It’s no secret that Toledo Bend Reservoir holds quantity and quality. Full of fish, full of big fish, that’s a well-known fact.
Apparently, this Sabine River impoundment straddling the Louisiana/Texas border felt the need to flex.
Day 1 of the Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier presented by Bass Pro Shops recorded impressive numbers reflecting this 185,000-acre lake’s appeal.
Final standings showed 29 limits over 20 pounds.
Ten anglers broke 25.
Three hit the “dirty 30,” including Day 1 leader Luke Palmer’s massive 32-pound, 14-ounce limit.
Colorado angler Ty Faber earned Big Bass honors with a 9-pounder.
Along with Faber’s toad, the weigh-ins saw multiple bass of 7-plus pounds, with a few crossing the 8-pound mark.
Less Than Ideal Conditions
Here’s the truly impressive part: Anglers are fishing early fall conditions. Clearly, fireworks are possible, but this is one of the year’s most scattered periods, as fish are transitioning from warm-season lethargy to the full-on feeding marathon necessary for winter prep.
Moreover, the recent cold front initiated a lake turnover, where cooling surface water becomes denser and sinks. This breaks up the summer thermocline and starts a mixing of upper and lower water levels.
Local pro Darold Gleason said the process stirs the lake and displaces fish. “The lake has a nasty color to it and the fish are scattered. The guys that are doing well are on big groups of fish.”
That tracks with reports from several anglers who spoke of locating schools of fish in practice, only to find them displaced on the tournament’s first day. Second-place Riley Harris (30-10) said the turnover dispersed his offshore school and required a lot of looking to identify productive water and eliminate unfavorable areas.
Big Bait, Big Fish
Toledo Bend has benefitted from many years of stocking efforts, which have loaded these waters with the large-growing Florida bass (formerly known as Florida-strain largemouth). These fish have interbred with native largemouth (previously, Northern largemouth) to produce F1 hybrids, which blend the Florida bass growth potential with the native bass’ aggression and cold tolerance.
Basically, this lake’s full of big, bad fish that pretty much do whatever they want. One of their biggest “wants” involves eating the kinda meals the help them reach impressive dimensions and, while these bigs will gobble any threadfin shad they can catch, the real heavyweights have a taste for jumbo gizzard shad.
Palmer reported spotting the biggest gizzards he’s ever seen — estimated 8-inchers — in the area where he caught most of his fish. Several other anglers also reported catching their best fish around giant gizzards.
Trey Schroeder, 19th on Day 1 with 21-14, said the big gizzards led him to a pair of late-day 7-pounders that buoyed his bag. In 26th place, Garrett Smith secured a big chunk of his 20-pound, 13-ounce limit when he found a 8-6 munching on gizzards.
What Might Have Been
Along with the many moments of big-fish glory, Toledo Bend also saw heart-breaking losses. Among them, Zac Goutremout reported having a legit day-maker mere inches from capture.
“I was fishing a brush pile about 30 minutes before check-in and they had been hard to get to bite all day, but I finally got a big one to commit to my bait,” Goutremout said. “I got a good hook set into it and got it to the boat. It was just kinda flopping around and before I could get my hands on her, she just rolled and the hook popped out.
“It was at least an 8; it might have been a 9. It was the biggest fish I’ve seen all week. It would have put me somewhere in that 21-pound range, because I had a 1 1/4 in my bag.”
Acknowledging the undeniable pain, Goutremout said that loss gives him extra motivation for Day 2.
“That’s definitely gonna hurt me, but hopefully, I’ll find five of those (today).”
