Pre-Spawn Bass Fishing on Toledo Bend

When anglers think about catching big largemouth bass, and where to go in the country to do so, it’s hard to not put the state of Texas at the top of the list. Texas has been cranking out some of the most massive bags of largemouth bass in tournaments, double-digit fish, and just overall unbelievable numbers for the past two decades. A lot of this comes from the time, effort, and resources that the Texas Fish & Game Associations have put into managing their lakes. Now when breaking down the state of Texas, it’s always a battle between Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend on which lake is better. Both have produced respectable results. But Toledo Bend is always just edging out Sam Rayburn as a favorite among anglers who have finished the two lakes in Eastern Texas. Make sure to read to the bottom to find out How Revital Outdoors Premium CBD Products may help anglers with their success pre-spawn bass fishing on Toledo Bend.

Toledo Bend should not puzzle anglers who have experience on Sam Rayburn, the lakes are very close to one another, share the same topography and structure, and fish almost identical. And the early spring, once again, proves to be the best time to fish either Lake Sam Rayburn or Toledo Bend. As the weather warms up the Largemouth Bass are going to migrate from the winter patterns to the areas where they are going to spawn. The great thing about Toledo Bend is the areas that hold a lot of big fish in the late winter/pre-spawn, they will be in the same areas year-after-year that anglers can go back to. Late January, and early February, the fish are going to be in their staging pattern. What this means is the weather is getting a little bit warmer, the water temperature is warming up, the days are getting slightly longer with daylight, and the fish are starting to think about spawning. This is also a great time to go fishing because the fish will need to feed-up in order to get ready for the spawn. So, the feeding windows are a lot stronger, which just helps anglers have better days on the water. 

Locating the Best Spots

To locate these areas, anglers want to look for the backs of creeks or arms of the lake that have big flats on them. The fish will spawn very shallow, often 8 feet of water or less. This is not true and all instances, this is just a good rule of thumb. So, if anglers are looking at a lake map and find one of these described areas that have a slight taper off into the back of it and get shallow, that’s an area that anglers will want to focus on. Anglers will want to start at the mouth of these pockets or creeks and work their way back. Throwing different style baits, different action baits, and baits and different depths will help anglers find that sweet spot that fish are relating to in their staging pattern. Toledo Bend is full of wood and on good years has an abundance of grass, so if anglers can find these areas that have a mixture of brush piles, or wood relating to the bank, or grass; it will only serve as a bigger magnet to attract the largemouth in late winter/ pre-spawn. 

Bait Selection

Bait selection on Toledo Bend during the late winter/ pre-spawn times a year is very similar to Sam Rayburn also. Lipless crankbaits, jigs, chatterbaits, swimjigs, swimbaits, and squarebill crankbaits; all are very productive on Toledo Bend during this time. Another bait that many anglers will have on the deck of the boat in a tournament situation this time of year is going to be a Carolina Rig.  

When largemouth bass are in the pre-spawn, staging time of the year, they generally want an easier meal when they start making it up shallow. With the brush piles, grass, and structure in Toledo Bend, there’s not a better tool to get the job done on the Carolina Rig. Anglers will generally start out with the lightest weight they can get away with, such as a 1/2-ounce weight, and then work up from there depending on the depth that they’re finding the fish feeding. One of the critical elements to throwing a Carolina Rig effectively is bait selection, and the size of the leader angler’s use. Again, anglers will try to use as long of a leader as they can get away with depending on the water clarity, and what the largemouth bass in Toledo Bend are reacting to the best. Generally speaking, anglers will start out with a 2-foot leader, and work their way down. 

As for baits, there’s no wrong piece of plastic to rig on the back of the Carolina Rig. Paddletail style worms, lizards, creature baits, craws, and even fluke-style baits; are a great choice on the back of the Carolina Rig. As for hardbait color selection, Toledo Bend tends to navigate more toward the crawfish patterns. Many hardbait companies today, have different variations of craw patterns just for Toledo Bend. And then, the old trusty standby bait in the state of Texas that always produces better quality bites, is a swimbait. Many anglers in the late winter/ pre-spawn time of year will be throwing swimbaits that are 6, 7, and even up to 8 or 9 inches in length. They are truly trying to mimic the biggest baitfish in Toledo Bend and get them to react. That being said, Toledo Bend is notorious for throwing bigger baits to catch bigger largemouth bass. 

Finally, be sure to be careful on Lake Toledo Bend in the late winter/pre-spawn time of year. Toledo Bend is known for its big water and big wave. Be sure to always carry a change of clothes and a life jacket.

How CBD Helps Anglers:

As we stated above, there are multiple baits and other contributors that come into play when fishing Toledo Bend. However, the one thing that will set your game apart from the rest is making sure you have Revital Outdoors Premium CBD Gummies aboard. Our strawberry-lemonade gummies are the perfect compact treat to take at any moment day or night. Fishing on any water in the state of Texas can heighten our stress responses and give us an anxious feeling. Especially during hot months, the stress can start to show quicker. Our Gummies are the perfect size to pack with you, and they make for a delicious treat after reeling in a huge largemouth bass.

If you’re just now getting started with CBD, you may feel overwhelmed and not sure where to start. We recommend starting here, plus it’s also a good read if you’re a CBD expert – you might learn something new.