Hot weather kicking out big Texas bass

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July 8, 2009

Matt Williams The Huntsville Item Wed Jul 08, 2009, 04:46 PM CDT

Giant bass are on the prowl on lakes across Texas, day and night. On June 27, Toledo Bend Reservoir along the Texas/Louisiana border shocked bass anglers across the South when it spit out a whale of a summertime bass that weighed 15.03 pounds, just shy of the lake record 15.32 pounder.

Donnie Gill of Leesville, La., caught the big bass while competing in a Anacoca Lions Club Open bass tournament held out of Cypress Bend Marina in Many, La. Gill said he caught the fish on a redbug pattern Zoom Mag 2 worm in about 22-25 feet of water. The 28-inch-long bass is heaviest reported from the 181,000-acre reservoir in nearly a decade.

Gill and his partner, Bret Bennett, won the tournament with five fish weighing 26.43 pounds. Amazingly, however, Gill did not win the big bass pot because the fish died before it was brought to weigh-in.

Bass weighing upwards of 15 pounds are rare. It is even rarer to catch one during the middle of the summer.

Most Texas “teeners” are caught during late winter and spring, when their biological tickers beckon them towards the shallows to spawn. The fish are more vulnerable when positioned at shallow and mid-range depths.

A big female plump with eggs will usually weigh about 10 percent heavier (possibly more) than it does during the summer months. That said, Gill’s bass could have easily weighed upwards of 16 1/2 pounds had it been caught during the spring, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department fisheries biologist Todd Driscoll of Jasper.

Knowing what he knows about Toledo Bend, Driscoll said word of Gill’s catch did not come as much of a surprise.

“That lake is so vast and so full of excellent habitat, it sort of surprises me there aren’t more fish of that caliber caught over there,” Driscoll said. “There are big bass in that lake that go through life and never see a lure.”

Interestingly, the current lake record was a summer-caught fish, as well. Eric Weems of Crosby caught the bass in July 2000.

Woodall’s Night Bite

Leslie Woodall of Bridge City caught a sackful of big bass at Toledo Bend on the night of June 24. Though none of the fish came close to the lake record, the accumulated weight of the five-bass limit was impressive.

Woodall’s limit totaled 34.50 pounds. The heaviest bass weighed 9.75 pounds.

Woodall picked a good time to sack up the big bag of toads. He was competing in a night fishing tournament hosted by Print Pak Refinery out of Orange.

“It was a heck of a night,” Woodall said. “I caught fish all night long, but it seemed like the bigger ones were the most active from dark until midnight.”

Woodall caught all the fish on a Texas rig black/neon worm.

Choke Canyon Giants

Choke Canyon Reservoir near Three Rivers established itself as one of Texas premier lunker lakes this last spring, and recent reports put an exclamation point on the claim.

The 26,000-acre South Texas fishery turned out a passel of double-digit fish during May and June, according to Brian Loy at the Calliham Store. Loy said three fish that exceeded 15 pounds on uncertified scales were caught during May.

Two of the bass were caught from fishing guide Charles Whited’s boat. All were released after they were caught and photographed, Loy said.

More recently, Loy said there was a 13.32 pounder caught and released at Choke Canyon during the last weekend of June.

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