April Fishing Reports
My latest fishing report can be found at Barry’s Bass Fishing and features Canyon Lake, Lake Dunlap, the Guadalupe River and Choke Canyon fishing conditions.
News Archive
February Fishing Report
My latest fishing report can be found at Barry’s Bass Fishing and features Canyon Lake. My good friend Mike Maring and I fished all day and took note of water conditions and fish behaviors.
Bass Fishing On Canyon Lake
Honestly is always the best approach so let me begin by saying Canyon Lake is not known for it’s big bass nor for it’s exceptional catches. What it does hold is beautiful clear water just waiting to be enjoyed by those who like the great outdoors. As a bonus, if a person wants to learn how to bass fish or improve their fishing skills, while enjoying one of the most scenic lakes in Texas, it’s a nice place to fish.
Although some 23″ (7 pounders) and larger bass are caught each year, most smallmouth and largemouth bass caught are 12″ to 16″ long. But, their smaller frame is not indicative of their abundant fighting ability. Couple their strong fights with light tackle and it’s a match to be cherished.
Because the water is clear with majestic deep canyons with steep drop-offs and mostly rock, light tackle is preferred. Generally, light to medium rods, 8 to 12 pound line on spinning or bait-casting reels is the tackle of choice.
When fishing for bass in the winter and summer, the bass are usually found in water from 15 to 35 feet. But in the spring and fall the bass can even be caught in very shallow water. Medium to small size natural green, silver and white colored baits work best for bass. These baits include top-water, lipless to deep divers and spinner baits.
When using Texas, shaky-head, drop-shot rigged with soft plastics, watermelon red and other natural colors work great. On Texas rigs use 5″ to 7″ plastic worms or medium sized creature type plastics. On drop-shot, use 3″ to 4″ and shaky-heads use 4″ to 6″. With fluke types, 4″ and 5″ work the best. If you are after Smallmouth, they prefer the brighter translucent “clown” colors like chartreuse, pinks and reds.
Schedule your trip right now and let’s have some fun!
Beginner Testimonial
“Thank you for the best day of fishing ever. Yes, the weather was great but I think I would have still enjoyed myself even if it had been less than perfect.
I too, appreciate your patience and simple approach to fishing. After getting home I had a hundred more questions about fish and fishing but they will be answered with time and practice. I honestly wish I could do this every month as I think it is good for the soul.
I would highly recommend you as a guide and/or instructor to anyone, so please put me on the list if someone, especially a beginner, asks for a reference or testimony. Your persistence in finding us some fish to catch was a bonus for me as I thought fishing was mostly patience and luck with little skill.
I hope we have the chance to fish together sometime again this year, maybe fly fishing instruction.”
St. Croix’s 2012 Legend Tournament Bass Rod Review
Recently I tested and wrote a review of the St. Croix’s 2012 Legend Tournament Bass fishing rod.
Spending over 40 years in the jewelry business, I appreciate quality, fine workmanship, attention to details and a superb finish. Evidently, St. Croix has that same appreciation because the Legend Tournament Bass exhibit all those attributes. Plus, they are made right here in the good ole’ USA. YES!
St. Croix Rods, founded in 1948, is headquartered in Park Falls, Wisconsin. All their premium quality rods are made in Park Falls while their mid-priced series rods are manufactured in a state of the arts factory in Mexico. However, even the mid-priced rods are stilled designed and engineered in Park Falls.
St. Croix re-engineered their Legend Tournament (LT) rod series for 2012 so I had to get my hands on one to see how it could have been improved. I compared my 2011 model to the new 2012 model.”
Read the entire detailed review I wrote on Barry’s Bass Fishing website www.barrysbassfishing >>>
What’s Your Attitude On Those Tough Fishing Days?
Oftentimes it’s persistence that pays off. I just spent a couple days by myself fishing Choke Canyon Lake, near Three Rivers, TX. The lake is several feet low and still dropping. The weather was very hot and dry, almost no wind, clear blue skies, and the fishing solunar tables showed it to be a couple of the worst days to fish in September.
With all those negative factors, not to mention, water temperature at 88 degrees and much of the grass dried up on the bank, fishing was tough. However, it’s days like this that really test one’s true grit.
Probably the hardest for me, and maybe most, is staying focused when sweat is pouring down my face, staying hydrated is next to impossible, and bites are sparse. The natural thing is to rely on the same techniques and locations that worked in the past. Most anglers begin doubting their abilities, get frustrated, start making excuses, and loss focus, yet they still proceed in the same manner. Or, they give up and go home.
I challenge each of you to use these tough fishing days as opportunities to learn and become better anglers. I know it’s hard! I guide for a living and I never want to have those days with clients, but it happens. Should I just give up or use those experiences to learn and teach others? I choose the later.
On my first day at Choke Canyon, the fishing was tough most of the day, except from about 4 PM until dark. The wind came up suddenly and the bass turned on. I fished one island on the windy point and side and caught over 20 bass. But, they were all small. However, I had managed to scrap out a nice size limit of keeper bass durning the tough time of the day. At the boat ramp, a man approached me, as usual, and asked about my day. In our conversation, he lamented that they hired a guide and they never caught a fish. He, obviously, asked what I had done differently. Then he told me that they fished the banks all day and never tried anything different. So why had I managed to catch some good size bass along with many little ones and they did not catch a thing? I don’t know because I was not with them, but I will share my thoughts, game plan and what I did to catch fish under such tough fishing conditions.
First, understanding that bass are coldblooded and must eat more often when the weather is hot, helped me to develop an overall strategy before ever hitting the water. Because the water level had dropped a lot, I studied my topographical map before going. That’s kind of normal for me when I plan to fish by myself. I am always looking for some new spots and when the lakes are low, there is no better time to scout. I had determined to concentrate on main lake points from about mid lake toward the dam, underwater humps and roadbeds in the same area.
I started shallow, up to 10 feet, for about one and a half hours with only one three pounder on Bomber’s Black Pearl Model A 8’ to10’ crankbait. I was using crankbaits as a searching tool so I could cover lots of water in a short time. Plus, in the summertime, bass will hit a faster moving bait before hitting a slow worm. The one bass came off the side of a shallow, gravel laden point with no deep water near by. That puzzled me. I kept moving from point to point trying numerous techniques, with little success.
So I moved to a deep water point with significant drop off, from 15 to 30 feet, at about 9 AM. Immediately, I hooked up on a couple, seemly big fish, but lost them both. One hit a Texas rig and the other on a Carolina rig. I was using Yum’s Margi Gras 6” Dinger on the Texas rig and an Owner’s Watermelon with Black Flake 4.3 “ Yuki Bug on the Carolina rig. I fished that point for another 20 minutes without a bite.
I then decided to move into a main lake pocket that had some grass on the flat and dropped off quickly forming two points and water depth of 25‘ on the middle of the pocket. Using a Texas rig an a Zoom 6” Watermelon Seed Lizard, I picked up three bass at the grass edge, two were keepers. I moved out and followed one point into the main lake and picked up another three pounder on the same Bomber Model A. I also hung a Gaspergou (freshwater drum) on the same bait that must have weighed 15 pounds or better. The last time I saw the fish it was headed west before pulling loose.
What had I allowed these fish to teach me? They wanted action, proximity to deeper water and grass, if possible. I did not fish the Texas and Carolina rigs in the usual manner. Instead, I swam the baits for a few feet, followed by a quick jerk and then an immediate pause for several seconds. The bass did not just pick it up, they attacked it.
On the crankbait, I dug the ground up out to the break and contacted everything I could to stimulate strikes. After contacting brush or weeds, I paused and then walked the bait for a few feet before speeding up again.
Again, I moved. This time to an island point that formed a saddle and then a hump. The top of the hump was 16’ with 30’ plus water on three sides and a 23’ saddle. The water was a little clearer so I began with a drop shot and Owner’s 3.3” Yuki Bug in Cinnamon with Blue Flake. I used the drop shot like a Carolina rig which produced a couple quick bites and bass close to the top of the hump, and one better fish just at the break.
I switched to a Carolina with a bigger Yuki Bug and caught several better bass on the breaks. Then the wind decided to blow rather hard so I just moved towards the windy point and along the windy side throwing and swimming Texas rig with the Zoom Lizard through the edge of the grass. I caught small bass until I got tired and called it a day.
Now, did I try other baits and techniques that day? You bet! Top waters, jerk baits, several cranks, wacky worms, shaky heads, swim baits, and buzz baits. I tried them fast, slow and everything in between and only caught a couple bass on the wacky worm style. The main point is that I did not just fish one way, I offered a selection in various
ways and patiently waited for the bass to tell me what, how and where they wanted to bite THAT day.
Day two was very much a mirror image, weather wise, as the first. I decided to pull out the fly rod, since the water was calm. Within 5 minutes, I boated one about 5 pounds on a tan colored diving Dalhberg along the side of a grass laden point. I had a few other takes, but could not get another stuck.
The sun rose and the bites stopped. I moved off the point and began with a Luhr-Jensen Tennessee Shad Hot Lips Express 18’-24’. I was fishing along breaks and over deeper water. The first several fish were hybrid strippers so I moved to a main lake point and fished parallel to the drop off.
A few minutes later I boated a big bass on the Hot Lips Express. About that time a boat was flying by so I flagged him down to see if he had scales, as mine were not working. The bass weighed 10 1/2 pounds and was released for another day. The other boater and I fished that area for another 30 minutes without another fish and we both left.
I decided to fish a few spots on the other end of the lake so I made the long run and fished several points without any action. I spotted some grass farther back down the point so I moved into shallower water and started throwing the Carolina with the 5.3’ Yuki Bug. I would just reach the edge of the exposed grass and quickly swim, jerk and pause the rig.
To my surprise, in that hot murky water, I picked up another bass about 5 pounds and a couple other keeps. After several more minutes, I left looking for other similar areas. I fished four or five similar spots and only caught a couple smaller bass.
I moved back to main lake points with my Hot Lips Express and began digging up the ground but did not put another in the boat. I switch to drop shot, used like a Carolina, with the 3.3” Yuki Bug. I hooked a big fish but my knot ( Albright knot tying the braided line to the fluorocarbon line) came lose, my bad. I know the bass was big because it came up trying to throw the bait. I boated a couple more small fish and then decide to get off the water and head home.
Now, I ask you, what made the difference between me and the other guide? Was it my superior skills? Very doubtful! Was it the water we fished? I doubt that, as well, because bass were caught is all depths. Or, was it the fact that I was not set on one kind of fishing and allowed the bass to tell me what, how and where there wanted to eat, instead of me forcing my way on them. I believe the later.
The next time you plan to go fishing, think about the season, weather, water level, habitat and habits. Don’t go fishing with your mind made up how the fish will bite that day or the next. On those tough days, be open minded, focused, and stay positive. You just might learn a lot about bass fishing and catching!
Barry Dodd
Hungry Bass
Bass are vicious predators that sometimes don’t know when to stop and enjoy their meal. This smallmouth bass was caught on Canyon Lake on a Zoom Trick worm fished wacky style. As you can see, the bass has a large shad stuck in it’s throat.
iPhone and iPad Apps for Fishermen
Fishing Days iPhone & iPad app
Fishing can be a way to leave technology behind and get back to nature. However, there are some easy to use applications for the iPhone and the iPad that provide a lot of great resources for your fishing trip. [Read more »]
An Astounding Christmas Fishing Story
I remember the day as if it were yesterday. Snowflakes were benevolently slithering from heaven’s gates. Soft white cloud-like flakes glistened while they settled atop trees and ever so gently touched the ground. I watched with admiration for God as those flakes transformed from a state of ice into liquid the instant they encountered the river’s surface. I thought to myself, this is what God told us to do; transform our lives from sinfulness into lives of godliness. [Read more »]
What is the Best Way to Know Which Fly Line to Buy?
The last several articles were devoted to understanding the basics of fly lines technology and design. There have been numerous examples explaining how the different lines are used for different circumstances. However, neither you nor I want to retain all that information. Therefore, we need a helpful method of aggregating into a useful tool that will simplify a rather complex subject matter. [Read more »]
