Reservation Number : 35123
Property Name : Dogwood Lakes Estate: East Lake
Reservation Date : 02/20/2023 All Day -
Total Fish/Sizes : 16 total, 12 culls, one at 6.5 lbs
Lures Used : Shad profile was key

One of my favorite properties but it’s not for the feint of heart. Numbers are tricky here and we all know the beasts are lurking but finding and tricking them into biting is one of the hardest aspects of this place.

I knew it was going to be a great weather day but nothing could’ve warned me for the wind – easily the windiest day I’ve fished in many, many moons. I really do think it negatively impacted what should’ve been a great day. I arrived right at sunrise and in the first 1.5 hours I scooped 4 fish and I was thinking to myself TODAY WILL BE AMAZING. Water level was the highest I have seen in the last two years. I’ve never seen/heard water rushing into the overflow pipe at the dam and it was flushing hard down the drain.

One of those first few bass of the morning was the biggest of the day and so far the biggest fish I have caught all year. She only went 6.56 pounds but her length (picture attached) was just over 24” and based on my redamentary understanding if she wasn’t so skinny she “should be” closer to if not 9 pounds? Her head was massive and you can kinda tell by how “tall” her “shoulders” are (right behind her head) at the widest section of the measuring board here.

Anyway, I still toughed out a nearly full day once the wind really starting howling in. I really could only get bit on violent twitches of shad profiles on jerk baits and chatter baits. All fish were caught 20 feet from the shore too. I tried using deep diving crank baits and slow rolling larger swim baits all through the depths and timber and never could scoop anything of major size. I used the boat provided and as always it’s a great vessel to move around the lake with ease – trolling motor was a gem and is easy to use.

I culled 12 and they were all right around the 14” mark and very healthy looking. Outside of the two photos attached the others I released were both in the 17” mark and healthy bellies. Both of these 20”+ fish had the skinniest bellies and I supposed that’s why we are challenged to cull these dinks – let’s get all these big bass even bigger!

The wind finally started dying down closer to 4, but I had to leave by 5ish to get back to the Dallas area otherwise I probably would’ve stayed until close to sunset. I wish I could’ve cause the bite was beginning to turn on again with the wind calming and the sun lowering.

As always, love this property, and thanks to PWF for curating such amazing properties!