Also See:
Jeff Nail’s Lake Lanier Bass Fishing Report
Lake Hartwell Fishing Report from Captain Mack
Lake Lanier Fishing Report from Captain Mack
Lake Guntersville Weekly Fishing Report from Captain Mike Gerry
Lake Country Fishing – fishing reports on Lakes Sinclair and Oconee, and more. (subscription required)
Texas Parks and Wildlife Weekly Freshwater Fishing Reports
Texas Parks and Wildlife Weekly Saltwater Fishing Reports
Freshwater Weekly Fishing Report Week of November 27, 2024
GOOD. Water clear; 61 degrees; 0.94 feet above pool. Crappie are good in 30-40 feet on minnows. Report by The Bait Shop, Post, Texas.
FAIR. Water normal stain; 71 degrees; 65.84 feet below pool. Black bass are slow on Ned rigs, shaky heads, Texas rigged senkos in watermelon red, red shad, motor oil, tequila sunrise in 15-25 feet on ledges. White bass are slow in 30-50 feet of water. Find bait around river and creek channels and fish spoons, blades, Alabama rigs down deep. Stripers are slow. Tight lines! Report by Captain Raul Cordero, Far West Guide Service.
GOOD. Water stained; 70 degrees; 7.83 feet below pool. Water level is low, but target fish near the dam, and the deeper part of the lake. Drop down on brush piles. Use a slower approach now that we are experiencing colder weather and water temperatures.
GOOD. Water lightly stained; 60 degrees; 5.13 feet below pool. Catfish are starting to move out of the shallows and into the main part of the lake feeding on gizzard shad. Fish can be caught drifting. Report by Brandon Brown, Brown’s Guide Service.
GOOD. Water normal stain; 70 degrees; 0.71 feet below pool. Bass are good and can be caught on inside grass lines 4-8 feet with Texas rig worms, wacky rig senko and weightless flukes. Crappie are slow on small jigs over deep brush 25 feet. Report by Reagan Nelson, Lake Athens Bass Guide.
GOOD. Water stained; 65 degrees; 0.50 feet below pool. Bass are good with worms on the edge of deep grass, then work flukes on the shallow portion of grass. Cast wacky worms on the bluffs to land a few. Reports of a 5 pound fish with a glide bait. Report by David Townsend, Austin Fishing Guide. Bass are feeding on smaller bait fish so cast small swimbaits and jerkbaits near mouths of creeks. Cloudy windy days will be best. On sunny days cast a shaky head worm or dropshot around docks, or fishing a jig beneath the docks. As the weather becomes colder, start using an Alabama rig more. Report by Carson Conklin, ATX Fishing.
FAIR. Water stain; 75 degrees; 0.26 feet below pool. Mayflies are hatching, so expect some topwater bass action. Bass are fair on soft plastics in the cuts, or with frogs over grass. Crappie are fair with jigs in flooded timber. Catfish are fair on juglines.
GOOD. Water stained; 75 degrees. Moving baits around the grass beds are producing some nice bass. Working flukes and worms popping out of the grass and reeds has been best. Targeting rock piles and ledges with shaky heads and Carolina rigs will still catch numbers of bass. Report by Bryan Cotter, Texas Hawgs. Bass are good with natural colored soft plastic worms in 2-10 feet. Report by David Townsend, Austin Fishing Guide.
GOOD. Water stained; 69 degrees; 2.38 feet below pool. Due to mild weather, the white bass and hybrid striper fishing bounced back a bit this week. Fishing is best as a front arrives and north or northwest wind velocity increases. Fishing is worse once the north winds subside leaving cold, calm, and clear conditions. Fishing is average as the southerly winds return, and until the next front arrives. White bass fishing is fair with the MAL Original with chartreuse tail for vertical work in deep water, and the White Tornado in 1 1/8 ounce white color for horizontal work when fish show to be carpeting the bottom to either or both sides of the boat. The morning bite is from 7:45-11:00 a.m. Expect a weaker, shorter afternoon bite from 1:45-5:00 p.m. Gulls are beginning to show and help to find fish during the first hour of the day. Report by Bob Maindelle, Holding the Line Guide Service. Catfish bite is consistent. Blue catfish are good along deeper river channels in 25-50 feet of water. Drifting at slower speeds with fresh cut shad has worked best. Channel catfish have been poor. Flathead catfish have been slow, but can be found around tree piles using live bait. Report by Brian Worley, B&S Catfishing.
GOOD. Water stained; 70 degrees; 3.36 feet below pool. Catfish are fair in deeper water. Perch are good in shallow water. Crappie continue to be good in 20 feet of water using live minnows. Largemouth bass and smallmouth bass are shallow around structure using chatterbaits and Texas rigged worms.
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 80 degrees; 1.02 feet below pool. Largemouth bass bite is excellent. Spotted bass schooling around the dam has slowed. Water clarity is good in coves that have not been wind blown. The fish are bulking up for the winter, and have been biting shad colored baits up in shallow coves and creek channels. Flukes, small swimbaits, or a dark colored jig around boat ramps have all produced good size fish. Report by Blake Doughtie, Lake Country Lunkers Lures and Guide Service. Windy banks and retaining walls should hold bass. Try subsurface fish patterns near the backs of coves and creeks and around vegetation and flooded grass. Look for schooling bass, chasing shad. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service.
stained; 85 degrees; 3.51 feet below pool. Bass are slow, but spinnerbaits and chatterbaits are fair in 3-6 feet around points with weeds and some shallower tree lines and road beds. Texas rigs are good on bigger trees in 5-7 feet, and road beds. Some deep fish showing up but slow off shore. Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. The lake level is low. Crappie fishing is excellent in the main river channel timber and lower third of the lake in 30-50 feet of water catching crappie 6-28 feet down. Fish are very healthy with big black crappie being caught on jigs. Some catches near the bridge. Report by River Bottom Boys Guide Service.
SLOW. Water stained; 70 degrees; 13.35 feet below pool. Black bass are slow with a few being caught late afternoon before dark around deeper rocky shorelines using senkos and slow rolling spinnerbaits. Catfish are slow with a few caught late afternoon into the night on cut bait. Crappie and white bass are slow.
SLOW. Water stained, 72 degrees. Redfish are being caught from the bank around Dead Tree Point on shrimp and fish bites. Trolling for redfish is slow now that the spawn is over and water temperatures are falling. Channel catfish are good along rock lines on cheese bait. Bass are fair along weed lines and inside the weeds. Report by Harry Lamb, Alamo Texas Fishing.
GOOD. Water stained; 68 degrees; 7.68 feet below pool. Catfish remain good on cut shad and prepared baits. The river, creeks and main lake structure should hold fish. Crappie have been slow, minnows on main lake brush piles and docks would be the best bet. Largemouth bass have been fair on small crankbaits. Cranking and reeling in shallow, warmer water is the preferred tactic. Hybrids and sand bass have been slow on slabs in the main lake. The deadstick bite should improve as the lake slowly starts to clear. All ramps are open. Report by Keith Bunch, Lake Bridgeport Guide Service.
GOOD. Water stained; 67 degrees; 0.46 feet above pool. Black bass to 5 pounds are fair on buzz baits and Hags Hurricane Bladed jigs in the grass and weeds, and with crankbaits off the rocks in 3-8 feet around the rock cuts and flats. Crappie are slow around docks in 9 feet with brush using white or black and chartreuse jigs and some offshore brush piles. White bass are slow on crankbaits and slabs scattered around the lake. Catfish are slow on cut bait.
GOOD. Water stained; 70 degrees. Crappie are midlake suspended over deep water with most catches on minnows. Report by The Bait Barn.
EXCELLENT. Water slight stain; 63 degrees; 15.24 feet below pool. Fishing continues to improve. Striper and white bass are biting throughout the lake in 22-42 feet. Vertical jigging, slabbing, with �½-1ounce spoons has been the best technique. Live shad has been producing some fish but slabs are out fishing the bait. Report by Travis Holland, TH Fishing. Starting to see some topwater action with striped bass, hybrids, and white bass. After the next front this action should increase. Catfish are good in 15-30 feet of water with cut shad and punch baits. Report by Captain Aaron Dick, One Up Fishing Guide Service. Crappie are fair on brush piles and standing timber in 20-25 feet of water with minnows. Blue and channel catfish are fair in 10-16 feet of water with punch bait. Report by Jess Rotherham, Texas Crappie Fishing Service. Lake Buchanan bass fishing is great, and the colder the better on this lake. Work over rockpiles in 5-15 feet of water with jigs, worms and swimbaits to get those bigger bites. A deep crankbait around the deeper rocks is a great choice. Topwaters are still catching some solid fish as well. Report by Bryan Cotter, Texas Hawgs.
GOOD. Water stained; 63 degrees; 0.30 feet above pool. This cool weather that we are finally experiencing should start the winter patterns. Water temperatures have still been in the lower to mid 60s and that has slowed down the winter feeding frenzy we see out here on Caddo. This typically happens when water temperatures fall to the low to mid 50s. Bass are biting in the river system with crankbaits, rattle traps, chatterbaits, swimbaits and Alabama rigs. Target the cuts, turns and points in the river and to locate bass. On the main lake stick to the chatterbaits, flukes and swimbaits around the grass and lily pads. Reports of some still being caught on trees with senkos. The white bass and crappie should start up pretty soon also with the cold weather and if we keep some current. Always fun to come out to Caddo no matter how the bite is just to see this majestic lake that God spoke into existence. Report provided by Vince Richards, Caddo Lake Fishing & Fellowship.
GOOD. Water slightly stained, 71 degrees. Redfish are being caught along bank lines on shrimp and fish bites, or trolling on plastics and rattle traps 7-15 feet. Blue catfish are very good on road beds with cheese bait and shrimp. Channel catfish are being caught along the dam on cheese bait. Some bass are being caught off the dam and weed lines on plastics. Report by Harry Lamb, Alamo Texas Fishing.
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 71 degrees; 27.22 feet below pool. White bass and stripers sew excellent with daily limits topwaters and jigging spoons. Stripers sew schooling between 7-11 a.m. on the lower end. Bass are excellent on chatterbaits, crankbaits, wacky rigged senko over grass and hydrilla. Numbers and size have been great. Report by Charles Whited, Barefoot Fishing Tours.
GOOD. normal stain; 67 degrees; 3.48 feet below pool. The recent storms slowed down the fishing just a bit but it has picked up especially on the days it has been warming up into the 70s. Still finding hybrids and white bass on midlake points and drop offs along sandy flats throughout the dam area, Crappie Island, Key Ranch and the spillway humps in 11-19 feet. Cast spinners and slabs and look for schooling fish on these flats as well as deeper seawalls and shorelines. Fish any hump in 12-22 feet throughout the lake to find fish stacked up in schools as the day warms up. Look for schooling fish on cloudier/colder days. Use spinnerbaits or drop a slab down to the bottom and work it fast up and down and the fish will hit it immediately. Also throwing out a slab and reeling it back with a slow retrieve is also working well. Cast rattle traps, Spoons, Umbrella Rigs, slabs or sassy shads to get the hybrids to bite. The crappie bite has been getting better. Target crappie with small jigs and minnows in 7-15 feet under bridge pylons, hidden brush piles throughout the lake or under docks. Crappie fisherman have been moving spot to spot finding limits. Lots of crappies in the 7-9 inch range. Limits of crappie will happen but you may catch a lot of small ones getting to your limit. Report by Brent Herbeck, Herbeck’s Lonestar Fishing Guide Service. Catfish are good on shallow flats in the mouths of the major creeks and the adjacent points and shorelines are holding fish in 2 -6 feet, or with fresh shad anchored or drifting on mainlake flats in 12-24 feet. This bite should hold up for another month or so. Report by Jason Barber, Kings Creek Adventures.
FAIR. Water stained; 75 degrees; 32.63 feet below pool. White bass are schooling near the dam area on points and flats. A few can be caught with small spinnerbaits. Bass are fair on shad colored crankbait, or green pumpkin soft plastics. Numbers are good, but some catches are small. Crappie are biting on deep brush in 25 feet of water with live minnows or black and chartreuse grubs. Report by Scott Springer, Fish Choke Canyon Lake.
GOOD. Water slight stain; 66 degrees; 12.07 feet below pool. Crappie are good on minnows. Blue catfish are good on cut shad. The bass are jumping, but no good reports. Water clarity is low. Report by Lake Cisco Rentals.
SLOW. Water normal stain; 65 degrees; 0.09 feet above pool. Lots of freshwater in the lake slowing the bite until the water settles. Largemouth bass are dispersed throughout the lake relating primarily near stumps and boat houses. Crappie are slow with jigs and minnows.
GOOD. 75 degrees; 0.45 feet above pool. Comanche Creek stays warmer due to the power plant and this attracts many bass anglers in the winter. Fishing is excellent with most folks reporting numbers of fish being caught with an occasional bigger fish to 8 pounds. Soft plastics fished on a Texas Rigged worm or Carolina Rigged for those deeper fish seems to be the baits of choice. Tilapias continue to be caught on worms fished under a cork. Limits of eater sized channel catfish on prepared baits are common. Report by Michael Acosta, Unfair Advantage Charters.
GOOD. Water stained; 71 degrees; 1.12 feet below pool. Catfish are excellent all over the lake. Catfish Bubblegum, liver, worms, and punch bait is a great option on eaters and cut shad or bream have been doing well to catch trophy catfish. Bass are good along the bank and in 30 feet of water chasing schooling shad. Crappie are fair and you will need to hit many spots to catch a limit. Report by Brad Doyle with Bradley’s Guide Service. Hybrids have been schooling on flats and drop-offs in 13-24 feet with a few whites possibly mixed in. To determine the difference between the species check the tooth patch. Many folks are trolling with a deep diver and a pet spoon trailer, others are using slabs from Bradley Outdoors to jig for them, as well as casting swimbaits or crankbaits when schooled up. Happy Thanksgiving and always wear your life jacket! Report by Mike Cason, Fishical Therapy.
GOOD. Water stained; 64 degrees: 2.00 feet below pool. The lake is low, best to launch near the dam. Crappie are good roaming in the river channel transitioning to the dam for the river pattern. Crappie are hitting minnows, jigs, or hand tied jigs. Report by River Bottom Boys Guide Service.
SLOW. 80 degrees; 11.91 feet below pool. Blue catfish are good with catches between 15-30 pounds drifting from the state park to Permit Point, and with rod-and-reels with jigs. Another report of channel and blue catfish, and a 20 pound yellow catfish that was caught and released all on soap bait with a jug line.Report by Weber’s Boat Landing.
GOOD: Water normal stain; 71 degrees; 0.81 feet below pool. Largemouth bass bite is excellent. Spotted bass schooling around the dam has slowed. Water clarity is good in coves that have not been wind blown. The fish are bulking up for the winter, and have been biting shad colored baits up in shallow coves and creek channels. Flukes, small swimbaits, or a dark colored jig around boat ramps have all produced good size fish. Report by Blake Doughtie, Lake Country Lunkers Lures and Guide Service.
GOOD. Water normal stain; 66 degrees; 5.21 feet below pool. White bass are fair to slow on main lake structures. White bass continue to be scattered due to ongoing water releases. Crappie are fair to good on brush piles and main lake structure on jigs with white color combinations. Blue catfish and channel catfish are good on punch bait and cut bait. Report provided by Chad Ferguson of North Texas Catfish Guide Service.
Closed to the public.
GOOD. Water stained; 68 degrees; 45.44 feet below pool. Alligator gar rod and reel and bow fishing has slowed due to cold water. Trophy catfish are good in 8-12 feet of water with fresh cut bait on santee cooper rig. Keeper catfish are good in 3-10 feet of water on vertical structure with stink bait or shrimp on a slip bobber to keep bait about a foot off the bottom. Bigger catfish are on offshore timber. Largemouth bass are fair early or late in the day. Slowly drag deep diving crankbaits or plastic jigs over hard bottoms in 5-10 feet of water. Report by Ram Reyes, Ram Outdoors.
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 75 degrees. Bass are good but can be a challenge to locate after the turnover, so utilize electronics to locate fish. Early in the morning use rattle traps, switching to Carolina rigs, dropshots or shaky heads in the afternoons. Still seeing lots of undersized fish. Report by Mark Fransen, Fransen’s Guide Service.
GOOD. Water Stained; 70 degrees; 2.33 feet below pool. Bass morning bite has been slow with a few coming on spinnerbaits and chatterbaits in 3-5 feet around grass and flats. Square bill crankbaits are good in 3-5 feet around timber. Shaky heads and Texas rigs on humps 5-7 feet best. Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. Black bass are sporadic around vegetation. Small streamers and top water patterns are catching active fish chasing bait. Catfish are shallow around boat houses and brush. Report by Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork. The crappie fishing on Lake Fork is heating up as the water temperature cools to the lower 60s. Tons of shad are showing up in the deeper water in the mid lake section in 36-56 feet range. The crappie are following the bait fish and beginning to stack up in those areas on timber and brush. The big white crappie are in the middle sections of the timber. You can still find groups of black crappie in different depths. Some black crappie are grouped up at the base of trees in 13-18 feet close to deep water areas. They are also on top of some trees in deeper water. The jig bite has been heating up this past week as well. We’ve had great success with small hand tied jigs in white and chartreuse as well as purple and gray. Soft plastics will also get you bit as the fish get more aggressive with the cooler water temperature. Catfishing is excellent along timber in creek channels in 18-28 feet. Start fishing with prepared bait and they will find you. If you prepare a hole with cattle cubes or sour grain. Any catfish bait of choice will load the boat with tons of eating size channel catfish. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.
SLOW. Water stained; 65 degrees; 6.45 feet below pool. Anglers are reporting good catches of crappie. Hybrid stripers are fair to good. White bass can be caught trolling with crankbaits or live shad. Largemouth bass are good on topwaters along the rocks.
SLOW. Water stained: 70 degrees; 11.79 feet below pool. Sand bass should be chasing shad hitting spoons. Bass are best in the morning and evening on soft plastics.
FAIR. Water stained; 70 degrees; 0.27 feet above pool. Water is muddy. Crappie are slow biting on minows. Bass fishing is slow. Sandbass and hybrids are biting in shallow water on cut shad. Catfishing is good. On cut shad and liver.
GOOD. Water stained; 65 degrees; 0.01 feet below pool. Granbury is full and the water temperature is in the low to mid 60s and cooling slowly. Releases from upstream have some debris floating through the lake. Be careful navigating. White bass action continues to be good to excellent with lots of smaller fish and a few bigger ones mixed in. Slabs and spinnerbaits are your best bet for these tasty sand bass from the lower ends all the way to Tin Top. Look for fish feeding on 10-15 feet on flats. Striped bass are fair to good with catches up to 8 pounds on live bait and trolled umbrella rigs. The best action is around the Decordova subdivision to Blue Water shores. Look for these striped bass to move upstream into the water flows. Largemouth bass are good in numbers in the same areas as the sand bass. Many are feeding together. The bigger largemouths are being caught on Texas rigged soft plastics near main lake points. Some good topwater action has been reported. Crappie are located near submerged structures from Water’s Edge to the Peninsula and are good on small minnows and jigs. Catfish action is good on cut bait on the upper ends near channel bends. Some big blue catfish and yellow catfish are being caught. Birds have returned to our reservoirs, and they are pointing out feeding fish to anglers. Keep your binoculars handy. Report by Michael Acosta, Unfair Advantage Charters.
GOOD. Water lightly stained; 75 degrees; 0.90 feet below pool. Black bass are slow. Crappie are slow on jigs fished along drop offs along the river channel. White bass are slow. Blue catfish are good on shad fished in 5-20 feet of water. Yellow catfish are slow. Report by Tommy Tidwell, Tommy Tidwell’s Granger Lake Guide Service.
GOOD. Water normal stain; 65 degrees; 1.59 feet below pool. The forecasted cold front may slow the bite. White bass are shallow 15-20 feet along the edges of points with white slabs. Some days birds are working leading the way to white bass. Catfish can be caught mixed in with the white bass. Report by Omar Cotter, Luck O’the Irish Fishing Guide Service.
GOOD. Water normal stain; 65 degrees; 49.20 feet below pool. Crappie are in standing timber. Sand bass are good. Catfish are good on minnows and worms. Largemouth bass are good.
GOOD. Water slightly stained. 70 degrees. Bass are good with small poppers in baitfish patterns around shoreline brush and boat docks, and woolly buggers around hydrilla are a good bet. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service.
SLOW. Water stained; 70 degrees; 0.13 feet above pool. Fishing patterns are consistent, but this should change as the weather begins to cool. Crappie can be caught on brush with minnows and jigs. Bass can be caught on small swimbaits.
SLOW. Water Stained; 65 degrees; 12.78 feet below pool. The lake has risen about two feet over the week. Bass are fair with a few three fish stringers over 10 pounds. Try dragging soft plastics slowly on the bottom in 8-15 feet of water. Blue catfish can be caught on juglines with live bait or cut carp. White bass are schooling throughout the day.
SLOW. Water normal stain; 67 degrees; 0.05 feet above pool. The best bite is on soft plastics around docks and brush piles. The topwater bite is fair as the sun sets on docks and retaining walls.
SLOW. Water normal stain; 70 degrees; 0.53 below pool. Small bass can be caught on Texas rig soft plastics. Fishing should pick back up after these cold fronts stabilize. Crappie are in the shallow wood, but may slide out a little with the incoming front. White bass and catfish are sporadic here and there. Report by Gilbert Miller, GTB Outdoors.
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 75 degrees; 0.77 feet above pool. Largemouth bass bite is excellent. Spotted bass schooling around the dam has slowed. Water clarity is good in coves that have not been wind blown. The fish are bulking up for the winter, and have been biting shad colored baits up in shallow coves and creek channels. Flukes, small swimbaits, or a dark colored jig around boat ramps have all produced good size fish. Report by Blake Doughtie, Lake Country Lunkers Lures and Guide Service.
EXCELLENT. Water lightly stained; 78 degrees; 3.46 feet below pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady as parts of the lake are turning over. Crappie are great with 1/32-1/8 ounce jigs or minnows. Fish can still be found on shallow stumps or some kind of structure in 3-7 feet early morning until about 8:30-9:00 a.m. Then fish move out to brush piles in 15-20 feet of water to lay up for the daylight hours before they go back out hunting at night. Look for sinking logs or stumps in 4 feet of water to start the morning and any kind of hard structure out to 20 feet. Periodically fish are on deep structures in 20-30 feet. Also bouncing a 1/16 ounce jig with a soft plastic body and black or white, bumping them along the rocks on the rip rap on the dam or the railroad has been producing. Black bass are on fire fishing early mornings in 3-20 feet with the bigger sized catches in 7-15 feet with spinnerbaits. Cast white and chartreuse spinnerbaits early in the morning 1-5 feet. As the sun rises target hard structure, or very sandy flats with structure nearby with a spinnerbait. When the morning bites ends, switch to a 3-6 foot diver. Then gradually go to a 12-15 foot diver, Texas rig or Carolina rig as the sun rises higher around 10 a.m. but, if you are still able to catch bass with a squarebill crankbait, do not switch to the 12 foot diver until you have covered at least two places that you normally catch bass at. When the reaction bait bite ends slow the approach with Carolina rigs or Texas rigs to entice a bite along rocks along banks, boat ramps, floating and submerged tire reefs, and rock piles. There are some 3-5 pound bass shallow in 2-5 feet of water feeding on bundles of gizzard shad and threadfin shad. If the water is clear enough it will appear black along the banks from all the shad. Black bass set up in 4-7 feet of water on single boulders or stumps to ambush the shad. Best way to fill a stringer of catfish is to sour some grain in a five gallon bucket and chum in 9-15 feet. Bigger blue catfish over 10 pounds are good in 15-28 feet of water. Very good numbers of nice sized catfish of all sizes can be caught with punch bait, chicken, liver, cooked shrimp, or fresh chunks of shad. Dragging shad on Santee Rigs is producing some 10-15 pound fish with an occasional 20-30 pound fish. Gizzard Shad and sunfish cut in chunks. Some days catfish may be really shallow, so do not be scared to anchor up somewhere. If you are dragging your baits and you hook up to a good fish, anchor up in that exact spot and cast around the boat if possible. As soon as the water hits about 72-75 degrees white bass will go super shallow and you will not find fish on any points deeper than 5 feet. The gizzard shad and white bass will make the green water turn black and with polarized glasses the fish will pop for you and it will be obvious the water is way darker and not muddy. Small rooster tails or roadrunners will work, or use a quarter ounce jig with a 3-4.5 inch swimbait in white or chartreuse, And this is an absolute must, you have to cast in 1-4 inches of water and start reeling right before it hits the water to prevent it sticking into the clay banks. Your first bite will be in 2-4 feet of water so that is 2-4 reels of the spilling reel, and your cast is over. Repeat. Once you find them, spot lock or anchor within casting distance without your boat drifting into them. Bluegills are great on brush piles mainly 15-20 feet with a 2-4 pound line and earthworms, wax worms, mealworms. Crickets are catching some bigger ones. Do not be surprised if you catch crappies or catfish, and lunker bass patrol the piles too. If you are an experienced angler, slap on the 2 pound mono and you will have an absolute blast! Lake Lavon has a decent size population of tilapia now. You can legally catch them in a cast net and take them home as they are not a game fish, and have no regulations, except if you were going to harvest them and take them home, you must cut their belly open and remove their guts before transport per law. Using light line on spinning rods and a bobber with live earthworm pieces seems to produce more bites than any other bait in 3-10 feet. Carolina rigged on sandy flats near boulders is producing nice stringers of tilapia as well. But I would have to say the bobber seems to be the best method. Peas, corn and small little dough balls , also work well when no live bait is easily accessible. As the water gets colder, they will become less abundant. Note, to possess any tilapia, grass carp, or any other fish listed as harmful or potentially harmful without first killing the fish by gutting, beheading, gill-cutting, or other means, or placing the fish on ice, except on those waters where a valid Triploid Grass Carp Permit is in effect. Not properly retaining will result in a ticket. Report by Carey Thorn, White Bass Fishing Texas.
GOOD. Water stained; 65 degrees; 0.29 feet below pool. Crappie are good on minnows in 12-16 feet of water on brush. Channel and blue catfish are good on punch bait in 26-28 feet of water over drop-offs and rock piles. Report by Jess Rotherham, Texas Crappie Fishing Service. Bass are very good with catches up 6-8 pounds in the grass with chatterbaits, rattle traps and crankbaits. Brush piles in 8-15 feet with shad colored crankbaits, and 7-10 inch june bug or pumpkin worms. Bass are under the docks with ⅜ ounce jigs and frogs. The morning bite has been best. Crappie are good with minnows over brush piles. Report by Charles Whited, Barefoot Fishing Tours. Bass are good working docks and bulkheads with creature baits, worms and flukes. A frog or topwater around underwater vegetation is working well. Do not forget a wakebait in those same areas. Report by Bryan Cotter, Texas Hawgs. This lake has a lot of vegetation in shallow water. Focus on these areas near deeper water, 10 feet, has been loaded with fish with creature bait, or Texas rigged worms. Fish are not very big but good numbers can be caught. Back of canals in shallow water under docks with a weightless senko. Water is stained more than normal so fish will relate to structure and banks. Report by Randal Frisbie, Central Texas Fishing Guide, LLC.
FAIR. Water stained; 63 degrees; 3.12 feet below pool. White bass are fair on humps and points in 15-30 feet of water with slabs, jigs, and live bait. Keeper sized hybrid stripers are fair in similar depths as the white bass. If you are keeping fish, please be aware that there are a lot of undersized hybrid stripers in the lake that look very similar to a white bass. Blue catfish are fair to good on cut shad drifting main lake flats near the river channel in 16-28 feet of water. With the recent rain, the river and creek mouths will hold catfish as well. Channel catfish are fair on baited holes on punch bait in 15-28 feet of water on humps and points. Cut shad have been working also. Crappie are fair in 6-26 feet of water. Check brush piles, bridge pilings, and submerged cover close to a drop off ledge. Cover close to drop off ledges has been best. Minnows and jigs are catching those fish. Report by Wes Campbell, BendARod Fishing. Bass are slow, with the most consistent bite in 2-6 feet of water slowly dragging soft plastics on a Texas rig or Ned rig. Some can be caught with a crankbait. White bass and hybrid stripers chasing bait near creek channels.
EXCELLENT. Water slightly stained; 69 degrees; 2.82 feet below pool. Fall fishing is here and the bite is consistent. Crappie are in 10-18 feet on offshore brush with minnows, or tight lining straight down in standing timber. White bass are schooling under the surface in 7-17 feet. Catfish are being caught in 10-20 feet on cut bait and minnows. Largemouth bass can be caught from 2-18 feet this week on docks, timber, bulkheads, rocks with Texas rigs, jigs, chatterbaits, and spinnerbait. Numbers of bass are still on offshore brush and roaming main lake points. Catfish and white bass are on points, flats, and roaming open water. Report by Colan Gonzales, CG’s Just Fishing Guide Service.
GOOD. slightly stained; 70 degrees; 0.95 feet below pool. Water is a little stained in some areas, but the bite is still good. Lots of white bass in 7-15 feet of water using chartreuse and white Duck Tracker slabs. Report by Michael Richardson, Lake Livingston Adventures.
GOOD. Water slight stain; 71 degrees; 1.88 feet below pool. Bass are in pre-spawn pattern now. The Dry Creek area is producing good catches with swimbaits, chatterbaits and hybrid hunters. Fish along the hydrilla and creek channels. Crappie are fair to good but have scattered somewhat. Fish are in brush in 10-25 feet with minnows and pintail jigs. The catfish should start stacking up at the hot water discharge once we start getting some cold weather. Report by Hambone guide service. Report by Hambone Guide service.
SLOW. Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 91.24 feet below pool. Few reports and anglers on the water due to limited access and low water level.
FAIR. Water stained; 54 degrees; 47.55 feet below pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady as the water starts to cool off. White bass are excellent slabbing. Bass are good on minnows and artificials. Catfish are fair to good with nightcrawlers, minnows, chicken liver and frozen shad. Crappie are fair with artificial baits and minnows. Trout are slow. Walleye are good on minnows, grubs, and other artificial baits. Best of luck to you out there. Please be safe out there, watch weather reports. Life vests save lives. Report by Kenneth Wysong, SharKens Honey Hole.
SLOW. Water stained; 68 degrees; 2.04 feet below pool. Bass are slow. Hybrids are scattered from the freshwater, but should improve in a few weeks. Blue catfish are fair in juglines with shad in 20 feet of water in the channels. Very few catches of channel catfish. Crappie are fair in 14 feet of water.
GOOD. Water stained; 64 degrees; 1.26 feet below pool. Largemouth bass are excellent on medium diving, and small swimbaits in 12-16 feet of water. Crappie are excellent on brush piles and standing timber with white crappie jigs. Catfish are fair on cut bait or live minnows. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.
GOOD. Water heavily stained; 64 degrees; 0.50 feet below pool. The fall turnover is complete. Some bass are being seen in deeper water in larger groups. Most are hovering just off the bottom, so a dropshot has been working pretty well. A few have also been boated with a deep-diving crankbait. Speed cranking with one second pauses gets bit. Crappie population is good. Catfish are slow. Report by Eric Wolfe, NacoTack Fishing Services. Largemouth bass are excellent on Carolina rigs and small swimbaits 15 feet of water. Crappie are excellent on 1/16 ounce chartreuse or white crappie jigs. Catfish are fair in live minnows and cut bait. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.
FAIR. Water slightly stained; 73 degrees. 0.38 feet below pool. The bass bite has been fair on white chatterbait or spinnerbaits early morning and evening. Midday flipping soft plastics around reed bases in 1-3 feet of water is the ticket to catch shaded up largemouth bass. The key is to cover water until you find a good stretch that holds multiple bass. Crappie are good around boat docks on chartreuse jigs and catfish were fair on cut bait and stink bait around river channel bends. Report provided by the Angelo State Fishing Team.
FAIR. Water slightly stained; 75 degrees; 1.32 feet below pool. Still no action for largemouth bass and white bass are slow. Catfish are good throughout the lake on cut perch or shad. Crappie are good one day then slow the next. Target fish in shallow water off of docks, or in open water brush piles using minnows with some bites on jigs. Report by Navarro Mills Marina.
SLOW. Water stained; 68 degrees; 38.05 feet below pool. Few reports and anglers fishing due to low lake levels.
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 61 degrees; 22.44 feet below pool. The upper end of the lake from Lee Day to The Rivers is still muddy and stained. A few bass can be caught suspended on jerkbaits up to 5 pounds this week over 25 feet of water. Most fish can still be caught shallow on spinnerbaits, frogs and chatterbaits in the brush 5 feet or less in the back of pockets. Crappie are fair in 30 feet of water suspended 10-15 feet down on main lake trees. No reports of white bass. Catfish are good up in the muddy water still on cut shad and drop lines in the Concho River. Report by Wendell Ramsey, Ramsey Fishing.
SLOW. Water lightly stained; 65 degrees; 17.67 feet below pool. Fishing continues to be slow with few anglers on the water. The white bass are being caught using small spoons such as the Bomber slab. A few reports of crappie being caught on brush piles with BoneHead jigs. Report by Bronte Guns and Tackle Pro Staff.
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 63 degrees; 1.12 feet below pool. Water temperature is still holding in the lower 60s, with no major fronts or rain to drop the temperature. Bass did slow down in the shallows, enough wind and clouds to move the shad back out a little. Blue catfish remain good for rod and reelers, with a lot of 1-4 pound fish being caught, mostly on shrimp and live minnows. Larger blue catfish are coming on cut bait. The highlight last week, which should continue if the weather stays about the same, was hybrid stripers. These were very good at times, especially around midday, late morning til early afternoon, trolling over humps in 12-20 feet. Near Smith Point was a good example. Both Redneck and Yankee rigs worked well, using either 2 in Pet spoons with feather, and Coyote spoons. Most of the new sunshine stripers are in the 20-24 feet and up to about 5 pounds. Report by Jim Beggerly, Jim’s Fishing Lake Palestine.
SLOW. Water stained; 70 degrees; 0.23 feet below pool. Few anglers on the water. The water clarity is clearing and shad are plentiful. Blue catfish are great in 2 feet of water with cut bait and live shad. Hybrids are fair. Sand bass are slow on minnows. Black bass are slow.
GOOD. slightly stained; 64 degrees. Largemouth bass are excellent on dropshot and small swimbaits in 16-20 feet of water. A lot of bass are 3-6 pounds. Crappie are poor on small white jigs. Catfish are poor on cut bait. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.
GOOD. Water stained; 65 degrees; 0.00 feet below pool. Striper are fair with the most consistent bite with live bait. Downriggers are not catching anything and probably will not until next summer. Your best bet is to just put baits in the water and slowly move around with the trolling motor until you find them. Once you find them, try to stay with them but that will be difficult because there moving fast and not staying still. Keep in mind we are approaching deadstick season here pretty soon. Sand bass are still slow to fair in 20-30 feet of water with live shad or small slabs and jigs or rattle traps. White and silver are good colors but white seems to be preferred. Catfish are still fair to good up the river near Rock Creek Camp. Cut shad is producing good numbers of fish in 5-20 feet of water fished on or near the bottom. Water clarity is steady at 1-8 feet of visibility and slightly stained. Report by TJ Ranft, Ranft Guide Service. Bass are moving up with the lake level rising. Target points and drop-offs with Carolina rigs, chatterbaits, and jigs. Report by JK Outdoors Bass Fishing Guide.
FAIR. Water stained; 75 degrees; 0.87 feet above pool. Catfish are good on juglines. Hybrid bass are schooling in the morning under the birds.
FAIR. Water light stain; 79 degrees. Leaves are dropping from trees and fall fishing patterns are here. A strong cold front pushed south mid-week. Water is slightly stained. Bass are good with flukes, worms, and lipless crankbaits near the hydrilla grass edge are reported to be working for bass. No angler reports of crappie or catfish this week, but anglers can try minnows on crappie jigs near brush piles or piers to target crappie. Catfish can be targeted with worms or stink bait fished near the bottom at the prairie branch pier or over towards the dam by the valve release tower. Bluegill are biting on worms and hotdogs over at the boathouse dock. Anglers should try to use them on a free lined hook or with a hook and bobber.
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 68 degrees; 2.66 feet below pool. White bass are good on shallow points early morning and late evening throwing 4 inch CoHo with 1/2 ounce jig head especially on windy days. White bass later morning are on humps, levees and long points in 16-28 feet water using 3/4 ounce slabs. Crappie are good on brush in 18-28 feet on or off structure with minnows. Catfish are excellent on the north end of the lake around timber in 15-21 feet of water with the best bite on cut shad, but prepared punch bait will catch fish too. Report by John Varner, John Varner’s Guide Service.
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 70 degrees; 1.18 feet below pool. White bass can be caught on live bait and slabs in 15-25 feet. Better quality and quantity can be caught with live bait. Crappie are still good in 5-20 feet on brush piles and small patches of structure with minnows. Crappie are shallow early then move deeper as the sun rises. Blue catfish can be caught drifting cut bait on flats in 20-40 feet. Report by Justin Wilson, Wilson Outdoor Connection.
FAIR. Water normal stain; 68 degrees; 2.04 feet below pool. White bass and hybrid striper are fair on the 309 flats and main lake points for birds and bait. The recent cooler weather should turn the fish on! Keep a slab and rattle trap tied on. Crappie bite fair in 10-15 feet of water. Minnows are normally the preferred bait and catches are coming from brush piles and standing timber. Blue and channel catfish are excellent on punch bait in 15-20 feet of water on the Richland Creek Arm of the Lake. Chum with Range Cubes and, or fermented grain. Report by Royce Simmons, Gone Fishin’ Guide Service.
FAIR. Water slightly stained; 65 degrees; 2.48 feet below pool. Bass are improving in shallow water where fish are chasing the bait into pockets. Target whatever brush and grass you can find and flip into it with your favorite lure. Crappie are slowly moving up the river. Catfish are good in 15-26 feet of water on cut bait and minnows. Report by Captain Lynn Atkinson, Reel Um N Guide Service.
SLOW. Water normal stain; 67 degrees; 2.11 feet below pool. The weather has been warmer longer than years past, so the cold water has yet to start. At Somerville marina the crappie bite is slow, bluegill are fair on crickets, worms, and catfish are fair on minnows and punch bait. Crappie are slow over brush in 8-16 feet of water with jigs and minnows. Black bass are slow on moving plastics in 6-12 feet of water. Catfish are good in 6-10 feet using cut shad or punch bait. White bass are slow trolling with various spoons or anchored with shad and ghost minnows. Hybrids are fair in deeper water using cut bait or mussels. Below the dam fishing is slow, because water is not being released. Report by Weldon Kirk, Fish Tales Guide Service.
SLOW. Water stained; 65 degrees. 45.25 feet below pool. Very few anglers on the water. The reports are very slow for black bass. The white bass are actively schooling biting spoons and inline spinners. Catfish are slow, with some reports of channel and blue catfish being caught from shore on cut bait. Report by Bronte Guns and Tackle Pro Staff.
SLOW. Water stained; 70 degrees; 0.22 feet below pool. Freshwater runoff and high winds have kept anglers off the water. Expect the water clarity to be muddy, slowing the activity for all species.
GOOD. Water stained; 69 degrees; 1.49 feet below pool. This is the first time I have seen improvement for white bass fishing in a long time. Fish are in a feeding mode they typically display as the water temperatures hit the low 70s and high 60s. Gulls and loons can be very helpful in finding fish, then, the splasher has been very effective at consolidating fish under the boat and keeping them there for long whiles. Fish are in as much as 53 feet of water, so getting to bottom quickly and repeatedly is key. Use the MAL Dense with chartreuse tail to accomplish this in the lower two-thirds of the lake. Largemouth bass fishing has been hit-or-miss with fish reorienting from hydrilla to the lake’s sparse natural cover. This has created a scenario where multiple fish will hold on a single piece of suitable cover. Anglers can go long whiles without a bite, then land four to six fish in just a few casts when one of these desirable pieces of cover is found. Due to lack of hydrilla, Carolina rigs may now be fished much more readily than when the hydrilla was present. Smaller, dark, natural hues of soft plastics are always a good bet on this lake. Gulls are beginning to show, but are not yet helpful in locating fish. Report by Bob Maindelle, Holding the Line Guide Service.
GOOD. Water lightly stained; 63 degrees; 2.74 feet below pool. Lake Tawakoni has shifted from a fall bite to more of a winter pattern as cold front after cold front continues to cool the water temperatures. The hybrid striper bite has been very up and down the last week. Lots of big wind has made it difficult to fish areas that are holding fish. Swimbaits and slab spoons are working best. Seems like the 10-25 feet range are holding fish. The eating sized catfish bite in the 1-4 pound range are still excellent. Baited holes are working best in 15-25 feet with punch bait. The trophy catfishing continues to improve weekly. Fish are being caught on cut bait in 2-15 feet. The largemouth bite has been good on plastics in 1-6 feet. Slow rolling shallow cranks are still putting fish in the boat but downsizing is working best. Report by Captain Michael Littlejohn, Lake Tawakoni Guide Service.
FAIR. Water stained; 80 degrees; 3.97 feet below pool. Catfish are fair. Bass and crappie are slow due to weather and lower lake elevation.
GOOD. Water stained; 69 degrees; 1.71 feet above pool. Striper fishing continues to be great with live shad producing limits of fish on points and humps in 25-40 feet of water as fish are coming to the boats to feed. Swimbaits are also working on shallow points and humps off creek ledges in 5-12 feet of water. Catfishing remains great with cooler temps and lake levels up. Drift cut shad on deep flats off the river channels closer to the ends of the lake in 25–55 feet of water. Eaters are still plentiful along ledges and on flats in 40–50 feet of water on cut shad and prepared baits. Crappie are showing up on brush and below docks. Use electronics to locate active fish and hair jigs to catch them. Start looking in coves in 10–15 feet of water and at the mouths of the creeks. Bass fishing is good on plastics off the banks in 5–12 feet of water. Crankbaits are effective throughout the day off the rocks and around docks. There are still a lot of small shad in the lake, so match the hatch for numbers. Big bass will be looking for larger baits as the water cools off. Report by Jacob Orr, Lake Guaranteed Guide Service. Striped bass are excellent with daily limits on slabs under the birds. Target ledges and drop-offs in 25-60 feet of water. Fishing is extremely good on days with cloud coverage. On sunny days the best bite is early in the morning and the last few hours of daylight. Report by John Blasingame, Adventure Texoma Outdoors.
FAIR. Water normal stain; 68 degrees; 4.11 feet below pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady with very little change. Expect the bass to be good shallow with chatterbaits, small spinnerbaits and swimbaits. Target fish in 1-5 feet of water in flooded stumps or shallow grass. The creek bite will take a few days to turn on after the water clears. Best baits are going to be lipless crankbaits, square bills crankbaits and Texas rigs in 6-10 feet. The deep bite will improve this week after the strong winds pass. Cast spoons, dropshots and tail spinners. No reports on crappie. Report by Stephen Johnston, Johnston Fishing.
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 70 degrees; 42.57 feet below pool. We are locating fish in numerous areas of the lake right now. The better fish seem to be coming from the grass on the lower end. Weightless soft plastic or lightly weighted Texas rig worms in the grass has been turning up some nicer fish. If it’s windy and cloudy, a chatter bait and spinner bait has been getting some good bites. The upper end of the lake has been very dirty the last week or so with recent wind. Spinnerbaits, shallow crankbaits and dark color jigs up there has been best. We have been targeting natural shorelines around brush and rock. Bigger chunk rock has been holding some better fish. Report by Carson Conklin, ATX Fishing. Bass are good and the bite is becoming stronger as the water temperature continues to cool. Topwaters and wakebaits are catching quite a few and the grass beds are starting to produce better using soft plastics and swimbaits. Look for big bites on ledges and walls and some under docks throwing jigs, shaky heads and whacky worms. Report by Bryan Cotter, Texas Hawgs. There is a really good topwater bass bite in the morning, but can last all day when there is wind. Bass are biting small swimbaits near grass, Wacky rig trick worms around the grass in 8-12 feet. Crappie are good under the docks on minnows. Report by Charles Whited, Barefoot Fishing Tours. Bass are good chasing minnows in shallow coves. Cast weighted flukes or soft plastic worms. Some anglers are catching bigger fish on large glide baits. Report by David Townsend, Austin Fishing Guide.
SLOW. Water stained. 66 degrees; 38.51 feet below pool. Crappie are fair in deep brush with live minnows. Still waiting on the first freezing cold front to change to a winter pattern. Channel catfish are fair, working structures near the channels. Blue catfish are suspended off the bottom in open water. Report by Captain Michael Peterson, 4 Reel Fun Guide Service.
SLOW. Water normal stain; 65 degrees; 0.84 feet below pool. Crappie are fair under the boat houses with minnows. Catfish are slow in 10-16 feet of water stink bait and nightcrawlers. Bream are slow on red worms off the barge and throughout the lake. Bass are slow on trick worms and crankbaits. Report by The Boulders at Lake Tyler. Crappie are good scattered on docks in 6-8 feet of water, or on the southern end of the lake chasing shad on minnows. Report by Caleb Hensley, 903 Fishing.
FAIR. Water stained; 70 degrees; 2.08 feet below pool. Crappie are fair with minnows and crappie jigs. Blue catfish are good with cut bait.
GOOD. Water slight stain; 72 degrees. The water is very low and the boat ramp is closed to power boats for infrastructure repair, but you can still launch kayaks and canoes and bank fishing is still possible, though challenging. The low water conditions have exposed submerged rock piles near the launch so be cautious. Fishing up against the reeds is becoming increasingly difficult and less effective due to much lower water and lots of matted grass in front of the reedline. Targeting submerged vegetation with moving techniques like weedless swimbaits, spinnerbaits, and lipless crankbaits 15-20 feet off the reedline and in the open flats and points continues to work. Texas rigged soft plastics, stick baits, and punch rigs can work on the outside of the grass mats. Overall, expect to fish further from the bank than usual as the lake footprint shrinks, but the fish are still there and biting. Report by Team YAKUSA.
SLOW. Water heavily stained; 63 degrees; 4.81 feet below pool. Bass are slow. Crappie are fair in the crappie house on jigs or minnows. Fish are mainly undersized. Catfish are fair suspending in deeper water with punch bait and shad. Water visibility is 4 inches.
FAIR. Water stained. 73 degrees. A few reports that catches of bass are good.
GOOD. Water normal stain; 62 degrees; 22.07 feet below pool. Water level is low so launch and navigate with caution. Catfish are fair. Largemouth bass can be caught off the shore with soft plastics.
FAIR. Water normal stain; 76 degrees; 0.04 feet below pool. Catfish are good using punch bait in 18-25 feet of water. Striped bass bite is getting better on live bait or trolling in 20-30 feet of water. Some Stripers being caught on top water baits. Crappie are fair on small jigs and minnows in timber in 15-20 feet on the north end of the lake. White bass fishing is slow. Large mouth bass fishing is good around the docks. Report by Captain Cory Vinson, Guaranteed Guide Service.
FAIR. Water normal stain; 66 degrees; 2.39 feet below pool. White bass are good on main lake structures on slabs with teaser flies. Crappie are fair to good on brush piles and main lake structure on jigs with white color combinations. Blue catfish and channel catfish are good on cut bait punch bait. Report provided by Chad Ferguson of North Texas Catfish Guide Service.
GOOD. Water stained; 80 degrees; 4.00 feet above pool. Catfish are good with stink bait. Crappie are good with minnows and jigs.
GOOD. Water normal stain; 70 degrees; 0.62 feet below pool. Water is stained, but clearing in the south end. Largemouth bass are on cypress trees and structures in 4-5 feet biting worms and grubs. Catfish are plentiful being caught in fresh caught shad on bulkheads and jug lining with an 8-10 feet leader. Crappie are decent on brush piles in 8-14 feet of water with hand tied jig heads in East fork. White bass are rearing heat on swim baits, rooster tails and trolling humps with a 20 foot diver with a #12 pet spoons in 12 feet of water. Report by Captain Zackary Scott, Zack Attack Fishing.
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