Reservation Number : 28613
Property Name : Signal Ranch
Reservation Date : 05/26/2021 All Day -
Total Fish/Sizes : 53 / Under 1 lb to 4.09 lbs
Lures Used : Chatterbaits, stick worms/senko worms, squarebill crankbaits, frogs, and lipless crankbait.

STATS:

Fished 5/26/21
8 AM to Sunset (Between 8 PM and 8:30 PM didn’t really log it as we were unloading the boats and cleaning up our trash)
Between the 3 of us we caught roughly 53 and we each lost at least 2 to 3 fish due to bad hooksets or line breaks.
Water Temp was in the low 80’s
Visibility was less than a foot as described by nearly all of the previous reports that we had read before going.

Lures that worked:

Chatterbaits – Small and large sizes – Dark colors – Black/Blue, mini chatter was chrome blade with small fish body, Z-Man Jackhammer with Craw trailer (brown, red, and black).
Squarebill Cranks – Custom Painted Bluegill and a Shad color segmented Crankbait.
Stik-O/Senko style worms – Black/Blue Fleck 5in and 7in sizes, Watermelon Red Fleck, Pumpkin Red Fleck, Earthworm color combo black/red fleck. Ref fleck was a hit!
Top Water Frogs

Lures that did not work on this trip:

Alabama Rig
Swimbait on a Flashy Underspin
Any color worms that are not listed above. Tried the Zoom Ol’ Monster 10/12 inch sizes in Red Shad color and it did not get bit.

Areas that worked:

Pretty much all over. However, the best results came from fishing the aerators. Around the side vegetation. More details in the “Story Time” section.


Story Time/Trip Breakdown

Cash Signal Ranch is a special property. Just as descibed it’s well manicured. Easy to get to and only 50 minutes from my house. We reached the property at 8 AM. Immediately started bank fishing the pier, lilly pads to the right of the pier, and the smaller attached pond across from the pier (behind where you park). Top water frogs worked immediatly. There is structure in front of the right side of the pier that we got stuck on 3 times. Two of which cost us our lures. After picking up a couple of bass on frogs and missing a blow up or two, we loaded the two boats for the 3 of us. 

After getting on the water, we started counter clockwise from the pier to the lilly pads and reeds. Everything was starting out slow until we hit the first aerator near the first water fountain. BOOM – fish started hitting. First success was found on the Z-Man Jackhammer chatterbait with a California Craw trailer. Basically – Brown/Red/Black. This thing was HOOOOOOOOT and the hero lure of the day followed closely by lipped crankbaits.

We moved from aerator to aerator and anything that looked like a good target (piers, lilly pads, stumps/logs, etc.) The fishing seemed to go in waves. It would be hot then cold, on/off. The open waters seemed to produce fish but not as often as the aerators. If you have never been to this property, you will see multiple areas in the middle of the water that are bubbling. We graphed the most fish around/on aerators. The bigger fish seemed to be there as apposed to the shallows. We still caught bass in the shallows, just not as big. 

The fish feeders! They went off at different times but only 1 time each. I caught 5 bass off of the feeding frenzy. All of them at my custom painted bluegill squarebill crankbait. This was my second best lure of the day. 

When we couldn’t catch them on moving lures, the stik-o/senko style worms delivered. Black and blue or anything with Red Fleck. Anything Red caught bass. 

We caught a lot of bass. Most of which were 2+ to 4 pounds. This place is not about catching giants, but just catching more decent size fighters. I feel that the price is for paying for location, ease of access, the nice boats, and the manicure/scenery. It’s a bit pricey for this teachers budget, but it was a special occasion. I hope I can afford to go back for another trip. Would rather pay this rate at a place that has a lot of 10 pounders like Camelot Bell, but this is a lot cheaper than Camelot Bell. 

Notes for visitors:

You can bank fish as it is well manicured all around the lake. However, the best fish were caught off of the aerators and unless you can make super long and accurate casts….you really need to use the boats. The boats are in great condition and best I have used in the club so far. 2^nd best so far goes to Six-O Ranch and Indian Cave La Roca Ranch. Pontoon boats are the way to go. Jon Boats are just uncomfortable and less stable. The owners brought out back up batteries for us. I should have switched the battery at lunch, because my boat was really slow at the final hours. I was just to focussed on fishing to go back and swap batteries.

When you go to breakdown to leave: There is a light switch to give some light around the trash can and one of the tables. Have a flash light as there are spiders on the pier at night as well as anything you leave on the tables while you fish. There is a small concrete bridge to cross on one side. Very thin, so if it’s dark I recommend leaving on the far side (second entrance to the visitor area). It’s thin and might be more difficult to navigate in the dark. It was covered in water.

Snakes: 1 water mocassin was spotted. Luckily it was in the water swimming. However it was swimming right at me. So as it got closer and wasn’t changing direction, I just turned on the trolling motor and left that spot. Not going to take any chances. The snake just swam to the water vegetation and stopped to lay on top of it. SO – if you get a lure stuck in the vegetation – BE CAREFUL and look before putting your hands in it to retrieve your lure. This is only the second snake I have seen in 1 year of membership, at any property. 

Active ranch: You will hear the cows and chickens providing a sound track. Other than that, it was super peaceful and quiet.

Lunch: Not far away from the property, are quite a few places to eat. We drove out to I-30 and chose Snuffers to grab burgers for lunch. Delicious and affordable!!!

MVP LURES/TECHNIQUE OF THE TRIP:

Z-Man Jackhammer Chatterbait in Hite’s Hot Craw pattern/ with a Strike King Rage Tail Craw in California Craw color/pattern. THIS COMBO WAS HOT!!!! I had to order them online as my local stores were sold out.

Bluegill or dark color Squarebill crankbaits

Find the aerator. Cast passed it. Slow retrieve your lure through the bubbles. Hope that your bait just stops. Reel in your bass. For the chatterbait, we had a 3 to 5 second drop count before retried. The bass were either suspended or at the bottom. I did scan one aeroator where they were stacked from top to bottom. However most fish were 3 to 5 feet below.

Will update with more pics when my friends send them to me.