May 28. Baxter to Big M.

[Bill Babler]

I just ran and gunned yesterday. My Phoenix is a year old this week and I only have 38 hours on it. 

There is still a shad spawn going on early. I had a decent topwater morning from 5:30 till about 6:15 right in front of the bushes on a Speed Shad. Also had a pile of fish on a 3/8oz. white jackhammer when they ignored my topwater. I’m guessing my best 5 maybe 14 pounds. Again, lots of small jaws. 

I had a 3.75 K or I would not have had that much weight. There are still some K’s that are spawning, guarding fry and also staging. 

Caught some totally pre-spawn K’s on a flutter spoon out in front of a big spawning cove. They were unmarked and beautiful with totally extended abdomens. I guess it’s possible that they just won’t spawn but I’m betting they will. 

Surface temp at Baxter for me when I started was 66.7. When I put it on the trailer at 3 pm,  it had reached 69 degrees. These low to mid 50’s nights are keeping it cool. 

Got really good at identifying fry guarders and fry as opposed to shad balls. Fry is in an extremely round ball that’s very loose and you can count the individual fry. The guard is usually sulking right on top. The shad schools are not in a totally round ball and are configured differently and 99% of the time you can’t count them. Really never.  They also are free swimming within the school changing location and directions while the bass schools are much more coordinated and uniform. Moving more in unison and maintaining individual places in the school rather than helter skelter like the shad. 

Fished about 20 locations in the 10 hours I was on the water. ONLY caught fish if I could see them on either 2D or LiveScope, mostly scope. If I didn’t see em I didn’t get bit.  I know we hate the scope, but it just totally eliminates dead water. Don’t care how good it looks or if you have caught them there for 20 years. Some days they just aren’t there. FFS saves what’s  most important to us. Time.

I had about 40 total yesterday. Best 2 baits were the 3/8 oz. Jig and of course the little 2.8 Keitech. 

On a sad note I dropped two 4 pound walleye right at the boat. Back to back casts. Didn’t have a net and the little swim bait popped out of both of them while I was trying to get my  mitts on them. Probably would have kept one. Maybe, but not two. 

Spoke to some guys that were flipping bushes and throwing a blade back in the bushes and one guy had done well and the other not so much. I tried that a bit but no love. Most of my fish were 15’, even the suspended K’s I caught in front of the spawning cove. Suspended or on the bottom at that 15’ mark. 

Here is my neighbor and his son day before yesterday on Lake Fork. They said yesterday was terrible. But man, day before was the total BOMB. All topwater spook and frog. Biggest 7.14. Best 5 close to 30 pounds. 

[dan hufferd]

Baxter is definitely walleye habitat. I know they can be about anywhere but there are some areas near baxter that meet the criteria for walleye, at least in my opinion. I have even caught them under the wake boats and tubers.

Nice report Bill