Posted By: Jay Kendrick
Northeast Texas fishing report: Fall/Winter transition - 12/19/14 03:10 AM
This has been a very interesting fall to say the least. The weather can't seem to make up its mind on what it wants to do, lake levels are dropping, the Dallas Cowboys are actually playing decent football, and despite all of this... the fishing has remained fantastic for me and my clients.
This lingering warm weather we have been having has kept these bass holding out on making their final push in to their deep water winter patterns, and despite the fact that some of these lakes are dropping like a rock.. i'm catching a lot of fish shallower right now than I have all year. I know it's December but the fact that the water temp is still hovering around the low to mid 50's is keeping the bait and bass up really shallow. The most important factor this time of the year is baitfish, plain and simple. If you aren't around bait, then you probably are not around any significant concentration of fish. So don't let the falling lake levels prevent you from getting up in the creeks on your next trip.
Here's how i've been catching my fish on a few of the lakes around here.
Lake O' The Pines: I'm catching a lot of fish in really shallow water in the greenest hydrilla I can find. 1/4 oz traps, small swimbaits, jerkbaits and wake baits are doing the bulk of the fish catching for us in 2-3 ft. I've also been catching some fish in the 15-20 ft range on umbrella rigs, under spins with small fluke trailers, jigging spoons and football jigs. This bite seems to be better on sunny days when you can find the bait grouped up along drop offs in the first 1/2 of the creeks. When you find the right group of fish, it can be almost every cast. The fish we've been catching are all really fat and healthy, which is a great sign. Look for Pines to show out this spring in tournaments.
Cypress Springs/Bob Sandlin: Much like pines, i've still been catching quite a few fish up shallow in the first 1/2s of creeks and coves on traps, chatterbaits and jigs. The dock and brush bite has been pretty strong on both lakes on sunny days. I've been catching these fish on 5/16 and 7/16 oz santone finesse jigs in matts craw color. The brush i'm fishing is only in 5-10 ft of water, going back to what I said about a lot of fish still being shallower. On overcast days i've been catching them on an umbrella rig fished around the same docks and brush. Make sure to use the lightest weigh jig heads you can that will keep your bait around the fish, as a slow retrieve that keeps your rig in the strike zone for the longest time seems to get bit the best.
Welsh/Monti: Monticello has been tough due to the fact that they aren't running any stacks at the moment. This has the fish grouped up in different locations than previous years which require different techniques to catch them. I've been concentrating on deeper water close to the flats where they would normally be if the plant was running, and slowing my presentation down. This means drop shots, jigs and shakey heads. Right now you're fishing for a handful of bites, but they are usually good ones.
Welsh on the other hand has been fishing great this month. Almost all of our trips out there have yielded 50+ fish days with a few good ones mixed in usually. Swimbaits and senkos around trees outside of spawning areas and drop shots and umbrella rigs on points have been doing most of the damage.
I hope this information helps ya'll on your next trip to the lake. I'd like to remind everybody that i'm running a $300 full day special through the end of 2014. This special applies to trips I will be running on Lake Fork and the lakes mentioned above in 2015, as long as the trip is paid in full before 1/1/15. Don't miss out on this spectacular fishing for a very affordable cost!
I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy new year! I look forward to earning your business in 2015 and plan to help make it a memorable year for you!
This lingering warm weather we have been having has kept these bass holding out on making their final push in to their deep water winter patterns, and despite the fact that some of these lakes are dropping like a rock.. i'm catching a lot of fish shallower right now than I have all year. I know it's December but the fact that the water temp is still hovering around the low to mid 50's is keeping the bait and bass up really shallow. The most important factor this time of the year is baitfish, plain and simple. If you aren't around bait, then you probably are not around any significant concentration of fish. So don't let the falling lake levels prevent you from getting up in the creeks on your next trip.
Here's how i've been catching my fish on a few of the lakes around here.
Lake O' The Pines: I'm catching a lot of fish in really shallow water in the greenest hydrilla I can find. 1/4 oz traps, small swimbaits, jerkbaits and wake baits are doing the bulk of the fish catching for us in 2-3 ft. I've also been catching some fish in the 15-20 ft range on umbrella rigs, under spins with small fluke trailers, jigging spoons and football jigs. This bite seems to be better on sunny days when you can find the bait grouped up along drop offs in the first 1/2 of the creeks. When you find the right group of fish, it can be almost every cast. The fish we've been catching are all really fat and healthy, which is a great sign. Look for Pines to show out this spring in tournaments.
Cypress Springs/Bob Sandlin: Much like pines, i've still been catching quite a few fish up shallow in the first 1/2s of creeks and coves on traps, chatterbaits and jigs. The dock and brush bite has been pretty strong on both lakes on sunny days. I've been catching these fish on 5/16 and 7/16 oz santone finesse jigs in matts craw color. The brush i'm fishing is only in 5-10 ft of water, going back to what I said about a lot of fish still being shallower. On overcast days i've been catching them on an umbrella rig fished around the same docks and brush. Make sure to use the lightest weigh jig heads you can that will keep your bait around the fish, as a slow retrieve that keeps your rig in the strike zone for the longest time seems to get bit the best.
Welsh/Monti: Monticello has been tough due to the fact that they aren't running any stacks at the moment. This has the fish grouped up in different locations than previous years which require different techniques to catch them. I've been concentrating on deeper water close to the flats where they would normally be if the plant was running, and slowing my presentation down. This means drop shots, jigs and shakey heads. Right now you're fishing for a handful of bites, but they are usually good ones.
Welsh on the other hand has been fishing great this month. Almost all of our trips out there have yielded 50+ fish days with a few good ones mixed in usually. Swimbaits and senkos around trees outside of spawning areas and drop shots and umbrella rigs on points have been doing most of the damage.
I hope this information helps ya'll on your next trip to the lake. I'd like to remind everybody that i'm running a $300 full day special through the end of 2014. This special applies to trips I will be running on Lake Fork and the lakes mentioned above in 2015, as long as the trip is paid in full before 1/1/15. Don't miss out on this spectacular fishing for a very affordable cost!
I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy new year! I look forward to earning your business in 2015 and plan to help make it a memorable year for you!
