Pineywoods Region Week of June 5, 2024

B.A. Steinhagen

GOOD. Water stain; 75 degrees; 0.29 feet below pool. Water level is high after recent flooding and rainfall.

Bob Sandlin

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 74 degrees; 0.70 feet above pool. Channel catfish are excellent in 15-20 feet of water on standing timber and brush piles with stink bait. Blue catfish are good shallow rocky areas with fresh cut bait. Crappie are fair on brush piles in 20-30 feet of water with jigs or minnows. White bass are schooling on the surfaces late in the evening busting the service chasing shad. Rooster tails and small swimbaits. Report by Joey Crews, Lake Bob Sandlin Chubby Chaser Guide Service. Black bass are slow around retaining walls and main lake points. Try shad and bream patterns, also, small clouser type baits. Bream are slow while the water is murky and water level is high. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service.

Caddo

FAIR. Water stained; 75 degrees; 2.75 feet above pool. The lake is flooded again, so Caddo is muddy, high with lots of current. This seems to be the theme heading into summer creating tough fishing conditions. The fish in the river may be tough for a few weeks until the water stabilizes, so try finding clear water on the main lake. Try a fluke or senko around the trees or grass and a frog, buzz bait, Pop-R and Choppo type bait should work around the grass if it is windy or cloudy. Navigate with caution and watch wake size. Even with the flooding the lake is still beautiful and always worth coming out to see this majestic lake that God spoke into existence. Report provided by Vince Richards, Caddo Lake Fishing & Fellowship.

Conroe

GOOD. Water stained; 80 degrees; 0.27 feet above pool. Catfish are biting like crazy. Most are spawning and when you find them, you find a lot of them. Target structure, ledges, points, and humps. Baited areas from 5-40 feet of water are catching well using catfish Bubblegum, worms, cured liver, and punch bait. Seen some nice largemouth this week. Bream beds and offshore structures doing great

Fork

GOOD. Water Stained; 76 degrees; 0.86 feet above pool. Lake Fork is high with all the recent rains and gates are open. Bass are good on top waters frogs early in the morning over grass, and Yellow Magics along the edge of the grass Texas rigs and Carolina rigs good around bream beds 3-7 feet. Squarebill crankbaits are good around bream beds 2.5 model bream patterns. Flukes are good on the edge of grass in watermelon candy . Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. Black bass are challenging with constant weather extremes, look for the clearest water you can find. Fish points and main lake cuts. Top waters are working in the shallow grass, streamers are working in the shallow banks 0fished slow. Bream are excellent in the shallows, wooly buggers and small poppers should bring a strike. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. The crappie fishing on Lake Fork was definitely moving into the steady summer pattern this week. We are still seeing great numbers of black crappie on lay downs and certain trees in 14-28 feet. You can also find black crappie on certain docks and bridges over the next few months. We have been seeing lots of small white crappie on brush piles but some bigger keepers showed up the last few days. These will continue to get better and better over the next few weeks. Focus on brush piles in 14-22 feet for the best fish. Some summer time trees are also holding white crappie and that will also get better over the next few weeks. Minnows are working well and small hand tied jigs in neutral colors are working just as well when you pitch and swim them over fish. Soft plastics will also get you a bite. The channel catfishing is excellent as it always is on Lake Fork. Bait you a hole near timber in 18-25 feet close to a creek channel. Use cattle cubes or sour grain to attract and hold those fish. Trees that have overnight roosting birds are a great place to make your hole. Use any prepared catfish bait of choice to load the boat once you get the fish loading up. You can still find some spawning catfish up shallow around all the new flooded grass, brush or rocks. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.

Houston County

GOOD. Water stained; 80 degrees; 0.43 feet above pool. Largemouth bass are hitting square bill crankbaits or shaken heads on docks, and swim jigs in shallow water around vegetation. Crappie are on minnows around standing timber and offshore brush in 8-14 feet. Report by Colan Gonzales, CG’s Just Fishing Guide Service.

Lake O' the Pines

GOOD. Water stained; 79 degrees; 3.27 feet above pool. Channel catfish are good in 10-20 feet on stink bait. Crappie are good in 25-30 feet timber and brush. Report by Joey Crews, Lake Bob Sandlin Chubby Chaser Guide Service. Bass are good on points and brush piles with jigs, Texas rigged worms, or dropshot. North of State Highway 155 bridge in the grass with buzz baits, whopper ploppers or chatterbait. Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine.

Livingston

SLOW. Stained; 75 degrees; 0.06 feet above pool. Fishing is good for white bass up shallow on points 5-10 feet of water. Finding clearer water is key. Water is on the rise. Report by Michael Richardson, Lake Livingston Adventures.

Martin Creek

GOOD. Water sightly stained; 84 degrees; 0.25 feet above pool. Bass are good using underspin swimbaits, senkos and redbug colored worms in the hydrilla. Crappie are good at railroad trestle and brush piles in 25 feet using minnows. Catfish are good at intake using night crawlers.

Nacogdoches

GOOD. Water stained; 80 degrees; 3.89 feet above pool. Bass are good on soft plastic trick worms on a Carolina rig or dropshot, and deep diving crankbaits. Crappie are good using ⅛ ounce chartreuse and white crappie jigs. Catfish are fair with live minnows. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.

Naconiche

FAIR. Water stained; 80 degrees; 0.50 feet above full pool. After a nice stretch of good weather, we were hammered with severe storms. This has the lake on the rise and the clarity dirty. These conditions tend to warrant lures with flash and vibration. A large thumping spinnerbait or rattling square-bill crankbait in less than 6 feet of water would be my techniques. Crappie population is good. Catfish are slow. Report by Eric Wolfe, NacoTack Fishing Services. Bass are excellent with numerous catches between 4-6 pounds. Crappie are fair on chartreuse crappie jigs and live minnows. Catfish are slow on live minnows on cut bait. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.

Pinkston

GOOD. normal stain; 79 degrees. Bass are excellent on large swimbaits and trick worms on Carolina rigs. Crappie are slow. Catfish are slow on minnows or cut bait. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.

Raven

SLOW. Water stained; 78 degrees. Lake Raven is temporarily closed due to flooding. The lake is projected to open June 11.

Sam Rayburn

GOOD. Water stained; 78 degrees; 5.56 feet above pool. The water is off-colored with floating debris. Bass are scattered from flooded bushes and grass. Target bass in the flooded bushes and trees with soft plastics. Few bass are on points and creek Carolina rigs and crankbaits. Crappie continue to roam in open water. Crappie are best on brush in 12 feet of water, but while the lake level is high the brush piles are 16-18 feet deep. Catfish are good in 20 feet of water off points and creek channels with minnows and cut baits. White bass on deeper points with slab spoons and little George’s. Report by Captain Lynn Atkinson, Reel Um N Guide Service. After the recent rains the water is still on the rise, but we should start to see the lake level off because there is a break in the rainy weather. Bass are shallow in flooded bushes and trees in 4-10 feet of water. Large population of fish off shore on primary and secondary points in 12-18 feet of water in relation to shoreline flooded bushes. Use Texas rigs, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and topwater frogs shallow. The offshore bite is on deep diving crankbaits, Carolina rigs, and jigs. Report by Captain Hank Harrison, Double H Precision Fishing.

Toledo Bend

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 80 degrees; 0.77 feet above pool. We got another 6-8 inch of rain since last week and the lake level is over full and flood gates are back open. They have five gates open at 1 foot each. It is flooding north of the lake now, so lots of water is still to come. Bass fishing has been fair, lots of fish being caught in the flooded bushes and hay grass from 1-4 feet with topwaters, frogs and spinnerbaits been best. There are still lots of fish out in 10-18 feet, but with water back on rise, they have got harder to catch. Crankbaits and Texas rigs will catch these. We just need some sunshine for a week or so to get it back to normal. Crappie fishing has been hard. Most reports are 12-18 fish per boat. Deeper docks and brush piles are the best with jigs and live bait. Report by Stephen Johnston, Johnston Fishing.

Tyler

GOOD. Water stained; 75 degrees; 1.57 feet above pool. The lake is closed after recent storm damage. Call before heading out. Report by Paul Taylor, The Boulders at Lake Tyler.

Welsh

SLOW. Water stained. 83 degrees. Channel catfish up to 10 pounds can be caught on the inlet side of the power plant in the cooler water with fresh cut bait and stink bait. Bass are good in 15-20 feet of water swimbaits, topwaters early in the morning. Report by Joey Crews, Lake Bob Sandlin Chubby Chaser Guide Service.

Wright Patman

GOOD. Water stained; 74 degrees; 4.43 feet above pool. The lake level is high and water is being released 9960 cfs. Crappie are biting and loading in tops from 5-20 feet but tight lipped after weather changes. Catfish are good on trotlines and noodles. Put out bait next to brush in 3-5 feet of water and give it about an hour. Report by Jerry Gennings, local angler and guide.

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