Freshwater Fishing Report

ALAN HENRY: Water clear; 67 degrees; 9.34’ low. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs.

AMISTAD: Water stained; 70 degrees; 37.17’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on bladed jigs and Texas-rigged plastics. White bass are fair on silver spoons. Catfish are good on cheese bait and punch bait.

ARLINGTON: Water lightly stained; 70 degrees; 2.73’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters and crankbaits. Crappie are fair on jigs and minnows.

ATHENS: Water clear; 62-68 degrees; 1.54’ low. Largemouth bass are fair but scattered on popping frogs and soft plastics. Crappie are fair to good on minnows.

AUSTIN: Water clear; 70 degrees; 0.70’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on soft plastics, top-waters and jigs.

B.A. STEINHAGEN: Water stained; 65 degrees; 0.65’ low. Largemouth bass are slow. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfish are good on cut bait and cheese bait.

BASTROP: Water clear; 80 degrees. Largemouth bass are good on flukes, chatterbaits, 5-inch worms and walking baits.

BELTON: Water lightly stained; 69 degrees; 13.20’ low. White bass are good on tail spinners with white tails. Crappie are fair on hand-tied jigs and minnows.

BENBROOK: Water lightly stained; 65 degrees; 7.91’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters and crankbaits. Crappie are fair on jigs and minnows.

BOB SANDLIN: Water clear; 62 degrees; 1.69’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on crankbaits and chatterbaits. White bass are slow. Crappie are fair on minnow and jigs. Catfish are good on cheese bait.

BRAUNIG: Water lightly stained; 80 degrees. Largemouth bass are fair on soft plastics and spinner baits. Red drum are fair at the dam on live bait, swimbaits and spoons.

BROWNWOOD: Water slightly stained; 63-68 degrees; 7.90’ low. Largemouth bass are good on jigs and glide baits. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs. White bass are slow. Catfish are slow.

BUCHANAN: Water lightly stained; 70 degrees; 17.46’ low. Largemouth bass are good on top-waters, soft plastics, crankbaits and jigging spoons. Striped bass and white bass are fair on crankbaits and jigging spoons. Catfish are good on cut shad and punch bait.

CADDO: Water stained; 70 degrees; 0.29’ high. Largemouth bass are fair to good on shad crankbaits, spinner baits, jerk baits and spoons.

CALAVERAS: Water lightly stained; 70 degrees. Red drum are fair on shrimp, live bait, spoons and crankbaits. Blue catfish are good on cut shad, cut tilapia and shrimp. Channel catfish are fair on shrimp and cheese bait.

CEDAR CREEK: Water stained; 69 degrees; 4.79’ low. Largemouth bass are good on chatterbaits, spinner baits, square-billed crankbaits, and Texas-rigged plastics. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs. White bass and hybrids are good on spinner baits and silver spoons.

CHOKE CANYON: Water stained; 70 degrees; 23.12’ low. Crappie are good on minnows. White bass are good on jigging spoons and minnows. Catfish are good on prepared bait.

CONROE: Water slightly stained; 72 degrees; 2.46’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on crankbaits and slowmoving plastics Crappie are slow. Hybrid striped bass are fair on slabs and crankbaits. Catfish are good on catfish bubblegum.

COOPER: Water lightly stained; 78 degrees. Largemouth bass are fair on crankbaits. White bass are on jigs and small spoons. Crappie are slow.

CORPUS CHRISTI: 67 degrees; 2.70’ low. Largemouth bass are slow. White bass are good on small jigs, minnows and crankbaits. Catfish are good on cut bait, perch and soap baits.

CYPRESS SPRINGS: Water stained; 65 degrees; 2.40’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters and crankbaits. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfish are good on cut bait.

EAGLE MOUNTAIN: Water stained; 65 degrees; 4.93’ low. White bass are fair to good on chartreuse and white slabs with teaser flies. Crappie are good on minnows. Blue catfish and channel catfish are good on punch bait and shad.

FAIRFIELD: Water slightly stained; 68 degrees. Largemouth bass are fair to good on chatterbaits, wacky worms, top-waters and crankbaits.

FALCON: Water stained; 71 degrees; 40.07’ low. Largemouth bass are good on soft plastics and jigs. Catfish are good on shrimp, stink bait and cut bait.

FAYETTE: Water lightly stained; 82 degrees; 1.50’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on shad crankbaits and plastics. Catfish are good on punch bait and chicken liver.

FORK: Water stained; 65 degrees; 6.82’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to slow on Texas rigs with craws and square-billed crankbaits. Crappie are good on minnows.

GRANBURY: Water lightly stained; 60 degrees; 2.36 feet low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on crankbaits and soft plastics. Crappie are good on small minnows and jigs fished near structure. White bass are slow. Striped bass are fair drifting live shad. Channel and blue catfish are good on cut bait.

GRANGER: Water lightly stained; 67 degrees; 2.16’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on crankbaits and top-waters. Crappie are slow. White bass are slow. Blue catfish are good on jug lines baited with shad or soap bait. Yellow catfish are good on trotlines baited with live perch.

GRAPEVINE: Water murky; 60 degrees; 0.03’ high. White bass are fair but scattered on slabs with a jig tied above.

HOUSTON COUNTY: Water stained; 63 degrees; 2.31’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on square-billed crankbaits, shaky heads, Ned rigs and wacky worms. Crappie are fair on minnows.

HUBBARD CREEK: Water stained; 64 degrees; 6.84’ low. White bass are excellent on slabs, rooster tails, road runners and spoons.

JACKSONVILLE: Water lightly stained; 67 degrees; 2.28’ low. Largemouth bass are good on soft plastics, flukes and crankbaits.

JOE POOL: Water stained; 65 degrees; 1.14’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on Texas-rigged watermelon senkos or junebug worms on shaky head jigs. Crappie are fair on jigs and minnows.

LAKE O’ THE PINES: Water lightly stained; 64 degrees; 0.78’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on crankbaits and chatterbaits. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs. Catfish are good on cheese bait.

LAVON: Water lightly stained; 74 degrees; 6.04’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on square-billed crankbaits and top-waters. White bass are fair on paddle tail swimbaits. Channel catfish are excellent on prepared bait. Blue catfish are good on cut shad and sunfish. LBJ: Water stained; 71 degrees; 0.24’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on creature baits in grass. Crappie are good on chartreuse jigs. Catfish are good on punch bait.

LEWISVILLE: Water lightly stained; 65 degrees; 4.55’ low. White bass are fair on with slabs, small swimbaits and live bait. Hybrid stripers are slow. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfish are fair drifting cut shad or chicken breasts.

LIMESTONE: Water clear; 68 degrees; 5.35’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on finesse jigs, Texas rigs and chatterbaits. White bass are good on silver jigging spoons. Crappie are fair on minnows. Catfish are fair on cut bait.

LIVINGSTON: Water stained; 70 degrees; 1.04’ low. Largemouth bass are slow. Crappie are slow. Striped bass are slow. Catfish are fair to good drifting cut bait.

MARTIN CREEK: 70 degrees. Water lightly stained; 3.86’ low. Largemouth bass are good on small swimbaits, spinner baits and worms. Crappie are slow. Catfish are good on live bait and cut bait.

MEREDITH: Water stained; 62 degrees; 54.21’ low. Largemouth bass are good on minnows and artificials. White bass are very good on minnows and curly tailed grubs. Walleye are good on artificials, minnows and crawlers. Catfish are fair on live bait and stink bait.

MILLERS CREEK: Water stained; 65 degrees; 5.26’ low. Largemouth bass are good on soft plastics and top-waters. Crappie are good on minnows and small jigs. Catfish are good on cut bait and cheese bait.

NACONICHE:

Water clear to stained; 66 degrees; 1.00’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on jerkbaits, crankbaits, bladed jigs and rattle lures. Catfish are slow.

NASWORTHY: Water murky; 69 degrees. 0.71’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on soft plastics, jigs and spinner baits. Crappie are good on black and chartreuse crappie jigs and minnows. Catfish are good on cut bait and stink bait.

NAVARRO MILLS: Water stained; 65 degrees; 3.42’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters and swimbaits. Crappie are fair on small minnows and small jigs. Catfish are good on cut shad and stink bait.

O.H. IVIE: Water stained; 65 degrees; 22.81’ low. Largemouth bass are slow to fair on swimbait. White bass are good on live bait and crankbaits. Crappie are good on jigs and minnows. Catfish are good on prepared baits.

OAK CREEK: Water lightly stained; 64 degrees; 10.46’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on worms and deep-diving crankbaits. Channel catfish are good on chicken liver and shrimp.

PALESTINE: Water lightly stained; 65-67 degrees; 2.54’ low. Largemouth bass are good on wacky rigs and shimmy shakers. Crappie are fair on green jigs with a minnow. White bass and hybrids are slow. Catfish are good on nightcrawlers.

POSSUM KINGDOM: Water lightly stained; 66 degrees; 5.70’ low. Striped bass are fair on live shad and large spoons. White bass are fair on small slabs. Catfish are good on cut shad.

PROCTOR: Water stained; 62 degrees; 8.67’ low. Largemouth bass are slow. Catfish are fair on cut shad.

RAY HUBBARD: Water lightly stained; 63-65 degrees; 2.45’ low. White bass are fair on swimbaits. Crappie are good on minnows. Catfish are good on cut bait.

RAY ROBERTS: Water clear; 62 degrees; 2.29’ low. Largemouth bass are good on crankbaits and soft plastics. White bass are good on slabs with a bucktail trailer. Crappie are slow. Blue and some channel catfish are fair on cut shad.

RICHLAND CHAMBERS:

Water clear; 65 degrees; 5.38’ low. Crappie are fair on minnows. White bass and hybrids are slow. Channel and blue catfish are excellent on punch bait.

SAM RAYBURN: Water stained; 65 degrees; 6.24’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on crankbaits, spinner baits and Carolina rigs. Crappie are fair on minnows. Catfish are fair on cut bait and liver.

SOMERVILLE: Water stained; 65 degrees; 5.57’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on craw jigs and shad crankbaits. Crappie are slow. White bass are slow. Catfish are good on juglines with cut shad.

SPENCE: Water stained; 70 degrees. 43.71’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on soft plastics. Catfish are good on cheese bait and cut bait.

STILLHOUSE HOLLOW: Water lightly stained; 60 degrees; 11.03’ low. White bass are slow to fair on tail spinners.

TAWAKONI: Water lightly stained; 70 degrees; 3.85’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on top-waters and lipless crankbaits. White bass and stripers are good on swimbaits and slabs. Blue catfish are good drifting cut shad. Channel catfish and smaller blue catfish are good on punch bait and dip bait.

TEXANA: Water stained; 70 degrees; 5.41’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on spinner baits and crankbaits. Crappie are fair on minnows and small jigs. Catfish are good on liver, cut bait and juglines.

TEXOMA: Water stained; 65 degrees; 2.41’ low. Largemouth and smallmouth bass are slow. Striped bass are very good on slabs, swimbaits and live bait. Crappie are good on minnows. Blue and channel catfish are excellent on cut shad and prepared baits.

TOLEDO BEND: Water stained; 62-68 degrees; 4.80’ low. Largemouth are good on top-waters, spinner baits, jigs, lipless crankbaits and jigging spoons. Crappie are fair on jigs and small minnows.

TRAVIS: Water stained; 70 degrees; 40.61’ low. Largemouth bass are good on top-waters, small crankbaits and Texas rigs with creatures.

TWIN BUTTES: Water stained; 65 degrees; 22.42’ low. White bass and crappie are fair on minnows. Channel catfish are fair on punch bait and nightcrawlers.

TYLER: Water lightly stained; 60 degrees; 3.07’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on crankbaits. Crappie are fair on minnows. Catfish are fair on stink bait and liver.

WACO: Water stained; 70 degrees; 11.36’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to slow on top-waters, square-billed crankbaits and spinner baits. Crappie are fair on jigs, minnows and hand ties. White bass and hybrids are fair trolling Little George’s and crankbaits.

WALTER E. LONG: Water clear; 75 degrees. Largemouth bass are good on worms and minnows. Crappie are good on white and orange jigs. Catfish are fair on cut bait.

WHITNEY: Water lightly stained; 63 degrees; 7.81’ low. Largemouth bass are fair in creeks on soft plastics. Striped bass are good trolling umbrella-rigs with white or chartreuse grub tails or swimbaits and on live shad.

WORTH: Water stained; 65 degrees; 2.14’ low. White bass are fair on chartreuse and white slabs. Crappie are good on minnows. Blue catfish and channel catfish are good on cut bait, shad and punch bait.

WRIGHT PATMAN: Water lightly stained; 62 degrees; 4.95’ high. White bass are slow. Catfish are fair to good on punch bait.

n Saltwater reports

Page 21

Striper, hybrids and white bass picking up steam

Continued from page 8

alongside hybrids and white bass on a daily basis.

“The fish have been up schooling for several hours each morning,” Fernandez said. “If for some reason we don’t find them chomping along the surface immediately, you can almost bet they’ll be suspended under the surface in the same areas where they were schooling on top the day before.”

Trolling A-rigs with 4-inch swimbaits has been Fernandez’s preferred tactic for targeting these schools of stripers, hybrids and white bass, along with casting jigging spoons.

“There’s really no particular structure they are schooling up over,” Fernandez said. “It’s almost strictly an open water deal. They are chasing shad, and we’ve got a ton of shad on Buchanan. Recently, I’ve seen schools of fish chasing shad that were as large as a couple of acres.”

The schooling action has been better when there is a steady breeze.

“They have been shutting down when it gets dead calm,” he said.

The majority of the keeper fish caught from these schools are hybrids weighing about 3 pounds.

On Possum Kingdom, TJ Ranft said the striper bite has been a bit of a grind. Dan White landed this striped bass while fishing on

“We have been chasing stripers for Lake Whitney with guide Cory Vinson. Photo by Cory the first few hours of each morning, and Vinson. then switching our focus to catfish,” Ranft said. “There’s just been no consistency to the striper pattern. They seem to be moving all over the place and not staying in one area for very long.”

When chasing stripers, live shad has produced the most bites.

“I’ve been catching stripers in anywhere from 15 to 40 feet of water,” Ranft said. “You just never know where they are going to be. Most of them are in fairly small schools.”

After the striper bite dies down, Ranft has been finding blue cats from 2 to 5 pounds range with some 10 to 15 pounders mixed in, using cut shad in 2 to 15 feet of water.

Trout grouping up

Continued from page 1

the size of the mullet isn’t a factor. The big ones will be mixed with smaller ones. “The size of the mullet you see really doesn’t make a difference,” he said. “The trout will be with them regardless of size. If you see any mullet, follow them and you’ll more than likely catch trout.”

Farah usually fishes jigs all day long, but one trick is to fish a paddle tail jig.

“It has a slower fall and good movement,” he said. “That movement of the tail will catch both trout and reds on any given day. Fishing jigs is all about the presentation. Work them slow and on and off structure like rocks.”

Farah specializes in drift-fishing, while a lot of other guides prefer to wade. Farah believes with drift fishing he has time to show his customers what’s going on.

“I like to teach my clients how to improve their fishing success,” he said. “When wading they might get into situations that require tactics they aren’t familiar with. When we are in the boat, I can show them what lures to fish and where. Also, when we are drifting, we have the opportunity to cover lots of water. That’s very important. At the end of the day, the folks have learned new techniques and have built their confidence in their fish-catching ability.”

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TPWD TROUT STOCKING 2022 t r o u t t r o u t t o t a l t o t a l 3 3 6 , 1 6 9 3 3 6 , 1 6 9

T P WD st oc k s t h ou san d s o f r ai nb ow t ro ut i n 18 5 pon d s, l akes an d r i ve r s . So me of t h e fav orit es a re ( d a t e s ar e su bj e c t t o c h an g e du e to we at h e r ):

Ascarate| El Paso 6,000 11/30/2022, 1/15/2023, 2/7/2023, 3/2/2023

Buena Vista Park Lake| waco 896 11/23/2022, 12/9/2022, 12/22/2022, 1/6/2023, 1/20/2023, 2/3/2023, 2/17/2023, 3/3/2023

Bullfrog Pond | austin 896 11/23/2022, 12/9/2022, 12/22/2022, 1/6/2023, 1/20/2023, 2/3/2023, 2/17/2023, 3/3/2023

Burke-Crenshaw Lake| Pasadena 2,400 11/23/2022, 12/9/2022, 12/22/2022, 1/6/2023, 1/20/2023, 2/3/2023, 2/17/2023, 3/3/2023

CCentral Park Pond #1 | College Station 1,792 11/23/2022, 12/9/2022, 12/22/2022, 1/6/2023, 1/20/2023, 2/3/2023, 2/17/2023, 3/3/2023

Greenbriar Park | FORT WORTH 1,896 11/23/2022, 12/9/2022, 12/22/2022, 1/6/2023, 1/20/2023, 2/3/2023, 2/17/2023, 3/3/2023 Herman Little Pond | SPRING 1,896 11/23/2022, 12/9/2022, 12/22/2022, 1/6/2023, 1/20/2023, 2/3/2023, 2/17/2023, 3/3/2023

Hurst Chisholm Park| HURST 1,896 11/23/2022, 12/22/2022, 1/20/2023, 2/17/2023

Kingfisher Lake| AUSTIN 1,792 11/23/2022, 12/9/2022, 12/22/2022, 1/6/2023, 1/20/2023, 2/3/2023, 2/17/2023, 3/3/2023

Mary Jo Peckham Park | KAty 6,320 11/23/2022, 12/9/2022, 12/22/2022, 1/6/2023, 1/13/2023, 1/20/2023, 2/3/2023, 2/17/2023, 3/3/2023

Trinity Park Clear Fork Trinity River| Fort Worth 3,003 1/3/2023, 2/7/2023

* C h e c k T P W D f o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n a n d b a g l i m i t s . 201596_DOA_2.17_Tx Outdoor Journal_CAL ad_5.125x3.75.indd 1 2/17/20 3:37 PM