Hello, Anglers. What a great time of the year on The Bend as the lake and surroundings are breathtakingly beautiful. On the south end of the lake, especially on the Texas side, most of shoreline is National Forest land with mature timber of both pine and hardwood. The different shades of greens, light/dark and in between, are indescribable. On the fishing scene, several species of fish are biting and finally, we are having a week without 20 mph winds. High winds are back in the forecasts for later this week but I have fished three days in a row with winds below 10 mph....now that is awesome news!.
LAKE CONDITIONS: Lake levels continue to fall slowly with current reading at 171.96 feet which is the first reading below 172 in over a month.
One generator is running 24 hours while the other is operating from noon to 8 p.m. and no flood gates are open. Water conditions are improving on the north end of the lake with stained conditions, mid lake is slightly stained and south Toledo is mostly clear with feeder creeks have stained/heavily stained conditions. Surface temperatures are running from 68 to 71 degrees.
FISHING REPORTS/BASS: Late April is a great time to fish as there is usually something that will bite, if nothing else, mosquitoes. Big bass can be caught too even though not as many big bass are caught after the spawn. However, my largest bass ever, a post spawn south Toledo lunker weighing 11 pounds 8 ounces, was caught the first week of May 2004. I was fishing a secondary point on the main part of the lake in the Texas Island area. The bass hit a 7 inch wacky worm on the outside edge of a grassline in about 8 feet of water.
Water levels are very similar now to what they were then so I will be looking for a big fish on every cast. I enjoy the post spawn patterns as they tend to be in somewhat deeper water. One of my customers last week, Les Leavoy of DeRidder, caught an 8 pounder on the same pattern . A sample fishing day on Toledo currently could go something like this:
Hit main lake grassy points at first light with topwater(my favorites are Frenzy Walker and Frenzy Poppers in Grey Ghost), spinnerbaits frogs or Frenzy Rattl'r or Lewis Rat-L-Traps in blue/silver or black/silver. In making a choice, if it is windy with waves/ripples I go with Traps and spinnerbaits while if it is still/no wind , I lean toward Walkers, Poppers and Ribbits.
When this slows, I back off to outside grass line with wacky, Texas rig or Carolina rig using Power Lizards, 7 inch Power Shaky Worms and Trick Worms and work 8 to 15 feet. If this does not produce, I back off in 18-25 feet with a deep diving crankbait, heavy Carolina rigged lizard or drop shot rig. One of those patterns will, almost always, get it done.
CRAPPIE: Bring on the light line and lets go strolling. The outside grass lines and grass points in 10 to 16 feet are holding crappie and white bass and will produce for the next couple of weeks. As it gets later into spring, those anglers who worked hard to build their deep baited brush holes will start to reap bounty from their investments.
STRIPER/WHITES/YELLOWS: Depending on how much current we have at the dam will determine how hot the striper/yellow/white bass fishing will be the next few weeks.. Trolling big crankbaits and striper jigs near Striper Alley, Louisiana and Texas Islands will account for a good many stripers and white bass this year. Yellows are moving to deep points and can be spoon-feed by vertical spooning. I just found a super company for jigging spoons, which are hard to find. The company is Klassic Lures. Check them out at www.klassiclures.com.
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, 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.