Awesome report! I fish by myself mostly and really don’t like trolling. This time of year the slab bite is pretty tough. I watched Dennis’ videos, bought some Mepps #2 and the rest is history. Been catching sand bass on them pretty consistently. Sea ProTodd shows up and really puts on a clinic. Side scan is key right now. Don’t count on fish staying under the boat. Mark them at 60ft to one side and make long casts towards them. That’s been working best for me.

You make a good point about staying a ways away from the shallow (less than 15 fow) fish. Going over them after seeing them on side-scan can spook them. Also, these fish seem to prefer a low angle of retrieve, so you get that with a longer cast to the fish.

9/17/2022: I had the pleasure of fishing with dieforfish (Binh) and his wife Nan on Tawakoni. They had been reading and following my tips and posts regarding using Mepps #2 to catch these finicky fish in August and September but had not had any success. So, I went with them in their boat from 11:45 am until 6:30 pm, and we managed to catch 94: 88 white bass, 3 short hybrids, 2 cats, and a nice yellow bass. We started at Wolf where I demonstrated how to locate fish and keep them showing on side-scan as we retrieved the Mepps lures through them. They mimicked my technique and both started catching fish. I took them to all the usual spots that held fish - Holiday Humps, Wolf, Tallman, Sun, Cloud, GPS, Anchor, Finger, Figure Eight, and Stump Point. As usual, GPS was the best spot. A couple of guys in a bass boat came there while we were catching fish and began casting slabs. We were catching them steadily, and they were catching none. After 30 minutes of this, I invited them to come over and see what we were using. They seemed perplexed that slabs didn't work, apparently not familiar with the small shad in August and September requiring a different technique. I enjoyed the day and must say that Binh and Nan were the nicest fishing couple I've had the pleasure to fish with. I expect that we'll be fishing more together in the future.

Dennis, you are an amazing teacher! We said this so many times because you are patient and passionate about sharing fishing skills. We had a blast and should come clean, that out of the 94 fish total, you caught 80 of them 😂. We kept a few to share with the local nursing home and the rest are happily swimming at Tawakoni lake. We were trying to keep up with you but mostly, we sat in awe of your skill. Thank you for your time and expertise. You are the best and we enjoyed spending time with you. Looking forward to more fishing fun with you!

LOL you were catching the same rate as me when we chatted, Steven. I really like your new Sea Fox

Wow Dennis you sure get around and hope Tawakoni didn't spoil you too much! You still remember another lake named Cedar Creek right?

Dennis Christian thank you for your response. I really appreciate your fishing reports. Amazing. Thank you for the suggestions. I need life to slow down a bit and get to the lake more often. I'll keep you posted. Again. Thank you John

9/29/2022: Lenahorse Larry, friend Graham M, and I fished from 9 AM to 6 PM and caught 181: 173 whites, 5 cats, 2 yellow bass, and 2 short hybrids. Fish are still biting finicky due to the small shad. Even a guide who fished next to us said he saw fish stacked up at Cloud Point but they could not catch them trolling the hellpet. We used Mepps #2 and #1 to mimic the smallish shad and catch fish. We cast to the fish, let the lure fall to the bottom, jerk start the retrieve, and keep the Mepps moving slowly close to the bottom. We started at Greenville Pump Station and left when we got to 50 whites, then went to Cloud and left when we got to 100, then went to Sun but only caught 22 there, and finished up at the Propeller catching 51 more whites there before quitting at 6 PM. At about 60 degrees and a steady wind, it was cold in the morning. The wind never stopped, keeping it a bit choppy on the west side of the lake, so we stayed on the east side. The fish we caught were in 9 to 14 fow.

Good trip Dennis.

I got my TM fixed and fished noon to 6pm Friday (9/30). First 3 hrs I marked good fish at the northern half community holes but very few bites and caught 35 good sandies. The last 3 hours i hunted down south and it was much better. I ended the day with 98 fish: one 25" striper, 1 short hibbie and mostly huge mags. The 25" was on mepps #4. Most of my fish up north were on #2. Fish were more cooperative in the south and bit #4 more. Fish are still shallow at both ends. Weather was gorgeous! Happy October and good luck guys.




Water temp was 88f the week before but I saw 73f to 79f yesterday. The fall feeding frenzies may start anytime