By name, Toledo Bend is one of the most well-renowned and recognizable bass fisheries in the country. So the anticipation from anglers and fans alike for the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Toledo Bend was naturally pretty high.
And while there are promising signs that this week could be one for the record books on the Sabine River impoundment, the bite during practice has not been as predictable as some anglers hoped for heading into the event.
Still, 30-pound bags are always a possibility on Toledo Bend no matter what time of the year it is and that has proven time and time again.
Is Toledo Bend back?
For the past several years, excitement around Toledo Bend nationally has been tempered. Tournament weights were down as was the overall production.
This year, Toledo Bend has shown out in a big way, producing 30-, 35- and even 40-pound stringers to win tournaments. Just Tuesday, Michael Boudin caught a largemouth that weighed 13.6 pounds that he entered into the Toledo Bend Lunker Bass Program. That was the 51st bass since the beginning of May 2022 entered into the program, a program that tallies 10-pounders caught in the reservoir.
Cody Pitt’s 39-15 winning BFL bag in February was anchored by a 13-6 largemouth. Then the next week, Pitt and Lane Masters set the lake record with a 42.36 five-bass mark. Around the same time, Bill Cook landed a lunker largemouth weighing 15.67, the new lake record.
Many, La., native and Bassmaster Elite Series pro Darold Gleason said the demise of Toledo Bend was a bit exaggerated, but the biggest key to the resurgence this year has been the comeback of hydrilla.
“If this tournament was in February, you could have seen someone get 100 pounds in three days,” Gleason said. “There were a few years when it was a little tougher here. But the hydrilla is really back in the lake this year, and when the hydrilla flourishes, it is amazing. The lake is doing well and there are a lot of big, big fish.”
Calm seas ahead
No matter the part of the country, strong winds have been a pretty major factor so far in 2023. Looking at the tournament forecast for this week, that will not be the case until maybe Saturday here at Toledo Bend.
On a lake where the boat lanes are life lines and not suggestions, calm waters not only mean a safer fishery, but they open up the entire lake and will allow anglers to do whatever they want technique wise.
The wind blew some on Toledo Bend during practice, but not to the point where it was unsafe to navigate. Thursday’s forecast calls for light and variable winds. Friday, the wind is predicted to pick up throughout the day, coming from the south at 5 to 10 mph. Stronger thunderstorms are predicted for the area on Saturday, but those will not move through until late in the day.
Garrett Paquette thinks that while the boat lanes will be safer in these calmer conditions, it may make fishing a little more challenging than people expect, particularly on Day 1.
“Most guys are going to find that (calm conditions) will make it challenging,” he said. “Usually wind on this place, from what I understand, pushes the bait into predictable areas and that is how you get right in a hurry. Some guys might be disappointed when they go to some areas where they caught them in practice.”
Rising water
While it hasn’t been inundated exactly, the water levels on Toledo Bend have been slowly rising since the weekend. Prior to the start of official practice, the area received an immense amount of rainfall and that is starting to impact the fishery.
On the Inside Bassmaster podcast published on Monday, Andrew Upshaw mentioned the lake was about 3 feet low. Since that show was published, Gleason and the rest of the field have watched the water rise about a foot. The water is expected to slowly rise more through the course of the tournament.
What will that do to the fishery? It will likely keep the bass that are already shallow in the area and move the bass that are done spawning into cover they haven’t had access to in a long time.
“It has also warmed up 10 degrees in some areas. It has been a good consistent change,” Paquette said. “It is what you want this time of year.”
What stage are the bass in?
Based on the conversations with anglers after practice, it seems like there are bass in all three stages of the spawn. There are bass still waiting to move up, plenty of bass on bed and others in offshore areas. Others are keying in on a potential shad spawn.
But no one pattern seems to be more productive than the other so far.
Gleason, for one, will be doing several different things throughout the day to try and catch his best five. Typically he is either all-in on either the offshore bite or sight fishing. This time around it isn’t that simple.
“This week, not only did we get a lot of rain, we got a little cold front,” he said. “It has the bass in a little different mode. It is hard to see them to sight fish, and they aren’t everywhere. They aren’t everywhere deep all day either. I think you’ve got all three phases right now, and the most stable thing is the spawners.”
Paquette spent much of his practice trying to find offshore fish but did not find what he was hoping for.
“Coming into this I was super excited. I love coming to Texas in the spawn, postspawn time,” Paquette said. “If you find them coming out, you can wail on them. I have spent a lot of time doing it, and I couldn’t get anything going this week. I have heard rumors of guys really catching them. I am probably going to have to revert shallow water, spawn related techniques.”
Coming off a Top 25 finish in his first Classic, JT Thompkins has shifted back into work mode as an EQ angler. The first day of practice he found exactly what he expected, but since he has not been able to recreate the pattern.
“I think I caught 30 pounds the first day,” he said. “I don’t think I have caught a limit the last couple of days. I thought they would be coming off the bed to try and recuperate, and the best way to do that would be for them to find isolated pieces of structure and sit there and feed. I thought the shad spawn would be going, and I haven’t figured that out. I fished isolated cover the first day and caught a big bag but since then, the spotted bass took over.”
Maine angler Tyler Williams, meanwhile, has caught all postspawn bass in his first trip to Toledo Bend.
Anglers to watch
Shaine Campbell
Campbell is off to a great start to the season with his second-place finish at Eufaula. An east Texas native and guide on Sam Rayburn, which is right down the road, Campbell should be able to put together a solid performance and put himself squarely in the running for an Elite Series bid.
Andrew Upshaw
Upshaw calls Toledo Bend home and he has two FLW victories on the lake, one in college and then a BFL win in 2017. Sitting in 46th to start the year in the EQ points, Upshaw could vault up the leaderboard with a really good showing.
Darold Gleason
Gleason guided on Toledo Bend for many years before qualifying for the Bassmaster Elite Series. Since qualifying, he hasn’t been able to fish his home waters as much as he would like, but a trip back to his home lake may give him some positive momentum for the rest of 2023.
Jason Christie
It was a surprise to see Christie’s name on the roster for this event. But anytime this Oklahoma native enters a tournament, he is a threat to win. The last time the Elite Series visited Toledo Bend in 2017, Christie caught more than 72 pounds to finish second to John Murray. The year before in 2016, he finished 20th.
James Niggemeyer
The Progressive pro came so close to requalifying for the Elite Series last year and started the year at 85th in the EQ points. Niggemeyer has fished several Elite Series events at Toledo Bend in the past, and a good showing on a lake in his home state will give him plenty of juice moving into the rest of the season.
