It is no secret that the better bass fishing at Toledo Bend mostly south of Pendleton Bridge that cuts the lake roughly in half.
“We’re talking about the Indian Mounds, Six Mile and Housen areas,” Dean said.
In fact, a review of locations where double-digit bass were taken in February 2015 included:
• Indian Mounds
• Negreet Creek
• Housen Bay
• near the Toledo Bend Dam
There also were a couple of fish caught just south of Pendleton Bridge.
No matter which of these areas you choose, however, it’s important to focus on travel areas.
“I fish the creek channels, feeder drains and ditches in these areas during the prespawn,” Dean said. “The bass winter in the deeper domains of the channel but use those funnels to get into the shallows.
“These fish will start to show on the first ledges in these areas.”
These drains warm up quickly, and shad and shiners will start filtering toward the backs of the coves during warming trends — and bass will be on their heels.
“Anglers should stay near the deeper drains, as that’s where those bass will pass first during weather system changes,” Dean said.
That said, Dean likes to fish vegetation — hydrilla, coontail, milfoil and peppergrass — 12 months of the year.
But consistently finding grass near the travel routes was tough during last year’s spring.
“The hydrilla situation on the Bend (was) perplexing in 2015,” he said. “All we can think up here is that the persistent high waters must have shut out the sunlight to it — possibly killing it in many areas.”
By late summer and early fall of 2015, anglers started finding hydrilla in some areas — but patches were small and sporadic.
“Haygrass has appeared recently since Hurricane Rita and during the low-water levels, and bass have adapted well to it,” he said. “It’s sort of heaven-sent since the hydrilla disappeared.”