Palestine might be different than Hubbard. At Hubbard they often wait until the middle of the day to start feeding. They seem to really get going when it gets hotter. At least this is what I have always heard. I do seem to do better on hybrids in the evening. I normally am not around for the mid day bite because if I was I would break my number one rule on Hubbard. Off the lake by noon.

Mo, this is classic. I really like #6 .... this is why I started playing around with the Jug lines this year. That way I've got something to do when they (Hybrids) can seem to get lock jaw.

I appreciate everyones input. I have only been fishing for them since this time last year, so my experience is limited. I read a whole lot of posts and learn a lot from the members of this forum. I will try to diversify my approach to fishing for hybrids. If any of you guys pass through Abilene, give me a PM and we'll go fishing. Thanks again guys.

I strictly fish for hybrids when out and am almost always successful, regardless of lake. I also do not catch to many sandies while targetting hybrids. For the most part, the two do not hangout together unless they are chasing schools of shad.
As stated, in the summer the hybrids will head to deeper water and they tend to stack up on ledges. If I can not get the fish to hit a slab, live bait will almost always get the job done. Gizzard shad are much more productive than threads when targetting hybrids. Hybrids will eat sandies and even drum at times.
On LL, there will be times in the summer that the fish will head shallow and this can be a blast but for the most part, they stay fairly deep. Time on the water is key to having consistant productive hybrid trips.
When fish are schooling on large pods of shad, I will sometimes run a large DD22 through the sandbass school and see if there is something larger in the school. A slab below the sandies can sometimes do the trick. If you have ever watched fish feed in an aquarium, you will notice that the large fish tend to stay below the aggressive feeding smaller fish. The same lies true for hybrids for the most part. I have not had that many days where I have found the hybrids and not caught. They seem to feed almost all the time when the right bait is produced.(gizzard shad is key when the fish have lock jaw) Sometimes a balloon rig is needed, sometimes shad must be freelined, and sometimes a carolina rig is fine. There has been times that the fish have been leader shy and have been picky over how much weight is on the line.
Thing is, every day and every situation is different and it will be up to you to find out what method is best. Pay attention to where you catch your hybrids and the time of year. They tend to follow the same patterns yearly. During the summer trolling works at times but large gizzards can almost always get the job done. Winter time is great for dead-sticking and jigging assassins. If fishing ledges with lures in the summer, I like to cast and jig slabs back to the boat or cast a dd22 along the ledge.
Keep in mind that hybrids might have a semi small mouth but they can fit a very large shad into that mouth. It is not unheard of for me to toss a 120gram+ slab at some hybrids. Good luck on your quest and I am sure that in time, you will be successful.

I have had hybrids chase drum to the boat and found many sandies and yellow bass in their bellies. These guys are top notch predators.

Great reading!!!!
Thank you all.

Piepuncher,

I have been out the last two time with friends, ATM97, and headsRtails, here on Palestine, and we could not buy a hybrid on gizzard shad or swimbaits, or slabs. Seemed to be marking fish. If I can't make a "no fisherman" out of you no one can...

CD

This is all very good stuff and there's no doubt that you have a understanding of Hybrids. But for some reason, Hybrids can be very tough to catch on Lake Palestine at times. A good example is like this mornings fishing trip, we pulled just about every trick and hit alot of really good spots that hold Hybrids often. Marked lots of big fish on a few of those areas....they just did not want to bite.

Admit it headsRtails. Today I stunk up your boat. Don't ask me how to fish live bait. We probably should have had a freeline out the back.
We did give it a good shot.

CD

LOL. S#!^ happens.
I understand that there are some tough lakes out there and I stay away from those lakes..lol I am not a fan of Buchanon for the reason you mention. I have had some tough times out there in the past when I was younger.
If I take a long break from fishing benbrook, fishing can be tough. Sorry for the slow day but we all have them. If you were skunked for a few days in a row, I would say that something is wrong. The fish have to eat sometime....
I have also had those days where I spend hours dropping slabs and nothing but decide to try some lively gizzards. The minute the gizzards hit the bottom, they get slammed. Picky dudes at times. My last trip out with a friend resulted in me catching 8 hybrids between 4 and 9lbs while my buddy caught 1 and missed two others. The only difference in our setups was the leader. I was using 15lb fluoro, he was using 25lb.

They will be on tomorrow after 5 at redneck point to the back of that cove for sure!!!!!

They are all female - ABOUT THE TIME YOU FIGURE THEM OUT - THEY CHANGE!!!