Bass fishing on the Sabine river above Orange txt?

Looks like ill be down there soon on a little family trip....anybody know what's going on down their with the bass fishing?....I know there's a lot of fresh water pushing down.

BASS Open is there next week. It will be crowded until after that.

Don't know why BASS comes to the Sabine other than the big crowds. The fishery is mediocre at best. For some reason it's hard to catch anything more than dinks.

My guess is orange is paying some pretty big dollars to get these tournaments down here.

Money has a lot to do with it for sure and while it may not be the greatest fishery, it provides just about the most level field for its competitors than any other waters in the area. Who says every competition has be to held at the easiest places to catch fish? To use golf as an analogy, don't the PGA and USGA try to make their courses harder in their major competitions? I know it apples and oranges, but if everyone has to fish to same water, what is the difference? Just my 2 cents.

It's a very diverse fishery. I like it cause you can go 50+ miles in 4 directions and fish completely different water.

Orange paid 90K for this Open to come to the Sabine. It comes from Hotel Occupancy Tax dollars that will never be recouped imo. Fish will be caught, but the weights aren't going to be something that attracts tourists, puts bodies in beds and results in an equal return on the City's investment.

Troy, a lot of water coming down the river due to all the recent rain. Not good timing for bring the family down for river cruising or riding on skis. There will be lots of floaters in the river to dodge. Fishing will be ok in the backwaters on soft plastics.

It can be a challenge at times but bass fishing in general is tough anywhere at times. I like the fact that they get to fish at a venue that offers a challenge. They are all on the same body of water under the same conditions. Just got to figure out how to catch the bigger bass.

The river is actually amazing and offers bass fishermen a variety of options. You can fish the grass, backwater marshes, bayous off the river, look for cuts with a falling tide and bass chasing bait, etc. It is more of a challenge to catch 3-5 lb bass than on our local reservoirs but you can catch a limit of 12" legal bass every day.

With ~400 anglers coming to town staying at least 3 nights. Which doesn't include practice or staying the night the day the tournament ends it won't take long to hit 90K in hotel rooms. Granted many won't stay in hotels or they will double up. There are also the ones that have spent a week in pre-practice and will spend the full tournament week as well so it kind of balances out.

First off I'm a little biased on this subject since I'm from and work for the City of Orange. Everyone knows the Sabine river is not the best bass fishery in the nation but it has so much to offer. Case in point, I have numerous boat ramps within 15 minutes of my house, when I go fishing its a matter of what I want to fish for versus where I want to fish since the fishery is so diverse.
I understand the bass tournament fisherman's mentality; those wanting numbers of solid fish and "big sacks" to bring to the scales for the WOW factor but its all about perspective. The Sabine is a place that will humble even the best of bass anglers. Sure they will have to sort through a lot the smalls for 5 keepers but when they hang into that 3 to 5 pounder it can be a game changer and a huge mental boost to their game. No different than having a 20 pound sack and culling a 3 pounder with a 9.65. I know that 80 miles north of here that might not even get you a check on certain days but that's a damn nice sack anywhere in my book. That's just my 2 cents!
As for the cost, it is my understanding that Orange is not paying anymore than what other cities pay to have Bass Masters come to town. It just so happens that Orange has the available funds through the hotel/motel tax and I'm sure the Stark Cultural Venues kicks in some also. I figure if we have the funds then why not keep bringing them back.
In every tournament there are winners and losers, such will be the case when Bass returns to the Sabine. All the Pro's need to do is put their "big boy pants" on and do what they do best...... Fish! Along with having a damn good time doing it.....

TroyKing, Sorry man I got to reading the other post and forgot about why the post was started. Right now the river is full up and T-bend was suppose to open some gates today so it will be up for awhile. The best advice I can give you is keep the hard baits, spinner baits and buzz baits small 1/4 or 3/8oz and cover some water.When you find a change in water color such as ditches and drains sit on it, fish it from every angle with everything in the boat before you leave it. When the sun gets over the trees just start flipp'in and pitch'in when you get tired of that, flip and pitch some more.

Key items to have in the boat....
OFF, snake gun, machete and lots of water

I won't and haven't spent a dime on a room, meal or bait in Orange. Neither will the other six anglers staying with me in another town. A lot of locals will stay at home. I know enough about economic development and visitor's bureaus to know that there's more return than HOT dollars that goes into the equation and decision to pursue an event. Sales tax dollars are a lot more important to the City than HOT because of general use.

I'll do the math, because it's fun. They would need $1.29 million in hotel rooms to recoup the $90K in HOT @ 7% max rate. At $100/night that's 12,857 room nights. Let's say everyone stays 6 nights in Orange, TX and in their own room... which they won't. They'd need 2,142 anglers, a far cry from the actual field and the limited number of family members that will follow along.

I'm not trying to bash the decision to hold the event on the River or to bring it to the River with this post. Evidently, this is an important deal to the local community and they can provide entertainment using restricted funds while not taking away from the general funds they use on roads, public safety, etc. As far as the fishing goes, I don't think this place is a gold mine, and I think it's a harsh place for us to put our bass boats. But that can be said about a lot of other places they could have sent us.

We really enjoyed the actual fishing part of it last fall at the Championship. We knew it was primarily a dink fest but found ways to catch a better than average fish there. Enjoyed the fishing all 4 days but we had our expectations calibrated when we got there. Local businesses and restaurants treated us very well. No complaints here.

thanks for the feed back...not sure when we will be there, but it will be this summer...when is this BASS event?...for sure want to stay away from that!!

Bass event is next week. People are practicing now and the event is next thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

1. The city does not intend to make their money back on the event that weekend.
2. The hope is to showcase our city and the surrounding area to some folks that would never come this way, in hope that they will return some day and spend some more money.
3. True we do not have the best accommodations outside of a select few hotels. That can be said for a number of places Bass goes.
4. I love my "gar hole" and enjoy the versatility of the fishery.
5. Harsh environment? As you previously stated that could be said about a lot of other places, that's just part of the sport we love. T-bend is one of the most stump invested lakes in the nation and Rayburn has those pesky little islands that just pop up over night that people keep running over....

I'm truly sorry that you feel the way you do about the Sabine river and Orange but its been a good river to me and a lot of folks I know. While you are down here try to get past all the perceived negatives and enjoy the scenery and challenges we have to offer.

This hits the nail on the head!

Having been in and around orange for quite a while I would be p!$$ed if the city was blowing money on a fishing tournament instead of cleaning that place up and trying to bring in permanent businesses. As far as the river fishing, it is what it is. Can be really fun or really tough but anybody in a tournament there could have a shot to run up on that little stretch with a couple good fish. I don't really fish the Sabine but we used to fish the neches a good bit and you could catch a lot of fish some days out there and we tore up some reds on a river bend one time on square bills which was really fun. And that wasn't a mile or 2 from the barrier

I wasn't talking tax dollars, missed that part of your first post. I agree the city will never recoup that much cash through tax dollars.
I was thinking of revenue impact for the business. IE: $90,000 divided by $100/night so 900 nights or ~2.5 nights per angler based on full field of 200 pros/ 200 co's

Personally I think the Red River and Lake Fork are tougher on a boat than the Sabine. I expected navigating to be harder than it was. Just clean it up when you get home and your boat will be fine.

Many more places more harsh on a boat than the Sabine area. In fact, I can't think of much water to actually tear your boat up unless you do something stupid like run up a shallow bayou somewhere off river. I grew up on Hildebrand/Taylor's bayou and also pine island bayou area and I can't think of a spot that comes close to Palestine, Fork, Toledo.

I guess it's a little short-sighted to say the "Sabine" is harsh. There are a lot of dangers in the navigable waters of this tournament (which covers a million square miles or so), and that is what my reference was to.

I've run around a little bit to check out the different areas, which are diverse as mentioned. It's a neat place. I can appreciate the scenery; I've experienced a lot of firsts down there and even took time to do a video call or two with my family to share some of my experiences with them. Seeing different places, sceneries, etc. is something I have a real appreciation for. But this venue is less than ideal as a fishery and as a vacation spot to me, especially compared to the other two lakes we're visiting in the Central Opens. With that being said, I'm always happy when BASS brings an event to Texas and this is no exception.

Jaret, I've been in Pine Island and am a little surprised that you consider it a safe place to navigate. Isn't that area of the system (I consider anything on that main western river part of the system) where Ike ran his boat up on the bank? I had the benefit, I guess you could call it, of seeing the area at a low water level and it's not exactly a "safe" run. The local anglers I talked to seemed to echo that sentiment, at least based on the advice they provided about areas where it might be a good idea to idle on the main river. On my last visit the water had recently come up, and there were a bunch of floaters coming down the rivers making them a little more difficult to navigate also.

With Toledo starting to let a little water out it's going to be interesting. The neches is already up but may be back down by next weekend.

I guess it depends on what body of water we are comparing. Pretty much any lake I've been to after significant rain becomes "dangerous". Fork Rayburn Toledo all have floaters. I see guys running stuff on Rayburn that have no idea what's under them. I'm sure others have witnessed the same on their lake. So to say one is more dangerous than the other is merely semantics. Ike seems to take more risks than most and him running up on the bank is his fault not because of a "dangerous" fishery. That location will never be known for big limits. It's hosting tournaments for the diversity. I think it's good when they throw in a location that guys need to "figure" out versus everyone stacked on a ledge like Kentucky lake.

The Sabine is like any other river system, it is loaded with bass and influenced by runoff and tides. Everyone in the tournament will be on a level playing field. Some tournaments are on lakes or rivers that offer lots of action and an opportunity for big bass. But some events are tough...it doesn't matter because everyone has the same opportunity. Tie on some lures and go fishing!

Alex, as far as Ike, he was in an area off the Neches river called Lake Bayou which has a narrow cut to run through. Use common sense when running these types of areas.

I've fished the Sabine since 1974 and only once hit an object while on plane. It was a log just below the surface, but did no damage due to running at a reduced speed in the area. The area I consider dangerous for boats is the ship's graveyard area southeast of the boat ramp.

Good luck!

No dog in this fight, just an FYI...

The financial impact from any expenditures from an event like this include multiples. Typically 4-5 times the actual amount spent in the area before the tax impact is calculated. This allows for the times the money turns over in the area over time. Lodging,fuel,food,baits,etc or all factored in.

We ran 50-60 miles each way every day. Even went through shipping channel and had zero issues or damage to boat.

I know the area where ike wrecked and there was one stump in that channel that i bet he hit. I ran over it a few times before we knew it was there. Lucky i never hit it. Its not that dangerous running most of that water, just some spots can be and theres always the chance for a floater but thats on any of our lakes

Well I guess a few of us have learned a thing or two about this upcoming tournament. Its gonna be a grind for the guys, somebody's gonna hit something and Orange is gonna lose its [censored], LOL! Either way I hope all involved have a great experience, catch some fish and return home safe with their health, hulls and lower units intact.

Good luck to all the participants and spectators alike.....

there is bridge pillars also under water