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Welcome to Toledo Bend Guide Service & Lake Cottage
07/17/2003
Toledo Bend - TX,Huxley
"Dog Days" fishing
The lake is unusually high for this time of year, close to high pool. We are still fishing our typical summer pattern of fishing shallow early and late over top water vegetation close to deep water and moving to deeper water as the day heats up. The deep- water grass has virtually disappeared and is just memories of years past. The fish are holding closer to structure off main lake points, creeks, sloughs, river ledges and drops.
The bass are moving around more following the bait- fish. We are depending on our electronics much more in order to locate our fish. We'll find good fish one day, go back the next to find they have moved. Look for large groups of bait- fish (shad) on your fish finder and you will likely find the bass.
Early and late, we are fishing grass flats close to deep water throwing buzz baits, spinner baits, top water baits and shallow diving crank baits in chrome and shad colors. We're also throwing Texas rigged worms, brush-hogs and lizards in reds, plums and watermelon. When the sun gets over head back out to deeper water in the creeks, sloughs and river channel throwing deep diving crank baits in shad or fire tiger and Carolina rigged soft baits in June bug, Crabapple, tequila sunrise, motor oil, pumpkin seed and watermelon. Keep a top water bait and a shallow diving crank bait or a rattle trap handy if the fish decide to start schooling. Throw a soft plastic under the schools for larger fish.
If you want to beat the heat try fishing at night. Concentrate along the shoreline where deep water is close by. Lighted piers, seawalls and rock banks will also be productive. Throw top water baits that make a lot of noise, buzz baits, large dark colored spinner baits and large dark colored soft baits. An eleven- inch black neon worm often is the ticket. If you will wait about an hour after the sun goes down before you go out on the lake, you will by-pass most of the bugs. They seem to lay down and want be so bothersome as they are right at sundown.
This time of year really takes a toll on the fish we catch if we don't handle them properly. A lot of them are coming out of deep water, which causes a lot of stress on the fish. Try to handle the fish as little as possible and get them back in the water as soon as possible. If you do put the fish in your live well make sure you use some of the new chemicals which slow down the fishes metabolism and protects their natural slime coating. Also, cool the live well water down by adding a couple frozen bottles to the water (don't just add ice because the chlorine can harm the fish). Keep your live well on circulate so the water will stay cool.
The White Bass have kept us busy when the Blacks typically slow down in the ?Dog days of Summer?. Huge schools of large White?s are blowing up along the river channel, boat lanes, road beds and flats throughout the day. Keep a trap, shallow diving crank bait or top water plug handy when they are schooling and a slab spoon or tail spinner when they go down.
Crappie being caught in 15 to 25ft of water over brush tops. Better catches coming in at night.
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