Pineywoods Region Week of May 22, 2024

B.A. Steinhagen

GOOD. Water stain; 75 degrees; 0.42 feet below pool. Water level is high after recent flooding and rainfall.

Bob Sandlin

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 64 degrees; 2.79 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. 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. 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; 1.46 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; 77 degrees; 0.36 feet above pool. Catfish are setting up to spawn and the bite is outstanding! Look for structure on ledges or humps. Some trophy fish have been caught with the eaters. A good area to look for trophy and eater cats would be on the inlets as the waters pour in. Hybrids are biting on points and humps 18 to 25 feet. Largemouth bass are doing well on offshore structure and bream beds. The lake is waking up for the season. Be safe and a little courtesy goes a long way. Report by Brad Doyle with Bradley’s Guide Service. Crappie are in 12-21 feet of water around structure and timber using plastics, hair or minnows, it’s been a light bite here lately. Always wear your life jacket. Always wear your life jacket. Report by Mike Cason, Fishical Therapy.

Fork

GOOD. Water Stained; 72 degrees; 0.35 feet above pool. Bass are improving to good early morning on topwaters around flooded grass and weeds, an frogs working over pond weed. Yum dingers and flukes are really good at the edge of the grass. Texas rigs are working on the outside edge of the weed line in 3-5 feet of water. Some offshore fish are starting to show up on points and creek channel bends. The bite is fair on Carolina rigs with a 10 inch blue fleck in 14-17 feet. 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; 0.56 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; 71 degrees; 3.21 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; 75 degrees; 0.74 feet above pool. Conditions are still about the same with muddy water in most areas but some areas are clearing up. White bass are 5-10 feet deep on points. Fishing duck tracker slabs. Catfish are good on the bulkheads. Report by Michael Richardson, Lake Livingston Adventures.

Martin Creek

GOOD. Water stained; 77 degrees; 0.03 feet above pool. Bass are slow on senkos worked slowly over the hydrilla, or deep crankbaits in deeper water. Fishing in the standing timber will get a bigger bite. Crappie remain good over brush in 20-25 feet using minnows and blue and green Bobby Garland jigs.

Nacogdoches

GOOD. Water stained; 68 degrees; 0.57 feet above pool. Largemouth bass are excellent on topwater frogs, Carolina rigs, dropshots and medium diving crankbaits. Bass are consistently 3-6 pounds. Crappie are good on brush chartreuse and white crappie jigs. Catfish are good on live minnows and cut bait. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.

Naconiche

FAIR. Water stained; 79 degrees; 2.00 feet above full pool. More rain, this has the water level just above all the dangerous stumps, so 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 don't be afraid to throw a +1 jerkbait in these situations. With the water starting to warm, a faster twitch presentation can find some good fish. The frog and popper 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 on Carolina rigs, dropshots or deep diving crankbaits. Bass are consistently 3-6 pounds. Catfish are fair on cut bait. Crappie are excellent on midlake timber with chartreuse and white crappie jigs. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.

Pinkston

GOOD. normal stain; 83 degrees. Bass are excellent on a topwater spook or frog. Bass are consistently 2-5 pounds. Crappie are poor on timber with natural colored crappie jigs. Catfish are fair on cut bait. 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; 5.29 feet above pool. Water clarity is muddy up the river and creeks, clearing south on the main lake. Lots of freshwater with bass in the brush and trees. Jigs and soft plastics are standard, but spinnerbaits and small crankbaits in some areas. Bass on humps and pockets Carolina rigs and big crankbaits. Crappie are moving around a lot because of the freshwater. Some are still shallow and others are on timber and brush in 20-27 feet using minnows and jigs. Catfish are moving to the points and creek channels on cut bait. White bass are roaming the points using crankbaits and spoons the best. Report by Captain Lynn Atkinson, Reel Um N Guide Service. Water is currently 5.1 feet high and rising 2 inches every 12 hours. Large populations of fish, shallow and flooded bushes and grass using a hollow body frog, quarter, three eights, and half ounce Texas rig to flip bushes. Also targeting secondary and main Lake shallow points for offshore schools using deep diving crankbait or Carolina rigs. Report by Captain Hank Harrison, Double H Precision Fishing.

Toledo Bend

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 75 degrees; 0.19 feet above pool. Water level still above normal pool, with eleven flood gates open and still more water coming down from up north. Bass are good in 1-20 feet of water hitting your favorite way to fish. There was a big bass tournament this past weekend and there was four bass over 10 pounds caught. Shallow fish coming on spinnerbaits and chatterbaits and little top water baits for the first couple of hours in the morning. Then you can pick up a shallow running crankbait and Texas rig and fish from 8-12 feet. The next depth is from 14-20 feet, these fish coming on big crankbaits and Carolina rigs. The crappie fishing is just fair due to the current running in the lake. There are some crappie shallow, around docks, but most are running from 12-18 feet. Report by Stephen Johnston, Johnston Fishing.

Tyler

FAIR. Water stained; 72 degrees; 0.20 feet above pool. The bass are good on crankbaits, topwaters, and trick worms. Catfish are slow but catches can be had on liver and shrimp. Crappie are in 16 feet of waters on the brush piles. Bream are good on red worms. 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; 0.60 feet above pool. Water is being released at 6862 cfs. 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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