after them with soft plastics such as The Mr. Twister Comeda which a straight body plastic worm that is loaded with salt and a fish attractant that releases into the water as it moves along. I rig it with a 4/0 or 5/0 wide gap hook and no weight. This rig is called dead sticking the bait. Soft plastic bait will be the Mr. Twister RT Slug it looks like the fluke made by the Zoom bait Company. The RT Slug also has an attractant that releases when the bait moves through the water just as the Comeda. I also use it in the shallows on the dead sticking method. These lures are best when you cast them out and just let them lay and then moving them very slow. Another soft plastic lure that I love to fish in the shallows is the new Stanley bait Company lure called the Ribbit. The Ribbit is a frog looking lure that is swam across the waters surface and it plays both as a frog and buzz bait as well. The Ribbit has two wedge type feet that kick up the water when it is swam across the water. The Ribbit is very good over grass and around stumps and any other kind of cover you can cast it on. Other lures are the Stanley spinner baits such as the new blood spot spinner baits with the new TX3 wire. I like the 3/8's oz. baits in the shallows. I guess the last is my all time favorite lure the 3/8's oz. Stanley jig. You can rig many kinds of trailers on it but the one I like best is the Ribbit frog. The frog gives the jig a whole different look when it falls and also makes the jig fall slower down through the cover.
Now for the deep water fish again my first lure to go to is the Stanley jig but in a half ounce size to the _ oz. depending on the depth I am fishing. I will rig it again with the Ribbit frog for my trailer and the color will depend on the condition of the water. Next I will reach for a deep diving crank bait one that will dive as deep as eighteen feet. The next choice will be the Stanley Spinner bait in a half to _ oz. size and again the color will be determined by the color of the water. Last I will go to a watermelon seed or a white RT Slug rigged both on a Carolina rig and on a jig head. I will swim each of these lures through the area where I located them. I will fish slowly and I will fish the lures from a left to right system meaning I will start on my far left and work the area very good all the way to my far right. Did I say fish slowly well if you think you are fishing slow then slow down and this will help you to catch more fish?
Crappie will start moving into the shallows to spawn about the same time you find the bass and Bluegill will move in after the bass move out. You know the crappie is one of the best fish that you can put on your table and is also fun to catch so take the kids when you are fishing for them and also take the small kids for the bluegill this will hook them on fishing for life.
The crappie can be found in as little as one foot of water and always near some kind of cover just like the bass you find throughout the spawn.
The bluegill will move in and use the beds that were used by the bass. Both the crappie and the bluegill can be caught on jigs and for the bluegill the kids also like the crickets and the bluegill love them as well.
This month you will find the bass doing very good on both Lake Fork and Lake Palestine with the spawn kicked off and going strong on both lakes. Lake Fork is at this time only down two feet and Lake Palestine is about 15 inches down. Lake Fork the water is stained in some of your creeks and just a little off colored on the main lake. Lake Palestine is stained to muddy in most of the creeks and stained on the main lake.
Hey if you don't have a good depth locator well you might try your local marine dealers on Lake Palestine you can find them at The Boat Center and at East Texas Marine on Lake Fork you can see some at Lake Side Trolling Motor repair, Onsite Trolling Motor repair and at the newest Ranger Boat Dealer around out on highway 154 north of Quitman.
If you are coming to Lake Fork or Lake Palestine and need a guide then give me a call at (903)561-7299 or (903)530-2201 or just email me at ricky@rickysguideservice.com
My promise to you is to help you catch as many fish as I can and to show you a great time while you are here.
I am a licensed professional guide with over 30 years of memory making trips. I do on the water instructional teaching, I give you my personal attention in making sure you catch fish and I can also set up group trips with guides, meals and rooms. My number one goal is to make sure you have a great time while you are here.
Until next month remember to keep only the fish you can use and release the rest so that our kids can enjoy the great sport we call fishing.
Thanks
Ricky D. Vandergriff
Owner and operator of Ricky's Guide Service
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