Hey yall im gunna be at Choke canyon at the start of the new year.... I know we can predict the weather to be pretty cold, but sometimes we get some warm spells here and there. What do yall think will be going on this time of year? I have never laid eyes on the place, and will be there for about 4 or 5 days...

Thanks

Well its hard to say, this is a new Choke Canyon. There is a lot more pressure than a few years back and last year I noticed that the usual Jan. patterns were a mere shell of what they used to be.

Typically, jan. is a major pre-spawn time at choke canyon. In past years, you could rund points, shorelines, and grassflats that are somewhat close to deeper water; and catch pre spawn males all day long on spinner baits/rattle traps. Most of these fish are in the 1-4 lb range and males, but the occasional big early female may be landed doing the same thing!

If you want to focus on bigger females, than i would suggest focusing on points where river channels pass that are on the way to shallow water spawning grounds. There are many of these on choke and you can easily pick a few out by looking at a map. Try and locate points that have some cover on them as well! These areas you want to slow down and fish with a jig, drag a C-Rig, big TX rig, or deep crankbait!

However, the Jan. pre-spawn spinnerbait bite wasnt too good last year. Shallow water has blocked off the big spawning areas and you can find big groups of bass staging on points and shorelines out in front of them like you used too. They are more spreed out! Plus, I think that constant shoreline pressure has made alot of fish less eager to hit spinnerbaits that they see all day long. But, this is still a good pattern to try because there are still those days that remind you of the good ol days, iM talking 40-50 fish all on spinnerbaits, thats fun!!

If the spinner bait bite is slow, maybe switch to a senko! And do the same thing!

Another thing you can do in Jan. is fish the river portion of Choke Canyon. I always like to fish this area of choke during Jan and early spring bcause it is usually a little bit warmer than the main lake. This means that fish will get into pre-spawn and spawn a little faster! If you want a chance at some bedding fish at this time and it is still a little too cold in the main lake, than try the river! However, you will not be able to see them as the water is very dingy most of the time, except for a few areas that have hydrilla, which are usually way down the river! I have had some good pre-spawn and bed action in the river portion of the lake! It is perfect for bed fishing because the dingy water doesnt have the fish all spooked out!

However, the river section is narrow and really crowds out once people hear about a good bite. So, hit it early and keep quite if you have a good day!

Anyways, Jan. is always a very good time for fishing S. TX lakes. You can have days that are real good for numbers, or if its slow, you still have the chance for a big fish! Good luck and let me know if you want to hook up and do a little fishing together!

In January, I usually post up at the entrance to possum creek or three fingers & hunt ducks.

Good thing there is more than one entrance to Three Fingers then, thus the name three fingers. There is also a four fingers, that means theres 4 fingers (duh)! I guess you'll have to get 7 boats to accomplish your goal of blocking all the entrances. Do you have that much money? I didnt think the military paid that well. I know... You could just invite some friends!(lOL)

By the way, I was just being sarcastic back to him. He tries to irritate me with stupid stuff about hunting ducks after all my post. He does this because I had a post were I said that duck hunters shouldnt expect to have Greyhound point all to themselves on a weekend at Choke Canyon! Its getting kinda tired!

I would go to another lake. Fishing pressure on this lake has taken its toll. I use to fish it regularly with great success. It's a shell of its former self.

You might as well go to Falcon. Amistad is no where near what it was, Choke is no longer what it was, and Falcon won't be in a couple of years. Better get while the gettin is good, before fishin pressure kills that lake too. Good think about Falcon is it's huge. Choke is tiny.

How come when I make this same statement everybody wants to jump on and start bashing?

Any angler that has fished Choke regularly over the years, knows that Choke has gone way down hill due to all the increased pressure. It is a shell of its former self, I dont care how many Sharelunkers were turned in in 09! And, lately; it has been even worse.

Yes, Choke will still produce some large sacks to the top anglers in big tournys, and big fish will always come out of it; but like Fork it is just not what it used to be. Too many tournaments, weekend bass eaters, and overall lake pressure are the only things I can think of. The drought didnt help but I dont think it hurt that bad as the lake isnt too low, it did hurt the bed fishing last year though!

Anyways, maybe the state will start a more regular stocking process with Choke. I would even like to see a slot to ensure that some of these bigger fish dont end up in the frying pan. Also, I hope to see more 3 fish limmit tournys, instead of 5!

I just want to go back to those days of catching 40-50 fish before noon! Now, your lucky to get 20 all day! Most days!

I grew up fishing Choke and have alot of ties with people that live near and fish the lake reguarly (2-3 times weekly). You can still catch fish out there, but no where near like in years past. You have to know the lake. Right now we are fishing brushpiles that we placed out there. If you are not in the brushpile and I mean right in it, you will struggle. You can still catch fish here and there, but you won't be catching a 25+ lb bag trash fishing on most days.

Same for Amistad, although its even tougher. Close friend of mine guides on all 3 lakes, and he strongly encourages his customers to fish Falcon. Usually if they are dead set on fishing Amistad he strongly recommends they temper expectations.
He still does OK on Choke, but he is not catching the multiple 8's and 9's per trip like he use to. He says his customers are expecting to catch an 8, 9 or 10 on every trip and that is just no the case right now.

the concussions from shotgun blasts have absolutely ruined bass fishing at Choke. I would recommend you go somewhere else

You are toooo much!

I am getting so tired of all the contradiction that goes on on this site. I hear choke is not as good because of all the pressure, because too many people are keeping fish, because not enough people are keeping fish, now a guy from GA is saying shotgun blasts are killing the bite, all this different BS that keeps surfacing, that has really began to turn my stomach. Choke is and will most likely always be one of the best bass fishing lakes in texas, if not one of the best in the US. My father was a guide on Choke for over 10yrs, and currently lives in N. Idaho, he came down last month, and fished with me on my little boat. We started late just after 7, and quit early, before 3pm, both of us caught bags over 25lbs, and released all of them only to move to other areas to do the same, oh but wait you said because all the pressure its just a shell of itself. Well my dad hasn't even been back to Texas since he moved up ther in 91, this was his first time back on the lake in over 15yrs, and he found the fish just like old times. The problem with this lake is not the fishing pressure, but the barometric pressure, now that it has somewhat leveled off, those fish don't want to do anything. You have to make them want to bite, and not with a: crank, spinnerbait, or rattle trap. Just takes some work and a little common sense. I fish Choke atleast once a month, and will probably jinx myself, but have never been out there without catching a few fish around 5lbs or greater. Also, someone just brushed off the sharelunker 09 fish, totally disregarding that this is the record lake for more sharlunkers than any other, and the record for most caught in a given season, but no this lake is just a shell of what it used to be. Come on guys quit blaming anything and start looking in the mirror.

EC8 was just poking fun when he said the shotgun blasts were bothering the fishing. And I think its safe to say that you will see that the general sentiment on here right now regarding Choke is that it is still a great lake, but has cooled off some over the past year, especially numbers wise - which is how most people judge a lake. Not taking a nose dive or anything - just cooling off a bit...no big deal as all lakes ebb and flow, thats just natural.

The only one hre preaching doom and gloom is FlipperTX, but he does that with every lake he fishes, all of the time, and has done so on here for years.

i don't understand that when someone talks about choke in a negative way everyone gets so jacked up. but i do have to question the reason the barametric pressure is causing choke to fish hard. that same barametric pressure has been on falcon and amistad im sure and they seem to be fine. seems the fishing is correlated to the size of the lakes.falcon 90k+ acres, amistad 60k+ arce, choke 20K+ arces) the bigger the lake the longer it takes for pressure to effect it. there is such a thing as a fished out lake.but like someone said there are some good sacks gonna be caught. always. i'm sure that other things might be affecting choke too. those fish have seen every lure under the sun 1000X. i'm sure they have the highest iq of any other lake in texas.