KFDM COOP Posted May 8, 2006 Report Posted May 8, 2006 The Beaumont Enterprise home : news : sports news : outdoors Toledo Bend lake level is rising; big snapper bite offshore Things are looking much better on Toledo Bend after a long dry spell and some very low water levels. In fact, if you're looking to catch a mess of bream this is the place to be right now. Lisa McDaniel, at Holly Park Marina on T-Bend, said they have been getting lots of rain within the past several days. She said the lake is on the rise. They got about 4 inches last Saturday. That was followed up by another downpour on Wednesday. McDaniel says the lake is about 31/2 feet low. "Things are looking a lot better now that the lake level is coming up," said McDaniel. "We're getting good reports on bream, crappie, bass and big stripers." Anglers on the lake report catching largemouth bass to 61/2 pounds on watermelon colored lizards in 3 to 4 feet of water. McDaniel says white spinnerbaits are good in the coves in 4 to 6 feet of water. The crappie are best over baited holes on live minnows. But a number of anglers report that strolling tube jigs in black/white or chartreuse/white is the best way to fill a cooler with these tasty fish. The big news on T-Bend is that bream are moving to the beds. A fisherman at Holly Park said he was out Wednesday and used crickets and red worms to catch a good stringer of bluegills. But he said the big ones have not moved up in numbers. Striper fishing is good along the Sabine River channel, about mid lake, on live perch and white Bomber Striper Jigs. McDaniel said one of their guides brought in a 16-pounder this week. The forecast for the weekend is calling for more rain beginning today. Apparently, we'll have a weak cool front move in and maybe stall. If that's the case, we might have a repeat of last Saturday with lots of rain, thunderstorms and wind. We still need several inches of rain to bring the big East Texas lakes back up to normal level. The surface water temperature on both T-Bend and Sam Rayburn has been anywhere from 70 to 73 degrees the past few days. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department reports that Sam Rayburn is clear and just over a foot low. Largemouth bass are fair on chartreuse/white spinnerbaits, crankbaits, Rat-L-Traps and on pumpkinseed jerkbaits over grass. Crappie are good on minnows and blue tube jigs, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department report. Trout fishing along the coast is still great one day and slow the next. Reds are good along the jetties on jigs and live finger mullet. I've had a lot of reports from Sabine Lake anglers. The best action for trout has been on the upper end of the lake. That's where trout are under the birds one hour and gone the next. The most reliable bite has been under two or three terns. Trout under the birds are being caught on anything from a Corky to jig tails. Best colors are white/chartreuse, red/shad or limetreuse. I also had one good trout fishing report from the upper end of the south shoreline on Wednesday. Both trout and reds are good at the Sabine jetties. Over the past several days I've caught both on tails, Traps and a Swim'n Image. The best bite has been in pockets of green water for trout. Reds are best along the wash out gaps of the rocks. On East Bay, the trout bite has been very unpredictable. Hanna's Reef has been great one day, dead the next. You just have to move around a lot. Numbers of reds are improving in the south shore marsh, as are flounder. The offshore bite is fantastic for red snapper, big ling and kings. Capt. Tony Langston, with William's Party Boats in Galveston, put 83 fishermen on 200 red snapper to 20 pounds on a trip out this week. Patrick Lemire reports that the four heaviest snaps weighed 16 to 20 pounds. They also iced 181 vermilion snapper, 39 spadefish, 18 triggers, 51 blue runners and four amberjacks. That's your basic haul. Langston said they were fishing about 50 miles out in 115 to 130 feet of water over rock formations. Most of the catch was made on cut squid or whole Spanish sardines. The National Data Buoy Center is calling for southerly winds through the weekend to 15 knots, with 2 to 3 feet seas. If you'll be heading offshore definitely keep an eye on the weather. It could get nasty in a hurry as the front gets closer to the coast on Saturday.
Cameron Crazy Posted May 12, 2006 Report Posted May 12, 2006 Possum Kingdom lake is finnaly full lets just hope the Golden Alage doesnt come back and kill the Millions of fish they have had to stock for about 2 years straight
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