Hello, Anglers. Tragedy struck yet again on Toledo as a 7-year-old boy lost his life Saturday while on a family outing. The Sabine Parish Coroner's Office says Dominick Chambers of Kinder, LA was swimming with his dad and other family members. Officials say the young boy went missing for about ten minutes before being found in 4 feet of water.
He was given CPR by by-standers until paramedics arrived and then transported to Byrd Hospital in Leesville where he was pronounced dead upon arrival at approximately 4:30 p.m.
This makes three young lives that have been lost since Memorial Day on Toledo with all of them on the Louisiana side of south Toledo which is where I spend a lot of time. Also, each involved totally different circumstances with the Memorial Day accident involving a 16 year old girl with a Jet Ski, while a few weeks later a 20 year old summer resort worker's body was found following an apparent drowning and now the seven year old who was swimming with his friends and family.
Our hearts go out to these friends and family members who have experienced such losses. Personally, I plan to be even more diligent in basic safety measures I use on the lake realizing life is both precious and fragile.
Many boating, water-related accidents can be prevented and every angler/boater should be keenly aware of that and use basic, proven safety practices including life jackets, kill-switches and no alcohol while operating watercraft. What's a kill switch? A kill switch is a clip which is attached to the boat's ignition as well as to the boat operator. If an incident occurs that causes the operator to be knocked from the cockpit, the kill switch is detached and the engine shuts down preventing additional injury.
LAKE CONDITIONS: The lake level is at 170.5 feet with both generators running at the dam from noon until 8 p.m. week-days. Water temperatures are heating up and range from 85 to 89 degrees on main lake with even higher temps in the coves/creeks. All of the lake has good water clarity.
FISHING REPORTS/BASS: Bass N Bucks Summer Series continued on Toledo Bend at Cypress Bend Park last Saturday, July 12. The winners needed 26.34 pounds to win all the marbles and caught a 7 pounder and an 8.62 pounder on back-to-back casts. The 8.62 took the big bass honors. Stanley Bug-eye jigs and crankbaits were the winning lures, according to reports.
The second place team actually weighed in over 27 pounds but had a 1.5 pound penalty due to dead fish. The winning team was fortunate enough to catch their fish before noon and actually weighed in 2-3 hours early to lessen the stress on their bass. Carolina rigs were also used by the top three teams along with jigs and crankbaits. These teams fished mostly ledges/drop offs from 15 to 25 feet.
Other fish catching patterns include an early bite on grassy points using top water lures including Pop Rs, Frenzy Poppers and Yellow Magic. Also, working a Texas rig along the outside grass edge in 9 to 15 feet is also productive for quality bass. Stanley's Ribbit frogs also are getting a few big bass over the grass in the early mornings.
Schooling activity is more frequent currently and I am finding them in mouths of major creeks with some of the best times being from 7 to 8 a.m. and around 2 to 3 p.m.
In schooling bass, work small jigging spoons, clear top water baits, Berkley's new pearl Gulp! Jerkshad as well as Flukes. I am also catching bass in schools using a light Texas rig with 5 inch Berkley Wacky Crawler and Finesse worms in watermelon candy. Sometimes I also use this weightless.
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, Jay's Carpet One DeRidder, The Floor Trader Lake Charles and Stanley Jigs Inc. Contact him at 337-463-3848 or joejoslinoutdoors@yahoo.com. and WEBSITE www.joejoslinoutdoors.com.
