Pineywoods Region Week of May 15, 2024

B.A. Steinhagen

GOOD. Water stain; 70 degrees; 0.04 feet below pool. The lake continues to be high due to the recent rains. Catfish are biting in the shallows on cut bait and prepared baits. Largemouth bass can be caught on Texas rigged worms and crankbaits.

Bob Sandlin

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 64 degrees; 0.49 feet above pool. Crappie are good in brush piles 20-25 feet with minnows or jigs. Sand bass are good at Blowhole with anything shiny, such as spinnerbaits or rattle traps. Catfish are good in 2-6 feet of water in flooded brush with worms, cut bait. Report by Marty Thomas, Lake O the Pines Crappie Fishing. Bass are good on shallow points chasing the shad spawn with Texas rig worms, crankbaits, chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, or flipping into flooded bushes. Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine. Bead heads and clousers should work well for bass around retaining walls and boat docks. Streamers in and around grass and brush will draw a strike. Look for crappie around brush and shallow banks, small wooly buggers are excellent. Bream are building beds and are aggressive. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service.

Caddo

FAIR. Water stained; 61 degrees; 1.68 feet above pool. Caddo Lake is still transitioning from the spawn to summer patterns. The muddy water in conjunction with the fast current has really slowed the transition down. You can still find bass on trees with senkos and flukes. Some topwater action can be had as the bream have started bedding up around the trees. A buzz bait and swimbait should be able to get a bite over and around the grass. Expect this bite to be mid lake or near Clinton, because areas near the river are muddy and stained. The lake itself is looking really good this year and it is absolutely a beautiful time to come out and enjoy this lake that God spoke into existence even if the bite is tough. Report provided by Vince Richards, Caddo Lake Fishing & Fellowship.

Conroe

GOOD. Water stained; 77 degrees; 0.24 feet above pool. Catfish continue to be outstanding! Shad are still spawning on bulkheads, so all species are chasing them at first and last light. Report by Brad Doyle with Bradley’s Guide Service. Black bass are in 10-17 feet of water near structure using crankbaits, jerkbaits, as well as worms. Hybrids are in 17-28 feet of water on flats or humps jigging slabs, swimbaits or minnows and shad. Many are trolling for them as well. Crappie are in 12-21 feet of water around structure and timber biting plastics, hair or minnows. Always wear your life jacket. Report by Mike Cason, Fishical Therapy.

Fork

GOOD. Water Stained; 70 degrees; 0.51 feet above pool. Bass fishing has improved this week. Topwaters are good early in the morning on grass lines. Flukes and Yum dingers good at the edge of the grass 2-4 feet of water. Midday points and drops are holding fish in 6-8 feet of water biting Carolina rigs and Texas rigs are good. Designated Hitters, rattlesnakes and beaver type baits are good on standing timber in 5-10 feet. Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. Black bass are in a post spawn pattern and aggressive. Topwaters are excellent in the shallow grass, streamers are working in the shallow banks. Crappies are shallow catching them on the edge of banks, small fish patterns like wooly buggers are a good bet. 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 is finally beginning to settle into its post spawn summer pattern. Black crappie are loading up on certain trees, brush piles and lay downs in huge numbers. White crappie should be loading up on their post spawn patterns over the next few weeks. If you can find the right structure you can load the boat quickly. Best depths have been 14-24 feet with lots of fish at the base of trees. Have seen some fish on bridges but it's been spotty. Swimming 1/16 hand tied jigs with a 1/4 ounce weight pegged above it has been a deadly pattern. You can also swim minnows with a 1/4 ounce weight about them as well. Soft plastics will work very well also. The catfishing has been super hot on baited holes around trees in 13-20 feet. Bait out an area with cattle cubes or sour grains. Then use any prepared catfish bait to catch them. Some fish are up shallow around grass spawning. Some are also shallow chasing recent shad spawns. Any bait of choice below corks will work to catch those super shallow fish. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.

Houston County

GOOD. Water clear; 67 degrees; 2.90 feet above pool. Lake continues to be above the pool and is muddy. Fishing patterns are consistent, but the bite may be slower while water continues to flow in. Crappie are good in deep water brush piles, standing timber and power lines in 12-15 feet of water with minnows. White bass started feeding at night around docks with lights and can be caught with beetle spins and super spoons. Largemouth bass are good in 1-7 feet of water with frogs, wacky worms, weightless Texas rigs, yum dingers or swim jigs. Report by Colan Gonzales, CG’s Just Fishing Guide Service.

Lake O' the Pines

GOOD. Water stained; 71 degrees; 4.41 feet above pool. Crappie are good in 15-25 feet of water on brush with minnows or jigs. Catfish are excellent 2-6 feet of water cut bait or worms. Report by Marty Thomas, Lake O’ the Pines Crappie Fishing. Bass are good with catches up to 8 pounds flipping into flooded bushes with creature baits. Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine.

Livingston

SLOW. Stained; 67 degrees; 0.80 feet above pool. Water clarity is muddy. White bass catches are possible in 10-13 feet of water on secondary points. Catfish are good on the bulkheads. Report by Michael Richardson, Lake Livingston Adventures.

Martin Creek

GOOD. Water stained; 76 degrees; 0.00 feet at pool. Bass are fair to good on Ribbit frogs, swimbaits and redbug worms over the hydrilla. Deep crankbaits are working well Fishing brush in 18-25 feet of water. Crappie are good in 25-30 feet of water at the top of brush with minnows and power bait minnows. Catfish remain good using jug lines in 10 feet on live bait.

Nacogdoches

GOOD. Water stained; 68 degrees; 4.26 feet above pool. Bass are good with good numbers of 2-4 pound fish being caught in shallow vegetation with topwater frogs and spooks, or swim jigs. Reports of good catches of catfish with cut bait or live shinners. Crappie are excellent on brush and standing timber with chartreuse crappie jigs. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.

Naconiche

FAIR. Water slightly stained; 74 degrees; full pool. 2.00 feet above full pool. The water level is just above the stumps, navigate with caution. Some fish have situated themselves near the roadbeds and some are starting to gather, suspended, over the deep creeks. The underspin always gets bit, but do not be afraid to throw a +1 jerkbait in these situations. As the water starts to warm a faster twitch presentation can find some good fish. The drop-shot rig got the majority of the bites this weekend. Crappie population is good. Catfish are slow. Report by Eric Wolfe, NacoTack Fishing Services. Largemouth bass are excellent with good numbers on Carolina rigs, dropshots or deep crankbaits in 12-15 feet of water. Crappie are good with live shiners or natural colored crappie jigs roaming in schools in the middle of the water column. Catfish are slow. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.

Pinkston

GOOD. normal stain; 74 degrees. Largemouth bass are good in numbers of 3-5 pound fish in 18 feet of water with Carolina rigs, dropshot, soft plastic trick worms. In the evening topwater frogs are good in grass near the dam. Black crappie are fair in the east arm of the lake with natural colored crappie jigs and minnows. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.

Raven

GOOD. Water stained; 71 degrees. Lake Raven is temporarily closed due to flooding.

Sam Rayburn

GOOD. Water stained; 75 degrees; 2.15 feet above pool. Rivers are flooded and the lake water level continues to rise and is off-colored. Bass are fair with catches up to 7 pounds possible on points and deeper water with Carolina or Texas rigs. The frog bite is picking up bass in shallow lily pads and brush. Crappie are good on brush piles, minnows and jigs. Catfish are good in deeper water channels with cut bait, minnows and worms. Blue catfish are good in 18-22 feet of water. White bass are schooling on points biting minnows, jigging spoons, and small crankbaits. Report by Captain Lynn Atkinson, Reel Um N Guide Service.

Toledo Bend

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 75 degrees; 0.78 feet above pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady as the water level continues to rise due to the rain with more in the forecast. The wind has been high, so it has been hard to stay out there on these fish. Bass are good with lots of action on top water baits for the first hour of daylight. Once the sun rises over the trees, time to back out either in front of the flooded bushes or 8-10 feet of water with wacky-worms, light Texas rigs and shallow running crankbaits. There are a few fish on deep main lake points and ridges in 12-18 feet with Texas or Carolina rigs, and big crankbaits. Crappie bite if off due to the high water and current. A few fish can be caught on brush, but the best bite has been on docks in 8-12 feet of water with jigs and live bait. Report by Stephen Johnston, Johnston Fishing.

Tyler

FAIR. Water stained; 72 degrees; 0.36 feet above pool. Fishing is fair throughout the day. Bass are fair in all depths on crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and trick worms. Crappie are fair, scattered in 16 feet of water with minnows. Bream are fair on red worms. Catfish are fair on shrimp and nightcrawlers in shallow water grass and rock lines. Report by Paul Taylor, The Boulders at Lake Tyler.

Welsh

SLOW. Water stained. 77 degrees. Welsh is a power plant lake and is primarily fished in the winter months. No report due to very few anglers on the water.

Wright Patman

GOOD. Water stained; 74 degrees; 1.49 feet above pool. Crappie are loading up on brush tops all over the lake. Crappie are biting best on points with minnows and jigs. Catfish have slowed down, but still can be caught with range cubes, blood or cheese bait. Report by Jerry Gennings, local angler and guide.

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