Texas Sports Center

 Hello, Anglers. We had another good week on the lake and fishing continues to improve as water temps and daytime temperatures edge slowly downward. Mother Nature showed her stuff this week as we saw a 10 or 11 foot alligator in the Mill Creek area, witnessed some of the biggest flocks of teal I have ever seen on Toledo, saw bald eagles every day and had to slip on a long sleeve a couple of mornings. It is just a beautiful time of the year to be outside. The love bugs were even on the decline and it’s a good thing as I am about out of bug cleaner. 

If you are planning on getting in some fall fishing, the next couple of months are about it good as it gets on my favorite fishin’ hole.

LAKE CONDITION: The level is 168.35 feet with one generator running from 3 to 5:30 p.m. currently. Water temps fell to 79 degrees last week behind the cold front but have inched back up to 83 degrees since daytime temperatures have been in upper 80s. Water conditions continue to be excellent all over the lake with slightly stained conditions on the north end, mostly clear at mid lake and very clear down south. I’m fishing a lot of really clear water on the south end with visibility from 6 to 8’. Deep, submerged grass is almost non-existent up north, mid-lake has a little and south Toledo has a lot in places. Shoreline grass is good almost everywhere on the lake with cooler water temps resulting in more fish using water depths of 2 to 8 feet.

 FISHING REPORTS/BASS: If you have a favorite bait in your tackle box you can, more than likely, catch a fish on it as most any bait currently stands a good chance of catching a fish when fished properly. Know for sure that some baits are much more productive than others but there are numerous patterns/lures catching bass right now on Toledo. Some of that has to do with the fact that there are bass in 2 feet of water as well as in 30 feet and some even suspended over 50 feet depths. It sure makes things interesting when choosing a starting pattern or starting place. I suggest starting by using proven fall methods and techniques such as to target points on the main lake as well as points and creek bends on major feeder creeks all over the lake as these are currently full of baitfish(shad) as well as bass.

One factor currently is to find a grassy point either on the main lake or a main feeder creek. When you find a point with grass, fish it either early/late afternoon or during cloudy conditions and you can almost be certain of some bass action. If there is water that is 20 ft. deep or more that is close to the point then the area should be even more productive. Patterns/lures that are working in these conditions include top water(Pro Pops and Yellow Magic), Stanley Vibra Wedge spinnerbaits(double willow blades), Texas rigged Berkley Havoc Bottom Hoppers, Trick Worms and shallow/mid-diving crankbaits such as DLNs/Little Ns/Baby Ns by Norman Lures.

 There have also been bass on deep structure which we have targeted mostly during days with high barometric pressure with bright blue bird skies just behind cold fronts. On these days, we are cranking DD22s, slow-dragging a Carolina rig as well as drop shot. I have found a new “favorite” drop shot worm called Bottom Hopper Jr. which is in the Berkley Havoc Series. BH Jrs. are 4.75 inches long and come in numerous colors with watermelon and watermelon candy being two colors that have worked for us. This worms floats so the tail is always pointing up on your drop shot rig.

 CRAPPIE/WHITE AND YELLOW BASS: Crappie continue to be caught on brush piles in 15 to 25 feet with a few showing up on deep grassy points and creek bends. Live shiners, Beetle Spins and Road Runners are the most common baits for fall crappie. Also, with Beetle Spins and Road Runners, just be aware that almost anything that swims will hit those baits so make sure you have on fresh line(especially if you are using light line) and make sure the drag on your reel is set to accommodate a big fish. The current lake record bass on Texas’ Lake Fork (18.18 pounds) was caught by a crappie angler. Yellow and white bass are also moving to the back of creeks and are holding along the edge of major creeks. They can be caught on top water, small crank baits, Rat-L-Traps(Bill Lewis Lures), tailspinners and spoons.

AUTHOR INFO: Joe Joslin is a syndicated outdoor columnist, tournament angler and pro guide on Toledo and Sam Rayburn. Contact him at 337-463-3848 or joejoslinoutdoors@yahoo.com . and WEBSITE www.joejoslinoutdoors.com

 Joe Joslin has fished Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn Reservoirs for over 30 years and has been a full-time licensed guide since 1998. He specializes in Largemouth bass and fishes most all of Rayburn and the southern one half of Toledo which many feel harbors more than its share of lunker bass.

One of the best known guides on Toledo Bend with nine bass over 10 lbs to his credit including the latest which was a 10 lb 13 oz south Toledo largemouth that was caught Dec 21, 2011 - and his largest bass to date is an 11 pound 8 ounce beauty that was caught in the Texas Island area of south Toledo.

In addition to guiding, Joe is a frequent tournament angler, outdoor writer for several newspapers/outdoor magazines and numerous websites. Joslin also frequently leads fishing seminars.

Joslin is based out of Indian Creek which is located on the southwest corner of Toledo Bend Lake on the Texas side which also is about 30 minutes from Rayburn.

Sam Rayburn has been pretty tough the past month or two. One of the main issues has been to find fish that are concentrated and another has been to find a significant amount of aquatic vegetation.....namely hydrilla. These issues are related. Currently the lake level is around 163 feet and it has been near that level basically for several months(late spring). When the lake rose so much during the spring, it rose very fast and covered the thick hydrilla that had been growing along the shoreline for nearly two years when the lake was low due to severe drought. This grass was basically in 1 to 8 feet depths so when the lake rose over 10 feet the hydrilla was then in depths of 12-18 feet. With Rayburn's slightly stained conditions, the deep hydrilla could not get enough sunlight to survive so most of it died. Hence, due to the lack of hydrilla, the fish are not finding enough structure to relate to so finding bass in significant numbers has been a challenge. The fish are scattered and with the lake basically at full pool there are a lot of acres to hang out.

Some drain/ditches/creeks have a minimal amount of hydrilla but you have to look for it. There are also some pepper grass and pads but this habitat is also limited. Some action is occurring at the break of dawn on floating grass on the points on main lake and main creeks. Stanley Ribbits, buzz baits, Yellow Magic and Pro Pop(Norman) are my suggestions for these grassy points. The first 30 minutes are crucial. The other pattern where we are catching a few fish is deep diving crankbaits(DD22) (15 to 25') and these also have been the best early. 

We are catching some big spotted bass on Stanley's Bug Eye football jig on deep points as well as a few largemouth. Also, I have never seen so many 2-4 lb drum in my life. I was getting thump after thump on my Carolina rig and could also see lots of fish on my Hummingbird Down Image but I could not get one to hang on so I switched to a spoon and caught 5(drum) on 5 drops. That's enough of that so we left that area but we also caught them on crankbaits as well. We have caught bass on a drop shot but most are 13-15 inches using Berkley's Wacky Crawler (5 inches) which is a thin profile worm. We need a cold front. Water temps are running from 86-90.

AUTHOR INFO: Joe Joslin is a syndicated outdoor columnist, tournament angler and pro guide on Toledo and Sam Rayburn. Website http://www.joejoslinoutdoors.com/. Contact him at 337-463-3848 or joejoslinoutdoors@yahoo.com