Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

When the sun goes down, angling for big bass in shallow water picks up–particularly on one lake.

05- Lake Fork. That’s the lake in Texas that has the most really big bass.

Larry Hodge, with the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center says in the 1980s and 90s, fishing guide John Hope put radio transmitters on big bass–including ShareLunkers–to track their whereabouts day and night.

21–And one of those fish, was a fish named Wanda. He followed her for three years on Houston County Lake, and found that during the day, she was in deep water and was not interested in any kind of lures that anybody showed her. But at night, she’d cruise around the shoreline in shallow water, and he and his don caught her–a total of six times.

Fish hear everything that goes on for hundreds of yards around them, which is why many fish go to quieter, deeper waters in the daytime; once things calm down,
they emerge to feed in the shallows. Hodge says if you’re going after big bass, bring the heavy duty gear.

18- [When] night fishing, most people are best advised to use braided line, perhaps even as heavy as 50 pounds. Dark lures. Big lures that move a lot of water, because bass can’t see it–but using the lateral line they can feel it move through the water. And be prepared to do battle with a really big bass.

The Sport Fish restoration program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.