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!

I do not care for tem much as table fair but they are fun to catch. Any fish that is used to swimming the currents like that always puts up a heck of a fight! That is usually some fast action too!

I'm definitely ready!

Med... Cut the red stripe out of your fillets.

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!

Can I have your fish then?

Man if we were close enough I would give you all of them you want. As long as I have someone who is going to eat them I will load them down.

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.

That sounds like it was a heck of a fun day right there!

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!!!

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.

I agree Cat. We need rain badly. Everything is low around here. It is not good at all. Right now you would be better off using a poll to push your way up the river to keep from tearing your engine up!

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!

Cat

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

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

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.

HeadsRtails, Good luck , 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 while out scouting. I'll be anxiously awaiting your report HeadsRtails!!!

Cat

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.

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

Thank you.

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.

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.

Hopefully we will get some rain this coming week. It's in the forecast. Love to see some current especially where creeks flow into river to crank up the sandies.

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

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.

I was hoping to give it a try this weekend but we have games to go to!

OK, i see where you are talking about, at the end of the rocks.... Yeah, I was thinkingth ewater temp was still too low, I imagine the weather of the last few days made it get a couple degrees cooler yet. How are you reading the water temps? Are you carrying a thermometer with you to the river?

I haven't seen any cars at the bridge over the last few days. Should be picking up in about a month I'd imagine. Maybe I'll get out and buy the license this weekend. Went to Academy at lunch today and they have a little jon boat combo set up in the aisle that looks like a nice little river setup for about $2500. Wish I had a truck or something to pull it with....

Medman, you thinking they are already starting to run in your area?

Yall have a nice weekend.

Cat

I was back down at the river today and yesterday. The cold front has knocked temperatures back down to around 47 to 48 Degrees surface temps in the river. Catahoula... I have a Humminbird Portable Sonar or fishfinder as some folks call it. It also gives surface temps. The cold front really slowed things down. Ive fished the last two days with nothing show for it, both the river and the main lake.

I usually head to the lake when the Bradford pear trees start budding.

Blue Pirate, I saw a Bradford Pear bloomed out last week on Houston St. in Tyler, I kid you not! I think the blossoms will be falling off this week after that little bit of cold weather we had last week.

Back down to 47 huh, man it doesn't take much to change those temps, hopefully the warmer weather this weekend and coming week will help things get back into check.

I guess ther were 10 -12 cars & trucks at the bridge this past saturday. Most of the trucks had trailers atttached to them, so they were probably fishing in the lake. No worries though, the season will be starting shortly. Time to get the old License, anyone know why the heck walmart wants your ss# to get a license, i overheard them asking for it from a dude a few days ago ? I don't remember having to pony that up before now & I'm thinkint I'll just make up a number for them, they swipe your DL and that should give them enough information about you......

Cat

The Bradford's up here have budded but appear a few weeks away from flowering.

BTW... Earlier I said I budded, but I meant to say flower.

Hey yall, I've been away for a little while and extremely busy work-wise and otherwise.... There is now lots of activity at the 31 bridge this week. I'm thinking the white bass are starting to move into the river. I don't have any time to go check it out this week, but hopefully next week I'll have a little more time.

HeadsRtails, have you been up there lately & got a line in the water? Whats the action like? The lot is full and there are about 12 or so cars on the road. I haven't seen anyone carrying out a stringer yet, but I haven't seen anyone walking out to their cars yet either.... I don't think the word has really spread around yet. Let me know when you plan to go and maybe we can meet up out there. Last year I was hitting it pretty regularly after work for an hour or so as it is on my way home. A couple times I was able to knock off an hour early.

Anyone else notice any action in their areas? CatManiac? MedMan? BluePirate? any news to report? Hows the action on the Sabine out of Longview?

Cat

Guess i can let the cat out the bag!!! Ive been tearing them up for about a week ... so has some other people. But to really catch them in droves right now is early in the morning. The first few hours at sunrise, the bite shuts down about 9 to 9:30 A.M. My wife says i need to keep my mouth shut...but i wish fun for all..theres plenty!!! Also i just ask that if people go down there please pick up your trash. Ive been takeing a 30 gallon trash bag and filling it everytime i go "which is every morning" to just give back to the river for what its done for me. Like i said ... theres sandies all up in the river but theres a few holes ive found that just holds a ton of fish. "Cat" you get ready to catch some fish ... Just PM me ....

I thought it might start early...

I got one good report from yesterday that the sandies are starting pretty good at old 59 landing. I am still thinking we will have to get more rain to get them over the coal shoals and up this way to Longview.

Excellent reports! Good Luck to everyone out targeting the Whities!

Well, I went for about an hour yesterday after work and got only 1 bite. I was really pressed for time and moved around a lot and didn't stay in 1 spot very long. I did see a couple other guys catch some here & there though. Sounds like I may have talked to your wife at walmart when I was getting my fishing license yesterday...lol The lady I was talking to said her husband was tearing them up and for me not to go take their spot! ...lol We had a good chuckle about that. Yes, I know what you are talking about on teh trash, that's a shame, we are lucky the landowner allows us to access the river from his property to start with. It's too bad they don't appreciate that fact, I could go on and on about that one..... I'm leaving town this weekend but plan to be on the river next weeeknd. I'll pm you next week and may be we can make some plans to meet up.

Cat

Will Do.... It was another great bite this morning, Plus a nice Hybrid.

WHAT???? You've been holding out on us for a WEEK!!!! Thanks a lot man



Seriously, I'm just playin with you. I don't care much for stompin up and down that muddy creek for a few sandbass. Been there done that. The trash really bothers me a lot too, and I guess I just don't care much for that particular fish. We can catch sandies and hybrids by the boatload out in the lake any time of year.

Big hybrids are ok, but I can't hardly think about fishing without thinking about Lake Fairfield redfish. Literally, when it comes to fishing anywhere around east texas, that's all I want to do. When you're hooked up with a 30+ inch redfish, there's just nothing like it. If it were closer, that's the only lake I would fish. Good luck to all you guys fishing the sand bass run this year.

Nice, a hybrid too! I was out of town for the weekend and when I came back last night about 5pm, the cars were really stacked up at the bridge. Did you get out any this weekend? So what is your total fish count this season? Mine unfortunately is still a big zero..... Hope to change that this week!

My buddy's house burned Saturday night, so it looks like I'll be mostly fishing solo this season, I can't imagine what they are going through. I'll probably be out helping him on the weekends when I'm not working too, so that will probably limit my river time too.

Anyone else do anything this past weekend? I'm going to try & stop after work today, will let yall know what happens tomorrow.

Cat

I was planning to go this Saturday but it looks like a cold front will come through Friday evening, pushing the temps back down near freezing.

Try 'em on a fly rod. You'll have a blast.

That is terrible about your friend, Thankfully they are fine and nobody hurt. Im not sure how many sandies ive caught this year. I quit counting after the 4th morning of catching between 30 to 50. I would think its somewhere around 300 plus easy. I cant say enough that the only good bite is the first few hours after sunrise, even the hour before in the dark. It just has not been a good bite during the day yet. If you do fish during the day .... you have to slowroll your bait off the bottom or deadstick it. (And yes you will lose some baits but it works) I went this afternoon just to check the daytime bite and its still slow. I caught 6 in two hours but in the mornings it is just wild how well they bite. But they just shut down between 8 and 9 A.M. I dont keep them...I just like catching 'em. I got my wife up at 4:30 friday morning and took her down there, We caught around 50 or 60 before they got slow. Lots of other people have been hurt'n em in the mornings also....and they will tell you the same thing im saying. Its all about the morning bite right now but at some point that should change i would think. If you wanna really catch them like crazy you have to get up early. Plus every morning more people have been showing up cause the word is getting out. I get there early to make sure im on the good spots. " This should help put fish on the end of your line, cause im telling ya how to get it done"

"Also (Cat)....my wife says that wasnt her at Walmart. But she did laugh about it!

I went last night after work until dark & caught 8 fish! There were others catching too but it looked slow, they seemed to turn on right around dark.

BluePirate, if the cold front does come through, what will that do to the fish that are already in the river? Surely they won't go back out into the lake will they? I'm planning to go Saturday, guess I'll have to dress warm! Hopefully it will just be cold, not rainy....

Bleeds, Fly Rod? no way man! Way too much brush in there, but I bet it would be nice to have one on a fly!

headsRtails, holy mackrel man! that's one heck of a start to the season! I was thinking I did great last year with about 160 or so during the course of the whole season! you have now humbled me and knocked me off the soap box! Heck, I'm always up early on the weekends and will defiantely be there early this weekend! How early are you talking about, line in the water by 5am? 6am? Man I'm getting excited hopefully the weather will allow some good fishing this weekend.

Cat

Get'n there early....like 5:30 to 6 ...... sunrise is around 7 but you can still get them in tha dark. Just cant see were your throwing for a bit. Yeah... ive caught a good number but ive been down there everyday and put the time and research into get'n on these fish. More less been waiting on them and was there when it started.

Excellent info headsRtails! That I will do. I'll be the one with the little 4' shakespeare microcast rod. Yeah, i found out about getting them in the dark last night. Just hope you don't get hung up and have to tie a new bait in the dark......

here are the solunar tables if anyone finds this useful:

http://www.in-fisherman.com/reference/solunar/calendars/

Cat

Here's a bump to the top of page for more responses.

I just talked to headsRtails and he said he's been out there since 4:45 this morning and been tearing them up, he had 15 when I talked to him. I went last night and caught 4 more. that makes 13 total for the season so far! I think headsRtails will hit 400 this weekend if he doesn't today, hopefully I can make up some ground on him! I found a great spot last night just by my honey hole from last season, there is some blockage and the fish have to stage a little bit while before figuring out how to proceed upstream over the obstacle. The river level is very low this year and the current is pretty slow so far. The fishing has been pretty slow at times but has little spurts of some action. Hopefully I'll be able to get them this weekend and the fishing will pick up.

** Does anyone have any information on some ticket writing going on @ the Neches River in Chandler? I've been hearing reports of this and I certainly cannot afford a ticket or worse yet going to the klinck for trespassing. **

The females are coming in slowly now, headsRtails' meter registered 60 degrees surface temp the other day (wed.) and what I saw last night was a few spawning females splashing on the river. I'm kind of hoping this cold front they are calling for over the weekend slows it down a little bit since I have relatives traveling in from out of state in March just to fish this run. I've been bragging all year to them and would hate for them to miss it.

Any reports from other areas to mentions? Hows the Sabine?

Cat

Man im tired ..... been out there since way early. South of the bridge the sandies seem to have slow down a bit, being that their heading north of the bridge and seem to be thicker up that way. Caught 6 sandies and a drum by 7 A.M. this morning south of the bridge. Went North of the bridge looking for better action. Things seem to be better up that way this week. Ended up catching another 12 or 13 i think. Best bite is still early and late...... with the day time bite alot weaker. After the sun comes up the best way to get them is to slow roll it off the bottom. They are slower this week and have been for several days. But the fishing pressure has really been alot stronger with tons of people down there. Best bite is still to come. Please take your trash out with you when you leave if your down there! Be Safe......

Going to the Sabine in the morning. I will let you know.

tanman, how'd yall do? we did fair in Chandler.

Game wardens were here today too, cool guys.

Cat

Ya'll educate me on this late fall or early spring sand bass fishing. That's the same as white bass? I usually fish for them on the lake in the late spring when the crappie slow down. My father-in-law works pretty hard on them, removing the red stripe and washing them repeatly, to make them taste pretty darn good.