Water level is expected to be below full pool for the upcoming FLW Tournament, Jan. 30-Feb. 1. The water level is currently at 165.58 feet above sea level; full pool is 172 feet.

Curtis Niedermier, FLW, writes that the shallow fish are still going to get on shallow cover. “They don’t have grass, so they’re going to relate to stumps and timber,” shared FLW Pro Circuit rookie Darold Gleason, who guides on Toledo Bend. “There are deep pre-spawn fish as well.”

BAITS AND TECHNIQUES
Deep, shallow and in between will all play on Toledo Bend. Offshore anglers will catch fish dragging football jigs or Carolina rigs, or cranking with deep plugs. Hard-bottom areas with stumps or brush will draw their focus.

Staging areas closer to spawning bays will most likely get even more attention from anglers. Bass should be set up on secondary points and creek channels or even on lead-in banks into spawning pockets. Rat-L-Traps and other lipless crankbaits might play, even though there’s little grass, and Chatter Baits, hollow swimbaits and square-bills will also work.

If conditions are right, we might even see some bass on beds, but it all depends on Mother Nature.

CRITICAL FACTOR
Warming or cooling trends – The weather in the last week or so leading up to the tournament will dictate how this event shakes out. If it’s cold and blustery, the anglers expect the biggest bass will pile up together in pre-spawn staging areas to wait out the conditions. But as soon as it starts warming, they start working their way shallower.

Weigh-ins are at 3 p.m. each day at Cypress Bend Park, Many, LA.

Photos courtesy FLW