Call them in

HOOD OUTDOORS

As a licensed professional fishing guide, Michael Acosta shows you how to find them. The Granbury resident of 30 years has been fishing all of his life and has been a licensed guide since 1998.

How can you get striped bass, hybrids, and sand bass to find you? Can you call them in?  It may be a surprise to many that you can call fish in. This is a practice that many anglers use for striped bass and sand bass on inland lakes. Many coastal fishermen have used similar methods for calling in the fish. Most of us were always told to be quiet and patient while fishing and this still holds true for some conditions, but there are times where aggressive calling techniques can help put fish in the boat.

Generally calling the fish in involves thrashing the water to mimic surface activity or “thumping”. Many guides have permanently mounted DC motors with blades that thrash the water behind the boat continuously while they are fishing. The “thumper” is a different device that periodically makes a rhythmic thumping noise that draws the fish in.  Both of these techniques do work.     

I first noticed sand bass anglers about 40 years back tapping the side of boat with a short stick in one hand and a fishing pole with a jigging spoon in the other (thumping). It’s like chewing gum and walking at the same time, it takes a little getting used to, but it does work. Of course, they make thumping devices now that you can use while you are fishing. 

Thrashing the water whether with your rod tip or a transom mounted thrashing device mimics surface feeding fish and the predators are drawn in looking for an easy meal. I do use this technique most of the year especially when open water fishing. I use a fishing rod to thrash rather than a separate device. That is my choice. Thrashing is probably not recommended when you are fishing in real shallow water where the predators are easily spooked.  

On a real windy day, the thrashing may not work as well for obvious reasons. However, you might still give it a try if you are trying to find fish. You might have to thrash more often and louder to draw in the fish.

There are a few other ways to try to call in the fish while live bait fishing that don’t involve making a bunch of noise. You can put out a really large baitfish that may draw attention to your boat. Another method is to use a jigging spoon that appears as an injured bait fish. You can also toss out crankbaits with rattles in them and see if anything will follow your bait in. 

Recently on Granbury the action has been tremendous and calling in the fish using a variety of methods is working. This time of year, there is a lot of top water action and thrashing the surface to draw in predators is a good choice in open water. Once you start seeing the fish coming in on your graph, you may want to refrain from thrashing while you are catching fish. If the bite tapers off, start thrashing again.   

Some days it pays to be quiet, as any noise may impact the bite especially when fishing real shallow. Long casts may be on the order. On other days you may be able to bring the fish in with thrashing or thumping. Give it a try, you might be surprised.

HOOD COUNTY FISHING REPORT

Water temperatures are in the upper 70s to low 80s. Striped bass to 15lbs are possible on the lower ends on live bait. Crappie fishing on underwater structures is good on jigs or small minnows. Bridge Pilings and submerged timber are good choices for crappies.  White bass fishing is fair on slabs and minnows from in town near the Shores to Indian Harbor. Look for schools of sandies on 10-to-15-foot flats. Largemouth bass continue to be good in numbers with an occasional fish to 8lbs possible. Some good top water is possible near main lake points. Large blue and yellow catfish continue to be good on cut bait fished on the upper ends near channel breaks.

OTHER AREAS    

On other reservoirs, Lake Whitney striped bass limits are common on live bait from the Island to Cedar Creek. Lake Proctor sand bass and catfish fishing is excellent near the island. Possum Kingdom Lake striped bass continues to be excellent on the lower ends on live bait and downrigging jigs.    

michael.acosta@att.net | 254-396-4855