Toledo Bend Midday Update – Day 1
Offshore bite slowly producing for Toyota Series Southwestern Division anglers
Day one of the Toyota Series Southwestern Division season opener on Toledo Bend has been about what the competitors figured it would be – a slow and steady grind. A misty rain and light fog greeted anglers at takeoff, followed by a decent wind out of the north bringing a chill to the air, which wasn’t exactly forecasted.
For some of the anglers, that didn’t matter. Local pro and Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit rookie Darold Gleason, who holds seven top-10 finishes on Toledo in FLW competition, got started on the right foot with a 9-pounder on his second cast. Since then, he’s had four other bites and only landed one other fish close to 3 pounds. He knows things can change in a hurry, so he’s not too worried about the rest of the day.
Elsewhere, many of the other pros our coverage team checked on had just a handful of fish – most of which are all in the 2-pound range. Cody Huff had just two fish at noon, but like Gleason knows things can change quickly. He’s spent most of his day graphing around on the trolling motor with a jigging spoon at the ready to drop when he marks bait and bass. Pro Circuit rookie Colby Miller had three bass for about 6 pounds fishing channel swings and brush. Robert Brown also had a pair of 2-pounders that fell victim to his Carolina rig on a main-lake point.
Brian Robison was stuck on zero when we caught up with him this morning. On the flip side, Josh Champagne checked in with the only limit we encountered and he says it’s around 13 pounds. He’s fishing offshore, but closer to the bank than a lot of the other pros we checked on.
The general trend of almost every pro we saw was fishing offshore, close to the main lake. Deep-diving crankbaits, Carolina rigs, swimbaits and drop-shots were the main players being slung across Toledo this morning.
One thing to keep in mind is that there are a pile of pros who we never saw today, so who knows how things are going. The sheer size of Toledo makes it a tough pond to cover, plus the water level makes navigating the flooded timber a very time-consuming process. So, when weigh-in starts this afternoon at 3 p.m. CT, don’t be surprised to see some 20-plus-pound bags hauled to the stage.