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2009 White Bass


catahoula

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Is anyone getting anxious about the upcoming "Run" this year? With all the rain we had last season the spawn should have been fairly successful and that will make 2 very successful spawns in a row. Hopefully there will be a lot of fish this year and we should have a lot of fun.

 

I have mostly fished south of the 31 bridge between the railroad and the bridge, caught a good amount in this area last year. Anyone have experience at the 31 & Kickapoo bridge area? or the 279 bridge area?

 

Yesterday there were about 5 cars at the bridge, not sure what they were fishing for but that did get my attention.

 

Later!

 

 

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Some people salt them and soak em in Vinegar as well as cutting out that red streak. We used to go on the Sabine near Tenaha and go as far as Joaquin and catch as many as you wanted. This was before there was a daily limit on them. We used live crawfish or a silver rattle trap. Three of us caught 125 one day...it is awesome fishing.

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I have done that. I still do not care for them for some reason. Can't put my finger on it. They just ain't right to me!

 

Ditto that but they sure are fun to catch. I've also tried the salt method and didn't find it worked that well if at all. Yesterday there were 8 cars @ the bridge. I'm guessing they are fishing for cats or something.

 

Blue Pirate, you can have all my fish, we'll have to coordinate when we'll be at the river, I try to go everyday after work when permissable. In the past, I usually see a "Dad teaching his kid how to fish" and give my stringer to them. Those Dad's seem to spend more time tying hooks and re-spooling reels than actually fishing. I can't wait to teach my little girl how to fish! That has been a big part of my life and I've always cherished the time I was able to spend on the water with my Dad. Good For those Men!

 

Yeah, I am planning on a "hundred fish day" this year, calling in my brother and cousins for a little river ratt action.

 

I can't wait!!!

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If we don't get some serious rain then it's going to be a bust above Highway 43 coal shoals on the Sabine. If anyone finds any up this way then I would appreciate a heads up. I just catch them and put them back. I'm like MedMan - I haven't found any method to make them good table fare for me.

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Wow, i haven't paid attention to the neches river if it's low, looks like there's plenty of water there though. I know we need some rain to get the current right for the spawn and then some warmer rain to make the fish move on in and get to spawning.

 

The Highway 43 coal shoals on the Sabine is near Marshall right Catmaniac? I can't believe it's that dry over there, the ground over here is moist and I remember seeing standing water in some boggy areas near here. But I can't remember when the last good rain was, but i haven't been paying attention to the rain either. There is a 30% chance of rain tomorrow & Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and a 40% chance on Thursday in my area. Hopefully this will stretch out to your area Catmaniac.

 

I will do a rain dance this weekend! :notworthy:

 

Cat

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I fish Lake O' the Pines and today's paper said the lake is .51 feet high.

 

Since you keep up with LOP you will probably find this link interesting. It is the up to date lake level on a live chart. I keep up with LOP and the Sabine due to my website and have links to all live data from links on it in the information section of my website. Here is the direct link to LOP. For a baseline the normal full level is 228.5 above sea level. This afternoon the level of LOP is 228.74 or 1/4' (3") above full.

 

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/uv/?site..._cd=72020,00054

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Yes Catahoula. The coal shoals are near Highway 43 between Marshall and Tatum. The Sabine is less than half as full as it is supposed to be. Here is the chart for it. Just look at the bottom chart and you will see the historic flows vs current flow for this date.

 

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/uv/?site..._cd=00065,00060

 

Hope this info helps you guys. That is what I keep the links for :rolleyes:

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I plan on heading to the 31 bridge in the morning and work my way down towards the main lake. To see how things look with the river level and with fishing. I do agree about needing alittle rain. Hopefully we shall get some over the weekend and into the week. These next few months are a great time for sandies and hybrids mixed in with them. :thumbsup:

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HeadsRtails, Good luck :thumbsup: , I saw about 10-12 cars there yesterday after work. Let us know what happens, I was thinking I might go down there Sat. morning & scout things out, maybe clear out a spot or something since I don't have my license yet. I talked to a guy the other day at Academy, he fishes Lake Fork and said they are still catching the Whites in about 30' of water in the lake up there. I would imagine that scenario would hold true for Lake Palestine also given the proximity. I would guess Fork is about 30 miles due north of Palestine as the crow flies.

 

Thanks for the info Catmaniac, I'm sure this will be a very useful tool to many of us. Looks like Lake palestine is just a tad above full on the chart but has been going down slowly for a couple of weeks. Looks like we may actually get some precip the next few days.

 

Will still do a rain dance tomorrow :notworthy: while out scouting. I'll be anxiously awaiting your report HeadsRtails!!!

 

Cat

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Just got back, No sandies up around the 31 bridge yet. I fished from the bridge almost down to the railroad tracks for about 3 hours. Caught 1 black bass .. maybe a pound if that on 1/8 oz beetle spin, yellow in color with black stripe. There was about 8 or 10 other people fishing also. Every one i talked too, said that they had not caught any sandies yet but were excited knowing the run is going to be starting very soon. I loaded up thinking i might be done for the day but thought maybe ill run down to the second bridge on 315 out of chandler to the main lake for a bit. Was fishing for about an hour when a guy in a boat pulled up about a 80 to 100 yards from me and the rocks i was fishing from. It looked like he was throwing a chrome rattle trap and caught three sandies pretty quick in about 5 minutes. I asked him if they were sandbass ...he said yes. Kinda feeling like he was showing me up, i thought of calling it a day since i was just standing on the bank watching him. Still throwing the 1/8 oz yellow beetle spin...when bam...my line just stopped (for a sec i thought i was hung) but no ...the 4 lb test line started rolling off my reel. At first i was thinking big Hybrid and had to stop twice to tight'n the drag some but not too much (4 pound test line) taking my time i got the fish up to the rocks and saw that it was a Big Black bass. I finally lipped the fish and got him in. This bass weighed every bit 5 pounds if not 6. I took pics with my phone and sent them to my wife while shes at work...now shes gonna take off at 3 today and wants me to take her this afternoon for a bit. No sandies yet, but boy one hell of a largemouth on ultra lite tackle!! Also the river level looks great and so does the water color.

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Thats a great report HeadsRtails! Glad to hear the water is holding firm, the projected rain this weekend should help hold the river level seady. Glad to hear you caught that big bass, I know that made your day! Any idea how deep that guy was catching those Sandies? I'm looking forward to a very successful season!

 

Cat

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Since you keep up with LOP you will probably find this link interesting. It is the up to date lake level on a live chart. I keep up with LOP and the Sabine due to my website and have links to all live data from links on it in the information section of my website. Here is the direct link to LOP. For a baseline the normal full level is 228.5 above sea level. This afternoon the level of LOP is 228.74 or 1/4' (3") above full.

 

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/uv/?site..._cd=72020,00054

 

Thank you.

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Ok..part 2 for the day of scouting sandies and hybrids. After picking up my wife, i decided to head back down to the second bridge on 315 out of Chandler. Being that i had more success on the main lake myself and from watching the guy snag the sandbass around 11 A.M. today. We got down there around 4 this afternoon and with'n 5 minutes my wife caught a Hybrid that would go 4 lbs. easy. This fish was caught on the same bait i had used this morning to catch two bass (1/8 oz beetle spin yellow with black stripe). She was very excited to say the least. I was throwing a 1/4 oz chrome rattle trap with a blue back. Maybe 30 minutes later, i hooked into a hybrid that was 3 to 4 pounds on the rattle trap. We only fished maybe an hour and half this afternoon. But the two we caught were both very nice hybrids. ------- As for how deep was the sandbass the guy in the boat was catching. I would think no more than 4 to 6 feet, being that he was throwing a rattle trap. Whether it was a floating or sinking rattle trap, im not sure .... but he was cranking on it as soon as it hit the water. Still no sandbass for me today .... but two black bass (one being a hog) and a really nice hybrid. Plus my wife got a sweet hybrid herself. I will be heading back to the river at 31 this weekend still looking and waiting on those sandbass. My gut feeling is... its gonna be a good year.

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Sandbass update for the 31 bridge before you get into Chandler. Things are still kinda slow with not alot going on yet. Things i did see this morning...First the Game Warden ... they will check you. Also the game warden said that things should really kickoff with some rain. There was a couple guys catching very small Crappie, throwing 1/16 oz jigs next to the bridge pillars. They were catching them with just about every cast, but these Crappie were very small in size..maybe 4 to 6 inches. One guy did catch a small sandbass while fishing for the crappie. It was kinda cool this morning, it didnt take long for your hands to get cold. Some warmer weather and rain and things will really pick-up.

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Well, I stayed on dry ground this weekend and never made it out to the river, it was just too darn cold (call me a fair weather fisherman) for me to spend any time outside.

 

This morning we had a very small sprinkle of rain in Chandler, just enough to dampen the streets. I'm surprised the game warden was out there Sat. He needs to go during the season when the place is packed w/ unlicensed fishermen, I never saw him out there last year. HeadsRtails, you have me interested in that second bridge a little bit. Are you fishing that little beach area just to the west of the bridge? I'll probably just wait until the run starts to really hit the water though. I've been getting a list of friends together to call when it starts.

 

Did anyone go to the gun show this weekend? What did you think? Man the prices have gone through the roof. About the only thing I could find that hadn't gone up were the paper targets! And selection? what selection?

 

Anyway, back on topic:

 

How was the current / flow of the river when you were there HeadsRtails? I think once we get a good rain the current will pick up and get their attention. Then when the temp gets right they'll come. Anyone have a farmers almanac?

 

Cat

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On fishing that second bridge, Ive been walking all the way down to the end were the bridge starts out over the water. Its on the same side as that little beach area. Fishing off the rocks (working that whole point) As for the river flow..there is some flow but its slow. Ive been getting surface temperature readings of 50 to 52 degrees. The water is still pretty cold. Really need it to warm up to 56 or better with 60 being an ideal temp. Im marking alot of fish in the river in certain spots. So things are building up as far as i can tell. :thumbsup:

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