Texas Fishing Report from Anglers 2005

The Angler keep others informed by emailing fishing reports to us. Include your name in the message part of your report if you'd like to receive credit for the report.

December 26, 2005 - Toledo Bend - Submitted by Fish Finders Fish Service - the water is a little over 9 feet low right now and the temp is high 40's tp low 50's

WE are catching limits of crappie up to 2lbs apeice right now and the limit of course is 50 per person we are catching them up the old river on the shelfs and ledges in 18-30 feet of water on jigs and minnows , their is no problem right now catching limits of black and white crappie.

the white bass are also up the river getting ready to spawn as the females are loaded with eggs right now and can be caught their also with jigging spoons and swim baits as well as in-line spinners.
also the big bar fish are up their eating real good right now.

the black bass fishing has been somewhat slow but with the warm up should get better , they will bite jigs, spinnerbaits as well as rattle traps and deep little n's

come on down and take a bunch of fish home to eat it is some of the best fishing you will ever get into anywhere anytime-we are running a winter special right now 6 hours for 200.00 until new years .

December 24, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by David Vance - For week of 12/22/5 - With the weather still up and down the fishing has been slow for numbers. But the quality of the bass we are catching right now makes up for the quantity. This week most of our bass have came on lipless crank baits in red and orange, a suspending rogue is also producing some big bass this past week. Yesterday we stayed with the lipless crank baits and suspending rogue all day and we boated 11 bass, but our hard work paid off right before dark Bill West fishing with me, caught the Big One of the day this bass weighed 10lbs 3oz and this big bass came on the suspending rogue way to go Bill. Best water depth for me has been 5 to 8 feet of water over the grass. The bass we caught this week have come from mid lake to the dam, good creeks that are producing good fish for me are Wolfe, Little Caney and Chaney Branch. I have been keeping my boat in ten feet of water and fishing the outside edge of the grass. A medium to fast retrieve on the lipless crank baits has worked best for me. These bass are scattered, so fish these areas 2 or 3 times before you leave and come back later in the day and hit them again. The best bite for me has been 10am until dark. This pattern is only going to get better on into January and February.

The key to catching these bass is to fish the greenest grass you can find. If you are not familiar with Lake Fork the best way to locate the greenest grass beds is to look for the Coots. This birds only feed on grass, and if you see a huge concentration of these birds you can bet you will find a lot of green grass in the area. The lake is about 4 feet low so be careful running the lake. I always look forward to this time of year because on Lake Fork you are just one castaway from catching that Bass of a lifetime. I am now booking spring trips. Book early to get best available dates. Call David Vance's Lake Fork Guide Service and Lodging and Book your Trophy Bass Trip Today.

903-629-7699 or 903-629-5085 Cell. Check out my website http;//www.lakeforktexasfishingreports.com

Good Fishing

David Vance

December 23, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - As I wrap up a wonderful year on Lake Fork, I would first like to give a big thanks to all of my customers in 2005. Best wishes to all in the coming New Year and may the blessings of good health, prosperity, and big bass be visited upon you in 2006. Photo is of Ann holding a 7 lb red Rat-L-Trap bass. I'm attaching a pic of Kevin with a 6 lb'er from Fork. I figure 1/2 of your Kansas customers will like and 1/2 may not. ;)

If you're like me, you'll be greedily trying to cram a few more big bass memories into your memory bank for '05. I'm happy to report that although winter officially arrived yesterday, the bass are feeding on a regular basis and big fish are already starting to show up shallow on Lake Fork. Most bass are in a winter pattern now and a few are showing up in early prespawn staging areas. Numbers run lower this time of year; however, now through February is an excellent time to catch a lunker prespawn bass.

Lake Conditions: Lake Fork's water level continues to drop, sitting at 398.89', or 4'1" below full pool. The water clarity is clear and water temps were registering from 47 to 50 degrees yesterday afternoon, with the south end of the lake being the warmest. The height and coverage of grass has been reduced during the draw down, but the grassy areas you find are still holding a lot of fish.

Location Pattern: From late-December through February, I concentrate on prespawn and staging fish on points and along edges of flats or creek channels. Areas with submerged vegetation (primarily hydrilla, milfoil or coontail) for cover will typically have the most active fish. Key on stumps, docks, and laydowns within the grassbeds or on any irregular places along the edge of the grass. While about any grassy area will hold a few fish, start your search in areas that have lots of spawning fish in late February and through March. It stands to reason that the coves that hold the most spawning fish in early spring will have the most prespawn fish in the winter. Main lake grass beds near the mouths of these coves are holding a lot of fish now, as are main and secondary points inside the coves, provided there is deep water nearby. During warming trends, follow bass back into the creeks and check the edges of grass flats and creek channels.

Keep in mind, too, that the absolute water temperature is not nearly as important now as the recent water temperature trend. For instance, water temps that are showing 52 degrees can result in slow fishing if the temps were 58 a couple days ago. In contrast, fishing can be great if the temps warm up to 50 while they were 44 a few days before. In general, look for bass on the flats and farther back in creeks during warming trends; conversely, drop back to points and main lake grassbeds after cold fronts. Finally, the day of and the day after cold fronts can be absolutely miserable to fish, but these frontal days after a long warming trend are usually the most productive times to fish.

For deep structure enthusiasts, points, roadbeds, humps, flats and ledges in 18' to 40' will produce some big fish during the winter months as well. Use your electronics to find the schools of bass and baitfish and work them over with spoons and dropshots.

Presentation Pattern: My wintertime arsenal is pretty simple for fishing along grasslines and creek channels. First and foremost are red lipless crankbaits in 12 or 34 oz. Stick with the 12 for grass that is near the surface and go with the 34 for grass that is deeper. Buzzing these over the top of the grass on a quick retrieve is working best now, but once the water cools a little more, letting the trap fall and ripping these out of the grass will trigger most of the bites. 14 to 12 oz spinnerbaits with double willow blades in white, red, or chartreuse and white will produce some really large bass in the same areas that the lipless cranks work, especially on windy and cloudy days. When the bite slows or the conditions are sunny and calm, I'll switch to a suspending jerkbait or a jig. Gold jerkbaits with orange bellies and black backs are my primary color. Work these with long pauses over the grass and along the edges. For jigs, I go with the lightest weight I can use for the conditions, from 1/8th or 14 oz on calm days to 12 oz on windy ones. Black and blue or watermelon jigs with matching Lake Fork Pig Claws or Fork Craws will do the job.

Cover lots of water until you get bit. Once you catch one, work the area over thoroughly with multiple passes, employing several different baits. Fish tend to stack up in key staging areas during the winter and these spots will replenish themselves with more fish during the prespawn as more and more big bass move shallow. Find some good staging spots and you'll have a milk run of honey holes now through February.

Here's hoping you catch the lunker of your dreams. If I can be of assistance, please contact me at 214-683-9572 (days) or 972-635-6027 (evenings) or e-mail me through http://www.LakeForkGuideTrips.com , where your satisfaction is guaranteed.

Good Fishing

Tom

December 15, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by David Vance - With the mild weather this past week the fishing on lake fork has been good on lipless crank baits. Red has been the best color and water depth five to eight feet on the edge of the grass. The best places to look for is at the mouths of the major creeks. The key right now is to cover as much water as you can. These bass are scattered over the grass, therefore when you go down a bank turn around and fish it again. These bass are not chasing the bait ,you have to get it close to them before they will hit it. So each place you fish, hit it 2 or 3 times before you leave. Most of the bass we are catching are from the main point half way back in the creeks. Yesterday we put 12 bass in the boat with one that weighed 9lbs 12oz all our bass came on red lipless crank baits. This pattern will be red hot now through Jan & Feb.

Right now I am using 15lb test line and a high speed reel on a medium action rod. A medium to fast retrieve has worked best for me. Most of the bass are just stopping the bait almost like you hit a stump. So at first don't assume you have hung up, if the bait stops go ahead and set the hook. Fishing this pattern you will get a lot of short hits, so it is very important to have sharp hooks. I always change the hooks on all my crank baits. The ones out of the pack just will not do. The lake is about four feet low so be careful running the lake. I always look forward to this time of year, because it is the start of our big bass season . So if you are serious about catching a trophy bass, now is the time to start planning your trips to lake fork.

I am now booking spring dates. Book early to get the best available dates! Call 903-629-7699 or 903-629-5085 cell check out my website at www.lakeforktexasfishingreports.com. Until next time.

Good Fishing!

David Vance

December 4, 2005 Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - December 3 & 4 2005: SWRI Bass Busters held their final tournament of the year at Falcon this weekend and the Top Angler Heavy Stringer and Big Bass winners were named. Congratulations to Bobby West who waited until the last dog was hung and brought in north of 27 Lbs of fish Sunday to tie down the Heavy Stringer of the Year. He also won the weekend heavy stringer money with 51.50 lbs (2-day,10 fish). Gary Hengst claimed the Club Big Bass Honors for the year. Joe Martinez weighed in the second heavy stringer of the weekend weighing 31.04 lbs and Floyd Dietzmann was third with 29.90 lbs. Heath Conrad had the Big Bass of the weekend weighing 7.90 Lbs

Again Mother Nature smiled on Falcon this weekend with moderate winds around 10 mph and temperatures below 80 degrees and no precipitation. Fishing success in terms of number of fish caught varied from a lot of fish to as many as 100 or more per boat. Plastic worms, craws and lizards were the best producing baits and colors varied from plum apple to watermelon red. Zoom watermelon red magnum lizards were hard to beat as the top bait according to several anglers.

Small fish were plentiful and some boats were forced to give up good spots and relocate due to the voracious feeding by legal, but small-size bass feeding in schools. The larger fish were still mostly 12 to 15 ft deep, but a lot of fish were found to be moving into shallow depths of 2 to 4 ft. Anglers reported almost all areas had fishable water with clear to slightly-stained conditions. Some of the anglers had their limits by 8:00 am and spent the day culling fish. Fishermen reported catching fish on both sides of the lake and up river as well.

The first of the International Bass Border Trail (IBBT) Tournaments was contested this weekend and was based at the Mexican point in Guerrero, Mexico. Forty teams participated with from 2 to 4 members per team. Speedy Collett and Charles Haralson had the lead stringer on Saturday, but their 2 day 46 lb weight was out-ounce by Carlos Olivares and his brother by less than a pound. Unfortunately I was unable to make it to Mexico to take any pictures, but I understand Speedy had a 9.3 Lb bass on Saturday and a 11 Lb bass was caught and weighed for Big Bass. Plastics and crankbaits both produced big fish for the top teams. The next IBBT tournament will be held at Las Blancas Lake January 21st and 22 nd.

Uvalde Bass Club wil be here on next weekend and the South Texas 5 tournament kicks off the new year with its Falcon tournament on January 8th. Registration will be held here at Falcon lake Tackle. For information contact Bill Stipp at stippconstr@aol.com or call 361-318-2905. Do not miss this great opportunity to fish Falcon in January for big bass.

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

December 3, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - With a cold front rolling over Lake Fork seemingly every other day, the pattern has continued to change. Some days the deep bite has been best, other days shallow has been the way to go, while both have worked on a number of days and neither were very hot on a couple days. The bass should remain pretty aggressive while the water temps stay above 50 degrees and numbers have been good most days. When the deep bite is on, we,re still catching big numbers of fish on drop shots and spoons but most of these fish are running small. Meanwhile, we,re starting to catch more quality bass, up to 8.6 lbs, on shallow points and creek channels. Best of all, the lake is an absolute ghost town on weekdays, so head on out and you,ll have the rarest of pleasures on Lake Fork"enjoying your favorite spots all to yourself.

Lake Conditions: Lake Fork,s water level continues to drop, sitting at 399.07,, or 3,11 below full pool. The water clarity is still slightly stained in the main lake from the turnover while it is crystal clear in coves with abundant vegetation. Water temps dropped significantly in the past week, down to the mid-50s in the main lake to as low as the upper-40s in the backs of creeks. The height and coverage of grass has been reduced during the draw down, but the grassy areas you find are still holding a lot of fish.

Location Pattern: The cold fronts slowed the creek channel bite in the very backs of creeks for me. Since the cool down, I,m finding a lot more bass on points and main lake grassbeds. Look for grass with deep-water access nearby and you,ll find bigger fish. Personally, I,ve never found a connection between greener grass and concentrations of fish. Find grass cover, dormant or alive, on key structure, and you,re in business. Creek channels running through grass and timber covered flats with 8,-20, of depth are also holding some good fish. As the lake level continues to drop, the bass will only become more concentrated in these key areas.

The location on deep structure hasn,t changed much. Points, roadbeds, humps, flats and ledges in 18, to 32, have produced big numbers of keeper-sized bass. With the bass liable to be about anywhere out deep right now, just pulling up to your favorite honey hole and fishing is a shot in the dark. Dropping a buoy at the first place you mark a school of bait is about as unproductive. Wait to find schools of bait, crappie, & yellow bass with signatures from bass chasing them and you,ll catch a lot more. And don,t be afraid to check really deep water. Once winter sets in, I catch some good bass in 40,+ each year.

Presentation Pattern: I,ve been switching back and forth between the shallows and deep water throughout the day to determine what bite is better. I,ve done really well early and late up shallow on some days, while others, the deep bite was great at low light. Same goes for the middle of the day. For grass beds and along creek channels, I,m using 5 primary baits and the most productive bait seems to change daily. The first two are lipless crankbaits and 2,-5, running shallow crankbaits with tight wobbles in shad colors or chrome finishes. Ripping these out of the grass and banging them into stumps are triggering most of the bites. 3/8 oz spinnerbaits with double willow blades in shad colors on clear days and chartreuse and white on cloudy days have also done well. Finally, a TX rigged Lake Fork Flipper in green pumpkin or black neon or a wacky rigged Twitch Worm in pumpkin chartreuse or junebug have picked up fish holding tight to stumps and grass clumps. In addition, the TX and wacky rigs have produced bonus fish once schools are located with the spinnerbait and crankbait.

Out deeper, I,ve narrowed my baits to a drop shot and spoons. On the drop shot, a watermelon or green pumpkin Twitch Worm is catching big numbers of small fish, along with the occasional fish over 4 lbs. Long casts and shaking the rig while working it back to the boat has been best. Productive areas typically have a lot of active yellow bass as well, so don,t set the hook when the yellows peck at your weight or lure, wait for a bass to take it. For bass that are suspended or feeding up while chasing shad and yellow bass, jigging spoons have been catching good numbers and the occasional toad. As the water continues to cool, I typically find a less active spoon presentation works better. Often, lifting the spoon a foot above the bottom and holding it there is the best technique in the winter, especially for lunkers.

November 22, 2005 Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Falcon Lake Flash Fishing Report-November 22, 2005: We have had some beautiful weather this week in Zapata, if a little cool some mornings in the 40 degree range. Temperatures have been mild topping out at 85 degrees yesterday. The lake water temperatures are in the low 70-degree range, having dropped from the upper 70's as a result of the recent frontal conditions. We are hearing some reports of fish starting to build nests in preparation for the spawn. It appears we are progressing at a slightly slower pace than last year.

The lake level is in the 286 ft range and about 15 ft low. Water quality is slightly stained to clear. Fishing pressure is light and bass fishing is still fair-to-good depending on location. In the last tournament, had a 3-man boat catch 124.90 Lbs of fish (2-day, 30-fish limit) from the lower end of the lake mostly on the Mexico side. We had several groups on the lake this week and they found plum Old Monster and red black core worms to attract a number of fish. There were some others fishing who said watermelon/red-colored lizards and senkos were working as well, mostly on fish from 2 to 5 pounds. Bass fishermen can expect some of the larger fish to start moving again as lake-water temperatures stabilize. Hopefully this will happen over Thanksgiving.

Catfishermen reported catching fish on shrimp, live worms and J. Piggs Stinkbait this week. According to some of the fishermen we talked to they tie up to about any tree in 20 ft of water and set back for some good action. An occasional big fish is always a possibility. All fishing spots are not created equal, so if the fish do not cooperate or they quit biting, move to another spot. For catfish, most fishermen have been fishing in areas adjacent to creeks on the US side. We even have one guide who will help you catch the catfish and then clean them for you. You cannot beat that and we can find someone to help you eat them if that is a problem.

Several boats reported illegal-net activity on the lake this week and I received one telephone call about large numbers of nets up the river. With only one warden to enforce hunting and fishing this is to be expected. A reminder that letters need to be written to the Governor, TPW and the Legislators protesting the decisions by TPW both regarding enforcement over netting and the decision not to restock white bass, northern strain black bass and crappie to the extent needed at Falcon. We also need some regulation changes to protect large bass and for the whites and crappie to give them time to recover. The 25 fish a day limit on whites and crappie (2 day possession) is ridiculous. If we are ever going to influence the TPW position of disregarding Falcon, TPW needs to hear about the dissatisfaction with their policies from many more people than Larry Bridgeman and a lot more businesses than Falcon Lake Tackle.

We have stopped selling Texas licenses this year in protest of flawed TPW policies and failed execution. We made this decision to "put our money where our mouth is" as a means of expressing our deep concern over the failed and unfair operations of the TPWD Inland Fisheries and Enforcement Divisions. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience, but it sometimes takes people who will stand up and be counted if you want to effect change. We would like to see every business in Zapata (and the County Government as well) protest the loss of millions of dollars in winter Texan fishing revenues by doing as we have done rather than trying to benefit financially from our decision to protest unfair policies and practices of TPW by selling licenses. I understand one issuer is even selling non-residents the cheaper resident licenses in direct violation of TPW policies. I doubt that anyone will ever be stopped for this or that the operator will ever be caught. I guess this is what they are counting on with only one warden in the County.

TPW is collecting so much and spending so little (except on bureaucrat salaries) that there are a number of enforcement issues being ignored (besides illegal netting). I guess this is simply because they are not concerned enough to check fishermen consistently. One of the most troublesome issues being ignored is the catching and killing of fish below 14 inches. Some fishermen brag to others about or are seen catching and killing (from the shore, boat docks and boats) hundreds of 10 to 14-inch fish. This was once the situation with whites and look at the result. No whites for 5 years, while the fat cats set on their rear ends and collect millions from fishermen in spite of their being forced to fish a devastated white bass fishery. We feel strongly that Zapata County should be filing a lawsuit against TPW and the State of Texas to recover revenues lost by County Businesses as a result of TPW decisions not to enforce regulations nor repopulate the lake with species' of fish that thousands of Winter Texans once came here to catch. Today, many of the RV parks are nearly void of fishermen.

Falcon bass fishermen might recall our previous reports and comments about post cold-front conditions, I have often noted that "I believe chances are good that there may be a lot of the bigger fish that have moved out of the shallows and are suspended in 20-25 ft depths. We have seen this happen on many occasions before with the large Florida Bass. When this occurs, we have seen the big spinnerbaits or jig and pig combinations often catch these suspended fish." Right now, black and red has been a productive color on these big baits worked deep in the trees. The 1 OZ Tru Track Spinnerbaits. And Nichols 1 _ Oz baits or the Oldham screw lock 1 _ Oz jigs have worked well under these conditions in the past. One fishermen, commenting on the appearance of Tru Tracks, said "they are almost too pretty to use". They put a super finish on the pot gut heads and they use only top quality components. We have a large quantity of both the Tru Tracks and the Nichols 1 1/2 Oz spinnerbaits in stock in all the bass-catching colors. These magnum spinnerbaits are made especially for getting deep and slow rolling.

Whether it is 14" Worms, 10" Lizards, 7" Stick Worms, 10" Grubs, Double wide Sweet Beavers or 30+ Crankbaits, you can find them at Falcon Lake Tackle. Keep in mind that Falcon Lake Tackle is unusually well stocked with magnum lures of all kinds in just about every color that the big-bass fishermen use on Mexico or South Texas Lakes. Some stores try to copy our inventory, but most fail because they do not have the tenacity to identify the proper baits nor the resources for stocking the large inventory of sizes and colors that we have continuously available for the discriminating fishermen. The marketing and volume sales of these baits all over the world via our website enables us to keep a large variety of baits in stock to meet your demands as we have those of fishermen and women in 48 states and 8 countries so far. We added Australia and Italy this year to our "Countries Served list". Check out our vast selection on www.falconlaketackle.com and click Order on the top bar to get started. Scroll to the bottom of the policies page that comes up and click on the fish. That takes you into the shopping cart.

You may have heard we are regretfully selling Falcon Lake Tackle and I assure you it is strictly because of age and health. Business in the store and on the website e-store is good and Falcon Lake is generating some record catches of bass and catfish. The business, inventory, commercial property and website site can be purchased together or we will separate. Included also are good living quarters above the store, shop space and additional land adjacent to and behind the store with abundant concrete patios and parking under 6 ft security fencing. Most people shopping with us remark that Falcon Lake Tackle has the most extensive selection of tackle and marine supplies of any store they have visited. We try to anticipate needs as well as demand and we do not just keep a few packages in stock like some stores that are a mile wide and an inch deep. The hot baits are almost always available and we keep an adequate number of Mexico Licenses and Boat permits available by mail or in the store to meet the needs of fishermen that want to fish in Mexico. Check out the details on this great opportunity under the contact information section of our website.

It is vitally important at this time of year to practice catch and release on the spawners Falcon is lucky enough to have in her fishery. If you catch and do not return the spawners to the lake, Falcon will not ultimately be able to sustain the great black bass-bite we currently have going. Many bass clubs and fishermen already do an excellent job in this regard. They realize that each spawner can produce 50,000 to 100,000 fry and they care for the fish to the best of their ability. Others unfortunately do not. We encourage everyone to consider their actions carefully. If you want to eat fish, there are plenty in the under 5 lb class available and they are better eating. Please release the big fish to spawn.

Until next time, have a great day on the water and we encourage all bass fishermen to make conservation one of their primary goals.

November 15, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - What a great week I,ve had here at Lake Fork. Fishing for numbers of bass has continued to be great with some big fished mixed in. If that wasn,t enough, my wife and I were blessed with a healthy little boy, Nathan, our first child. I,m easy to spot on the lake these days"I,m the one grinning from ear-to-ear! The patterns are basically the same as last week, as the conditions have stayed the same. The big cold front coming through today will likely reposition the bass a little, but if anything, I expect the cooler temps will have more big fish showing up in the coming weeks. Look for fish to stack up in creek channel bends in the coves and look for tightly schooled concentrations of bass on deep structure. Find one of these post-frontal honey holes and you,d better have the camera batteries fully charged. With the fall colors, mild days and biting bass, it,s a wonderful time to be on Lake Fork.

Lake Conditions: Fork is still low but about the same elevation as last week, sitting at 399.40,, or 3,7 below full pool. The water clarity is still slightly stained in the main lake from the turnover while it is crystal clear in coves with abundant vegetation. Water temps warmed up to almost 70 in the main lake with the warm sunny days this week, but look for them to fall considerably with the coming cool nights. The height and coverage of grass has been reduced during the draw down, but the grassy areas you find are still holding a lot of fish.

Location Pattern: We,ve been catching both numbers and size from shallow and deep water in the past week. In the shallows, the presence of grass in most any area is holding at least some small fish. To catch big fish, deep water access nearby has been the key. Creek channels running through grass and timber covered flats and main lake and secondary points with grass are the top examples. As the lake level continues to drop, the bass will only become more concentrated in these key areas.

While we have been catching good numbers of fish up to 8 lbs in the shallows, deep water is your best shot right now for a true lunker. Points, roadbeds, humps, flats and ledges in 14, to 32, have produced fish in the last couple of weeks. With the bass liable to be about anywhere out deep right now, just pulling up to your favorite honey hole and fishing is a shot in the dark. Dropping a buoy at the first place you mark a school of bait is about as unproductive. Wait to find schools of bait & yellow bass with signatures from bass chasing them and you,ll catch a lot more.

Presentation Pattern: At first light and late in the evening, wacky rigged baits like Lake Fork Twitch Worms in shades of watermelon have produced some nice bass around main lake weedbeds. Once the sun comes up, I,m focusing on creek channels and points until mid-morning. Position your boat in the middle of the creek channel and throw your bait to the grass edges and/or stumps near the edge of the creek, while working the middle of the creek as well. After the cold front, expect to find the bass either holding very tight to cover or sitting on the bottom of the creek channel. Small shad colored spinnerbaits and crankbaits have produced best on most days, while a slowly worked oz black/blue jig or a Texas rigged Lake Fork Baby Creature in Blue Bruiser color has also picked up a few fish.

Out deeper, I,ve been using two different categories of baits, depending if the bass are feeding on the bottom or feeding up chasing shad. For those on the bottom, Carolina rigged Baby Ring Frys or Twitch Worms in watermelon on sunny days and green pumpkin on cloudy days are my first option. If the C-rig isn,t working, a watermelon or green pumpkin Twitch Worm on a drop shot rig is catching big numbers of small fish, along with the occasional fish over 4 lbs. Productive areas typically have a lot of active yellow bass as well, so don,t set the hook when the yellows peck at your weight or lure, wait for a bass to take it. For bass that are suspended or feeding up while chasing shad and yellow bass, jigging spoons, tail spinners and swimbaits will catch big numbers of bass and some true giants as well. Experiment with your retrieve with these lures. Productive retrieves range from dragging along the bottom or holding a bait in place several feet over the bottom to vigorously snapping the bait off the bottom or counting it down to the proper depth and swimming the bait through the bass. Once you get the correct retrieve down for a given area, you,ll typically reduce the number of barfish hooked and primarily start catching bass.

Here,s hoping you catch the lunker of your dreams. If I can be of assistance, please contact me at 214-683-9572 (days) or 972-635-6027 (evenings) or e-mail me through http://www.LakeForkGuideTrips.com <http://www.lakeforkguidetrips.com/> , where your satisfaction is guaranteed.

Good Fishing,

Tom

November 14, 2005 Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Tournament Report - November 12,13 2005 SWRI Bass Busters: (Note: Heavy Boat 124.90# for 30 fish (3 men 2 days) SWRI Bass Busters - San Antonio Club tournament at Falcon. Jerry Campos had 44.32# Heavy Stringer for 10 fish 5 ea/day for 2 days.)

Lake water temperature was in the high 70's to low 80's and the lake level was in the mid-285 ft range or 15.60 ft low on Friday. Water clarity is good in most parts of the lake and winds were mild from 10 mph to 15 mph out of the SE most of the day. The .23 inch of rain last week was just enough to wet our appetites if not our gardens. Warm days and almost-cool nights are typical with height 80's and low to mid 70's being about average.

Saturday was for the most part a beautiful fishing day on the lake and Sunday's forecast was for more of the same. Jerry Campos and his friends arrived early to scope out the lake Friday and they caught a couple good fish including a 9.6 Lber. I suspect this fish came from around the same area where he caught the 14.28 Lb bass last December. This was the largest fish caught in any Texas lake last year and submitted into the Texas Share-Lunker program. Saturday's tournament activities and weigh in were based at the State Park and most of the anglers fished the lower lake.

Floyd Dietzmann caught the heavy stringer and 2nd big bass weighing 27.16 Lbs and 8.60 Lbs respectively. Kevin Spahn had the 2nd heavy stringer of 20.96 Lbs and his anchor fish weighed 7.58 Lbs. Delfino Neira IV had the third heavy stringer of 20.44 Lbs and his big bass of 8.58 Lbs was second only to Floyd's big bass. Jerry Campos was still in the hunt with 17.88 Lbs.

Sunday was another super fishing day both from a weather standpoint and fish production as well. Although the really huge fish were missing from the Sunday scenario, fish up to 5 Lbs were found in around 15 ft of water in hardwoods off points and ledges. Jerry Campos and his friends followed up on the pattern and Salinillas location the found Saturday and all three fishermen were culling 4 LB fish by 10:00 am. They would weigh the top-three, two-day weights of 44.32 Lbs (Campos), 42.78 Lbs (Neira) and 37.80 lbs (Kalinoski). That's 124.90 Lbs for one boat (30-fish, 2-day limit) including the 2nd big Bass of 8.58 lbs. Not too shabby! Floyd Dietzmann's fish moved and he ended up in 4th with 37.20 Lbs.
The Campos trio was on a mostly plastic bite having visited Falcon Lake Tackle during their three-days fishing and loading up on brush hogs, sweet beavers and magnum lizards. Watermelon red and watermelon colors were working as were some of the red and black colors in the above baits. Dietzmann caught his best fish (including the 8.60 LB tournament big bass) on black and red Oldham Screw Lock Jigs with matching craw trailers. Not everyone caught limits and some of the fishermen never found the right locations or pattern.

We sincerely appreciate the business that the clubs bring to Zapata in general and our store in particular during their tournaments. We are always happy to share the knowledge we have obtained from successful fishermen with our customers and we are pleased that the top three stringers in this tournament were all caught on baits purchased from Falcon Lake Tackle. We look forward to SWRI's return in December for their annual club championship and to a visit from a number of other clubs that will be fishing Falcon between now and then. We also appreciate being able to report the tournament results to our loyal readers.

We are in the middle of our in-store winter sale with 10% to as much as 50% off some lines including 3" and 3 1/2" Mad Man, Zipper, Lake Fork and Herb Reed's Muscle Worms. Ammo and Gift items are also sale priced just in time for Hunting Season and Christmas shopping.

If there is anyone out their looking for a good opportunity for a going business, including living quarters, real estate and expansion land, give us a call or read about this opportunity under "Contact Us". We are regretfully selling strictly for health reasons.

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

November 13, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by David Vance - The fishing this week has been fantastic, with good numbers of quality bass. The spinner bait bite has been consistent and has produced our bigger bass this week. Yesterday we boated 36 and one over the slot that weighed in at 9lbs. 3 oz. This bass came out of 2 feet of water on a spinner bait. More than half of our fish came on the spinner bait.

The best places for this spinner bait bite are main lake and secondary points and the backs of pockets half way back in the creeks. Right now I am using a ounce spinner bait on the windy points, and the pockets that are protected from the wind I will size down to a ounce spinner bait. The best color used was a Colorado willow with nickel and gold blades and a chartreuse and white skirt.

This week the Carolina rig has also produced good numbers of bass in 15-25 feet of water. A watermelon seed Centipede has worked best for me.

Best places for the deep bite has been old road beds and main lake humps. The 515 East and West road beds are producing some big bass.

The forecast looks like a cold front will be here by Tuesday. This cold front should get the bass stacked up on deep water structure. The spoon bite for me has been off and on, more bar fish than bass. The water temp is in the mid 60,s right now. When this next cold front comes in that is when the deep jigging spoon bite should explode! The lake is still about 3 1/2 feet low so be careful running the lake.

This is a great time of the year to be on Lake Fork. Don,t miss out on some of the best fishing of the year.

I am now booking fall/winter and spring dates. Book early to get the best available dates! Call 903-629-7699 or 903-629-5085 cell or check out my website at http://www.lakeforktexasfishingreports.com. Until next time.

Good Fishing!

David Vance

November 3, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - With a relatively stable weather pattern for the last several weeks, the fishing at Lake Fork is very predictable. Bass are following the shad and feeding up before winter, so the location and depth changes slightly from day-to-day, but the how to,s and when,s are at their most consistent levels since early summer. With sunny days and light to moderate winds forecasted again for the coming week, look for fishing patterns to remain the same.

Lake Conditions: Halloween,s storms only brought Fork,s level up 2.5 and now it has returned to slowly dropping, sitting at 399.46,, about 3,6 below full pool. The water clarity is still slightly stained in the main lake from the turnover while it is crystal clear in coves with abundant vegetation. Water temps are down again with the cooler nights, now sitting in the mid-60,s but are on the rise with our latest warming trend. The height and coverage of grass has been reduced during the draw down, but the grassy areas you find are still holding a lot of fish.

While we have been catching good numbers of fish up to 7 lbs in the shallows, deep water is your best shot right now for a true lunker. Points, roadbeds, humps, flats and ledges in 14, to 38, have produced fish in the last couple of weeks. With the bass liable to be about anywhere out deep right now, just pulling up to your favorite honey hole and fishing is a shot in the dark. Dropping a buoy at the first place you mark a school of bait is about as unproductive. Wait to find schools of bait with signatures from bass chasing them and you,ll catch a lot more.

Presentation Pattern: At first light and late in the evening, wacky rigged baits like Lake Fork Twitch Worms in shades of watermelon have produced some nice bass around main lake weedbeds. Once the sun comes up, I,m focusing on creek channels and points until mid-morning. Position your boat in the middle of the creek channel and throw your bait to the grass edges and/or stumps near the edge of the creek, while working the middle of the creek as well. Some days they,ll be on the edge and others they,ll be in the middle of the creek. Small shad colored spinnerbaits and crankbaits have produced best on most days, while a slowly worked oz black/blue jig or a Texas rigged Lake Fork Baby Creature in Blue Bruiser color has also picked up a few fish. The same baits, along with a Carolina rigged Baby Ring Fry in Watermelon Chartreuse, will work on main lake and secondary points in 6, to 15,. Again, points with grass have been most productive, although the fish are not necessarily always holding in the grass on these points.

Out deeper, I,ve been using two different categories of baits, depending if the bass are feeding on the bottom or feeding up chasing shad. For those on the bottom, Carolina rigged Baby Ring Frys in Chartreuse Fire and Purple Haze or Baby Creatures in Chartreuse Pepper is my first option. If the C-rig isn,t working, a watermelon Twitch Worm on a drop shot rig is catching big numbers of small fish, along with the occasional 5 to 8 lb bass. Productive areas typically have a lot of active yellow bass as well, so don,t set the hook when the yellows peck at your weight or lure, wait for a bass to take it. For bass that are suspended or feeding up while chasing shad and yellow bass, jigging spoons, tail spinners and swimbaits will catch big numbers of bass and some true giants as well. Experiment with your retrieve with these lures. Productive retrieves range from dragging along the bottom or holding a bait in place several feet over the bottom to vigorously snapping the bait off the bottom or counting it down to the proper depth and swimming the bait through the bass. Once you get the correct retrieve down for a given area, you,ll typically reduce the number of barfish hooked and primarily start catching bass.

Good Fishing,

Tom

October 31, 2005 Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - October 29-30, 2005: (Photo - Dennis Parish had the big bass for Austin Bass Club's Falcon Lake Tournament on 10/30/05 weighing 10.28 lbs caught on Zoom 8" Mag Lizard in Watermelon Red Color 15 ft of water in Veleno Arm near Zapata Tx. There was also a 11.37 Lb bass caught the same day by a local angler.)

Austin Bass Club held their October tournament at Falcon this weekend and the first of the 14 anglers arrived to prefish starting on the 27th. There were some pretty good fish caught early during prefishing including some 6-plus lbers. The first day of the tournament yielded a number of fish from 12 inch, 1 lbers to a 5.58 lbs big bass caught by Keith Nichols. Heavy stringer for the day was 16.09 lbs and it was also weighed in by Keith Nichols. His partner Sean Ramsey had the second heavy stringer of 15.41 lbs and a 4.40 lb second big bass. That gave them a clear command of 1st place-team honors with 31.50 lbs. Dwayne Langston and his partner Dale had second HS of 23.45 lbs and 22.45 lbs caught by Mike Shields and Jeff Woodard was holding down third place.

Fishing success in terms of number of fish caught varied from a few reported to as many as 100 per boat. Winds were variable from light to 23 mph with high temperatures just breaking 80 degrees. Lake water temperature was from 78 to 80 degrees.
Plastic worms, craws and lizards were the best producing baits and colors varied from purple to watermelon red and motor oil. Small fish were still hitting spinnerbaits with chartreuse and chartreuse/white skirts. Anglers reported most areas had fishable water with clearing occurring rapidly after the recent rise. The river is still a little stained above Zapata, but fishable.

Sunday was even a nicer fishing day than Saturday and the bigger fish were moving. Temperatures peaked at 89 degrees and winds were variable and mostly light. Dwayne Langston and his brother Dale looked to be a shoe-in for first place. They had a 6.68 lb big bass and 29.95 lbs total giving them a two-day Heavy Stringer of 53.40 lbs. Everyone thought that was going to be a tough weight to beat until Keith and Sean brought in their fish and edged out the Langston weight with 55.42 Lbs to nail down first place HS. There was still one more shoe to fall as Dennis Parish brought a sack of fish to the scales anchored by a 10.28 lb bass. She was caught in 15 ft of water on a Zoom Watermelon Red Magnum Lizard. That gave them enough weight to take third place HS with 41 Lbs. Other lures and colors producing big were Horny Toads, Flukes and Worms in Green Pumpkin Red, Plum Apple and Motor Oil. Spinnerbaits worked well on mostly smaller fish. Some of the fishermen culled as many as 40 fish on the way to the multiple-heavy, 50 lb-plus stringers. The Veleno and Salado arms of the lake produced heavy stringers and lots of action.

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

October 25, 2005 Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - October 22-23, 2005 OPEC LEGACY Tournament: Sixty-five teams contested this 12th Annual OPEC Tournament to benefit the State Park at Falcon Heights, Texas. Both Saturday and Sunday were great fishing days although winds gusted to 17 mph and were variable most of the day out of the east on Sunday and ENE on Saturday. Baker and Cone set the bar high on Saturday with their 20.96 Lbs for Heavy Stringer, but it was Thomas Aguilar Jr's/Santos 12.90 Lb Big Bass (pictured above) that left everyone asking whether there was a bigger fish to be caught this weekend. Baker and Cone weighed a nice 9.37 LB fish for 2nd big bass Saturday and it ended up being the 3rd big bass of the Tournament. David Herzog and his wife Penny made the maiden voyage in their new Skeeter 21i this weekend and they almost had a fish that David swears would have dwarfed the 12.90 lber. Unfortunately after giving David and Penny a look, it went under the boat and pulled free. So, as it turned out, the answer was no, it would not be beaten and Tommy received big bass money and a certificate from Falcon Lake Tackle good for purchase of tackle from the Falcon Lake Tackle on-line e-store.

Baker and Cone continued their Saturday's dominance of the field Sunday, but the spread narrowed dramatically as the first five teams all weighed 30 plus lbs for their two-day, six-fish stringers. Baker/Cone's 36.73 lbs Tournament-Heavy Stringer earned them Heavy Stringer money and a certificate from Falcon Lake Tackle good for purchase of tackle from the Falcon Lake Tackle on-line e-store. This was the second heaviest stringer since OPEC changed to the 3-fish limit format ten years ago in1996. The 2001 stringer of Edwards and Raulsten weighed 40.90 lbs and remains unbeaten today.

Baker and Cone also staked claim to the third heaviest stringer in 2000 with 37.50 lbs. Both teams have now recorded multiple wins and are tied at 2 each. The big bass of the day on Sunday was weighed by Gerardo Olivares (brother of Carlos Olivares Falcon Heights Motel) and it tipped the scales at 11.39 lbs. It was chased for second by an 8.55 lber caught by Don Pierce and Robert Drake (Don was the Metro Heavy Stringer winner earlier this month.

Plastics continued as the best bait and the Watermelon Red Mag Lizard was the best performer. Bigger fish were found in 15 ft to 25 ft water. Lots of big fish were lost, mostly in the trees, and 50 or more smaller fish were caught and culled by many of the fishermen and women.
This tournament may have set a new record for fishing success. For the two-day period, there was no one who failed to weigh at least one fish. There were 34, 2-day stringers weighing over 20 lbs and it took over 27 lbs to make it into the top 10 places. There were 26 fish caught that weighed over 5 lbs.

Top Five Team Finishes:
1st Heavy Stringer Baker/Cone 36.73 Lbs
2nd Heavy Stringer Alanis/Alanis 34.12 Lbs
3rd Heavy Stringer Gerardo Olivares/Romero 34.07 Lbs
4th Heavy Stringer Oliver Talamante and Luis Saladna 30.69 Lbs
5th Heavy Stringer Don Pierce/Robert Drake 30.44 Lbs

Local Team Finishes:
7th Heavy Stringer Speedy Collett/Charlie Haralson 28.48 Lbs
19th Heavy Stringer Larry Booth/John Williams 24.04 Lbs
21st Heavy Stringer Esquivel Prieto/Garza 23.59 Lbs
34th Heavy Stringer Angel Castenada/Castenda 20.59 Lbs
35th Heavy Stringer Albert Sosa/Cavaos 18.95 Lbs
43rd Heavy Stringer Robert Amaya/Garcia 15.83 Lbs
53rd Don Hooks/John McCollum 10.52 Lbs

Altogether there were 185 fish caught Saturday and 153 Sunday for a total of 338 fish weighing 1226.54 Lbs. That is a 3.62 Lbs average per fish. The average weight-per-fish of the OPEC Heavy Stringer was 6.12 Lbs. Not too shabby!
Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

October 17, 2005 Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - The lake level was at 283.50 ft elevation Sunday morning or 17.70 ft low. We are at 284.02 ft this morning. Lake water temperatures have cooled about 5 degrees and are in the high 70's to the low 80-degree range and water clarity is good in most parts of the lake except the upper lake where the rapid rise is bringing in a lot of silt and trash. Stained-to-muddy conditions are expected to persist in this area for some time. There were some heavy rains in the area North of us so this started the river running again. Now is the time to start looking for the catfish bite to heat up.

The first two real cold front wind shifts of the year that blew in several weeks ago pretty much nipped the big-fish bite in the bud for a couple weeks. However, a few of the bigger bass started showing up on the 16th and a number of reports were received (from both of the clubs fishing here last weekend) of big bass being lost to broken or tree-hung lines. According to reports from Anglers fishing the weekend, about any tree on points, ledges humps or structure of any kind were legitimate targets. Plastic Lizards, Brush Hogs, Worms, Super Flukes and Craws were all catching fish. Colors working well included Watermelon Red anything, Plum Apple, June Bug and Watermelon Green Orange. Falcon Lake Tackle's new 5" Bayou Craw in Watermelon Red Chartreuse Claw was a big hit and sold out by Sunday. This (new to Falcon Lake Tackle) bait finally gives anglers a chartreuse claw bait without having to dip it. We will have some more in and available for this weekend. Several of the Anglers weighing top stringers were using the new bait.

Don't forget you can order the new baits by phone 956-765-4866, or over our website shopping cart at www.falconlaktackle.com. We have over 300 categories of baits with over 5000 selections and also rods, reels and magnum baits (with worms to 14 inches) designed to attract and land big bass with bad attitudes.

There were some healthy two-day, five fish-stringers in the 20-30 LB range with a lot of 50+ fish-catches on both days. The weekend Tournaments Big Bass weighed 7.51 Lbs and was caught by Jimbo Beard from the Uvalde Bass Club. Jimbo's 5-fish stringer weighed 18.74 Lbs. Uvalde's George Franklin edged Jimbo out with a 21.89 Lb heavy stringer anchored by two 5 LB plus BB. For detailed information and pictures, See Tournament results at www.tackleandrods.com.

Right Photo - Jim Edwards South Texas Bass Anglers Assoc 2-day 10 fish HS 30.38 lbs BB 6.64 lbs

Right Photo - Jimbo Beard Uvalde Bass Club 7.51 Lb BB

The daily highs have been in the upper 80's and nightly lows have been in the mid-60's. As I write this report, we are receiving a lot of new water in the lake. We have seen a foot or more so far and expect maybe that much more if we are lucky. Most of the rise is coming courtesy of rains that fell north and west of Laredo. Local fisherman Jimmy Browland had a 10 lber Sunday. which was the biggest fish caught and reported. We will post a picture when received.|

This week was pretty much a continuation of last weekend's action with a few good fish and a lot of small ones on plastics and spinnerbaits. The bigger fish are still deeper, but fish were caught anywhere from 10 ft to 20 ft. The smaller fish are aggressive and hard charging. Catfishing has been good with limits or near-limits of 3 Lb plus fish on shrimp and worms. The OPEC Legacy Tournament will bring a 100 or so anglers to town starting with prefishing on Thursday and continuing through this weekend. Some of these anglers fished this last weekend. The lake is off-limit to participants Monday to Wednesday. Applications are available at Falcon Lake Tackle and may be left here anytime before Thursday or prefishing.

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

October 17, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - The bass at Lake Fork remain scattered from the backs of creeks in inches of water to deep main lake points and humps. We,re also starting to catch big fish on a more regular basis again, including a 10.68 lb lunker on Friday. The recent warm days with little wind have caused us to change our presentation from last week,s patterns for windy and cloudy cool days; however, the bass are still in about the same general locations as they have been for the last couple of weeks.

Fork,s water level has continued to slowly drop, currently sitting at 399.77,, about 3,3 below full pool. The water clarity is still slightly stained in the main lake from the turnover while it is crystal clear in many coves. Water temps have warmed up to the mid to upper 70s. The height and coverage of grass has been reduced during the draw down, but the grassy areas you find are holding a lot of fish.

Topwaters have been very productive some mornings and all day on cloudy days. Shad colored Chug Bugs and Zara Spooks have produced fast action around pad fields and over grass mats. Small spinnerbaits in white and shallow or medium running crankbaits have also worked early in the morning or all day on cloudy or windy days. During the day, wacky rigged Lake Fork Twitch Worms in watermelon on sunny days and June bug on cloudy ones have been consistent, as have 3/8 oz jigs in watermelon or white with matching Lake Fork Baby Creature trailers. Fish all of these baits on deep weedlines or along creek channels in the coves. Simply position your boat in the middle of the creek channel and throw your bait to the grass edges and/or stumps near the edge of the creek. Out deeper, Carolina rigged Baby Ring Frys in Chartreuse Pepper and Red Bug or Baby Creatures in Killer Craw have produced some good numbers once schools are located. Other days, drop shotting Lake Fork Twitch Worms in Watermelon or < oz white or silver jigging spoons have been better. Find the schools of yellow bass and the largemouth will be there as well. Good electronics and experience with them is the key to finding these bonanzas of fish.

Both shallow and deep, fish have been moving in and out of coves and up and down on structure daily and even hourly, following the baitfish. Cover water until you catch a fish, then work that area over thoroughly, as most of our fish have come in bunches in small areas.

And don,t let the high fuel costs keep you from fishing. Bass are holding in all areas of the lake right now. Launch from one of the many ramps at Lake Fork that has a couple large creeks and deep water nearby and you,ll be able to catch fish shallow and deep without making a long run. Or for those of you that like to see more of the lake, swing by the new Ranger Boats dealer at Lake Fork, Diamond Sports Marine. The new Yamaha High Pressure Direct Injection 2-strokes and quiet and clean 4-strokes are much more efficient than traditional 2-stroke outboards. And when paired with a new Z Comanche Ranger, you,ll be able to fish in comfort, even on the windiest and nastiest of days (which, of course, will be your next day off).

Good Fishing,

Tom

October 10, 2005 Choke Canyon - SOUTH TEXAS CHAMPIONSHIP
Choke Canyon October 9, 2005

1st Place Vannoy/Celedon 16.93 $ 1,500.00
2nd Place Marbach/Conran 14.02 750.00
3rd Place Fowler/Fowler 13.80 450.00
4th Place Klekar/Klekar 13.77 250.00
5th Place Adams/Larkin 12.71 130.00

1st B.B. Vannoy 6.16 $ 250.00
2nd B.B. Klekar 5.49 120.00

2006 Schedule
January 8 Falcon April 23 Choke Canyon
February 26 Coleto May 7 Mathis
March 26 Amistad June 18 Choke Canyon

Championship: September 24 Amistad

For More information or entry form contact:

Stipp Construction Tele: 361/384/0257
P.O.Box 914 Fax: 361/384/0258
Orange Grove, Texas 78372 STIPP CONSTR@aol.com
Home Tele: 361/384/0605 Cell Tele: 361/318/9205

Bill

October 10, 2005 Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Tournament Report - October 8, 2005 Ingram and McAllen Bass Clubs: Lake water temperature was in the low-to-mid 80's and the lake level was 282.64 ft or 18.56 ft low on Friday. Water clarity was good in most parts of the lake and winds were mild from 5 mph to15 mph out of the North most of the day. The front that blew in for Friday was the first one of the winter unless you count the brief wind switch we had last week. It lasted about five minutes. The welcome relief from 100-degree temperatures courtesy of the cold front was 72 degrees on Friday and 83 degrees on Saturday. Drop dead fishing weather. Nighttime lows were in the 60-degree range; just great sleeping with no air conditioning required.

As usual when a cold front blows in the big fish hunker down, suspend or get lockjaw and the bite is mainly from Jr. Class to 5 lb bass. There may be a few big fish break the Florida bass "No-Bite CF Rule", but not many. We have pleaded with the TPW folks to get a balance back in Falcon of Florida and Northern Strain fish. This would help even out the bite during cold fronts according to some authorities and our own experience fishing here from the 1970 to 1990 years. I guess we should just be thankful that there are enough of this smaller fish in the lake that they stay active during the fronts.

There was a time I remember several years ago when I went to weigh-ins of bass clubs under frontal conditions that a single 2 LB bass was weighed for an entire club of fifteen anglers and it got big bass and heavy stringer honors. Thanks to Mother Nature, Falcon is a different lake today. We did see a few (200,000 Northern bass) stocked, but hardly significant enough to bring any impact. I am convinced it will take a ground swell of protests to TPW and Government Officials to get any significant stocking of Northern strain bass, crappie or white bass. These species were the basis of much of the millions of dollars in Winter Texan revenues that Zapata enjoyed and have now been lost. A 50% ratio of Florida vs Northern strain bass could improve Falcon fishing immeasurably versus what is now an almost 100% Florida mix.

Our County Officials should be pursuing lawsuits, demanding facilities and building ramps and docks to encourage more of the large tournaments like we had last weekend. Schools, parks and municipal buildings all find their way into the budget, all revenue eaters. Why is there no money for revenue feeders? The San Antonio Metropolitan League of Bass Clubs City Tournaments brought 146 Anglers here for 3 days and the 41.50 LB - 10 fish heavy stringer and 9.65 LB big bass were good indicators to the strength of this black bass fisher and the potential of rebuilding a lake economy. Tens of thousands of dollars were added to the economy by this one tournament. Oil and gas is strong right now, but will we be able to pay for the taxes required to fund the operations expense of the revenue eating projects once the reserves are depleted?

Ingram Bass Club 14 anglers fought the post not-too-cold front conditions to end up with a very respectable 21.45 LB Heavy Stringer caught by Keith Thompson Saturday. It was anchored by 5.87 LB and 5.40 LB bass, which were also the first and second Big Bass for Saturday. Bobby Stephenson had the second heavy stringer weighing 12.44 Lbs and a 5.33 third Big Bass. Sunday was another great day as far as weather with continued mild conditions. Temperatures remained in the 80's and winds were in the 5 mph-20 mph range. The club members mourned last night's loss of their friend and teammate Carl Pogue who passed away in his room at the motel last night. Carl is survived by his wife and son Jordan and we wish to extend our condolences to them during this difficult period.

Keith Thompson continued his dominance weighing 5 fish Sunday for a total 2-day weight of 33.18 Lbs for Heavy Stringer. Roy Graham and his partner Ronnie Gazeway had 2nd and 3rd heavy stringers of 29.56 and 29.26 lbs respectively. Roy edged out Keith Thompson's 5.87 LB Big Bass from Saturday with a 5.89 Lber. His 20.50 LB Sunday stringer was the heaviest of the day. Roy and Ronnie also had heavy-team stringer honors with 38.48 lbs. Watermelon Red Zoom Magnum Lizards were working about as well as any bait this weekend, Quantities of fish caught varied but 40 plus catches were not unusual. However, size was a problem as a goof many of the fish were under the 14 inch legal limit. A lot of action was reported on spinnerbaits, but here again, length was just short of legal.

McAllen Bass Angler's John Struthers was leading his club with a 15.6 LB Heavy Stringer after Saturday's weigh-in and Brantley Billman had Big Bass of 5.6 Lbs. Oscar Ramirez, Andy Silva, Brantley Billman and Joe Martinez were in 2nd-5th Heavy Stringer positions with double-digit stringers from 11 Lbs to 14 Lbs.

Sunday was a good day for Billman yielding a 6.0 Lb big bass and another good five-fish stringer, which gave him Heavy Stringer Honors as well with 25.8 Lbs. John Struthers ended up with second-Heavy Stringer weighing 24.07 lbs. Joe Martinez came in third with 22.07 Lbs. Altogether the 13 Anglers caught a total of 33 bass weighing 185.13 Lbs.

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

October 9, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - After a long awaited cool down, Lake Fork has slept off its hangover-like effects of the fall turnover and great numbers of bass are being caught in depths of 3 to 30,. Small fish are dominating the catch right now; however, with the cooler temps, big fish are being caught now on a more regular basis. Best of all, you can catch bass on just about any lure or technique during October. You name it"from topwaters all day on cloudy days, schooling bass, spinnerbaits and crankbaits in the shallows to Carolina rigs, drop shots, and jigging spoons for deep bass"numbers of bass will be caught on all of these techniques this month.

Fork,s water level has continued to slowly drop, currently sitting at 399.89,, about 3,1 below full pool. The water clarity is still slightly stained in the main lake from the turnover while it is crystal clear in most coves. Water temps are down considerably after the recent cold front, with temps sitting in the mid-70s.

For the bass, location pattern, you,ll find our green friends spread all over the lake. In contrast to the summer pattern when bass position was predicated on deep structure, many bass are now following shad and are feeding actively along edges of cover and structure. Whereas deep structure was they key, now the presence of baitfish is the predominate indicator for a productive spot. Once areas with shad are located, seek edges or funnels that allow schooling bass to corral bait and optimize their feeding opportunities. Typical examples or this are where cover and structure meets, like deep grasslines on points, timber along creek channel bends, or treelines along old fencerows. Out deeper, points, humps, and ridges are starting to hold good concentrations of bass that are grouping up with the shad and yellow bass in anywhere from 14, to 30,. I typically find the schools shallower on cloudy days and deeper on sunny days, although there are frequent exceptions to this rule.

Once fish are located, the depth of the bass and the cover present has dictated the presentation pattern. For example, in areas where bass are feeding over grass that is 2, or less below the surface, topwaters, burning spinnerbaits, and lipless crankbaits have excelled. In areas where the grass is deeper, say 6, below the surface, medium running crankbaits, jigs, and soft plastic jerkbaits have worked better. The key lure has changed daily, depending on the conditions, so experiment with your presentation until you hook up. Having issued that disclaimer, following are the baits that have been working best this past week. Early and late, the topwater bite is hard to beat. Shad colored Pop-R,s and Chug Bugs have produced fast action around pad fields and over grass mats. For a shot at a bigger fish, slow roll a watermelon/pearl Lake Fork Frog just below the surface in pads and around heavy grass on main lake points with deep water nearby. During the day, wacky rigged Lake Fork Twitch Worms in watermelon on sunny days and June bug on cloudy ones have been consistent on deep grass lines, as have shad colored Magic Shad soft plastic jerkbaits. On windy or cloudy days, oz spinnerbaits with double willow blades in shad colors have excelled. Out deeper, Carolina rigged Baby Ring Frys in Purple Haze or Chartreuse Fire and oz silver jigging spoons are producing big numbers and some lunkers once schools are located. Find the schools of yellow bass and the largemouth will be there as well. Trust your electronics, as I,ve watched a number of fish come up and strike my bait on my Lowrance X-25 graphs this week.

Good Fishing,

Tom

October 5, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - The lake was dropping slowly last week, but we experienced some showers for the last couple days, which should turn it around. We are still in the 282 ft range or about 18 1/2 ft low. The water is in pretty good condition and the weekend bite was good for the Metro City Tournaments. SABC's Don Pierce had a 10-fish heavy stringer of 41.50 lbs and his son Robert had 36 lbs for a combined heavy boat total of over 77 lbs. The big bass of the tournament was 9.65 lbs and was caught by UCBC's Larry Martin. Carlos Olivares Falcon Heights Motel owner stopped by the store and reported on his weekend guide trip. They had an 8.4 lb big bass and 6 others around 5 lbs. There were some other fishermen here fishing who reported 100-fish days, but a great number of the fish were under the 14 inches legal limit.

The primary bite this weekend was plastic brushhogs, lizards and craws. Colors going out the door were watermelon red, watermelon green orange and tequila green. Plum apple lizards were popular also. The primary depths were 10 ft and deeper to 20 ft. The technique of jigging the plastics in the trees off points is working better than casting into the trees and that helps avoid lots of hang ups. There are still some crankbait fish being caught, but that action appears to have slowed considerably. There was some early morning buzzbait and topwater action and the dragon flies have started their mating ritual which happens every October.

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

September 24, 2005 Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Lake water depth has increased to the high 282 ft -283 ft range (19 ft low) and lake water temperature remains in the 80 to 85-degree range. Water clarity is good-to-slightly stained depending on what part of the lake you are fishing. The afternoon highs have been in the 100-degree range and this is the time of year when a lot of the fish caught and hauled around in live wells die so it is just as well that the tournaments scheduled for this weekend were cancelled.

There was some evidence this week that some good fish have moved into water as shallow as 2 ft, but some big fish are still coming from the 20 to 35 foot depths. Charles Haralson was here fishing late last week in preparation for a guide trip Saturday. His best five fish weighed 25 lbs, followed by 5 culls of 22 lbs and 5 more of 20 lbs. His shallow fish was in 2 ft and the deepest fish was in 35 ft. Charles reports that most of the better fish are still being caught deep and Carolina rigs were producing on rock ledges, points and humps. Watermelon anything, black chartreuse and motor oil chartreuse are all good bets for colors and senkos, craws. brush hogs and lizards will all catch fish. Crankbaits like DD22 Normans will produce in deep water. In shallow, rat-l-traps small Bombers, Bandits or Norman Middle/Baby N's will catch the fish. Keep a Knocker rigged on one rod and test it periodically in all depths. Crankbaits colors of slick, chrome with blue or black backs, and chartreuse anything are all working.

Big catfish are roaming the Rio Grande River as this picture of a 50 lb Yellow Cat will attest. It was caught by Jr. Vela while fishing with John Vaughn early Saturday morning in 24 ft of water. Jr had baited up with a live worm ostensibly to catch some bream. This cat was the end result. Some cats are being caught from the shoreline and boat docks by bank fishermen. Worms, shrimp and livers or stinkbait are catching fish

Do not forget to mark your calenders for the O.P.E.C. Tournament scheduled for October 21-23 at the Falcon State Park. This is the 12th Annual event where 3 fish a day , 2-day stringers typically weigh 35 lbs. Guaranteed good food and fishing , good times and a good cause. See www.tackleandrods.com/tourney/opec.htm for details. Next weekend is the Metro City Championship tournament with upwards of three hundred fishermen and women expected.

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

September 18, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - September is one of the best months on Lake Fork to catch numbers of bass. While most of the fish caught this time of year aren,t lunkers, the steady action day-in and day-out makes it a favorite of many anglers. September is also tournament season on Lake Fork, so my report will focus on several patterns to help you catch those money fish.

Fork,s water level has continued to slowly drop, currently sitting at 400.24,, about 2,9 below full pool. The water clarity is slightly stained and about normal, while the grass beds are greening up around the lake and growing. Water temps are down considerably with our cooler nights, with temps running in the low 80s during day.

Concerning the location pattern, you,ll find bass spread all over the lake as the water temps cool. In contrast to the summer pattern when bass position was predicated on deep structure, many bass are now following shad and are feeding actively along edges of cover and structure. Whereas structure was they key, now the presence of baitfish is the predominate indicator for a productive spot. Once areas with shad are located, seek edges or funnels that allow schooling bass to corral bait and optimize their feeding opportunities. Typical examples or this are where cover and structure meets, like deep grasslines on points, timber along creek channel bends, or treelines along old fencerows. I,ve caught fish recently from the very backs of large creeks as well as suspended over 30, of water, so pretty much the entire lake is in play right now. Finally, concentrate on windy areas of the lake and your catch rate will be better.

Following are the presentation patterns that have been working best, especially for numbers of keeper-sized fish. Early and late, the topwater bite is hard to beat. Shad colored Pop-R,s and Chug Bugs have produced fast action around pad fields and over grass mats. For a shot at a bigger fish, slow roll a watermelon/pearl Lake Fork Frog just below the surface in pads and around heavy grass on main lake points with deep water nearby. During the day, wacky rigged Lake Fork Twitch worms in watermelon candy and June bug have been consistent on deep grass lines. oz finesse jigs in watermelon or black/brown/amber worked along treelines and creek edges are producing some fish as well. On windy or cloudy days, small wide wobbling crankbaits that run 6, or less, oz traps and oz spinnerbaits allow you to cover more water and catch active fish. Shad or chrome color schemes are top producers for these baits. A little deeper, medium running cranks like a Deep Little N fished through timbered flats are catching good numbers, even on sunny calm days. And don,t forget a Carolina rigged Lake Fork Twitch worm in watermelon or red bug in 10, to 18, along grasslines and on points. Find these schools with your electronics and you,ll catch a limit of keepers in minutes.

For those of you looking for an over-the-slot fish (24+), I,d recommend the following patterns. First, Texas & Carolina rigs fished on 15,-25, deep structure with a 10 Lake Fork Trophy Worm or a Baby Creature are still producing some good fish. Your number of bites on this deep structure will be less than it was in August or will again be in October, but your chances of catching a good fish are usually best on deeper structure during the day. Finding timber and brush piles on deep structure is the key and be sure to leave your bait in the cover until a big bass pulls it out for you. In addition, there are a number of big fish suspended in timber over deep water. Deep diving crankbaits in shad colors brought through the treetops and pitching jigs or Texas rigged creature baits to the timber will produce some giant bass. A great bait to try is the new Lake Fork Tackle Flipper in shades of green or black. You can check it out at the Lake Fork Tackle Pro Shop in Emory. Finally, early and late, Lake Fork Frogs and oz watermelon or black/brown/amber jigs with watermelon red Baby Creature trailers fished around deep grass will produce some lunkers.

Good Fishing,

Tom

September 8, 2005 Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - - September 3-4, 2005- Atascosa Bass Tournament: Saturday was not a bad day for fishing Falcon, except maybe for a little late afternoon moisture via a fairly quick-moving rainstorm. We sure cannot complain too much about the rain, which totaled almost an inch in three days even though we had to accept some "wet money" for payment of tackle at the store. Compared to July, it look's like we are back in the Rain God's good graces. As a result of the rain, the high temperatures actually dropped into the nineties and even though the humidity increased, it was not as bad as we could have experienced.

Atascosa's Craig White and his wife Patricia both did well with double-digit weights giving them first and third heavy stringers on day 1. Dub Billings and his grandson Shane also did well on the 1st day and Dub had the second-heavy stringer with a weight just south of Craig's 19 plus lbs. Congratulations to Shane who had the big bass weighing 7.02 lbs. The fish was caught in the trees in 15 ft of water on a Rat-L-Trap purchased at Falcon Lake Tackle. Shane, who will be celebrating his 12th birthday this week, weighed in 18.2 lbs and, in addition to capturing Big Bass honors, beat 5 veteran angler's heavy stringer weights with 5 fish. Good job Shane. While many of the fish caught came from either lower or mid lake on plastics (including craws, lizards and worms), crankbaits caught bigger fish and there were a lot of smaller fish that were caught on plastics and culled. Black Neon Chartreuse as well as about anything green or watermelon red caught fish. We had some reports of a good fish caught in the Tigers including a 10lb 4oz fish caught by a Tigre Island property owner from Laredo. If we can get an e-mail of this fish, we would love to share it. Some otherwise good fish were lost on unfortunate break-offs and other mishaps. A total of nine fish were caught by club anglers weighing over 4 lbs (with 4 of these over 5 lbs) including 2 of the five fish caught by Shane Billings

Fifty-fish days were common for many anglers this weekend and 7 limits were weighed compared to 9 short stringers. Although Sunday's results (146 lbs) were off a little from Saturday's (187 lb) numbers, it was after all only a little over a half day on the water Sunday. A six pounder failed to measure up so Shane Billing's fish from Saturday held up as Big Bass for the tournament. Craig's total for the day and a half 10-fish limit was 31.12 lbs and wife Patricia was 2nd with a very close 29.96 lbs. Dennis Bald weighed 29.04 lbs for third and 9 other fishermen weighed in stringers in excess of 20 lbs. Altogether, 16 anglers caught 135 fish weighing 332.85 lbs.

We posted an American Red Cross Banner on our website yesterday and we are pledging 5 % of all website sales through the forseeable future to help with the Hurricane victims recovery. I hope we are covered up with orders

Until next time, pray for the Katriina Hurricane victims, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

August 31, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - This week at Lake Fork remains fair for both size and numbers. Almost all of the good fish we caught in the past week have been suspended in timber or in schools over open water. These suspended fish will bite, but consistently presenting a lure in front of them can be a challenge. Meanwhile, fishing shallow early and late with wacky rigged baits like a Lake Fork Twitch Worm and suspending jerkbaits to schooling fish will catch good numbers on some days, but most of these fish are small. The deep portion of my fishing report remains basically the same, as the method hasn,t changed. The key remains to use your graph to find the schools of bigger fish.

Fork,s water level has continued to slowly drop, currently sitting at 400.69,, about 2,4 below full pool. The water remains a stained green color, due to algae blooms. Water temps are still in the upper 80s and low 90s in the main lake.

The location pattern has stayed the same, with many of the big fish suspended instead of holding on the bottom. Many bass are still relating to humps, ridges and points outside large creeks while others are camped on traditional summertime haunts that are well offshore. With the thermocline effectively creating a deep boundary for the bass at about 28,, I,m concentrating on structure that is 15, to 28, deep. Structure that tops out near the thermocline has been especially good. Timber, whether it is standing, submerged, or in brush piles, has been the key cover.

Deep diving crankbaits in shad patterns have been the best bait many days. Find bass with your electronics on drops and rises in 10, to 18, and bump bottom cover with your crank or for suspended fish over 18, to 30+,, use a stop and go retrieve to trigger these fish. On deep structure from 15, to 28,, Carolina rigged Lake Fork Baby Creatures in shades of watermelon will produce big fish when slowly brought through heavy timber. For bass suspended deeper than 15,, vertically jigging spoons and jigs has caught a few good fish.

Good Fishing,

Tom

August 31, 2005 Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - - The temperatures continued hot and hotter with highs this week in the 100 degree range all week. The lake rise has leveled off and the high for the month was 282.35 ft. It dropped down to 282.32 ft for the 31st reaching 18.88 ft low. The lake water clarity is fair-to-good in most parts of the lake with temps in the mid-80 to the upper 80-degree range later in the afternoon.
A couple of fishermen from Victoria Tx located a number of schooling fish this morning up the river around Marker 14 and the fish were taking swim baits (Storm Wide Eye Shad), brush hogs and lizards in about any color. They had a combination of small and legal fish to about 3 lbs, but the larger fish alluded them.

Plastic Watermelon Red Zoom Magnum Lizards were the best producing bait. Several other fishermen reported that 15 ft of water was the best depth for bigger fish after the early bite. Speedy Collett reports he is still hauling in big fish using the GDD22 Norman Crankbait and slick has been his favorite color. He has been fishing the ledges and end of points in deep water. Some of his hot spots have got more water with the recent rises and are just beyond what he can reach with the DD22 baits on 12 lb mono. He has resorted to some of the deeper running lures like Luhr Jensen's Hot Lips Express and Deep Secrets.

Veleno fish are still active around the bends of the river and off rocky areas. Local catfishermen are still catching good quantities of catfish to 5lbs and up yesterday fishing in the Marker 8 area. The stinkbait and/or liver around the trees and close to channel drop offs is working well. The fishing pressure has been light this week, but reports lead us to believe this weekend is going to be pretty good fishing.

I would say that right now if you can get out early and work the points, rocky areas and ledges close to deeper water you should catch some good fish. I would try these areas in shallow in 2 to 6 ft depths early in the morning before the sun gets up. As the sun comes out and clouds lift, most of the better fish will move deeper to15 ft - 20 ft or so as indicated above. Schooling activity will be found both early and late in the day up river in creeks and arroyos off the main river channel. Small shad colored crankbaits and spinners as well as rat-l-traps and swim baits will generally catch the schooling fish.

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

August 26, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Gunns Guide Service - This week on Lake Fork the lake is 2 ft. down and in the low 90's. Fishing reports this time of year all sound pretty much alike. Start shallow early with top waters and weightless stick baits around shallow grass and wood.

This is a good place to use Lake Fork Tackles new frog. This is an awesome bait! Then move slightly deeper on secondary points with Bandit 100 or 200 cranks. Next move to the timber in 8-20 foot and fish Carolina rigs and power worms or drop shot rigs. If the fish are suspended use deep cranks or count down swim baits. Check creeks and humps with your electronics.

Look for schools of bait and the bass will be close. Watch for schooling bass, this can be a tip to help pattern fish. Observing the location of the schooling fish can tell you what type of structure the fish are feeding over to help you know where to try to intercept them before they school. These schools can feed for some time before they run the shad to the surface. A deep crank can load the boat. Keep a lipless crank or small crank and a weighted Bass Assassin at the ready. Schooling fish blowing up seldom lasts long this time of year but they will start to stay up longer and more frequent as the season starts to change to fall.The school can still be in feed mode after they go back down. when they sound use a swim bait or a deep crank or fish them on the bottom with a drop shot with a shad or watermelon trick worm wacky style. Spoons or tailspinners can be effective from time to time.

August 22, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - (Picture of Michelle Redfearn with a 7 pounder) This week at Lake Fork remains fair for both size and numbers, although it seemed to be improving late in the week. The fishing patterns have basically remained the same, so much of this report is a repeat. Numbers are still averaging around 20, depending on what pattern you concentrate on. For numbers of fish, shallow cover early and late and schooling bass during the day are your best option. For bigger fish, deep diving crankbaits for suspended bass and bass relating to mid-depth structure (10'-18') or Texas & Carolina rigs fished methodically through heavy cover in deeper water (15'-28') are the best options. I've mainly concentrated on the bigger fish out deep, so my report will cover that pattern.

Fork's water level has continued to slowly drop, currently sitting at 400.90', about 2'1" below full pool. The water remains a stained green color, due to algae blooms. Water temps cooled to the mid-80s last week but were back into the upper 80s and low 90s over the weekend.

The location pattern has stayed the same, although many of the big fish have been suspending instead of holding on the bottom. Many bass are still relating to humps, ridges and points outside spawning bays while others are camped on traditional summertime haunts that are well offshore. With the thermocline effectively creating a deep boundary for the bass at about 28', I'm concentrating on structure that is 15' to 28' deep. Structure that tops out near the thermocline has been especially good. Timber, whether it is standing, submerged, or in brush piles, has been the key cover.

Deep diving crankbaits in shad patterns have been generating some strong strikes. Find bass with your electronics on drops and rises in 10' to 18' and bump bottom cover with your crank or for suspended fish over 18' to 30+', use a stop and go retrieve to trigger these fish. On deep structure from 15' to 28', Carolina rigged Lake Fork Baby Creatures in shades of green and Texas rigged Lake Fork 8" worms in Blue Fleck or Watermelon/Red will produce big fish when slowly brought through heavy timber.

Here's hoping you catch the lunker of your dreams. If I can be of assistance, please contact me at 214-683-9572 (days) or 972-635-6027 (evenings) or e-mail me through http://www.LakeForkGuideTrips.com, where your satisfaction is guaranteed.

Good Fishing,

Tom

August 18, 2005 Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Falcon Lake Flash Fishing Report- August 17, 2005: Several fishermen from San Antonio have been here for the last couple days fishing the coves in the River north of Zapata. They have averaged 80 or so fish a day up to 3 lb in size. The rat-l-traps and other lipless crankbaits worked great and they usually had at least 2 fish, and sometimes more, following the lure to the boat behind a hooked fish. One of the guys confessed to placing the lure on his rod in front of one of the trailing bass and catching it without even getting the lure in the water. Now that is some reel action.
The lake level has reached 282 ft for the first time since early May 2005 and we are sitting at 19.18 ft low. The days high was 98 degrees and the low was 74 degrees this morning. Lake water temperature is in the mid-eighties to upper 90-degree range. Water clarity is good-to-excellent.
Plastics worked in the 12 to 14' depth off points, humps and high rises is still a productive pattern in watermelon red or watermelon red tail-dipped in chartreuse. Baby Brush Hogs and Brush Hogs have been working as well as lizards.
We received some good news that the NBAA Bass Circuit is going to form a Southern Circuit and Falcon is on the schedule for the 25th and 26th of March, 2006. We will have the forms and info in the store this week and we will add the info to our website. The National Bass Anglers Association has been in operation North of here for sometime , but this will be their first entry into South Texas. The Classic will also be held on one of the South Texas lakes and first place will be a fully rigged Skeeter bass boat. Regional Director Dan Leader was in Zapata today and he will be working with Peggy Umphres Chamber of Commerce Director and Speedy Collett of Beacon Lodge to organize this event. They have some great plans for the future and we are excited about their interest in South Texas. The first Tournament of 2006 will be the South Texas 5 on January 8th, with the Zapata Chamber of Commerce New Legends Tournament (replacement for Tommy Gray Memorial) to be held on January 13th and 14th. Mark your calendars now!
Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

August 12, 2005 Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - So far in August, we have had very little moisture. We received .15 on the 7th and the lake level has remained in the 280-281 ft range since the 1st reaching 281.82 ft on the 12th of August. Winds have been ranging from 20 mph up to 32 mph gusts; Straight-line winds have been somewhat lower and very fishable. Water clarity has been fair-to-good in most parts of the lake and the lake water temperature is averaging in the mid-85 degree range. Air temperatures have been in the 95 to 98 degree range trending up to just below 100 degrees the last two days.

The larger black bass are being found deeper in 12 to 15 ft. off points in the trees and on drop offs during the day with some fish shallower early mornings or under cloudy conditions. Crankbaits are still catching fish although not as many as plastic magnum lizards, craws and worms. Watermelon and WMred or plum have been the best producing colors in plastic baits while chartreuse or the new "Slick" color Norman crankbaits have been strong in crankbait colors. This time of year, magnum lizards and worms are producing big and we have the lizards to 10 inch, craws to 6 inch, stick worms to 7 inch and snake worms to 12 inch with the largest supply of Berkley 10 inch Power Worms in South Texas including the increasingly hard to find 100 packs. These baits, as well as 5000 others, are available from our Zapata Texas Store and they are all listed on our on-line website store at www.falconlaketackle.com

The McAllen Bass Anglers held their August Tournament here on Falcon last weekend and they had 88 fish of which 8 were 4 lbs or bigger. Altogether 18 fisherman caught 219.13 lbs in this 3-fish limit, two-day event . Big Bass weighed 7.6 lbs. Catfishing up the river and around roosting birds on the lake is still good as is fishing from the shoreline, banks and boat docks. However, for the best results, it is important to get to your spot early before the heat slows down the bite.

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

August 11, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - This week at Lake Fork has been fair for both size and numbers. We had a few fish over 7 lbs but none over 8, with numbers averaging 15 to 20 bass for a full day. I have found two different patterns to choose from. For numbers of smaller fish, shallow wood and grass cover early and late and schooling bass during the day are your best option. For big fish, deep diving crankbaits for suspended bass and bass relating to mid-depth structure (10,-18,) and TX or Carolina rigs fished methodically through heavy cover are the best option, although your numbers will usually lower. I,ve mainly concentrated on the bigger fish, so my report will cover that pattern. Beware; these big bass are hitting hard enough to rip the rods out of your hands (see below).

Again this week, we had numerous storms in the area but the lake didn,t receive much rain. The water level has continued to slowly drop, currently sitting at 401.12,, about 1,11 below full pool. The water remains a stained green color, due to continued algae blooms. Water temps remain in the upper 80s to low 90s.

The location pattern has stayed the same, although many of the big fish have been suspending instead of holding on the bottom. Many bass are still relating to humps, ridges and points outside spawning bays while others are camped on traditional summertime haunts that are well offshore. With the thermocline effectively creating a deep boundary for the bass at about 28,, I,m concentrating on structure that is 10, to 28, deep. Timber, whether it is standing, submerged, or in brush piles, has been the key cover.

Deep diving crankbaits in shad patterns have been generating some strong strikes. As a matter of fact, I had one hit it so hard yesterday that if ripped the rod out of my hands and took my lure, rod, and reel down into the depths. (This bass was last seen heading south towards Ray Branch with a Shimano Curado and a Castaway Soft Touch rod in her possession. Please contact the local authorities if you have any information on her whereabouts.) My customer, Greg, also almost had his rod ripped from his hands a couple times, so hang on tight with these big mommas! Find bass with your electronics on drops and rises in 10, to 18, and bump bottom cover with your crank or for suspended fish over 18, to 30+,, use a stop and go retrieve to trigger these fish. On deep structure from 18, to 28,, Carolina rigged Lake Fork Baby Creatures in shades of green and Texas rigged Lake Fork 8 worms in Blue Fleck will produce big fish when slowly brought through heavy timber. oz watermelon jigs with Watermelon/Red Baby Creature trailers are also producing some big fish in the timber. Simply pinch the grub tail off of the Baby Creature and you,ll give your jig an irresistible swimming action.

Good Fishing,

Tom

August 6-7, 2005 Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Tournament Report - McAllen Bass Anglers: Twenty of McAllen's finest fishermen brought their rigs and reels to Falcon State Park last weekend to contest their August Tournament. The big bass of 7 lbs 6 Oz was caught by Abel Garcia (right photo) who had 2nd heavy stringer of 17 lbs 12 oz for the two-day event. The heavy stringer was caught by Eddie Kucia (left photo with a 5-10) weighing 18.01 Oz. The conservation-minded club had reduced this to a three-fish daily limit tournament in consideration of the hot weather. Altogether, 20 fishermen caught 88 bass weighing 219 lbs 13 Oz. There were 6 fish caught over 5 lbs and eight patch fish (over 4 lbs) weighed-in by Anglers.

Most of the fish came off plastic magnum lizards or Yamosenkos in the trees in anywhere from 6 to 20 ft. A depth of 12-16 foot was the best producing depth range. About any color or shade of green, red or purple caught fish.

Similar reports from non-tournament anglers fishing Falcon indicated a lot of fish were being culled to yield average five-fish catches of 22 to 25 lbs. A few spinnerbait fish have been taken, but the crankbait action has slowed up this week.

Schooling bass are still being reported up river in the Arroyos on the US side. Small crankbaits and rat-l-traps have been effective baits. Catfish up river are still hitting shrimp and worms.The water temperature was around the mid-eighties and clarity was fair-to-good. It appears we are still receiving some water from the Salado and it is off color-to-stained. The water is a few degrees cooler on the lower end of the lake.

The lake level is currently at 281.66 ft, which is 21.54 ft low.

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

July 30, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - Fishing has been up and down for us the past week at Lake Fork, primarily due to a couple of changes to the fish,s environment. First, the thermocline has set in about 28, deep. The presence of the thermocline, combined with a rare July cold front left a lot of big fish suspended. As of yesterday, 7/29, the heat was back on and we were marking many more schools relating to the bottom. While 2 to 5 lb fish dominated our catch last week, we did catch a few in the 7 to 8 lb range, just not near as many as we had been catching for most of June and July. For those seeking numbers of fish, finesse baits along the edge of the grass and drop shot rigs out deep produced well, but most of these fish were 3 lbs and less. Conversely, almost every big fish we caught was suspended in treetops or over structure in open water. With the heat returning and dark moon phases returning (new moon 8/5), I expect lots of big females will be caught during the day in the next two weeks.

Although the recent cold front produced a few nice cool days with clouds and north winds, Lake Fork didn,t receive a significant amount of rain. The water level has continued to slowly drop, currently sitting at 401.39,, about 1,7 below full pool. While the water remains clear, it now has a decidedly green tint, due to algae blooms. After falling into the mid-80s, water temps are now reaching the low 90s again in the afternoons.

The location pattern has stayed the same; however, as noted before, some of the big fish have been suspending instead of holding on the bottom. Many bass are still relating to humps, ridges and points outside spawning bays while others are camped on traditional summertime haunts that are well offshore and not anywhere close to spawning areas. With the thermocline effectively creating a deep boundary for the bass at about 28,, I,m concentrating on structure that is 15, to 28, deep. This time of year, my best spot usually changes daily and is determined by the presence of schooling bass. You,ve heard it a thousand times before but it is certainly true"graph deep structure and don,t fish an area unless you mark a school of bass there. Sure, you can certainly catch a few bass on those old reliable holes if you anchor up and methodically fish them or just wait there until the fish start feeding. However, you,ll find the fishing a lot more productive if you fish around those deep schools of bass.

Once I,ve found a school of fish on deep structure, lure selection has been dictated by the bass, position in the water column. For fish relating to the bottom, a Carolina rig with a 1 oz weight and a 4, leader has been our weapon of choice. Lake Fork Tackle,s Baby Creatures, Twitch Worms, Ring Frys & Trophy Worms have all produced fish this week. Top colors are shades of green for all of these soft plastics, like Killer Craw, Watermelon Red, Fork Secret, Watermelon Candy, and Green Pumpkin, while some days Merthiolate has been best. Trying different bait colors and shapes after catching several fish in a school has often resulted in a few bonus fish. For numbers of fish, using the same baits as noted above, often cut down a little to create a smaller bait, have been successful fished on a drop shot rig. Fished along the edge of grass points early or late or on deep spots during the day with the bait suspend about 3, above the hook has worked best for me. Finally, crawling a deep diving crankbait through stumps and brush on points topping out in the 14, to 18, range has caught some nice fish. Think of them as the deep-water equivalent of the Rat-L-Trap. Shad colored cranks worked best on windy days, with most bites occurring right after deflecting off of wood or the bottom.

For schools of bass that are suspended, deep diving crankbaits and 4 swimbaits in shad colors are producing some big fish. Again, most crankbait bites are coming right after contact with wood. In open water, hop swimbaits way off the bottom with an overhand hook setting motion and let them fall on a taut line, or count down the baits to the level of the fish and swim it through the school. In brushy areas, white jigs can be hopped or swam through dense cover that you wouldn,t dare send a swimbait.

Good Fishing,

Tom

July 19, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - As we start to hunker down in anticipation of some rain and wind fom Emily, the forecast appears to call for a direct hit in Mexico and away from Brownsville. This of course can change so we are still preparing for an indirect hit with some minor precautions such as sandbags, The lake level is 278.71 ft pre-Emily and hopefully we will see some improvement in this regard. Temperatures have remained in the 90-100 degree range and maximum daily wind has been 20 to 30 mph. Water clarity has been good except for areas up the river a few miles.

Fishermen out on the lake this weekend reported good quantities of fish and a few hogs as well. Speedy Collett had a huge fish in the Tigers that he called to report. It was so big that it would barely fit in his live well. Usually when Speedy reports a big fish, well you can take it to the Bank. Other fishermen reported a number of good catches including several stringers of fifty or more fish. Seems like any plastic bait, (Brush Hogs and Lizards both good) in Purple, Red or Watermelon Red colors, were working as were crankbaits.A couple guys from Laredo and new to Falcon had only twelve fish, so not everyone was catching huge quantities of fish.

Catfishermen continue to do well on liver and live worms. Catfish appear to be in and around19 ft of water and/or under birds. Markers 9 and 8 areas have been producing good catches. Gar are still being found in several areas
Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

July 17, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - (Picture of Brian Troutman with me on 7/14, with one over 7 and another nice one. Maybe he should change his name to Bassman??) - Fishing has remained great at Lake Fork and should continue to be great until the temps start cooling in September. While your chance at a 13+ lb bass are best during the spawn, summer bass fishing at Lake Fork offers consistent action for numbers of 2 to 7 pounders and 7 to 12 pound bass are coming into the marinas on a regular basis. Fishing reports are also really easy to write this time of year, because the pattern has been the same now for a while and will remain that way through the summer, with a few variations. Consequently, my report for this week basically remains unchanged from last week.

We,ve had storms off and on at Fork all week; however, the ground is so dry that the lake level only came up a little bit and Fork is now dropping again. The water level is currently reading at 401.69,, about 1,4 below full pool. While the water remains clear, it now has a decidedly green tint, due to algae blooms. Water temps have remained relatively stable in the upper 80s in the main lake.

Concerning the location pattern, many bass are still relating to humps, ridges and points outside spawning bays. Meanwhile, I,m starting to see good schools of bass show up on many traditional summertime haunts that are well offshore and not anywhere close to spawning areas. As the water continues to warm and until the thermocline creates a deep boundary for the bass, almost any structure that tops out at 15, to 35, deep is capable of holding fish. This time of year, my best spot usually changes daily and is determined by the presence of schooling bass. You,ve heard it a thousand times before but it is certainly true"graph deep structure and don,t fish an area unless you mark a school of bass there. Sure, you can certainly catch a few bass on those old reliable holes if you anchor up and methodically fish them or just wait there until the fish start feeding. However, you,ll find the fishing a lot more productive if you fish around those deep schools of bass though, where doubles in the boat are common and catching a bass on 4,6, and even sometimes 10 casts in a row are a sure indication you,re in the right spot!

On some days, we,re not marking many fish on the bottom and if you only fished the Carolina rig, you,d swear fishing was off that day. These are typically the days we are marking a lot of suspended fish. For schools of bass that are suspended, deep diving crankbaits and 4 swimbaits in shad colors are producing fast action for big fish. Swimming Lake Fork Tackle Magic Shads on 1/8 oz weighted hooks, jigging spoons, or jigs through these schools will also get you bit. In many locations, you,ll mark a number of bass schooling on the bottom, while others are suspended, and you,ll see shad and bass swirling and breaking on the surface. Cover the water column from top to bottom and you,ll surely catch more fish.

Good Fishing,

Tom

July 14, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Our fishing reports, while not plentiful this time of year, have been very good overall. Quantities of small-to-medium size fish have been good or even excellent at times with catches of 50 or more fish up to 5 lbs. Fish in the 5lb and up category, while not as plentiful, have still been frequent and large enough to keep all fishermen's hopes high.
Last weekend, the McAllen Bass Anglers 18 participants caught and weighed 15 bass over four lbs in their day and a half tournament.

This week local and Mexico hunting/fishing outfitter/guide Carlos Olivares decided that his son, 5 year old Carlos Jr., was old enough to wet a line. Carlos eased him into the fishing game by putting him on an11 lb 8 oz fish the first time out and his first fish. That is a pretty awesome start for a bass fisherman of any age. The fish reportedly went for a Watermelon Red Zoom Lizard on the 12th of July. This is just more proof that if you set your young fishermen up with good equipment, they are quite capable of hauling in the big ones. I doubt this fish would have made it into the boat on a Zebco 202.

The lake has continued to drop and based on the report we received from the Watermaster, Falcon Lake started the week at 278.94 ft or 22.26 ft low. This means the we are holding only 43.78% of the water that is available at the conservation level of 301.20 Ft. Amistad on the other hand is holding 88.47 % of its capacity. I think this is exactly what Senator Zaffirini was referring to at the time of the hearing here in Zapata when she stated that the Watermaster was playing leap frog over Falcon. While we cannot place this solely at the Watermaster's door, it is unlikely the situation will be changed by anything other than a new water treaty with Mexico and that does not appear to be on the State Department's agenda

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

July 11, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - After a little vacation to fish for smallmouth on Lake Champlain over the 4th, I,m happy to report that the deep bite is still on at Lake Fork. More and more bass are showing up on deep summertime structure and our numbers of bass have been improving, indicating that many of those weary fry guarding males are making it deep to their summertime homes for some much needed gorging on a seafood buffet. Of course, the majority of the famous Lake Fork big fat sassy females are out deep now, too. In the few days since my return to Fork, we,ve caught them up to 8.5 lbs while two 12,s and a 13 were caught over the 4th of July weekend. Best of all, with 100 foot casts in 30, of water, the bass are rocketing to the top and leaping almost 4, out the water, then pulling back down so hard you,d swear every one was a 10 pounder.

Without any substantial rains recently, Fork,s water level continues to drop slowly, currently reading at 401.66,, about 1,4 below full pool. While the water remains clear, it now has a decidedly green tint, due to algae blooms. Water temps cooled early last week but it,s now back up to 86 to 91 in the main lake. I have not observed a thermocline at Fork yet, as the cool front and north winds seem to be holding it off for now.

Good Fishing,

Tom

June 26, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - The deep bite at Lake Fork is often some of our best fishing of the year and the summer of 2005 is off to a great start. In the week from 6/18 to 6/25, we had a 10-06, 10-00, 9-02, and six other fish between 7 and 8 pounds, not including the good fish we are losing to the timber each day. Numbers have been good on most days as well, with a couple days of over 30 bass. When you figure in the overall size, numbers, and the tenacity of the bass, fight, this is truly one of the best times to be on Fork. Most of the fish we are catching are stuffed full of shad and look like prespawn footballs. The extra food seems to be giving the bass the strength to fight like freshwater marlins.

Mainly due to evaporation, Fork,s water level continues to drop slowly, currently reading at 401.95,, about 13 below full pool. The water remains clear in most of the lake and has not turned green yet from summertime plankton blooms. Water temps are up a few more degree to the upper 80s, with readings as high as 90.5 in the main lake yesterday. Although the days have been hot and fairly still, I have not observed a thermocline yet (it typically sets up around 30, at Fork).

Once again, structures with deep water nearby like main lake points, secondary points, and creek channels were the key locations this week. Look for structure that is situated between good spawning coves and deep summertime locations. Structures that top out around 15, to 22, and drop off quickly seem to be the top areas. Deep summertime spots, in 20,-35, in main lake areas, are starting to hold some schools of bass as well. I,m checking a lot of spots during the day with my Lowrance X-25 color graph and if I don,t see fish on the graph, you can rest assured the fish aren,t there. Check likely areas several times during the day and once you mark a good school, drop a marker buoy and get the net handy.

With such a strong deep bite, I,ve been starting deep and staying deep all day. The topwater bite had been producing some fish, but the bite was dying as soon as the sun came up and the size of bass was decreasing"a sure sign that the deep bite is getting good. My primary bait all day has been a Carolina rigged Lake Fork Baby Creature. I,m using a standard 1 oz weight and a 4' leader. Shades of green, like Watermelon Candy, Watermelon Red, Killer Craw and Green Pumpkin have been top producers for me. In addition, we,ve caught a few fish on Baby Ring Frys and Twitch Worms in the same colors on the Carolina Rig, but the Baby Creature seems to be the deal for us. Working the bait slowly, especially around any wood cover, will generate more bites. Once we,ve caught some fish in an area with the rig, we,ve been catching some bonus fish on 3 to 5 swimbaits and a few on Texas rigged 8 Lake Fork Worms. Slowly working shad colored swimbaits along the bottom like a worm has produced some bites, while other times you,ll need to hop it back in like a jigging spoon. With the worm, work it along until you hit brush, then shake it around in the wood until a bass pulls it out for you. Red Shad or Green Pumpkin worms will get you bit.

If you want to learn how to fish deep water, now is the time. The fish are feeding so you,ll quickly know if you,re doing it right. And to think that you might catch a 10 pounder while learning"if not for the heat and high gas prices, men might come to Fork and not be heard of again until September.

Good Fishing,

Tom

June 19, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - June 18-19, 2005 Tournament Report-Alice Bass Club's 16 anglers from Alice and the surrounding area called Falcon home for the purposes of this weekend's club tournament. The lake level has been dropping slowly from a level of 289.48 ft on June 9th to Friday's level of 280.18 ft. Temperature of the water was in the mid-to-upper eighties.

Water clarity was fair-to-good unless you were fishing up the river where an algae-stained water condition was affecting the bite and a number of dead fish were noted all the way to Marker 8 area and beyond. Most of the fish were Tilapia but a few other rough fish were mixed in as well. Some small bass and catfish were noted to be dead or dying. I doubt that this kill has been checked out by biologists and usually, when we see and/or report dying fish this time of year, it ends up having to do with O2 content of the water. This is especially true as water from Amistad reaches Falcon full of silt and low in O2. At the very least it is a stinking mess. I spoke with Marshal Davidson Game Warden on Sunday and the kill seems to extend all the way to the lower end.

At this level, launching at the Zapata County Ramp is working fine and the shoreline adjacent to the ramp and out to the end of the point has just the right slope and is very usable for beaching of boats (See Pic Right). There is an abundance of parking as well. There is still a lot of litter, dead fish and trash so watch where you walk because our esteemed County officials, who now have ordinance making authority, continue to ignore the litter problem around the lake and on the roadside of highways and subdivisions in Zapata County. We have ascended to the distinction of being the litter capital of Texas.

Because of the summer heat, the Bass Club decided to weigh in once at Noon and then have a second weigh-in at 6:00 pm Saturday. This gave the fish a much better chance of surviving the heat. John Adami took the first weigh-in heavy stringer honors with 13.27 lbs for 3 fish. The big bass was caught by Rodney Jackson and weighed just north of 7 lbs. Jamie Pena and his dad had a couple of fish weighing 5.95 lbs, which was pretty typical. The big concentrations of good-sized fish did not show up on Saturday and most of the real aggressive fish were small 3 lbs and under. The fish were found primarily in 12 - 14 ft of water in hardwoods and off brushy main lake points. Watermelon red magnum lizards produced the Saturday's winning stringer for Rocky Portell (Pic Center Left) weighing 14.17 lbs and whipping a small hurt on the morning leader's 13.27 lb stringer. Sunday was another day about like Saturday as far as temperatures and results.

Pat Ball and his partner Brandon teamed up for 23.72 lbs and Brandon's second heavy stringer of 13.64 lbs was anchored by the 4.43 lb Sunday big bass (See Pic upper left). If we took the numbers down correctly, Day 1 winner Rocky Portello out-ounced the Ball boat with 23.76 lbs. Israel Garcia had Sunday's winning heavy stringer of 14.12 lbs just a few fish scales less than Rocky's winning Saturday heavy stringer.

During the last 2 days, we sold a number of the new YUM Wooly Hawg Craws and Ugly Otters by Gambler to club anglers and these baits worked great and produced a lot of fish. In fact, a number of big fish break-offs were reported. The Ugly Otters and Yum Wooly Hawg Craws are similar in design and function to the popular plastic Sweet Beavers, but better because you can actually order and receive them. We have had an order in for Sweet Beavers since April 28 and so far we have been unable to secure even a ship date. We found and purchased these two look-a-like baits by Gambler and YUM only because of the inability to score the Sweet Beavers.

Have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

June 19, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - The lunkers at Lake Fork remain spread all over the lake, making for a variety of good patterns from 2, to 30,. Signs of a healthy ecosystem abound at Fork, whether you look at the loads of bluegill and bass fingerlings swimming in the lush green mats of shallow vegetation or at the schools of big shad being chased out of the water by bass out deep. Post spawn bass, including big fish, are feeding heavily to put back on their lost weight, as we found out Saturday. After catching good numbers of keepers and slot fish in the morning on topwaters, jigs, and worms, a Carolina rigged Lake Fork Baby Creature produced a 10-06, 9-02, and a 7-08 in the afternoon in addition to breaking off one I was unable to turn. Best of all, head to Fork on a weekday afternoon and you,ll almost have the lake to yourself.

If great fishing isn,t a good enough reason to be excited, riding around Lake Fork on my new Ranger Z21 Comanche boat is certainly the cherry on top. After owning other types of boats up to 22, long and having ridden in almost every brand of boat, I swore that my Ranger 521 was the best riding bass boat of all time. I must stand corrected though"Ranger has outdone themselves with the Z21. At 21,2 long and with a few more inches of beam and width than the 521, the Z21 is honestly the smoothest riding boat I know of, even in heavy cross chop. Add in the Ranger exclusive spring-cushioned Soft Ride Seat technology and you,re able to fish anywhere on Lake Fork, no matter how hard the wind blows on your day off (and you know how windy that is). Let the pros at Diamond Sports Marine on Lake Fork, the dealer for pros like Bassmaster Classic Champ Takahiro Omori, rig you up and you,ll have the best-built, best-serviced boat in Texas.

Mainly due to evaporation, Fork,s water level continues to drop slowly, currently holding at 402.13,, about 9 below full pool. The water remains very clear in most of the lake, although the back ends of some creeks became stained due to a couple little storms last week. Water temps are up a few more degrees, reaching around 88 degrees last week but cooling to around 84 yesterday.

Structures with deep water nearby like main lake points, secondary points, and creek channels have been the key locations again this week. Look for structure that is situated between good spawning coves and deep summertime locations. Areas with grass cover typically have bass relating shallow to the grass (3, to 12,), while in areas devoid of grass cover the bass are a little deeper and often suspended in the timber (8, to 15, down over 20, to 30,).

Based on the current conditions, following are the baits that have been working best for us this week. Topwater fishing remains good but the reduced cloud cover in the morning has shortened their window of opportunity. For best results, get on the water by 5:30 and fish areas with lots of fish breaking the surface or even better, find areas with schooling fish. Bass are consistently schooling in the same areas, so if you find them schooling in a spot one morning, odds are pretty good they,ll be there again the next morning. Fish through an area quickly and if you don,t see much fish activity, head to the next grass or lily pad point. In calm areas, use a shad colored popper and let it sit for long pauses. In windier areas, "walking the dog with Zara Spooks or slow rolling black buzzbaits have produced some good fish. As soon as the sun pops out the topwater bite has died and it,s time to switch to grass beds in main lake areas. For numbers, go with a wacky rigged Lake Fork Twitch Worm or Zig Zag in shades of green. For big bass, go with a oz black/brown/amber or watermelon jig with watermelon trailer. Pitch the jig to stumps and points along the edge of the grass and hop it a few times before pitching to the next spot. In the afternoon, it,s time to head to points in 15, to 30, of water. Deep diving cranks like a DD 22 in shad colors remain a good option for big fish by fishing them through fish suspended down 10, to 20, in submerged treetops. In addition, I,m starting to find more fish on the bottom on points. Carolina rigged Lake Fork Baby Creatures in watermelon red and watermelon candy is catching them both on the bottom and while swimming through trees. Meanwhile, the trusty old TX rig worm, like the 8 Lake Fork Worm in red shad or green pumpkin, is catching its share of fish in the same places the Carolina rig is working.

Good Fishing,

Tom

June 13, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - Lake Fork continues to crank out lunkers, with a 13+, 12+, and a number of other double-digit bass being reported this week. Bass remain spread all over the lake from the shallows to deep water. However, this week had more sunshine and less wind, so the top patterns changed slightly from the prior week.

Fork's water level dropped slowly this week to 402.26', about 9" below full pool. The water remains very clear, even in most of the upper ends of the lake and it's especially clear in weedy areas. Water temps are up a few degrees, with the main lake holding around 82 to 84 degrees.

Structures with deep water nearby like main lake points, secondary points, and creek channels have been the key locations again this week. Look for structure that is situated between good spawning coves and deep summertime locations. We are still catching some good fish way back in spawning coves, provided there is deep-water access nearby.   Areas with grass cover typically have bass relating shallow to the grass (3' to 12'), while in areas devoid of grass cover the bass are a little deeper and often suspended in the timber (8' to 15').

Based on the current conditions, following are the baits that have been working best for us this week. Topwater fishing has produced 10 or more bites in the first hour of almost every day.   For fast action, we've been staying with the topwaters until the sun gets bright or the clouds go away. In calm areas, use a shad colored popper and let it sit for long pauses. In windier areas, "walking the dog" with Zara Spooks or slow rolling chartreuse and white buzzbaits have produced some bigger fish. Once the sun gets up, 12 oz chartreuse and white double willow spinnerbaits and 12 oz shad colored lipless crankbaits have worked well over windblown grass points. In addition, 12 oz black/brown/amber jigs with watermelon trailers have produced some big fish. Pitch the jig to stumps along the edge of the grass and hop it a few times before pitching to the next one. Out deeper, deep diving cranks like a DD 22 in shad colors remain my most productive bait. We are fishing the crankbait two ways, both with 10 lb line. First, banging it along the bottom on humps and points that top out at 10' to 18' is a great way to locate schools of fish. Secondly, fishing the deep divers through fish suspended down 10' to 20' in submerged treetops or chasing schools of bait in open water has produced our biggest fish. Finally, the deep bite started to pick up a little last week. Carolina rigged Lake Fork Baby Ring Frys in watermelon candy are catching bass in 18' to 28' on humps and ridges where we've graphed schools of bass on the bottom. For fish suspended off the bottom, drop shotting Baby Ring Frys in watermelon has produced numbers of smaller bass.

Here's hoping you catch the lunker of your dreams. If I can be of assistance, please contact me at 214-683-9572 (days) or 972-635-6027 (evenings) or e-mail me through http://www.lakeforkguidetrips.com, where your satisfaction is guaranteed.

Good Fishing,

Tom

May 23, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - The lunkers at Lake Fork remain spread all over the lake. A number of fish are finishing up their spawn and the abundant submerged vegetation is keeping many bass shallow. Conversely, for those fish that have already headed to deep water, the thermocline hasn,t established yet and we caught bass as deep as 38, last week. Before the heat wave arrived late this week, we,d been catching bass most of the day on topwaters and crankbaits under cloudy and windy conditions. With the current bright sunshine and calm conditions, fishing for deep and suspended bass has been better.

Fork,s water level slowly dropped this week, currently sitting at 402.56,, about 5 below full pool. With a lack of wind or rain and lots of aquatic vegetation, the water is now very clear, even in most of the upper ends of the lake. Water temps continue to climb, with temps from the upper 70s to the upper 80s.

My locations pattern remains the same as last week. I,m concentrating on coves and creeks that had the largest populations of spawning fish and starting there on the flats, creek channels, and points just outside the beds. I,m working out progressively deeper inside productive coves and fishing all of the cover and structure options from the backs of the creek out to the main lake summertime holes. Keep in mind that a lot of fish are suspended right now, so fish bottom bouncing lures while also checking for suspended fish with baits like jerkbaits and crankbaits. Once you try a few productive spawning creeks, you should have caught some fish and determined what types of cover, structure, and depths are holding the most fish. At that point, look for similar water around the lake and run the pattern. The fish are pretty scattered right now, so you,ll normally do better by fishing lots of good areas instead of camping on an area where you,ve caught a couple good fish. Again, with the fish being in a transition mode, you,ll need to repeat this process most days to stay in contact with the most active fish.

Based on the conditions and the locations, following are the baits that have been working best for us this week. Topwater fishing has been very good, lasting all day on cloudy and windy days. In calm areas, use a shad colored popper and let it sit for long pauses. In windier areas, "walking the dog with Zara Spooks has produced some bigger fish. My soft plastic stickbait and wacky worm bite around shallow grass slowed last week but we were able to catch some nice bass by fishing a 3/8 oz neon pumpkin jig with a watermelon Lake Fork Baby Creature trailer (pinch off the grub tail for a faster fall or leave it on when you want a better swimming action) along the deep weed edge and in holes in the grass. Concentrate your efforts with the jig around points and drop offs. Deep diving crankbaits like a Norman DD 22 in shad patterns remain my best bait for big fish and it is also producing good numbers of fish. We are fishing the crankbait two ways, both with 10 lb line. First, banging it along the bottom on humps and points that top out at 10, to 15, is a great way to locate schools of fish. Secondly, fishing the deep divers through fish suspended down 10, to 20, in submerged treetops or chasing schools of bait in open water has produced fish over 8 lbs. I personally prefer fluorocarbon line for my deep diving crankbaits because its low stretch allows a lot more feel on long casts while coming through timber. Finally, Texas rigged and Carolina rigged Lake Fork Creatures and Baby Ring Frys in watermelon and green pumpkin are catching bass in 18, to 38, on humps and ridges where we,ve graphed schools of bass.

Here,s hoping you catch the lunker of your dreams. If I can be of assistance, please contact me at 214-683-9572 (days) or 972-635-6027 (evenings) or e-mail me through http://www.lakeforkguidetrips.com, where your satisfaction is guaranteed.

Good Fishing,

Tom

May 16, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - According to the report received May 20 from the International Boundary and Water commission, Falcon has dropped to 280.63 ft (20.57 ft low) and we are holding less than 47% of the lake's capacity. That is a drop of over 23% since March when we were sitting at over 70% capacity.

Looking at it another way in terms of net water lost, Falcon has seen over 33% of its water disappear in less than 2 months. Amistad on the other hand is only 4.75 ft low and sits at over 94% of capacity.

While Falcon and her spawn has once again been sacrificed on the alter of Mexico's insatiable water demands, Amistad will benefit from these levels by logging another full spawn, while most of Falcon's eggs that were laid by fish in late March and on never hatched. Fortunately we had a good early spawn so the damage is less than it might have been. The biologists look at this as an "opportunity loss". Their take is that only so many spawned fry survive anyway regardless of how many hatch. To this layman, for nests with eggs to be left high and dry by a rapidly receding lake level is a tragic loss of resources, regardless of the number that survive. At the same time, many reservoirs in Mexico are near full capacity. El Cuchillo, which competes with Texas Reservoirs for US tourism dollars, is at 98.84% capacity as of yesterday. Undoubtedly at these levels they will enjoy another full spawn.

It has been said that every cloud has a silver lining and in the case of Falcon, we can rejoice in the fact that the last two years' full spawns have blessed us with a large population of fish in the small to over three lb classes. Even the larger fish that were decimated by netting for years during the low water periods have started to show themselves again, albeit not in large numbers. However, an abundance of Illegal nets has accompanied the drop in lake levels according to reports being received form local fishermen. Bad news for fishermen and fish.

It may well be that since we have so many more fish in the lake means more competition for forage and thus the big sows are being required to more actively seek out food sources. Thus they are more susceptible to being caught then during prior years when food was plentiful before and fish were not. From May 1999 to October 2004, fish over 9 lbs were not weighed in any major Falcon Tournament. This year, in the last major tournament alone, three fish over 10 lbs crossed the scales. The 14.28 lb fish caught in December 2004 was the largest fish submitted this year in Texas Share Lunker program. Unfortunatley the fishermen has decided not to return her to Falcon because of the netting issue here. Another loss to Falcon's gene pool and a fact that must be taken into consideration when contemplating whether to submit a fish into this program. The lake no longer gets the fry that spawn stocked back in the lake and the return of the fish is not guaranteed either. The impact on the lake is the same as if she was killed by netters.

Another positive fact associated with Falcon's current level is that a lot of the good structure, humps and rock piles that were in deep water at the higher lake levels are now fishable and productive again with 8 ft of water or so covering them. Look for these locations to be holding the larger fish while the points and drop offs will be the primary sources for larger numbers of fish under 5 lbs. Numbers of fish being caught and size vary dramatically from one location to another, but fifty or more a day is not unusual right now if you find the right spots. According to local guide Speedy Collett, "almost any lure in your box will catch fish".

The plastics are out producing other baits, and watermelon red, red shad and blue fleck are colors being reported as very successful the last few weeks. Brush Hogs, Baby Brush Hogs and Super Flukes have been some of the successful lure bait types being thrown. Presentation choices have been Texas Rig, Carolina Rig and Drop Shot. If you are fishing humps with brush or similar areas, try jigging the worm up and down and move the boat rather than casting and retrieving. Jerry Achilles and Francis who spend winter here at their place in Vela's El Tigre campground have found this to be very effective. One hump they found in the Tigers last week productive a number of big bass from 4 to 7 lbs.

One note about sizes and numbers of fish you can expect to catch. You have to find locations populated by feeding fish. They are not everywhere. I once made the statement in response to a question, "Where are the fish?" that is still very true. "The fish are all over", I replied, they're just are not everywhere."

We have a lot of fish in Falcon and with 100% of them occupying a lake that has lost a third of its water, your chances of finding them are better now than before the drop. Unfortunately this applies to the netters as well. And even at the levels we see today, it is not a slam dunk as some folks prefishing Falcon for the fist time this week for a weekend tournament will attest. Yes, they caught some fish the first day, but the large numbers of fish eluded them and as they found out, there is still a lot of water to fish. However, their persistence paid off and they won big bass honors for day 1 and day 2 with 7.2 lbs and 8.5 lb fish respectively. That is only the beginning of the story. Malcom Kincaid and Johnny Homann of the Plum Creek Caster Bass Club out of Lockhart, Texas had first and second heavy stringers of 19 lbs each on Saturday and 2-day totals of 39 and 40 lbs on Sunday. That's 79 lbs for one boat on 2 days with 85-plus degree water temperatures and over 97-degree high temperatures. (See Tournament Report)

Catfishing is still good to excellent both from the shore and boat. One catfisherman who fished several days last week reported lots of over 3 lb catfish being caught in trees off edges of deeper water. Bird roosts are sill prime locations holding good fish. Baits working best are still the J Piggs Stinkbait, live worms and frozen bait. All of these are on sale at Falcon Lake Tackle for the month of May.

Remember, whether you are a beginner or Pro, Falcon Lake Tackle is the place to shop for the largest selection of fishing tackle in Texas including lures, rods and reels like Falcon, Kistler and Shimano, marine supplies like props, relays and switches and equipment like bilge and aerator pumps. A large selection of gift items in both hunting and fishing themes are always available and this is the perfect place to shop for Father's Day, which is just around the corner. All items are available in the store or at www.tackleandrods.com in our online store.

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

May 16, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Zapata received .39 inches of rain last night following up the .19 and .29 inches from the previous 2 days. This is the first meaningful precipitation for a couple months so it is much appreciated. A few of our regular visitors were in town this weekend and they reported action is still good off points and ledges for blacks.

The 4 to 10 ft range brought the Ressieg's some good action with fish up to 5 or six-pounds. Albert Sosa had some good fish last week to about 9 lbs. Plastics in Watermelon red and red shad brush hogs, stick worms and lizards are working the best right now. The lake level was 281 ft Friday and it is getting depressing to drive over the Veleno bridge and see the mud flats and island out of the water where a beautiful and productive fishery existed in March.(see attached pic). This island was totally under water in March at 291 ft. Its is10 ft lower now at 281.02 ft.There is still plenty of water in the lake, but just not in the Veleno. This arm of the lake produced a 13.39 lb fish earlier this year.Actually the level now is about what we averaged most of last winter.

Some of the fishermen reported a bunch of Mexican nets on the US side in the Marker 7 area. Game Wardens are good about responding if you observe this activity so keep these cell phone numbers handy: 956-500-2651 Martin & 956-500-2650 Marshall

Catfishing has still been good on just about any bait including J. Pigg"s stinkbait. Catfishing off the shore is about as productive as in a boat

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

May 15, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - For the past week on Lake Fork, covering lots of water and trying a variety of patterns has been critical to catching fish. We boated fish up to 8 lb and jumped off a couple larger ones by fishing everything from Carolina rigs in 30' to topwaters and sight fishing in 2'. Similar to the prespawn patterns we fished just a couple months ago, bass are on the move, so where you catch them today may not hold many fish tomorrow. The key is to find the most productive pattern each day, then fish similar areas around the lake. The quicker you figure out the pattern and the more productive water you fish, the better you'll do.

Fork's water level came up a little late last week and is now slowly dropping to its current level of 402.65', about 4" below full pool. The water remains very clear down south and only mildly stained in windblown areas of the lake. Water temps continue to climb, with the main lake holding around 70 and coves well into the 70s.

For the location pattern, I'm concentrating on coves and creeks that had the largest populations of spawning fish and starting there on the flats, creek channels, and points just outside the beds. I'm working out progressively deeper inside productive coves and fishing all of the cover and structure options from the backs of the creek out to the main lake summertime holes. Keep in mind that a lot of fish are suspended right now, so fish bottom bouncing lures while also checking for suspended fish with baits like jerkbaits and crankbaits. Once you try a few productive spawning creeks, you should have caught some fish and determined what types of cover, structure, and depths are holding the most fish. At that point, look for similar water around the lake and run the pattern. The fish are pretty scattered right now, so you'll normally do better by fishing lots of good areas instead of camping on an area where you've caught a couple good fish. Again, with the fish being in a transition mode, you'll need to repeat this process most days to stay in contact with the most active fish.

As for your lure, let the cover and the depth of the bass you are fishing dictate your choice. With the fish being so spread out, virtually everything in your tackle box will catch fish at some point during May, so stay flexible. Following are the baits that have been working best for us this week. Early and late and on cloudy days, topwater baits like a Pop-R or buzzbait in shad colors will produce some really big fish. Around shallow vegetation and pads, wacky rigged Lake Fork Twitch Worms and Zig Zags in green pumpkin and watermelon candy are working well. Deep diving crankbaits like a Norman DD 22 in shad patterns fished for suspended bass on points is producing some big fish and good numbers. Go with 10 lb test and hang on after you come through submerged treetops. Finally, Texas rigged and Carolina rigged Lake Fork Creatures and Baby Ring Frys in watermelon and green pumpkin are catching bass in 12' to 30'.

Here's hoping you catch the lunker of your dreams. If I can be of assistance, please contact me at 214-683-9572 (days) or 972-635-6027 (evenings) or e-mail me through http://www.lakeforkguidetrips.com, where your satisfaction is guaranteed.

Good Fishing,

Tom

May 8, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - Early May is a transition period on Lake Fork. As is typical of this time of year, we caught fish up to 9 lbs this week on everything from sight fishing to deep diving crankbaits. We,ve been finding some big bass schooling in the mornings, resulting in some great topwater days, while other days the topwater bite is almost nonexistent. Meanwhile, good populations of bass are inhabiting grass and timber flats, points, and creek channel bends on their migration to deep summertime holes.

Fork,s water level has been slowly dropping this week and it currently sits at 402.68,, about 4 below full pool. The water remains very clear down south and only mildly stained in windblown areas of the lake. Water temps continue to climb, with the main lake holding in the upper 60s, while some coves are warming into the 70s. Best of all, hydrilla, milfoil, coontail, and lily pads are starting to grow rapidly"providing great cover for bass fingerlings and feeding lunkers.

I,ll repeat my location and lure patterns from last week, as the overall patterns remain the same. However, the best location and the best lure has been changing on a daily basis, so check a few different patterns each day and find the one that is working best for the current conditions.

Regarding the location pattern, the farther south you head and the closer towards the mouths of creeks you fish, the more prespawn and spawning fish you,ll find, in general. Main lake flats are also holding a lot of spawning fish right now. To find the post spawn fish, it is just the reverse of the locations that held prespawn bass in February and March. Concentrate on cover along drops and creek channels adjacent to spawning flats. Working your way out of the coves, work secondary points and main lake points. Soon, humps and ledges near coves with big populations of spawning bass will be loading up. And since the North end of the lake spawns first, more fish will be on summertime patterns up there than will the bass on the southern end of the lake.

Concerning your lure choice, let the bass tell you what they want. Early and late and on cloudy days, topwater baits like a Pop-R or buzzbait will produce some really big fish. Shallow, lipless, and medium running crankbaits and spinnerbaits work well over grass and around wood cover on points and creeks. Shad and bluegill color patterns usually work best. For numbers, it is hard to beat wacky rigged Lake Fork Twitch worms and Zig Zags in shades of watermelon fished in grass beds and pad fields. Concentrate on holes in the grass and especially on wood cover and you,ll be in business. And speaking of cover, a Lake Fork Tube or jig pitched around stumps and outside grass lines on points is a great way to catch a trophy bass. For fish on main lake humps and points, a 1-2 combo of a deep diving crankbait like a Norman,s DD22 in shad colors and a Carolina rigged Lake Fork Ring Fry in watermelon will produce fish fast, once you locate a school of bass. Finally, for the bedding fish, Texas rigged Lake Fork Tackle Baby Fork Craws and Tom Dog lizards in white or watermelon are working well.

Here,s hoping you catch the lunker of your dreams. If I can be of assistance, please contact me at 214-683-9572 (days) or 972-635-6027 (evenings) or e-mail me through www.LakeForkGuideTrips.com <http://www.lakeforkguidetrips.com/> , where your satisfaction is guaranteed.

Good Fishing, Tom

May 5, 2005 - South Texas 5 Results - May 1st Lake Mathis

1st Shields/Shields 14.40 lbs.
2nd Adams/Larkin 10.91 lbs.

Big Bass Longtine/Kimbrell 6.77 lbs.

May 1, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Ringing in an end to an unusually dry April yesterday, it did not look like it was going to be a great day for fishing. Winds were out of the North at 25 mph with gusts to 40 mph. These winds accompanied the northern that blew in dropping temperatures to 78 degrees from the105 degree high on Friday. Several boats including Jimbo Beard and Linda Conrey from Uvalde were determined to fish no matter what. With winds blowing, scattered rains threatening to the East and temperatures more like early spring or late fall, they launched and hit the Veleno first, landing 20 fish by 11:00 am including five keepers.
Next they headed for the Salado and tying up to brush on wind swept points, fishing in 6 to 9ft depths they stated catching so many fish they were hard pressed to keep count. Their best estimate for the day was 148 fish, which included 34 legal fish to 5 lbs. Fish were chasing shad on the points and the legal fish were mixed in with the undersized fish. They were using red shad worms in the morning and the fish were a little deeper at 8 to 12 ft. In the afternoon, Linda switched to blue fleck worms, but it really did not make much difference as Jimbos red shad worm continued to catch fish.Jimbo has fished Falcon a lot over the years, but in his opinion, yesterday was one of the best days ever.

Catfishermen continued to do well with a number of reports of 30 to 50 fish being caught both from boats and from the shore on stinkbait, worms and frozen shad or shrimp. Gar fishermen are continuing to do well on gar although the large fish have been somewhat illusive. We are keeping the equipment for bow fishing in stock including AMS Reels, Muzzy Arrows, safety slides, nocks and float systems. We also have replacement points, rests etc.

Meanwhile down on the river below Falcon, Pablo Gomez and his uncle were continuing to catch fish below the spillway. Jigs have been the most productive with 15 to 20 fish catches up to 18 lbs.
Until next time, HAVE A GREAT DAY ON THE WATER AND PRACTICE CATCH AND RELEASE ON ALL LARGE BASS.

April 27, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - Photo is from 4/25 of Greg McMillan from Texas with a 8 lb 13 oz bass caught on a Lake Fork Tackle watermelon Top Dog lizard. - While we are still seeing some big females on spawning beds, the majority of bass on Lake Fork are currently moving into post spawn and early summer patterns. In the coming weeks, you,ll be able to catch bass about any way you want to fish for them. There will still be some spawning fish in May, while others feed up on spawning bluegills in the shallows. Meanwhile, many bass have already moved out to secondary and main lake points on their transition back to deep humps and ledges. While February through April offer your best opportunity to catch a 10+ lb bass on Fork, May through July usually provide the most consistent fishing of the year for 3 to 6 lb bass, with a good shot at a 7 lb or bigger bass.

Lake Fork is heading into summer in great condition. Fork,s water level is almost at full 402.84,, only 2 below full pool. A couple storms and some windy days brought up the lake level again and stained the water in a few creeks but most of the lake remains clear. Water temps continue to climb, with the main lake holding in the low 60s, while some coves are warming into the 70s. Best of all, hydrilla, milfoil, coontail, and lily pads are starting to grow rapidly"providing great cover for bass fingerlings and feeding lunkers.

Good Fishing,

Tom

April 19, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Water is clear overall with water temperature in the mid 70-degree range. Daytime temperatures have been averaging around 80 degrees and nights have been mild in the upper sixties. Winds have been gusting to around 30 mph for five days with some lesser winds periodically throughout the day.

We had a trace of rain a few days ago, but we never recorded enough rain to mark it on the gauge. The lake draw down has continued reaching a 285.47 ft elevation as of this morning. This is a drop of about 5 _ ft since March 23rd compared to a drop of only 1.1 ft for Amistad. This has to bring to mind the question Senator Zaffirini ask Watermaster Carlos Rubenstein in the hearing held with the principals involved in the various elements of Falcon's fishery several years ago. "Did you ever play leapfrog when you were a young boy?" she inquired to which Carlos responded, yes he had. Well that is what is happening with Falcon, you are going from Amistad to the Valley and leap frogging over Falcon and any it needs to stop. Well I am here to tell the Senator, Carlos the Watermaster and especially Mexico who again is releasing thousands of acre feet of water from Falcon without replacing any of it with water they own in Amistad, that at some point, the State Department and the President are going to belly up and start delivering on some of the campaign promises they made and extend the same protection to Border Farmers and Businesses that they extend (through tariffs and embargos) to other businesses in the US who are being exploited by foreign interests.

The entire South Texas region needs relief from the untenable exploitation by Mexico rendered possible by a morally and philosophically bankrupt 1944 Water Treaty. Much of the middle spawn has been wiped out by this current draw down and the late spawn will be lost as well if this rate of withdrawal continues. Falcon's fishery cannot continue to recover if we allow the spwans to be killed off by rapidly falling water (see pic with eggs high and dry).

Notwithstanding the draw down, bass have still been very active hitting plastics, spinnerbaits and small crankbaits in the willows adjacent to deeper water. The greatest numbers of fish have been caught in 6-8 ft of water. Speedy Collett has guided parties to good catches of bass for the last 2 days, putting over 80 bass in the boat yesterday and a slightly smaller number of fish today. However, today's fish averaged much larger in size, if slightly smaller in number. They had eight fish over 5 lbs, 5 between 6 and 8 lbs and one over 10 lbs today and that has got to be considered a good day by any measure.

Catfishing has continued good with cats up to 8 lbs being caught from the bank as well as from boats. Crappie and white bass do not exist in adequate numbers to be considered fishable species. Striper action is poor to non existent, but bow hunters are scoring well on carp and gar. We are still seeing some fishermen booking guide trips to several Mexico lakes and fishing has been good-to-excellent. Speedy and the other guides who work out of Beacon are seasoned tournament anglers with multiple boats won this year as proof of their capabilities. Call them to discuss the many opportunities here and in Mexico.

The State Park and Zapata County Ramps are still both working, as are most of the Lodge and RV Park ramps. However, the ramp at El Tigre Island is probably close to being out of the water and you should check the current status before planning on using it. It is also recommended you call and check before planning a trip to San Ignacio. Launching below the dam on the Rio is best accomplished from the RV park property according to one of our customers (Pablo Gomez) who fishes the river weekly. Fishing in the River varies from day-to-day based on a number of factors. The amount of water being released seems to have a direct impact on the fishing, but for the last few weeks fishing has been reportedly fair-to-good for fish up to 8 lbs.

Mexican Licenses and Boat Permits are required for boats that carry fishing equipment into Mexican waters and are available locally from Falcon Lake Tackle in Zapata or by an internet order via our online store. Either call 956-765-4866 or e-mail larry@tackleandrods.com if you experience problems ordering directly through the e-store shopping cart at www.tackleandrods.com. Everyone in the boat must have a fishing license whether fishing or not.

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice catch and release.

April 17, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - The spawn is heating up on the south end of Lake Fork while waves of fish continue to move up in the middle sections of the lake. There are still a lot of big fish shallow, too. On Thursday afternoon, we had a 9 and two 7,s. Meanwhile, we spotted 4 monster fish on Saturday (3 of them looked bigger in the water than the 9 from Thursday appeared) but we were never able to get any of them to bite while many 4 and 5 lb bass were locked on and would strike anything that came close to their beds. Well, that,s spring fishing for you. If you like fishing in shallow water for giant bass, take advantage while it lasts.

Fork,s water level is almost at full at 402.94,, only 0.06, below full pool. Without as much wind or rain in the past week the water has cleared up again; however, visibility is limited in some sections of the lake due to a heavy cover of pollen sitting on the water. Water temps continue to climb, with the main lake holding in the low 60, while some coves are warming into the 70s.

Regarding the location pattern, the farther south you head and the closer towards the mouths of creeks you fish, the more prespawn and spawning fish you,ll find, in general. With the warming water, we have also seen some big fish starting to spawn on main lake flats. On the other hand, if you,re looking for some fast action, head to the areas up north where bass were spawning in late February. You,ll find bass on the flats and in nearby deeper water moving into post spawn patterns and starting to feed on a regular basis.

Since we are still in the midst of the spawn, the lure choices remain the same as last week. In areas with spawning fish, throw weightless soft plastic jerkbaits like the Lake Fork Tackle Zig Zag or Magic Shad and wacky rigged Twitch Worms and Ring Fries in shades of watermelon and green pumpkin. Cast to light spots, holes in the grass, inside and outside weed edges and any wood cover that is about 8, or shallower and you,ll be in business. For bedding fish, Texas rigged Ring Fries, Craw Tubes and Baby Fork Craws in white make it easy to see the bite; however, these same baits in more natural colors will spook less fish and often get you bit quicker. For the prespawn fish, work inside and outside grass edges on points, tree lines, and creek channels leading into spawning flats with lizards, spinnerbaits and suspending jerkbaits. Finally, in areas with post spawn fish, topwater baits, floating jerkbaits, and weightless soft plastic jerks like the Lake Fork Zig Zag and Magic Shad can produce some fast action for keeper-sized fish. Work these baits over grass beds and especially on inside and outside grass lines.

Good Fishing, Tom

April 14, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - That loud sucking sound you hear is the lack of concern over Falcon by Mexico amplified by the apathy of our President and the State Department resonating off our US Senators and Congressmen's inaction as millions of gallons of water is withdrawn from Falcon to feed the fields in Mexico growing water intensive crops that compete with US farmers products. Unless we can get someone in the Sate department to renegotiate a water treaty, this will continue to be a way of life on Falcon.

Yesterday a fishermen reporting that at Four Seasons Mobile Home Park three areas, carefully wallowed out as bedding areas by spawning bass, were high and dry including the eggs that had been deposited in the beds sometime before the lake dropped. Between the 23rd of March and yesterday, the lake has dropped 4.10 ft. In the last 2 day alone, we have seen a drop of 15 inches. It is sickening to see this drop played out on the rocks of the island adjacent to the Veleno Bridge in Zapata. Last night's low temperature was 5 degrees warmer than the last two nights (61 degrees) and winds the last few days have been variable with gusts in the mid twenties. Afternoons have been warm in the mid nineties.

Meanwhile fishing remains good following the weekend Bass Federation Tournament. Bass have been caught in deeper water around jusihace, both suspended and down deep on a combination of baits including plastics, spinnerbaits and crankbaits including crawdad Model 7As (brown or red), chartreuse/white spinnerbaits with twin gold & nickel willow blades and Rat-l-Traps Chrome Blue Back. Watermelon Green Orange and WM Red Flukes and brush hogs are working and a Carolina Rig is producing some good fish up to 8 lbs. There have been several groups fishing and while the number of small fish being caught is reportedly much greater than large ones, there is plenty of action to keep anglers interested and always a chance of a big one.

You may have heard we are regretfully selling Falcon Lake Tackle strictly for health reasons. Business in the store and on the website e-store has never been better. The business, inventory, commercial property and website site can be purchased or, any part thereof. Included also are good living quarters above the store, shop space and additional land adjacent to and behind the store with abundant concrete patios, parking under 6 ft security fencing. Through our on-line E-Store, we have sold tackle to fishermen and women in 6 countries and 46 states. Most people shopping with us remark that Falcon Lake Tackle has the most extensive selection of tackle and marine supplies of any store they have visited. We try to anticipate demand and we do not just keep a few packages in stock. The hot baits are almost always available and we keep an adequate number of Mexico Licenses and Boat permits available by mail or in the store. We would welcome the opportunity to add you to our satisfied customers list. http://tackleandrods.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=FLT

Catfishing and Gar bow fishing remain good to excellent.

Until next time, have a good day on the water and always practice catch and release

April 11, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - Bass are in all stages of the spawn at Lake Fork right now. While a number of big fish are prespawn or starting to spawn from the mid-lake region south, there are lots of post spawn and fry guarding bass on the north end of the lake. Spawning action should remain good on many parts of the lake for a couple more weeks, then we'll start shifting to the post spawn and early summer patterns.

Fork's water level is up from the recent storms to 402.88', about 1" below full pool. Continued windy days and the rains have some coves muddied up, but most of the lake is clear to stained. Water temps continue to climb, with the main lake holding right around 60, while coves are as warm as 70+.

Regarding the location pattern, the farther south you head and the closer towards the mouths of creeks you fish, the more prespawn and spawning fish you'll find, in general. With the warming water, we have also seen some big fish starting to spawn on main lake flats. On the other hand, if you're looking for some fast action, head to the areas up north where bass were spawning in late February. You'll find bass on the flats and in nearby deeper water moving into post spawn patterns and starting to feed on a regular basis.

Since we are still in the midst of the spawn, the lure choices remain the same as last week. In areas with spawning fish, throw weightless soft plastic jerkbaits like the Lake Fork Tackle Zig Zag or Magic Shad and wacky rigged Twitch Worms and Ring Fries in shades of watermelon and green pumpkin. Cast to light spots, holes in the grass, inside and outside weed edges and any wood cover that is about 8' or shallower and you'll be in business. For bedding fish, Texas rigged Ring Fries, Craw Tubes and Baby Fork Craws in white make it easy to see the bite; however, these same baits in more natural colors will spook less fish and often get you bit quicker. For the prespawn fish, work inside and outside grass edges on points, tree lines, and creek channels leading into spawning flats with lizards, spinnerbaits and suspending jerkbaits. Finally, in areas with post spawn fish, topwater baits, floating jerkbaits, and weightless soft plastic jerks like the Lake Fork Zig Zag and Magic Shad can produce some fast action for keeper-sized fish. Work these baits over grass beds and especially on inside and outside grass lines.

If you haven't had a chance to catch one of the big Lake Fork bass while they're shallow spawning, don't despair. May, June and July offer steady action for good numbers of slot sized bass and a good shot at a bass from 7 to 10 lbs. By then, the fronts have moderated and fishing becomes consistent with fish to be caught on anything from topwater baits in 2' to Carolina rigs in 20-30' and anything in between. The smaller crowds and consistent fishing make early summer one of my favorite times to fish Lake Fork.

Here's hoping you catch the lunker of your dreams. If I can be of assistance, please contact me at 214-683-9572 (days) or 972-635-6027 (evenings) or e-mail me through www.LakeForkGuideTrips.com, where your satisfaction is guaranteed.

Good Fishing,

Tom

April 4, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - Photos are of Karl and Mike Cotton, a father and son combo that both caught a 9.5 lb bass on the same day, 4/1. It was April Fools day on the bass instead of the anglers for a change!

With the full moon last week and plenty of warm sunny days, a major wave of spawners moved up on Lake Fork. Lots of big fish are being caught right now and we caught two 9.5s (on a day with wind gusts to 38 mph) and several fish in the 7 lb range in the last few days. With the New Moon on 4/8, we should see another big wave of spawning fish, especially on the south end and on main lake spawning flats.

Fork,s water level is holding steady at 402.74,, about 3 below full pool. The recent windy days and rain has some coves stained but most of the lake is clear to lightly stained. Water temps are holding in the upper 50s with protected pockets warming into the low to mid-60s on sunny afternoons.

Some of the coves on the north end of Lake Fork already have post spawn fish that are feeding regularly, while most of the fish on the south end are still prespawn. Meanwhile, there are a lot of spawning fish in the mid to north end of the lake, but the number of fish on bed varies by cove and seems to be effected daily by the weather. For those of you looking for bed fish, I,d suggest starting in the backs of coves and checking protected pockets as well. If you are looking for an oversized prespawn fish, concentrate your efforts on points and creek channels on the southern half of the lake and fish around any grass or wood cover you can find.

Since the pattern is pretty much the same as last week, the lure choices remain similar as well. In areas with spawning fish, throw weightless soft plastic jerkbaits like the Lake Fork Tackle Zig Zag or Magic Shad and wacky rigged Twitch Worms and Ring Fries in shades of watermelon and green pumpkin. Cast to light spots, holes in the grass, inside and outside weed edges and any wood cover that is about 8, or shallower and you,ll be in business. For bedding fish, Texas rigged Ring Fries, Craw Tubes and Baby Fork Craws in white make it easy to see the bite; however, these same baits in more natural colors will spook less fish and often get you bit quicker. For the prespawn fish, work inside and outside grass edges on points, tree lines, and creek channels leading into spawning flats with lizards, spinnerbaits and suspending jerkbaits. Some days the bass will be tight to the bottom and other times they will be suspended near cover. Texas rig a Lake Fork Tackle Top Dog lizard in watermelon or black neon and pitch it to any cover available for those fish on the bottom. For the suspended bass, go with a oz white or white and chartreuse double willow spinnerbait on overcast days or suspending jerkbaits in gold or chrome the sunny days. Finally, in areas with post spawn fish, topwater baits and floating jerkbaits worked over the grass can produce some fast action for keeper-sized fish.

Good Fishing, Tom Redington

April 4, 2005 - Choke Canyon Tournament Results -Here are the results of the Choke Canyon tournament held April 3, 2005:

1st Place
White & White 21.35

2nd Place
Young & Kortz 18.24

3rd Place
Klekar & Klekar 17.71

Big Bass
White & White 6.64

March 28, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman -
March 26, 2005-Bass Champs: The 147 Bass Champs boats launched from Beacon Lodge at safe light with mild early-morning temps of 69 degrees and light winds. Although daytime high temps reached 91 degrees, a mild front blew in right as the tournament ended, cooling off what was otherwise a pretty warm group of fishermen. Choke Canyon Bass Champs Boat winners Richard Cremo and Jimmy Steed pulled out a back-to-back victory at Falcon's tournament today weighing in a heavy stringer of 28.96 lbs and a 10.60 lb big bass.Strike King Green Pumpkin tubes were the winning bait and their fish came out of 11-to-13 ft water. There were 104 limits weighed and most of the teams culled a lot of fish. As many as 76 fish were reported being caught by a single team. The average weight was 2.9 lbs. Everyone commented about the difficulty finding large fish because of the abundance of small fish. Several of the over 10 lb fish caught were still showing eggs and bloody tails. Richard Cremo had the big bass weighing 10.60lbs. Jim Edwards had a 10.32 lb fish and the Kuyrkendhal/Wilson big bass weighed 10.06 lbs.
Derick Kuyrkendall and Forrest Wilson brought in the second place heavy stringer weighing 25.44 lbs. Greg Carter and Bob Eckermann had the third place heavy stringer of 25.40 lbs. The top three winners were using a similar plastic-bait pattern in husiache and retamas trees off creek channels and drop offs. Sweet beavers, tubes and spinnerbaits caught the most fish followed by crankbaits. Ten stringers were weighed in at over 20 lbs and 14 th place weighed 18.48 lbs.

March 19, 2005: We were able to attend only one of the three club tournament weigh-ins for Saturday and the fourth tournament Fisher's of Men was a no-show. We did not hear from the organizers, but some of the folks from Austin said the participation was just not there at either Amistad or for Falcon. We are sorry to hear that, if in fact that is what happened to the tournament.
There were some good fish caught today including the big tournament fish of the weekend by San Antonio Bass Club's member Mike Vasquez of 9.45 lbs. The heavy stringer was somewhere in the 16 to 17 lb range on Saturday and right at 30 lbs for the two days. We are awaiting the name of the winner and exact winning weight.

March 22, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - Photos are of 13 year old Andrew Giles with a 6 and 7 lb bass.

March has been a great month on Lake Fork and with the full moon on Good Friday, tons of big fish have moved shallow. We are now at the time where the majority of bass on Fork will spawn and hundreds of lunkers will be caught in the coming weeks. At the Lake Fork Marina alone, by early last week over 6 pages of fish over 7 lbs had been reported in the monthly lunker survey and big fish are coming in daily. If you like fishing shallow for big bass, this is as good as it gets!

Fork,s water level is down slightly to 402.57,, about 5 below full pool but it will likely rise with this weekend,s rains. The recent windy days and rain has some coves stained but most of the lake is clear to lightly stained. Water temps are holding in the upper 50s with protected pockets warming into the low to mid-60s on sunny afternoons.

Whereas the spawn had been confined to the North end of Fork over the past several weeks, there are now also good numbers of spawning fish in most mid-lake coves while some are showing up in the backs of larger creeks on the south end. For those of you looking for bed fish, I,d suggest starting in the backs of coves and checking protected pockets as well. If you are looking for an oversized prespawn fish, concentrate your efforts on points and creek channels on the southern half of the lake and fish around any grass or wood cover you can find.

In areas with spawning fish, throw weightless soft plastic jerkbaits like the Lake Fork Tackle Zig Zag or Magic Shad and wacky rigged Twitch Worms and Ring Fries in shades of watermelon and green pumpkin. Cast to light spots, holes in the grass, inside and outside weed edges and any wood cover that is about 8, or shallower and you,ll be in business. For bedding fish, Texas rigged Ring Fries, Craw Tubes and Baby Fork Craws in white make it easy to see the bite; however, these same baits in more natural colors will spook less fish and often get you bit quicker. For the prespawn fish, work inside and outside grass edges on points, tree lines, and creek channels leading into spawning flats with lizards, spinnerbaits and suspending jerkbaits. Some days the bass will be tight to the bottom and other times they will be suspended near cover. Texas rig a Lake Fork Tackle Top Dog lizard in watermelon or black neon and pitch it to any cover available for those fish on the bottom. For the suspended bass, go with a oz white or white and chartreuse double willow spinnerbait on overcast days or suspending jerkbaits in gold or chrome the sunny days.

Good Fishing, Tom

March 22, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - FYI: A number of 9 and 10 lb fish were caught this weekend and here are two pics representative of the bite. A 9.84 lb fish caught by Alex Gonzalez prefishing for Bass Champs and a 10.23 lb bass caught by Tom Pursell prefishing for Texas Classic Bass Club tournament.

There were several other nine and ten lb fish caught and released. About half or more have spawned and the other half are stll showing eggs. Some of the fish have started to show up on points and rocky ledges chasing shad.

March 22, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - This past week on Lake Fork ran the gamut. It ranged from some really good spinnerbait and jerkbait days in the clouds and wind, to tough days with cold mornings and calm sunny conditions, and ended with a major move to the beds on Sunday. With warm days and a full moon on this coming Friday, I expect a major wave of spawning fish to hit the shallows at Lake Fork this week.

We did catch a number of nice fish this week but we managed to lose our biggest fish of the day almost every day this week. Call it "The Curse of the Bassino. Larry Arnold of Alabama and JD Delle of Texas both had big fish get away right by the boat. Fork was especially cold to JD, who went back to Fork this weekend and fished the same pattern, only to lose a double-digit fish right at the boat, while Larry settled the score with his local bass by catching a 7.5 pounder on Saturday. Former NFL great Autry Beamon brought down many running backs and wide receivers in his career but even he couldn,t wrestle out a Lake Fork lunker that we could see after it tangled him up in a tree directly beneath our boat. Meanwhile, Kelly from Minnesota went from a Yankee basser to a full blown redneck fisherman in two days, swinging 5 lb bass into the boat like Denny Brauer; however, he missed a monster bass that looked like the Goodyear blimp while dwarfing her 5 lb male bed companion. And the bad luck extended to me, as I wasn,t paying attention and pulled a jerkbait away from an 8+ right at the boat. What can I say, that,s Lake Fork for you"where it,s often easier to hook a big fish than to land it, but it,s sure fun trying! Hey, if the Red Sox can finally win one, maybe there is hope for the rest of us.

Concerning the current conditions, Fork,s water level is down slightly to 402.57,, about 5 below full pool. Strong winds and runoff from today,s rain have some areas stained but much of the lake is still pretty clear. Water temps dropped into the low 50s midweek with some mornings in the low 30s until the warm sun over the weekend brought main lake temps into the mid-50s and we found some pockets up to 66 degrees on Sunday.

Most of the fish are still relating to the grass, so concentrate on grass along creeks, drains, points and outside edges on cooler days and hit the inside edge, sandy spots, and brush in shallow grass during warming trends. The most productive spots have areas of clear water and are generally in the Northern section of Lake Fork. Cloudy and windy days have been best for fishing white and chartreuse spinnerbaits in 3/8 oz and gold or silver suspending jerkbaits. On sunny and calm days, we have been slowing down and fishing weightless Texas rigged or wacky rigged Lake Fork Tackle Magic Shads, Zig Zags and Twitch Worms in shades of watermelon and green pumpkin. In addition, Lake Fork Top Dog lizards in black neon or watermelon with light sinkers, about 1/8 oz, have been producing a few fish in the grass and around wood.

Good Fishing, Tom

March 18, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman -Yesterday was about as nice a day as you could have asked for including light winds, warm 70-degree temperatures and lake temperatures in the upper sixty to low 70-degree range. The lake level has continued to increase and was at 290.65 ft yesterday and if you do not get here by next week, the Island just east of the Veleno Bridge may no longer exist. Yesterday when I drove over the bridge, the island had shrunk to about the size of a foreign SUV front end. I hope someone does not run over it with his or her boat.
There are a lot of new folks in town fishing including a group from Tennessee who are spending some quality time fishing Falcon. There are also a number of Club Tournaments and also fishermen from Bass Champs here checking out the location of tournament fish. Those are the ones about twice the size of what are being caught right now. Yes, the average Falcon Big Bass being caught is 4 to about 6 pounds right now as the fishery struggles to regain her bite since the last series of cold fronts.

The smaller fish seem to have somewhat developed a resistance to the colder water temperatures (or alternatively there are so many of them than in past years, that they need to feed more aggressively. We have noticed a slow down in the numbers of fish reported caught, as well as the size of fish, when lake water temperatures drop much below 65 degrees. So far this year, based on reports received and documented, the larger fish seem to need water temperatures of about 68 or 70 degrees to get comfortable and start moving on to the beds in an attempt to make deposits at the local bank. When we have seen these temperatures reached, the smaller fish daily catch is usually excellent with fifty a day or so per boat catches. When temperatures fall to the 60-degree range, the bigger fish are not usually showing themselves and if appearing at all they seem to be in deeper water to 30 ft and often suspended. Above 70 degrees, we have usually started to see an increase in the spawn and with fish moving in shallow. The numbers of fish-per-day caught per boat have increased (or at least the reported catches so indicate) when the water warms. Yesterday we were in the 66 to 68-degree range. Fishermen were catching 20 to 30 fish up to 5 or 6 lbs for the big fish on average. This is a generalization and exceptions are always noted and/or encountered.

It does appear, from the number of schools of baby bass being reported, that at least a significant number of bass have made it through the spawn. Several of our locals have reported catching fish that are described as long with bruised sides, bloody tails and no sign of eggs, probably indicating it is one of the recent spawners. In fact, one fisherman who guides here and in some other lakes in South Texas, reported a day where every big fish he caught appeared to have spawned. Another report was pretty much directly opposite. It would appear we are somewhat in the middle and the canoe may be tipping towards a successful partial spawn. Most of the fish being caught right now are coming out of the 4-6 ft depths and some even deeper while plastic Brush Hogs are still the preferred lure being used by the majority of the fishermen. Watermelon red is still the dominant color, but some other green colored baits are also working.

Whether it is worms, lizards, stick worms, tubes or grubs in magnum, short, medium or finesse, we have a wide selection in numerous manufacturer's top baits. If you need crankbaits, you can find them at Falcon Lake Tackle in surface to 1' shallow, midrange deep and Ultra Deep with an unparalleled selection of magnum 30+ baits. Keep in mind that Falcon Lake Tackle is unusually well stocked with lures of all kinds in just about every color that the big bass fishermen use on Mexico, South Texas or other lakes from the West to the East and in the Northern lakes as well. The inventory we have built through the marketing and sale of these baits all over the world via our website enables us to meet your demands and those of fishermen and women all over the US and in foreign countries as well. Check out www.falconlaketackle.com and click Order on the top bar to get started. Scroll to the bottom of the policies page that comes up and click on the fish.

You may have heard we are selling Falcon Lake Tackle and I assure you it is reluctantly and strictly because of age and health. Business in the store and on the website e-store has never been better and Falcon Lake is generating some great quantities of bass and catfish. The business, inventory, commercial property and website site can be purchased or, just the inventory. Included also are good living quarters above the store, shop space and additional land adjacent to and behind the store with abundant concrete patios, parking under 6 ft security fencing. Through our on-line E-Store, we have sold tackle to fishermen and women in 6 countries and 46 states. Check out the details on this great opportunity under the contact information section of our website.

Most people shopping with us remark that Falcon Lake Tackle has the most extensive selection of tackle and marine supplies of any store they have visited. We try to anticipate needs as well as demand and we do not just keep a few packages in stock like some stores that are a mile wide and an inch deep. The hot baits are almost always available and we keep an adequate number of Mexico Licenses and Boat permits available by mail or in the store to meet the needs of fishermen that want to fish in Mexico.

Catfish are still biting with night crawlers and stinkbait being two of the successful baits reported. Some crappie activity is being reported around docks and since most of these fish are close to spawning, we want to encourage you to release those bigger fish so the chances of their recovery as a fishable species at Falcon can be enhanced. The 1500 mature crappie stocked here last year by TPWD could yield millions of these wonderful eating fish, but not if they are all caught, killed and eaten by fishermen and women too greedy to give them a chance to spawn. The same is true for the white bass. A total of 174 of these fish were caught, transported and released through the effort of 25 Falcon faithfuls who braved cold weather and made several trips to Choke (with a number of Parks and Wildlife Biologists) to transport and seed a new population of whites in Falcon. Their survival is precarious and everyone's help is needed. If we can keep them out of the nets and skillets long enough to spawn, we could see millions of whites back in the lake by next year. Not so if they are all caught and killed before they spawn.

Fishers of Men inaugural tournament at Falcon is this Saturday. It is based at Falcon's Beacon Lodge as is the Bass Champs Tournament the following weekend. We have the entry forms available at Falcon Lake Tackle.

Until next time, enjoy the good fishing on Falcon and always practice catch and release with the big fish.

March 13, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Photo is of George Benitez's 52.97 lb catfish caught and weighed on Falcon Lake Tackle's scales 3-12-05. It measured 41 inches long. If submitted and approved, it will be a new lake record. Larger fish have been caught, but most have not been submitted for TPW record purposes and this fish exceeds the current lake record by over 14 lbs.. The lake level has been increasing and stands at 290.34 ft as of today. The lake water clarity is good and water temperatures have warmed and are in the lower 70's. One of the guides who has won a couple boats in Bass Champs has been fishing the lake and according to his (Charles Haralason) observation, a number of fish have spawned in the last week. he has been catching a lot of fish, but the bigger bass with eggs are not biting lik they have for the last two week. Many of the fish he caught yesterday had spawned. He caught almost no fish that appeared to have eggs. However, before we write the spawn off, remember some of the big fish spawn some of their eggs several or even three times according to our bioligists. We have had other fishemen tell us that the fish they are catching still have eggs. So it is anybody's guess. Speedy Collett guided a group of three fishermen yesterday, but the bigger fish eluded them as well. They caught well over their limits and as far as the day, it was a good one.
Most of the fish being caught are coming out of the 4 ft depths and deeper and plastic Brush Hogs are still the preferred lure being used by the majority of the fishermen. Watermelon red is still the dominant colo although the bite has slowed considerablly for most fishermen.

Here is a recent report from some fishermen from San Antonio:
"Hello Larry, Just wanted to thank you for the reports and website you offer. This is actually the first year my partner and I have fished Falcon lake and let me tell you it has been a blast. We are from San Antonio and the last two times we have made the drive to fish for the day and return. Definitely planning more two day trips. Well, we had a great day yesterday and you are right about one thing, it's all about location for the fish. We fished one area known as the Tigre and got very few fish. Found another area and within a couple of hours we had 41 fish in the boat including the 7.5 pounder (attached pic). It was released after the picture in good health."
MSgt Keith D. Hunt .... San Antonio Tx

We have started seeing some tournament-winning stringers out of the lower lake area in Mexico, but the larger bass are being caught in the upper lake on the US side. A six-lb bass hit a surface popper this morning early and was boated and released by local fisherman Leo Ormesher. As reported previously, the first two hours of morning fishing has produced some good topwater action on surface poppers with fish to six lbs.

Catfishing is still good on worms, shrimp and stinkbait in about 20 ft of water. Proof of the good bite is evidenced by the 52.97lb 41 inch Blue Cat caught by local fisherman, George Benitez March 12, 2005. A number of smaller fish have been reported as well and for the purposes of this reference, small is less than 50 lbs. This fish will have shattered the current TPW lake record by some 14 lbs if it is submitted.

Until next time, have a great day on the water and we hope all bass fishermen will make conservation one of their primary goals.

March 13, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - Photo is of Rodney from Tyler, Tx with a big bass he caught with guide Tom Redington - This past week brought numerous sunny and warm days plus three continuous days of winds in the 20-30 mph range. As the water temps rose, we caught lots of good fish on and around beds in the Northern sections of Lake Fork while we struggled to catch prespawn fish in other sections of the lake. With the cold front coming through today, the bite for staging prespawn fish should turn on again this coming week.

Fork's water level is down slightly to 402.62', about 4 below full pool. While we haven't had any substantial rain in a couple weeks, strong winds from the North, South, and West have really muddied up large portions of the lake. Some cool mornings in the mid-30s have kept the water temperatures from getting really warm but we do have main lake readings in the mid-50s with protected pockets rising as high as 63.5 in the afternoons.

The location pattern has remained the same as last week's for my clients and me. While a large portion of Fork,s bass are still staging on points and along creek channels, our catch rates have been much better on grassy flats in the backs of spawning bays. The most productive spots have areas of clear water and are generally in the Northern section of Lake Fork, although we have found some groups of bedding fish in the backs of larger coves on the Southern end.

The best lures on the grass flats in the past week have been soft plastics. Texas rigged lizards, tubes, and craws pitched to beds, holes in grass, and timber have produced the majority of our fish. In addition, we also caught a number of fish on soft plastic jerkbaits fished slowly, including the Senko, Fluke and Twitch Worms. Shades of green like watermelon and green pumpkin have continued to be our primary choice of color. Until our next warm spell, spinnerbaits and suspending jerkbaits fished around staging areas like points and creek channels should pick up some good fish. Moreover, heavy cover in the first deeper water near spawning areas will be a great spot to pick up a lunker. Fish these spots methodically with a jig or a Texas rig and set the hook if you feel any resistance.

Here's hoping you catch the lunker of your dreams. If I can be of assistance, please contact me at 214-683-9572 (days) or 972-635-6027 (evenings) or e-mail me through www.LakeForkGuideTrips.com <http://www.lakeforkguidetrips.com/> , where your satisfaction is guaranteed.

Good Fishing, Tom

March 8, 2005 - Lake Fork - Submitted by Lake Fork Guide Trips - Photo is of Tom Redington with a 9 pounder caught Friday, March 4. In the areas of Lake Fork that my customers and I fished this week, the bass seem to be stuck in their own version of Purgatory, somewhere between Prespawn and Spawn. After a lot of fish moved up onto beds the prior week, the cooler and cloudy days last week resulted in a drop of water temps of 6 to 12 degrees, depending on the area. As a result, there are a lot of males hanging around the spawning areas and we,re seeing a number of really big females suspended near deeper cover. With a little sunshine and the New Moon this week, I expect a lot of big fish to start moving up. Meanwhile, we're catching mostly males with an occasional big female, up to 9 lb 2 oz, mixed in.

The lake conditions have remained pretty stable for the last few days. Fork's water level remains at 402.68', about 4 below full pool. We've had little wind and rain in the past week, so the backs of creeks are mostly clear again. Water temperatures bottomed out around 52 degrees and have started to climb to the mid-50s with temps in the backs of protected pockets reaching as high as 60.5 Sunday afternoon.

While a large portion of Fork's bass are still staging on points and along creek channels, our catch rates have been much better on grassy flats in the backs of spawning bays. Productive areas are easy to find by looking for spots with a lot of vacant beds. Put on your Polarized glasses or run your trolling motor on high and you'll see a lot of fish cruising around in these places. And if you can find places like this with the wind blowing into them, our catch rates have been higher.

While we did catch a few big fish on a red lipless crankbait, soft plastics and jerkbaits were by far our best producers. #1 with a bullet were soft plastic jerkbaits like the Fluke, Magic Shad and Senko. Wacky rigged trick worms also caught a lot of fish and so did a 6 or 8 lizard. A lightly weighted lizard with more of a gliding action, via a Carolina rig or a 1/16 to 3/16 oz Texas rig is currently producing best. Concentrate your casts around any piece of shallow cover, including wood, docks, grass clumps, and holes in the grass. In terms of color, shades of green like watermelons and green pumpkins are doing best for us. Finally, jerkbaits like a Suspending Rogue in gold are producing numbers of fish over the grass on points and flats on some days. Furthermore, a jerkbait fished through timber and around grass in the deeper water near spawning areas is a premiere method to catch females that are suspended in wait before they move to the banks to spawn.

Good Fishing, Tom

March 6, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - We have had some beautiful weather this week in Zapata, but as usual for Saturday, we awakened to mist/light rain conditions and it continued in to part of the day. Temperatures were mild and the lake water temperatures are in the 60 degree range. This temperature is still a bit cold, but some fish are starting to defy Mother Nature and spawn anyway. The lake level is in the 289.80 ft range and this is about the high level we reached early in the year before the week or so of drawdowns.

We had several groups on the lake this weekend including McAllen Bass Anglers and a group of 30-some anglers known as Humpy Howie. They have been fishing Falcon based out of the mid-lake area at Bell's Camp and they reported catching some good fish on plastics and spinnerbaits to 6.9 lbs on Friday's pre-fish. Sunday, Mike Grossman took heavy stringer and big bass honors with a 9.3 lber and 25# 2-day heavy stringer. There has been a notable absence of fish reported weighing over 8 lbs this week and last weekend the big bass for 5 clubs was also under 8 lbs. It came from a willow tree in 30 ft of water suspended at 12-15 ft amd it hit a big chartreuse/white spinnerbait.

Sunday at least some of the big fish started moving again as lake water temperatuures started to warm and outside temperatures reached 69 degrees. David Benavides caught and released a 11.50 lber and Thomas Sturdevant had a fish that weighed 8.49 lbs.

Yesterday, I wrote "I believe chances are good that there may be a lot of the bigger fish that have moved out of the shallows and are suspended in similar depths. We have seen this before with the large Florida Bass". This was very prophetic as three fish weighing 8.49 lbs, 9.3 lbs and 11.50 lbs were caught while suspended in 25 to 30 ft of water on spinnerbaits in the trees.

We have a new bait just added in good Falcon colors of white, firetiger, chartreuse, chartreuse/white and red. It is called the 1 OZ Tru Track Spinnerbaits. One fishermen remarked, "they are almost too pretty to use". They put a super finish on the pot gut heads and they use only top quality components. We also have a large quantity of the Nichols 1 1/2 Oz spinnerbaits in similar colors. These magnum baits are made especially for getting deep and slow rolling. Either of these baits will catch suspended fish in the winter/spring and deep fish in the summer. We just added the Lunker Lure RattleBack Jigs in 1 Oz Monster Grass Jigs in Crawdad, Green Craw, Black/Blue/Purple, Black/Red, Watermelon, and Brown/Orange colors. We also have their 3/4 Oz Triple Rattleback Flipping Jigs and the Original Rattleback Jig in 1/2 Oz in the same colors. The magnum 1 1/4 Oz Oldham Eye Max Jigs are stocked and available here in the all the primary colors popular on South Texas and Northern Mexico lakes.

Whether it is 12" Worms, 10" Lizards, 7" Stick Worms, 10" Grubs or 30+ Crankbaits, you can find it at Falcon Lake Tackle. Keep in mind that Falcon Lake Tackle is unusually well stocked with Magnum Lures of all kinds in just about every color that the big bass fishermen use on Mexico or South Texas Lakes. Some stores try to copy our inventory, but most fail because they do not have the tenacity to identify the proper baits nor the resources for stocking the large inventory of sizes and colors that we have continuously available for the discriminating fishermen. The marketing and sale of these baits all over the world via our website enables us to meet your demands and those of fishermen and women in 46 states and 6 countries so far. We just sent tackle to fishermen in Australia and Italy this week. Check out www.falconlaketackle.com and click Order on the top bar to get started. Scroll to the bottom of the policies page that comes up and click on the fish.

Local fishermen reporting in this week tell us that while the big Florida Bass have hunkered down, the five-pound and below fish are still feeding and 25 to 50 fish per day is about an average catch for a day's effort. They are in 1 to 5ft of water. Two fishermen from Austin's Capitol Bass Club managed to catch 200 fish from one tree in the Veleno last weekend on Sunday.

Fisherman for the past few weeks have reported catching equal numbers of fish on both the Mexico and the US sides of the lake. It is wise to periodically check this info. Last weekend Austin's River City's Bass Club winning stringer came out of the Sallinilas and some of the fishermen this week have indicated the Mexico-side bite has been better than the US side. An early morning topwater bite is still being experienced by some local anglers using Pop-Rs and Chuggers.

Catfishermen have been reporting catching limits of cats in 20 ft of water in the trees. According to some of the fishermen we talked to they tie up to about any tree, throw out some sour grain and set back for some good action and an occasional big fish is always a possibility. All fishing spots are not created equal, so if the fish do not cooperate or they quit biting, they move to another spot. Stinkbait, livers and shrimp are all working as are live worms and all are available at Falcon Lake Tackle. We have one guide who will help you catch them and then clean them for you. You cannot beat that and we can find someone to help you eat them if that is a problem.

If you catch a cold or you are just in the mood and need some Vitamin C, we have some oranges, grapefruit and lemons in our orchard that are guaranteed to get you pumped up. Order a bag or two by mail or pick them here and take back with you to your home. When your friends see how good they are, you might just sell them some and get enough cash to help pay for your trip. Caution, you may need an apron to protect you from juice splatter. We also have a tree with some of the large Ponderosa Lemons that make the best lemon pies you have ever tasted.

You may have heard we are regretfully selling Falcon Lake Tackle and I assure you it is strictly because of age and health. Business in the store and on the website e-store has never been better and Falcon Lake is generating some record catches of bass and catfish. The business, inventory, commercial property and website site can be purchased or, just the inventory. Included also are good living quarters above the store, shop space and additional land adjacent to and behind the store with abundant concrete patios, parking under 6 ft security fencing. Through our on-line E-Store, we have sold tackle to fishermen and women in 6 countries and 46 states. Check out the details on this great opportunity under the contact information section of our website.

It is vitally important at this time of year to practice catch and release on the spawners Falcon is lucky enough to have in her fishery. If you catch and do not return the spawners to the lake, Falcon will not ultimately be able to sustain the great bite we currently have going. Many bass clubs and fishermen already do an excellent job in this regard. They realize that each spawner can produce 50,000 to 100,000 fry and they care for the fish to the best of their ability.
Until next time, have a great day on the water and we hope all bass fishermen will make conservation one of their primary goals.

February 21, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Photo is Jerry Lewis 13.39 lb bass 2/19/05 on Bush Hog - Falcon's lake level is 289.45 ft elevation or 11.75 ft low. It was another 3M day (moist-misty-mild) for fishermen out on the lake and temperatures struggled into the seventies, but just barely. The lake temps dropped again to below 60 degrees and the fish caught yesterday were in the 4 ft to 7 ft depths having pulled back off the beds. The big fish bite went South after February 19 when a number of good fish were caught moving in and feeding on anything that threatened their beds. Local fisherman Jerry Lewis has lived in Zapata for five years spending a great deal of his time building a beautiful lakefront home. Saturday February 19 he decided to trade his mason's trowel for a fishing pole and the result was a 13.39 lb bass he caught, weighed on Falcon's certified scales and promptly returned to the lake, to complete her spawn.

Although the big fish bite has slowed this week we have had reports from a number of fishermen that substantial numbers of 2 lbs and up fish are being caught on plastics in 4 ft to 7 ft of water. The big fish are slow to 6 lbs. We had a number of 50 to 65 fish reports of all legal -length fish being caught and equally as many short fish, usually in different locations. Usually reports are that the bigger fish and the smaller ones do not populate the same areas. So here are some thoughts to keep in mind if you are fishing Falcon this weekend:

Lots of fishermen and women in town including SWRI, River City, Capitol City, Atascosa Bass Clubs plus a good-size group from Colorado and another group from Oklahoma. Altogether probably over 100 boats will be out on the lake. Try some out of the way spots like Three Fingers up the Salado.

Another 3M day has been forecast clearing tonight and turning off nice for Sunday. Hopefully most of the big fish caught will be released carefully and with consideration to their condition and that of the 50,000 to 100,000 eggs they are about to drop in the lake. Anyone who kills one of these big fish at this time of year is not a true sportsman and does not understand or appreciate how fragile our fishery is and how quickly it can be decimated. We cannot depend on the Mexican Commercial Fishermen to release these fish and the netting activity is again being reported to have increased dramatically on both sides of the lake, up the river and in the river below the dam. One can only imagine what this now excellent fishery at Falcon could become with some protection of the fish by Mexico to the same extent that they protect their fish during spawning at the premier lakes in Mexico. The economic reality is that the two countries compete with each other for sport fishing dollars. While Mexico is smart enough to protect their fish during spawn, we are dumb enough to think Falcon can protect herself.

With Mexico producing big bass like the 18.3 lber caught at Lake Baccarac last week (see Mexico Lake reports at Falcon Lake Tackle's website www,falconlaketackle.com) and uncaring politicians at the Local, State and Federal levels including our State Department (that refuse to intervene in any pillage that does not involve oil), Falcon may remain a great fishery for so long as Mother Nature smiles, but she will never reach her full potential as a big fish factory.

Nevertheless, we have had a lot of big fish (14.38 lber in December and 13.39 lber February 19 th) caught already this year and several recent reports of big fish breaking off 50 LB and 65 LB test braided line. We recommend 80 LB test braid and frequently cutting off sections that may have been nicked or cut by trees or rocks in order to maximize your success with big fish.

Last weekend's tournament results are posted under the Tournament section of our website. Most of the clubs averaged 2 day, heavy stringers of 20 plus pounds with a lot of fish being culled and a few good fish caught to six lbs on Sunday. Saturday was a different story, Big fish were on the move with 13.39 lbs being the largest caught and released. Their was another big fish caught and released weighing 11.90 lbs and several 9 and 10 lbers and these are just the ones that were called to our attention. We have had several reports this week of some bass being caught on small crankbaits and spinnerbaits, but watermelon red baby brushhogs and brush hogs were the best baits with some plum apple Old Monster worms thrown in for good measure. Spinnerbaits with weights of 1 Oz worked deep caught some fish (chartreuse and white skirts with gold willow leaf blades) as did some lipless crankbaits in chartreuse colors. We just got our new Tru Track spinnerbaits in and if anyone knows Jimbo Beard tell him to call us. He requested these baits and one way we have built our tackle store is to listen to the fishermen,

Catfishing is still good on stinkbait, worms and shad in about 20 ft of water and most of the females have abundant eggs.

February 23, 2005 - South Texas 5 Coleto Tournament Results
1st Wilborn/Wilborn 15.40 lbs.
2nd Marbach/Conran 15.05 lbs.
3rd Klekar/Klekar 14.13 lbs.
Big Bass Marbach/Conran 5.82 lbs.
Next Tournament Amistad March 13, 2005

February 21, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Photo is Steve Wright 11.90lbs 2-19-05 - February 19, 2005 Flash Fishing Report: With water in the sixty-degree range, ambient temps in the high fifties and an occasional sprinkle, fishermen and women hit the lake this morning with some trepidation and a bunch of layered clothing as a safety measure. By mid-afternoon several boats had already reported in and a couple of tube fishermen reported finding some good fish in the back of the Veleno where boats feared to venture. Their big fish weighed 7 lbs and some good fish were caught in addition. We had a couple of Colorado fishemen who quit early with only 2 fish, one of which weighed 11.90 lbs. They brought her in to weigh and then took her back to the Veleno. She was caught on one of our bulk 10 " lizards purchased this morning. Steve Wright from Walsh, Colorado was fishing with Shannon and Scott Doyle when she hit just east of the Highway 83 Veleno Bridge. We had some fishermen yesterday report catching fifty or more fish in 4 to 6 ft of water up to 6 lbs, but today's big 11.90 lb fish was the largest since the water started cooling off. Looks like the big fish are going to spawn even if they have cold feet. Later in the day a 13.39 pound fish was weighed while we were at the tournament weigh in. We will have the picture posted when we get it.
Be sure and spool up with some 80 lb test braided line and use a good rod with a lot of backbone like the Kistler Helium or Waterloo Scrape Rod in 7' or 7'6" Heavy or Extra Heavy actions. We have added the Diawi Procaster with 7:1 Ratio Gears to our regular aresnal of Shimano 6.3:1 reels for some extra fast grass and hardwood extrication.

Reports are that catfishing is still good-to-excellent on stinkbait, shrimp, liver and worms. All of these baits have been selling well and reports are that 20 ft of water is about the right depth for cats right now and they are loaded with eggs. My Mother (now deceased) loved the catfish eggs fried, preferring them to regular chicken eggs. Try them if you are not acquainted with this quisine.

If you catch a cold or you are just in the mood and need some Vitamin C, we have some fruit in our orchard that are guaranteed to get you pumped up. Order a bag or two by mail or pick them here and take back with you to your home. When your friends see how good they are, you might just sell them some and get enough cash to help pay for your trip. Caution, you may need an apron to protect you from juice splatter. We sold 8 bags of Marrs orages today and they are still available as are some of the Ruby Red grapefruit and Myer Lemons.

Next time you need fishing tackle, check out our shopping cart at http://tackleandrods.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=FLT. We would welcome the opportunity to add you to our satisfied customers list.
Have a good day on the water and always practice catch and release.

February 12-13, 2005 - Falcon Tournament Results - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Photo is of Josh Hiler, winner of big bass for weekend of fifty fishermen and women 6.06 lbs.

Uvalde and Quality Bass Clubs held their February events this weekend and the events are now history. The first morning was a little on the wet side, but by afternoon it was about as nice as you could have imagined. Sunday was more of the same with mild winds and temps peaking in the eighties. Bass, for the most part this weekend, were small and spread out in all parts of the lake at depths from one to 12 ft. The few females caught were in the 4 to 5 lb class showing various stages of egg development. These fish were mostly suspended in 10 to 12 ft of water and they were frequently batched up on trees off points and creeks.

Water temperatures were in the mid fifty-degree range on Saturday, but they warmed to 60 to 64 degrees Sunday. Plastic baits in watermelon red anything was the best producer of fish. Plum Apple was another good color.

Uvalde Bass Club's Jimbo Beard weighed 14.88 lbs for a five-fish total on Saturday and he added 17.79 lbs on Sunday giving him the 2-day heavy stringer bragging rights of 32.01 lbs. Josh Hiler had 16.48 lbs for 2nd place and he also had big bass of 6.06 lbs. Chris Kinsey had 13.01 lbs for third. By Sunday many fish had moved in shallow and were being caught on assorted shallow crankbaits as well as plastics.

Quality Bass Club brought a number of good fishermen and women to Falcon and they posted some good weights including the heavy stringer of Steve Ricker that weighed 26.69 lbs. The second heavy stringer of 17.91 lbs was weighed by Steve Chafin and on his heels was the third place heavy stringer of 17.80 lbs caught by Mike Robbins. Only a few of the fish showed significant egg formulation and a lot of 2-3 1/2 lb males were caught. Some schools of bass were chasing shad and were caught on small crankbaits.

A number of Bagley shallow runner balsa baits in Chartreuse/Blue Back color were recently purchased by Falcon Lake Tackle in anticipation of the shallow, shad-chasing activity and some of those baits produced good fish for those fishermen who added them to their arsenals before the weekend. We also have the shallow baits in other makes and depths from 1 ft to 3 ft and 3 ft to 7 ft. We have a good assortment of Manns, Norman, Bagley, Bandit and Bomber shallow runners as well as lipless crankbaits/Rat-L-Traps in Bill Lewis, Rapala, Yo-Zuri, Nichols, Excalibur and SOB Lure varieties. Falcon Lake Tackle has met the tackle requirements of fishermen in 46 states and 6 countries with over 5000 kures in stock and available for immediate delivery. Check us out at www.falconlaketackle,com

One additional tip. Try not to hold your club weigh-ins in an area where a flock of pelicans are feeding. They will eat a lot of the fish released in shallow water before they can make it out to deep water. Also, the transportation of fish in weigh-in bags with adequate water to prevent stressing of fish is strongly recommended. Simply releasing a fish does not mean it will survive. Those fishermen who have fished Falcon in past years and caught only a single fish for the whole weekend's effort know how blessed we are to again have a healthy population of fish. This population must be protected especially at spawning time and no spawner should be sacrificed to a skillet. That is 50,000 to 100,000 fry lost for each fish killed.
Look for more shallow water action to follow the next few days if temperatures remain warm. If you can only make it to Falcon once this year, try to make it this February.

Until next time, have a fish day on the water and always practice catch and release.

February 8, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Falcon Lake's level has stabilized around 288-289 ft range (12-13 ft low) and the temps have been averaging mid-fifties to low-sixities. Reports are not great and the fishing has suffered the effects of cold, rainy weather for a number of days in a row. Yesterday was the first break and today is looking OK so far except for receiving some more misty rain.

A few fish over 5 lbs are being reported and one over 8 lbs. was caught by Dennis Weaver in the Tigers last weekend. The big fish last week (see pic) came from below the Dam and she was one ounce shy of 10 lbs. Pablo Gomez caught her on a Fat A 7 series crankbait in 10 ft of water and she was full of eggs. In the lake, there is not much indication of a rapidly approaching spawn. Fish are not showing bloody tails or much egg development for the most part although there are a few exceptions. Water is going to warm up again to stimulate the spawners. Most fish caught have been hitting plastics like baby brush hogs and in depths of 10 to 12 lbs. on points or drop offs with trees like retamas or willows.

McAllen Bass Angler's eighteen-man tournament last weekend had a 25 lb heavy stringer and 6.06 lb big bass. Word is a 15 lb bass was caught at Sugar last weekend by someone from Monterrey. No confirmation as of today. Las Blancas tournament kast weekend did pretty well, but still lots of grass and fish were caught on jigs dropping into pockets. Speedy Collett has a new boat courtesy of Bass Champs Amistad tournament. Speedy and his partner Tommy Durham weiged 27 pounds plus for first heavy stringer. For details, see the results posted under the tournaments section of this website.

Above I mentioned the importance of always keeping good line spooled up. A good rod is also essential to a good fishing experience. We have a large selection (usually 50 or more) of Falcon Rods in stock and we keep the lighter than air (LTA) Kistler Helium rods in stock as well in all popular lengths and actions. We also stock the Waterloo Scrape rods, one of the favorite rods of the pros for pulling big bass out of thick grass. In fact 2 of these are being carried to Del Rio for the weekend Bass Champs Tournament by Speedy Collett and we have got to reorder. Equally important to a good rod is having a good reel. We have a large selection of reels in Shimano, Abu Garcia and Zebco. The new Chronarch replacements for the 100 and 100SF are here now.

If you catch a cold and need some Vitamin C, we have some oranges, grapefruit and lemons in our orchard that are guaranteed to get you pumped up. Order a bag or two by mail or pick them here and take back with you to your home. When your friends see how good they are, you might just sell them some and get enough cash to help pay for your trip. Don't forget a bib when you peel them.

January 31, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - In spite of mist and sometimes heavier precipitation for the last 5 days, we have only recorded 1.33 rain for that period bringing January to a total of 1.68 inches. That is still about .23 ahead of last year so we cannot complain too much. The lake has regained a portion lost since December 23 rd and we are at 288.60 ft as of the end of the month (12.60 ft low). The good news is that the lower valley had some good moisture and Amistad is only about 2.56 ft low. The cooler temps have kept the lake temps in the upper 60 degree range and the bass are in 10 ft of water or less. Most of the fish do not appear to have spawned and are not yet showing bloody tails. We have been told the bass are frequently being found in and around Retama trees.The green Retamas possess long thorns on flexing-style limbs that sometimes feel like a fish you cannot get to the boat. The reality is these limbs are tough on line so after fighting one to the boat, you may want to check the line and cutoff any frayed sections. Catfishing has remained good-to-excellent in about 20 ft of water. J Pigg stinkbait has been working well as have night crawlers.

We had a number of tournament fishermen and also club members fishing for fun, plus a fair number of locals this weekend. Reports were mixed from a few fish to 50 or so per boat. If you go to the tournament report section, I posted the 9.72 lb big bass picture. That was the anchor fish that gave Gary Hengst heavy stringer and Big Bass honors for the weekend tournaments. He was totally fishing the upper lake. Unbelievable results were posted by SWRI Bass Busters club with the majority of participants weighing double-digit stringers

We had a number of fishermen here from the Canyon Lake Bass Club and they had a heavy stringer of 40 lbs and a 7 LB big bass and they were fishing the upper lake area as well. Nine fishermen from San Marcos spent some time fishing the lower end using plastics, hard baits and spinnerbaits. All three types of baits were catching fish in 10 ft of water or less. We always appreciate guys like Stan and Tim, Milton and Mike and the rest of the guys who stop in to purchase tackle and give us the updated reports on their successes.

January 30, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Photo is of Gary Hengst and his 9.72 lb bass that won big bass in tournament held at Falcon Lake. Tournament Reports - San Antonio based SWRI Bass Busters and Hawg Hunter Bass Clubs held their January events at Falcon this weekend. In spite of misty, sometimes rainy, conditions and temperatures that never mad it out of the sixties, both clubs weighed some good stringers and a big bass of 9.72 lbs was caught by SWRI's Gary Hengst. Gary also had the two-day, heavy stringer of 37.72 lbs and his Sunday stringer was 22.22 lbs. for five fish. SWRI,s 22 participants had 6 stringers over 20 lbs, 2 over 30 lbs and a bunch in double digits. Second-place, heavy stringer of 32.28 lbs was weighed by SWRI's Kevin Spahn. San Antonio's Hawg Hunters Bill Band took the club's two-day, heavy stringer honors with 31.77 lbs and Kevin Drummond claimed second place with 29.68 lbs fishing out of the same boat. They caught over fifty fish on Saturday and Bill/Kevin had 25 lbs weight after day one including a big bass of over 6 lbs. Gary was fishing the upper lake using plastic lizards, rat-l-traps and spinnerbait. The fish were in 8 to 10 ft of water, which was in the 57-60 degree range in temperature. Similar results, were reported by fishermen using mostly plastic baits and spinnerbaits and catches came from water where Retama trees were prevalent. As one fishermen remarked, if there were no Retamas in the area, forget it.

Here is an interesting side note: Gary about passed on his trip to Falcon this weekend. He knew the conditions were going to be nasty. He had as many as 4 different fishermen back out on the trip, cost of gas etc. He confided in me that had it not been for the reports he kept seeing about good fishing on our website, he might have cancelled instead of coming and fishing alone. Anyway, the fishermen in him prevailed, he caught what is I understand is the 2005 club big bass so far and his personal best fish as well. I just bet his wife is going to feel better about the trip and also that there are going to be some sick puppies who passed up a great Falcon experience fishing with Gary.

Jerry Campos, also of SWRI, who caught the 14.28 lb fish in December and submitted it to Share Lunker reports the fish is doing well in the TPW hatchery.

By the way, we promised not to publish the exact color of the Magnum Zoom Lizard that Gary caught this big bass on, but he bought it from us and we have a good supply. You might be able to pry the info out of Gary.

January 27, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - Zapata received .34 inch of moisture last night, but the night time temperatures were only about 58 degrees. This should keep the lake water temperature in the mid-sixties degrees level and water clarity should remain fair-to-good depending on the area of the lake being fished. There are still some areas showing green color from brush foliage/ blooms.

We have had some good reports of monster catches in some areas of the lake and other fishermen who have been working hard to catch even a few fish. I guess that qualifies as "mixed reports" and the area of the lake being fished and the depth probably accounts more for the difference in results than the lures being utilized. It seems that 15 ft or so depth has been the most productive and Beacon Lodge's Speedy Collett said that about anything you tie on will catch fish right now. Some fish have been caught shallow as well as deep, but just not as many. The big fish this week was a 10 lber and several 8 and 9 lb fish were reported also.

I heard we had a lot of fish killed this last weekend. I was sad to hear that some of the visitors to Falcon are keeping big quantities of all size fish. It is fine to keep enough small fish to eat, but hopefully the majority of fishermen are sportsmen enough to realize they are killing 50-100,000 fish every time they slaughter one of the big spawners just before they spawn. Killing one due to poor handling or defective live wells is just as bad and will ultimately affect the good fishing we are enjoying now. Hopefully all bass clubs will take the lead in conservation of this valuable resource.

Some of the locals are still reporting limit catches of catfish and they have been buying live worms, shrimp and liver as well as the J. Pigg stinkbait. Catfishing is a good way to satisfy the taste for fish without killing bass. The catfish have been located in 18 to 22 ft of water around trees being used by cormorants and other birds for roosting. Fish to 4 and a half pounds are being caught under these roosts. There are a lot of techniques being used for rigging but a number 6 treble with a pegged egg sinker about 6 inches up will do the job simply and cheaply. Just lift up and hold it a little off the bottom.

January 21, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - A local fisherman, Bob Prichard caught a 10.14 lb bass and brought her by Falcon Lake Tackle for a photo op. This fish came out of 4 1/2 ft of water.

We had a beautiful two days heading into the weekend including a 77 degree and very calm Friday afternoon. The lake water temperature returned to the mid-sixties, the level remained at 288.48 ft for the last three days and clarity was fair-to-good. We have had a total of .35 inches of moisture over the last three days, but conditions are dry at the present time. We had a heavy fog again this morning obscuring visibility for all but the most seasoned Falconites.

The Austin Bass Club is holding its January Tournament's weigh in at Beacon Lodge Saturday and Sunday as is the Atascosa Bass Club. Some of the folks prefishing for those events reported catching as many as 45 fish up to 6 lbs and only a few below legal-length limits. A local fisherman, Bob Prichard caught a 10.14 lb bass and brought her by Falcon Lake Tackle for a photo op. This fish came out of 4 1/2 ft of water, but fish were caught as deep as 8 ft today. Dark plastic worms, some spinnerbaits and Rat-L-Traps reportedly caught fish, but give the edge to dark plastics in red bug, June bug and plum apple colors.

Hardly a week goes by that someone does not confess to losing a big fish to an inferior, undersized or weakened line. If I can only influence one aspect of your equipment selection, I would have to say that you should select and use the appropriate type and strength of braided line, especially in the hardwoods. Use a line with good abrasion resistance and use an 80 lb test and absolutely no lighter than 65 lbs if you are fishing hardwoods.. An 80 lb test Power Pro is equivalent to an 18 lb mono diameter line so even if it sounds big, it's not exactly like throwing a rope. Lighten up to 35 or fifty pounds on a spinnerbait and cut back line often to remove weakened or damaged sections.

Sunday we had a local fishermen catch a big blue cat, but we do not have a picture to show you as we were closed at the time. It reportedly exceeded the lake record. With the river running (28 MCM being released from Amistad vs. 48 MCM from Falcon) catfishing using live bait, shrimp, liver, stinkbait or worms should continue good. It also means the lake is still dropping and was at 288.48 ft elevation (12.72 ft) low yesterday. This is a drop of 1.40 ft since the high December 23 rd.

A good rod is also essential to a good fishing experience. We have a large selection (usually 50 or more) of Falcon Rods in stock and we keep the lighter than air (LTA) Kistler Helium rods in stock as well in all popular lengths and actions. We also stock the Waterloo Scrape rods, one of the favorite rods of the pros for pulling big bass out of thick grass. We have a large selection of reels in Shimano, Abu Garcia and Zebco. The new Chronarch replacements for the 100 and 100SF are here now.

If any of you subscribe to the Zapata County News, last Thursday's January 13th issue covered the problem we are currently facing with Mexico's rapid withdrawal of water from the lake. This drawdown (twice the replacement overall) is once again causing Falcon Lake to drop simultaneous with fish starting to move onto the beds to spawn. In the Local News Section of our website, we published a copy of a recent article from Bass Times, by Robert Montgomery, which discusses the water issue as well as some background information on this issue. We have urgently requested that Falcon not be allowed to drop more than 6 inches during any 2 week period, especially during the spawn. That way water will still cover the eggs by the time they hatch. You may want to give the information your attention. The US is balancing their portion of withdrawals with Amistad releases, but Mexico continues to plunder Falcon. It is up to the President and the State Department to renegotiate the1914 water treaty with Mexico as we have called to their attention on numerous past occasions (AND AGAIN YESTERDAY). We have even given them the primary tenets that, in our opinion, need to be covered. Addresses and draft comments are available in the Local Section of our website.

Until next time, have a great day on the water and always practice Catch and Release

January 18, 2005 - Falcon Tournament - Here are the tournament results for the South Texas 5 Falcon Lake Tournament held January 16, 2005:

1st Place Young & Kortz 26.43
2nd Place Wilborn & Wilborn 24.98
3rd Place Haralson 23.67
Big Bass Haralson 8.08

The next tournament will be held at Coleto Creek on February 20, 2005

January 17, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - My future efforts to keep the site current may suffer a little due to persistent medical issues I am dealing with right now. I am vertically challenged to say the least. In the meantime, stay tuned and be patient. I will do the best I can to keep the reports coming. We are currently seeking an energetic couple who wants to get into a really great and successful business. We have some of the details published under our contact information section of the website. If you have any questions, call us at 956-765-4866.

January 2005 started out about like December ended, (extremely pleasant and great fishing), but by the middle of the month and the date of the first major tournament, cooler weather had arrived and night time temps dropped to the 38-degree level. This caused the lake temps to cool some also (to 63 degrees), but the fishing held good through the weekend. Before I get into the specifics of the weekend fishing, let me bring some of the recent events up to date.

If any of you subscribe to the Zapata County News, Thursday's January 13th issue covered the problem we are currently facing with Mexico's rapid withdrawal of water from the lake. This drawdown without a corresponding replacement is once again causing Falcon Lake to drop simultaneous with fish starting to move onto the beds. In the Local News Section of our website, we published a copy of a recent article from Bass Times, by Robert Montgomery, which discusses the water issue as well as some background information on this issue. We have urgently requested that Falcon not be allowed to drop more than 6 inches during any 2 week period, especially during the spawn. That way water will still cover the eggs by the time they hatch. You may want to give the information your attention. It is up to the President and State Department to renegotiate the 1914 water treaty with Mexico as we have called to their attention on numerous past occasions and even giving them the primary tenets that need to be covered. These letters and their responses are recorded in the Local Section of our website. In order to resolve this issue, the Administration must move past the lethargy demonstrated on prior occasions..

Under the Tournaments Section, we have documented the results of last weekend's fishing tournaments. Over 250 fish were caught by fishermen and women from the three clubs from which we received reports. There were a good number of over 5 lb fish several over 7 lbs and one over 8 lbs. Charles Haralson had the big bass of the weekend weighing 8.08 lbs and caught in the South Texas 5 Tournament. Watermelon red plastics again came out tops and fish were found fairly shallow in around 5 ft of water. Rat-L-Traps, jigs, spinnerbaits and crankbaits all produced fish last weekend. Other colors and baits working were WMR Senkos, Plum Apple lizards and worms and brushhogs/baby brushhogs in a number of colors. Individual bass fishermen also reported good success from 2 to 6 ft on fish up to 6 lbs. The water clarity is excellent up the river with visibility to 4 or so in some coves and creeks. Some of the areas on the lake are algae colored and stained. Overall , water clarity is fairly good.

Hardly a week goes by that someone does not confess to losing a big fish to an inferior, undersized or weakened line. If I can only influence one aspect of your equipment selection, I would have to say that you should select the appropriate type and strength of braided line. Use a line with good abrasion resistance and if fishing the hardwoods, use an 80 lb test and absolutely no lighter than 65 lbs. An 80 lb test Power Pro is equivalent to an 18 lb mono diameter line so even if it sounds big, its not exactly like throwing a rope. Lighten up to 35 or fifty pounds on a spinnerbait and cut back line often to remove weakened or damaged line.

Many of the successful tournament fishermen as well as other anglers have purchased their bass lures and tackle from Falcon Lake Tackle. We have over 5000 items in stock and the majority of these items are listed under the on-line store at www.falconlaketackle.com, available for immediate shipping. Through our on-line E-Store, we have sold tackle to fishermen and women in 6 countries and 46 states.
We have a large selection of Falcon Rods and we also keep the lighter than air (LTA) Kistler rods in stock. As one of our repeat Kistler customers put it, "They are super light, extremely-sensitive rods that broadcast a super signal when a fish even smells the bait.

Most people shopping with us remark that Falcon Lake Tackle has the most extensive selection of tackle and marine supplies of any store they have visited. We try to anticipate demand and we do not just stock a few packages. In the last few tournaments we sold over 50 packages of the plastic lure that has been working the best for big bass. Fifty packages and we still did not run out.
Until next time, good fishing and always practice catch and release.

January 8, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - During the first week of 2005 Falcon has been visited by a number of fishermen and their families who have enjoyed some great fishing and good weather. We had a low temperature of 44 degrees last night, but it got up to the high fifties this afternoon (60 degrees). The wind today has been gusting only into single digits mostly around 2 to 3 mph. For Zapata and most of South Texas, that qualifies as "drop-dead beautiful". The lake level is dropping slowly, but steadily and has finally fallen below 289 ft (to 288.94 ft or 12.26 ft low) as of yesterday. The lake water temperature this morning was 61 degrees in the Veleno. Water clarity is slightly stained with about 1 to 2 ft visibility. We had a misty rain falling until afternoon after which it turned off nice.

Bass fishing has continued good the first half of the weekend with a lot of reports of 25 plus fish. Fish were being caught off points and drop offs in about 10 to 12 ft, but as the water warmed up fish seemed to be moving into the shallower water. According to reports received today, a number of 5 to 6 lb fish were being taken from 4 to 5 ft depths. More of the smaller fish were being caught deeper today. This change in location and depth of the bigger fish may indicate the start of some fish moving into the beds for spawning. One of our Houston fishermen in town this weekend said the lizards were starting to draw strikes and this is a good sign that fish are starting to protect the beds. Look for spinnerbaits and lipless or small-lipped crankbaits to start working as well. On several days when water started warming last week, chartreuse and white (and also white) skirt spinnerbaits with gold and or nickel willow leaf blades started drawing strikes. Baby brush hogs in watermelon red were working about as well as any bait this past twi days but some watermelon with tails dipped in chartreuse. Catfishermen have still been catching limits of cats in 15 to 20 ft of water in the trees. For a number of weeks good-to-excellent catches have been reported. Liver, shrimp and stinkbait are all working.

Falcon Lake offers excellent fishing on both the US and Mexico sides of the lake. Some of the fishermen have mentioned that some good fish are being caught out of the Mexico creeks and rivers all the way from Salnillas to Hedionda. If you decide to fish Mexico you will need the proper paperwork. We have the necessary Mexico Boat Permits and Licenses available here at Falcon Lake Tackle www.falconlake.com and they can be purchased upon arrival or by mail by calling 956-765-4866.

Falcon Tournaments will be kicking off next weekend for the 2005 season. The 2005 schedule is posted on our website at the following URL: http://www.tackleandrods.com/tourney/tourney.htm. Beginning January 16 with the South Texas 5, Falcon will see some good fishermen arriving and some great results are anticipated. Forms, rules and info are available at Falcon Lake Tackle. Bill Stipp (361-318-9205) is the Director of the South Texas 5 Tournament. He started this a new circuit after Honey Hole, of which he was Tournament Director, dropped their traditional circuit. I hope as many clubs as possible (and individual fishermen as well) get behind Bill and this tournament so it will be successful. Falcon is off-limits from Monday to Saturday at 5:30 am when practice kicks off for those with paid registrations. Fishermen must be off the water by 5:00 pm ad registration will be at Falcon Lake Tackle on the 15th from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Fees are very reasonable and pay back depends on number of teams registered. If you have questions call us at 956-765-4866.

Remember to always handle these mommies as careful as possible, practice Catch and Release, keep only enough small fish to eat and have a Very Bassy New Year.

January 4, 2005 - Falcon - Submitted by Larry Bridgeman - The year of 2005 has started off about as good as 2004 ended, except there has been a little more wind to contend with and temperatures are even warmer. The wind has been gusting to 31 mph and the afternoon temperature the last few days has been in the eighties. The lake level is dropping slowly and has reached 289.11 ft. The water temperature this morning ranged from 66 degrees in the Veleno to a couple degrees cooler in the main lake. Water clarity is slightly stained with about 1 to 2 ft visibility.
Catfishermen have been catching limits of cats in 15 to 20 ft of water in the trees. For a number of weeks good-to-excellent catches have been reported. According to some of the folks we talked to, they tie up to about any tree, throw out some sour grain and set back for some 2 to 5 lb action and an occasional bigger fish is always a possibility. All fishing spots are not created equal, so if the fish do not cooperate or they quit biting, they move to another spot. We posted a picture (see Big Fish Gallery) of the first double digit catfish of the year caught by Guy Landry on the first of January. It weighed 28.9 lbs and came from one of the famous "River Holes" up the Rio Grande River.
Bass fishing continued good through the weekend with a lot of reports of 25 to100-plus fish days on the water. Fish were being caught off points and drop offs in about 15 ft, but it as the water warms up, fish are moving in to the shallower water. According to reports received, the number of fish being taken from any given depth is inversely related to the depth. Fewer fish are being caught deep, but the size is larger. More smaller fish are being caught shallow. This will probably change We started seeing some spinnerbait action with chartreuse and white being the best skirt color with gold and or silver willowleaf blades providing the flash. Lipless chartreuse and blue-back crankbaits were also producing some strikes. One couple found that swimming a fluke back to the boat after letting it drop first next to a willow produced better results than just a jigging action.
If you catch a cold and need some Vitamin C, we have some oranges, grapefruit and lemons in our orchard that are not picked until purchased and they are guaranteed to get you pumped up. Order a bag or two by mail or pick them here and take back with you to your home. When your friends see how good they are, you might just sell them some and get enough cash to help pay for your trip. This may be the only fruit you have eaten that requires a bib for protection. You might think graprefruit is for old folks, if so try this recipe. Cut the grapefruit in half, coat the fruit with butter and then put brown sugar over the butter. Microwave until warm and enjoy a delicious South Texas Ruby Red Treat.
Falcon Lake offers excellent fishing on both the US and Mexico sides of the lake. Some of the fishermen have mentioned that some good fish are being caught out of the Mexico creeks and rivers all the way from Salnillas to Hedionda.If you decide to fish Mexico you will need the proper paperwork. We have the necessary Mexico Boat Permits and Licenses available here at Falcon Lake Tackle www.falconlake.com and they can be purchased upon arrival or by mail by calling 956-765-4866.

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