Water is normal clarity (clear to slightly stained) with about 2 to 3 feet of visibility in all areas fished this weekend. Lake level is 95.52 which is almost 3 feet below normal. Surface temp has gone up almost 10 degrees in a week and is 67.6 degrees in main lake and 64 to 66 up the rivers. The weather conditions were fantastic with light winds and mostly cloudy in the morning giving way to breezy partly sunny in the afternoon.
I fished the South Texas BASS Federation Nation season opener this weekend with a pretty good crowd of about 37 boats. The previous week while pre-fishing caught a lot of fish with Rattle Traps, Shallow Crankbaits and a couple of nice fish on spinnerbaits. I tried some deep water fishing with Carolina Rig and Jigs with no takers.
Saturday was indeed not the same with a slow start and mostly small fish until a nice 5 pound fish grabbed my Secret Weapon spinnerbait. I had a new Ardent Elite reel I had just put on my new 2012 St.Croix Bass Tournament Series Spinnerbait rod and I made a rookie mistake by not checking my drag and he decided to leave at the side of the boat (never really got the hook in him). But that gave me confidence to stick with the spinnerbait pattern and I started putting fish in the boat every other cast. The fish were coming up out of the grass to grab the spinnerbait running above (just ticking) the top of the grass. I must have boated at least 30 keeper fish and had a blast but could not get but 2 fish over 2 pounds. It was a great day for boating lots of fish but 13.40 was only good enough for 6th place (one place out of the money).
I was using a Gold Shad Quickstrike Spinnerbait from Secret Weapon in 3/16th ounce. The trick was to run it a slow as possible above the grass while jumping/jerking it to trigger the strikes (this seemed to be important as I saw many fish look at it but they would not hit it until I twitched it). While many people were fishing the mid-depth grass around me I was targeting the grass as shallow as I could get to. I had a new Ardent Edge Elite 6.5:1 reel loaded with 30 lb. Power Pro on a brand new St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass Spinnerbait Rod (more on this awesome rod in another report) which allowed me to make very long casts to reach close to the bank while staying off the grass.
Sunday the fishing was extremely slow but I stuck with the same pattern and like Saturday I hit several areas in the lake and up the river multiple times with the confidence that if there the fish would hit the spinnerbait. By noon I was getting concerned with a limit that was certainly smaller than the day before. I noticed several Talapia swimming above the grass beds I was fishing and added some Bio Edge potion in Talapia to the spinnerbait and immediatly got several large fish to follow it to the boat, one twitch of the wrist and they would grab it. 17.26 pounds got me a check for 2nd place, less than 2 ounces behind the winner.
So if you want some fast action and lots of nice 2 to 3 pound fish get out to Coleto while the bite is on.
I fished the South Texas BASS Federation Nation season opener this weekend with a pretty good crowd of about 37 boats. The previous week while pre-fishing caught a lot of fish with Rattle Traps, Shallow Crankbaits and a couple of nice fish on spinnerbaits. I tried some deep water fishing with Carolina Rig and Jigs with no takers.
Saturday was indeed not the same with a slow start and mostly small fish until a nice 5 pound fish grabbed my Secret Weapon spinnerbait. I had a new Ardent Elite reel I had just put on my new 2012 St.Croix Bass Tournament Series Spinnerbait rod and I made a rookie mistake by not checking my drag and he decided to leave at the side of the boat (never really got the hook in him). But that gave me confidence to stick with the spinnerbait pattern and I started putting fish in the boat every other cast. The fish were coming up out of the grass to grab the spinnerbait running above (just ticking) the top of the grass. I must have boated at least 30 keeper fish and had a blast but could not get but 2 fish over 2 pounds. It was a great day for boating lots of fish but 13.40 was only good enough for 6th place (one place out of the money).
I was using a Gold Shad Quickstrike Spinnerbait from Secret Weapon in 3/16th ounce. The trick was to run it a slow as possible above the grass while jumping/jerking it to trigger the strikes (this seemed to be important as I saw many fish look at it but they would not hit it until I twitched it). While many people were fishing the mid-depth grass around me I was targeting the grass as shallow as I could get to. I had a new Ardent Edge Elite 6.5:1 reel loaded with 30 lb. Power Pro on a brand new St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass Spinnerbait Rod (more on this awesome rod in another report) which allowed me to make very long casts to reach close to the bank while staying off the grass.
Sunday the fishing was extremely slow but I stuck with the same pattern and like Saturday I hit several areas in the lake and up the river multiple times with the confidence that if there the fish would hit the spinnerbait. By noon I was getting concerned with a limit that was certainly smaller than the day before. I noticed several Talapia swimming above the grass beds I was fishing and added some Bio Edge potion in Talapia to the spinnerbait and immediatly got several large fish to follow it to the boat, one twitch of the wrist and they would grab it. 17.26 pounds got me a check for 2nd place, less than 2 ounces behind the winner.
So if you want some fast action and lots of nice 2 to 3 pound fish get out to Coleto while the bite is on.
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