JDR's Tight Lines: Choke Canyon Reservoir, TX

Had to go to Austin for business travel, so Robert, Dad, and I took a guided trip to Choke Canyon reservoir the prior weekend. The guide picked us up at the house in SA at 5am, and we were on the water ready to go at 7am. The motor-keeper was stuck since the trim switch went out on the boat, so we had to cut/splice a few wires to bypass the trim switch and we were quickly in action.

The first stop was a nice sandy point we clued into after seeing birds picking bait fish off the surface. The bass were obviously schooling up the shad near the bank of a sandy island, and several long dropoffs offered excellent topwater and spinnerbait fishing. Robert quickly caught the first fish of the trip and began to rub it in. The guide took a couple on topwater plugs.

Soon thereafter, Dad and I both landed our first fish (also on white/chartreuse spinnerbaits) after giving up on the slow topwater bite. We proceeded to catch 2-3 fish each in this area. No 10lb'ers though...all in the 2-3lb range.

We then fished a couple of coves on the edge of creek channels. The guide managed to land a few fish, but we had no luck.

Soon thereafter, we visited another island in the middle of the lake. Robert continued to rock and roll with his white spinner bait. One fish took one of his blades clean off the bait, so he inspected the lure...threw it back in and BAM...a 4lb'er. He caught several nice 2-4lb males in the middle of the lake at this island while Dad and I tested our luck with various stypes, sizes, and colors of Carolina-rigged plastics, Boogiebaits, and crankbaits. The guide caught one fish on a Chatterbait.

We finished the day at an area where some late spawners were bedding. Dad, the guide, and I switched up to Texas-rigged soft plastics and Carolina-rigged 8", dark orange lizards. The lizards proved to be the killer bait. We began landing fish, after fish, after fish. At one time, Dad and I had doubles. As he landed his very fat 5lb'er, I hooked up with what felt to be a giant. She ran straight behind the boat near the prop. I tried to turn her head but she wrapped me around a sunken tree. The guide was smiling and joking about how that was my long-desired 10lb'er. Even though she was wrapped around the tree, she continued to tug at my line, putting full flex on my 7ft. St. Croix casting rod. ::sigh:: After several minutes trying to break her free, we cut the line.

Robert continued to slay fish on his spinnerbait. Dad and I continued to catch several on the lizards. This particular spot was such a nice ambush spot for both the males (building beds) and females (10ft. behind the beds). We continued to cast lizards onto the top of the point and slowly drug them away from the shore. Just as you thought it was time to retrieve and recast, fish would attack the bait with extreme aggression. We must have landed +18 fish all on this nice long point.

Just as Robert landed another healthy 5lb female, we saw a 7-8lb big girl jump and shake in the same area where I lost my giant. The guide joked that he could still see the line on the fish and that it was trying to break free from the tree. We trolled closer and I got the net ready for her second jump. It didn't happen. We backed off and continued to fish when she jumped again, this time breaking herself loose from the tree. It was good closure to see the size of that whale that I lost, but it was equally frustrating to know that she was a lost opportunity.

We finished off the day catching a few more fish off this point, counted +30 fish that Robert, Dad, and I successfully caught and released, and decided to call it.

What a blowout outing to remember! Nothing beats a great trip on the lake with family, rods bent all day long.

Props to Robert for catching the FIRST fish, LAST fish, MOST fish, and BIGGEST fish. He had an A+ performance.