157.54

The lake level is 157.54, normally 164.4.  The water is clearing and the temp. is 64 degrees. The fish have been hitting Wacky worms, Rogues. and Carolina rigged Senco's pulled through the grass. All of this is happening in 8 ft. or less of water. Should start catching some Hogs very soon.

Spawn Time

The water is clearing up and is 157.44, with normal being 164.40. The temp. today was 61.3 to 63.0. Those are spawning temps and it won't be long before they will move up and make their beds. I went to the Canyons area today and the fish were biting Wacky Worms. They were slamming them and my first bite almost ripped the pole right out of my hand. I caught probably 10 fish in 2 hours.

Brand new information!

About 10:30 A.M. I went fishing today. I started in the usual place near the boat launch, with no results. I decided to go south of the 147 bridge. The water was much clearer there and about 58 degrees. Finally figured out that the biting fish were on secondary, protected points in about 7 ft. of water. I was using a crawfish pattern , rattletrap. Had a "6" on, but it's been so long since I've had a big one on a rattletrap that I forgot to keep the rod low and she jumped and threw the bait. Hurt my feelings. I also had a small fish on a fire-tiger Rogue. Ended up driving to the Harvey Creek boat launch and towed a $50,000.00 Team Skeeter boat with a 300 h.p. Yamaha on it, back to Monterrey Park. Lucky it was smooth out there today.

Lake level report

Checked on Corp. of Engineers sight and it said the lake is 155.58'. Normal, being 164.4'. I am trying to fix a few things on my boat while the weather is still cold, so my fishing notes will be from hearsay.

Saturday blog

Just a line to let you know that we went to Monterrey Park Launch after dinner and the lake level was up 2 inches from yesterday.     154 59' normal pool 164.4

Too cold for me!

Went out at 11:30 this morning. The good news is that I can drive straight out now instead of having to follow the creek. The lake is up another 8 inches from last Saturday. But with the influx of all that water came 55 degree surface temps. With 15 mph. winds I could only stay out for about 2 hours. I only got 2 nibbles and decided it wasn't worth the effort. Water was dirty and cold. Hoping for better weather on Valentin's Day. I'll let you know.

Lake info

We got a lot of rain this weekend and the lake has come up to 154.83' ( and I think that it is higher than that). The corp of eng. takes the level early and we got rain until almost noon. The water was up 2 inches from yesterday when I arrived today, and when I left at 3:30 it was up another inch.  Anyway, the water is stained badly and the temp. was between 58 and 62 degrees. Still haven't seen any bass on beds, but the water is so off color that you can't see them.

Etiquette

Time for an etiquette lesson boaters. First when you see a fisherman trolling along, don't come flying up and pull in just in front of them and start trolling the same way. Second, just because your 2 power poles on the back of your boat cost more than my boat, motor, trailer and the van I pull it with, doesn't necessarily mean you are a better fisherman than me.

Keep tryin'.

I haven't found the honey hole yet, but I won't give up. It is just a matter of time, patience and persistence. The rain last night raised the lake by about 4 inches. The lake level is 154.63' and normal pool is 164.4'. The temp is now 63.3 degrees. The water is dirty again, and we are expecting more rain tonight and tomorrow.

Take it slow.

Well I've been too busy to fish lately, but I have heard some news. The news is that you can use a dark Texas rigged worm worked very slowly in 4 to 10 feet of water. When I say slowly I mean timed with a calendar slow.
I told you that there is always something to see, even if the fish aren't biting.

Heatin' up.

Went out for about an hour and a half today. The water is a little clearer today and a bit warmer. I could see the lure about a foot and a half down. The water temperature was 60.8 degrees. The bass should be staging for the spawn now. Try to find clearer water and 1 degree warmer can make all the difference in catching fish and not catching fish.

The beginning of the 2012 fishing season.

Well,it took some doing but I finally figured out how to get back on the blog. I was able to get my boat out of Monterrey Park launch Friday the 27th of January. I caught only one fish, but it was a pretty good first fish of the year. I caught it on a gold, black and orange Rattlin Rogue in about 3 feet of water. Water temp is 58 degrees already, so I think the spawn will be early this year. Bass usually start the spawn around 60 to 62 degrees. I went out 2 more times and have caught a total of 4 fish. Not earth shattering but not bad for the end of January. The water is quite dirty from the recent runoff. I will keep you posted.

Good day on a bad day.

 Well, it was bright blue sky, very windy and about 20 degrees cooler than the day before. A cold front had gone through the night before and I left the boat launch at about 1:20 PM. These are not ideal conditions by anyones standards. But, as you can see I did quite well. I saw people catching fish on white frogs over grass. I couldn't get a strike on my pop r so I changed locations and baits. I started throwing my gold and black rogue and started catching fish. I also caught fish on my ribbit around lilly pads. The rogue was producing near hydrila in about 5 ft. of water. The lake is probably 9 ft. low and very clear.
I ended up catching 15 fish in about 4 hours on what I would call a bad looking day.

Mine was bigger.

10.74 lbs Wins Sam Rayburn McDonald’s Big Bass Splash Robert Laird brought in the first double digit bass of the event at 10.74lbs Friday and held the lead to win the McDonald's Big Bass Splash on Lake Sam Rayburn, TX.

Laird is a big bass fisherman ! Leads on day 2 at Rayburn.

Robert Laird of Livingston set the hook on a 13.19 pound bass.  Laird was fishing in 6 to 8 feet of water beside the U.S. 190 bridge across Lake Livingston. He was using a Bagley crankbait.

Laird’s fish is the first ShareLunker ever entered from Lake Livingston and is the new lake record for largemouth. The fish also was the big fish in the Polk County Bass Club tournament Laird was fishing in and helped him win. The fish bested Lake Livingston’s previous largemouth record of 12.45 pounds caught February 16, 1987.

Lake Livingston is not known as a big bass lake, and some of Laird’s friends doubted him when he said he had a fish over 10 pounds to weigh in.

“They didn’t want to believe me on Lake Livingston,” he said. “When I pulled her out of the bag, all their eyes flew open.”

Any angler legally catching a 13 pound or bigger largemouth bass from Texas waters, public or private, between October 1 and April 30 may submit the fish to the Toyota ShareLunker program by calling program manager David Campbell at 903-681-0550 or paging him at 888-784-0600 and leaving a phone number including area code. 

Big Bass Splash results, day 2.

I've been waiting for day 3 results but they are not yet available, soooo, I will publish this. For all hourly results of the 1st 2 days, http://www.sealyoutdoors.com/

                                                       Day 2 of the McDonald’s Big Bass Splash on Sam Rayburn started out with very cool temps in the 40’s and the wind was already rolling. Robert Laird is still in the lead from his Day 1catch weighing 10.74 lbs. He was closely challenged on Day 2 as Joe Kirbow (photo on right) of Beaumont, Texas ran to the scales with the biggest catch of his life – a 10.36 lb fish! The top 5 leader board nearly had a complete turnover by the end of the day.

1st	Robert Laird	Livingston, TX	10.74
2nd	Joe Kirbow	Beaumont, TX	10.36
3rd	Tommy Hammons	Jacksonville, TX	9.73
4th	Russell Spacek	Dime Box, TX	9.52
5th	Bob Sims	Orange, TX	8.98

Big Bass Splash results, day 1.

10.74 Leads Day 1 - McDonald's Big Bass Splash on Lake Sam Rayburn, TX Day 1 Leader Board

1st   Robert Laird Livingston, TX 10.74 2nd   Russell Spacek Dime Box, TX 9.52 3rd   Luke Reed Dayton, TX 8.27 4th   Danny Shoemaker Lufkin, TX 8.20 5th   Walter Peddy Nacogdoches, TX 8.00 That's gonna be hard to beat. Keep watching.

Big Bass Splash

It's that time of year again! The McDonald's tournament is back at Big Sam. The weather is going to be < perfect. I went out yesterday morning and caught about 10 fish in all. Nothing big, but as you know, all fish are good fish. The fish bit watermelon/red Senco on a 5-0 hook with no weight, also on a floating rattling Rogue in orange and black  in about 5' of water. Water temp. was 68 and the water is clear. I am not too sure that the winning fish won't be caught on Sunday, because the weather is going to be bad today and Saturday. Now, it depends on when the cold front comes through today. If the first few hours of the day are good then it could be caught early today. I will keep you posted.

Getting Closer

I took my head into the shop today. Supposed to be done tomorrow afternoon, (tomorrow being Thursday).
I am seriously hoping that my boat will run much better when it's done. I believe that we got the leaks fixed.
Now all I need is a motor and I'll be set to fish. Then I can get back to telling you what they are biting.

Went out Saturday and caught 7 fish to 2.5 lbs. on beetlespins and chartruese spinners in about 3 hours. Really went to see if I had fixed my boat, I hadn't. Seems I have a warped head. I've been told that I must have carberator problems, as the fuel in the cylinder is what actually cools the engine, not the water pump.
The lake is still 8ft. low but is clearing slightly. Still time to catch those spawners.