As of May 10, 2010 Sam Rayburn has a current water level of 163.78 which has the lake about 6 inches below full pool. The lake level has been steadily falling for the past month which has pulled most of the fish out of the bushes and positioned a lot of them around shallow vegetation. To me, May at Rayburn is prime time to throw a top water. I generally start each morning by throwing a black ribbit or buzz bait if cloudy, and a white ribbit or buzz bait if the sky is clear. I throw both baits on a PG104-7’6” with 50 lb. braid. If they do not chase the moving baits I switch to a yellow magic or a chrome black back pop R and work them kind of slowly. Pads and pepper grass are what I primarily target with all three baits but both hydrilla and hay grass can be just as good. I generally throw the top water for the first hour and a half of the day, but will throw it throughout the day if there is cloud cover or a little wind. After the top water bite dies I generally fish the same areas with either a Texas Rig or a wacky worm. I usually throw both on a PG144-7’0” with 15 lb. fluorocarbon with some sort of green pumpkin or watermelon senko or trick worm. Towards the end of the month as the hydrilla continues to grow the crank bait bite should really heat up. DD 14’s and series five and six Strike Kings worked on the outside edge of the grass will produce quality bites all day long. I generally throw shad colors with the Strike Kings and perch colors with the Norman. I throw all of my big crank baits on a PGC170-7’0” with 12 lb. fluorocarbon.

Good Luck,
Danny Iles
www.johnstonfishing.com