Sam Rayburn

Fishing Report
08-29-10

Water Temp.86
Normal pool 164.40
Water Clarity 2 feet

Sam Rayburn is at 158.66 ft and falling as they generate more electricity.

The lake is close to 6 ft low and you are seeing a lot more timber above the water line. The city of Warsaw will be just under the water as you come out of the long cut. Be careful when running out of the cut to the 147 bridge. There will also be a lot of sand bars just under the water so keep a close eye out for them.

Well we got a break in the weather with a cool front that pushed thru. It was nice to be on the lake early in the morning as the sun came up and have a cool breeze blowing. It was like a shot in the arm to get way, enjoy a day on the lake and forget about everything but fishing.

Friday I lunched the boat before daylight and set my sights on catching a Big Bass. The mission was to fish hard all day and put a Big Bass in the boat. The target area was 6 to 25 ft deep offshore structure, no bank fishing today. This meant working big baits over some of the best spots to get that one bite. There aren’t a lot of bites when you’re doing this but you’re not looking for little fish. The day had started around 6:30 a m and by 8:30 I had nothing to show for all the work. The moon was just going down around 9am when I got the first hit on the C/R. With 3 boats in sight I set the hook a little on the light side and kept my rod low. Didn’t want to give anything up. I caught several fish in the past week on this spot that had gone over 5 lbs. I hoped this one would go that much or more. Keeping the rod low the fish made a couple runs before coming up to the surface so I could get a eye on it, just before it pulled free. 6 to 7 lbs by the looks of her. By about 10:00 am the north wind died down and things got still. This can make things even tougher to get the fish to bite. Schoolies started chasing shad but I continued looking for structure and fishing on the edges. By noon the wind had came back up and I moved around to different areas to keep hunting for that big fish. At 3:00 pm I had fished around 4 other spots and had nothing to show for it but hanging up and breaking off to retie and fish some more. Around 4:00 pm I had made it back to where I lost the fish earlier to spend some more time there. After about 20 minutes I got the rig back to the boat. I let it sit there for just a few seconds and when I went to pick it up I felt her. As she started to ease off, I set the hook. The fight was on. She made several runs by the boat but never did try to come up and jump. I scrambled for net and was still thinking about it not coming up and jumping to throw the hook. I thought, “Maybe it’s a catfish”, but then I saw her as she made a run just under the surface. Finally I got her aboard. I’ll take this one! 9.2 lbs! Many more fish like this one are out there. As fall begins the temperatures have started to cool down but the fishing is gonna really heat up. There was a 10 lb plus fish caught earlier in the week in the grass line so things are looking up. Don’t wait too long to get your fall trip booked.

The fish have started to move up some as we are finding more and more shad up shallow around the points and in the pockets. There have been several pockets that have had a lot of small fish up shallow hitting Stanley Ribbits around the grass lines and pads. There been several fish caught on the outside edge throwing senko’s and wacky worms. Let them fall off the edge and sit there. The Spinner bait and crankbait will start to pickup more fish as things cool down and as more fish move up. On the long points and ledges you find fish starting to stage before moving in to chase shad and fatten up for winter. Carolina and Texas rig worms along with the football jig come in handy here as you work these areas

Crappie; The Crappie fishing is on and off. We have seen lots of bream and catfish at times on the brush piles that can be loads of fun for the kids. The bite has been very light and that makes it hard on the newer anglers. Everyone has loved the new pontoon with the shade, changing room and the port-o-potty. We even carry a fan for the real scorching days. It makes the trip a lot nicer for everyone. It’s one way to get the kids out of the house and have some fun. We can handle up to 8 anglers.

God Bless

Lynn Atkinson
Licensed Professional
Reel um N Guide Service
reelumnguideservice@yahoo.com
Home 936-897-3400
Cell 979-220-0251
www.rayburncountry.com