Crappie Are Red Hot On Toledo Bend Right Now

[KFDM COOP]

The Causeway Bait and Tackle shop, located at the base of the Causeway Bridge at Sabine Pass, is going to be history real soon. What Rita didn’t destroy a bulldozer will within the next few days, according to owners Herb and Sherry Schwarznau. The building has been there for 30 years. They plan to rebuild with a metal building and be open for business within the next couple of months. Robert Sloan/The Enterprise

The weekend forecast is about as good as it gets across the entire state with morning lows in the mid 60s capped with afternoon highs in the mid 80s. Winds are forecast to be south to 10 knots today, and anywhere from 10 to 20 knots through Sunday.

Crappie fishing on both Rayburn and T-Bend is on fire with lots of fish being caught in the grass. The best areas to pinpoint on Rayburn are off extended points with stair-stepped grass, according to guide Bill Fondren.

"I think the crappie will stay up on the grass for another week or so before they move out to the brush piles," said Fondren. "Right now, you don't want to fish any deeper than 8 feet."

The hot bite at Rayburn is on 2-inch Wedgetail Minnows in white or white/chartreuse. Another top lure is a ¼ ounce Roadrunner in white with a chartreuse bubble tail.

Fondren said the crappie bite is hot one day and cold the next.

Guide Jim Morris, at Cypress Cove Marina on the lower end of T-Bend, said the crappie bite there is off the charts.

"It's as good as I've ever seen it," said Morris. "You can flat load a cooler with big black crappie during a day of fishing. The only problem has been the full moon. You never know what time they're going to turn on. You just have to stay after them. When they start to feed it's as many as you want to catch."

Morris says tube jigs in chartreuse/black or blue/white are best. His go-to pattern is chartreuse/black. He's strolling jigs in 10 to 14 feet of water.

Fondren said the bass are on the beds. He's caught them up to 9 pounds this week while working Wacky worms in 4 to 5 feet of water.

Guide Mike Wheatley reports good bass action on Ribbit Frogs over grass in 4 to 7 feet of water. Best colors are baby bass and watermelon/red.

Both guides report seeing bass in the shallows, but their heaviest one this week hit a frog worked on the surface. Wheatley says that's been a good pattern for solid bass in the 4- to 5-pound range.

The water temperature on both lakes is anywhere from 68 to 70 degrees. Rayburn is a foot low. T-Bend is 31/2 feet low and still plenty dangerous to run in a boat.

T-Bend bass are good along sandy banks in water from 3 to 6 feet deep on fluke-type baits like a U99 Reaction in watermelon/red. Morris said the spawn is about half way over.

"We're seeing lots of bass along the banks and catching a few good ones shallow," he said. "But there is another very good pattern in 6 to 8 feet of water on lizards and flukes."

If you're looking to catch striped bass Morris says to hit the dam at first light. That's where you can find them schooling for about 30 to 45 minutes at dawn.

On the coast, the water temperature is a warm 73.6 degrees.

Offshore runs might be a little bumpy through the weekend with seas running anywhere from 3 to 5 feet under winds up to 20 knots.

Fishing for trout and reds along the upper Texas coast has been good. Ditto that at Lake Calcasieu.

Sabine Lake guide Skip James reports good catches of reds and trout under the birds on just about anything you can throw at 'em. He's done best on Old BaySide jigs in white/chartreuse, white or shad.

"It's a steady bite, but you have to stay with the birds," said James. "The trout under the birds are solid fish with quite a few running from 3 to 5 pounds."

There have also been some big schools of reds working bait on the surface on the lower end of Sabine.

Fishing in the pass has been slow due to muddy water and dredging activity by the LNG folks.

Keith Lake Fish Pass has also been the scene of some pretty good catches of trout, reds and flounder during the past several days. Getting to those fish is a problem. The only suitable ramps are at Sea Rim State Park about 7 miles west of Sabine or off the Intracoastal canal. You need a shallow running boat to launch from the Sea Rim ramps. And you'll need a winch to get a lightweight johnboat over the rollers at the ramp on the Intracoastal canal. Another option is to launch at the Umphrey State Park ramps adjacent to the Causeway Bridge. From there you can run around the point, up the ship channel and under the bridge at the fish pass. To do that you'll need a low profile boat and a low tide.

East Galveston Bay has been on one day and off the next, according to guide Jim West.

"We had a couple of limit days last week on the open water, while fishing with tails in just about any color," said West. "I've been doing pretty good while wading protected water this week. But with the holiday weekend coming up that might come to an end. The best bite is definitely on tails."

[PNG Proud]

Yeah, and by the time I hear about it and can schedule some time off, It'sWAY TOO LATE. Oh well. :scratch

[Bread]

i went to toldeo this weekend, and me and my brother trolled over a hump for about 10-20 minutes and caught 10 keepers, using a chartreuse jig with pink head, at about 7:30ish at night