Ray Hubbard 10-23-09

All I can say is it was WINDY!!!!! Fished this morning for 1.5 hours and the birds were working. Caught numerous white bass and some small hybrids. That did not last long so I headed South and that was tough... the winds were 20-25 mph out of the N-NW and I has 3ft swells , so I turned the boat around and the wind started picking up again.... went to the marina and called it a day. Just can not fish in winds like that... But a good sign of the birds showing up...

Ray Hubbard 10-16-09 & 10-17-09

Things are looking up... I am still having slight computer problems but they are getting better...

10-16-09

Had the chance to fish with good friend and fellow mod Sharon on Friday. She was off all week on vacation and I do not get the chance to fish with her too much anymore because of scheduals. I did inform her that fishing would most likely not be very good but she said she wanted to "just go fishing" Well , for all the guys that post a topic asking "should I go " this just proves my point... you can not catch fish sitting on the couch!!!!!!!!!! We started out with post front conditions ,but we had the clouds and wind on our side. Found fish on flats and we did pretty well. The bite was light and a lot of short strikes. Nice hybrids and shorts plus a mixture of whites... most legal and only a few small ones. We would then mark good schools on the graph in depper water and slab them up... We caught fish on a plethora of lures with soft plastics being the best on hybrids. The liked the smaller profile CO-HO and the larger fiesta slab from MOE'S along with the fast Ally spinner bait ...go figure All fish caught in 2-22ft water and water temps were 68 degrees.... N winds 15-20mph.. I can tell you this ....when the sun came out they shut down ...

10-17-09

Fished with good friends "EL NITRO" and Gene reeves this morning. We wanted to see if we could catch some fish with the bright blue skies and little wind... first spot I hooked up with a hybrid and we all missed multiple fish. We moved to another area of the lake and started catching fish "EL" caught the only legal hybrid today I think and we caught many shorts. Whites were in the area also and Gene reeves slowed rolled a spinner type bait a wooped us on that deal I had my best luck with the CO-HO today and the proto slab from MOE'S. Everybody had stuff to do so we called it quits at 9:00 am. All fish caught on a CO-HO's, SSS Slabs , 3" sassys from MOE'S and a spinner type bait from BP in 2-16 ft water. Water temps was 68-70 degrees and wins were N 2-5 mph..sorry no pics today...

Guys, the fishing will only get better.... now, the only problem will be a consitant pattern. Some days we will kill them and some days might be tough. Once November gets here it will be really good...

Hello

Hello everybody… Sorry I have not had any updates but things have been hectic. I have been fishing some on Hubbard and some on other lakes. This time of year I try to get as many honey do’s done as I can. The fishing is picking up and the hybrid bite is starting to show. On cloudy , rainy and windy days the fish should be good. On the bright sunny post front days the fishing will be ok. As the month carries on once we hit the great Hollows eve ( My B-day) the fishing should be kicking strong. November will be lots of fish and the birds will lead the way. The afternoon fishing should really pick up here in a week or 2. As December gets here it is time for dead sticking plastics and great hybrid days. The fishing can be some of the best of the year but you have to dress warm… Don’t be scared and come out and join me. I am going to attempt to fish in the morning, it is suppose to be real windy and maybe some rain… so it might be perfect. I have also had computer problems the last month so my blog has been a little on hold. If you have any questions feel free to call or e-mail me…

Texoma Report

9-17-09 Afternoon

Had the chance to sneak out of work early Thursday and head up to the big pond :D Super Duck , FastGuy and myself wanted some of this great top water action we have read about…. Fished the great JD Lyle on his air craft carrier for the afternoon bite. JD fished that morning , but I will let him tell that story. We fished from 4:00pm till 7:00 pm with great results. Top water fish , and great size :thumb: these were not schooling fish but blind casting in the shallows… If you have never caught a 8lb striper on top water in 1-2 ft of water you should give it a try… Those fish were blowing that 4.5 inch top water out of the water 2 ft… The original plan was to fish Friday morning but JD talked us in to going that afternoon as well… stayed in the beautiful Hidden Acres cabins…. I only have one pic but Super Duck has a few… we really did not have time to take too many pictures as it was fast and furious action….

9-18-09 morning
After a great night of sleep at the Hidden Acres cabins we were off once again and joined by good buddy Ruben… he drove up for some of the great top water action….. We do not know what happened but it was far from great for us !!!! We caught fish but nothing like the afternoon before. I would have lost money betting on our chances for that morning… oh well, sometime you can not catch 8lbs everyday… I hope the bite stayes for you guys,,, and I hope we did not catch the tail end yesterday morning. I would like to that JD Lyle once again for a great time fishing and the accommodations he provides with his great boat and cabins. We called it at 10:00 am to go pack up and grab a bite…. I bet those fish went stupid later in the morning but sometimes you make the call...

A little Break 9-11-09

First off I would like to remember all the victims of 9-11-2001, that was a sad day in history and I will never forget that the rest of my life.

Had the chance to fish with good friends Super Duck and John Nitro on Fairfield Lake. We left the house at 4:00am and arrived at the lake at almost 6:00am. We started out catching good size baits which was a plus. We went and set up at our first spot and caught a small red. Second fish was the biggest red I have seen in person and been witness caught … Mike hooked into a brute , you should have seen his eyes…. At one time while he was fighting that thing we had 3 fish on at the same time….John and I lost ours but Mike got his in the boat. His was 18.9 pounds …. We managed a good amount of reds and kept 5 for us to have for some dinners and John was handy with the net… he caught us nice Tilapia and the biggest blue gill I have ever seen. That afternoon we went back out and that was a huge mistake…. When we got on the water huge thunderstorms rolled in, lighting just shooting out of the sky…. We made the very smarter decision to load up and get out of town… Fairfield is was down and the ramp is crap…. WE COULD NOT PULL THE BOAT OUT OF THE WATER…. It was pouring down rain and the truck could not get enough traction on that steep ramp to get it out… Finally with the boat on the trailer we use the motor on the boat to help get the truck over the hump, and fishtailed all the way up the ramp with smoking tires…. I know this is a long story but did I mention Mike got a 3/0 hook stuck thru his hand when he slipped in the boat… John had to push it through and cut the barb, I also ate some fresh jalapeño for lunch earlier with my food and stupid me rubbed my eye.. It swelled up like I got punched…. Also when we got the boat out , John’s window would not roll up because it got so wet .. I told John I would drive back to the cabin, on the way in we seen some pretty deer…. But one of them decided to jump in front of the truck… yes ladies and gentle men, we hit a freaking deer!!!!! Luckily we grazed his ass and he swung around a few times and ran off.. Truck was ok… with the window still down and raining, Mike suggested we stop the truck, and do a reboot… he said it works on his computer so why not… we pulled over … turned off the truck and started back up… IT work… Needless to say when we woke up the next morning and it was raining… We all looked at each other and said… lets go home… if the ramp was not so bad we would have fished, we fish in the rain all the time… but we had enough…. If anybody ever wants to catch some reds without going to the cost call Jackie Kennedy, he guides down there and has fished that lake for 20+ years… he has helped us more than I can thank him… his website is http://www.jackiekennedyfishingguide.com/home . He is a great guy… Sorry for the long story…. It was still worth the trip… we had a great time…

Ray Hubbard 9-6-09

Fished with good friend John today... Today was a typical early September fishing day... It was tough to say the least. We found no schooling what so ever but did find some fish in 19-22ft water. Had to work really hard for them though. We did not fish long as all the pleasure boaters started coming out arounf 10:00am for their last hurra at the lake.

Ray Hubbard 9-4-09

Fished with good friends SuperDuck, Ruben and Skeeter Steve :) This was the best day of fishing that I have seen in about a month. We started at the flats and we caught fish 2 ½ hours. Big whites bass, small hybrids and 1 keeper hybrid,,, We mainly fished top waters and when they would go down we fished slabs and CO-HO’s. It is time for the swim bait !!! I would use the smaller profile CO-HO’s right now over the bigger shanghais and sassy shad, but if you find them in deep water use the heavier sassy shad to get the bait down. The top water bite also the last 2 days has not been a fast retrieve , but better with a pop, pop then stop... they would knock that thing out of the water on the stop …. The swim bait retrieve needs to be steady but not real fast also. After that hot action stopped Matt called and we picked him up, caught some more fish deeper water. We caught a lot of fish, the most in a boat that I have been in in a least a month, very few small whites but quite a few under hybrids, they are still fun on top :D We fished from 7:00am till 11:am … all fish caught on various BIG top waters , CO-HO’s and slabs From Moe’s , everybody was using a different one and I could not tell you which one did better except they will be on the way later this years :thumb: Water depth was once again 5ft to 26ft and water temps are an unbelievable 81-83 degrees, which I think has these fish going. On a side note, not much boat traffic, Fridays were as bad as Saturdays there for a while but with the start of school, killing little birds and everything it has calmed down. I will not be on the water AT ALL this holiday weekend so you guys have fun.

Ray Hubbard 9-3-09

Since my job was nice enough to give all of the employees a day with out pay I went fishing…beats the hell out of a pink slip !!! SuperDuck and I started a little early and tried to see if some fish might be shallow before daylight, we caught a few but nothing to brag about. All I can say is that this has been a weird August first part of September. We later found fish schooling on a flat and is was some good fishing . As SuperDuck messed with the fly rod I commenced to kick his butt with a big top water and Co-Ho :grin: he finally put that thing up and started catching fish. All in all a good morning with fish found later with the graph and slab. We found fish in as shallow as 3ft and as deep as 29ft. All fish caught on various top waters, SSS Slabs and swim baits… water was a cool 81-83 degrees and the wind was big when we started but laid down. We started at 6:30am and fished till 11:00am , after that we went to the Flying Saucer for a little lunch and adult beverages.

Ray Hubbard Report 8-25-09

One word of advice… never ever drink an energy drink at 3:00pm when your trip is at 3:30pm when it is 100 degrees!!! Man that thing made me feel really bad…. The trip started out with the front graph not working!!! after I solved that problem later in the day my stomper button went out!!! I thought it was my trolling motor, I even did not buy the big foot brand last time hoping this “new and improved” more expensive one was the ticket… it lasted 3 months….. Anyway…. Fish were stacked up real good in shallow water… they would only hang around a few minutes though. Later when we seen a few spread out we would throw shanghai swim baits and that is where we picked up our only legal hybrid. It is time to keep a CO-HO tied on just in case It is the dog days … and August and September are usually pretty tough on Hubbard… one day good, the next not so much… I look in a lot of areas this time of year… All fish caught on Moe’s SSS , Shanghais and TNT 180’s in 12-14 ft of water. Winds were nothing then 10 E later and water temp went from 84 degrees last weekend to 89... Nice and steamy…. Looks like I will try to catch up on some stuff before the great fall bite starts,,,

On the water class 8-22-09 and 8-23-09

I would like to thank all the last 2 days on my on the water seminars. The main purpose of these trips was to try to explain why, what and how’s . We purposely stayed away from boats shows except this morning when we did fish an area then the boat show kinda started. We did not try very hard to find schooling fish, but we did look… and not much found. I felt there was no reason to fish schooling fish because most can catch them that way when we did I mostly tried to explain the do’s and don’ts and why’s and how’s We spent a lot of time with the graph and how to read maps to apply to any lake. The reason why fish should be there and patterns the lures to use his and that time of year. I made these guys and girl a little printed version of what we discussed. Today I would have like to found a few more fish in certain areas to show on the graph. We fished a lot of areas that hold fish but not necessarily this time of year. When we were done Mike and hamburgers waiting and good grab bags of lures ready for the guys when we cam in we spent another hour or two talking about things, and eating…. I hope every body that went had a good time and learned a little something. I will try to do a couple of these a year.. The scheduling is the tough part.



Here is what some of my guest had to say :)

"Knew it was going to be a tough day with the wind and it being out of the East. But cathing fish was secondary to the goal of learning how to find and catch fish. What we learned today will apply to any lake. Can't say enough about how knowledgable John is and how well he can explain all facets of fishing. If you ever get a chance to go on a learning trip with John by all means do so. Then to top it off Mike (Moe's tackle met us at the dock with some really good hamburgers from the grill and this great big bag full of lures. It's nice to watch video's and get instructions from experts at seminars but you just can't beat being on the water in the real world of fishing.
If you want a great guide on Ray Hubbard:
http://www.jvguideservice.com/
If you want great tackle at a more than reasonable price:
http://www.moestackleshop.com/"

Steve S.

"we also went out with john on the teaching trip today and it was so much more than we expected. john can explain things about fishing like a college professor or like an old friend, whatever it takes. we must have found fish in 8-10 different spots and went over why they were there, what makes a spot good, how to work baits, all that stuff was what we all wanted. then once at the marina moe's tackle mike was a class act all the way. he comes across just as friendly as john and talked fishing with us for an hour. thanks guys i can't wait to find fish on my home lake."

Mike

"Also went out with John Sunday and agree it was more than I was expecting. The communication of patterns, lures, presentation, graph reading, and alot more was not only a learning experience but a confidence builder as well. I know I have alot to learn still, but I honestly believe that I can go to the lake and with a little effort and attention can find fish! That is priceless. I not only felt that I got my moneys worth but much more. Can't say enough about John and Mike both. They really want to help people be successful in fishing and that means the world to someone that is trying to learn. Thank you guys so much for what you do and all the TFF members that continually help others learn. I am really proud to be a member here."

Nick

8-15-09

Fished with first time guest Kyle and his father David. Started out like yesterday morning with top water fish on the flats once again pushing nice shad out of the water. Crowed was not too bad today for a Saturday. While others chased the headache birds we held are ground and some nice fish to ourselves with just a couple of boats. When that died down we moved around and we actually caught fish at every spot I checked today, it was a much better catching day then yesterday and caught a lot of fish ( Sorry Josh) . Kyle wanted to keep a few fish and we did of the nicer ones. Once again the graph played a vital part in catching fish. They move a lot and once you catch a few they are gone. Today they hanged around a couple spots much longer than yesterday. Magic depth was 13-18 ft , windy currents. The wind got up real good about 10:00am and we looked for somewhat protected water, and guess what :D fish were there also… Seen a few TFF’s out. All fish caught on Moe’s SSS slabs , fast ally , humdinger and various top waters in 13-28ft. Winds were S 5-20 mph and water temp was 86 degrees.

8-14-09

Fished with repeat Josh and his father Colonel and they brought first time Jerad and Jim. Started out with pretty good top water on flats, they were pushing nice shad about 3-4 inches out of the water and today’s boat traffic was one of the lighter Fridays I have seen :) maybe people are finding work again….. When the madness started and the fish calmed down we relied on the graph once again. These fish are holding to structure but as soon as you catch a few they move, when I mean move I mean vanish!! As you can see by these reports there is a pattern going :D you have to move and look and burn a little gas. It was constant action just not great action. I hate working for fish but it is August and that is what happens. Jared wanted to keep some fish so I cleaned maybe 25 and we would have had to measure once again to keep more. Lots of small hybrids today…. All fish caught on Moe’s triple SSS, Fiesta and thrifty slabs.. I also have one Fast Ally left and that whacked some fish this morning along with various top waters and the soon to be famous bungee bubble with a clouser . I can not wait till Moe’s get his new top water bait,,,,Fished stayed a little shallower today as 14ft was or magic number. Winds were E then SE 5-12 mph and water temp was 83-85 degrees. Josh, thanks again guys and good seeing you all.

8-12-09 Afternoon

Fished with repeat guest Jeff, Leonard and Eric. Started at 3:30 and fished till 8:00pm. I have to say this group is great, no offense to any of my guest and I love them all but Leonard has to be one of my favorite guys :) Jeff called last week and wanted to go but I was on Vacation. He said next Wednesday , I told him I have not fish in an afternoon in a while but we will give it a shot. Started out kinda slow but we managed to pick up fish using the great Lowrance :grin: Was not fast and furious but fish are holding a little to structure and points in 10-22 ft water. Could not find much fish deeper than that. We ended with a little schooling action at the end. Small hybrids were caught but nothing big… I have no idea where they went our are :Bang: They kept 50 to clean and maybe, just maybe we could have kept 75 if we would have measured but not much left of a 10 ½ in fish when you are done. All fish caught on Moe’s SSS, Fiesta and Leonard’s favorite rainbow slab. Also various top waters in 10-22 ft water… winds were E-N then NE about 10-15 mph and water temp was 84-86 degrees. Thanks again guys and it is always a pleasure.

Vacation

Guys and Girls, I have been on my family vacation and just got back.. I will post stuff this week and we are getting back to fishing...

Ray Hubbard 8-2-09

What a day on the water. Fished with good friend “THE NITRO” and SuperDuck. We started early at 6:30am and the fish did not disappoint. The great thing about today , it was like a normal Sunday. We had the fish to ourselves and a few other boat for a while… no craziness and great top water action. We shot a little video today also. Today was my first time ever catching some fish on a fly rod. Kind of cool I have to say. As the top water slowed I found fish holding on structure and we caught 5 legal hybrids and a couple of shorts mixed in. It was such a pleasant day of fishing and catching. All fish caught on Moe’s SSS slabs, various top waters and clouser flies in 5-21 ft water. Winds were NONE and it felt like August. Water temp was 83-85 degrees. After the fishing we went to Gloria’s and had lunch.

Ray Hubbard 8-1-09

Had repeat guest Eric , brother Mark, cousin Curtis and his father. We Started at 6:30am and fished till 12:30pm because of the rain. Had good top water action but it started a little late for us this morning. We were chased off the water at 10:00am by bad storms that lasted about an hour or so. We headed back out too fish busting the top and it was on like gang busters. A lot of nice white bass and under hybrids… I think the guys had a great time considering we almost left because of the rain. Fishing is pretty steady and even found some on structure.Used the Super Duck boat today and it is a nice ride. All fish caught on Moe’s SSS slabs, various top waters and the fast ally in 5-28ft water. Winds were calm to rough to calm out of the S and water temp is a cool 82-84.

Ray Hubbard 7-31-09

Had the chance to fish with good friend and fellow guide Matt. Superduck, my main tackle sponsor also joined us for some fun today. Fishing was pretty good , the boats ran fish off once again. This little video is just to show you guys we do have a sense of humor.

Play Time 7-23-09

Buddy John had the day off so we went back to Fairfield. We had 11 hookups with 9 fish landed. Sizes were 10.6 lb, 10.2 lb, 9.7 lb, 8.9 lb and 3 other that went 21-23 inches. Great day off and had fun. Hubbard fishing is ok... lots of smaller fish but big schools. The weekends are getting very crowded though.

Something Different 7-18-09

Well, had the day off and The Nitro and Gene wanted to fish ,but we really did not want to put up with the crowds. We threw out a few lakes and figured they would all have boat traffic except maybe 2, Copper and Fairfield .Lets try something new….. We have never even been on Fairfield before but thought what the heck , it is either that or nothing. We arrived a little late not anticipating the longer drive but we did ok. Talked to Jackie and thank you sir for your help. If anybody wants to catch some reds give that man a call. He is very nice and helped us out bunches. We caught 3 legal reds, 1 rat red and a catfish. We did have a big red break off but lesson learned on that one. I have fished for reds on Tradinghouse lake but we trolled for them there. We used live bait and fished a way I have never fished before and it was a challenge to learn a new lake and all the things you are not accustom too. But it was a fun time we set out to catch reds on a lake never fished by us and we hit our goal. The water temp on that lake was insane,,,,, 96 degrees… Thanks again Jackie for the tips…

Ray Hubbard 7-17-09

Fished guest David and his grandpa Jack .We started at 6:30 am and fished till 12:30 pm. Started out with a little rain , high winds and big waves and then went to nothing. Fish did school and they were very finicky that day, at one point we had fish and shad busting and we threw everything we knew and would come back empty…. David and I looked at each other and just shrugged… David got some pics of grandpa Jack and he had a great time. I do not really know how many we caught but it was not a stellar day on David and my standards but we know how it goes. David kept a few for Jack to take back to Memphis. All fish caught on SSS slabs from MOE’S , various top waters and David’s home made slab in water 10-30ft deep. Winds were 5-20 mph S-SE-E-N and any other way Water temp cooled because of the rain and clouds to a nice 84 degrees. David, thank you and it was a pleasure fish with you and grandpa Jack.