SAM RAYBURN
Rayburn continues to have waves of tournaments and this Saturday Skeeter Bass Champs East Texas Division comes back to town. The lake level is at 165.65 feet and water surface temps are running from 82 to 84 degrees. One unit is running at the dam 5 hours per day with a release of 4190 cubic feet per second (pfs) when operating. Basically all the lake is fishable with some stained conditions above the bridges but clearing as you move south toward the dam. Submerged grasses as well as floating vegetation are exploding with lily pads, pepper grass and hydrilla leading the way.
There are multiple patterns for the angler to chose from and several are producing quality bass. Plastic frogs (Stanley Ribbit/Berkley Bat Wing/Horny Toad) are catching big bass in the pads as well as in pepper grass and eel grass. The pepper grass is really starting to come to the surface and the angler should look for patches where it runs out on a point. The bigger bass are in the pepper grass closest to deeper water.
Mornings have been best but it is also possible to catch them in the bright hours of the day, especially in the pads.
The main grass line is also holding lots of bass in the 4 to 10 feet depths. Also, drop-offs on main lake points and ledges are producing bass where they fall from 10 to 25-30 feet with DD22 crankbaits and well as TX and Carolina rigs with Berkley Power Bait, Stanley Bug Eye Jigs and Berkley Gripper Jig series. Big spinnerbaits are also catching a few large bass slow-rolled along drops as well as on main grass line.
NEW LINE PRODUCT: Berkley spends more money on line research than all the other companies combined. Their newest is called Trilene TransOptic and they say it is the world's first nylon monofilament line to physically change color. My first introduction to it was very favorable as I spooled a roll of 15 lb test on a Pflueger Supreme XT spinning reel and found it to be extremely manageable with no twists and tangles. While it was vary manageable, It also was sensitive, had no failures on solid hook sets and seems to be highly resistant to abrasions.
Since I fish in mostly very clear water, I am a hard sell when it comes to line and I want to use it more in bright conditions in clear water to see if the claim of being transparent rings true. Berkley Trilene TransOptic has been in development for four years and Berkley seldom puts the name Trilene on a line product without being pretty confident that it is the real deal. It is available in 4 to 25 pound test and runs from $9 to $11 for a 220 yd spool. 2000 yd spools are available in 6 to 25 pound test.