Fished Palestine Tuesday and the hybrids are pretty much on fire right now. I found fish in most all areas I fished. I worked mostly at the entrance to Saline Bay fishing the creek channel and out where it meets the Neches. I caught in the neighborhood of 60ish. Mostly hybrid with a few magnum sandbass in the mix. The majority of the Hybrids were in the 18 inch plus range so the Hybrids (Sunshine Bass) have hit the legal mark. They are fat and super healthy! There are still a lot of big Palmetto Hybrids out there but I did not find any of them Tuesday. I caught them all on either a Damiki rig or a Vibrax Blue Fox. It was as blast! All fish released to fight another day!

I did a video but the lighting was bad for the camera so just a couple of pics of a few fish. Anyway, good luck if ya go as they are waiting for you to drop a line!

Excellent report! Super healthy fish too. One of those docks in the background is where I caught a 14lb hybrid many years ago. (ounces shy of the lake record) That Saline Bay creek channel swings in close to those docks and they come out of it at night and feed on the flat.

Nice fish!

Really Nice Fish

Winter football hibbies! Thanks for sharing.

Freight train with scales ! Some real fatties !

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Solid post and fish. Good job.

Thats a great day. The sandbass are as big as I've seen in years on this lake. Also note there are some 12 inch hybrids running with them.

I'm interested to know how you tell the difference between sunshine and palmetto? Is growth rate different? Seems the latest stocking there should be tons of 5lb plus fish. But seems the majority are about 3lb. I miss the 7 and 8lb fish.

Thanks for the catch and release. It would be nice for palestine to get back to the glory days of the early 2000's.

Yes, it seems the sandbass are now Tawakoni big out there! It's been awesome catching those throughout the year. I cannot tell the difference between the Sunshine and the Palmetto side by side but the Palmetto have not been stocked in 7 years so those that are still out there are much larger in size. They didn't start putting Sunshine out there but 4 years ago and is seems there is an abundance that are finally in the legal range now. I've been catching them for the past few years and they are growing well. Last year the majority larger ones I caught were in the 16-18 inch range with some over 18. The majority I caught Tuesday were more in the 18 to 20 inch range. You are 100% correct that there are a lot of smaller hybrids out there too so everyone needs to be careful in telling the difference between those and sandbass. When in doubt let it go!

In the spring of 2023 I was catching Hybrids left and right on the old road at 155 and others were catching some too. One boat was trolling in the middle of everyone fishing and catching some as well. I watched the boater put several undersized hybrids in the live well. I wasn't the only one watching. The boater took off and right behind them was the game warden. About an hour later the game warden came back over and offered me the fish the took from the boater. I declined and they never checked my id so I suppose they were watching me too but I released everything I caught. They are watching.

Fish killer, what is the water temp at Palestine and, how deep are the fish you are catching? I fish Tawakoni a lot and I just want to compare the two.

Water temp was between 55 to 56 F. Water depth approximately 27 to 30 feet. Fish where not stacked but on the move in small groups and were anywhere from 10 to 25 feet but only biting at about 20 feet and up. Majority bite was probably in the 15 to 20 foot range.

Thanks👍

That's a toad! When did you catch that one? I caught a 14lb back in 1987 on Tawakoni. It was a bruiser. I've heard of some tanks caught in Palestine but can't say I've managed any of those. My best there is 8-9lbs and lots in the 6-7lb range.

That’s awesome fish killer!!