Fishing Decker and Catching SLABS!

Myself and two fishing Legends Fred aka Rionator and Jamie aka J-Moe fished Decker Lake (Walter E Long Reservoir) this past Saturday. We fished from daylight till 1:30pm and we left them biting. We caught some HUGE Bluegill,Redear, Hybrid Sunfish, Redbreast, and rounding out the catch was a nice five pound Channel Cat. We caught well over 100 fish! Myself and Fred were using ultralight tackle while Jamie used his fly rods. We found plenty of BIG FISH on the edges of Hydrilla beds and on grass beds in 10 to 14 feet of water. Fred was using Gulp Alive Minnows,Chartreuse in color. He also had good results using White. Fred was using a drop shot method. I was using worms with a basic bottom technique. Jamie was using various sinking flies. It appeared that the fish were fixing to spawn. Most of the fish were well over a half pound with several going over a pound. Fish were all in the 8 to 10 inch range with most in the nine inch range. We had two in the 10" range. All fish were released to fight again. Fishing with buddies Fred and Jamie. It just don't get any better!

Great report & fish ! Were the fish bunched up where if you caught one you caught several, or scattered where you caught a few everywhere ? Also, were you guys fishing the southwest arm or northeast arm of the lake ? I have never been there but want to go in a few weeks...Thanks...

It was a great time Chuck. I was thrilled to get a chance to fish with the legend, Rionator. Thanks for inviting me along Fred. I learned a lot about Decker.

Steve: We caught the fish in bunches. Mainly in one area! Thanks for the reply! Jamie: Did your Hybrid make the records book?

No it didn't Chuck. I look forward to fall fishing out there though.

There will be some "Mighty Big" fish being caught this fall!

Wow, you fellas busted a bunch of monsters. Great report and great pics. (o'l Fred has got your game face down pretty good)

Thanks Rick! Yes Sir Fred has his game face on for sure! He knows how to find those BIG fish!

You guys gotta smile more - you got a lot to smile about !
Thanks for the report.

Haha haha thanks for the comments . But that is my happy face, really!

Nice fish . Just does not get any better!

I was planning at fishing this last Friday on Decker. However bad luck struck and I was not able to get the boat off the trailer. Trim motor went out and could not get the transom saver off. Wasted two hours of drive time and the $10 for the electronic entrance fee. Got a new motor coming and will be on the lake this coming Friday Lord willing. I am ready to boat some big ones like this. Thanks for the report and tight lines guys.

Nice hogs! Good job guys

Nice fish !

Looks like fun Banker!

Great post Chuck!

Thanks Yesenia!

Nice post and fish. Good job guys. Judging by all of the post seems that Decker and Fayette are both on fire for catching some very BIG SLABS!



Side Note: During the HOT time of the year,does the sunfish bite seem to slow down some?

Thanks Gitter for the reply! On some water bodies the bite does slow down during the hot summer time. So far this year the bite is staying consistently good on some of the water bodies I fish!

Gitter...Based on last year & so far this year, on Fayette the Bite is best in August & September...so, the hotter the better.

Thanks Chuck and Vogey! I kind of figured the bite was staying pretty good based on the post! Looks like this upcoming fall should be fantastic!

in the fall both lakes take a dump. when they stop generating and the temps go under 70-75 (about October) the fishing is super hard, I have been there and catch only a hand full of dinks

Maybe being power plant lakes plays a factor in the fall bite. I think that Decker's power plant has not been used over the past two to three years? Seems to me that the sunnies along with the Rios would want to fatten up before winter. Just goes to show that the bites are different on different water bodies and areas of the State.

I know, Decker is still at 92 right now Fayette was 94 last time. I like you would think the fish would be more active at 75 than 95 but that doesn't hold true for this 2 lakes

Great post and nice catch! J-Moe is a beast with the fly rod.

Thanks SenkoSam, Chascat,Gnab2,Leo,Jared, and jsinn01 for the replies!

Nice post as always Chuck. Also some solid fish! Good job guys. Now that the river lakes will be a thing of the past I plan on fishing the Austin area lakes a lot! What are your plans?

Thanks Curtis for the reply! Plan on fishing a lot more in the Hill Country and both the Nueces Canyon and the Sabinal Valley! I also plan on fishing the Guadalupe River Channels and will determine how much fishing time I will give as time goes on!

Thanks Chuck. I personally am going to try to fish Fayette more. I am also going to fish the Austin area a lot more. Love that Colorado River! Of course my hill country spots and a few ponds will always be in the plans.



Side Note: Will also be fishing the Guadalupe River and like you I will determine how much time I spend on the Guadalupe River by the results of the trips I make there.

Three anglers of this quality should not be allowed to fish together. It is way to stressful on the fish.

Thanks Osbornfishing for the reply! Yes Sir those anglers have caught their fair share of BIG sunfish! Curtis: While the river lakes remain in "Limbo" I know just like me,that you will have no problem at all finding good fish!

Hey Chuck or anyone else. How is the winter sunfish bite on Decker?

Same as Fayette, it slows down a lot. I was just there on saturday from 7 to 12 and caught about 50 fish but only 15 big ones over 10. they have already taken out about 3 feet of water off the lake and the water temp was 84. Caught a lot of pure red ear (10) which you don't really see a lot of in Decker or Fayette biggest was 11.25

Plus #1.