Toledo Bend
GOOD. Water stained; 75-77 degrees; 4.71 feet low. GOOD. The water level is 167.3 with no generators running. Water temperature at the Dam is 75-77 degrees with surface temperature around 60.
This is the fifth week with no rainfall. The back feeder creeks are stained and muddy, and the main lake remains clear. The best fishing times this week has been at first light to mid-morning and at night during the full moon.
There are two types of school Bass in the fall transition, one group will go shallow chasing and feeding on shad against the banks. Look for blue herons and white cranes feeding on baitfish and walking the bank.
The second group of bass will remain deep but will congregate into bigger schools. For the shallow bite use a topwater baits such as, spooks, buzz baits and pop-r’s, and ¼ ounce or ⅜ ounce spinnerbaits in white, chartreuse, and black in color.
Try something different in water out to three feet by going back to the old single spin with a Colorado blade in silver for clear water and gold for muddy water, or square bill crankbaits in shad and perch imitation colors.
For deeper bass, use a jigging spoon ½- 3/4 ounce in silver with a white or yellow accent tail feather, or deep diving crankbaits in citrus shad and Tennessee shad colors. The jig bite has been comingon strong on long tapering points dropping off into deep water best colors, black and blue, PB&J football jigs 3/8 – 3/4 ounce with a three inch matching color grub trailer, and a green pumpkin jig with the chuck tail dipped in chartreuse color.
The full moon night bite has been producing quality fish using dark colored Texas rigged worms like a Berkley solid black power 7.5-inch ribbon tail worm or a Natural Forage Bait 7.5-inch mag trick worm in the South African special color casting around lighted boat docks and piers.
Crappie bite has been picking up in 10-20 feet of water using small jigs and small minnows depending on the cloud cover and cooling night temperatures.
Bluegills are still mixed in with Crappie in the brush piles and some are now being caught under boathouses and docks. Catfish are holding in 10-20 feet of water and have been also caught migrating up into the feeder creeks.
Here’s another Bass pattern if you are using a 5-8 WT fly rod, use a topwater foam white or black wiggle fish and sometimes cast a Dahlberg Diver in yellow/black color with a floating line; strip slowly and stop, pause, strip again or you can cast a crease fly shad color imitation; strip, strip, pause.
The cadence can change daily. Some days they want the fly fast across the surface like chasing down a shad and other days they want it dead, motionless on the surface.
While fishing from a boat or kayak, just take a minute to admire God’s beauty, the changing of the foliage, the trees, the sunrise, the sunsets and the sounds and smells of the outdoors. Always leave the area better than you found it by picking up what you can.
Good luck and tight lines! Report from Master Captain Steve (Scooby) Stubbe, Mudfish Adventures LLC, Orvis Endorsed Fishing Guide, Mudfish Rod Shop, Kayak Sales, and Rod Repair
Credit: Source link
