Prairies & Lakes Region Week of June 25, 2025

Arlington

GOOD. Water stained; 85 degrees; 0.55 feet above pool. Conditions are still the same. The lake has received a lot of rain so the clarity is stained. Bass continue to be shallow, or on deep points with crankbaits.

Athens

GOOD. Water normal stain; 83 degrees; 0.48 feet above pool. Bass are good in grass in 8-12 feet of water with Texas rig worms, wacky rig senkos and crankbaits. Bass are good on brush in 15-18 feet of water with spoons and Texas rig worms. Crappie are slow on small jigs over brush. Report by Reagan Nelson, Lake Athens Bass Guide.

Bastrop

GREAT. Water stained; 90 degrees. Lake Bastrop schooling bass are good throwing small clear topwaters, small swimbaits in shad colors on a tiny ball jighead, underspins, a small belly weight hook, or drag a shaky head with a watermelon based color trick worm. A Carolina rigged fluke or finesse worm works great on the ledges and a frog around the reeds can land a bigger bass. Wake baits have been decent as well. Report by Bryan Cotter, Texas Hawgs. There is some schooling action in the evenings, but the bass are finicky. The shad are small so use smaller profile baits, or small jerkbaits for a reaction bite.

Belton

FAIR. Water stained; 83 degrees; 2.11 feet below pool. Belton dropped 1.63 feet since last week as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is now releasing water at a rate of 1,600 CFS to shed accumulated flood water. Abundant, long-lasting topwater action has been the big draw for the last week or so as large schools of white bass, some with hundreds of individual fish, rise to the surface in the morning to pin mainly small, slow-swimming young-of-the-year shad up against the surface. Mornings with enough wind to ripple the surface, but not to the point of whitecapping, with cloud cover make the occurrence of topwater action much more likely. Although most bait will catch fish in these frenzies eventually, by choosing a bait which resembles the size, shape, and color of the young-of-the-year shad, the opportunity exists to catch a fish on every cast. Use the white bass cork rig with a #2 grey and white or olive and white streamer. The cork gives the rig weight for long casts and produces commotion on the surface, while the nearly weightless streamer imitates the small shad. If topwater is absent, downrigging is the next best option to cover water. Report by Bob Maindelle, Holding the Line Guide Service. Catfish are fair. As the majority of catfish are finishing spawning activity the bite should continue to increase. Shallow water around timber with fresh shad or prepared bait can produce smaller blue catfish under 10lbs. Flatheads are fair on live bluegill around river mouths and log piles. Channel catfish are good over baited holes and around brush piles using punch bait. Report by Brian Worley, B&S Catfishing.

Benbrook

GOOD. Water stained; 83 degrees; 0.86 feet above pool. Crappie bite is good on small jigs and minnows. Largemouth bass are good off points on hard plastics, soft plastics and live bait. Hybrid stripers are good on flats with live bait in 20-40 feet of water, but many are undersized. Catfish are fair on punch bait and cut bait. Report by Hundley’s Guide Service.

Bois d'Arc

GOOD. water normal stain; 83 degrees; 0.47 feet above pool. Bass morning bite is good around points or pond weed with topwaters. Offshore bite is better mid morning to evening on brush piles, long points with deep bushes and pond dams in 15-27 feet with Carolina rigs, Texas rigs and deep crankbaits. Texas rigs on timber near road beds or levees and fence rows good in 5-7 feet with creature baits . Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. The lake level is being lowered slowing the bite. As the water stabilizes the bite should improve but the dog days of summer are approaching. Crappie limits are still possible but will take some time. Target fish on timber from 15-30 feet of water with minnows over jigs. The key will be to cover water to catch the active fish, do not beg them to bite. Report by River Bottom Boys Guide Service.

Bridgeport

FAIR. Water slightly stained; 85 degrees; 0.27 feet above pool. Crappie are good on dock poles and brush piles using jigs early and minnows. Fish are sluggish in the afternoon heat, Largemouth bass bite is good shallow using jigs, crankbaits, and soft plastic Texas rig baits. White bass topwater bite is on. Hybrids are fair on points and main lake humps with slabs or live shad. Catfish bite is good on cut bait. Report by Jack Pellegrini, Lake Bridgeport Crappie Guide Service.

Cedar Creek

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 83 degrees; 0.00 feet above pool. Big numbers of white bass and several trophy-class hybrid stripers have hit the deck. We are consistently finding the best action in 15–22 feet of water. Good go-to setups include a variety of slabs, sometimes paired with 2–3 jigs above, and the always-reliable yellow bladed jig using the proven saw tooth retrieve technique. Trolling spoons at 3 mph in 13–17 feet of water absolutely crushed the white bass. Water temperatures are currently holding around 83 degrees and will continue to rise as summer heats up over the next couple of weeks. Report by Brent Herbeck, Herbeck’s Lonestar Fishing Guide Service. Catfish remain consistent targeting humps in 10-20 feet of water, but there are a lot of small fish. Bigger fish can be caught drifting cut shad, carp, drum or bream. Report by Jason Barber, Kings Creek Adventures.

Comanche Creek

0.43 feet above pool. Comanche Creek is closed for the summer and will reopen in October.

Cooper

GOOD. Water stained; 80 degrees: 1.10 feet below pool. As the summer temperatures increase the water temperature target crappie are in deeper timber along the river channel, and brush piles. Start on the edge of the timber line working towards the dam then to the timber in coves. Summer bite is typically best on live bait. Report by River Bottom Boys Guide Service.

Cypress Springs

FAIR: Water normal stain; 83 degrees; 0.72 feet above pool. Starting to see a slight thermocline 5 feet off the bottom. Bass are feeding actively in a summer pattern. Night fishing has been producing large fish. Crappie are great in 20 feet of water on minnows. Catching lots of channel and blue catfish in deeper water on humps and around structure. No reports on white bass this week. Report by Chris Caswell, Lake Bob Sandlin Crappie Fishing Guide. Crappie are excellent on brush piles and docks but you will have to weed through numbers of small fish to catch a limit. Minnows are outperforming jigs. Report by River Bottom Boys Guide Service.

Eagle Mountain

FAIR. Water normal stain; 85 degrees; 0.43 feet above pool. Sand bass are fair with fish in scattered schools. This is typical for this time of year. This time of year some sandies can be caught on the lights at night with imitation shad or rattletraps. Black bass are fair with bass assassins early morning around rocks, or under the lights at nights with chrome and blue rattletraps, or bucktail jigs. Channel catfish and blue catfish are good on manufactured bait or cut bait in 27-30 feet of water on deep water humps and points. Some catches on baited holes. Crappie are fair on deep water brush piles and docks with jigs and minnows. Perch are good around the docks with nightcrawlers under a cork. Report by Captain Bobby Mann, Catch a Dream Guide Service.

Fayette

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 90 degrees. The shallow bass bite is slowing as the water temperature reaches the 90s. Bass are 20 feet of water biting deep diving crankbaits, shaky heads and Carolina rigs. Perch can be caught from the bank to 10 feet of water on nightcrawlers. Report by Mark Fransen, Fransen’s Guide Service. Some bass are moving offshore, so a jig or a Carolina rig will get a lot of bites. Crankbaits and swimbaits will get some as well. A deep crankbait is catching a lot off the deep channels and rock piles/ledges. A frog or a topwater early will get some nice bass blowing up on those. Report by Bryan Cotter, Texas Hawgs.

Graham

FAIR. Water stained; 80 degrees; 0.20 feet above pool. Bass are slow. Crappie are slow on minnows. Sand bass and hybrids are good schooling on the main lake flats with spoons. Catfish are good in the mouths of creeks.

Granbury

GOOD. Water stained; 83 degrees; 0.05 feet below pool. Granbury is at full pool and settling out after being stained. Water temperatures are around the middle 80s and the summer patterns are settling in. Sand bass continue to be good on trolled baits on the lower ends on feeding flats. Striped bass have been slow on live shad and trolled umbrella rigs worked mainly on the lower ends as well. Largemouth are good to 7 pounds on spinnerbaits, lipless crankbaits and soft plastics worked in clearer water in sloughs and creeks on many areas of the lake. The catfish bite has been excellent on prepared baits and cut shad on many areas of the lake and especially in the stained water. Crappie are slow, but the best reports are coming from fishing structure mid-lake with small minnows and jigs. Report by Michael Acosta, Unfair Advantage Charters.

Grapevine

GOOD. Water stained; 85 degrees; 4.10 feet above pool. White bass are hit-or-miss on deep hump with jigging spoons. The heat paired with the release of water has slowed the bite. Some blue herons and egrets are working, but primarily standing along the banks. Water level continues to be high, so check ramp status before heading out. Report by Omar Cotter, Luck O’the Irish Fishing Guide Service.

Hawkins

GOOD. Water slightly stained. 80 degrees. Topwater lures early and late will produce good black bass action. Bream should be making their move shallow for their spawn. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service.

Jacksonville

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 83 degrees; 0.20 feet above pool. Bass are biting on soft plastics and jigs in brush, and schoolers are biting swimbaits and rattletraps

Joe Pool

GREAT. Water normal stain; 80 degrees; 1.45 above pool. The lake is over the pool and dropping 2 inches a day. Water temps are in the low 80s, and holding steady. Bass can be found shallow during the early morning hours before the sun rises on topwaters and small soft plastics Texas rigged. Look for shore grass with some water depth, and submerged pond weed. The shallow fish will be your 12-14 inches fish with the occasional slot fish. Once the sun rises up the bite moves out to mid depths 5-12 feet of water. Here you can use soft plastics and mid depth crankbaits in shad colors. Look for timber and submerged brush and structure. Larger slot fish and occasional oversized bass are in this depth range. You have to time it right due to there being bite windows where they feed then shut off. If you are not getting bit keep moving. Crappie are out on your favorite summer deep spots on minnows. Please wear your life jacket and be mindful of the weather. Be sure to always have safety equipment, bilge pumps, batteries on board because it could save your life. Stay safe and wear your life jacket! Report by Gilbert Miller, GTB Outdoors.

Lavon

GOOD. Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 1.56 feet above pool. The gates are open releasing water so the crappie bite is all over the place. Crappie can be caught in 7-9 feet of water on laydowns, or on deep piles in 25 feet. The bite is inconsistent, but the fish are huge. Best bite is on minnows, hair jigs, and 1/16th ounce soft plastics. If fish are nosing down and avoiding the lure or bait, downsize the jig to a 1/32 ounce or smaller. Match the shad hatch which is just about an inch long right now. White bass are excellent with catches of 14-15 inch fish possible. Target main lake points in 10-20 feet of water. If there is a lot of bait in the area, the sandies are there somewhere. When the fish surface cast topwaters, but throwing a swimbait can catch bigger fish. Smaller fish cannot get their mouth around the hook gap on a quarter ounce lead head. Also, if you throw a topwater bait, there are two dangling travel hooks that you have to deal with versus one on a swimbait. If fish are not surfacing use a 1 ounce white slab. Channel catfish are good on baited holes in 5-15 feet of water with punch bait, chicken liver, shad one to two cranks off the bottom or under a bobber if in shallow water. Report by Carey Thorn, White Bass Fishing Texas.

Lewisville

FAIR. Water normal stain; 82 degrees; 1.26 feet above pool. White bass are slow to fair on points and humps in 15-32 feet of water with slabs, spoons, spinnerbaits and live bait. Keeper sized hybrid stripers are fair in similar depths. 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. Blue catfish are fair to good on cut shad anchored or drifting humps and flats in 15-32 feet of water. Channel catfish are good on baited holes on humps and points, and riprap in 15-28 feet of water on cut shad or punch bait. Crappie are fair in 15-28 feet of water on brush piles, submerged timber, and submerged cover near drop-offs with minnows and jigs. Report by Wes Campbell, BendARod Fishing. Water clarity is about 1 foot. Largemouth bass can be caught shallow around bushes and rock in 5 feet of water. Hybrid striper 20-30 feet of water near creek channels with live bait or slabs. Crappie are on main lake brush in 15-20 feet of water or cruising deep hard bottom flats.

Limestone

GOOD. Water normal stain; 86 degrees; 0.05 feet above pool. Big rains but the bite remains consistent. Crappie are in 10-18 feet of water on power lines, standing timber, or offshore brush with minnows. White bass are in 7-17 feet of water with slabs. Catfish are good in 10-20 feet with cutbait, or large minnows. Largemouth bass are good in 4-14 feet of water with boat docks, bulkheads, and rocks with chatterbaits, Texas rigs, Carolina rigs, and spinnerbaits. Report by Colan Gonzales, Lake Limestone Guide Service.

Navarro Mills

SLOW. Water stained; 75 degrees; 7.66 feet above pool. Water level is on the rise with over 6 feet gain within the last week. White bass are slow and difficult to find. Crappie are slow on brush piles hitting jigs or minnows. Seeing more than normal yellow catfish on brush piles and near docks. Catfish are good for eaters with shad and perch. Largemouth bass are slow. Report by Navarro Mills Marina.

Palestine

GOOD. Water stained; 90 degrees; 0.80 feet above pool. Crappie are good on brush in 14 feet of water with minnows, or in timber in 18-25 feet of water with jigs. Channel catfish and small blue catfish are good near reading walls with stink bait or cut bait. Bass are good in 4-7 feet of water with senkos. White bass are good around sunrise in the morning on main lake points with small rattletraps or shallow diving crankbaits.

Palo Pinto

SLOW. Water stained; 87 degrees; 0.09 feet above pool. Blue catfish are slow. Crappie and sand bass are very slow. Carp and drums are really good. Report by Lake Palo Pinto RV Park.

Ray Hubbard

GOOD. Water stained; 83 degrees; 0.07 feet below pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady. White bass are excellent in the mornings with surface activity common on the flats. Throw small swimbaits, tail spinners or rattle traps. Later in the morning white bass are moving out to deeper water on long points, road beds and levees. Crappie are related to brush piles in 12-18 feet of water. Crappie are showing up at bridge columns and moving around drop-offs going from structure to structure. Catfish are good in wooded timber 15-18 feet of water prepared punch bait. Chumming will help bring the schools into your areas. Report by John Varner, John Varner's Guide Service.

Ray Roberts

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 84 degrees; 0.97 feet above pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady. You can now start flipping shallow for bass. Largemouth bass are offshore in 18-25 feet of water primarily on rock piles with 10 inch worms, crankbaits and football jigs. A few bass on timber at dawn and dusk weightless flukes or weightless senkos. Mayfly hatch is going on so the best crappie bite is at first light. Crappie are scattered and slow after the recent rain. Crappie are good in brush piles and timber in 18-25 feet of water. Sand bass are on humps and points in 25-40 feet of water with slabs. Blue catfish are good in 20 feet of water. Channel catfish are good in 10-25 feet of water on flats. Report by Daniel Koberna, Lt. Dan’s Crappie Co.

Richland Chambers

FAIR. Water stained; 85 degrees; 0.26 feet above pool. The lake is six inches above full pool with four spillway gates open. Bardwell Lake and Navarro Mills Lake are both about five feet over pool level, so expect the spillway gates to be open for another week or so. The main lake still has clear water and the creeks are stained. White bass are slow with inconsistent topwater action early in the morning along the south shoreline and main lake points. Hybrid striper action is good with live shad off the 309 Flats, Windsock Point and the South Shoreline near Cherry Mountain. Blue catfish are fair on cut bait and shad on windblown points. Catfish can be caught on punch bait below schools of feeding white bass. Report by Royce Simmons, Gone Fishin' Guide Service. The summer patterns should really start kicking in. Target bass in brush piles with big worms and deep diving crank baits. You need to find brush piles and hit them several times during the day. The water level normalizing opens up boat dock fishing. Start with topwater in the morning and then hit docks and or deeper brush piles. Good fishing. Report by Terry Hawkins Guide Service.

Somerville

GOOD. Water stained; 83 degrees; 1.23 feet above pool. At the Marina the crappie bite is fair, and the catfish are fair on minnows or punch bait and bluegill are fair on crickets or worms. Crappie are fair on jigs and minnows over brush in 8-18 feet of water. Catfish are good in 3-10 feet of water with cut shad or punch bait. Black bass are slow on crankbaits and shiny spinnerbaits in 2-8 feet of water. White bass are good trolling with various spoons or anchored with shad and ghost minnows. Hybrids are good with many undersized fish being caught in deeper water using cut bait or mussels. Below the dam all species are fair with 191 CFS of water being released. Report by Weldon Kirk, Fish Tales Guide Service.

Stillhouse

GOOD. Water stained; 84 degrees; 1.49 feet below pool. Water level rose another 0.30 feet since last week. The water is warming rapidly and the fish are suspending more and more each day. The two drivers for this stratification of the water by temperature which will eventually lead to the creation of the thermocline by mid-June, and the increasing presence of young-of-the-year shad making their way into open water. When fish are suspended, utilize 2-D sonar, traditional sonar or colored sonar, as the three-dimensional cone it makes use of extends the echo signature of the fish into long arches which are larger and much more easily seen on a screen then the shorter "rice grain" signatures seen on side-imaging and down-imaging. The MAL Heavy with silver blade and chartreuse tail is my goto when the fish are aggressive, and downrigging with Pet Spoons is my backup plan when the fish are not aggressive. The MAL shows up remarkably well on forward-facing sonar and 2-D sonar. Drop it either to the bottom if fish are on bottom, or below the level of suspended fish, and crank it up at a steady cadence at least two cranks above the fish showing highest in the water column. If a chase occurs, keep cranking at that same steady cadence until the fish either catches it, or turns away. When a strike occurs, keep right on cranking without a hard hookset. On the downriggers, run balls just 1-2 feet above the shallowest fish showing on 2-D sonar. Mornings are best, from 7:20-10:15 a.m. Report by Bob Maindelle, Holding the Line Guide Service. Bass are schooling up in the mornings in the trees behind the island and some off church hump. Throwing small or tiny swimbaits, walking style topwaters and crankbaits are catching some good numbers. Dragging Texas-rigged soft plastics are catching some in the trees in 10-30 feet of water as well. Layer in the day, dragging a Carolina rig will get some bites also. Report by Bryan Cotter, Texas Hawgs.

Tawakoni

GOOD. Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 0.91 feet above pool. Lake Tawakoni continues to fish well as we fall into a stable summer pattern. Limits of hybrid striper and white bass are possible, with stripers up to 18 pounds. Best baits have been live Shad and slab spoons. Best depths have been 18-30 feet. The eating sized catfish bite is red hot. Easy limits are being caught on or near baited areas. Prepared bait such as punch baits or dip baits are working best. Crappie are decent. Minnows are starting to fish better than jigs as the water warms. Standing timber and brush piles are working best. Early in the morning bridge columns also are fishing well in18 feet. Largemouth bass are good on shallow structures such as submerged irrigation intakes near docks, rip rap and shallow lay downs and brush piles. Shallow crankbaits and early morning frogs are working well. Report by Captain Michael Littlejohn, Lake Tawakoni Guide Service.

Texoma

FAIR. Water stained; 74 degrees; 5.41 feet above pool. Striper fishing is hit-and-miss with so much outflow but fish are consistent in shallower water 15-25 feet on live shad. Also seeing fish on humps and ledges in deeper water 40-55 feet of water on live shad. Be on the lookout for topwater action as bait moves off the banks and into deeper water with the warming temps. The bite will bust loose once they shut the flood gates and we are at normal pool level. Catfishing is good for blues on cut shad in 40-55 feet of water and channels are still along the rocks in 25-30 feet of water on punch bait. Bigger blues fish near the rivers with cut rough fish/gizzard shad drifting or anchored in 15-25 feet of water. Largemouth and smallmouth are improving with the lake conditions and water clarity. Watch for things to clear up quickly in the coves and creeks especially when they slow the outflow. Smallmouth will be on the boulders and rocks off the banks in 8-15 feet of water. Largemouth will shade and suspend in the clearer water under docks and marinas. Report by Jacob Orr, Lake Texoma, Guaranteed Guide Service. The water is dropping nearly 9 inches a day, and should be normal around Independence Day. Striped bass hit-and-missing with live bait in 20-30 feet of water. The small threadfin shad should start to run midlake and when this happens the topwater bite should be good. Report by John Blasingame, Adventure Texoma Outdoors.

Weatherford

FAIR. Water stained; 79 degrees; 2.94 feet below pool. Crappie are fair in 15 feet of water on brush piles with minnows and jigs. Bass are slow on soft plastics or crankbaits in deeper water. Catfish are fair with cut bait and shad on rocks. Water clarity is 7 inches.

Whitney

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 82 degrees; 0.32 feet above pool. Water level has risen a few feet but the bite remains consistent. Catfish are fair using cut bait in 25-30 feet of water. Striped bass bite is fair on live bait in 25-30 feet of water. Crappie are on main lake brush piles in 15-30 feet of water. White bass fishing is good on slabs on main lake humps in 25-30 feet of water. Largemouth bass fishing is good using soft plastics on deep structure. Report by Captain Cory Vinson, Guaranteed Guide Service.

Worth

FAIR. Water stained; 80 degrees; 0.22 feet above pool. Reports of catches of carp with bait balls. Catfish can be caught on punch bait.

« Fishing Report Search