August usually brings very low water conditions but this year looks good at this time. Normally we will be down anywhere from one foot to as much as three feet in August due to the droughts. So far this year we are not that far behind on rain fall and fishing has been great. Bass have been great up to eight pounds, Crappie are a bit slow, Hybrids and sand bass are picking up some now and catfish are very good.
Here are a few tips on how to find and catch bass and catfish in August.
Bass during the morning can be caught up near the shore line on spinner baits, top waters, small crank baits, baby brush hogs rigged with a split shot and my Diamond Head Jigs. I will fish the shallows early and fish any brush pile, drainage ditch or small creek I can find. When I can find any type of grass I will spend a good bit of time here with the plastic worm working it very slow.
Another thing I will do is fish the deeper brush piles around the docks with my Diamond head jigs and I will catch some very nice bass this way.
As the day go’s on and the sun gets higher in the sky I will locate deeper water and deep water brush piles and creek channels and throw big deep diving crank baits over and across them, working the bends of the creeks and all edges of the brush.
For those of you that like to bass fish only but can’t handle the August heat I will be doing some night trips on Friday and Saturday nights. Fishing sometimes may be a bit slower on the action but you can still have some nights where you catch as many as you would during the day and some really big bass as well. When fishing at night we will throw a lot of plastic worms and some spinner baits and we will fish slow and cover all the water we fish making sure we don’t miss any key spots.
White bass and Hybrids have been good early and late on the points with Rat-l-traps and my Dimple Spoons. When the whites are on the surface throw the rat-l-traps and when they go down then go to my Dimple Spoon it will catch the larger fish down deep.
Catfish can be caught out along the river and in brushy spots where you find humps. I like to bait up my spots with range cubes and Milo and sowered Milo works well to. The bait of choice is fresh chicken liver. I will rig up with either a small wide gap bass hook or a treble hook. The treble hook will keep the bait on better but tends to hang up more. I will drop straight down beside my boat and let my bait go to the bottom and I will leave it there until mister catfish finds it. Normally when you get the catfish to bite you will be able to catch big numbers.
If you are coming to Lake Palestine or Lake Fork fishing and need a guide then give me a call and we will do our best to show you a time of your life while fishing with Ricky’s Guide Service.
Until next month remember that if we don’t protect our lakes and our fish then there won’t be any for our kids when they grow up. So keep only keep the fish you can use and release the others to fight another day.
Good Luck And Good Fishing
By: Ricky Vandergriff
