Prairies & Lakes Region Week of July 6, 2022

Arlington

FAIR. Water lightly stained; 86 degrees; 3.07 feet low. Fishing is tough as the fish start to group up. Target bass on main lake points and ledges with dropshots, Carolina rigged bugs and worms, or hair jigs when the sun is highest. Report by local angler Wesley Molina.

Athens

FAIR. Water clear; 86-90 degrees; 0.54 feet below. Bass are slow, schooling action early and late by the dam and marina area. Topwater lures and weightless flukes are working well. Crappie are slow with small jigs over brush in 20 plus feet of water. Report by Jim Brack, Athens Guide Service.

Bastrop

GREAT. Water clear; 91 degrees. Bass continue to be good fishing in a similar pattern. Start in the hot water discharge early at the mouth using small topwaters or tiny straight tail swimbaits to get the schooling bass. Work a Texas rig or shaky head to land bass related to the bottom. A Carolina rig with a shad colored fluke will work as well as it will swim nicely in the current where the fish will pick it up. Later, you can move out to the main lake out off the dam area for more schooling bass. These bass are much more aggressive and a full sized topwater like a walk the dog type lure will work fantastic. Got to get into them quick, as they will dive back down to deep water once the shad are eaten up. There is non-stop action all day on these. Report by Bryan Cotter, Texas Hawgs Bass Fishing Guide Service.

Belton

GOOD. Water lightly stained; 85 degrees; 5.84 feet low. White bass are very scattered and very mobile as they focus on devouring young-of-the-year shad. Downrigging has quickly become the go-to method and is useful for both finding and catching fish. An unweighted 3-armed umbrella rigged equipped with #12 Pet Spoons in silver with white feathers are putting lots of fish in the boat. Once fish are found, working vertically and horizontally with MAL Heavy or MAL Dense lures to capitalize on the find will put more fish in the boat quickly. Once the fish disperse, return to downrigging to find the next school. Report by Bob Maindelle, Holding the Line Guide Service. Black bass are good early morning on top waters. As the day progresses move to the drops and tree tops in 15-20 feet or water using wacky worms and Ned rigs. The night bite continues to be good with jigs and soft plastics. Report by Cord Zahn, Belton tournament organizer. Crappie continue to be good sitting shallow until the rises in 10-25 feet of water off points and brush. Minnows are outperforming jigs. Report by Zach Minnix, Jig N Jerk Guide Service.

Benbrook

SLOW. Water lightly stained; 79 degrees; 4.13 feet low. Bass are good on the edges of submerged grass with chatterbaits and senkos. Crappie are fair on deep brush piles and docks using minnows and jigs. White bass are good with some schooling action biting on shad imitations. Catfish are good shallow on cut baits.

Bridgeport

GOOD. Water normal stain; 82 degrees; 3.75 feet low. While the main lake is clear, the river is slightly murky. Be aware of increased boat traffic, especially in the north end, near the Three Fingers area. All boat ramps are open. Sand bass and hybrid striped bass are setting up in deeper water around the main lake structure. Some sand bass schooling activity reported early in the morning. Crappie remain good on main lake brush piles and docks using minnows. Largemouth bass have been a bit elusive, but topwater baits are still the best bet at sunrise. Catfish are good drifting cut baits on flats and humps near deep water. Report by Keith Bunch, Lake Bridgeport Guide Service.

Cedar Creek

EXCELLENT. Water normal stain; 84-90 degrees; 2.84 feet low. Crappie are good on main lake brush piles in 15-22 feet of water using minnows and jigs. Largemouth bass are good on docks in 3-8 feet of water, and in 15-20 feet of water using shaky heads, crankbaits and Carolina rigs. White bass and hybrid bass can be caught surfacing all over the lake in the morning, moving to main lake humps using popper style baits and small spoons. Catfish are good on main lake humps with live or frozen shad. Report by Kyle Miers, Lake Country Outfitters.

Cooper

GREAT. Water lightly stained; 88 degrees; 2.50 feet low. In the summer heat fish the first few hours daylight for the best bites. Catfish are good off docks and shorelines with cut bait. Crappie are good on main lake brush piles and standing timber with jigs and minnows. Bass are fair early morning with topwaters, transitioning to deeper water structures midmorning with chatterbaits and crankbaits.

Cypress Springs

Water stained; 87 degrees; 1.97 feet low. Lake Cypress is known to have a lot of recreational boat traffic throughout the warmer months during the daylight hours. This time of year it is best to fish in low light hours and night time. Look for lighted boat docks and retaining walls with 5-10 feet of water. Use slow moving baits such as jigs or soft plastic creature style baits in dark colors, such as, black and blue or red ruby for bass. Focus on mid depth brush during the night for crappie using minnows.

Eagle Mountain

GOOD. Water stained, 85 degrees; 3.01 feet low. White bass are good on the main lake structures using slabs with teaser flies. Fish are moving fast. Crappie are fair to good on brush piles, docks and main lake structure on jigs with white and chartreuse color combinations and shooting docks. Largemouth bass are fair to good on crankbaits around docks and main lake structure. Blue catfish are fair to good on the main lake structures. Channel catfish are good on punch bait. Report provided by Chad Ferguson of North Texas Catfish Guide Service. White bass are good on live bait, jigging spoons, crankbaits or Alabama rigs. White, chartreuse and orange grub tail seem to work well in 12-35 feet of water throughout the reservoir. Report provided by Kraig Sexton, Sexton’s Guide Service LLC.

Fayette

FAIR. Water lightly stained; 85 degrees. Triple digit weather is here and the pattern continues to hold steady. Bass are good with some topwater schooling action, and in 10-20 feet of water on humps and riprap with various jigs and plastics. Catfish are fair hitting punch bait in 12-20 feet of water, on tight lines over chum. Bluegill and redear perch are good on worms or crickets around structure. Report by Weldon Kirk, Fish Tales Guide Service.

Graham

FAIR. Water lightly stained; 79 degrees; 1.63 feet low. Bite is slow at the crappie house and bridges with fish preferring minnows over jigs. Catfish are good in the shallows on cut and prepared baits and on baited holes. Bass are good in timber with crankbaits and flukes.

Granbury

GOOD. Water lightly stained; 88 degrees; 1.34 feet low. Striped bass are good on live bait, crankbaits and jigging spoons early in the morning from mid lake south towards the dam on flats and near the shallow edge of the river channel. White bass are good on live bait, jigging spoons and Alabama rigs in 12-25 feet of water. Catfish are good on cut bait during the day in 15-40 feet of water. Report provided by Kraig Sexton, Sexton’s Guide Service LLC. Largemouth bass continue to be good around deep boat docks on Carolina rigged soft plastics, and 3/4 ounce jigs. Report by James Moore, North Texas Bass Fishing and Cmoore Striper Guide Services.

Grapevine

GOOD. Water lightly stained; 84 degrees; 0.07 feet above. Combination of heat and wind has slowed the white bass bite. White bass are moving quickly so troll over structure poon hovering a spoon over the thermocline. Bass are good off rocky points with Alabama rigs. Crappie are on structure with minnows or jigs. Catfish are good spawning by the dam with punch bait on slip cork. Report by Omar Cotter, Luck O’the Irish Fishing Guide Service.

Jacksonville

FAIR. Water lightly stained; 79 degrees; 0.58 feet below. Largemouth bass are fair on crankbaits and flukes in vegetation and standing timber. Crappie are fair on main lake brush piles and structure with minnows and jigs. Catfish are good on punch bait and cut bait.

Joe Pool

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 80 degrees; 1.96 feet low. Fishing is similar as the summer heat persists. Bass are good near the dam around the intake tower with a consistent bite on shaky head straight-tailed worms in a junebug color or a Texas-rigged Senko in red shad. The Cedar Hill State Park shoreline on the northern end of the lake has been good with the same lures as well as a Carolina rig and a drop-shot rig in whatever plastic you have confidence in. Concentrate in 10-20 feet of water along the shoreline rocky bottom with a sharp depth change and dragging uphill when possible. Report provided by Ben Robertson, Ben’s Bass Excursions.

Lavon

GOOD. Water lightly stained; 82 degrees; 1.04 feet low. Channel catfish are good on baited holes in 10-20 feet of water. Bluegill are good in 10-20 feet of water on brush piles. White bass have a sporadic topwater bite throughout the day, but only last a couple seconds so don’t waste your time chasing them unless you spot the action early in the morning. Look in 15-25 feet of water on main lake points. Crappie are good in 15-20 feet of water on brush and rock. Report by Carey Thorn, White Bass Fishing Texas.

Lewisville

GOOD. Water lightly stained; 84 degrees; 0.14 feet low. White bass are slow on points and humps in 20-30 feet of water using slabs or live bait, with sporadic top water action. Hybrid stripers are slow, but can be picked off every once in a while mixed in with 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 fair to good drifting cut shad or chicken breasts in 16-24 feet of water. Check near wind blown points, humps, and flats near creek channels. Crappie are fair to good in 6-25 feet of water near rock piles, stumps, laydowns, brush piles, standing timber, and bridge columns using minnows and jigs. Report by Wes Campbell, BendaRod Fishing.

Limestone

EXCELLENT. Water clear; 87 degrees; 1.53 feet below. Crappie are excellent, suspended in brush and standing timber in 12-16 feet of water biting on minnows. Largemouth bass are good in 4-14 feet of water off docks and brush piles using Carolina rigs, Texas rigs, finesse jigs, and crankbaits. Whitebass are good on points and humps in 7-18 feet of water with silver jigging spoons. Report by Colan Gonzales, DFW Fishing Guide Booking.com.

Navarro Mills

FAIR. Stained; 82 degrees; 1.11 feet low. Catfish are good on frozen shad, minnows and worms. Bass are good in grass lines in mid depth water, and the drop-off at Crappie Point using jigs and minnows. Crappie are fair, seeing lots of fish but they are slow to bite on jigs and minnows. Report Charlie Boze, Navarro Mills Marina.

Palestine

GOOD. Water lightly stained; 83 degrees; 0.90 feet low. Fishing is similar but the heat will have you and the fish seeking shade. Bass are good on topwaters early, transitioning to worms, deeper water crankbaits and Carolina rigs. Crappie are good in 16-24 feet of water on brush piles with small minnows. 155 bridge and bridges near high creek and ledbetter creek. White bass and hybrid bass are good off points with tail spinners and jigging spoons and shad heads with a white fluke swimbait dropping it down working across the bottom.Catfish are good with liver fished under docks with 8-10 feet of water and on baited holes in the river with nightcrawlers, liver and shad. Report by Ricky Vandergriff, Ricky’s Guide Service.

Palo Pinto

SLOW. Water lightly stained; 81 degrees; 2.62 feet low. Fishing patterns persist as the heat increases. Bass are fair on deep points and humps early in the morning. Sand bass have been biting topwaters very early in the morning. Report by James Moore, North Texas Bass Fishing and Cmoore Striper Guide Services.

Ray Hubbard

GOOD. Water lightly stained; 83-85 degrees; 0.79 feet low. White bass are excellent on humps and ridges in 22-28 feet using a slab and jig combination. Crappie are good on brush tops in 25-35 feet water suspended mid way biting on minnows and jigs. Catfish are fair on the north end of the lake around trees and points using cut shad and prepared stink bait. Report by John Varner, John Varner's Guide Service.

Ray Roberts

GOOD; Water is clear; 82 degrees; 0.16 feet below. Sand bass are fair schooling sporadically on the surface, biting on small swimbaits with a single hook. They are also in 20-30 feet of water biting on slabs. Blue catfish are good in 40 feet of water using slabs or raw chicken mixed with kool aid. Largemouth bass are good on shallow grass beds early morning, pushing to 8-15 feet of water on Carolina jigs midday. Crappie are slow on brush piles, with few keeper sized fish. Report by Jim Walling, Ucatchem Guide Service.

Richland Chambers

GOOD. Water clear; 87 degrees; 3.15 feet low. Crappie are good on brush piles and bridge columns in 15-20 feet of water using minnows. White bass are poor with some early morning topwater action on the 309 flats, then using slabs for schooling fish. When the schooling action ends fish are scattered and hard to find. Hybrid bass are fair on live shad. Channel catfish are good with lots of eaters coming on punch bait on a #4 treble hooks. Blue catfish are fair mixed in with the white bass. Report by Royce Simmons, Gone Fishin' Guide Service.

Somerville

FAIR. Stained; 98-103 degrees; 1.49 feet below. Triple digit heat persists like the fishing pattern. Crappie, bluegill, and catfish are good in Somerville Marina early morning and late evening. Black bass are good hitting slow moving jigs with plastics on drop-offs and brush in 10-15 feet of water. Crappie are fair with many undersized catches on main lake brush piles in 8-18 feet of water using minnows and various colored jigs. Catfish are good early morning, then the bite slows as the day heats up. Catfish are biting on punch bait with a rod and reel, or jug lines with shad. White bass are very good with larger fish showing up for summer. Hybrid bass are very good schooling. Both fish hitting jigs bounced into schools or trolling with pet spoons, shad, and pencil minnows in 8-15 feet of water. Report by Weldon Kirk, Fish Tales Guide Service.

Stillhouse

GOOD. Water lightly stained; 85 degrees; 6.03 feet low. White bass are very scattered and very mobile as they focus on devouring young-of-the-year shad. Downrigging has quickly become the go-to method and is useful for both finding and catching fish. An unweighted 3-armed umbrella rigged equipped with #12 Pet Spoons in silver with white feathers are putting lots of fish in the boat. Once fish are found, working vertically and horizontally with MAL Heavy or MAL Dense lures to capitalize on the find will put more fish in the boat quickly. Largemouth bass relate to the lake's abundant hydrilla all year long. Fishing the deep, outside edge of the hydrilla where it grows on underwater topographic features like drains, draws, and cuts using Texas rigs in thicker cover and Carolina rigs in more sparse cover. Report by Bob Maindelle, Holding the Line Guide Service.

Tawakoni

GOOD. Water lightly stained; 88 degrees; 2.28 feet low. Lake Tawakoni is in full summer pattern this week and the fishing has been good. White bass and striped bass action has been good early with random schooling fish. After the morning bite, the fish are staging on humps or deeper points. Live bait or slab spoons are both working. Crappie action is very good with minnows out fishing jigs for limits. Fish in 12-18 feet of water over brush piles and other submerged structures. The eating-sized blue and channel catfish bite is off the charts. Prepared bait such as cheese based punch baits are putting the most fish in the boat fishing shallow and deep. Largemouth bass bite has slowed some. Still seeing fish caught on frogs early in the grass then transitioning to a shallow crankbait or fluke bite in 1-4 feet near docks, isolated rocks or other isolated structures. Captain Michael Littlejohn, Lake Tawakoni Guide Service

Texoma

EXCELLENT. Water stained; 82 degrees; 1.68 feet above. Hybrid bass are good with topwaters early for big fish, switching to slabs after the fish move down. Some shallow chasing but most catches coming in deeper water. Bait fish are out in the open water. Report by John Blasingame, Adventure Texoma Outdoors.

Weatherford

FAIR. Water lightly stained; 87 degrees; 6.15 feet low. White bass are slow on slabs. Bass are fair with crankbaits and worms. Crappie are fair on main lake brush piles with minnows and jigs. Catfish are fair with cut and prepared bait.

Whitney

GOOD. Water lightly stained; 82 degrees; 5.22 feet low. Striped bass are great on live bait, crankbaits, swimbaits and jigging spoons from mid lake south towards the dam on flats and near the shallow edge of the river channel. White bass are good on live bait, jigging spoons and Alabama rigs. Look for schooling fish then anchor outside of them and cast into them. They are moving fast. Catfish are good on cut bait during the day in 15-50 feet of water. Report provided by Kraig Sexton, Sexton’s Guide Service LLC.

Worth

GOOD. Water stained; 85 degrees; 2.00 feet low. White bass are good on main lake points and structure on slabs with teaser flies. Crappie are fair to good on brush piles and main lake structure on jigs with white color combination. Largemouth bass are fair to good on crankbaits around docks and main lake structure. Blue catfish are fair on the main lake structure, channel catfish are good on punch bait. Report provided by Chad Ferguson of North Texas Catfish Guide Service.

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