April 28, 2011
If you enjoy topwater Bass ‘in, now is the time to hit Lake Amistad. As most of the bass are now past the spawn I am seeing a lot of fish busting shad in open water and many of the male bass are guarding fry. The fish activity level is high and will continue to increase throughout the mid June timeframe. I participated in the Bud Light Tournament Trail Tournament this past weekend and there were lots of 20+lb stingers weighed in by the teams. My partner Olin Jensen and I weighed-in a five fish limit for 22+lbs just lacking the big bite the winners received weighing in 27lbs. We caught most of our fish on plastics in 20-30 feet of water around trees and grass on the Mexican side of the lake. The Lake elevation has been getting lower this past week as the volume of water being released from the dam increases. The elevation is approx. 1116 ft above sea level. The water temps on the lake are holding in the mid 70’s.
Current Patterns -
Shallow: I continue to l target quality fish retrieving a 5 inch Optimum swimbait slowly around submerged trees and grass cover. I have had a few strikes on topwater lures worked around these same areas and have heard reports of others having excellent action on topwater baits as well. The El Grande lures Sapo (buzz frog) bite will be heating up very quickly in this depth zone.
Mid-Depth: This is the depth zone I have seen a lot of bass busting bait in open water around points and drains in the creeks. Many fish are being caught with topwaters in these locations and finesse tactics are also producing using baits such as El Grande lures Hatch Match sticks. The bass located in this zone are generally very aggressive and you can catch quite a few in a short amount of time if you are able to locate a large school.
Deep: This is starting to become a very hot depth location for bottom bouncing plastics for larger fish as well. I have been targeting trees and submerged grass to catch lots of 3lb to 4lb fish. Many of your favorite plastics will produce well right now and the key seems to be switching up the presentations from straight tail baits to ribbon tail baits. Also changing up the size of your baits can also produce more strikes throughout the day. I would suggest continuing to change presentations as the day progresses to ‘activate’ a feeding frenzy among these deeper schools of fish.
Fishing Forecast Tip: In the next few weeks look for bass to begin hanging around the shallows near bluegill beds. If you can locate some bluegills beds, arrive soon after in the early morning and cast topwaters and swimbaits around the outside edges to catch large bass on the prowl.
See you on the Lake,
Kurt
