Pineywoods Fishing Report

Posted

B.A. Steinhagen

FAIR. Water stain; 85 degrees; 0.36 feet below pool. Mayflies are hatching, so expect some topwater bass action. Bass are fair on soft plastics in the cuts, or with frogs over grass. Crappie are fair with jigs in flooded timber. Catfish are fair on juglines.

Bob Sandlin

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 85 degrees; 0.68 feet below pool. Crappie are excellent in 15-20 feet of water on brush piles with minnows or jigs. Channel catfish are fair in 25 feet of water on baited holes with stink bait. White bass are fair at night in the lights with a white spinnerbaits. Report by Joey Crews, Lake Bob Sandlin Chubby Chaser Guide Service. Black bass are chasing shad and bream. Windy retaining walls will produce marauding bass. Try topwater baits in a fish pattern and streamers in a Bream pattern. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. Water clarity is 3-5 feet of visibility. Bass are great under shaded docks with shaky head worms and jigs, and grass edges with bladed jigs, buzzbaits or frogs work well in shallow creek pockets. Topwater walking baits and Alabama rigs are great in the morning and evening. Report by Blake Doughtie, Lake Country Lunkers Lures and Guide Service.

Caddo

GOOD. Water stained; 80 degrees; 0.02 feet below pool. Bass fishing is tough after the weather has warmed. We need some cool nights to get these fish fired up again. There is still some schooling action on the lake hitting flukes, pop r’s, buzz baits and frogs. To find the bait ook for the lily pads and grass lines and listen for the pads popping. Fish in the cuts in the river with rattle traps or shad color crankbaits. Once you find fish you can switch to a dropshot, shaky head or Texas rig and catch more after they quit hitting a moving bait. It is about to be a fun time on the lake and with majestic views as the lake turns red and the fall winter colors come around on this majestic lake that God spoke into existence. Report provided by Vince Richards, Caddo Lake Fishing & Fellowship.

Conroe

GOOD. Water stained; 85 degrees; 0.79 feet below pool. Catfish have been excellent this past week on catfish bubblegum, liver, worms, and punch bait in 8-30 feet of water. Bream have been plentiful as well in 4-20 feet of water using Worms and liver. Bass are good up shallow early and late with wacky rigged worms. Offshore structures and docks are good once the sun has risen, with some midday schooling on shad. Report by Brad Doyle with Bradley’s Guide Service. Crappie are not as productive, but some can be caught on structure 12-25 feet. Hair jigs have been working better than plastic. Catch a few then move to the next spot, they have been turning off as quickly as they turn on. Hybrids have been schooled up this week in 12-24 feet with some whites mixed in, hanging on flats and drop-offs. Many folks are trolling with a deep diver and a pet spoon trailer, others are using slabs from Bradley Outdoors to jig for them, as well as casting swimbaits or crankbaits. Always wear your life jacket and stay hydrated in this heat. Report by Mike Cason, Fishical Therapy.

Fork

GOOD. Water Stained; 81 degrees; 1.74 feet below pool. The lake is turning over on the upper east and west arms. Early morning bite is good on topwaters and flukes, and yum dingers around grass. Carolina rigs and Texas rigs are good on points and humps in 7-12 feet. Deep crankbaits are fair over brush piles and roadbeds. Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. Bass are aggressive on top water and shallow. Windy banks can provide schooling action so be ready with a small top water or streamer. Catfish are shallow around boat houses. Bream are excellent in the shallows, wooly buggers and small poppers should bring a strike. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. The Lake Fork crappie fishing continues to be excellent as we head into fall. You can find fish in a very large range of depths from 12-40 feet. Timber still has some great white crappie if you cover water and pick off those fish. Brush piles are holding decent numbers with a combination of white and black crappie. You can find black crappie on underwater road beds and bridges. We should see more and more black crappie on the tops of timber in deeper water over the next month. Minnows are a great bait but we did catch fish on small hand tied jigs this week. Soft plastics will work and that bite will get better as water cools off. The catfish bite is on fire in 18-28 feet around timber along creek channels. These fish are following bait migrations and will load up under your boat as you begin to fish. They will even elevate off the bottom as they load up so you can fish up and down the water column to find the larger fish. Use any prepared bait of choice to catch this fish. Using some cattle cubes or sour grain will attract and hold even more fish. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.

Houston County

SLOW. Water stained; 85 degrees; 0.07 feet below pool. Fishing patterns are consistent, but this should change as the weather begins to cool. Sunfish are good. Crappie are slow on minnows and jigs. Bass are slow midday, with the best bite in the morning.

Lake O’ the Pines

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 90 degrees; 0.33 feet below pool. Water clarity is slightly stained with 2-3 feet of clarity. Bass can be caught on creek channel bends throwing Texas rigged creature baits, senkos, or compact jigs in black & blue. Grass edges are holding a high number of fish and can be caught on 3-4 inch swimbaits, flukes, or bladed jigs. Matted vegetation seems to hold the larger fish in fewer numbers, and can be caught throwing a ribbit frog or hollow body frog. Report by Blake Doughtie, Lake Country Lunkers Lures and Guide Service.

Livingston

GOOD. slightly stained; 89 degrees; 0.73 feet below pool. White bass are great on roadbeds in 6-16 feet of water hitting Duck Tracker slabs. Report by Michael Richardson, Lake Livingston Adventures.

Martin Creek

GOOD. Water normal stain; 89 degrees; 1.57 feet below pool. Bass are fair along the edge of the hydrilla using rattletraps, swimbaits and watermelon red Texas rigged worms. Crappie are good in brush piles and timber in 20-25 feet using Bobby Garland screamer jigs and minnows. Catfish are good along the dam drifting with night crawlers and shrimp. Reported by Hambone guide service.

Nacogdoches

GOOD. Water normal stain; 82 degrees; 1.34 feet below pool. The clarity has improved to 4 feet of visibility. Largemouth bass are excellent with 3-5 pound fish being caught on small swimbaits and topwaters. There is a lots of schooling action. Crappie are excellent on 1/16 ounce white crappie jigs. Catfish are fair on live minnows and cut bait. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.

Naconiche

FAIR. Water slightly stained; 78 degrees; 0.00 feet full pool. Bass continue to be in a weird mood. They cannot decide if they need to stay or go from their typical summer haunts. Expect the next two cold fronts to get temps to drop back down to the mid 70s before heading further down to set off the fall turnover. Keep an eye on the thermocline. This tells you the exact depth to present your offering. Even over deep water, do not go below this line. The square-bill crankbait 5 feet depth got the most bites over the weekend. If you find them hugging the bottom in 8-10 feet, dragging a Texas-rig Mag-worm can be effective. Crappie population is good. Catfish are slow. Report by Eric Wolfe, NacoTack Fishing Services. Largemouth bass are good on topwaters and swimbaits. Crappie are excellent on brush and standing timber in 10-15 feet of water on 1/16 ounce white crappie jigs. Catfish are fair on cut bait in the fishing pier area. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.

Pinkston

FAIR. normal stain; 82 degrees. Water clarity is clear. Largemouth bass are good on large or small swimbaits, and dropshots in 10-18 feet of water. Crappie are excellent on 1/16 ounce white crappie jig. Catfish are slow on live minnows or cut bait. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.

Sam Rayburn

FAIR. Water slightly stained; 80 degrees; 0.82 feet below pool. Bass are schooling more in the morning so expect more topwater action on grass edges and points. Crappie are fair on standing timber in 27 feet on brush piles with minnows over jigs. Blue and channel catfish are fair in 24-27 feet of water and in the river bends on cut bait and minnows. Report by Captain Lynn Atkinson, Reel Um N Guide Service. Lake level is holding steady, but expect the lake to drop to 5-7 feet low to continue to work on the dam in the future. Fish are in all stages of the transition. Target bass with jig head minnows and forward facing sonar. Bass are suspended at the mouth of creeks and on offshores flats chasing bait. When bass are schooling on the bottom cast a Carolina rig, dropshot, and shaky head. There is an abundance of shallow fish and this pattern should continue through the fall. Target the hay grass and flooded bushes early in the morning to catch bass chasing bait using a chatterbait, swimbait or frog. Report by Hank Harrison, Double H Precision Guide Service.

Toledo Bend

FAIR. Water normal stain; 85 degrees; 4.13 feet below pool. It’s really back to summer again here the water temperature is back to the mid to high 80s. Bass bite is back to being just fair with shallow fish on topwater and chatterbaits. Creek fish are in 5-8 feet little better. Fish out deep, but most are small to keepers with dropshots and spoons. Crappie slow. Report by Stephen Johnston, Johnston Fishing.

Tyler

GOOD. Water normal stain; 84 degrees; 0.84 feet below pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady. Crappie are good with minnows on brush in 16-20 feet of water, and off the barge. Catfish are good in 10-16 feet of water stink bait, liver and nightcrawlers. Bream are good on red worms off the barge and throughout the lake. Bass are fair on topwater baits, crankbaits and spinner baits in 4-12 feet of water. Report by The Boulders at Lake Tyler.

Welsh

FAIR. Water stained. 95 degrees. Few reports from anglers.

Wright Patman

GOOD. Water stained; 83 degrees; 0.29 feet above pool. Catfish are good with stink bait. Crappie are good with minnows and jigs.