Hey guys!

Been a while since I last stopped by.

Recent moved out of the outskirts of Houston and now close to Lake Conroe.

Been trying to get on the lake but my normal fishing buddy has been out of pocket. But a friend I used to offshore fish with (mostly on my boat) was invited on a guided Hybrid trip. They slaughtered them in short order on one of the nastiest days of the year!

So I picked a picture perfect day to go (solo, buddy couldn't get loose again). No wind, sun shiny day, fished from noon until dark...not the first bump!

Took the wife with me today, planned to fish till noon. Of course another perfect day, dead calm all day! Again not the first bite. I did see a kid catch a Hybrid at a spot that I could find from a video I watched, but still nothing!

Could someone help me with the water depth they like? I've caught plenty on Lake Somerville and below the the dam at Lake Somerville (I'm currently holding the water body record for Striped Bass below the dam). So I can catch them, but not used to this amount of water.

Found bait and what I thought were fish on humps. I used tips from what the guide had my buddy do two weeks ago, but nothing!

Don't need any secret spot, just like to know what water depth is best for consistent action at this time of year?

Thank!

Dead calm is the kiss of death for hybrid fishing. You need 7-10 mph wind and you need to make some noise to get the fish stirred up. Read thumping or splashing. Try again when the weather is more cooperative.

Normally, BAD WEATHER EQUALS GOOD FISHING WHEN FISHING FOR STRIPERS OR HYBRIDS. That has been my luck. If it is too bad to crappie fish, bass fish, it time to pull out the big rigs for stripers or the hybrids. Daniel

yes, on calm days, you need to create some commotion, normally waves hitting the boat will do, but a thumper is even better

The buddy who "slaughtered" them, jokingly said I needed to go when the weather was bad or hire the guide for the day to see what I was doing wrong.

I tried "dead sticking" some on both trips. On the solo trip I had 4 rods out most of the time. I had 4 different rigs on bottom too...looking for the secret! Big paddle tail (3.5") tandem with a small curly tail, large paddle tail solo (3.5"), same bait friend used on the day he caught them and skinny medium curly tail (3.5").

Used the same stuff with my wife but held the rod most of the time.

I read some posts here and seen the "thumper" mentioned in almost all posts. My buddy said the guide was tumping on the bottom of the boat when he fished the lake a couple weeks ago.

So I'm in the market for one! Who has the best one, least expensive (but not cheap)?

There are 4 thumpers out there that i know of.
One of them being the thumponator (you can search for the other 3 or send me a PM)
click on the link in the signature and you can watch the 2 videos about the thumponator

My thumpers have been available for about 8 years now. I have customers in 27 states which are mostly guides who want equipment and service they can depend on for several years. Sorry I didn’t see this sooner. I’ve been grinding on the thumper assembly line. Give me a call when you get ready sir. 817-220-2312

Funny when I think I only go when it is calm winds and glassy lake.....I catch hybrids every-time....got whimpy in my old age and smart, use a thumper every-time.....always works. Good luck....BTW I usually fish 20 FOW or deeper.

CaptnC, Going to tag along on your thread. I'll be trying to catch some hybrids for the first time Saturday on Conroe. I would love any suggestions to my plan, I'm hoping this can be a method to get the inlaws who are not fishermen into fishing...but we will see...

I've read up a little on the techniques and where to find them this time of year...
I've marked several main lake points/dropoffs, Humps, Saddles and other structures in 15-25'. going to slow roll over those to see if I can mark any fish.

Plan on trolling 2 Hellbenders with a pet spoon or small rattletrap? on the outside and deep diver crankbait with a pet? as well in the middle (might just do 2 rods for simplicity sake)

Trolling speed I've read is between 1.5-2.5 mph?

I'll have some vertical jigs rigged up incase we find a big school to sit on along with an Umbrella rig to cast out a ways pull thru the school.

Does this sound like a reasonable attack plan? Literally piecing it together from articles and youtube videos. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Electronics is actually the key......and of course THUMPING Stripers and hybrids If you don't have a thumper, I "have a Center console aluminum now, when I had a tracker with carpet used a bat" use to use a broom stick with duck tape on the end and would start with a steady thump siting at the helm...don't stop till pole dip and while a bite is on...always hit multiple poles...watch the screen.....it works if not you didnt thump hard enough.

I can guarantee that would work on Lake Somerville, we smacked them pretty good last Saturday. Most of the big fish are up in the creeks spawning. But there were plenty of juvenile Whites that were 10"+. We only kept 10 that were around 13" that had stayed in the lake.

My wife didn't want to mess with another water haul on Conroe. So I will either go sole or get my buddy to tag along!

I'm pretty decent with my electronics. From the late 70's till 2015 I nearly lived offshore. I ran charters from the late 90's to 2010. We bottom fished for Tilefish in 700 to 1000 feet of water. I spent many night out at the "floaters" fishing for Blackfin and Yellowfin tuna. 100nmile one way fishing in over 3000 feet of water!

I certainly don't have as much on my bay/lake rig as I do on my offshore rig. Three GPS, three depth finder...one combo unit has radar, chart and depth in combo, one chart with depth, one stand alone GPS and one stand alone sounder. No two are from the same manufacturer too. So you have to stay on top or your game to run them all properly.

Fairly certain I can find a fish...now to get one to bite! One to bite on Conroe!

Once the water warms up a bit I feel like I will be ok. Dead sticking and thumping are not common fishing practices offshore!

I thump on every trip with all types of presentations. Even trolling up to 6 mph.
There’s more charter captains starting to thump now days. It’s surprising what saltwater fish species respond to it. I have a guy who wants me to bring a thumper to port aransas and go out 200 miles with him to see how marlin respond. I’m going to take him up on that soon.

Wanted to give a little report. We started Saturday morning near seven coves, Marked tons of bait and fish in 35' of water. Hanging around 20-28'. We had a ton of floating vegetation that kept fouling up our lines. After a few mishaps, we tried jigging with no luck. Headed south around the island, dam, and couple of humps in the middle of the lake. We hardly marked any fish the rest of the day. Hit a few bass spots before heading in for lunch.

Went back out in the evening around 5 and headed north. Did not mark a single fish by the 1097 bridge or in the pond. no hits, nada all day.

Just as we were about to go to a new spot, BAM a triple hook up! got them all in, biggest was 3.8# and made a few more passes over that spot, picked up 3 more. Ended up with 6 total but never marked fish on any pass... Hellbender with an egg weight and pet spoon, Hellbender with with a small rattletrap, and a deep diving crank bait with pet spoon.

After 2 passes with no hits we tried a few other spots on the bridge with no luck, Called it a day.

It was nice to finally have some success, for the first time ever trying to hybrid fish, I was happy to end on a high note.

Sounds like a decent day Walden!