Prairies & Lakes Region Week of August 13, 2025

Arlington

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 86 degrees; 0.75 feet below pool. The bite has been solid early in the morning on topwaters and crankbaits. As the day progresses, fish are transitioning to points and brush piles, where worms, creature baits, and jigs are producing well. Now is a great time to cover water early, then slow down and target structure once the sun gets up.

Athens

GOOD. Water normal stain; 84 degrees; 0.09 feet above pool. Bass are good and can be caught in grass 8-12 feet with Texas rigged worms, wacky rig senko and crankbaits. Bass are also good on brush in 15-18 feet with spoons and Texas rig worms. Crappie are slow on small jigs over brush.

Bastrop

GOOD. Water normal stain; 82 degrees. Look for bass shallow near reeds early and throw frogs, wake baits and other small topwaters to get bit. If you find any grass or lay downs, flip a craw or creature bait around those. Later, move to deeper water and look for any schooling bass and throw clear topwaters or small swimbaits and let it sink down to the school to get a bite. If they're not schooling, drag a Carolina rigged fluke or finesse worm or jig across humps and ledges. Watermelon colors work best. Report by Bryan Cotter, Texas Hawgs.

Belton

GOOD. 87 degrees; 0.82 feet above pool. Water is dropping about 0.06 feet per day with a 337 CFS release ongoing. The high pressure dome over Central Texas brought hot, clear, nearly cloudless and windless days causing white bass fishing to fall off sharply. Lots of popcorn activity, in which white bass churn the surface for just seconds and then disappear. Fish come and go so quickly there often is not enough time to see them, get to them, and then present a bait. Downrigging is the way to go, starting efforts in areas where abundant popcorn activity is occurring, then it's simply a game of "Battleship" in coming across feeding schools. Use number 12 Pet Spoons on downriggers and have a Cork Rig rigged with a Sandy Sandwich ready to go at all times in case a school erupts at the surface within casting distance. The 30 minutes before and after sunrise are the most productive of the entire day right now. Report by Bob Maindelle, Holding the Line Guide Service.

Benbrook

GOOD. Water stained; 88 degrees; 1.29 feet below pool. Hybrid striped bass are fair on live bait in 20-40 feet with lots of undersized fish. Crappie are fair on live minnows and small jigs with lots of undersized fish. Catfish are good on cut bait and punch bait in 20-30 feet. Largemouth bass are fair on structure. Report by Hundley's Guide Service.

Bois d'Arc

EXCELLENT. Water normal stain; 86-89 degrees; 0.59 feet below pool. Bass early morning bite is short but weedless poppers or frogs on pond weed is best, work flukes on the edge. Pond dams seem to be good all day on Carolina rigs and deep diving cranks in 5-18 feet. Big worms and creature baits are best. Texas rigs are best all over the lake around bushes and big timber on road beds or fence rows in 5-10 feet. Creature baits rule on this lake as well as beavers. Report by Marc Mitchell, Mitchell's Guide Service.

Bridgeport

FAIR. Water clear; 88 degrees; 1.35 feet below pool. Crappie bite is fair on dock poles and brush piles on minnows. Largemouth bite is decent using jigs, deep crankbaits, and wacky rigged baits near deep rock and points. White bass bite is good and hybrids are fair on main lake humps with slabs or live shad. Catfish bite is good on cut bait and live minnows. Report by Jack Pellegrini, Lake Bridgeport Crappie Guide Service.

Cedar Creek

EXCELLENT. Water slightly stained; 86-88 degrees; 0.75 feet below 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, spinners and the always-reliable yellow bladed Bo Blade spinner using the proven saw tooth retrieve technique. Trolling Pet Spoons with a hellbender set-up at 3 mph in 13-17 feet of water is absolutely crushing the white bass. Water temperatures are currently holding around 86-88 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 are good anchoring on humps in 12-24 feet using small shad or cut shad on the bottom. Drifting larger cut bait like carp, drum or big gizzard shad on flats in 10-25 feet all around the lake. Report by Jason Barber, Kings Creek Adventures.

Comanche Creek

Comanche Creek is closed for the summer and will reopen in October.

Cooper

GOOD. Water stained; 78 degrees; 0.77 feet below pool. As the summer temperatures increase, 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; 89 degrees; 0.44 feet below pool. The overall bite has been hit or miss with the heat and windless days making an impact. Bass are early morning and late evening, finding more roaming points that have early evening shade. Seeing some topwater action. Crappie are loaded on most structures between 10-30 feet of water, but the best bite has been on brush piles and shallow timber. Did better this week on jigs than minnows. Catfish are still on fire. Channel and blue catfish are very active, seeing the most action in 20 feet of water. Catching them on minnows, stink bait and even some on artificial lures. White bass have been hitting topwater in large schools in the mornings and evenings. Report by Chris Caswell, Lake Bob Sandlin Crappie Fishing Guide.

Eagle Mountain

FAIR. Water normal stain; 85 degrees; 1.47 feet below pool. Sand bass are fair on slabs. Crappie are fair on deep water brush piles. Black bass are fair early and late evening on topwater baits. Perch are good on nightcrawlers around docks and boathouses. Catfish are good on manufactured and cut bait in 28 feet of water on humps. Report by Captain Bobby Mann, Catch a Dream Guide Service.

Fayette

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 90 degrees; full pool. Grass is looking good, so cast a frog to see if you can get a bass to bite. Bass are good in 20 feet of water biting deep diving crankbaits, shaky heads and Carolina rigs. The bite slows midday. Perch can be caught from the bank to 10 feet of water on nightcrawlers. Report by Mark Fransen, Fransen's Guide Service.

Graham

GOOD. Water stained; upper 80s degrees; 0.66 feet below pool. Crappie fishing is slow but okay in shallow brush using minnows and jigs. Sand bass and hybrids are schooling around the hot water outlet and are good on slabs and shad. Catfish are out on main lake flats and are good on cut shad. Bass fishing is slow but okay in shallow water vegetation.

Granbury

GOOD. Water good clarity; 88 degrees; 0.28 feet below pool. Water levels are normal and clarity is good. Thermoclines are developing on many areas of the lake about 20 feet down. The lake has settled out but there are a few floating hazards still out there. Water temperatures are in the upper 80s and low 90s in the backs of sloughs. Sand bass and small striped bass continue to be good on most days early and late on live bait and slabs. Trolling is also extremely effective. Surface schooling action is being reported on several areas of the lake. Largemouth bass are good on topwater early and better near deeper docks and shaded areas later in the day. Soft plastics are effective working the docks. Striped bass to near 10 pounds are fair to good on live shad and trolled or downrigged baits worked on the lower ends. Catfish are best at night and are good on cut or prepared baits on many areas of the lake. Schooling fish have been seen near Blue Water Shores and other reports of schooling near Indian Harbor and the Shores in town. Crappie action is good on deeper structure and near deeper docks on the main lake using small minnows and jigs. Report by Michael Acosta, Unfair Advantage Charters.

Grapevine

FAIR. Water clear to slightly stained; 84 degrees; 0.36 feet below pool. White bass are very inconsistent. Some white bass and catfish can be caught on jigging spoons under schooling fish in 40-50 feet of water. Report by Omar Cotter, Luck O’the Irish Fishing Guide Service

Hawkins

FAIR. Water slightly stained; 88 degrees. Topwater 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

SLOW. Water stained; low 90s degrees; 0.06 feet below pool. Water seems a little stained especially in the north end. For bass the bite is extremely tough, with numbers being caught down quite a bit. Caught some fish in pads on a swim jig, and soft plastics are working in brush in 8-20 feet deep and underwater structure, points, humps, and drop-offs. Schoolers and suspended fish can be caught on swimbaits and minnow type baits. There is also an occasional fish that will hit a topwater up shallow. Report by Greg Lotun.

Lavon

GOOD. Water normal stain; 86 degrees; 1.24 feet below pool. Crappie have slowed down and changed their eating habits– some days they're munching, some days they don't move, and some days "where are they?" It's not easy unless you get lucky and find that hungry school. Minnows are king. Black bass are good with white and chartreuse spinnerbaits in the mornings along with jerkbaits and soft plastics like the original Slugo worked Texas rigged without weight. If water is super clear, use that technique. If not clear, throw a 3-6 foot crawfish colored square bill around boat ramps and riprap for limits before 8 a.m. After 8 a.m., switch to a 12-foot KVD Series 5 in sexy shad. Soft plastics in watermelon red work well Texas rigged, or creature baits Carolina rigged. Brush piles produce using swimbaits glided over the top. White bass have been at 15 feet consistently. White slabs 1 ounce with treble hooks cut off except one work best at Little Ridge Point, Hybrid Point, and the island tip. Anglers are out by 7:45 a.m. at the latest. Tying a jig 12 inches above your slab on a loop knot catches two fish at a time. The splash brings them to the boat. Catfish are good at 15 feet on flats near drop-offs. Throw maize around the boat and they show up looking like sand bass schooling on your screen. You can limit within an hour or two with punch bait. Report by Carey Thorn, White Bass Fishing Texas.

Lewisville

FAIR. Water normal stain; 86-89 degrees; 0.89 feet below pool. White bass are slow on points and humps in 15-32 feet of water. Some topwater action with smaller fish has begun in deeper open water. Slabs, spoons, spinners, and live bait are working. Keeper sized hybrid stripers are slow in similar depths as the white bass. These fish have been moving fast. 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 slow to fair on cut shad anchored or drifting humps, points, and flats in 20-40 feet of water. Channel catfish are fair on baited holes on humps and points in 15-35 feet of water on cut shad or punch bait. Crappie are slow to fair in 15-28 feet of water. Check brush piles, submerged timber, laydowns, rock piles, and submerged cover close to a drop-off ledge. Minnows and jigs are catching those fish. Report by Wes Campbell, BendARod Fishing.

Limestone

GOOD. Water clear; 85 degrees; 1.11 feet below pool. Noodling under boat ramps for catfish will slow down. They still can be caught like that but most will move deeper. Saw the water temp hit 89 this week. Thermocline is from 14-16 feet. Summer patterns will hold on until sometime in September. Crappie are good in 8-14 feet of water on minnows. Offshore fresh willow tree piles are best, but standing timber and concrete pylons are also holding fish. Largemouth bass are good on docks, bulkheads, and brush piles in 4-14 feet of water with Texas rigs, Carolina rigs, chatterbaits, and spinnerbaits. White bass are good on silver War Eagle Super Slabs in 7-17 feet of water on humps, points, and flats. Catfish are good noodling or on cut bait all the way to 20 feet deep on points, humps, and flats. Lake Limestone Marina will be the best spot for bank fishing as the summer goes on. Report by Colan Gonzales, Lake Limestone Guide Service.

Navarro Mills

GOOD. Water clear; 85 degrees; 0.04 feet below pool. White bass are found off the points in the mornings and evenings. They are moving points and not on one in particular every time. In the evenings they are moving closer to shore and can be caught from the bank. Silver and white spoons are working best, but they are not picky. Crappie are hit or miss. Some days they are packed in the brush, and the next they are in 3 feet of water. A few crappie are still coming off the docks daily. Minnows are the preferred bait. If using jigs, blue and white colors work best. Catfishing has slowed down a little. They are still being caught, but not quite as good as previously. Perch and goldfish whole or cut bait is the preferred bait. Water temperature is sitting about 89 on the surface. Report by Navarro Mills Marina.

Palestine

FAIR. Water stained; 81 degrees; 0.33 feet below pool. Fishing is a little tough this week. The weather has the fish in a bit of limbo but there's still plenty around. Crappie are fair on brush in 12-18 feet of water on minnows. Catfish are good on punch bait around brush and timber. Bass are slow but a few are being caught around docks in the shade. White bass and hybrids are scattered but some are being caught trolling on points and roadbeds.

Palo Pinto

FAIR. Water clear; 89 degrees; 0.91 feet below pool. Light conditions are looking good but the lake is going down a little at a time with no rain and a lot of sun. Blue catfish are slow with cut bait early in the mornings and at night using carp and drum for cut bait. Black bass and crappie are slow with few reported catches. Sand bass and hybrids are slow with most reports of catches in deep water by the spillway. Report by David Holt, Lake Palo Pinto RV Park.

Ray Hubbard

GOOD. Water clear; 86-88 degrees; 0.80 feet below pool. White bass have been good in the mornings with surface activity on the common flats. Throw small swimbaits, tail spinners or rattle traps. Later in the morning white bass are shallow in 12-16 feet on long points, coves and ledges. Best technique is to troll in 14-15 feet of water. Crappie are slow and relating to brush piles in 12-15 feet of water. Crappie are at bridge columns. Beat the heat and night fish with submerged green lights and minnows. Catfish are slow in wooded timber in 12-15 feet on prepared punch bait. Chumming will help bring the schools into your areas. Report by John Varner, John Varner's Guide Service.

Ray Roberts

FAIR. Water slightly stained; 82 degrees; 0.53 feet below pool. Things are starting to make a transition and it's getting a little tougher with water temps getting up to the 90s. Crappie are starting to move out deeper to deep brush in 35-40 feet and in trees in 25-40 feet of water. Now they're also moving out a bit and you can catch them better on timber in 12-18 feet of water, brush piles the same. Early mornings on windblown points for sand bass. Channel catfish are about the same - you can still fish baited holes. Sand bass are in 35-45 feet of water. Largemouth bass are on offshore rocks or shallow brush. Nothing fishing good except channel catfish. Report by Daniel Koberna, Lt. Dan's Crappie Co.

Richland Chambers

FAIR. Water stained; 88 degrees; 0.29 feet below pool. Hybrids have been unusually hard to get to eat on some days. With the electronics these days you can find them, but you have to find the right school that wants to feed. White bass have been off a little, but they are showing up now. Trolling a Hellbender with a Pet Spoon to catch them. Black bass are in their summer patterns. Go with plastics around main lake docks and brush piles. Report by Terry Hawkins Guide Service.

Somerville

GOOD. Water stained; 86 degrees; at pool. No water is being discharged at the dam. At the Marina crappie bite is fair, bluegill are fair on crickets and worms, and catfish are fair on minnows and punch bait. On the lake crappie are good on jigs and minnows over brush in 8-15 feet of water with late afternoon bite good. Catfish are fair in 10-15 feet of water around structure using cut shad or punch bait. Black bass are fair on crankbaits and soft plastic baits in 6-14 feet of water. White bass are excellent trolling with various spoons or anchored with shad and ghost minnows. Hybrids are good in deeper water using jigs and cut bait. Below the dam all species are slow fishing with zero water being discharged. Report by Weldon Kirk, Fish Tales Guide Service.

Stillhouse

FAIR. Water stained; 87 degrees; 1.15 feet above pool. Fish are up shallow in the flooded brush and the topwater bite is good. Frogs, walking baits and wakebaits are catching some good fish. Look for grass on the flats as well and pitch worms and creature baits around that. You can also work the rock cover deeper with worms to get bit. Report by Bryan Cotter, Texas Hawgs. Water is dropping about 0.09 feet per day with a 200+ CFS release ongoing. USACE has reopened all boat ramps except Cedar Gap near the FM3481 bridge. The drastic drop in water level and increased water temperature has adversely impacted the white bass fishing for the time being. Any concentrations of fish and shad are very hard to come by. Life seems to be scattered between 25-30 feet deep over the entire lake. Fishing is poor right now and likely to remain so until the release of water is finalized. If you fish, downriggers are the way to go to cover lots of ground; when fish are found, work that area until you stop catching, then down-rig again to find another concentration of fish. Report by Bob Maindelle, Holding the Line Guide Service.

Tawakoni

GOOD. Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 0.36 feet below pool. Lake Tawakoni continues to fish decently as we head into August. Fish are moving often–staying on them has been a challenge. The hybrid striper, striper and white bass bite has been good. Fish are stacking up on shallow points in 10-20 feet. Surface feeding is also happening sporadically in early mornings and late evenings when we have some wind. Slab spoons, downriggers and swimbaits are working equally good. The eating sized 1-3 pound catfish bite is red hot. Limits are being caught daily in just a few hours. Prepared baits such as punch and dip baits are working best. The crappie bite has picked up. Minnows are working best in 12-20 feet near bridge pilings. The largemouth bite is good on frogs at daylight and working over to shallow cranks around dock legs and submerged irrigation intakes. Shaky heads have been good too. Report by Captain Michael Littlejohn, Lake Tawakoni Guide Service.

Texoma

GOOD. Water stained; 79 degrees; 1.23 feet above pool. Fishing with topwaters for the first hour of the day and getting some fish that way, then quickly switch over to slabs to finish filling the cooler. The fish that are being slabbed are out in deeper water and the fish that are throwing topwaters on are in shallower water and it's been very good. It's actually improved since last week. This is the kind of bite expected this time of year and it's been very good fishing. Report by John Blasingame, Adventure Texoma Outdoors. Striper fishing will pick up on the backside of the full moon. Fish continue to school up and make their runs down ledges and across flats. Topwaters, swimbaits and slabs have been working on active schools near the islands and on bluff walls. Catfishing is good on punch bait for channels in 20-25 feet of water near stumps off points and humps in the main lake. Cut shad on deep flats and off river ledges for blues as they are schooled up in deeper water. Crappie can be found on brush and structure in 15-25 feet of water. Fish will be off points and main lake ledges in late summer pattern. Electronics are key in locating active fish. Report by Jacob Orr, Lake Texoma, Guaranteed Guide Service.

Weatherford

FAIR. Water stained; 87 degrees; 3.98 feet below pool. Water visibility is 1 foot. Bass are slow around docks with crankbaits and jigs. Crappie are fair in deeper water with minnows and shad. Catfish are fair with cut bait and shad.

Whitney

GOOD. Water clear; 87 degrees; 0.16 feet below pool. Catfish are fair using cut bait in 25-35 feet of water. The striped bass bite is fair on live bait in 30-40 feet. Afternoon bites are better. Crappie are up in the main lake in brush in 15-20 feet of water. White bass fishing is fair on slabs on main lake humps in 12-15 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; 86 degrees; 0.97 feet below pool. Reports of catches of carp with bait balls. Catfish can be caught on punch bait.

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