A lake divided

Toledo Bend presents varied scenarios for AFS field

MANY, La. – It’s north vs. south on Toledo Bend, but that’s no Civil War reference. Rather, it’s the scenario facing anglers in the final FLW American Fishing Series Texas Division event.

With the lake still feeling the ripple effects of an extreme winter, the upper and lower ends are finding bass in different stages. Ranger pro Stephen Johnston of Hemphill, Texas, said that has shuffled the deck on Toledo Bend

“It was so cold here earlier this year that it pushed the fish back so far,” Johnston said. “We had 40-degree water temperatures in the lake this year. I’ve been here 22 years, and we’ve never had that.”

Johnston said bass were still spawning in the lake’s lower end in late May. Now, with bream bedding and the bass not far removed from their procreation period, plenty of shallow action remains. At the north end, the fish completed their spawn much earlier and have set up shop on the deep structure where they’ve settled into traditional summer patterns.

“In the south end, you have a lot of fish shallow, a few fish in the mid-range and a few fish deep, but they’re really not all grouped up,” Johnston said. “This week, you could see the north end guys catching them from 20 to 25 feet, and for the guys going south, you could see a lot of those fish coming out of 2 to 3 feet of water.”

At 65 miles long with 181,600 surface acres, this Sabine River reservoir is the south’s largest manmade lake, and thereby lends itself to diversity.

“This lake is so big and spread out that it’s really fishing like (multiple lakes),” Johnston said. “You look at some guys’ rods and they have a lot of topwaters and frogs; and then you look at other guys and they have a lot of Texas rigs and deep crankbaits. It just depends on which end of the lake you’re going to.”

Johnston will focus his efforts on a strip of grass in 11 to 13 feet at the lower end. He’ll start off flipping with a 1 1/2-ounce black/blue Falcon jig with a black craw trailer. The heavier bait, he said, falls faster and triggers more reaction bites.

Normally, summer would find bass congregating under dense hydrilla mats, but with this primary vegetation in short supply, anglers won’t have it easy. Milfoil and coontail take up some of the slack, but Johnston said the fish don’t relate to these weeds the same way.

“That’s going to be a game-changer for us on the lower end,” Johnston said. “We won’t have those big schools of fish grouped up. We’re just going to have to cover a lot more ground.”

When the flipping bite slows, Johnston will throw a crankbait and a Texas-rigged worm and finish his day by moving shallow to throw frogs, swimbaits or soft stick baits at bass picking off bream at the shoreline.

Cody Malone, also from Texas, typically favors flipping, but the absence of consistent hydrilla habitat has him thinking frogs. Malone will stay shallow in the midlake area and throw a Tru-Tungsten Mad Maxx frog.

“The grass is not what I like to see – especially down south,” he said. “It’s just really patchy. It’s not thick, where you can go through and flip clumps.”

Malone said the he found fish in peppergrass, milfoil and lily pads during practice. Working a frog through the vegetation and letting it pause in the open spots proved productive. He’s expecting big numbers and hoping for a big fish.

“I’m not going to win unless I get a big bite, which is very possible, but there’s a really good chance for a top-10 finish. I’m getting lots of bites, and there’s always the potential for me to catch a 25-pound bag.

Logistics

Anglers will takeoff and weigh-in at Cypress Bend Park located at 3462 Cypress Bend Drive, Many, La. Takeoff will be at 6:30 each morning while weigh-in will begin at 2:30 p.m. daily. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

Pros will fish for a top award of $25,000 plus a 198VX Ranger boat with 200-horsepower outboard if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. Co-anglers will cast for a top award of $10,000. If the co-angler meets the Ranger Cup guidelines, they will earn an additional $5,000.

The Toledo Bend American Fishing Series tournament is being hosted by the Sabine Parish Tourism Commission & Sabine River Authority.

Thursday’s conditions

Sunrise: 6:09 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 73 degrees

Expected high temperature: 94 degrees

Water temperature: 85 degrees

Wind: SSW at 5 mph

Humidity: 55 percent

Day’s outlook: sunny with afternoon clouds