Dominant patterns for successful bass fishing

The dominant pattern being used for successful bass fishing at Falcon broadened somewhat in April. In addition to the "plastics in five feet of water on hardwoods off creek channels" pattern working most of March, "Carolina-rigged lizards on rocky points and drop-offs in five to 10 feet of water" started to work in April and by the end of April, it had become the dominant pattern. Several colors have produced fish, but the grasshopper and watermelon-red lizard plastic baits have probably been working the best. Not that big stringers of large fish are routine. In fact, day one of the Coleto Bass Masters Tournament Saturday, April 26 ended with only a few five-fish limits and a 13-lb. heavy stringer. There were some good fish lost to monofilament line, sub-par netting and bad luck. The bite is improving somewhat as the already-spawned and yet-to-spawn fish are gradually moving out of the shallow areas to the points, even as the lake continues to fall precipitously (as a result of the 13,000-plus withdrawal by Mexico and 3,000 acre feet draw down by the U.S.).
On the second day of the tournament, in addition to wind gusting to 32 mph, fish got a little more tentative. Craig Crim still managed to add 12 lbs. to his day-one catch, ending up with first place and 25.70 lbs. for heavy stringer. His partner Donnie Kurtz ended up second with 21.45 lbs., and they had a combined total weight of 46.15 lbs. for heavy-stringer/boat. The big bass of the tournament was landed by Duane Muncrief, and it weighed in at 6.85 lbs. He also had third heavy stringer of 20.45 lbs. Catfish have started their spawn in earnest and fish are being caught is shallow and mid-depths to 10 feet. Many of these fish, which are at seriously low populations, will never see their spawn materialize because of dropping levels. You can thank the Mexican officials who have refused to release any water from other reservoirs (that are at record highs) into Falcon to replace that water being sent to Mexico farmers south of Zapata.
We saw a drop from the high level of 268.77 feet on March 14 to 268.47 feet as of April 1. As of the 30th of April at 8:30 a.m., we were at 260.89 feet, a drop of 8.42 feet for the month. Our request to protect the spawn by dropping the lake no more than six inches during any two-week period has been ignored by Mexico, and although we had an excellent early spawn, that portion of the spawn in progress has most likely been destroyed.
The ramp at Falcon State Park was not operational from 262 feet down to about 260 feet, and it will take a few days' drying time before it is adequate to launch off the rocks on the south shore. By the time this is printed, launching from the rocks should be operational. The big ramp at Zapata County is marginal, but the concrete point ramp is showing up and can be used at this time. We are about 10 feet away (elevation of 252 feet and 250 feet for small boats) from losing all improved launching on Falcon Lake as we have virtually ever year since the late nineties. With this inevitably comes a loss of tournament bookings, tourist revenues, and a long hot summer.
The Río Grande below Falcon Dam has continued to produce some excellent limits of good bass, stripers, and catfish. The moss, which plagued fishermen on nearly every cast, has been washed downstream, and good fish are being caught at the present time.

(Larry E. Bridgeman is the owner of Falcon Lake Tackle in Zapata, TX. Visit the Falcon Lake Tackle website at www.tackleandrods.com.)