Hello, Anglers. We have finally had some great weather the past week and Toledo is just beautiful. A lot of the area around the lake on south Toledo where I spend much of my time is surrounded by our U.S. National Forest.
Currently, the woods are lush green from recent rains and most of the shoreline has no dwellings or piers and is normally very quiet and peaceful. There are times when one can go for several minutes and all you hear is birds, water hitting against the side of the boat and your lure splashing as it enters the water. Of course, some interruptions are welcomed, especially the sound of a big bass fighting on the surface.
LAKE CONDITIONS: Lake levels remain good with current reading at 171.8 feet and both generators running from 3 to 9 p.m. during weekdays. Water temperatures are back up and are running around 81 to 83 degrees. Most of lake has good water conditions with north Toledo stained but clearing, mid lake is slightly stained but clearing and south Toledo is clear with the exceptions of the upper end of major feeder creeks.
FISHING REPORTS/BASS: We have caught a lot of bass during the month of May and fishing remains good-to-excellent, especially for numbers of bass. We are still catching some nice bass, we had one eight pounder last week, but we are not catching as many big bass as we were several weeks ago. Bass are still in transition from spring to summer but are starting to move to normal summer patterns. One prime example is that on a guided trip Tuesday morning, we encountered a group of schooling bass chasing shad on the surface. We moved in and caught a few of them before they scattered.
The school did contain some nice two pound bass which indicates summer patterns are developing. We caught the schooling bass on a new topwater bait, Top Dollar, and on a tailspinner called Knock Off, both lures made by Bill Norman. The Top Dollar is a different looking bait, especially the nose and the placement of the line tie. In addition, the lure has a rear weight transfer system which allows the angler to cast it further which makes it an even better schooling bait where long casts are a must.
We are still catching bass on wacky worms and Texas rigs. The wacky bite is mostly early, late and during cloudy conditions with Berkley's Shaky Worm(5 and 7 inch) and Senkos (5 inch) our favorites. We are mostly working wacky rigs on points with grass in depths of 8 to 12 feet which is basically on the outside edge of the submerged grassline. Our Texas rigs are also productive in these medium depths during low-light conditions but we are also working deeper water (12-25 feet) during late morning/mid-day bright conditions. Deep diving crankbaits (DD22s) are still putting fish in the boat with shad patterns and blue/chartreuse productive colors.
CRAPPIE: Little-to-no winds have helped crappie anglers, according to south Toledo crappie guide, Butch Perrodin. He reported trips catching 30, 53 and 69 white perch during outings last week. They were targeting 16-22 feet depths over brush tops using live shiners. Small jigs were also used to catch fish but live shiners seem to be #1. Perrodin says the crappie bite is getting more aggressive.
AUTHOR INFO: Joe Joslin is a syndicated columnist, tournament angler and pro guide on Toledo and Sam Rayburn. His sponsors include Skeeter Performance Boats, Yamaha Outboards, Lake Charles Toyota, Red River Marine/Alexandria, LA, Berkley, Fenwick, Abu Garcia, Bill Norman , Daiichi, The Floor Trader Alexandria and Lake Charles, Extermatrim Exterminating, Inc. and Stanley Jigs Inc. Contact him at 337-463-3848 or joejoslinoutdoors@yahoo.com. and WEBSITE www.joejoslinoutdoors.com
