Lake Amistad is about 7 feet low and has been holding steady.
Water temps on the main lake are mid to upper 50's with some of the more protected creeks warming up to mid 60's.

We all know what that means!!!

I looked at about 500 spawning fish the past few days.
Most were males building nests but there were a few females cruising and suspending high in the bushes.

Today we caught 75 pre-spawn bass with about 15 from 3 to 5 lbs. Some were caught fishing a Tx rigged 5" senko 3/16th Tru-Tungsten and on 16lb Gamma Flouro. I fish this rig with the PT-44. This rod is outstanding for casting a light Tx rigged bait or a weightless senko or fluke. These fish were anywhere from 2 to 15 ft casting at visible bushes and isolated grass beds back in the coves and open bays. Most were in the center of drains and off secondary points in these areas.

The others were caught out on the main lake. We drift fished weightless 7" senkos and Tx rigged 7" senkos. The Tx rig again had the 3/16th oz weight; both weightless and Tx rig were fished with 16 lb Gamma Flouro. The rod we used for this application was the PT-04. This rod is very versitile and great for long line situations such as drift fishing deep. I look for main lake flats and flat points with a good bit of brush and grass mixed in depths anywhere from 18 to 25 ft. This is where the main lake bass will spawn towards the end of the month. Right now they are just moving in to stake claim on the brush they will spawn by(staging), and are easy to catch. A friend caught a 13.72 early this week fishing an area just like this.

If sight fishing is your gig, man just drop your troll and run through the backs of every major creek. It won't take long to start seeing beds.

I like to have a couple rods rigged. One is a PT-04 with 20lb flouro 3/16 Tru-Tungsten rigged with a either a pink or white creature bait sometimes dipped in red or orange dye. The other rod will be a PT-05 with 65# braid 3/8 oz weight and a gaff for a hook. That's for the giants and the not-so-giants in heavy cover.

If there is enough up, I won't even mess with the bass that run off when the boat goes by, unless there is a giant. Then I will see how long it will take to catch her. If a bass was on a nest, he or she is catchable, it's whether or not you want to invest a lot of time in one fish. If you decide that's the one, just find the comfort zone of the fish. With the sun to your back, tie off to a bush, anchor, or use a power pole. There will always be a sweet spot on the bed; usually a rock, a shell, or just an corner of the bed, if you can figure out where that is and keep pitching at it. You can watch the body language of the bass. Look for the white tips of the lower front fins. If you can see those, he or she is mad and things are looking up. If the bass stands on her head to look at your bait, but won't budge, change colors, bump the fish in the side a few times with the bait, make precision pitches past the bed (not to spook the bass!!) dragging the bait within a 1/4 inch of the fish's nose. If you have had enough, sometimes leaving for an hour will be the trick.

Me, I have lived on Amistad, the best sight fishing lake in the world, all my life and have probably caught more bass sight fishing than all the elite pros combined. So what I do is just keep rollin' till I find the right one. Don't worry, there will be plenty locked on during the prime time. What I am trying to say is, don't burn half a day on a 6lb fish that is spooky when there might be a eight pounder locked on right around the corner.

Great Fishin'

Ray Hanselman