The H I L L

Is cranking out the eater blues this week
Boat or bank,3-10lb on whatever "real" bait you throw at them(shad,perch,carp)
Been working the west side this week due to the wind
35 eaters in 4hrs aint a bad day,30-40 for 4 straight days is a good week
Been awhile since we hooked any good flatheads,small cruiser males under 10lbs is all we have seen.
The BIG GIRLS will be moving very soon and a solid 65lb just might happen this season

What lake is "The Hill" on?

That'll work!!

How deep?

The Hill is a west Texas lake,Ft Phantom Hill

what lake

Yall get on this run,do the lake a small favor and dump the big females
that will soon be showing up in force.
Let the fat girls swim away this season even if its your new PB(CPR)
The wind is going to be low on Fri,I may get the boat out and check the depths
we have been hitting from the bank,most likely 10-12'
Get the bait up high with long leader Santee rigs(3')and you should do OK.
Best bite is 9-11am,some baits never hit bottom or just mere seconds after touch down
and they were gone before taking up slack.(fun stuff)

Yall get warmed up on these guys now,the Flatheads are C O M I N G !!

I'll be out saturday if the wind allows in a kayak to give it a shot hopefully will post back with the same results. If i can find the shad

Nice report, good to hear west texas lakes are producing

Finally got my boat back so should be hitting it full force again. last year was some nonstop action there! It was a blast. A good time to get someone hooked on catfishing!

I may try to go out for a little while on sunday. Not going to take a boat, so hopefully i can get into them from the bank.

Me and Bj are gonna try to make it. what time you plannin on going? Ill have the boat so holler if you wanna join. I thought you quit fishing

Only quit during the hectic times. Problem is I spend money on fishing stuff to help with me not fishing. Would like to go out sunday morning. I will text you if I head out and see where yall are at.

They were stacked like cord wood off the Comanche Trail point
We got busier then a 4 lane KFC Drive Thru on Sunday
Right about 9am till 11:30am this morning,we managed two limits and a few extra
Kept 6 under 24" and dumped the rest,7 were over 30" females
The old cow trails never fail me,switching to 8/0 hooks and 50lb leaders in the morning
Burned out on bluecat after 5 straight days,time to hunt up some Yella PIGS!
Heading back out around 10pm,planning on doing a 12hr run tonight
Bet Roberto brings his teddy bear and blanky . . . . . j/k brother
you get passed the 4-6am the rest is easy

I wish I new the - ' Hill".
We came up slow with. Only 23 Channels Today. Down on the.- Concho-.

Any advice for Fort=Phanten. For a Newbie? Thankyou/

This time of year a good boat will help track'em down
Catfish are like cows(IMO) they follow the same routes season after season
just like any other instinct driven critter.
Trying to explain all the variables to a lake Ive fished for over 40yrs would take no less then a book.
Reacting and adapting continually,absolute freshest natural bait(s)solid tackle and a good measure of patience.When you study long you dont have to study wrong,many often due.
You got till the end of May to get'em hooked on the HILL!

I usually dont take pics of eaters we catch'em pretty regular
Went huntin yella's this morning and managed to get 3 on a string
and had 4 nice pigs shake the hook half way in.
They were all much bigger then the largest in the pic(est 40"=25-26lb)
Small two were 10-12lb,they came home and the big'un was released back on THE HILL!

Catboss.
That is a great-Catch!!
Best eating in the World.

Nice looking fish

Very nice fish

+1000.....love them delicious flatties!!!!!!

Good pic !!!

Tried my luck at the hill. Did not have much luck on spillway cove. Tried to find how you get to Comanche trail point. Been down the road a few times looking for access to the lake, but again still have not been able to find any. Maybe better luck next time. Good lucking yellow cats.

Decided not to go out this morning,T W I C E !!
Bud and I rolled out anyway,got 8 poles baited by 8am
Wind already up to 24mph,cloudy and rain on the way,lets get it ON!

Caught 11 of these little guys 5,6,7lbrs



Got acouple 3 in this range 26/27lb



3 of the Blue Pigs 25+lb



Had two get off in this med size range right at the bank(same pole,junk17lb line,Bud stripped the reel and put it up LMAO!!)
This 38lb got grabbed



We were off the lake and eating at Denny's by 12:00pm all 18 fish were released unharmed,Bud bought breakfast to cover the bet that got me moving LOL!
Gonna wait out the coming full moon phase before heading back out to THE HILL!!

Guess I should have strayed out a little longer or not drove around so much. Good looking fish.

dont let him mess with u to much badger..thats not the west side of phantom..very well may be phantom but not the west Ive banked fished that lake for awhile now and have fished every bank spot u can get to and boat fished it alot..enough to know the shoreline looks like and steep rock banks..nope.

wetpapersack didnt catch anything this week(month)
so he goes trolling . . . . . .
Nothing was said about where we got on the flatheads(Ill never give up my Flathead spots)
TWO Consecutive days for well over 200lbs CAUGHT!(shake offs and break off excluded)
Still several weeks to early to be looking for flatheads on the west side of the Hill.
Soon enough though there will be 3 places that will produce the 40 and 50's we catch EVERY SEASON
without fail.
Fishing a lake and actually "knowing" a lake are two different subjects,obviously painful for the competency challenged.
(camera angle does make it appear abit steep but it wasnt)

Not worried about the yellowcats(unless you just give up the info ;)). Just was curious about some different spots on th west side. Fished most of the east side, just seems the west side is hard to get to. I see people fishing the bank on the west side when out on a boat, just can't seem to figure out how to get there.

Its private access,they live there
I know 4 of them that take it pretty personal with trespassers

What happened to that boat u got from me?

I still have it smokey, had time today to go, but didn't want to battle the 25 mph winds by myself. Still running good. Hope to take it out soon.

Thanks catboss for that info, drove down that road many times and figured the only access would be thru persons property. Just though I might he have missed a dirt road somewhere. There are plenty around that lake, some to water and some to houses as you know. I have a lake house at another lake and wouldn't want people to walk through my property either.

Glad to hear its still running good! I'll buy it back whenever your ready miss that little boat

Fishing And Knowing a lake is a big difference U r Right there..and just like you said im not wrong with the post telling the guy them them flatheads were not on the west side of the lake yet...Im not saying U didnt catch them or the pictures are fake..them are good yella cats and glad to c um being caught...But as far as my knowledge of the lake..yes there is still alot to learn there for me but our first place finish in a tourny there with the weights of all fish documented and pictured against some of the best tourney fishermen in the US says i KNOW the lake somewhat. as much as someone who has fished it for 40 years? na but I do know when and where the fish run most of the time and I let the graph tell me at the times I dont know.....Not everyday is a total success with toads, actually got skunked on my yak in 25 mph winds saturday morning for a first in awhile but I will find the flatheads in the spring run this year and u can bank on that..

.. There are 3 different crossovers from westlake road to the bank and a road all the way up the bank.. Google earth.. And the city of abilene has allowed people to fish it as long as u do not get stuck u are not breaking any rules and u can actually walk the whole bank the bank is not private propetry.. Words of the lake patrol. I wouldnt go snoopin around someones dock or back yard lol may end up catchin a beatin lol

Guess I will check them out. Saw the roads on google earth. One of them is blocked by a big rock pile that you can actual see on google earth. Guess I need to go back out there and do some driving around.

Drive down west lake road heading north about the center of the lake there is a two trac road towards the lake with a cement ramp to cross over.. Will get u anywhere u wanna go lol

Then go south . . . . . . .

Thanks, almost went down that road, guess I should have.

Anybody fish since the front? Just wondering if it did anything to the kitties.

Fronts dont deter me,3 days before and 3 days after the Full moon phase
Keeps me off the water
Fri/Sat we'll be right back to sticking PIGS!

Catboss,

I think my dad and you may have fished together a long time ago on the "HILL". He was good friends with Buz and Connie. He also worked at WTU for a long time before they decommissioned.

PM some time.

Cobester

B/C doesnt ring a bell right off ??
Not many of my old buddys still around,some moved off long ago
an just has many are long dead now.
I have 4 and one brother I fish with pretty regular,we pretty well keep to our selves
and fish every hole with in 100 mile radius of Abilene.
I moved out of Abilene back in 02,they can have that clown show LOL!
Better then that 22yrs I spent in DFW :gaaaawd . . . . .

You ever try sweet water? Cool little lake

Yes Sir,many,many times
Even CCity was top on the list till the fallout
There are MANY lakes in West Texas most know nothing of muchless bother to fish

I a i n t t e l l i n . . . . .

Son and i used to catch crappie at lake sweetwater in the spring back in the 80's
Had some pretty good days at lake Coleman as well

Yes. I grew up in Sweetwater. My Grandfather lived off Firemans-Point.
For 40 yrs.
Oak-Creek. Trammel.
You BET!!!.
Hated to hear about the Golden-Algae Bloom on Sweetwater.

catboss do you mind sharing what kind of bait your using?

Not at all
Shad,Perch,Carp,I never offer something they do not naturally eat
Im not desperate nor greedy and I get skunked plenty
I target big cats and big cats dont eat stink baits,West Texas lakes dont offer to many really lunker size cats.
Every season does allow for a few 40-50lb that suits me plenty

I use alot of two hook rigs on 8" or larger shad and perch
Perch I keep as wiggly as possible,seldom cut unless frozen/thawed(winter)
Dead shad get the tails docked for scenting,over all size is retained with all my baits.
Stinger hooks are what got the smaller fish in the pics back up the thread fwiw.
I changed my perspective on fishing 20+yrs ago and it hasnt failed me since

We'll be on The HILL tonight till . . . . ?
Ya'll dont sing it,BRING IT!! there's fish to be caught

Went out this morning from 730-230 and didnt have a single bite one till right at 12 when the ol sun popped out and it was honestly like a light switch. Pretty crazy seeing it really but once it hit it was on!! Couldnt keep 4 poles n the holders on the yak caught 6 fish from 1202 to 1220 and it nvr slowed down finally headed home to come up here to texoma

Slow day
22.83

Nice one 33.67

Congrats on a couple of nice flatties!

Had a real nice one hit on a 12-13" drum and the swivel failed(broke) just before
we got a first look.
Only speculation . . . . . .but it had to been upwards of 50lb
Events like that keep us coming back,always next time

Nice flats.

Cool pics!!

Thanks catboss for the great info. i usually try and use shad if i can find them but if not i resort to chicken liver but like you said i have never caught anything bigger than about 8lbs on it. one more question Catboss where do you get carp from? once again thanks for the info

I found hundreds of Bowfin fry today. Prolly 2-3" long. I wonder if flats would eat them once they grow a little. I thought about throwing some in the bait tank to let them grow a little.

The HILL has been very busy the last two weeks
5-7 fish over 25lb any day of the week
8"+ gizzards are getting smashed hard,mudcats are bringing the 40+lb females
Big fish this week(Wed) was 47.86,plenty of eater blue cats under the shad schools

I was in Abilene last week for some training and afterwards we ran up to the lake to look at it. As soon as we pulled up we saw this big girl floating a couple yards out so I went and pulled her in.

We saw that one too,likely a throw away from a trotliner

What proof do you have. Cat-Boss. It was a throw away from a Trot-Liner>?
Why would a Trot-Liner, "Throw-Away" A Yeller, he has been busting his/
behind for setting lines?
You probably lost it, with those big 15" Shad you catch. He choked on
the Shad and when you got'm to the bank.
You threw down your pool and Ran.