B.A. Steinhagen
FAIR. Water stain; 85 degrees; 0.10 feet below pool. Water is being released into the lake from Sam Rayburn Reservoir. 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; 90 degrees; 0.30 feet above pool. Summer fishing patterns are holding steady. Big blue catfish up to 30 pounds are in 30-35 feet of water with live or cut bait. Channel catfish are fair in 10-15 feet of water on baited holes with stink bait. A few catches of blue catfish in the same areas with cut bait. Crappie are good on brush piles and standing timber in 20-25 feet of water, or suspended in 15 feet of water with minnows. White bass are slow with a few catches near the railroad bridge. Report by Joey Crews, Lake Bob Sandlin Chubby Chaser Guide Service. Black bass are feeding early on shad patterns around grass and retaining walls. Main lake points are good for bass using clouser type patterns. Bream are plentiful with wooly buggers and small worm patterns.Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. Bass are good on points in 18-22 feet of water using deep water baits like deep diving crankbaits, dropshots and Texas rigs. Night fishing has the best bite and is an escape from the heat and recreational boaters. Sand bass and black bass schooling together near the dam, and bridges. Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine.
Caddo
FAIR. Water stained; 80 degrees; 0.78 feet above pool. Fishing on Caddo Lake is heating up with the temperatures. Bass are schooling throughout the lake and can be caught with a fluke, or small topwater bait. For the bigger fish try a buzz bait or frog around or over cover early in the day. The river bite is just now starting to set up with the current slowing down. Cast a dropshot, Carolina rig, Texas rig, small June bug finesse worm, or shaky head in the cuts of the river. Lake is setting up nicely with all the rain we have had this year and it’s an absolutely great time to come fish and see this majestic lake that God spoke into existence Report provided by Vince Richards, Caddo Lake Fishing & Fellowship.
Conroe
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 85 degrees; 0.20 feet above pool. The thermocline is in 31 feet of water. Bass are good on big worms and creature baits around structure and under docks when the sun is out. Report by Brad Doyle with Bradley’s Guide Service. Catfish spawn is over and the fishing is good but there are a lot of tiny fish out there. Baited holes and catfish bubblegum have been working great. Report by Brad Doyle with Bradley’s Guide Service. Hybrids and whites are schooling in 18-26 feet of water biting live shad and live large minnows, or trolling with a deep diver with a pet spoon as a trailer. Some are scattered but also finding schools. Some anglers are jigging spoons too aggressively, get more hits with a calmer jigging motion, white or chartreuse slabs from MT Pockets have been working well. Crappie are in or around structure and timber in 12-21 feet using minnows, jigs, and or hair jigs, the bite has been very light, and have shut off as quickly as you get one in the boat, but some are getting a great catch. If you can get a few, hit the next spot. Always wear your life jacket & stay hydrated in this heat. Report by Mike Cason, Fishical Therapy.
Fork
GOOD. Water Stained; 81 degrees; 0.24 feet below pool. Bass are good in the mornings in 1-3 feet of water in the shallow grass with frogs and swimbaits, and Viper XP swim jigs. White has been the best color. Offshore in 18-25 feet of water is good midday on humps, road beds and long points near channels with Carolina rigs and big shaky heads best with big worms in blue fleck, plum, red bug. Deep diving crankbaits like XD 6-XD 8 from Strike King chart blue back and shad patterns are best over humps and road beds in 15-27 feet. Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. August brings in hot temperatures. Bass are feeding in 10-12 feet where the thermocline is not present. Look for schooling bass in the open water and creeks as shad hatch is in full swing. Also, check out the brush piles as big bass are using them to feed on crappie. 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 crappie fishing on Lake Fork continues to be excellent as we get deeper into the summer pattern. Fish are still stacked up on brush, trees and some lay downs. Best depths are 14-28 feet with a few fish a little shallower and a little deeper. The bite has been somewhat finicky lately. Minnows are a good choice to help overcome the slower bite. You can still catch fish on smaller hand tied baits or soft plastics. I’ve also noticed that rotating spots or finding new spots with less pressured fish has been important. The catfishing on Lake Fork is excellent like it seems to always be for eater sized channel cats. There are still tons of fish under roosting trees in 14-22 feet of water on the north ends of the lake. Bait a hole with cattle cubes or sour grains to get those fish concentrated. Then use any catfish bait of choice to load the boat. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.
Houston County
SLOW. Water stained; 85 degrees; 0.27 feet above pool. Fishing patterns are consistent. 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 stained; 90 degrees; 0.37 feet above pool. Solid summer pattern is holding steady for the bass. Bass are good with schooling activity starting to pick up. Follow the shad to find the bass. There is still some bass in the bushes along the banks pitching Texas rigged worms and jigs, or wacky rigs. Bass are good on brush piles on points on the south end of the lake in 15-25 feet of water with deep running crankbaits, jigs, wacky worms and Texas rigs. The north end of the lake is producing catches on the grass and bushes. Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine.
Livingston
GREAT. slightly stained; 88 degrees; 0.25 feet above pool. Some of the water is slightly stained, and water is muddy north of U.S. 190 bridge. White bass are great in 2-15 feet of water. Report by Michael Richardson, Lake Livingston Adventures.
Martin Creek
GOOD. Water stained; 87 degrees; 0.14 feet below pool. Bass are fair on lipless crankbaits, swimbaits with underspin and senko weightless worm. Crappie remains good in 20-25 feet of water with fish suspended in brush piles with minnows as the best bait. Catfish are in the deeper waters along with the crappie using live bait on rod and reel. Report by Hambone guide service. Report by Hambone Guide Service.
Nacogdoches
EXCELLENT. Water stained; 87 degrees; 0.01 feet below pool. Largemouth bass are excellent on heavy weighted Carolina rigs, deep crankbaits, medium to deep diving crankbaits. Bass are set up in large groups on hard spots like shell bottom. Lots of catches in the 2-4 pound range with only a few 5 pound or more being caught. Crappie are good with swarms of fish on brush piles with any colored crappie jigs. Catfish are fair on cut bait and live minnows. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.
Naconiche
GOOD. Water stained; 88 degrees; 0.50 feet above full pool. The rains, last week, and the cooler weather had the water temperatures 6 degrees lower than average. However, the forecast heat will drive it back up quickly. Keep an eye on the thermocline. This tells you the exact depth to present your offering. Even over deep water, don’t go below this line. Found quality fish, in open gaps between the submerged timber, with a Jr. jerkbait +1 that gets to 8-9 feet with 12 pound Fluoro. If you catch them schooling, chunk an underspin at’em, or a “spook” style topwater. Otherwise, you cannot go wrong with a Texas rig Mag-worm. Crappie population is good. Catfish are slow. Report by Eric Wolfe, NacoTack Fishing Services. Largemouth bass are excellent on big swimbaits and Carolina rigs on timber lines and the bottom of shallow points on clumps of grass. Crappie are good cruising around the timber lines with some brush piles with live minnows or chartreuse crappie jigs. Catfish are slow on cut bait and live minnows. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.
Pinkston
GOOD. slightly stained; 88 degrees. Largemouth bass are good on timber lines with big swimbaits, and small paddle tail swimbaits. Crappie are slow live minnows or natural colored crappie jigs on standing timber. Catfish are good on live minnows. Report by Cal Cameron, Cal’s ETX Guide Service.
Sam Rayburn
GOOD. Water stained; 83 degrees; 5.26 feet above pool. The bite for all species seems to improve when the water is being generated. This stirs the water, breaking up the thermocline. Bass are slow in shallow water with many smaller fish being caught on frogs, and spinnerbaits. Deeper bass bite is fair with Carolina rigs. Crappie are slow in the morning, but improve midday. Catfish are all over the lake in 20 feet of water and in 12 feet of water in the creek channels. White bass are on points in the south end of the lake near the dam. Report by Captain Lynn Atkinson, Reel Um N Guide Service. As the lake continues to drop fish are going to be moving to traditional summer locations pending the thermocline depth. Bass are good early morning on shallow main lake points with medium or deep diving crankbaits, and topwaters. Main lake ledges with Carolina rig shaky head and spoons. Brush piles shallower than the thermocline with Texas rigs, jigs or Carolina rigs. The thermocline is actively fluctuating and will continue to do so while lake level changes. Navigate with caution watching for floating debris, trees, and stumps. Report by Hank Harrison, Double H Precision Fishing.
Toledo Bend
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 91 degrees; 0.85 feet below pool. Water level is still on the rise, but we have finally dried out after 6 days of straight rain. Lake is stained in some of the main creeks, but still clear out on the main lake. Crappie fishing is just slow. It is always slow this time of year, but it is really slow due to the rising water. Few catches on deep brush and lighted boat docks at night. Use live bait, as it is hard to get them to bite a jig right now. Bass fishing is still fair. Water temperature cooled off the lower 80s, but has increased to the upper 80s and low 90s. Very few bites on topwater now that all the clouds are gone, best bite still has been from 8-14 feet on Texas and Carolina rig worm and mid-running crankbait. An 80 year old birthday boy caught a 7 pound fish on a Texas rig, so while the action may be slow quality is present. There are few small fish being caught out deeper in 18-25 feet on drop shot and spoons, these fish are small and most are Kentucky bass. With no moon and poor weather the night fishing has slowed down this past week, but a big Texas rigged worm at night in 14-20 feet is hard to beat, especially with the hot daytime temperatures. Report by Stephen Johnston, Johnston Fishing.
Tyler
GOOD. Water normal stain; 80 degrees; 0.18 feet above pool. Summer fishing patterns are holding steady. Night fishing is good for catfish and crappie in the lights. Crappie are good using minnows and jigs on brush in 16 feet of water. Catfish are fair in 12-16 feet of water nightcrawlers, shrimp, and liver. Bream are good on red worms off the barge and throughout the lake. Bass are fair biting off the barge with a variety of baits. Carp are biting minnows, worms, and dough bait. Report by The Boulders at Lake Tyler.
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