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I feel proud to call myself a Texan, but my dedication to this land and appreciation of its resources extends far beyond all the wide-open space and windows of opportunity this great state has to offer. I'm one of the thousands of Texans who call themselves bass anglers - true-to-the-bone addicts who prefer fishing for bass over all the other freshwater species. A recent survey published in the TPWD's Texas Largemouth Bass Program report indicates there are about 354,000 of us in all, 87% of which are males averaging close to 42 years of age. If you're a member of this highly diversified clan, you may or may not be shocked to learn just how much money we spend on our sport as a group.
The same survey also shows that Texas bass anglers spend an average of $91 on each fishing trip and an estimated $301 million annually on their sport. Keep in mind, these figures include expenditures tallied for fishing trips alone; the lavish costs of boats, motors and fishing tackle aren't added to the tab.
Personally, I can't recall ever dropping a big wad of money on a single fishing trip to any of my favorite impoundments, probably because I live in deep East Texas, just a stone's throw away from some of the hottest bass lakes in the state. But many of my less fortunate comrades probably will be quick to agree that a $100 bill is a small price to pay for the five-star bass fishing the Lone Star state has to offer. Granted, we don't have the vast numbers of 18-pound-plus hulks to our credit that California does. But by and large, Texas harbors some of the very best trophy bass lakes in the nation. In fact, when it comes to the production of 7- to 12-pounders, Texas has a nucleus of bona fide workhorses on the payroll.
Here's a listing of some of those lakes along with a brief summary of their history and what anglers might expect out of a trip to each in the near future:
LAKE FORK
Talking big bass and not mentioning Lake Fork is like talking pro football and not mentioning the Dallas Cowboys. With two state records (the current one is 18.18 pounds) and five 17-pounders to its credit, it's safe to say Fork is the reigning champion of Texas lunker lakes. But its credibility stretches far beyond that.
* In addition to producing eight of the state's Top 10 largemouths, Fork has yielded 36 of the Top 50 largest bass ever caught in Texas, an impressive list which bottoms out at 15.03 pounds!
* A survey of marinas done by the TPWD during the spring of 1995 indicates the lake produces an incredible number of bass in excess of 7 pounds. According to TPWD fisheries biologist Steven Porch of Tyler, there were in excess of 3,200 bass over 7 pounds weighed and photographed at marinas during a four-month period spanning January-March. Of that total, approximately 800 tipped the scales to over 10 pounds.
What makes those numbers even more impressive is the fact they included only fish that were documented by participating marinas. Taking into consideration the fact so many big bass are caught and released immediately on Fork, Porch thinks doubling the numbers would present a more accurate reading of how many big fish the lake really produces each spring.
WHAT TO EXPECT NOW
Lake Fork has proven itself as a lake for all seasons, but spring is by far the most productive for lunker largemouths. That's mainly because the fish move shallow to spawn during that period and likewise become more vulnerable to being caught on artificial lures. Late-January, February and early-March are typically prespawn periods on Fork, so anglers should concentrate their efforts on creek channels, ditches and other "highways" the fish might use when "staging" for their move to shallow water.
It's also important to remember this is a period when the fish have a tendency to suspend, so slow-moving baits that penetrate mid-range depths will be highly effective. Among some of the better ones to have on hand are the 3/4-ounce red Rat-L-Trap, DD-22 crankbait, 3/4-ounce double-willowleaf spinnerbait, the AC Plug, Castaic Perch, Suspending Rogue and Slug-Go.
"January is usually a pretty good month at Fork, especially for big fish," said veteran guide Hollice Joiner. "I do a lot of fishing around the grass in about 8 feet of water, mostly on the points and around guts. You'll seldom catch a fish under 3 pounds this time of year in that type of area and you stand a real good chance of sticking a giant."
If the shallow bite isn't working, Joiner will move out to deeper humps in 18-25 feet of water and bounce a jig/pork or jigging spoon off the bottom. He says "the jigging spoon will produce some smaller fish, but big ones will eat it too."
FALCON
Located in deep South Texas along the Texas/Mexico border, there's probably not a lake in the state where cast and catch ratios of quality size largemouths rank any higher than they do on Falcon. One needn't look any farther than the TPWD's annual bass club surveys done in 1994 and 1995 to find rock-solid evidence of that.
Tournament result surveys were sent out to over 400 bass clubs statewide and of the 150 surveys returned, events held at Falcon produced the best results both years. "The lake produces a tremendous number of fish in the 8- to 10-pound class," said TPWD fisheries biologist Bob Zerr of San Antonio. "But what's really been amazing is its consistent ability to recover from drawdowns and droughty conditions."
Water levels on lakes in this part of the country tend to fluctuate and they may stay low for extended periods of time. Put the predators right on the forage in that type of situation and things usually start to go downhill pretty quick. Subsequently, it normally takes a long time for the fishery to recover.
But Falcon has defied the odds.
"It's always real fast out of the blocks and typically starts producing good fish right away," said Zerr.
Zerr credits a good forage base as well as fertile runoff from agricultural operations with Falcon's well-being as a bass lake. Of course, that goes without mentioning the generous stockings of Florida bass it's received dating back to the mid-1970s.
The current lake record of 15.12 pounds was set in May 1991 and several fish pushing 14 pounds have been caught since that time. Bass in the 8- to 10-pound range are common.
WHAT TO EXPECT NOW
Fishing guide Jim Murray rates January and February as prime time to go after big bass on Falcon, mainly because this is when the bigger females will begin making their moves into shallow water to spawn. But before you hear his fishing suggestions, you need to know a little about the water level.
Falcon, as of this writing, was 38 feet below normal, up somewhat over its all-time low of 51 feet below conservation pool recorded in July. That's created some navigational hazards on the water and boat-launching problems at many public ramps. However, a new low-water ramp constructed at Falcon State Park near the dam should help alleviate some of the worry. The ramp was constructed last summer and will be a blessing in future low-water situations.
Now for the fishing.
"You can catch some big fish in early-January, but historically things don't really get turned on until the latter part of January on up through February and March," said Murray. "We used to have some good hydrilla in the lake, but since the lake got down so far, it doesn't look like we'll have it this year. Instead, we'll be fishing the backs of the creeks around all the new growth willows and huisache bushes. They're everywhere."
Murray's No. 1 lure for fishing the bushes will be the spinner bait, but he'll also throw a lizard from time to time. He likes the creeks from the midlake area south the best. Deep fish also are pretty reliable this time of year, mostly on mainlake points, old rock quarries and flooded ruins. Murray will approach these types of places with a jigging spoon or deep-diving crankbait.
FAYETTE COUNTY
Fayette County Reservoir northeast of La Grange may be small, but don't let its size fool you. Due to the implementation of a super-restrictive 14- to 24-inch slot limit that went into effect here two years ago, this 2,400-acre power plant reservoir is sure to crank out some big packages in years to come.
"Statewide, it probably has one of the highest electrofishing catch rates of all the lakes in the state - 70 bass per hour in the slot, - that's pretty good," said TPWD fisheries biologist Dave Terre of San Marcos. "It's a great lake, with a tremendous number of fish in the 20- to 21-inch range. But it also gets a lot of pressure, particularly out of Houston. A lot of those anglers came to us with a collective interest in being able to catch more fish bigger than 21 inches, so we went ahead and raised the upper end of the slot."
Currently, Fayette is still producing scads of fish in the 3- to 5-pound range, but numbers of bass in the 7- to 10-pound range should become more commonplace as the restrictive regulation takes hold of the reservoir's near 100 percent Florida bass population.
"There's a great forage population in this lake and, because it' a power plant lake with excellent habitat, the fish have a tendency to grow off extremely quick," said Terre. "Those factors in combination with the limit should increase the numbers of fish in the 6- to 9-pound class, plus increase chances of catching a true trophy and breaking the 12.25 lake record. There've been a number of 10-pound fish caught on Fayette, but none over 12. It seems like 13 is the magic number these days."
WHAT TO EXPECT NOW
As mentioned earlier, Fayette County is a power plant reservoir. That means water is sucked out of the lake to cool generator turbines and then released back into the impoundment at a much warmer degree than it was when it went in. Because of the "thermal enrichment" factor, water temperatures on Fayette will be substantially warmer than on a neighboring cold- water lake. Hence, bass are fooled into thinking it is spring when in reality it is still winter outside.
Veteran fishing guide Gene Ballard says bass anglers can catch good numbers of quality fish on any number of baits. During January and February, he likes a 3/8- to 3/4-ounce Stanley spinner bait in a blue flash pattern. He'll work the bait over the tops of the submerged grass. The key, says Ballard, is to retrieve the lure at a pace just fast enough to keep it ticking the top of the moss.
Ballard also prefers throwing a crankbait over the top of the moss. Soft plastic jerkbaits and Texas-rigged worms and lizards also are highly effective.
"All the mainlake and secondary points on the northwest side of the lake can be good," he said. "These places are protected from the north wind and will warm up the quickest." Ballard said Buzzard Point and Three Fingers are exceptionally good areas. Any one of the submerged pond dams on the main lake will be apt to hold big fish as well. Most of these are listed on the lake map.
BASTROP
Another little power plant lake Terre made a pitch for was 906-acre Bastrop. It's located within 2 miles of Bastrop State Park and, in addition to being one of the top big bass fisheries in the central region, it is one of the most scenic impoundments to be found anywhere.
Terre said the TPWD initially began managing Bastrop as a trophy fishery in 1990 by implementing a three-fish, 18-inch minimum length limit. Those limits changed to a 14-21 slot in 1992 and has since yielded some excellent results.
"The official lake record on Bastrop is only 9.98 pounds, but I know there have been several fish larger than that caught. It's kind of a sleeper - a well-kept secret. But we're starting to see more people fishing it."
Bastrop has excellent bass habitat. In addition to hydrilla, it contains water milfoil, coontail and duckweed.
WHAT TO EXPECT NOW
Lake guide Mike Hastings says Bastrop will be hotter than a pistol over the next few months. But you'll have to time things just right in order to catch the generators running.
"Something to keep in mind is Bastrop is a natural gas power plant, which is more expensive to run than a coal-lignite plant," explained the Austin-based guide. "Because it's more expensive, they may not be generating at Bastrop when they're generating at other power plants. The water temperature here is totally dependent on the demand for electricity.
"Regardless of what happens, I'd rate January as the very best month for big bass - anything over 7- 8 pounds," he added. "It's a typical slot-limit lake in that it produces a lot of 5-pounders. But there are also quite a few big fish caught that you don't hear about. Folks like to keep it quiet. I've got a friend who caught a 13-pounder out of Bastrop and he released it instead of taking it somewhere to have it certified as a new lake record."
During January, Hastings advises spending a good bit of time fishing in the lake's five creeks as well as coves and main lake pockets.
"In the creeks and coves, I'll throw Suspending Rogues, Slimey Slugs and spinnerbaits," he said. "You can fish a 3/4-ounce Rat-L-Trap over the submerged grass or you can punch the grass with a one-ounce Oldham's Jig or a lizard with a 1/2-ounce sinker pegged to the head. You can also take a floating lizard or chartreuse Mister Twister Jerk Rat and peg it with a slip sinker and catch bedding fish in February and early March. That Jerk Rat really drives the fish crazy."
SAM RAYBURN
If I owned a marina right now, I'd want it to be on Sam Rayburn Reservoir.
That might sound sort of crazy to the financially-strapped business owners around the lake who have suffered through the last 12 months due to the drought of 1996. But truth be known, the fishing has never been better on the 114,000-impoundment. And it's going to get better.
Sam Rayburn fell to an incredible 14-plus feet below normal last summer and broke its all-time low twice in two months. But thanks to heavy rains in late-September, the lake rose about 1-1/2 feet and got a few folks out of the woods.
It's tough to predict what lake levels will be when this issue of Texas Fish and Game comes off the presses. But regardless, Sam Rayburn's track record over the last few years serves as rock-solid evidence of its ability to please the trophy bass purist.
Bass weighing upwards of 10 pounds are caught with regularity on Big Sam. The lake ranks second only to Lake Fork in total number of entries to the state's Share A Lunker program (it has a 13-pound minimum) and its lake record stands at 15.0 pounds.
WHAT TO EXPECT NOW
As mentioned earlier, water level is going to play a key role in how anglers should approach fishing Rayburn this spring - literally. Navigating this lake can be extremely dangerous when water levels are low, mainly because of the many submerged ridges, humps and stumps that lie hidden just beneath the surface.
But don't let that spook you. Rather, let it serve as a signal to slow down and take your time. do that and good fishing will be inevitable.
During January, fishing guide and Fishing School instructor Will Kirkpatrick says there will be three working patterns.
"The first thing I'll do early in the morning is idle the mouth of some of the bigger bays and use my electronics to look for big schools of shad in places where the creeks fall off into 30-50 feet of water," he explained. "The bass will be nearby, usually out to the side."
At that point, he'll throw out a marker buoy and repeat the process at three or four more similar locations before returning to the first to fish. "I might have 15 buoys out before I drop the first line," he said.
Kirkpatrick's bait of choice in this situation is a 3/4 ounce jigging spoon. He might have to test the water in two or three spots before he hits a group of active fish. But when he does hit pay dirt, it's almost like taking candy from a baby. "You can hammer these fish when they get a good jigging spoon bite," he said.
As the day progresses, the shad typically migrate up the creeks towards shallower water and gang up on the ends of secondary points in 12-15 feet of water. That's when a big crankbait like a Mag Wart, 7F Bobber or Luhr-Jensen Brush Baby can be deadly.
"These baits have a slow, wide wobble and the bass eat them alive," said Kirkpatrick. "Your reds and other crawfish patterns will usually be the most productive."
Late in the afternoon, Kirkpatrick suggests hunting shallower, protected pockets that have been exposed to the sun all day long. Water temperatures in these types of places might be in the mid-50s late in the afternoon, whereas mainlake temps may be in the high 40s.
"I like places where there is a sharp bank with some grass nearby," said Kirkpatrick. "The shad will sometimes move in there and the bass will be right on top of them. Hit things just right and wear out big fish on a Rogue, Long-A or a spinnerbait."
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