Fished a mixed trip with TawakoniSpecial and a couple guys that are not TFF'rs, but good guys - Jimbo and Paul today It was hard to get up this morning a little before 5am, but I managed to wake up and check the weather one more time. 6-8 mph out of the North for most of the morning and then 15-20 in the late afternoon. Sounds ok......take the chargers off and just a slight breeze outside......Get to the lake at 6am and the wind must have been 15-20mph

Well the winds did lay down as the morning went on and gave way to a pretty good day of fishing We started out down South and found birds flying everywhere from Wolf to the dam. The wind and waves were just too strong for the fish to bunch up so we drove around a bit and checked some calmer waters. We saw a lot of birds on several other spots, but I never saw any surface feeding today anywhere. Finally marked a few fish about 8am and was tired of riding a bull and trying to slab and work the trolling motor, so we broke out the trolling sticks.

We did ok most of the morning picking up one or two as we passed over scattered fish on humps, then about 10:30 we finally found a ridge that had a lot of fish on it. Tried to slab them up to no avail and went back to trolling three rods. That was the ticket. I guess we filled up the 120 quart cooler in an hour and a half. Nice BIG Tawakoni sandies, hybrid, and even a big striper Haven't seen sand bass that big since the Spring. Several 17 inch ones! I am always amazed at the size of sand bass we catch on Tawakoni, but today it was literally stunning how big they were!

I think we ended the day with about 8 keeper hybrid, 1 striper, and about 60 something huge sand bass. Congrats to Mike on the 9 pound hybrid!

Dang near every fish today was caught on a #13 Pet Spoon from www.moestackleshop.com . http://www.moestackleshop.com/estore/details/4039
I like to pull it behind the X20 deep diver crankbaits sold at Academy. They always run straight and dont need a weight under them. Just remove the hooks, put a swivel on the rear hook hanger, tie about 5 feet of line to the swivel, and tie the pet spoon on the end. Pretty much the same thing as a hell-pet rig - good little trolling rig.

*TROLLING TIPS 101*

1. Don't troll around schooling fish.
2. Don't troll around a bunch of boats still fishing.
3. Don't troll around 1 boat that is still fishing a point or hump.
Trolling is a great way to box up fish this time of year. I don't do a lot of trolling, but when I have to I will. The key to trolling is courtesy and patience. There were a couple spots I wanted to try a troll on today, but a boat was on that spot, so I went elsewhere. I kinda feel like if they were there first it is there's. I don't want my motor spooking anybody's fish if they are still fishing. As long as everyone is playing nice, trolling is a great way to catch fish

Wish all trollers operated by your rules!

Matt,

Thanks again, I had a great time and learned a lot today! My freezer is full again. I'm looking forward to the next time we can get out there.

Catching that striper at 1215 in the afternoon in August in shallow(ish) water was something else! Not to mention how much fun it is pulling in a nice big ol hybrid.

Nice report,

Good job Matt...looks like some happy clients.....

Nice Job Matt!

U da man! All we caught were Sandies, guess all the legal Hybridsin Cedar Creek have been caught by Fastguy and have sore mouths.

WTG Matt!!

great job Matt, that is why i always go out in the afternoons. i troll and usually there isn't anyone around the spots i have gps marks on in the PM. no problems running around the casters, slabbers or live bait guys. Thanks for the info. , clete

nice fish!

congrats matt- nice job and I do like the trolling rules....

however----

if you are still fishing/slabbing, don't pull up to a point in an area you see a troller- i fish tawakoni quite a bit during the week and it is a big ol lake but several times we have been the only ones in an area, plain to see from way off we are trolling and in what direction and yet they pull up and start slabbing/still fishing and then shoot ME looks- I've even had guys catch my markers- playing nice takes concessions by all parties...

Nice Job Matt! Sharp boat graphics also!

Nice report & really nice fish. I'm not much of a troller but will do it on occassion when nothing else is working. Good trolling tips - thanks for posting those.

I guess I could troll for those big bad boys! Nice work Dude! Excellent trolling tips as well. We should do some video work on that

Excellent point KP. There are a lot of spots out there on Hubbard and Tawakoni that hold fish and evreryone knows about. When I see a boat that has a troll set up, I always move to the next spot. Thats the little rule I was talking about, the "you beat me there - its yours" rule.

And another point can just be made for the courtesy factor. If someone is sitting on a main lake point or hump fishing, the water is public domain. I dont see a problem at all with joining them. Pull in nice and easy with the trolling motor and join in. Doesn't bother me a bit! I always try to say hi and ask if it bothers them when I pull up on a spot I have marked if there is a boat on a particular spot when I'm slabbing, most people are cool with it and it never bothers me either. I don't even mind someone moving in on my troll. A big smile and wave goes a long way with a lot of folks.

A lot of times people just don't really know the hows, whens, and where's of fishing and don't mean to bother other folks fishing. Thats whats great about this forum. We can all talk about it and hopefully learn some new tricks along the way. I have learned a lot of really good info along the way myself.

Matt I like the trolling rules. They should be printed somewhere as a lake law.

kool matt- i pretty much share what I know is going on as far as the whites hybrids and cats both on the forum and in pm's
i try to avoid the weekends but when we have guests at the lake house, I end up with the weekend warriors during the summer when the guests want to go catch supper
this summedr I only had one issue and I did point out a marker to a guy who had driven all the way up from the caddo inlet direction to the greenville pump station where we had been catching fish on every pass right atg our marker and this guy pulls up about 20 yards away and starts casting toward the marker i waved and he ignored me i pointed at the marker and he gave me the "hook em unicorns"
i waved again and smiled, and yelled- its a big lake and you can keep my marker and off we went
yep- it is a public lake and anyone can fish anywhere and I read a lot of posts about inconsiderate trollers- but, I have seen the non trollers cause their share of issues as well

someone has a sig line that says you can't fix stupid

"hook em unicorns"

Cant we all just get along

Gonna fish Hubbard with 1 guy tomorrow. Call me if anybody wants to split a trip, thanks

If someone has a bouy out and is fishing it (however that may be, trolling, slabing, live bait drifting, etc.), then in my opinion, that person has found fish there and has marked that spot as theirs for how ever long they choose to stay there... i had "someone" drive up with their big motor about 15 yards from my bouy a couple weeks ago and throw a bouy right there and proceed to fish like i had the only spot on the lake!

great job matt and on the trolling rules also

That is the great thing about the new G.P.S. units just mark a waypoint and don't throw a marker and that takes care of the marker fisherman!!!lol.

Sometimes you cannot replace a bouy.