Posted By: Laner
Early Summer Fishing Report - 07/02/21 06:54 PM
Early Summer Fishing Report
With my offshore season starting this coming Monday, I’m starting to get that “butterflies in my stomach before the big game aka kid before Christmas morning” feeling. It’s been an incredibly fun spring chasing fish all over the west side of DFW, and I can’t say thanks enough to all the folks who joined us here at Ft. Worth Fishing over the last few months. As of the past few weeks, this is how we’ve had continued success putting fish in the boat with the help of some very awesome customers:
Tackle Preference and General Lake Information
Water Temps: mid 80s
Water Clarity: lightly stained
Rod of Choice: Todd Huckabee 8ft Epic from www.toddhuckabeerods.com
Reel of Choice: Pflueger President
Line of Choice: Wally Marshall 8lb mono
Best Jigs: Palmer’s Pile Driver from www.sscrappiejigs.com or Ghost Minnow Thump Chubbies from www.constantpursuitoutfitters.com
Best Live Bait Presentation: small live minnow on a #1 gold Aberdeen hook, roughly 12”under a 1/8 split shot weight
Best Locations to Get Bit: Brush and standing timber in 10-18ft on main lake points and humps
At dawn, I’m still looking relatively shallow to take advantage of actively feeding fish. I’ll look on shallow humps and points that hold good brush piles or standing trees, and will find most of our fish holding in 8-12ft of water. At this time of day, I’m expecting fish to be actively feeding, so I’ll have my customers for the day pitching their jigs towards the target zone. My frame of mind is that if the fish are actively chasing bait, they will expect the bait to be quickly moving, and am trying to replicate that scenario.
As these fish are more active, they seem to hit a jig more aggressively. We’re throwing Ghost Minnow Thump Chubbies on 1/16 ounce heads to start the day, and will continue to do so for the first hour or two of the trip. As the sun continues to climb and the fish get lazier, they tend to get a bit pickier. At this point, I will then switch over to have at least one person fishing a live minnow, while the other people in the group will fish hand tied jigs from Slab Syndicate. I feel that when fish go after a live minnow, it kicks the others into gear. At this point, we can get them to quickly hit the jigs as well.
One thing I’m focused on as a guide right now is how small the fry are in the lakes I’m fishing. Too me, this means crappie and other gamefish will be targeting smaller profile baits, and in turn I need to be fishing with something that is roughly the same size. Whether it’s a plastic or a hair jig, I need something that is no longer than roughly 1.5” long.
Both the water temps and the sun rise quickly this time of year, and as they both continue to climb throughout the morning, we will continue to back off and fish deeper waters. For example, at daylight I’m focused on 8-12ft of water, while towards the end of my trip I’ll be out in that 15-18ft depth range. Regardless of where I am, I’m not being patient with the fish I’m seeing on the graph. Once my folks stop getting bit for 1-2 minutes, it’s time to move. Anglers will see huge groups of fish this time of year, with only a handful of them wanting to bite. Although it’s easy to make it a personal goal to catch all the fish being seen on the graph, it’s ultimately a waste of time, and it much more fruitful in the long run to go on and find more aggressive fish on the next pile.
I hope this helps someone on their next fishing adventure around Ft. Worth, and save some crappie for me while I’m out in the Gulf! If you would like to join me when I get back, I’d be happy to have you. Our open days for freshwater fishing can be found at www.ftworthfishign.com
www.ftworthfishing.com
www.constantpursuitoutfitters.com
www.fishingpoc.com
www.sscrappiejigs.com
www.shut-up-and-fish.com
www.toddhuckabeerods.com
www.bluewaveboats.com
![[Linked Image]](https://texasfishingforum.com/forums/pics/userpics/2021/07/full-22219-102064-brian_and_erica.png)
![[Linked Image]](https://texasfishingforum.com/forums/pics/userpics/2021/07/full-22219-102065-gabe.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://texasfishingforum.com/forums/pics/userpics/2021/07/full-22219-102066-heath_with_byron.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://texasfishingforum.com/forums/pics/userpics/2021/07/full-22219-102067-armor.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://texasfishingforum.com/forums/pics/userpics/2021/07/full-22219-102068-cody.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://texasfishingforum.com/forums/pics/userpics/2021/07/full-22219-102069-john.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](https://texasfishingforum.com/forums/pics/userpics/2021/07/full-22219-102070-patton.jpg)
With my offshore season starting this coming Monday, I’m starting to get that “butterflies in my stomach before the big game aka kid before Christmas morning” feeling. It’s been an incredibly fun spring chasing fish all over the west side of DFW, and I can’t say thanks enough to all the folks who joined us here at Ft. Worth Fishing over the last few months. As of the past few weeks, this is how we’ve had continued success putting fish in the boat with the help of some very awesome customers:
Tackle Preference and General Lake Information
Water Temps: mid 80s
Water Clarity: lightly stained
Rod of Choice: Todd Huckabee 8ft Epic from www.toddhuckabeerods.com
Reel of Choice: Pflueger President
Line of Choice: Wally Marshall 8lb mono
Best Jigs: Palmer’s Pile Driver from www.sscrappiejigs.com or Ghost Minnow Thump Chubbies from www.constantpursuitoutfitters.com
Best Live Bait Presentation: small live minnow on a #1 gold Aberdeen hook, roughly 12”under a 1/8 split shot weight
Best Locations to Get Bit: Brush and standing timber in 10-18ft on main lake points and humps
At dawn, I’m still looking relatively shallow to take advantage of actively feeding fish. I’ll look on shallow humps and points that hold good brush piles or standing trees, and will find most of our fish holding in 8-12ft of water. At this time of day, I’m expecting fish to be actively feeding, so I’ll have my customers for the day pitching their jigs towards the target zone. My frame of mind is that if the fish are actively chasing bait, they will expect the bait to be quickly moving, and am trying to replicate that scenario.
As these fish are more active, they seem to hit a jig more aggressively. We’re throwing Ghost Minnow Thump Chubbies on 1/16 ounce heads to start the day, and will continue to do so for the first hour or two of the trip. As the sun continues to climb and the fish get lazier, they tend to get a bit pickier. At this point, I will then switch over to have at least one person fishing a live minnow, while the other people in the group will fish hand tied jigs from Slab Syndicate. I feel that when fish go after a live minnow, it kicks the others into gear. At this point, we can get them to quickly hit the jigs as well.
One thing I’m focused on as a guide right now is how small the fry are in the lakes I’m fishing. Too me, this means crappie and other gamefish will be targeting smaller profile baits, and in turn I need to be fishing with something that is roughly the same size. Whether it’s a plastic or a hair jig, I need something that is no longer than roughly 1.5” long.
Both the water temps and the sun rise quickly this time of year, and as they both continue to climb throughout the morning, we will continue to back off and fish deeper waters. For example, at daylight I’m focused on 8-12ft of water, while towards the end of my trip I’ll be out in that 15-18ft depth range. Regardless of where I am, I’m not being patient with the fish I’m seeing on the graph. Once my folks stop getting bit for 1-2 minutes, it’s time to move. Anglers will see huge groups of fish this time of year, with only a handful of them wanting to bite. Although it’s easy to make it a personal goal to catch all the fish being seen on the graph, it’s ultimately a waste of time, and it much more fruitful in the long run to go on and find more aggressive fish on the next pile.
I hope this helps someone on their next fishing adventure around Ft. Worth, and save some crappie for me while I’m out in the Gulf! If you would like to join me when I get back, I’d be happy to have you. Our open days for freshwater fishing can be found at www.ftworthfishign.com
www.ftworthfishing.com
www.constantpursuitoutfitters.com
www.fishingpoc.com
www.sscrappiejigs.com
www.shut-up-and-fish.com
www.toddhuckabeerods.com
www.bluewaveboats.com
