Bass Fishing: Texas Edition

I sat on my fishing boat until I saw the sun sinking into dusk. I know I shouldn't be here. Last time I caught my limit by lunch and was able to feed the whole family fish for dinner. Everybody is expecting me to be home by now. Still, this red, orange sun that blends into a strange golden hue has caught my imagination. At least somebody was catching something.

I reached into my back pocket to grab my phone. A sunset as beautiful as this needed to be captured. I lifted my phone up and took a picture. It was nowhere near as beautiful as the real sunset, but it was nice enough. I opened up Instagram to post the picture, but then I remembered what that meant. Everybody knows that if you post a sunset picture while fishing, it means you got skunked. I’d basically be broadcasting to everyone I know about my lackluster day on the water. How can a beautiful sunset like this represent the pain and torture of not catching a fish? This world is a confusing place. 

Slowly and gradually, the golden hue turned into a mix of blue and purple, and I came back to reality. I decided to make one last cast. I had to do something to avoid getting skunked. And then almost immediately, I felt a tug on my line. I started reeling and reeling as fast as I could. It felt like a biggin’! Maybe even a tank! Maybe it was the biggest fish I’ve ever fought. It wasn’t moving around a ton, but it was heavy. As it breached the surface, I tried to make out what it was through the darkness. I dragged it into the boat when I saw my catch for what it really was…a log.

Crankbait fishing is the technique of choice for bass anglers who need to cover water quickly and explore various depths. Modern crankbaits come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but the lure's bill (or lack thereof) will be the determining factor in both diving depth and the action the bait will provide. 

Shallow diving crankbaits feature a short bill and generally dive to depths between 2-5 feet. Fish shallow diving crankbaits at slow speeds near shorelines, brush piles, or around docks. Pick up the retrieval speed in warmer water to deflect off of stumps and logs and generate reaction strikes.

A medium diving crankbait will reach between 6 and 12 feet in diving depth, depending on line type. Unlike a shallow-running crank, a medium diver will have a longer bill. Medium diving crankbaits work best slightly offshore, along rip-rock banks, or near deep-water brushpiles.

Deep diving crankbaits typically dive deeper than 12 feet. These crankbaits are usually fished from a boat since they require deeper water. Check your electronics to find structure, such as logs, brush piles, shell beds, and big boulders, where bass may be hiding. Deflect your deep diving crankbait off structure to trigger strikes.

Lipless crankbaits are sinking lures that typically rattle and feature a tight vibrating action. Unlike other crankbaits designed for specific depths, lipless crankbaits can be used to fish various parts of the water column. Quickly retrieve your lipless crankbait to keep it high in the water column or use a yo-yo jigging motion to fish closer to the bottom.

They do say everything is bigger in Texas — and when it comes to largemouth bass, they may be right. The Lone Star state is lunker-crazy, and for good reason; Texas is home to oodles of lakes that hold trophy bass. With that being said, here is our list of the top five big bass lakes to fish in Texas right now.

A Special thank you to the Texas Parks & Wildlife and their Share Lunkers program for providing such useful data and images. More importantly, thank you for promoting catch and release angling. Let 'em go, let 'em grow!

Location: 15 miles north of Jasper, Texas

Surface area: 114,500 acres

Maximum depth: 80 feet

Impounded: 1965

Lake Sam Rayburn is nestled in the ecologically rich region of southeastern Texas amid the famous Piney Woods. Immerse yourself in the true outdoors while having a legit chance at landing a new personal best from the famous Lake Sam Rayburn.

Location: 45 miles south of Lubbock, Texas

Surface area: 2,880 acres

Maximum depth: 100 ft

Impounded: 1993

In West Texas, there sits a little sleeper lake that continually pumps out mega bass. Sitting 45 miles south of Lubbock in the desolate Brazo River Basin is Lake Allan Henry. Relatively low fishing pressure blended with an ample forage base makes this little gem a destination worth visiting.

Location: 5 miles northwest of Quitman, Texas

Surface area: 27,264 acres

Maximum depth: 70 feet

Impounded: 1980

The stomping grounds of Lake Fork Guy and a well-known big bass factory, Lake Fork is no secret amongst serious Texas anglers. Just a few hours outside of Dallas, this system continues to produce big fish even with the heavy fishing pressure.

Location: 40 miles east of Laredo, Texas

Surface area: 83,654 acres

Maximum depth: 110 feet

Impounded: 1954

Straddling the US-Mexico border on the Rio Grande River is the notorious Falcon Lake. Originally built to conserve water, prevent flooding, and bring hydropower to the area, the damming of the Rio Grande also resulted in one more bonus resource: BIG.FAT. BASS.

Location: 4 miles west of Three Rivers, Texas

Surface area: 25,670 acres

Maximum depth: 95.5 feet

Impounded: 1982

Just south of San Antonio is the Choke Canyon Reservoir. With strong panfish, bass, catfish, and alligator gar populations, it's easy to understand why anglers are dumping their boats into Choke Canyon each weekend.

When conditions are just right and a mystical feeding window opens up, anglers can sight fish for bass in clear, shallow water. Fish can be hard to fool in shallow clear water because of their ability to detect what's around them. Noise from the boat or footsteps on the bank is enough to spook fish in clear water, so stay quiet and nimble. Their vision is enhanced too, which meansyou'll have to be extra delicate with your approach.

Regardless of how they react, stay stealthy and quiet to avoid spooking fish. Try casting from a distance, get your lure to land softly on the water, and use thesun's angle to project shadows in the right direction.

When it comes to lures, there are countless choices to choose from, but sometimes, you won't have to reach past these three trusty options:

The Texas rig has become one of the most versatile bass fishing rigs on the planet, as it allows you to adjust your weight, hook size, and bait quickly to adapt to your conditions. When sightfishing, you'll typically be in less than 10 feet of water, which means using a lighter sinker like a 1/8-3/8 oz bullet weight will be the best option. Gently pitch soft plastic craws, grubs, and swimbaits near the fish you see and gently twitch your bait to attract attention. If the fish shows interest, continue to just barely shake the rod tip to help dangle the appendages of your soft plastic bait. If the fish bolt and take off, keep casting and slowly reel your bait in along or near the bottom.

A drop shot rig is a quieter and more subtle approach that helps when dealing with clear-water fish who spook easily in shallow water. Make a long cast past your target, then slowly drag a drop shot into the bite zone. This helps prevent spooking the fish with the loud splash and clunk from the rig hitting the water. 

Wacky rigs get their name from how they are rigged. The hooks go through the middle of a soft plastic worm'sbody instead of being hooked through the nose (like most rigs). The unique setup allows both sides of the bait to flutter freely. It mimics the natural action of a sinking worm. When sight fishing using this finesse technique, be careful not to impart too much action. Since wacky rigs have plenty of action on their own, you just need minimal rod movement. Since most bites happen when there is slack in the line, always keep an eye on your line. You can also try keeping your index finger on the line to help feel bites.

Although very fun to catch, spawning bass are incredibly vulnerable. Please remember to release fish quickly and don't give them that hard of a time; we need them out there to create more bass!

Cover: Sparse grass, shade, & docks

Water: All types

Seasonality: All year

Optimal: Spring, Summer, & Fall

Trailer: Adds bulk and action

Weedguard: Prevents snags

Jig Head: Made in differentshapes and sizes

A soft plastic craw is an ideal jig trailer that helps the lure mimic either baitfish or crawfish. A soft plastic craw generates a lot of action from its flopping pinchers, which makes it ideal for swimming a jig along boat docks or log laydowns. For a swimming presentation, match soft plastic craws to a white-and-chartreuse jig to imitate a shad. If bass seem to be feeding more on crawfish, combine a green pumpkin or watermelon-red flake craw with a brown or green jig.

Reel: High-speed casting or spinning reel

Rod: 6’-7’ 6” medium to heavy casting or spinning rod

Line: 12-20 lb fluorocarbon or 30-50 lb braided line

O.H. Ivie Lake in central Texas has become one of the country's most talked-about big bass fisheries. Why do you ask? Well, mainly because of the insanely large,deep-bellied bass that keep popping up on anglers'boat decks during the Winter and early Spring.

Classic cool water tactics like slowly winding Alabama Rigs and swimbait offshore are two standby techniques among trophy hunters who rely heavily on electronics when targeting the lake's monster largemouth.

Most recently, two Texans working in the fishing industry, one as a Lake Fork fishing guide and the other as a fishing YouTube personality, each brought in a 14 lb+ bass while fishing O.H. Ivie Lake.

Tyler Anderson, of the Tyler's Reel Fishing YouTube channel, caught a 14.48 lb largemouth on January 5th while chucking an Alabama Rig.

“I stumbled upon a school of what looked to be eight or nine fish,” said Anderson. “My cast ended up being a little too short and landed right on top of where they were. My Alabama Rig fell right into the school of fish, but I didn’t even have to retrieve the lure. I lifted it right up and started my retrieve and the fish was already on there.”

— Tyler Anderson via San Angelo News

It happened again only three days later, but this time it was with Wendall Ramsey, a fishing guide from West Texas who picked up his Alabama rig while fishing with a few young anglers.

“It was slow, and we moved around the lake to some different spots before we circled back to where we started. I spotted a fish suspended in about 14 feet of water and quickly grabbed a fishing pole. I sent the cast past the fish and slowly let it go down to about eight feet before I started reeling. The fish hit the bait. And when I set the hook, it didn’t budge, so I knew it was a really big fish.”

—Wendell Ramsey via San Angelo News

Texas State & Wildlife developed the Share Lunker program, which helps cultivate a community around growing giant bass in Texas lakes and rivers. By reporting, sharing catches, and utilizing the genes of trophy-sized fish, the state can help maintain a population of mega bass swimming throughout Texas.

Anybody who catches a bass weighing over 8 pounds or measuring more than 24 inches can participate in the Texas Share Lunker program. And if the fish meets certain standards, you might receive fishing swag, a replica mount, or entry to the Texas Lunkers Club.

While the term “cover” typically refers to points of interest that you can see above water — “structure” refers to those same points of interest that lie under the surface, typically requiring the use of electronics or a deep understanding of a body of water to discover with any consistency. Two of the most easily identifiable pieces of structure are “points” and “flats”, and understanding how to properly fish these areas will lead you to more and bigger fish. Points and flats are found in virtually every waterway throughout the country, and they act as holding or feeding zones for bass. Not only are both these areas prime targets to locate schools of fish independently, but oftentimes flats and points that are directly adjacent to one another can act as superhighways that will provide consistent action year after year. Identifying and learning how to break down these areas will make you a better, more versatile angler.

A point is the primary structure of any lake. Channels are fish highways in and out of the coves and creeks, and the points are the primary holding spots for fish along those channels because the structures have deep water nearby in almost every direction. The pre-spawn and post-spawn are the best times to fish points because predatory fish are staging on this structure either on their way in or way out of the spawning coves and shallows. Most waterways feature the following types of points: main and secondary, bluff or sharp, rocky drop-offs and round, flat gravel slopes. Main and bluff points are good in summer, winter and early spring. Secondary and flat gravel slopes are best in spring, early summer and autumn.

Warm water, cover, and baitfish activity draw predatory fish to flats because it’s easier for the fish to chase prey there. Fish are attracted to the flats when sunshine warms up the shallow waters of this nearby structure. Feeding fish can be caught along flats near spawning areas when the fish use the available cover (grass or stumps) to ambush baitfish. Fall is a prime time to fish this structure because schools of baitfish move up on the flats. While there are boatloads of more structure features to learn, understanding points and flats will help you break down local waterways more easily while hopefully catching more fish.

Spinnerbaits and bladed jigs have various similarities — they both have blades, skirts, and require a steady retrieve to initiate the motion of their unique blades. Spinnerbaits made their debut in the 1950s, while the bladed jig wasn'tintroduced until 2004. Bladed jigs took nearly another ten years to gain traction. Regardless of their timelines, both lures are popular today and routinely win tournaments for anglers across the country. 

Spinnerbaits feature a leading wire arm that deflects off structure like wood or rock before springing back to its original swimming position, while its blade flutters back and forth. This snag-resistant quality makes the spinnerbait ideal for casting near woody cover that may hold bass. Intentionally swim spinnerbaits near and against shallow wood to elicit strikes from the bass lurking beneath. 

Bladed jigs feature a less snag-free, exposed hook that can easily catch against wood or other hang-ups. While bladed jigs can’t slip past structure like spinnerbaits, they are perfect for swimming over and around grass. This makes bladed jigs one of the most effective moving baits to fish around sparse vegetation. 

Begs the question: If a bass eats a bladed jig, would they also eat a spinnerbait? Yes. There are times when both lures will catch you fish in similar locations, but knowing the differences in when to throw a bladed jig versus a spinnerbait is the key to unlocking more bass. 

Remember: 

Grass = Bladed Jigs

Wood = Spinnerbaits