01-10-2012 Bass Boats - January, 2012 Toledo Bend Fishing Report - Texas Bass Fishing Guide

Santa brought us some much-needed rain and we are in great shape launching at Huxley Bay Marina. In fact, the lake came up a foot and a half. The weather has been very pleasant and we’ve been catching a lot of fish across the board.

In January, most fisherman venture to Toledo Bend to harvest our world famous Crappie or to load up on the White Bass that are feeding heavy on the old river channel sand bars. The bass fishing has also been excellent with a couple double-digit fish being caught.

The race is on and we’re tearing up the Crappie. The Crappie have moved into deeper water along the old river channel ledges and drops. Either drop your own brush or look for natural cover where the Crappie will bunch up. The limit is 25 per person with no minimum length. It’s not unusual to put a number of two to three pound Crappie in the live well.

The White bass will be feeding heavy and holding on the north end old river channel sand-bars. Unless we get a substantial amount of rain, the Whites will spawn on the main lake sand-bars and not migrate to the river proper because of the low water and slow current of the river. Concentrate on the south inside bend of the bars with slab spoons, Rattle Traps and tail spinners. Use your electronics to locate the bait- fish.

In January the water temperature usually drops to the lower fifties and forties moving the bass into deep water. Their metabolism slows down and they become less active, feeding less and conserving energy. The easiest way to locate the bass is to locate the bait- fish. Look for balls of shad on your LCR in deep creeks, sloughs and along the river channel. When you locate the shad the bass are usually underneath just off the bottom or suspended. If the bass are on the bottom, they will orient themselves close to some type of structure, brush- tops, lay-downs, stumps, ledges, drops or humps. A jig, jigging spoon, Texas rigged plastic or drop-shot rig fished vertically can be very affective in triggering a strike. If the bass are suspended, a fluttering spoon or tail spinner cast out and counted down and retrieved with a pumping motion can also trigger a strike. Once the fish have moved into deep water, the strong northern fronts don't affect them as much as they do when the fish are in shallow water. Remember when fishing cold water down size your lures and fish slowly.

Now’s the time to check your calendar and pick out the dates you want to schedule a trip and accommodations at our Cottage. Give me a call and we’ll do our best to make things happen!