Prairies & Lakes Region Week of September 24, 2025

Arlington

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 90 degrees; 2.61 feet below pool. The weather continues to be hot for our metroplex lakes. Shad are migrating to main lake flats and the backs of creeks for the fall season. The bass bite is slow with fish hanging around the main body of water with a lot of schooling activity. Crappie are great as fish begin to put on more weight for winter and big schools of crappie can be found around brush and timber around river and creek channels. Catfish are great, fish are feeding around the main river and creek channels. White bass are great. Report by Cade Rudiger, local angler.

Athens

GOOD. Water normal stain; 85 degrees; 0.13 feet above pool. Bass are starting to transition away from summertime offshore patterns of using Texas rigged worms. As cooler nights approach, start thinking about fishing shallow in the mornings and evenings using a weightless 5 inch stick bait or 5 inch soft jerkbait. Mix in a hollow body frog and spinnerbait shallow as well. Crappie are schooled up on main lake brush piles and deep grass lines in 12-20 feet of water hitting crappie jigs or minnows. Water clarity 3-4 feet of visibility. Report by Captain Kirk Pasalich, Artifishable Guide.

Bastrop

GOOD. Water normal stain; 93 degrees. Lake Bastrop is fishing decent for bass. The best places to start are on either end of the lake, and the discharge is always good early in the morning. Best baits are small shad colored swimbaits, a Carolina rigged fluke in white or clear shad colors, or shaky head worms. Later in the day, move to deeper ledges and humps with a Carolina rig in watermelon colors. Report by Bryan Cotter, Texas Hawgs.

Belton

GOOD. Water normal stain; 83 degrees; 0.04 feet above pool. With any luck, this will be the last ho-hum report for quite a while. The lake is near turnover and the great autumn fishing it will bring. Hopefully the midweek cold front will spark the turnover. Lows are to be in the 60s with highs in the 80s for the foreseeable future. There is only about 4 degrees difference between the surface temperature and the air temperature at 60-65 feet, so just a few cool days and nights will do it. In the meantime, fishing is still tough as white bass and hybrid striped bass roam about in search of shad and remain suspended most of the daylight hours, oblivious to any bottom features. Extensive use of side-imaging to cover ground, in conjunction with downriggers used to put bait just above the fish with precision, is producing the best with #12 Pet Spoons on the downriggers. If an area seems to have a good density of fish and bait present, slow down and cast the MAL Heavy or MAL Mini horizontally using a countdown method for suspended fish or the sawtooth method for bottom-oriented fish. Leave one rod hanging vertically in a rod holder with the bait very near bottom, so you can race it up past them as they show beneath the boat on Garmin LiveScope or 2D sonar. Report by Bob Maindelle, Holding the Line Guide Service. Catfish are excellent. Anglers can find blue catfish around sand flats and river channels in 10-20 feet of water. Larger fresh cut baits have been effective for trophy size fish. Eater fish under 10 pounds can be caught deadsticking with small cut shad along ledges and river channels. Channel catfish are great and can be caught on punch bait in 10-20 feet of water. Flatheads are good on live bait in shallow water around river mouths. Report by Brian Worley, B&S Catfishing.

Benbrook

Water normal stain; 82 degrees; 2.52 feet below pool. Crappie are good in standing timber with small minnows. Catfish are good on cut bait and punch bait in 20-30 feet of water. Hybrids are fair in 25-50 feet of water with live bait. Report by Hundley's Guide Service.

Bois d'Arc

EXCELLENT. Early morning bass bite is fair around pond weed with buzz baits and frogs. Then target the edge of the pond weed using flukes, soft plastic stick baits or Texas rigged creature baits. Squarebill crankbaits are good on pond dams and high spots throughout the lake. Best bite is Texas rigs in the timber with creature baits or beavers in 5-10 feet. Carolina rigs fair on offshore structures 16-23 feet. Report by Marc Mitchell, Mitchell's Guide Service. Crappie are excellent. Fish are starting to transition to deeper water to a fall pattern, but can still be shallow. Use hand tied jigs or minnows in 8-30 feet of water concentrating efforts in 15-25 feet of water. Report by River Bottom Boys Guide Service.

Bridgeport

FAIR. Water clear; 80 degrees; 2.75 feet below pool. Crappie are good on the docks, and brush piles 15-30 feet. The best bite is on minnows, but the jig bite is there! Largemouth bass are fair using topwaters, crankbaits, spoons on main lake points and deep rock. White bass and hybrids are scattered on main lake humps and points hitting topwaters, slabs or trolling. Catfish bite is good on cut and live bait main lake humps. Report by Jack Pellegrini, Lake Bridgeport Crappie Guide Service.

Cedar Creek

EXCELLENT. Water slightly stained; 77 degrees; 1.71 feet below pool. Consistently finding the best hybrid action in 13-18 feet of water with slabs, and spinnerbaits using the proven saw tooth retrieve technique. Trolling spoons with a hellbender set-up at 3 mph in 13-17 feet of water is absolutely crushing the white bass on several humps throughout the lake. As water temperatures decrease into the low 70s we will target big hybrids on shallow ledges and humps with Alabama rigs. Report by Brent Herbeck, Herbeck's Lonestar Fishing Guide Service. The catfish pattern will remain consistent until cooler weather arrives. Catfish are good anchoring on humps in 12-24 feet fishing 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 throughout the lake. Report by Jason Barber, Kings Creek Adventures.

Comanche Creek

Comanche Creek is scheduled to reopen in October.

Cooper

GOOD. Water stained; 78 degrees; 2.02 feet below pool. Crappie are slow in 15-30 feet of water on or near the bottom.

Cypress Springs

FAIR. Water normal stain; 85 degrees; 0.50 feet below pool. Crappie are excellent in 12-25 feet of water on brush and docks with hand tied jigs or minnows 12- 25 feet of water. Try tying a minnow on the hook beneath a hand tied jig. Report by River Bottom Boys Guide Service.

Eagle Mountain

FAIR. Water normal stain; 80 degrees; 1.89 feet below pool. The catfish are good on manufactured bait and cut bait. Sand bass continue to be slow. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs over deep water brush piles. Black bass are fair on spinnerbaits and jerkbaits. Perch are good on nightcrawlers around boat docks under corks. Carp and Buffalo are good on sweet corn around boat docks. Report by Captain Bobby Mann, Catch a Dream Guide Service.

Fayette

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 85 degrees; full pool. The cooler weather should bring fish shallow and turn on the topwater bass bite. Bass are good early in the morning working underspins on points just off the grass, then rattle traps off the bank later in the morning or Carolina rigs 14-16 feet of water. The rattle trap Bite is continuing through midday. The average fish is about 3-6 pounds. Later in the day use deep diving crankbaits off points. Some bait fish can be seen surfacing along the banks early in the morning. Thermocline is at 12-15 feet of water. Boat traffic has slowed. Few catfish anglers on the water. Report by Mark Fransen, Fransen's Guide Service.

Graham

GOOD. Water stained; upper 80 degrees; 2.51 feet below pool. Crappie are biting on brush piles out in 15 feet of water using minnows. Sand bass and hybrids are schooling around the hot water outlet. The bite is good on spoons and cut shad. Catfish are good in the back of pockets using cut shad. Bass are feeding on shad in the back of pockets.

Granbury

GOOD. normal stain; 83 degrees; 0.72 feet below pool. Water temperatures are slow to fall while summer temperatures are hanging on. Crappie fishing continues to be excellent on small minnows and jigs. Striped bass are slow to fair on live bait and downrigged jigs and swimbaits. Catfish action is also good with some good blues and channel cats reported. Sand bass continue to school from near the dam to Ports-O-Call. Some birds are returning and may point you to the action. Largemouth bass are good on shallow crankbaits near main lake points. Some good topwater action is reported early and late as bass push shad to the banks. Report by Michael Acosta, Unfair Advantage Charters.

Grapevine

GOOD. Water clear to slightly stained; 80 degrees; 0.51 feet below pool. White bass are good casting in-line spinners into schools. Watch for bird action to locate fish. Bounce slabs off the bottom when fish are on structure. Be sure to match the hatch with 1-1.5 inch bait. A few catfish can be caught mixed in. 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 and bream action. Small white poppers working shallow around the shoreline are a good bet. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service.

Jacksonville

SLOW. Water normal stain; 87 degrees; 0.01 feet above pool. Bass are biting soft plastics on brush in 8-20 feet of water. The topwater action is improving in shallow water. Schooling bass are hitting topwater or swimbaits.

Lavon

GOOD. Water normal stain; 86 degrees; 2.03 feet below pool. The pattern is holding steady, but changes are around the corner as the weather cools. Crappie are fair to good with limits possible, when the water temperature cools the bite will improve as fish start feeding up. Target crappie in 10-18 feet of water with structure in 15-18 feet being the sweet spot. Any colored jigs is good as long as it is in their face. Bass are good in 5-20 feet of water on rock or concrete structures, such as boat, ramps, riprap, and bridges. Cast white and chartreuse spinnerbaits in the morning, then switch to a square bill crankbait in crawfish or sexy shad colors. In the morning bass can be as shallow as 2 feet hugging the bank. Around 8 a.m. switch to a 12-15 foot diver in the same colors. If the crankbait bite is slow, switch to a soft plastic and slow the presentation down. Try a slender flat-bodied creature bait in Okeechobee, watermelon, red and watermelon green, Zoom motor oil worms, or Beaver tails. Watermelon red or watermelon green with watermelon red is best. Bass are not attacking swimbaits. White bass are on underwater points and ledges on the main lake in 10-15 feet of water. Use a white or chartreuse 1 ounce slab with a jig tied approximately 18 inches above to produce two fish on one rod. A thump or a splash or will keep them under your boat. Tap the bottom of the boat with a broom stick or something to make noise to keep them under you as they are very curious. Larger catfish are starting to move as shallow as 9 feet with a concentration in 15-18 feet of water. Cast cut shad, bluegill, or drum for the big fish. Channel catfish are sitting in 12-15 water on shallow flats with drop-offs nearby. Fish are primarily staying on the flats all day long. Remember, if you chum, they will come. Report by Carey Thorn, White Bass Fishing Texas.

Lewisville

FAIR. Water normal stain; 82 degrees; 0.75 feet below pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady but as the water cools more white bass should be showing up on humps and points. White bass are fair on points and humps in 15-32 feet of water. Slabs, spoons, spinnerbaits 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 fair to good on cut shad drifting humps, points and flats in 15-32 feet of water. After the recent rain, the river and creek mouths should hold fish. Channel catfish are fair to good on baited holes on humps and points in 15-30 feet of water on cut shad or punch bait. Crappie are slow to fair in 10-28 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. The overall bite is tough right now. Hybrid and white bass are cruising the main lake around points and creek channels. Largemouth are sitting around shallow rocks and brush pretty well through the day.

Limestone

GOOD. Water clear; 84 degrees; 1.11 feet below pool. The pattern is holding steady, but changes are around the corner as the weather cools. Crappie are good in 8-15 feet of water on offshore brush, power lines, and standing timber with minnows. Largemouth bass are good on offshore brush, docks, bulkheads and rocks in 4-12 feet of water with Texas rigs, spinnerbaits, or Carolina rigs. White bass are on main lake points and flats in 7-16 feet of water with spoons. White bass can also be caught on beetle spins at night around docks with lights. Catfish can be caught with cut bait or minnows on the main lake or at the mouths of creeks. Shad are transitioning to be the backs of creeks. Limestone Marina continues to be the best place for bank fishing. Report by Colan Gonzales, Lake Limestone Guide Service.

Navarro Mills

GOOD. 85 degrees; 0.15 full pool. Eater size and larger catfish are excellent with any catfish bait. White bass are starting to move again, some catches trolling. Crappie are suspended 3-4 feet below the surface over brush in 15 feet of water. Crappie are preferring minnows. No reports of largemouth bass. Report by Navarro Mills Marina.

Palestine

GOOD. Water stained; 81 degrees; 0.19 feet below pool. Crappie good in 8-16 feet of water on brush, timber and boathouses using hand tied jigs. Catfish are excellent in 3-12 feet of water cut bait and punch bait. Bass are good around boathouses and vegetation at the backs of creeks. Bait fish are transitioning to the backs of creeks.

Palo Pinto

normal stain; 86 degrees. Blue catfish are good in the morning. Target catfish in shallow water with fresh cut shad. Drum crappie are still biting in deep water on minnows around boat docks and brush piles. Sand bass and hybrids are slow. Black bass are elusive. Report by Lake Palo Pinto RV Park.

Ray Hubbard

GOOD. Water stained; 83 degrees; 1.07 feet below pool. White bass are fair in the mornings with very little 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. The best technique is to troll in 12-14 feet of water. Crappie are slow and relating to brush piles in 12-15 feet of water. Crappie are at some bridge columns. Catfish are fair 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; 0.93 feet below pool. The transition to fall patterns is just around the corner. Crappie are fair on timber in 12-18 feet of water with minnows or natural colored or silver and chartreuse jigs. Largemouth bass are good offshore, and secondary points at the mouths of creeks with jigs or shad imitation baits. Large worms are not as productive. Start using topwater frogs on mats and vegetation. Report by Daniel Koberna, Lt. Dan's Crappie Co.

Richland Chambers

FAIR. Water slightly stained; 85 degrees; 0.81 feet below pool. Catfish are very good with large numbers being caught. Hybrids and white bass are slow, but should improve with the forecasted cooler weather. Black bass can be caught in brush piles on the docks. The lower water levels make it perfect for fishing docks, and the docks become better and better with the lack of grass. Start on main lake docks and work your way back to secondary points with docks. Squarebill crankbaits are a great choice for dock fishing. Report by Terry Hawkins Guide Service.

Somerville

FAIR. Water stained; 81 degrees; 0.73 feet below pool. Crappie bite has slowed at the marina, but bluegill remain fair with crickets and worms, and catfish remain good with minnows or punch bait. The main lake bite has slowed some. The crappie are fair with jigs or minnows over brush in 8-15 feet of water. Catfish are fair in 10-15 feet of water near structures with jug lines, cut shad or punch bait. Black bass are slow on crankbaits and soft plastic baits in 6-14 feet of water. White bass are fair trolling with various spoons or anchored with shad and ghost minnows. Hybrids are slow in deeper water using jigs and cut bait. Below the dam, all species are slow with zero water being discharged. Report by Weldon Kirk, Fish Tales Guide Service.

Stillhouse

FAIR. Water stained; 83 degrees; 0.03 feet above pool. With any luck, this will be the last ho-hum report for quite a while. The lake is near turnover and the great autumn fishing it will bring. Hopefully the midweek cold front will spark the turnover. Lows are to be in the 60s with highs in the 80s for the foreseeable future. There is only about 4 degrees difference between the surface temperature and the air temperature at 60-65 feet, so just a few cool days and nights will do it. In the meantime, fishing is still tough as white bass and hybrid striped bass roam about in search of shad and remain suspended most of the daylight hours, oblivious to any bottom features. Extensive use of side-imaging to cover ground, in conjunction with downriggers used to put bait just above the fish with precision, is producing the best with #12 Pet Spoons on the downriggers. If an area seems to have a good density of fish and bait present, slow down and cast the MAL Heavy or MAL Mini horizontally using a countdown method for suspended fish or the sawtooth method for bottom-oriented fish. Leave one rod hanging vertically in a rod holder with the bait very near bottom, so you can race it up past them as they show beneath the boat on Garmin LiveScope or 2D sonar. Some smaller, schoolie-sized largemouth surfacing, but the action is light and spread far and wide. A small, clear soft plastic on a jighead cast fast and accurately is about the only thing these shad-eating bass will respond to consistently. Report by Bob Maindelle, Holding the Line Guide Service.

Tawakoni

GOOD. Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 0.77 feet below pool. Lake Tawakoni is fishing good as we finish up our summer pattern. Hybrid stripers and white bass are good with limits possible. Fish are feeding midday. The best depth has been 10-14 feet of water with lures. Eating sized catfish are red hot on prepared baits. This bite will continue until late November. The trophy catfish bite is kicking off. Starting to see fish in the 20-30 pound range being caught on fresh cut shad in 18-30 feet. Crappie have been slow. Largemouth bass are picking up and we are seeing fish feeding at daylight and dusk. Shaky heads, frogs in pads and shallow cranks on dock legs and irrigation intakes are working best. Report by Captain Michael Littlejohn, Lake Tawakoni Guide Service.

Texoma

GOOD. Water stained; 84 degrees; 0.21 feet above pool. Striped bass fishing is picking up with the cooler weather. Fish are schooling on the right day across deep flats eating small shad. Catching fish on swimbaits and small topwaters. Bigger fish are on structure in 25-45 feet of water. Expect the bite on live bait to pick up over the next week. Catfishing is good on baited holes in the backs of creeks and ditches in 20-30 feet of water on punch bait. Bigger blue catfish will start to feed on deep flats 40-60 feet of water drifting cut shad and whole gizzard shad. Locate bass on docks and structure as the water cools off and fish start to feed more frequently. Reaction baits and plastics off the banks in 8-15 feet of water. Smallmouth bass are staging off the banks on points with structure in 15-25 feet of water. Report by Jacob Orr, Lake Texoma, Guaranteed Guide Service. Stripers continue to be hit-or-miss with the best bite on topwaters switching to slabs later in the day. Target structure and the ledges of drop-offs in deeper water. Some bigger fish can be caught shallow in the morning. The forecasted cold front should improve the bite. Report by John Blasingame, Adventure Texoma Outdoors.

Weatherford

FAIR. Water stained; 88 degrees; 4.82 feet below pool. Water visibility 10 inches. Bass are slow around docks with crankbaits. Crappie are fair on brush piles with minnows and shad. Catfish are fair with cut bait, shrimp. Bait are still congregated in the main lake.

Whitney

GOOD. Water clear; 85 degrees; 0.56 feet below pool. The pattern remains consistent, but fishing should improve as the weather cools. Catfish are good using punch bat in 25-35 feet of water. Striped bass are slow on live bait and topwater baits where fish are schooling. Crappie are up in the main lake in brush 15-30 feet of water. White bass fishing is poor 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; 84 degrees; 1.03 feet below pool. Bass are good early in the morning and evening in shallow water against the cattails. Crappie and sand bass are slow, with few anglers targeting the species. Catfish are good with cut bait in 6-8 feet of water. Catches are improving in numbers and size. Report by Michael James, local angler.

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