What's Up With Medina

Have not seen a post on Medina in weeks.. I have heard that it has been really slow?

Anybody heard or experienced anything lately? Gonna be in the neighborhood this weekend and wondered if I should drag the boat or stick to dove hunting..

I think the pattern has changed up quite a bit, but the story is still the same. Plenty of fun to be had if you aren't concerned with size. I'll be out there tomorrow and let you know how we do.

Also, be aware it is 11.3' low right now so there are several new danger spots that weren't an issue before. A new point sticks way out into the main lake near the mouth of elm creek that was always a popular running spot being the most concerning. As well as staying near the channel if you go up to the mouth of the river. It is all pretty obvious in the light, but if you launch really early just be aware.

I fished with a buddy out there Sunday and easily caught 150. We had 5 that were above 2 pounds. The biggest was right at 2.5 pounds. Everything else was 10oz to a pound. The biggest one was caught on a plastic worm on the main lake in maybe 15'.

It was the most fun I've had fishing in a long time. The bass were chasing fry that were maybe .5" and at times the water was black with them. As soon as the cloud cover would come in the bass would start busting the water. It happened all day until we left at 1300. I've never seen anything like it before. We threw roster tails, cranks and white grubs.

We dropped one of the bass in the boat while trying to unhook it and I ended up picking up 8 fry that it spit out. They might be too full to even bite a hook next week if they keep that up.

Thanks for the reports!

I think maybe I'll get up there one day.. Sounds like fun..

I can take a morning off from hunting..

Looking forward to hearing if they were still biting. I'd like to take the kids out there this weekend. Even my little one can throw and reel. It should be fun.

The bite was definitely still on. Caught a lot of fish on topwater which was a blast. Biggest was 3.11 with several keepers and constant action on dinks. We fished all over the lake from the river to the dam just doing some exploring, location didn't seem to matter much.

Thanks all.. will report Monday on what we did..err.. do..

I guess we just suck at fishing because we had a really slow day.. We fished Saturday morning from 7:30 till 11:30 and we boated eight fish.. We missed a few. But they were not biting for us.. Threw mostly plastics and crankbaits of various descriptions.. But what I threw the last few trips did not produce..

I'll get em next time..

Haha I guess Gary and I suck at fishing there as well We were in our own individual boats and the bite was way off yesterday, so it wasn't just you, just so you know The bite was good Thursday, but not the weekend. Outing was good for me as I found out I needed to fix something with the upcoming tourney this weekend. You'll get em next time !!

Debra

I was out there on Monday, fished from about noon to 5, got off the water just as the thunderstorm hit. I found the fish schooled up in a cove near the dam, with wind blowing baitfish straight into the back of the cove. Had a blast! Caught one on a Vixen, second cast, thought the topwater bite was going to be wide open (cloud cover all day). That turned out to be my only topwater fish. Switched to an Alabama rig, with 3.8" keitechs. Couldn't keep the fish off! I had a couple double hookups, and one triple but the third fish shook the hook right at the boat. I even caught a white bass and crappie on the A rig. I also caught a few on a single Keitech. All the fish were schooled up between 7-25 feet in the water column, but stayed hovered over the creek channel. Didn't catch anything close to the shorline. Made the mistake of leaving fish to find fish, and traveled up river. Caught one on a dropshot and one on a swimbait. I tried to duplicate the pattern. Fished other coves with the wind blowing right up the gut, but couldn't find the fish. Realized my mistake of leaving good fish and finished my day off back at the first spot. Probably caught about 50 fish, nothing big, but a fun day.

That's fun,thanks for the report

The fall bite is on, tie on a moving bait of your choice they are getting ready for the winter and fattening their bellies.
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Wanted to mention there will be a one day tourney this Saturday 10/21, posted under Tournaments. This tournament is in memory of a military working dog named Ares. Ares served his country well, he deployed 3 times and always brought his handler home safely. Come out and fish and support the MWD's

Debra

Okay it is probably one of those things that has been beat to death, but am I the only one who starts humming "Funky Cold Medina" when you see the title of this thread? Come on I know I am not the only one.

I mean really, "What's up with Medina?".......

Sorry I had to.

Fished a couple of hours Sunday evening. Air temp was 90 degrees, water temp was 71 degrees. Fishing was tough but managed to catch a few. Fish were scattered, caught some in 5' of water, caught some in 20' of water, mostly on green pumpkin power worms. The stocked bass that were put in as fingerlings a couple of years ago are now in the 14"-16" range now and look healthy. The lake looks to be about 10' low but is still in good shape.

You are right it was a beautiful warm day on Medina yesterday, the fingerlings are growing and we had some bites as well on plastic in that same depth. The lake is dropping currently 13.40 low.

Debra

I was able to get out to Medina twice last week. Both days I only fished 3/8 and 1/2 oz jigs with a paddle tail fluke for a trailer. Fish were caught in anywhere from 6" to 30' of water.

The 1st day it was after the big cold front. It was 29 when I hit the water. I fished for around 6 hours and ended up with 8 nice size bass. The biggest one being almost 2.5 lbs. Everything else was at least 1.25 lbs. Even though I didn't catch many it was a really good day.

On the 2nd trip I ended up with 3 in about 3 hours still using a jig. The biggest was a little over 2 lbs. My buddy was fishing a shaky head and a drop shot. He caught several fish on both lures.

Thanks for the report!

Anyone know if there are any white bass left in Medina to have a run upriver?

I caught a white bass about a year ago, near a main lake point at the mouth of a cove. So there are some in there at least. That being said, it is the only white I have caught there in the last several years. Also, it is hard to get very far up river with the lake level dropping, unless you are in something with a shallow draft like a kayak or the boat that is in your sig picture.

I think TPWD only stocked the lake with LMB fingerlings when they restocked the lake a few years ago.

Short answer, maybe

I've never gotten a white bass out of Medina. As many flukes and flickering shinny lures I've thrown out there I feel that I should have had at least one if they are still in there.

That's a shame, as I practically grew up and learned to fish on that lake, and remember the times I had as a kid, walking the banks near Leibolds point, dragging a stringer in the water because I couldn't lift it.
I haven't fished Medina in years, but I always looked forward to the white bass run when I did.

I talked to a fella the other night and he said he’s been catching whites and hybrids/strippers around the Thousand Trails area.

That's the area of the lake that has been the historical staging area before they move up into the river.
Most runs are always spotty, and drought and low water levels, plus the lack of public access over the years, has lead to weak run reports during the last few years.
I always had my best luck when the lake was low and I could walk from Mormon's bluff all the way beyond what was "Pop's Place" at Alamo Beach.
Can't hardly do that anymore since people think as the lake recedes their property extends to the waters edge.

Thanks for the info on the white bass/hybrids/we call them stripe in TN. I'll have to give those areas a try next time I'm out there. Those are great fighting fish.

Medina is currently down over 17....
Texas Water Data

I went out Friday for a bit. I didn’t find any fish in the creeks at all and didn’t see any beds anywheres. Finally caught fish on the main lake gravel banks (yeah the whole lake is gravel banks), the only lure they’d touch was anything plastic on the bottom. They wouldn’t touch any of my moving baits, might have just been one of those days though. The lakes a dropping!

What ramp do you launch from ? Last time I went I had hell by myself at county ramp.
Good thing the water was still a little warm last October cause I had to get wet getting from truck to boat.

Reds probably the best at this water level.

Last I launched at Joe's his main ramp was closed, but the side ramp was easy to launch from.

The county park main ramp is a little shallow but should be okay again when it gets a foot lower and hits that next section, it looked a tad steeper. I still use the county park and launch from the gravel towards the courtesy dock, but I only use it during the week so there arn't usually any people there.

I launched at the county park, launched off the gravel and it was way better than the ramp. It’s mostly a rock bottom and as long as you read the bottom, you can see where it drops off.