Friday, April 26, 2024
ON FISHING
Active spring predators willing to chase
MICHAEL ACOSTA
As a licensed professional fishing guide, Michael Acosta shows you how to find them. He has been a licensed guide since 1998.
The water is warming up, and water temperatures are in the desired range where the fish are really active. The water temperature is not too cold or too hot and the fish are feeling it. Just like us in the outdoors in comfortable 70-degree weather.
It is also a time that many folks start using live bait for a variety of species and for most days, live bait is a great choice. Recently, on Possum Kingdom for Easter weekend, we had live bait looking for striped bass and sand bass near the state park. We located a bunch of fish in the back of Cedar Creek in about 20 feet of water, but they would not take the live shad. However, if you dropped a jig/slab, they would hit it on most every drop.
You never really know what to expect, but you go with what works. We loaded the boat with fish by vertically jigging slabs. The fish were biting on movement (reactionary bite) but would not touch the live bait.
Not only did we catch striped bass, sand bass, but we also caught yellow catfish and drum on jigging slabs.
I can only attribute this activity to fish willing to chase as they were in their desired “comfortable” water temperatures (upper 60s). You would figure that they would eventually hit a live shad, but we did not catch one fish on a live bait and sacked up a limit on artificials.
Another thought is that these large schools compete with each other, and the rapid movement of a jigging slab draws the strike.
Easter weekend was also around a full moon, which as many of you know can have the fish feeding at night which may slow the bite during the day. Not sure this was the case, but it is something I follow and noted.
The moral of the story is if something is not working, try another option. You may be surprised. Each day is a new adventure on the water.
FISHING REPORT
Granbury water temperatures are in the upper 60s to low 70s. Best fishing action on Granbury is for catfish and crappies. Crappies are in the back of the creeks and under docks, and are good on small minnows and small jigs/tube baits fished under a cork. Blue and yellow catfish are good to excellent on cut shad fished near channel breaks. Largemouth bass are good in numbers on soft plastics fished near spawning beds in many creeks. Some sand bass and striped bass action has been reported near Indian harbor and in town near the Shores.
On other reservoirs, Lake Whitney continues to boast on limits of striped bass to 12 pounds on live bait and Alabama rigs. Possum Kingdom striped bass and sand bass are excellent on live bait, Alabama rigs and jigging slabs/spoons. Possum Kingdom largemouth bass are good to 10 pounds on soft plastics worked in the backs of sloughs.
michael.acosta@att.net
