Recently there was a big bass tournament on Toledo Bend. It was the McDonald Big Bass Splash put on by Sealy Outdoors. I know a lot of people saw the Red Ranger with www.learntocatchbass.com on the side zipping around. I was the driver of that boat and managed to squeeze out 5 checks for a total winnings of 2,400.00 dollars. Now if you were in the tournament you know how tough the fishing was and you are probably very interested in how some people managed to pull several good fish out when there were so many people having trouble catching fish at all. I will dive in and hopefully give you some insite on Toledo Bend summertime fishing.

There were three main tactics that accounted for the majority of the quality fish being caught this weekend. First, the most notorious big bass bait,the jig, accounted for it’s share of big fish. Second, and the method that won overall was dragging a big worm. Third was a deep cranking pattern.

These three patterns all hinged primarily on one key factor deep water and submerged wood cover. Don’t get me wrong some good fish were caught in the grass but the majority came from wood cover. The bite in the grass seemed to be a bit tougher this year.

To catch solid fish early the quickest method for catching quality fish in the 4 to 8 lb range was the crankbait. Look for feeding areas close to deep water. Those fish pulled up to eat, bluegill, white perch and shad in the early morning hours. I personally drew all my check fishing a Custom painted DD 22 between 18 to 25 foot of water that had wood that came to within 15 feet of the surface. The crankbait was painted by Sixth Sense Lure Company out of Nacogdoches Texas. Most of my fish were feeding in the upper part of the tops I was fishing and when you hit them they were stacked up very well. The first morning I pulled a 6 lber a 5 lber 3 fish between 2.5 and 3 lbs and I lost another fish about 5 lbs and another fish about 4 lbs in less than 20 minutes. Those summer fish pull up and feed early in the morning then either bury down in the tops or suspend out over deep water the remainder of the day.

After a good morning bite things slowed down considerably. Once the heat picks up there were really only two options. One punch grass, which I really didn’t hear many reports of many good fish coming from the grass. The other option which panned out more strongly this year is to drag that big worm or big jig until you hit big momma in the head. You need to find a good hump, point or ridge that was fairly close to deep water preferably a river or creek channel. You could often fish the slow stuff in the same places as the cranks after the morning bite slowed. When you “think” you are fishing slow enough slow down more. Those big females don’t want to chase food a lot once the sun gets up. They sit around saving energy to feed up good at night when they have more of an ambush advantage. Those big fish are still opportunistic feeders and if they see a chance to grab an easy snack barely making it across bottom then they will. Patients is key when the bite is tough. You have to have confidence that what you are doing is right even when you don’t get a lot of feedback. Because the big bites are slow and far in between especially in the heat of the day. Unfortunately I never drug my bait across the right big gal this weekend. I managed some solid morning bites but no really big fish.

I know that for alot of people it seemed like there wasn’t a bass in the whole lake but I hope this helps you understand what you could have done differently. Those fish were grouped pretty good together in the mornings when they were feeding but after breakfast was over they spread out to their seperate hiding places. For full tournament results and information visit Sealy Outdoors.