Pineywoods Region Week of March 27, 2024

B.A. Steinhagen
GOOD. Water stain; 60 degrees; 0.69 feet below pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady the first week of spring. Catfish are biting good in the shallows on cut bait and prepared baits. Largemouth bass should be transitioning to shallow water hitting soft plastics.
Bob Sandlin
FAIR. Water stained; 63 degrees; 0.43 feet above pool. Crappie are fair scattered in 2-20 feet of water biting minnows or jigs. Catfish are good in 15-20 feet of water on baited holes with cheese bait. Sand bass are excellent under the Texas State Highway 21 bridge hitting white or chartreuse slabs or minnows. Report by Marty Thomas, Lake O the Pines Crappie Fishing. Bass are on spawning beds. Bass are good in shallow water out to 12 feet of water using weightless skinny dippers, chatterbaits, and lipless crankbaits. Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine. Black bass are starting to spawn in the backs of creeks and coves with roving males in the shallows, streamers, and crawfish patterns are excellent for these fish. The top water bite will be improving as the weather warms, small poppers should be excellent. Look for crappie around brush and retaining walls shallow, small wooly buggers are excellent. Watch for the bream to start moving shallow. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service.
Caddo
FAIR. Water stained; 61 degrees; 1.78 feet above pool. High muddy water and the current and fronts are slowing the bite. The new and full moon have the dish relating to trees. One day the bite will leave you smiling, then the next winds out the east will have you scratching your head. Bass are spawning, stay in 2 feet or less with a fluke, senko, lizard or swimbait and cover water around trees and pad stems. Dark colors work best in muddy and stained water, and when the water clear use watermelon red type colors. Temperatures have been in the low to mid 60s, but we do have some warm weather coming in this week so the bite should improve. The deeper trees in 4-6 feet seem to turn on good toward April and a Texas rig tube or jig will work good around those and again just cover water, but make sure you throw your bait past the tree and work up towards it. Seeing some alligators now, so you know spring is here. It is a wonderful time to come enjoy this lake that God spoke into existence even when it is flooded and stained. Report provided by Vince Richards, Caddo Lake Fishing & Fellowship.
Conroe
GOOD. Water stained; 66 degrees; 0.13 feet above pool. Largemouth bass seem to be on spawning beds. Seeing some very skinny fish lately that are likely spawned out and had many reports of a lesser bite this past week. Catfish have been good. Finding fish shallow and deep on Catfish Bubblegum, liver, worms, and punch bait. Trophy class and eaters have been steady drifting natural baits along humps, ledges, and flats. Hybrids have been pretty spotty and are still trying to spawn. Hopefully the drastic weather changes will calm down soon so a regular pattern can emerge. Until this happens, keep an eye on the weather and be safe out there. Report by Brad Doyle with Bradley’s Guide Service. Crappie have been a big hit-or-miss, some anglers are having success with post spawn fish in 10-17 feet of water using a minnow or a 1/32 ounce jig. Always wear your life jacket. Report by Mike Cason, Fishical Therapy Lake Conroe Guide.
Fork
GOOD. Water Stained; 60 degrees; 0.28 feet below pool. Bass fishing has been slow due to the fluctuating weather patterns. The best bite has been on frogs behind the grass and Texas rigs in front of the grass. Yum dingers are good around flooded grass in 1-3 feet deadsticking rigged wacky worms. Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. Bass have moved up and are nesting, small crawfish patterns will work well. Frog pattern top waters are excellent in the grass and brush. Crappie are shallow, small fish patterns like wooly buggers are a good bet. Bream are beginning to make themselves known in the shallows, wooly buggars and small poppers should bring a strike.Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. Crappie fishing has been up and down and all over the place this past week. Patterns are not just changing weekly or daily but sometimes hourly. Fish can be in water deeper than 30 feet, or as shallow as 1 foot. Seeing fish around grass, around timber, under bridges, under docks and on ledges. There are very few fish on brush piles and lay downs. Finding fish all over the bridge in the morning then gone that afternoon. The cold fronts and winds have really made finding patterns that will hold up difficult. Not seeing very many fish spawned out yet, so we should have shallow fish for the next months. The bite when you do find fish, and they do not run, is good on small hand ties, minnows, soft plastics. The catfish bite continues to be red hot in 12-18 feet of water around trees that have birds roosting overnight. We should see fish showing back up around trees along creek channels in 18-25 feet of water as well. Bait the area with cattle cubes or sour grain to get the catfish loaded up. Any prepared catfish bait works great and we have been having great trips using punch bait. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.
Houston County
GOOD. Water clear; 63 degrees; 0.43 feet above pool. Fishing has slowed some but should improve heading into the weekend. The second wave of spawning largemouth bass and crappie should begin soon. Shad spawn started this past week, and should continue for the next month. White bass that did not go into creeks or the river are spawning on the main lake right now on points and in smaller coves. Largemouth bass are spawning on beds. Largemouth bass are good in 1-7 feet of water with wacky worms, weightless Texas rigs, yum dingers or swim jigs. Crappie are in 10 feet or less using minnows on standing timber, brush, or deep docks. Report by Colan Gonzales, CG’s Just Fishing Guide Service.
Lake O' the Pines
GOOD. Water stained; 63 degrees; 1.86 feet above pool. Crappie are good within 2-6 feet of water biting on minnows or jigs. Sand bass are fair in the creeks. Catfish are good 2-10 with your bait of choice. Report by Marty Thomas, Lake O’ the Pines Crappie Fishing. Most bass are in 10 feet or less. Bass are good shallow on weightless skinny dippers, chatterbaits, and lipless crankbaits. Females are starting to move shallow to beds at the backs of coves. Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine.
Livingston
SLOW. Stained; 65 degrees; 0.65 feet above pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady. Blue catfish are on the flats in 2-8 feet of water. Baitfish are pushing to shallow water. White bass are spawning in the Betsy Creek, White Rock Creek, Harmon and the Trinity River using Duck Tracker slabs. Crappie and largemouth bass are in the shallows spawning in 1-4 feet of water along grassy shore lines. Target crappie with crappie jigs, for bass throw chatterbaits, creature baits on beds, or topwater frogs cast in the grass. Report by Michael Richardson, Lake Livingston Adventures.
Martin Creek
GOOD. Water stained; 72 degrees; 0.13 feet below pool. Bass are good fishing in the hydrilla with senkos, wacky rigged worms and swimbaits, or shaky heads on red worms off points and deep brush will work too. Crappie are good using minnows over brush in 15-25 feet of water. Catfish are good on jug lines using live and cut bait. Night crawlers on rod-and-reel in shallow water will produce as well.
Nacogdoches
GOOD. Water stained; 65 degrees; 0.29 feet above pool. Largemouth bass are good with primarily male bass schooling offshore, but females will start to join post spawn. Offshore bass are hitting crankbaits and Carolina rigs. The shallow grass bite is on chatterbaits, or a senko. Crappie are fair in the grass with a beetle spin or rooster tail, any small jig. A few more weeks of warm weather will put fish back on stumps and brush. Report by Wyatt Frankens, Wyatt Frankens Guide Service.
Naconiche
FAIR. Water slightly stained; 66 degrees; full pool. Always remember that many Naconiche bass bed deeper than most other East Texas lakes. Cast a Texas rig creature bait in white is over beds. Remember, bluegill are the enemy for a spawning bed. Crappie population is good. Catfish are slow. Report by Eric Wolfe, NacoTack Fishing Services.
Pinkston
GOOD. normal stain; 59 degrees. Fishing patterns are holding steady this first week of spring. The majority of fish are spawning along the bank. Bass are biting Texas rigs, chatterbaits and wacky rig stick baits. Report by Captain Hank Harrison, Double H Precision Fishing.
Raven
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 69 degrees. Water clarity is about one foot of visibility. Crappie are excellent fishing jigs over grass in the lake, and with minnows suspended over brush piles and off the Prairie Branch fishing pier. Crappie spawn is in the early stages. Bass are excellent, anglers are reporting great catches on topwater frogs early in the morning. Anglers are also using red crawfish crankbaits, jerkbaits, and weedless worm rigs. Catfish are good on stink bait and worms at the bottom. Anglers on boats should try by the dam as there is excellent catfish habitat. Bluegills are excellent on hotdogs and worms off a bobber at the boathouse and both fishing piers.
Sam Rayburn
GOOD. Water stained; 62 degrees; 5.99 feet below pool. The magic water temperature is 67 degrees for the spawn. The water is muddy north of the Texas State Highway147 bridge. Navigate with caution to avoid sandbars and stumps. Bass are in the grass lines in 4-20 feet of water biting soft plastics and spin baits. Spawn appears to be deeper due to the water draw. This will eliminate a lot of sight fishing. Crappie are slow. Report by Captain Lynn Atkinson, Reel Um N Guide Service. The bite bass bite has been fantastic! Large waves and groups of fish shallow from 10-15 feet deep as well as large numbers of fish shallow 1-7 feet deep. Primarily fishing a Carolina rig, medium diving crankbait, and Texas rig in 10-15 feet. Cast rattletraps, chatterbaits, and lightweight Carolina rigs up shallow. Report by Captain Hank Harrison, Double H Precision Fishing.
Toledo Bend
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 62 degrees; 2.40 feet below pool. Spring started off with a freeze. Water temperature is running 59-63 degrees and the clarity is clear. Lots of bass are still spawning in 1-5 feet of water hitting wacky-worms and senkos. There are good numbers of bass starting to show up that have already spawned, these fish spawned on that February full moon. These fish can be caught on shallow running crankbait and Carolina rig lizards . With the next moon coming, there will be more bass on the move towards the back. This will keep going until the first of May. Crappie are good, but with the colder weather will delay it several days. The crappie are super picky due to the changing weather. Best baits have been roadrunners and jig heads with curl tail or tube. Report by Stephen Johnston, Johnston Fishing.
Tyler
SLOW. Water stained; 62 degrees; 0.27 feet above pool. Bass are slow in 10 feet of water crankbaits and spinnerbaits, and trick worms. Crappie are scattered and the bite is slow on minnows and jigs. Bream are fair on red worms. Catfish are slow on liver and stinkbait. Report by Paul Taylor, The Boulders at Lake Tyler.
Welsh
GOOD. Water normal stain. 63 degrees, 69 degrees in the discharge. Fishing patterns are holding steady the first week of spring. Largemouth bass are good spawning shallow on beds with creature baits and crankbaits.
Wright Patman
GOOD. Water normal stain; 58 degrees; 7.63 feet above pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady the first week of spring. Crappie are good on the main lake with minnows. Catfish are good in Herron Creek.

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