Riley Harris of Orange has reeled in plenty of heavyweight bass over the years, but none to compare to the bruiser that gobbled up his football jig on the morning of November 22 at Sam Rayburn Reservoir.
Harris, 26, was out checking a few waypoints on a chilly Friday when he spotted a few fish on his electronics. The bass were holding around a brush pile in about 22-25 feet of water.
“I could tell it was an active pile, so I threw in there with to check it out,” Harris said. “She ate it on the second cast. When I set the hook I knew it was a really big fish because I couldn’t move it for like 5-10 seconds, but I had no idea how big until I got it in the boat. It was a giant — way bigger than my previous best 10.80 pounder.”
Harris weighed the bass on a Bubba digital scale. It registered a whopping 13.87 pounds.
Eager to get a certified weight on the catch, he raced to the Tackle Addict tackle shop in nearby Brookeland. There, the bassweighed an official 13.79 pounds. The angler said he promptly returned the big bass to the exact spot where it was caught. It was released in good shape.
Though Harris’ bass is well shy of the lake record mark of 16.80 pounds set in 1997, it’s the biggest fall bass reported since 2015 from the 59-year-old reservoir east of Lufkin. The angler said he plans to enter the big fish in the Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Toyota ShareLunker program as a Lew’s Legend Class entry. The Legend Class is reserved for bass weighing upwards of 13 pounds that are caught outside the Jan. 1- March 31 window for Legacy Lunkers. Legacy fish are 13plus pounders that are loaned to TPWD for spawning and genetics research at the program headquarters in Athens.
TPWD fisheries biologist Dan Ashe says he was somewhat surprised hear the news about Harris’ November giant, mainly because it was caught at a time of year that typically doesn’t produce many Texas teeners. Most of the true heavyweights are caught during spring, once their ovaries are fully developed.
“It’s a good sign for sure,” Ashe said. “It’s only November and we’re seeing near-14 pounders being caught. It makes you wonder what that fish might have weighed if she were caught later on, when she was a little more eggy. That fish could have easily weighed 1 1/2 pounds more in January or February.”
The big fish news on Sam Rayburn comes in the midst of what some anglers are calling one of the best fall fishing seasons in recent times. Harris has he’s been visiting the lake at least once a week since late October. He’s been targeting offshore structure and brush piles most of the time. The angler says it is a big fish pattern that isn’t producing many bites, but the quality has been outstanding.
“The fishing has been really good this fall,” he said. “I’ve probably caught 8-10 fish over eight pounds since October. I can catch better numbers fishing others ways, but I’m fishing specifically for big ones. I’m only getting a few bites a day running the patterns I’m running. The bigger fish aren’t hanging around with the smaller ones. It seems like they definitely want their space.”
Fishing guide Tommy Martin says he and his clients have been enjoying some excellent fishing for numbers in skinny water, but quality fish have been hard to come by. Martin says he has averaged 50-60 bass per day up to four pounds on his last three trips.
He has been targeting the coves and pockets in water ranging 2-5 feet of water. There isn’t much grass around to speak of, but there are hordes of bait fish. Martin’s go to bait has been a 1/2 ounce Strike King Red Eye Shad. He’s been throwing a gold color on cloudy days, silver under clear, sunny skies.
“The fact there are so many fish and so much bait tells me that lake super healthy right now,” Martin said. “It’s fishing way better this fall than I’ve seen in a long time.”
Plenty of the other Texas lakes are fishing pretty good this fall.
Here are a few to put on the menu as water temperatures begin to take the tumble: Lake O’ The Pines Size: 18,700 acres The Fishing: Lake O’ the Pines is a lake you don’t hear a lot about, mainly because locals do their best to keep it under the radar of the masses. Jim Tutt of Longview has been chasing bass on the northeast Texas reservoir for decades and ranks it among his favorite lakes to fun fishing.
“It’s full of them,” Tutt said. “You don’t a lot of the big weights in fall tournaments that you see during winter and spring, but the numbers can be really good.”
Tutt summarized the best plan of attack for late fall largemouths with one word — Rat-L-Trap. Crawfish (red/ orange) and shad (chrome or bone) patterns always work best.
“ A lot of guys think it’s too early to throw one, but I know better,” Tutt said. “They eat it here.”
Tutt says the ‘Trap always works best around hydrilla beds.
Some of the best stuff north of the Highway 155 bridge. He recommends working a 1/2-ounce bait just fast enough to keep it ticking the tops of scattered grass beneath the surface. Best water depth is 3-5 feet.”
Bois ‘D Arc Size: 16,600 acres The Fishing: Located in Fannin County, Bois D’ Arc is Texas’ newest fishing hole and the first major reservoir to open statewide since 1991. The lake opened to recreational traffic in April 2024. It has already produced an official lake record of 9.05 pounds for fishing guide Jason Conn and numerous other fish in the eight-pound class, including an 8.15 pound Toyota Sharelunker, also caught by Conn.
Growth rates on stocked bass have obviously been outstanding and certain to continue for a while. Bennett said he believes the lake could challenge the state record mark as early as 2029.
This is the first fall for anglers to fish the lake. Conn says it has been good a good one. He pointed to flooded bushes and old pond dams east the FM 897 bridge as good bets for numbers and quality. All of the brood ponds (3-7 acres) that were stocked prior to the lake filling are located in that area of the lake. Water depths of 15 feet or less will be best.
The fish aren’t everywhere, though. They can be really spot oriented. Conn says Live Scope is a big player on Bois d’ Arc.
“At times it can be like crappie fishing. Just scan around with ‘Scope until you find a tree or bush that’s got fish in it. If they are near the top of the tree that’s when they eat really good.”
O.H. Ivie Size: 19,000-acres The Fishing: The remote West Texas reservoir east of San Angelo caught fire with big bass following the big freeze in February 2021. It’s been smokin’ ever since.
‘Ivie has been the leading producer of Toyota Legacy Class ShareLunkers for the last three years. It also finished among the Top 2 in Bassmaster’s annual Top 100 Lakes in America three times. The lake was No. 1 in 2023.
Conn is a traveling guide who sets up camp at ‘Ivie each fall and winter. He and his clients have caught their share of big ones there, including a 17.03 pounder Conn reeled in during February 2023.
Conn says ‘Ivie always produces some heavyweights during fall, many on big crank baits and swim baits. The majority are caught by anglers savvy with forward-facing sonar. He pointed out that the fish won’t be suspended the water column like they will be later on during the pre-spawn.
“A lot of times they’ll be right on bottom with their bellies buried in the mud,” he said. “That can make them a lot harder to see on ‘Scope.”
Something anglers need to watch this year is water level. The lake was only 26.3 full (less than 7,500 acres) and falling in mid-August, but has risen more than nine feet to 41 of capacity since September.
Fisheries biologist Lynn Wright says he has talked to numerous anglers lately who are finding the best action in shallow water around newly flooded salt cedars using frogs and other topwaters baits.
“From what I’ve heard the guys who are fishing deep looking for big ones have been struggling,” he said. “The catch rates for the trophy hunters have really plummeted the last couple of months.”
Matt Williams is a freelance writer based in Nacogdoches, mattwillwrite4u@ yahoo. com.
PHOTO BY MATT WILLIAMS
