Weekly Fishing Report Week of April 5, 2023
Sam Rayburn
GOOD. Water stained; 70 degrees; 0.41 feet above pool. Bass are finding cover in the buck brush to make beds, and on grass lines and drains fishing with soft plastic trick worms and senkos, and on points using Carolina rigs and crankbaits. Crappie are good shallow and on the brush piles on jigs and minnows. Fish are in all stages of the spawn. Catfish are spawning on shallow flats. Sand bass are good in the creeks. Report by Lynn Atkinson, Reel Um N Guide Service.
Toledo Bend
GOOD. Water stained; 69-71 degrees; 2.52 feet below pool. The water level is 169.47 with no generators running. Water temperature at the Dam is 65 degrees. North of the three-mile Pendleton bridge, temperatures have been running 69-71 degrees. The bass spawn should be in full swing on the next full Pink Moon on April 6. Good numbers of bass have been caught on bladed jigs in colors of black/blue, white/chartreuse, and watermelon pepper. Other baits for Bass are Jig-n-pigs in �½ and �¾ ounce in colors black/blue, peanut butter and jelly (PB&J), for darker colored water and a Carolina rig with plastic lizards in watermelon red and plum apple. Zoom speed craws have also been producing in shallow water Texas rigged casting to the edge of the grass and buck brush. Best colors have been watermelon red, all white, black with red glitter, and blackberry with purple flake. Some bigger Bass have been caught on Senko’s and Flukes in black/blue flake, watermelon red, black/red flake and motor oil colors rigged wacky or Texas style. Crappie bite is a moving target shallow; are they shallow or deep today? Some crappie have spawned, and others are fluctuating in and out depending on water depth and water temperatures. Don’t pass up those fly rods for Crappie. Use an indicator with a Clouser minnow tied on about 12-14 inches below with a weighted fly 1/80 or 1/64 ounce. Best colors have been white and blue, all black, orange head, and orange body with a chartreuse tail feather. The cadence is slow in 1-3 feet around cypress knees and buck brush. Also using a 1/80-ounce mop fly with success in colors of chartreuse, yellow, and tan. The white bass are still running north up in the feeder creeks using red head, white, yellow, and black chartreuse curly tails. Small Bluegill are starting to show up in shallow water and around boat houses. Catfish are being caught in shallow water current in the feeder creeks on punch baits, shrimp, and homemade concoctions. Kids Bank and Bulkhead Report – Six Mile Park, South of Hemphill, Texas on Highway 86 – Six Mile Park is a new facility that features a T-head pier with handrails and fencing. You can catch bluegill, bass, catfish, and crappie off the pier. Best baits are earthworms, crickets, minnows, or catfish stink baits. This facility is free of charge and is handicap accessible with a public restroom, boat ramp and covered picnic areas. Get the family in the outdoors and have some fun. Remember, it is always better to play it safe by telling a loved one or friend the area you will be fishing, how many people are in your party and the expected return time. Good luck and keep casting forward! Report from Master Captain Steve “Scooby” Stubbe, Mudfish Adventures LLC, Orvis Endorsed Fly Fishing Guide, and Mudfish Custom Rod Shop.
SALTWATER
Sabine Lake
GOOD. 71 degrees. The jetties are full of sheepshead, bull redfish, drum, and limits of trout biting off the rocks using live shrimp on a Carolina rig or under a popping cork. Sabine Lake is good for redfish and flounder in the points and drops out of the bayous with live shrimp under a popping cork. When the winds are blowing fish in protected water near Texaco Island and ICW bulkheads for redfish, trout and flounder. ICW and Taylor’s Bayou holding nice trout and redfish. Trout are in the Neches River all the way to the Naval Fleet in 4-15 feet of water on the points in the turnarounds using red shad quarter ounce jig heads. Redfish and flounder are good in 15-30 feet jigging silver and gold spoons. Bessie Heights Marsh producing catches of all species. Reports of shark catches in Sabine Lake. North Levee is good for trout. Report by Captain Randy Foreman, Captain Randy’s Guide Service Sabine Lake.
Bolivar
GOOD. 70 degrees. The surf is starting to hold some black drum, pompano, small shark and occasional redfish. The North Jetty surf side holding sheepshead and trout against rocks look for bait. Redfish in the channel on Carolina rigged mullet, shad, and crab. The end holds nice schools of trout and sheepshead. Report provided by Captain Raymond Wheatley, Tail Spotter Guide Service LLC.
Social Media