B.A. Steinhagen
FAIR. Water stain; 70 degrees; 0.11 feet below pool. Very few anglers on the water. Expect fish to start pushing shallow as the water warms.
Bob Sandlin
GOOD. Water stained; 74 degrees; 0.26 feet above pool. Crappie are stacking up in 13-30 feet of water on brush piles with the biggest fish on timber. Crappie are preferring minnows over jigs. Blue catfish are roaming offshore timber biting cut bait and chicken. Channel catfish are starting to spawn on dough bait. White bass are schooling hitting anything shiny. Largemouth bass are post spawn and cruising points and structure. Multiple lures are doing well. Report by Chris Caswell, Lake Bob Sandlin Crappie Fishing Guide. Black bass are shallow in creeks and shallow banks. Fly fishing with craws and clouser minnow patterns should produce bass. Crappie and catfish are moving shallow fly fishing with wooly buggers, slow-sinking small fish patterns, or clouser minnows on sunny rocky shores might draw a strike. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. Crappie fishing has continued to be excellent, but this may change after the rain. Crappie are post spawn with more and more fish relating to brush piles and timber. Plastics are out producing hand tied jigs and minnows. Report by River Bottom Boys Guide Service.
Caddo
SLOW. Water stained; 67 degrees; 1.21 feet above pool. Some bass are spawning in the trees. The full moon in May should pull some females in the trees. We should start catching a bunch of post spawn fish in the grass and pads on frogs, buzz baits or pop r’s as the bream start bedding all around. Still some current in the river, so there are places the bass are trying to school up. After the floods the lake is looking good and clear of salvinia, so come on out and enjoy your time out here on this majestic and divine lake we call Caddo. Report provided by Vince Richards, Caddo Lake Fishing & Fellowship.
Conroe
GREAT. Water stained; 78 degrees; 0.01 feet above pool. Catfish are good from bulkheads to 50 feet deep. Bass are all over. Target shallow water early in the morning then focus on deep structure in 20 feet of water midday. Crappie are fair on structure 12-25 feet deep. Report by Bradley Doyle, with Bradley Guide Service. Hybrids can be caught in 18-28 feet of water on flats and drop-offs with slabs, spoons, and live minnows or goldfish. Always wear your life jacket! Report by Mike Cason, Fishical Therapy.
Fork
GOOD. Water Stained; 73 degrees; 0.21 feet below pool. Shad spawn is decent in the early morning with diesel chatterbaits and small spinnerbaits on points with birds. Flukes and wacky rigs are good around grass and the edge of grass in 1-3 feet. Work topwaters over the bass guarding fry in the pockets. Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. Black bass are post spawn and the top water bite is on! Frog patterns are working in the shallow vegetation. The crappie are moving shallow, small clousers are producing well. Large bream have moved shallow, wooly buggers are producing good fish. Channel catfish are cruising 2-4 feet biting clousers. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. Crappie fishing is settling into the post spawn and summer patterns we should see for the next few months. We are seeing incredible numbers of small black crappie right now loading up on brush piles, lay downs, bridges and docks. The larger black crappie are a little hard to find but you can find some nice groups of them or pick a few out of the smaller fish. The bigger white crappie are beginning to load on the summer pattern trees. We have a tremendous amount of fry covering up a lot of those trees and making it very hard to see those bigger white crappie on forward facing sonar or for them to see your bait. You can find fish in 10-30 feet of water and some may only be 2 feet under the surface or right on the bottom. Minnows and any colored jigs are both producing extremely well. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.
Houston County
SLOW. Water stained; 70 degrees; 0.27 feet above pool. Bass should be pushing to deeper water with some male bass guarding fry. Crappie should be transitioning to brush piles biting jigs or minnows.
Lake O’ the Pines
GOOD. Water normal stain; 72 degrees; 4.08 feet above pool. The gates are open, so the lake is falling quickly. There is a good early morning bass bite on topwaters around bushes and flooded grass. After the sunrises use soft plastics in green pumpkin, watermelon red in and around grass and flooded cover. Shad spawn should begin soon, drawing bass near chunk rock, boat docks and hard-cover at daylight. When this happens cast natural colored topwaters in areas where shad are spawning. Once the sunlight pops up this bite will end. Crappie are biting slip cork minnows on flooded cypress trees and vertical cover near the river. Report by Brian Vickery Fishing.
Livingston
GOOD. normal stain; 71 degrees; 0.62 feet above pool. White bass are great in 6-15 feet of water on wind blown points and ledges with white and chartreuse slabs. Catfish are in 1-4 feet of water on bulkheads with best action at daylight. Report by Michael Richardson, Lake Livingston Adventures.
Martin Creek
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 79 degrees; 0.03 below pool. Bass are fair along the edge of the hydrilla using senkos with gold flake and Texas rigged redbug trick worms. Crappie are excellent in brush piles in 20-25 feet and at railroad trestle using minnows and Bobby Garland jigs. Catfish are good using live and cut bait on clay banks in 5-10 feet of water. Reported by Hambone guide service.
Nacogdoches
GOOD. Water stained; 77 degrees; 0.10 feet below pool. Largemouth bass are good on deep diving crankbaits, or Carolina rigs near creek channel swings. Crappie are fair on chartreuse and white crappie jigs on standing timber, smaller fish are on brush piles. Catfish are slow on cut bait and live minnows. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.
Naconiche
GOOD. Water normal stain; 77 degrees; 0.50 feet above pool. Bass are moving offshore stacking up and suspended 8 feet down over deeper water with a jerkbait. Some larger bites were possible in 8-10 feet near the bottom with a dropshot and Texas rig. An Alabama rig will catch some aggressive feeding fish! The thermocline has started to settle in so be sure to fish above that line. Crappie population is good. Catfish are slow. Report by Eric Wolfe, NacoTack Fishing Services. Catfish are slow. Report by Eric Wolfe, NacoTack Fishing Services. Largemouth bass are excellent on Carolina rigs, dropshots and medium paddle tail swimbaits. Crappie are fair on chartreuse and white crappie jigs on timber. Catfish are fair on cut bait and live minnows near the fishing pier. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.
Pinkston
GOOD. slightly stained; 76 degrees. Water visibility is about 4 feet of water. Largemouth bass are excellent on Carolina rigs, small or big paddle tail swimbaits, and flukes. Crappie are fair on white crappie jigs or grubs in standing timber, with smaller fish on brush piles. Catfish are slow. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.
Raven
SLOW. Water light stain; 70 degrees. Lake Raven is beginning to see a lot of hydrilla growth, which may impede some bank anglers. The bass are working the shallows with 10-12 inch worms along the edge of the hydrilla and water lines. Chatterbaits, dropshots, and wacky rigs are a good set of bait options for anglers seeking to join in on the bass fishing. No reports of crappie or catfish. Bluegill are good at the boathouse dock with hot dogs and worms.
Sam Rayburn
GOOD. Water stained; 73 degrees; 0.06 feet above pool. Many bass are still shallow trying to spawn, but this should finish this week. The best bite continues to be in 8-14 feet on ledges, humps and old timber with a big worm on a Texas rig or Carolina rig. Crappie and catfish are moving shallow and deep as they spawn. The magic depth has been 4-12 feet with minnows under corks and around trees on the bedding fish. Some crappie are moving to brush but the bite is not steady yet. Report by Captain Lynn Atkinson, Reel Um N Guide Service.
Toledo Bend
SLOW. Water stained; 73 degrees; 0.56 feet below pool. Bass topwater action has finally started on yellow magics, spooks and buzz baits. The frog bite is good in flooded bushes, hay grass. Expect many fish to stay shallow in the flooded cover. There are some bass starting to make the way back off the bank in 10-14 feet of water hitting crankbaits and Texas rigged worms. More fish will push deep as the water temperature rises. Crappie are still fair in the creeks. Target main lake points and shallow bushes piles with 1/16 ounce big head jigs with tube or curly tail. There is some white bass action from the bridge north. Cast big crankbaits and spoons on the main lake ridge ends in 12-18 feet of water. Report by Stephen Johnston, Johnston Fishing.
Tyler
GOOD. Water normal stain; 70 degrees; 0.17 feet above pool. Crappie are fair on brush piles with minnows and jigs in 12-16 feet of water. Catfish are slow in 5-6 feet of water with stink bait. Bass are fair hitting crankbaits and plastic worms. Bream are good on red worms throughout the lake. Report by The Boulders at Lake Tyler. Bass topwater bite improves daily. The big crappie and larger female bass are primarily post spawn, but you can find a few stragglers shallow. Look for the first depth changes outside of the spawning areas where they will be recovering and getting their energy back by feeding. There are plenty of beds around the lake with the aggressive males guarding them. As the eggs hatch into fry the males will continue to follow them around and will be extremely aggressive especially with bluegill or bream patterns. Catfish are being caught shallow around their spawning areas as are the panfish. Bass are best on weightless flukes, crappie are best on minnows, catfish are great on prepared bait and nightcrawlers and the bream on best red worms and crickets. Report by Holton Walker, Holton Walker Fishing.
Welsh
FAIR. Water stained. 80 degrees. A few reports and anglers on the water.
Wright Patman
SLOW. Water stained; 67 degrees; 10.23 feet above pool. Bass should be shallow on spawning beds, and post spawn or staging in deeper water near spawning areas hitting soft plastics. Crappie should be spawning or staged on brush in 8-12 feet.
