Prairies & Lakes Region Week of April 17, 2024

Arlington

SLOW. Water stained; 70 degrees; 0.12 feet below pool. Bass should be shallow on soft plastics. Catfish are shallow along the rocks with stink bait.

Athens

GOOD. Water normal stain; 73 degrees; 0.75 feet above pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady. Bass are good in all stages of the spawn. Target spawning bass on beds with your favorite bed lure. To catch pre-spawn and post-spawn bass on brush piles, cast Carolina rigs and crankbaits, or on windblown points with white jerkbaits. Crappie are fair shallow moving back to brush piles in 25 feet of water with small jigs and minnows. Report by Jim Brack, Athens Guide Service.

Bastrop

GOOD. Water stained; 72 degrees. Water visibility is 2-4 feet of water. Bass have been great on weightless flukes and swim baits in perch colors. Creature and senko style plastics have been fair. Report by Jason Hernandez, Bass Institute of Bastrop.

Belton

GOOD. Water lightly stained; 66 degrees; 9.39 feet below pool.Thanks to flooding rains on April 9, Lake Belton rose 2.7 feet since last week and is now 75.4-percent full. The annual threadfin shad spawn has just now reached the main basin. My most successful white bass trips involved finding fish in 28-31 feet of water around mid-morning using side-imaging, spot-Locking atop these fish, then working white, 5/8 or 3/4 ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs vertically with a smoking tactic in conjunction with LiveScope to gauge their response to retrieve speed until we found the sweet spot. Although the window is brief, perhaps 25 minutes or so, some aggressive shallow water action can be found fishing for many species chasing after spawning shad. White bass, hybrid striped bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, drum, gar, and catfish are all getting in on this right now. That window is 6:30-6:55 A.M. right now. Throw an Original MAL with chartreuse tail to match the shape, size, and color of adult shad in their spawning colors. Report by Bob Maindelle, Holding the Line Guide Service. Catfishing is excellent. With the recent rains and steady water currents coming in from the Leon River anglers should target the mouths of these creeks with fresh shad. Anchoring or drifting at slow speeds with smaller baits is best. Flatheads have been caught heading up rivers around structures. Report by Brian Worley, B&S Catfishing.

Benbrook

GOOD. Water stained; 64 degrees; 0.47 feet below pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady. Bass are spawning shallow. Bass are hitting Texas rigs, jigs, spinnerbaits and wacky rigs. Crappie are biting minnows and jigs on brush piles or standing timber. Catfish are good. Report by Camron Wilkerson, Camron’s Quality Crappie Guiding.

Bridgeport

GOOD. Water stained; 64 degrees; 14.81 feet below pool. The Wise County Park and U.S. Route 380 low water ramps remain the best bet for launching. Water is slightly stained with temps in the low to mid 60s. Crappie have been hit-or-miss. There are reports of fish being caught around the marinas on the north and south ends, minnows and jigs are the best bet. Sand bass and hybrids are nearing the end of their spawn. They are slowly returning to the main lake and feeding heavily. Gulls and shorebirds may point the way to the fish. Slabs and swimbaits have been productive. Largemouth bass are also close to finishing their spawn. Some fish are still on beds with some post spawn fish starting to show up as well. Lizards, jigs, flat billed cranks and spinnerbaits have been putting fish in the boat. Blue catfish have been active around main lake humps and shallow cover. Cut Shad is the bait of choice. Report by Keith Bunch, Lake Bridgeport Guide Service.

Cedar Creek

EXCELLENT. Slightly stained; 70 degrees; 0.00 feet at pool. Hybrid striped bass and white bass have made a full recovery from the spawn and are now back in the main lake in droves and are on a feeding frenzy. Look for heavy bird activity throughout the lake on flats and near the Dam on edges of drop offs especially on cloudy and overcast days. The Hybrids and Whitebass have started schooling in water from 6-14 feet at the dam and any wind blown shallow point or seawall. Late evening schooling action is also happening in shallow coves and points throughout the lake. Reports of great catches using silver or white slabs and spinnerbaits and retrieving off the bottom at a very slow retrieve to catch these fish in depths of 8-16 feet of water. The crappie have also migrated back into the main lake. Look for them under bridge pylons or under docks where the depths are between 3-10 feet. Guides have been reporting exceptionally nice catches on sunny warmer days. Report by Brent Herbeck, Herbeck’s Lonestar Fishing Guide Service.

Comanche Creek

0.15 feet above pool. Closed.

Cooper

GOOD. Water stained; 60 degrees: 1.00 feet below pool. Catfish are good on cut shad.

Cypress Springs

GOOD: Water stained; 63 degrees; 1.53 feet above pool. No report while lake levels are high. Report by Marty Thomas, Lake O the Pines Crappie Fishing. Bass are transitioning to the first breakline in 6-8 feet of water hitting Texas rig worms, crankbaits, chatterbaits, spinnerbaits. Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine.

Eagle Mountain

GOOD. Water normal stain; 64 degrees; 4.31 feet below pool. White bass are good on main lake structures with slabs and cohos. Crappie are good shallow and mid depths on jigs. Blue catfish and channel catfish are good on punch bait and shad. Report provided by Chad Ferguson of North Texas Catfish Guide Service. Report provided by Chad Ferguson of North Texas Catfish Guide Service.

Fairfield

Closed to the public.

Fayette

GOOD. Water stained; 70 degrees. Bass are good in the reeds, timber and back of coves in 4-8 feet of water with flukes, Texas rigged worms, creature baits, and shallow crankbaits. Carolina rigs and deep crankbaits will land bites in the road beds, or with finesse baits and flukes near the dam. Report by Bryan Cotter, Texas Hawgs.

Graham

GOOD. Water stained; 63 degrees; 6.02 feet below pool. Crappie are shallow in the creeks spawning. Bass are spawning in shallow water. Sand bass and hybrids are schooling out on main lake points.

Granbury

GOOD. Water clear; 70 degrees; 0.17 feet below pool. Granbury water temperatures are in the upper 60s and in the 70s in the back of the creeks on warmer afternoons. White bass are good to excellent on slabs and spinnerbaits fished near main lake flats from in town near the shores to the flats near Blue Water Shores. There are many smaller sand bass, but some as large as 2 pounds. Striped bass are slow to fair to 7 pounds on live shad and alabama rigs trolled. Best reports of striped bass continue to come from the lower ends between Decordova subdivision to Striper Alley. Crappie are reported as fair to good in the back of creeks on small minnows and or jigs worked under a cork. Crappie are being caught on many areas of the lake including most creeks from in town to Decordova Bend Estates. Black bass reports are fair to good in numbers with an occasional bigger fish to 7 pounds plus. Many are on the beds and soft plastics, jigs and crankbaits are several options.Catfish reports for those bigger blues and yellows have slowed some, but cut shad worked on the upper ends is your best choice. Report by Michael Acosta, Unfair Advantage Charters. Striped bass are slow using umbrella-rigs, swimbaits or fresh shad. Fish are scattered from Decordova to the way up to Farm-To-Market 51 bridge. Report by Kraig Sexton, Sexton's Guide Service LLC, Fishing Charter, Marine Electronics & Whitney. Crappie are fair on jigs and small minnows fished from the bank. Sand bass are fair hitting medium minnows. Largemouth bass are staying near cover, with some sizeable catches being reported. Catfish are good on cut bait and large minnows on bottom. Perch and bluegill are excellent close to shore on worms so bring the kids out for a memorable time. Report by Terry Hodges, local angler.

Grapevine

SLOW. Water clear; 62 degrees; 1.22 feet above pool. Recent rains have muddied up the water and water is being released slowing the bite. Conditions are slow for all species until the water settles. Report by Omar Cotter, Luck O’the Irish Fishing Guide Service.

Hawkins

SLOW. Water slightly stained. 60 degrees. Bait fish patterns above the grass should work for cruising bass and pickerel. Look for bedding bass in the grass and shallow brush. Small crayfish patterns are excellent. Small deceivers and streamers should work well. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service.

Jacksonville

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 68 degrees; 0.28 feet above pool. The lake is very muddy due to the recent rains, visibility is bad. Soft plastics are working shallow and on brush. Some fish are being caught on Alabama rigs in deeper water.

Joe Pool

FAIR. Water stained; 65 degrees; 0.05 feet below pool. The shoreline at Lynn creek and the state park has great fishing if you can find the grass. Bass are great shallow in the grass with jerkbaits, Texas rigged soft plastics. Crappie are biting minnows and jigs. Report by Gilbert Miller, GTB Outdoors.

Lavon

GOOD. Water lightly stained; 55 degrees; 1.45 feet above pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady. Crappie are in 3-15 feet of water in the middle of the spawn. Prespawn fish are roaming on brush in 5-15 feet biting jigs and minnows. Fish minnows under a bobber 1-3 feet above rocks and boulders, or vertical jig by getting in the water with waders hit all the structure in knee-deep water, such as button willows, reeds, twigs, and timber. Fish any structure you can possibly see, don’t assume there is nothing on a piece of structure until you fish it. If you’re fishing, a cove with button willows, and you catch a fish at the base of the button, willow, tie a piece of cotton yarn to that tree on a little twig that you can see. So next time you come into the cove, you can hit all the threaded trees because a male Crappie will replace the one you caught in the previous day. So catching limits will be a lot faster so you are not fishing structure that never has a fish on it. Sandies are spawning on the North end, in the creeks. Use a 4 pound mono with spinnerbaits, 1/80-⅝ ounce jigs depending on current, minnows under a bobber, or minnows Carolina rigged with small split shot. When using lures you can bump it up to 6 pound mono in 2-20 feet. Thread thins are spawning early morning and late evening along the banks, which will draw the white bass very shallow. Throw paddle tail, swimbaits 3-4 inches up against the shorelines. Look for the birds on the bank and cast. After the spawn is over, drop back out to 15-20 feet and turn your thumper on and make a bunch of noise and they should show up. White 1 ounce RSR lures slabs working great. Hit the bottom and lift up really fast. Let it flutter back down. Tying a jig 18 inches above the slab will sometimes produce two fish per drop. Catfish are in 2-15 feet of water on cut bait and baited holes. Santee rig big chunks of cut shad or sunfish on rocks. Some pre-spawn black bass males are in 3-15 feet of water hitting 3-6 foot divers, Texas rig worms, and creature baits. Some bass are on brush piles biting swimbaits and smaller Alabama rigs. Report by Carey Thorn, White Bass Fishing Texas.

Lewisville

FAIR. Water stained; 69 degrees; 1.41 feet above pool. White bass are fair to good on ledges of humps and points in 15-35 feet of water. Smaller sized fish are abundant. Some sandies are up the creeks as well biting 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. Catfish are good drifting flats near the river channel and ledges of wind blown points in 12-30 feet of water. The shallow water catfish bite has been good as well with the water temperature warming. Fishing on anchor in 1-5 feet of water near wind blown points, timber, sticks, and creek and river mouths has been good. Crappie are slow to fair in the main lake and creeks in 4-25 feet of water on bridge columns, brush piles, rock piles, stumps, and laydowns with minnows and jigs. Standing timber near creek mouths and shallow coves has produced as well. Report by Wes Campbell, BendARod Fishing. Bass are good from the banks out to 12 feet on crankbaits and bladed jigs. Bluegill are spawning around vegetation and wooded cover. Crappie are transitioning to deeper main lake points and brush.

Limestone

GOOD. Water normal stain; 71 degrees; 0.13 feet above pool. The shad spawn is on and the bigger alpha shad have pulled up. White bass have started schooling. Expect male largemouth bass to enter protection mode as the fry are hatching. Largemouth bass are good on spawning beds in 1-4 feet of water in the creek channels using swim jigs, Texas rigs, spinnerbaits, and chatterbaits. Expect the topwater bite to begin soon. Crappie are good fishing minnows in brush, standing timber, and creek channels in 1-10 feet of water. White bass are in 1-10 feet of water biting topwaters and beetle spins. Bank anglers continue to have success at the Texas State Highway 164 bridge. Catfish moved into spawning areas this week hitting cut bait. Report by Colan Gonzales, CG’s Just Fishing Guide Service.

Navarro Mills

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 66 degrees; 1.88 feet above pool. White bass are fair on minnows and jigs in shallow water. Crappie are good on spawning beds in out to 2 feet of water with black and chartreuse jigs. Blue catfish are good on cut bait near wind blown shores. Channel catfish are good on punch bait. Largemouth bass are fair on Carolina rigged worms and lizards near spawning beds. Report by Clay Major, Major Guide Service.

Palestine

GOOD. Water stained; 70 degrees; 1.78 feet above pool. All boat launches are now open. A lot of flooded shoreline grass and brush, and some low hanging branches in the water are good for bass. Weedless frogs, creatures, chatterbaits are good. Channel catfish are beginning to move into shoreline rocks in the water, blue catfish remain good in 4-22 feet on live minnows and cut bait. When the water temperature reaches 74 degrees look for the flathead catfish to spawn along the shorelines. As water drops and warms, expect shad spawn to begin also. Crappie are finishing the spawn and returning to deeper habitats. Report by Jim Beggerly, Jim’s Fishing.

Palo Pinto

GOOD. Water stained; 70 degrees; 8.76 feet below pool. Blue catfish are biting in shallow water on cut bait. Hybrids are starting to bite on cut bait. Crappie still great in shallow water minnows and jigs. Catching a lot of male crappie.

Ray Hubbard

GOOD. Water stained; 67 degrees; 0.04 feet above pool. White bass are good starting early morning on flats in 2-6 feet of water. Birds have been working also later in the morning and late afternoon using small spinnerbaits and 3 inch swimbaits on 1/2 ounce jig head. White bass are relating to humps and long points in 17-26 feet of water using 3/4 ounce Bovee slab with a jig 12 inches above. Crappie are fair and relating to brush 12-14 feet deep. Catfish have moved mid depth on long points and ridges in 14-24 feet of water cut shad. Report by John Varner, John Varner's Guide Service.

Ray Roberts

FAIR. Water slightly stained; 60 degrees; 0.82 feet above pool. Sand bass are good on slabs 25-35 feet of water. Should be seeing fish on the banks early mornings as the shad are beginning to spawn. Catfish are good, shallow 5-15 feet on cut bait. Crappie are starting to show up in brush piles decent on sunny days jigs or minnows. Report by Justin Wilson, Wilson Outdoor Connection.

Richland Chambers

FAIR. Water normal stain; 65 degrees; 0.52 feet above pool. White bass are good on main lake points and humps in 20-25 feet of water. Check out the Pelican Island and Old Hwy 287 Roadbed. Best baits are slabs for the bottom hugging fish and if you get some top water, just about any small and shiny bait. Hybrid stripers are fair on main lake points in 25-35 feet of water on live shad. Check out Windsock Point and the 309 Flats. Crappie spawn is ongoing in 2-4 feet of water biting minnows. Report by Royce Simmons, Gone Fishin' Guide Service.

Somerville

GOOD. Water stained; 68 degrees; 0.54 feet above pool. Catfish and crappie are fair, and bluegill are good on minnows, worms, and stink bait at Somerville Marina early morning. Black bass are fair in 5-8 feet of water hitting soft plastics and jerkbaits. Crappie are fair on the main lake brush piles in 10-15 feet of water and pilings biting minnows and very small jigs. Catfish are good in 4-8 feet of water. Larger catfish are being caught on jug lines baited with shad or cut bait. White bass are good in the lake trolling with Pet spoons and jigs, or anchored with ghost minnows or shad. Hybrids are fair, fishing schools, caught on cut bait and 2 ounce jigs. Hybrids continue to be caught from shore at the dam and Welch Park areas. Report by Weldon Kirk, Fish Tales Guide Service.

Stillhouse

GOOD. Water stained; 65 degrees; 14.70 feet below pool. Thanks to flooding rains on April 9, Stillhouse rose 2.35 feet since last week and is now 65.2-percent full. Largemouth bass fishing is excellent right now with numerous 7-8 pound bass being taken each week for the past several weeks in small, local tournaments. Dark, natural hues of soft plastics worked on the outside edge of the hydrilla, especially where that hydrilla growth coincides with topographic anomalies, is productive. The freshwater drum spawn is tapering off. Bare, stony points in 12-19 feet worked with a 3/8 or ⅝ ounce Bladed Hazy Eye Slab by banging the bottom, then lifting the lure about a foot and repeating this process will produce fish 12-26 inches. White bass will continue to be hard to come by as they make their way back down lake, typically congregating once again by June. Report by Bob Maindelle, Holding the Line Guide Service.

Tawakoni

GREAT. Water lightly stained; 66 degrees; 1.14 feet above pool. There has been a major shift in our hybrid striper and white bass action. Fish are moving shallow and staging up to spawn. Look for wind blown points and gulls giving away locations of feeding fish. Swimbaits are the ticket right now in 3-10 feet. The eating size catfish bite is red hot. Cut shad and buffalo have been putting limits of blue catfish in the boat. Target the wind blown points in 3 feet. Channel catfish are being caught over baited holes in 18-25 feet. These fish are also moving up shallow and can be caught in 2-5 feet under bobbers. These fish are being caught on prepared bait such as punch bait. Crappie are good. These fish are in their final stages of the spawn. We are still seeing fish shallow and being caught on jigs under bobbers. We are also starting to see post spawn fish setting up on shallow brush and bridge pylons in 8-14 feet. Largemouth bass bite is great. With the shad spawn starting, look for active bass on rip rap and shallow dock posts. Fish are being caught on shallow cranks and spinner baits. Report by Captain Michael Littlejohn, Lake Tawakoni Guide Service.

Texoma

GOOD. Water normal stain; 58 degrees; 1.53 feet below pool. Striped bass fishing is great drifting live shad around the islands or past the bridges near the rivers. Rain should finish off the spawn and look for bait on the banks with feeding fish near them. Top waters are working on sandy flats in 2-8 feet of water. Smallmouth bass are good on live shad along the bluffs on the banks in 2-4 feet of water. Also fair on spooks early and look for largemouth off the banks in 6-12 feet of water on main lake points near rocks. Catfish are fair on cut shad along the rocks in 30-45 feet of water. Drifting cut rough fish or gizzard shad in 5-10 feet of water near the river could produce a big fish after a rain with an inflow of dirty water. Crappie are good on brush piles in 12-18 feet of water on jigs using electronics to locate active fish working in and out of the brush. Look for spawners shallow with warmer temperatures in the forecast. Report by Jacob Orr, Guaranteed Guide Service Lake Texoma. Threadfin shad are spawning along the banks. Hybrid stripers are good on topwaters in the morning along rocky banks. Some days the egrets are working leading the way to fish. Some schooling activity under gulls. After the morning bite ends switch to swimbaits and Alabama rigs in 10-25 feet of water on the edges and dropoffs. This pattern should hold for the next 4-6 weeks while shad spawn near docks and banks. Report by John Blasingame, Adventure Texoma Outdoors.

Weatherford

FAIR. Water heavily stained; 68 degrees; 5.11 feet below pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady. Some catches of smaller size crappie at the house or shallow on rocks with minnows or jigs. Bass are slow in shallow water and transitioning deeper in a post spawn using soft plastics. Catfish are fair on the main lake with cut bait.

Whitney

GOOD. Water stained; 65 degrees; 0.32 feet above pool. Catfish are fair using cut drum or shad under roosting birds. Striped bass are good trolling live bait and down rigging jigs. Crappie continue to be fair on small jigs and minnows fished near deeper structure. White bass are good up the creeks in shallow waters. Largemouth bass continue to be fair along structures and docks. Report by Captain Cory Vinson, Guaranteed Guide Service. Striped bass are slow with many smaller sized fish being caught on swimbaits, umbrella-rigs or live bait. Report by Kraig Sexton, Sexton's Guide Service LLC, Fishing Charter, Marine Electronics & Whitney.

Worth

FAIR. Water normal stained; 64 degrees; 3.00 feet below pool. White bass are good on main lake structures with slabs and cohos. Crappie are good shallow and mid depths on jigs. Blue catfish and channel catfish are good on punch bait and shad. Report provided by Chad Ferguson of North Texas Catfish Guide Service.

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