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The pressure on the bass on Toledo Bend is insane...

Posted on 3/30/26 at 9:48 am
Posted by Clyde Tipton
Planet Earth
Member since Dec 2007
40772 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 9:48 am
I've been on the lake since last Thursday. Just got home last night. The amount of boats on the lake is crazy.

Thursday: Fished San Miguel. 3 bites, no fish. Very frustrating.

Friday: Fished Tennessee Bay. Checked multiple spots between Negreet creek all the way out to Turtle Beach. I caught 3 bass. A average spotted bass and 2 18" bass. One was healthy and weighed 3 lbs. 9 oz., the other was blind in both eyes from being hooked through the eyes and had lost weight. It was in rough shape. It weighed 2 lbs. 14 oz.

I got frustrated and started white perch fishing Friday afternoon and caught 4 small keepers.



The front blew through Friday night so we fried fish, had multiple beverages and slept in Saturday assuming the traffic would be even worse. It was.

Saturday morning I ran to town and picked up my son. We hit the water at 2 pm when the LSU baseball game started and heard the last out as we were pulling back into the camp about 5:30ish.

Because of the fishing pressure we white perch fished and ended up with 12 bigguns. Not bad for a 2.5 hour quick trip while listening to the baseball game.





Posted by Salmon
I helped draft the email
Member since Feb 2008
85882 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 9:55 am to
Its a weekend in March

But also Toledo isn't good right now. We went last weekend and struggled as well. We caught mostly unders. We caught one 4 lber on a bed but it took 45 minutes. She must had been messed with so much.

Then went to Cotile the next day and caught 30 and had a 22 lb 5 fish stringer.

Posted by Clyde Tipton
Planet Earth
Member since Dec 2007
40772 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 10:08 am to
quote:

Its a weekend in March


For sure.

We do a guys trip every March and I usually do pretty good. This year it just seemed like it was a lot more difficult and that there were more boats than ever.

Usually we go early to mid March. Everybody's availability pushed it to the last weekend in March this year, so that may have been the difference.
Posted by AlxTgr
Kyre Banorg
Member since Oct 2003
87149 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 10:15 am to
quote:

Then went to Cotile the next day and caught 30 and had a 22 lb 5 fish stringer.

Would love to know how to do that. My bass confidence is shot right now.
Posted by Salmon
I helped draft the email
Member since Feb 2008
85882 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 10:19 am to
wacky worm and swim jigs
Posted by Clyde Tipton
Planet Earth
Member since Dec 2007
40772 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 10:23 am to
quote:

wacky worm


Threw watermelon candy red and black with blue flake a bunch. No bites.

quote:

swim jigs


I don't know if a chatterbait falls into this category, but that's what I caught my bass on.

I also threw a Carolina rig on main points quite a bit with no luck. Spinner bait, no luck. Crankbait, no luck.

ETA: Thursday I was scoping deeper bass and was drop shotting a robo worm in Aaron's morning dawn. That's where the 3 short strikes came from but I could never hook one.
This post was edited on 3/30/26 at 10:30 am
Posted by Riolobo
On the lake
Member since Mar 2017
5179 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 11:01 am to
Go to Rayburn
Posted by WillFerrellisking
Member since Jun 2019
2792 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 11:10 am to
lol at someone talking about pressure on the bass and not catching any and in same breathe the few they caught they killed them
Posted by The Last Coco
On the water
Member since Mar 2009
6951 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 11:16 am to
quote:

WillFerrellisking
lol at someone talking about pressure on the bass and not catching any and in same breathe the few they caught they killed them


Pressure =/= unhealthy population or overfished.

If every bass sees multiple baits a day, it doesnt matter how many there are - they will be hard to catch.

Toledos bass population are just fine, its just the amount of boats on the lake and baits in the water spring and summer is a ton of pressure.
Posted by White Bear
Deer-Thirty
Member since Jul 2014
17511 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 11:18 am to
quote:

lol at someone talking about pressure on the bass and not catching any and in same breathe the few they caught they killed them
HOOK AND COOK, baw.
Posted by Clyde Tipton
Planet Earth
Member since Dec 2007
40772 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 11:23 am to
quote:

lol at someone talking about pressure on the bass and not catching any and in same breathe the few they caught they killed them


I catch and release 99% of bass I catch.

On this particular annual guy's trip we always have a fish fry, so yeah, I kept them. Anything over 14" is legal. Anything over 5 lbs I would throw back even when keeping bass to eat.

I don't fell bad about fileting a 3.5 lbs bass at all.
Posted by NewIberiaHaircut
Lafayette
Member since May 2013
12414 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 11:32 am to
quote:

don't fell bad about fileting a 3.5 lbs bass at all.


No one should. That's good eating!
Posted by Turnblad85
Member since Sep 2022
5266 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 12:36 pm to
quote:

If every bass sees multiple baits a day, it doesnt matter how many there are - they will be hard to catch.




I've wondered how this affects fish weights and maybe populations. When they get picky about what they eat, then they dont eat as much. If they see a lizard swimming across the water and don't eat it because they think it might not be real, thats food not in their belly. How many potential real food targets are they turning down in a day?
Posted by tcroot
Member since Jan 2013
372 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 12:39 pm to
quote:

If every bass sees multiple baits a day, it doesnt matter how many there are - they will be hard to catch.


Thats true, also doesnt help when the fish move out to get away from ppl. The ppl with live scope follow them(not talking bad about Live scope).
Posted by Ron Cheramie
The Cajun Hedgehog
Member since Aug 2016
5623 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 12:58 pm to
I have no qualms about keeping bass at all.

The catch and release folks will bash keeping a bass but will catch a bunch of fish on beds, throw them in the livewell for a few hours, take some hero pics, then release them 10 miles from where they were caught.
Posted by AlxTgr
Kyre Banorg
Member since Oct 2003
87149 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 1:17 pm to
quote:

lol at someone talking about pressure on the bass and not catching any and in same breathe the few they caught they killed them
This post is bad and you should feel bad.
Posted by Loup
Ferriday
Member since Apr 2019
16528 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 1:22 pm to
quote:

lol at someone talking about pressure on the bass and not catching any and in same breathe the few they caught they killed them


I keep every bass I'm legally allowed to. I love eating them. It's not as if they are rare or hard to catch.
Posted by TrueTiger07
Madison, MS
Member since May 2007
3128 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 1:39 pm to
My lake is professionally managed and we keep every bass 15” and under.

Despite that, I’ve still got buddies that argue me down about keeping and eating bass!

Bass is fine eating, and is needed so the big fish get bigger. Not sure on Toledo but my point was simply that some people are raised to never put a filet knife on a bass.
Posted by DownshiftAndFloorIt
Here
Member since Jan 2011
71847 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 1:41 pm to
#TeamZipLock
Posted by AlxTgr
Kyre Banorg
Member since Oct 2003
87149 posts
Posted on 3/30/26 at 2:01 pm to
quote:

Despite that, I’ve still got buddies that argue me down about keeping and eating bass!
I think there is a bigger problem in this country with not keeping than keeping too many.
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