Many angler scores on Toledo Bend 12.37-pound hawg

Mike Thaxton and his fishing partner Tony Ivy were among the thousand-plus anglers fishing various club tournaments Saturday on Toledo Bend. Launching early at Jack’s 944 landing on the Texas side, both anglers were hoping for a good bag of fish to weigh in for their own local Toledo Bass Club tournament.

It was cloudy and foggy early in the morning, and the winds were out of the south. They started out fishing Rat-L-Traps and spoons with no takers, then transitioned to pitching Senkos and jigs in the hay grass in Housen.

Still not catching fish, they decided to move across to the other side of Housen and flip the stumps with jigs. Still no hits, they decided to try a different spot and go deep.

The anglers changed over to Carolina rigs, and Thaxton tied on a green-pumpkin-red-chartreuse Zoom Brush Hog. He was fishing with 15-pound P-Line fluorocarbon spooled to a Lew’s Pro Speed baitcaster on a 7-foot, 6-inch medium-heavy 13 Fishing Omen rod.

Thaxton was reported as casting in 8 to 10 feet of water and working the bait slowly back into four feet of water. He caught first fish on the Carolina rig, a 3 ½-pounder.

A little later, Thaxton noted the sun was peeking through the cloud cover, so he told Ivy they were moving to deeper waters near the edge of a hard sand flat. He also changed the color of his Brush Hog to watermelon-red.

He felt his Stanley Wedge Weight hit some wood, and as he started to pull it over his line just got heavy and start pulling back. He knew he had a good fish. He set the hook immediately and told his partner to get the net.

Eventually, the fish came up on its side and Ivy netted it aboard. On Toledo Town scales the bass officially weighed 12.37 pounds on certified scales, his largest bass ever taken. The bass measured out at 24 ¾ inches long and 21 5/8 inches in girth.

Thaxton’s big bass was tagged and released back into Toledo Bend waters, and became lunker No. 42 entered into the Toledo Bend Lunker Bass Program for the 2016-17 season. In May, Thaxton will receive a free replica of his lunker courtesy of the Toledo Bend Lake Association.

Photo courtesy Louisiana Sportsman

Chalmette High School sophomore catches fish of a lifetime

The father-son team of Brian and Brennan Silcio spends a lot of time together fishing the Bayou Bienvenue area out of Chalmette. The previous week they had caught several four and five pound bass. But on Sunday 15-year-old Brennan pulled to the boat a 10-pound largemouth.

The duo was fishing in the main bayou. The Chalmette High School sophomore pitched a 3/8-ounce black-and-blue Bruiser Custom Jig tipped with Havoc trailer up against the point of some rocks on an old wooden bulkhead about 4 p.m. As soon as the bait hit the water, the bass almost snatched the rod out of his hand. His first thought was that it was a redfish.

And then the fish swirled he saw it was a bass. He quickly buried his rod tip beneath the water's surface to prevent the lunker from jumping again, and soon the bass was at boatside. The elder Silcio quickly put a net under it and hauled it aboard.

The massive fish measured 26.3 inches, and weighed 10 pounds on the dot.

Photo courtesy Louisiana Sportsman

Texas angler lands two Toledo Bend 10-pound-plus bass

Norman Land landed not only one 10 pound bass, but two 10 pound bass. Land and fishing partner Travis Moore, both of Cleveland, Texas, were busy pre-fishing Toledo Bend’s south end for the Texas Team Trail tournament scheduled the next day.

According to the angler, he was busy casting a ½-ounce black-blue-purple Sixth Sense jig with a Strike King black-blue Rage Craw trailer. His lure was tied to 17-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon spooled to an Abu Revo reel on a medium-heavy CastAway rod.

The first big fish picked up the bait at 11 a.m. and began swimming away with it. He set the hook and the fight was on. The fish made a few runs in open water with just a few stumps. Before he could lip her, the bass made a run around the boat. The fish was confirmed over 10 pounds at on the certified scale at Fin & Feather Resort

The bass weighed-in at 10.45 pounds, and was later tagged and released as lunker No. 39 for the 2016-17 Toledo Bend Lunker Bass Program.

Land said he and his fishing partner motored back to the same area and moved up another 100 yards. Land made a cast with the same jig to a point in 10 feet of water.

He hopped jig twice off the ledge and the fish grabbed it, but then suddenly dropped the bait the jig. He made another cast to the same spot and the fish hit again. The fish put on a good fight and swam under the boat toward deeper water.

Once that big fish was lipped aboard, the anglers once again battened down rods and tackle and made another run to Fin & Feather for a certified weight on Land’s second lunker. That fish tipped the scales at 10.24 pounds, and became lunker No. 40 for the 2016-17 season.

Since both fish were tagged and released unharmed, Land will receive two free replicas of his lunkers courtesy of the Toledo Bend Lake Association.

Photo courtesy Norman Land