Spent a fantastic 3-day weekend on Heartland Ranch with a couple of buddies. They come down from the northeast every spring for some Texas bass fishing. After a brutal Boston winter (one of my friends still has a foot of snow in his yard), Heartland did not disappoint.

Three day total was 199 fish, with Saturday being the most productive with 88. Beaver gave up 25 fish, Hawg Trough another 36. The balance came from Home Place, our favorite lake of the four.

Swimbaits were the ticket, and big ones at that (4” or 5”). We picked up a few 4+ lbs. fish on spinner baits (one of the three of us is addicted to these and can’t go more than 5 minutes without throwing one). Be prepared for a battle. Leave the light gear and all that delicate jazz at home. Bring a stout rod and braid or 17+ lbs flouro to fish Beaver or Home Place.  You’re gonna need to turn those fish quickly to get them up and out of the timber.

We didn’t manage to get into anything big, but we’re a particularly raucous crew. We may have spooked all the big fish between here and Akron. While I had hoped to make the leader board of the bass competition, I was disappointed not to land anything that would place. But there certainly are HUGE fish in those lakes. Tommy the owner caught an 11+ fish on Saturday evening that had already spawned (see below). It’s one of the biggest fish I’ve ever seen. And we saw a monster (easily 10+) cruising off a bed, but we spooked her and couldn’t find her again.

If you haven’t fished Heartland, make a reservation. And even if you have, it would be good to get out there again. Home Place and Beaver are changing dramatically. I’ve fished them each of the last three years and can’t believe how much more open water there is on both. There are still a few places you can’t really get to on Beaver, but we managed to fish all of Home Place.  Parts of the lake are still a little tough to reach, but you can fish the entire lake. 2 years ago, at least 60% of that lake was inaccessible.

And it’s just a special property. Beautiful ranch, deer everywhere, a bald eagle nesting on the property, four lakes that are offer a diversity of fishing, great accommodations, the best boats in the club and the nicest, most helpful owners I’ve come across in PWF. Tommy and his son Craig go out of their way to make you feel at home and more importantly, get you on the fish.

(Philip Chapin, I know you are fishing out there soon. If you want more info, feel free to drop me an email at tjudson@gmail.com. I can make  more specific gear recommendations if you are interested.)

Tight lines,

-Tim

Posted By: Tim Judson