Pineywoods Region Week of May 29, 2024

B.A. Steinhagen

GOOD. Water stain; 75 degrees; 0.93 feet below pool. Water level is high after recent flooding and rainfall.

Bob Sandlin

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 74 degrees; 0.30 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 in 12-15 feet of water on points and brush piles with Texas rigged worms, jigging spoons, dropshots and jigs. Shad continue to spawn shallow so there is a topwater bite. Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine. Black bass are slow on streamers and clousers fishing main lake points and flooded grass. Water clarity is murky and high water are slowing the bream bite. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service.

Caddo

FAIR. Water stained; 75 degrees; 1.31 feet above pool. Water levels are continuing to fall and the water is muddy with a strong current. Be conscientious of wake size while boating as the water level is right at and below the boat docks. Bass top water bite is starting to heat up with frogs, buzz baits and choppos plus pop r’s are working as the brim are starting to bed up. Flukes and senkos are still working well around the trees for you just remember dark colors in muddy water and your green and pumpkin colors in the clearer water. Really think things will calm down by June and the summer should be amazing out here. Caddo as the summer is a beautiful time to come visit this lake that God spoke into existence. Report provided by Vince Richards, Caddo Lake Fishing & Fellowship.

Conroe

GOOD. Water stained; 80 degrees; 0.36 feet above pool. Catfish are outstanding with many reports of limits being caught on bulkheads and on ledges and humps and rocks using Catfish Bubblegum, worms, liver, shad, and punch bait. Crappie have been hit-or-miss. There are some being caught but overall numbers are still down. Largemouth are good up shallow early and late. While the sun is high in the sky try pitching docks or offshore structures. Bream beds should be heating up as well. It's getting hot out there so stay hydrated and safe. Report by Brad Doyle with Bradley’s Guide Service. Hybrids have been on flats and channels in 17-24 feet of water. Many anglers are trolling, or drifting live bait, or jigging for them. Always wear your life jacket. Report by Mike Cason, Fishical Therapy.

Fork

GOOD. Water Stained; 76 degrees; 0.48 feet above pool. The morning bass bite is good for the first of hours of the day then slows on buzz baits, frogs, and swimbaits around shallow grass. Then switch to shaky heads along the edge of grass or bream beds in 3-5 feet. The offshore bites comes into play on bright and sunny days with big worms Texas rigged or Carolina rigs in 15-18 feet. Crankbaits over deeper water are slow but improving. Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. Black bass are in a summer pattern. Top waters are excellent in the shallow grass, streamers are working in the shallow banks and creek channels. 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; 75 degrees; 2.35 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. 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.

Livingston

SLOW. Stained; 75 degrees; 0.06 feet above pool. White bass on secondary points. 5-12 feet of water using slabs. Catfish are still shallow, but late morning push out to drop-offs. Report by Michael Richardson, Lake Livingston Adventures.

Martin Creek

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 89 degrees; 0.01 feet above pool. Bass are good fishing the hydrilla with senkos and redbug worms Texas rigged. Deep brush is also productive on deep crankbaits and hair jigs. Crappie are good at railroad trestle and deep brush using minnows and jigs. Jug lines are producing nice sized catfish on live bait.

Nacogdoches

GOOD. Water stained; 80 degrees; 0.19 feet above pool. Largemouth bass are excellent on Carolina rigs, dropshots and deep diving crankbaits. Crappie are fair on brush and some timber with chartreuse crappie jigs. Catfish are good on cut bait. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.

Naconiche

GOOD. Water stained; 81 degrees; 0.50 feet above full pool. After a nice stretch of good weather, we ended May with a bang. Despite the increased boater action due to Memorial Day, nice quality fish were caught. Between the spinnerbait, chatterbait and the BrushHog, we were able to find some nice quality fish in 8-10 feet of water near creeks and roadbeds. Crappie population is good. Catfish are slow. Report by Eric Wolfe, NacoTack Fishing Services. Largemouth bass are excellent on dropshots and large swimbaits. Catfish are slow on cut bait. Crappie are excellent on midlake standing timber live minnows. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.

Pinkston

GOOD. normal stain; 80 degrees. Bass are excellent on dropshot and big swimbaits. Crappie are slow on live minnows. Catfish are slow on live minnows on 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 4.

Sam Rayburn

GOOD. Water stained; 78 degrees; 5.56 feet above pool. Bass are in the flooded bushes and trees with soft plastics. Few bass are on points and creek Carolina rigs and crankbaits. Some crappie are shallow and some are roaming 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 on creek channels and deeper points with minnows and cut baits. White bass on deeper points Jahn jigging spoons and little George’s. Navigate with caution watching for floating debris. Report by Captain Lynn Atkinson, Reel Um N Guide Service. Expect rising water levels due to the forecasted rain. 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; 0.05 feet below pool. The lake is full pool, with five flood gates open at 1 feet each and both generators running 24 hours a day. More rain is in the forecast. Bass are good in 1-15 feet of water hitting just about how ever you like to fish, from top water frog, spinnerbait, chatterbait, anything around the flooded bushes. Other fish come on Texas rigs and crankbait in 8-15 feet, main lake ridges and points. Most of these fish are following the shad around, some of these storms we get have big wind in them and just break the bait up, then it takes a few days for the shad to get grouped back up. The best bite has really been at night, buzz baits and spinnerbaits have been on fire! These fish came around flooded bushes. Several anglers say you have to watch it if you get hung up, with the high water, several of the bushes have snakes in them. Be best to shine your light in the bush before reaching in and getting you bait unhung! Crappie fishing has been just ok, with the water still fallen and still getting these bugs storms, it is really needed to calm down before it really helps. Still some being caught on bushes and around docks close to deeper water. Both live bait and jigs are working. Report by Stephen Johnston, Johnston Fishing.

Tyler

GOOD. Water stained; 75 degrees; 0.20 feet above pool. Inclement weather in the forecast. The bass are good all over the lake on crankbaits, topwaters, and trick worms. Catfish are good in the shallows on cut bait. Crappie are good in 16 feet of water on the brush piles. Bream are good on red worms. Report by Paul Taylor, The Boulders at Lake Tyler.

Welsh

SLOW. Water stained. 80 degrees. No report due to very few anglers on the water.

Wright Patman

GOOD. Water stained; 74 degrees; 0.42 feet above pool. Fishing patterns remain similar. Crappie are good and still favor brush and points. The catfish have slowed down a lil but people are catching bigger ones now. Report by Jerry Gennings, local angler and guide.

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