Sam Rayburn Reservoir
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Sam Rayburn Reservoir Fishing Reports
Stay up to date with the latest fishing reports from Sam Rayburn Reservoir. Reports are submitted by local anglers, fishing guides, and our team of fishing experts.
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Largemouth BassTechniqueSoft Body Swimbaits (Small/Medium)SeasonWinterStructurePointsIdle around main and secondary points in 22’-28’ of water leading into creek branches and look for balls of shad on your electronics. Once you locate the shad, spot lock in the area and either use forward facing sonar or fan cast covering as much of the point as you can. Today they wanted it 2’-3’ off the bottom with a slow retrieve and one to two twitches every couple turns of the reel handle.
- Species
CrappieTechniqueFinesse Hair JigsSeasonWinterStructureBrush PilesIdle around creek channel bends and main lake points in 20’-30’. The most productive brush today was on the main lake points. I could not get the fish in the creek channel bends to fire. Maybe if I would have had minnows that would have been a different story. I was predominately bass fishing today, but I can’t resist throwing into a pile that’s loaded with crappie. I only threw my 1/16 oz. hand tied hair jigs in grey/red/chartreuse and white/silver Krystal flash. I had to bump the branches of the pile and hold it as still as I could once I bumped it to get bit. Just keep moving until you find active fish on the piles.
- SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueHard Topwater (Prop)SeasonWinterStructurePoints
Started the morning out right fishing the same points that I had success with yesterday throwing a 90 whopper plopper paralleling the shore lines working my way back into the back of the creek. They bit consistently until the sun broke the horizon and the shad went deep.
SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueDamiki RigSeasonWinterStructureOpen Water/BasinMy final day of my trip to Rayburn was an exploratory one. I went seeking new water. I usually fish the East and North East side of the lake up to Veach. I don’t like to fish around crowds. Today, I went to the west side of the lake and idled through a lot of the creek branches using side imaging, looking for promising spots. It took me a while to find a spot, but once I found it I never had to move the rest of the day. If it wasn’t for my upgraded lake map I would have never found that spot. It was out in the middle of the cove and it was just the slightest depression. It was out in 17’ of water and it was a 2’ drop and the fish kept reloading on it. It was probably the second best day of fishing I’ve ever had on Rayburn. I found that spot at 10:30 and I didn’t move until 15:00 and I caught a fish every other cast. I put the damiki rig as the technique, because it’s the closest thing to what I was actually throwing. I was throwing what they call the hover stroll rig. It’s a nail weight and a 90 degree jig head hook without the lead. I make a lot of my own jig heads so I have a variety of sizes and types. The particular hook size I was throwing was a # 1 VMC model 9147BN. The nail weights I was throwing were the VMC half moon and the damiki neko sinker both in 1/16 oz. I positioned my boat a decent casting distance away down wind of the depression and hit spot lock. I would cast past the depression and let the bait sink to the bottom. It takes a while with a 1/16 oz. weight but I think that was the key to getting bit. Once it hit the bottom I’d slowly retrieve it back and lift and drop the rod tip basically as slow as I was really. The fish would crush it on the fall once I got it over the depression. All I can say is it pays to spend time behind the wheel and having a good after market lake map and find those hidden gems.
SteveBronze AmbassadorSpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueWacky RigsSeasonWinterStructureLaydowns- SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueBlade BaitsSeasonWinterStructurePoints
I started my morning in the back of a creek fishing off colored water throwing a Rapala Balsa Xtreme BX Big Brat Squarebill in Delta grinding it around secondary points and caught a few but there was a ton of debris in the water from the recent rains that I went looking for cleaner water and less debris. I ran to a couple different places out on the main lake and I just wasn’t seeing what I was looking for, the water looked great out on farmers flats, five finger, and need more point but there wasn’t much prey out on the brush and lay downs out there, so I kept moving. I ended up fishing the creeks around mill creek park. The water had a little color to it, but there was shad and crappie around the piles and lay downs. I decided to fish the Rapala rap-v because the fish were chasing today and constantly on the move. I would see the shad come flicker on the surface and I would cast just past them and let my bait fall a couple feet then start cranking and rip the bait up and let it fall and then start cranking again. I’d only rip the bait every 5 cranks of the reel handle. The bites would come on the fall. If you plan on fishing Rayburn from January 1st - April 31st register for the bass cash bash. I caught one of the bass that was released for the 2023 tournament and I wasn’t registered and I would have released a $1,000 fish just because I wasn’t registered. Luckily the tournament hasn’t started yet, or I would have regretted it. The photo attached is the bass with the tag.
- SteveBronze AmbassadorSpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueNed RigsSeasonWinterStructureRock Pile
- SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueBladed JigsSeasonFallStructureMatted Grass
Brandon Booth won the Connect Fishing League Black Friday, Big Bass Online Competition. "The area was hit by rain which lasted most of the day. Water temps have remained high for fall as we have not had much cold weather. The water temp was 67. Fish can be found anywhere from 1ft to 25ft. Found 3 decent schools of fish graphing points next to the creek channel."
