I have been off on vacation and fished alot the last 7 days. I have fished north, south, east and west of the Abilene area. Perhaps some of the larger crappie have spawned, but it appears to me, the majority I am catching have not spawned and I am catching 90 percent females still loaded with mature eggs. I am not fishing the banks as I can not get bit consistently up shallow. A very odd spawn is in progress or it is still in the late stages of about to happen. Females are still 12-15 feet deep. Water temps two weeks ago were 68-70, the last week they have been 63-67. Of course multiple little fronts and absolutely horrendous wind have stirred the water up, then again it is West Texas.
On another note, the sand bass/white bass are really starting to school up in the shallows and it appears the shad spawn is under way. I believe it will only get better in the next week or so. The rocks on almost all the lakes at the dams are holding sand bass early in the am., so cast as shallow to the rocks without getting hung as you can and hold on.
Regards and Good Fishing,
Ron, Mud-Dabber
Last edited by Mud-Dabber : 05-08-2008 at 03:14 PM.
Jerry:
It has been one of the best Springs for size I have seen in a good while, but it seems everyone continues to fish shallow and all that is there have been peewee males for me. As you and I discussed several years ago, fish out from the bank and you will find the females and that is what has worked best for me on the big mammas. Probably going to be one of those spawns where they are deep one day, then wham they spawn at night and it is over with as it is really getting late and could be over with very soon. You would think they would follow the shad in while they are spawning, but I sure can't find them shallow, the dang ole sand bass are there in droves.
We found some good females in 4' water on Sunday evening. I couldn't catch a Male?
We always fish deeper in tournaments for big fish. You can't catch 7 big females on the bank very often. We don't catch as many fish but they are usually large.
Good talking with you.
Headed to Cooper this afternoon to fish a tournament tomorrow. Never fished the lake but it is full of timber.
I love fishing a new lake. Kinda like the line from Lonesome Dove. Gus was telling Newt that riding a horse through new country was what he and the Captain was made for
Good Luck Jerry. We are fortunate this year in West Texas after the rains the last couple of years to have lakes that have not been very fishable almost act like new lakes. The fishing in some of the smaller lakes not shown on the Texas maps has been outstanding. They have been a shelter from these tremendous winds this spring.
We are going to have an explosion of great fishing out here in the next two years with all the fish stockings and natural reproduction. You need to head out this way in the future, I think the state record is waiting to be caught in some of these muddy lakes???
Fishing pressure is sure a lot less than in your area lakes.
Ron
Ron I haven't been in almost three weeks,but have only caught one female so far.Like you said I have seen some huge males this year.The females may have moved in the last couple of weeks but havnt had a chance to find out
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Fishing (fish'-ing)
1.n. The art of casting,trolling,jigging,or spinning
while freezing,sweating,swatting or swearing.
I hear you on that muddy water. I like fishing it. Someday I'm going to get out that way. Looks like this would have been a good year. I've been seeing ya'lls catches and they'll rival up there with the best.
J.B. Thomas is south and west of Snyder, Texas or north of Big Spring. Usually very low and often very hard to launch a large boat. The ole flatbottoms and lone stars from the past days are often a better fishing craft for that lake, but the wind is often a big problem.
An up and comer in a couple of years will be Oak Creek near the small town of Blackwell. It flooded last fall, after 10 or more years of trees,willows and brush growing in and on the lake bed that is now flooded.
Easy limit of small keepers (10. - 12.0), all females. Kept 10 and turned the rest back. Every fish cleaned was a female and still full of eggs.
Sand bass are thick as fleas in the early a.m., chasing spawning shad. Sand bass are so aggessive they are chasing the shad onto the banks and the black birds and resident cat populations are at the bank every morning to pick off some that end up on the bank. For whatever reason no whopper hybrids are mixed in YET. The spawn has not been completed, it doesn't appear, but larger crappie are very far and few between.
WEST TEXAS -Have they or Have they not Spawned
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