My favorite closest to home creek has been on fire for the last 4 days for beautifully colored, feisty rod bending Spotted Bass. This creek is teeming with them right now. Not only are they staging for spawn, but gorging on shad and crawfish! Caught 7 on Friday, gave them a rest on Saturday, 6 on Sunday, and 4 this morning. It will not be fished out any time soon because A.) I'm pretty much the only one that fishes it; B.) I seldom keep the fish I catch there; C) it gets restocked from an uncontrolled lake dam overflow on one end, the Elm Fork backs into it when water is high; D.)the monsoon rains returned this afternoon! The two hottest baits they can't stay away from these last few days are the monkey milk curly tail grub on a 16th oz jig head, and a 1/6th oz rooster tail.

Man I love them spots. I think I have their capital of the Greater Fort. Hood area in my backyard. They are a blast on an Ultralight setup or the flyrod. Definitely try and punch above their weight class.

Wow That's like catching a 25 lb. stringer of large mouth. That is a very special place. Thanks for sharing.

I've always thought they have more fight in em than your run of the mill largemouth! They love to rocket out of the water to try and shake a hook. I use ultralight gear, with no heavier than 6 lb mono. In a couple of pics you can see the monkey milk curly tail grub embedded in their jaw. Yesterday they only wanted rooster tails. Btw, I caught one lmb yesterday and compared to the fight in the spots, I was reeling in dead weight. As far as the bass family members, their brilliant coloring can't be matched. Later in the spring they will add a dash of bronze, almost as a nod to their relationship to the smallmouth.

Couldn't agree more about the colors. I also like that sky blue hint they reflect off their gill plates. Then there is the fact they go bananas for a small popper in little creeks. Of course I've always liked the "other bass". Growing up in Virginia there was absolutely no comparison between a 4 or 5 lb largemouth and a smallie that was barely 2 lbs. I'd take the smallmouth any day. Down here I'm digging the spots that seem to be recent addition to the mix and the little Guadlupes. The if you want to talk fight on light gear the Rio Grande cichlids are a whole 'nother animal.

Here's the addition of the bronze color I was talking about. A tinge, but definitely the hue of his cousin!

Nicely done Rudy! I used to fish lake Lewisville and loved to catch those spots.

Thanks for the replies, guys. Pop r, I am continuously amazed by watching these "know it all" bass fishermen in tournaments in lakes like Lewisville catch spots, and in their haste to fill the weigh in livewell with fish, not even know what they caught! BTW, Mr Bones 72, not sure if they are still there, but Lake Whitney, not that far from Killeen/Hood, at one time had smallies. Also, When i was a student at UT Austin back in the mid 70's, Lady Bird Lake(back then, Town Lake,) in Austin, had smallies as well. I caught quite a few, along with guadalupes, and tons of the Rios as well! I think Canyon Lake might still have smallies as well, though not sure. They are around, Check TP&W site for more info.

The particular creek I'm fishing right now, I have fished since 1970, and have been catching spots and largemouth, along with a variety of species, including whites, hybrids, warmouth, crappie, both blue and channel cat, all manner of sunfish, drum, buffalo, carp, gar, you name it! It is a treasure in the shadow of the Dallas skyline. Its best feature is that if you took a look at it, you'd swear you'd be lucky to seine minnows and crawfish out of it! My kind of fishing hole!!!!

Great Post Rudy, and again, nice Pics. I believe all lakes and streams will be great again this year, with Less Pressure and High water. last fall and winter we caught Many Fat hog Crappie in north Dallas lakes.. Fish On Brother..

Yes we certainly did, lol!

Nice fish Rudy. Awesome job.

Thanks Banker

Rudy you`re just one of those Guy`s

Gotta love spot and smallies. Grapevine has a few, texoma is loaded with the things on the east end.