This is our 4th year in a row to take a vacation down to Choke Canyon and Falcon. My dad and I travel down from Louisiana with 3 other friends. The past 3 years, we have stayed at Choke Canyon Lodge, and do most of our fishing there at Choke. We normally travel down to Falcon, and fish one day there. This year we decided to stay 2 days at Choke Canyon, and 3 days at Falcon. Looking back now, we should have skipped Choke Canyon all together, and went straight for Falcon!

We left Louisiana at 4am Sunday morning, and arrived at Choke Canyon Lodge around 11am. We were anxious to hit the water, so we unloaded all of our supplies, and went to the South Shore boat launch. We were shocked at how the water compared to last year�and even more shocked at how the fishing compared! We fished until nearly dark, and only caught a few very small bass. We tried shallow, deep, and all in between. We talked to some people at the lodge that night, and they suggested that we try launching at the ramp at Rec Rd 7 the next morning. There were some reports of guys catching some nice fish there. We went there, and found out that the launch is almost unusable! We were able to launch our boats there, but had to be very careful in the process. There were shad practically jumping on the bank in the cove of the launch. We thought we were about to get into the bass. I started throwing a squarebill, and hooked up on the first cast. It was a white bass. We wound up catching about 40 white bass, and about 10 largemouth. All of the largemouth were skinny, and all were about 12 inches long. This was definitely not the Choke Canyon that we fished last year! We decided to call it quits, and not even fish that evening at Choke. We hung out at the lodge, and had a good time with other folks staying at the lodge.

The next morning we were up early and headed to Falcon. I had read about Falcon Lake Lodge on the TFF, and had booked there with Billy Tompkins. I was really surprised at the neighborhood that this lodge is located in. The houses are all VERY nice!! This place is brand new, and VERY clean. Upon arriving, we met with Billy and knew then that we had booked at the right place!! We unloaded and were anxious to hit the water. We went down to the state park, and launched there at the dam. I had been reading about all of the big bass being caught at the dam on crankbaits and we were ready to give it a try. We got to the dam, and there were about 5 other boats there. While I was getting my rods out, I saw a guy fight one about 6 pounds to the boat! On my 3rd cast with the crankbait, I hooked into one about 8 pounds. I got it all the way to the boat, and it shook off. A few casts later, I caught a 5.2. The other boat that was traveling with us caught a couple of 5�s and one over 6. Then we went a couple of hours without another bite!

My dad and I decided to go and try a spot where we had caught fish last year. My weighpoint was out of the water, and on dry land! We backed off in about 30 feet of water and threw Carolina rigs towards my weighpoint to about 12 feet of water. On the 3rd cast, my dad caught a 5.6. A few casts later, I caught a 5.4. I sent my friends at the dam a text and told them to come fish with us. We fished until nearly dark, and caught many more between 5 and 6 pounds, and one 7.0. Our best 5 went about 32 pounds.

The next morning (Wednesday), we launched at the state park again to fish that same spot. My dad caught a 5.9 on his first cast. We caught a few smaller ones, but a storm started rolling in. We went back to the launch and put the boat on the trailer just in time. We sat in the truck for nearly an hour waiting on the storm to pass. There was even some small hail with the storm. After the storm passed, the wind blew terrible. We were unable to fish the spot where we caught the fish, and started hitting the points in the state park cove. We caught a few fish, but nothing to compare to what we did the day before. We fought the wind until after lunch, and then headed back to the lodge.

We decided to launch at the county ramp that afternoon, and fish near the lodge since the wind was so bad. I was throwing a squarebill crankbait around the trees near the launch. I caught a 6.5 and had another one on about 4 pounds. That was the only 2 bites I had that afternoon. The other boat with us did not catch a fish.

The next morning (Thursday), we went back to the state park to try and fish the spot where we caught all of the fish on Tuesday. Once again, we were unable to fish there because of the wind. We fished in the state park cove again, and caught a few small bass. My dad and I fought the wind and waves up to Tiger, and fished the points on the north bank. We caught a few small ones there. We fished until after lunch, and headed back to the lodge. Thursday evening the wind FINALLY quit blowing. We launched at the county ramp, and were able to run by water all the way south to where we had caught the fish on Tuesday. I caught the biggest fish of the trip as soon as we got there � 7.3 pounds on the Carolina rig. We wound up catching several more nice bass (nothing huge) and fished until dark.

We ran back up the lake without any issues until we were almost to Zapata. I was following my friend�s boat, and he swerved hard to the left! There was a border patrol boat in total blackout without any lights on right in our path!! Good thing my friend was paying attention, or it could have been real bad!

Friday morning would have been the perfect morning to fish. The wind had stopped blowing and the sun was out! But we had to head home that morning. We made the 10 hour drive home without any issues.

Unless something major changes at Choke Canyon, we will be skipping Choke and staying the whole time with Billy at Falcon Lake Lodge next year. Billy is an awesome host, and will make you feel like family. He made sure that we had everything that we needed to make our stay as comfortable as possible. He came over and grilled steaks with us one night, and even made guacamole and salsa for us one night. I highly recommend staying with Billy if you are planning a trip to Falcon Lake. You will NOT be disappointed in the accommodations!!

Nice write up and photos.
Sounds like y'all had a great time at Falcon.
Can't wait to get back down that way myself.
Sure wish I could get some Anise flavored lizards to throw for next time...

Great report!!

Nice! BTW, where is Falcon Lake Lodge? I can't find out anything about it.

Check out this thread:
http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/8117858/TLC_Falcon_Lake_lodging_open_f

If we don't get some rain, you probably won't have to worry about fishing at either lake.

Glad to see Falcon picking up. I'm heading down there later this week.

nice job guys

Exactly what I was thinking. Guess you could still fish Falcon, just expect the Choke results instead.

You caught fish at Falcon? Jersey Dan said it was dead! Nice job! I always thought if Jersey couldn't catch them then nobody could!

Good job and Billy's place is a slice of heaven here in Zapata.
For those that don't know, Billy has recently started guiding as well and his party absolutely whacked em today. He will chime inn shortly but I got a early report of a mid 30 pound bag.
Great job Billy.
For the nay Sayers. Yeah, Falcon is dead! Putting out 30 pound bag kinda of dead.
There are still people getting it done. We just are not seeing 100 fish days and 30 lb bags out of most every boat. For your best chance of success you need someone that is on the lake full time. Our water level changes every day and the only way to stay on them is to keep chasing them full time.
Good luck out there Billy and company.

+1 on Billy's place. It's the only place I stay now for work or vacation. Plus for all you out-of-staters, Billy is the "local" connection you need to be successful.

Brian, It was a pleasure hosting you guys and I now consider you all part of my fishing family and look forward to your return.