JugLine Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 They were slow at the sholes on Saturday morning. We got up there about 9:00 and went back to the boat ramp about 10:30 due to rain (Had my 6 yr old with me and he was cold). We caught three big females while we were there. Seems like the guys using minnows were having the best luck. We were using jigs. One guy told be that they were hot around River Ridge. Maybe they havent made it up there good yet. My friend went back yesterday and said the fishing was a little better. There just not stacked in there yet. Be careful while navitgating the rocks on the way up. The river is low and its kind of a adventure getting up there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catahoula Posted February 23, 2009 Author Share Posted February 23, 2009 Tanman, Saturday was pretty good on Neches but yesterday was nothing... 3 fish in 5 hours of fishing in the morning. We think the high pressure had something to do with it. Your friend did pretty good yesterday? Now I'm questioning the high pressure... Surely the Sabine is not that far away that the barometric pressure would affect us here and not affect the Sabine? Fishing is a crazy thing. What time was your friend fishing yesterday? Sharkb8ter, they are both the same fish. Usually in the early spring they run up the rivers to spawn, that's when you see all the cars stacked up at all the bridges upstream from the area lakes. It's usually a pretty good run. The run on the Neches has been going on for about 2 weeks now. It was getting pretty good until yesterday. Hopefully they'll turn back on, It usually goes for about a month. Has anyone heard a report on the Neches River from Sunday afternoon? I read on another forum that there were a bunch of cars there in the afternoon. In the morning until around noon hour there was nobody there and the few that were there were not catching anything... headsRtails is going out there today w/ his graph to check things out. We're thinking the run is not over yet! Keeping my fingers crossed. We need rain too, the river is extremely low, this may have something to do with it also. Also, as headsRtails stated, please take your trash out of there, we picked up 2 bags of garbage this weekend, the river is looking pretty trashy, it's really a shame. Cat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JugLine Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Tanman, Saturday was pretty good on Neches but yesterday was nothing... 3 fish in 5 hours of fishing in the morning. We think the high pressure had something to do with it. Your friend did pretty good yesterday? Now I'm questioning the high pressure... Surely the Sabine is not that far away that the barometric pressure would affect us here and not affect the Sabine? Fishing is a crazy thing. What time was your friend fishing yesterday? Cat They started about 10:00. I will give him a call and see how the finished the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headsRtails Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Back from the river ... North of 31...Fishing has slowed since Saturday out there with the front and High Pressure system that came in. Did mark fish pinned up in three holes, caught 7 ...but you had to wiggle it in front of their nose to get them to hit. All in all it was a good day on the river...just had to work at it alittle. Yes (Cat) i carried out me trash out and some more. You know how i am about that :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloodrningblue Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 They started about 10:00. I will give him a call and see how the finished the day. I had 2 buddies go to river ridge on the Sabine last Friday. They went up river from the ramp and caught over 100. They said they caught over 60 in one spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catahoula Posted February 26, 2009 Author Share Posted February 26, 2009 Wow, that's a nice catch. The Neches has been really spotty this year. People are catching them here & there but they are really having to stay all day and work really hard for the few they are catching. I haven't caught any since Sunday, the fish are there but they just aren't biting. I think we need some rain to get them stirred up and really turn them on. Cat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiftysix Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 we caught a few saturday morning up at lonestar, but it was pretty slow do most people cut out the red stripe.. we usually just leave it and they taste fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catmaniac Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 we caught a few saturday morning up at lonestar, but it was pretty slow do most people cut out the red stripe.. we usually just leave it and they taste fine I can't say for sure but I would suspect most folks cut out the red. It helps to eliminate some of the strong fishy taste when you cut out the stripe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catmaniac Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 I can't say for sure but I would suspect most folks cut out the red. It helps to eliminate some of the strong fishy taste when you cut out the stripe. Well if the forecast for rain for late this weekend and next week comes to pass then maybe the magic will begin. It sure is fun to set at a mouth of a creek or at the back of a spillway along the river and wear those big females out! Here's hoping we get the rain :houastros: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluePirate Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 we caught a few saturday morning up at lonestar, but it was pretty slow do most people cut out the red stripe.. we usually just leave it and they taste fine I was up at Lone Star Tuesday and didn't even get a bite. Went back Wednesday morning and caught 2 sand bass and a crappie... Well my 4 year old believes he caught them. He had fun and ultimately, that's what counts. I do cut the stripe out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortal13 Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 The stripe is the best part. Mmmmmmm :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluePirate Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 The stripe is the best part. Mmmmmmm :thumbsup: PM me your address and I'll mail you a bunch of stripes. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortal13 Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 PM me your address and I'll mail you a bunch of stripes. :thumbsup: I'll bet you would :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catahoula Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 Any reports from the weekend? Me & headsRtails did pretty good on the neches, it seems to have picked up a little bit now. Hopefully this cold front they are talking about doesn't have a negative impact on the fish. Cat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catahoula Posted March 11, 2009 Author Share Posted March 11, 2009 Some illegal activity going on @ the river lately, the Game Wardens have been notified. Anyone doing any good? Cat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortal13 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Some illegal activity going on @ the river lately, the Game Wardens have been notified. Anyone doing any good? Cat what kind of activity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catahoula Posted March 11, 2009 Author Share Posted March 11, 2009 They're using seine and cast nets to catch the fish in particular, I saw a guy w/ a bunch of undersized fish on his stringer a couple Saturdays ago. Also think I smelled marijuana being smoked down there too one day. Have you been doing any good? Are you fishing the Neches or Sabine river? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortal13 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 They're using seine and cast nets to catch the fish in particular, I saw a guy w/ a bunch of undersized fish on his stringer a couple Saturdays ago. Also think I smelled marijuana being smoked down there too one day. Have you been doing any good? Are you fishing the Neches or Sabine river? I don't fish the creeks anymore. I have done it before, but I don't go down there any more for many of the reasons you just stated. Mainly I don't like the element at the river or being crowded by a bunch of people I don't know. I'm also not a huge sand bass fan. If they are schooling out in the main lake, we may cast a rattletrap and catch a few.....they can be fun. MOF, we did that just the other day in front of the Brookshires property(Lk. Palestine) and caught 20 something sand bass in about 45 minutes. Like I said before, I have become hooked (forgive the pun) on Lake Fairfield redfish. FF also has good bass, catfish, and bream fishing, but those underwater freight trains are what I live to have on the end of my line. If you've never tried it, you're missing out. Good luck at the river and keep safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catahoula Posted March 13, 2009 Author Share Posted March 13, 2009 At the Neches River in Chandler this morning the pasture on the north side of the bridge was completely under water, the river is way flooded. You can't even make it out to the second bend in the river anymore. I think all this rain may be the end of the season this year, it has been a very spotty year and pretty hard fishing for the most part, but I really just like being in the outdoors and having a fish on the line. However I'm not giving up hope yet, I'm going to keep trying it until April. Well, I like to catch the sand bass, they sure are fun on light tackle! The only problem if you are keeping them is hauling them out of there, a stringer w/ 20 fish sure gets heavy! You are right about the river element, but there are some good people out there too, I have met 2 really nice people this year. But for the most part, the river element are very annoying, they trash the river in no time flat. I could go on and on. but I don't have the time.... I fished Fairfield last year but didn't have any luck on the reds, what do you use for them? Hopefully this rain will help Fairfield get back up to level, I have heard it was critically low on water lately. I grew up on the coast until about 10 years ago and have caught my share of the big freight trains! How do they taste coming out of fresh water? I'm not too fond of fresh water fish, having grown up on saltwater. Too bad Speckled Trout can't live in fresh water... Cat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortal13 Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 At the Neches River in Chandler this morning the pasture on the north side of the bridge was completely under water, the river is way flooded. You can't even make it out to the second bend in the river anymore. I think all this rain may be the end of the season this year, it has been a very spotty year and pretty hard fishing for the most part, but I really just like being in the outdoors and having a fish on the line. However I'm not giving up hope yet, I'm going to keep trying it until April. Well, I like to catch the sand bass, they sure are fun on light tackle! The only problem if you are keeping them is hauling them out of there, a stringer w/ 20 fish sure gets heavy! You are right about the river element, but there are some good people out there too, I have met 2 really nice people this year. But for the most part, the river element are very annoying, they trash the river in no time flat. I could go on and on. but I don't have the time.... I fished Fairfield last year but didn't have any luck on the reds, what do you use for them? Hopefully this rain will help Fairfield get back up to level, I have heard it was critically low on water lately. I grew up on the coast until about 10 years ago and have caught my share of the big freight trains! How do they taste coming out of fresh water? I'm not too fond of fresh water fish, having grown up on saltwater. Too bad Speckled Trout can't live in fresh water... Cat Cat, I have had that same very thought about specks. What a wonderful fish they are to catch and eat. On reds at FF, we like to cast net baby tilapia (3-4"), or bream for bait. Live crawfish also work great if you can get them. They can be caught on cut bait, dead crawfish or shrimp too, just not as well imo. We usually carolina rig them fishing in shallow water and casting the bait out in the 15-20 ft water depth. The thermoclime on FF is at about the 20 foot mark, so it's best to fish above that. I've got a number of honey holes, but fishing off of any point will work. On the rig, I like a 4-5/0 circle hook either with a non-offset eye, or snell the hook to the line if using an offset eye. Octopus or kahle hooks also work well. I usually tie a 9-12" leader of at least 30lbs, and use a main line of no less than 20 lbs. Use a heavy swivel, bead and a 1.5-2 oz egg sinker. If you fish them with your regular bass tackle, you might regret it. I like to use 30lb main line and a 50lb mono leader, but I'm very anal about not having one break off. One other tip: DO NOT use those store bought steel or titanium leaders...they will let you down. Hope this helps on your next trip out there. You're right about FF being very low. I was out there about 2 weeks ago and it's worse than ever...over 7 foot low. Only the 2nd ramp is operational, and boats over 21' are going to have a lot of trouble launching/loading. I can still launch my 16' xpress fairly easily. Hopefully this rain will help out some. Oh, and if they are running the Trinity River pump(far end of the lake just to the right of the dam) into the lake, that is a great place to fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catahoula Posted March 13, 2009 Author Share Posted March 13, 2009 Nice Tips Immortal13! Thanks, I'll save this for the next time I go to Fairfield. Do you have to haev a boat over there or do you think I can access some spots from the bank? Maybe I'll boil some crawfish one weekend before going and keep a few alive to take to the lake.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortal13 Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 Nice Tips Immortal13! Thanks, I'll save this for the next time I go to Fairfield. Do you have to haev a boat over there or do you think I can access some spots from the bank? Maybe I'll boil some crawfish one weekend before going and keep a few alive to take to the lake.... No, my boat stays at my house in Bullard, but I'd be most happy to take you some time if you're interested. You can catch them from the bank...a lot of people do. Of course, you can fish many places from a boat that you can't get to from the bank. And crawfish do work great, but anytime through spring and summer baby tilapia are easily cast netted and make great bait. The tilapia are, of course, the main food supply that keeps the whole FF system going. If this lake level situation gets much worse or doesn't recover by next winter, there is the possibility that the power plant could have to suspend operations. If they did that during the winter, the tilapia would die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortal13 Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 BTW, sorry Cat, I didn't mean to totally hijack your thread. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluePirate Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Y'all keep it up... I'm learning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headsRtails Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Well its true me and Cat have been Hurt'n the sandbass as of late. But with all the rain the past few days its got the river flooded so much we cant get back to our Holes. So i jumped over to the Main Lake this afternoon to look around alittle......Son...did i find the Hybrids!!! Those bad boys was hungry and there to put up a fight. I think the smallest one was about 4 lbs. I had one own, that i took every bit of about 6 or 7 minutes to make sure i got this one caught.....but too only have it act a fool as im reaching to lip it and break my line!!!!!!! Gezzz i wanted that fish .... it was a big one, much bigger than the 4 to 6 lbs. fish i had already caught. "Cat" your gonna have to bust out your Redfish rods, these Hybrids will break the lil river gear in second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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