Freshwater Fishing Report

ALAN HENRY: Water clear; 80 degrees; 8.53’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on soft plastics. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs. Catfish are fair on cut shad and minnows.

AMISTAD: Water clear; 80 degrees; 49.17’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters, punch rigs and jigs. Channel catfish are good on punch bait.

ARLINGTON: Water lightly stained; 87 degrees; 0.91’ below. Largemouth bass are good on spoons, top-waters and ribbon tail worms.

ATHENS: Water clear; 84-88 degrees; 1.15’ low. Largemouth bass are slow to fair on top-waters and white flukes. Crappie are slow.

AUSTIN: Water clear; 89 degrees; 0.73’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on dropshots and small swimbaits.

B.A. STEINHAGEN: Water stained; 80 degrees; 0.32’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on drop shots and crankbaits. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfish are good moving shallow on cut bait and cheese bait.

BASTROP: Water clear; 91 degrees. Largemouth bass are good on top-waters, frogs and small swimbaits.

BELTON: Water lightly stained; 81 degrees; 9.28’ low. White bass are fair on top-waters and tail spinners. Crappie are good on jigs tipped with minnows.

BENBROOK: Water lightly stained; 76 degrees; 7.73’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on deep-diving crankbaits and Texas rigged 10-inch worms. Crappie are good on minnows. White bass and hybrids are slow. Catfish are good on punch bait.

BOB SANDLIN: Water clear; 82 degrees; 1.23’ low. Largemouth bass are fair early on top-waters. Crappie are fair on minnow and jigs. Bass are good early topwater baits shallow. Catfish are good on cheese bait.

BRAUNIG: Water lightly stained; 88 degrees. Red drum are good on tilapia, perch and crawfish. Channel catfish are fair on worms, cheese bait and frozen shrimp.

BROWNWOOD: Water slightly stained; 83-85 degrees; 6.90’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on crankbaits around. Crappie are good on minnows suspended under docks. White bass are fair on crankbaits. Catfish are slow.

BUCHANAN: Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 13.97’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters, crankbaits and soft plastics. Striped bass and hybrids are fair on top-waters and wake baits.

CADDO: Water stained; 79 degrees; 0.74’ high. Largemouth bass are fair on flukes, top-waters and shaky heads.

CALAVERAS: Water lightly stained; 86 degrees. Red drum are fair to good trolling spoons and lipless crankbaits. Blue catfish and channel catfish are fair on cut bait, cheese bait and frozen shrimp.

CANYON: Water lightly stained; 82 degrees; 6.57’ low. Largemouth bass are good on top-waters and watermelon worms. Striped bass are good in Turkey Cove and by the dam on shad. Birds are working and can lead you to active schools. Crappie are good up the river on live minnows.

CEDAR CREEK: Water stained; 81-84 degrees; 3.35’ low. Largemouth bass are good on chatterbaits and buzzbaits. Crappie are excellent in brush piles on minnows and small jigs. White bass and hybrids are good on the surface on lipless crankbaits and spoons. Catfish are good on live shad.

CHOKE CANYON: Water stained; 86 degrees; 22.33’ low. Largemouth bass are good on buzzbaits, weightless flukes and Texas rigged plastics. Crappie are excellent on live bait over brush piles. Catfish are good on cheese bait and cut bait.

CONROE: Water slightly stained; 85 degrees; 1.58’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on creature baits and crankbaits. Hybrid striped bass are fair on shad. Crappie are slow. Catfish are good on shrimp and liver.

COOPER: Water lightly stained; 78 degrees. Largemouth bass are fair on crankbaits. White bass are fair on jigs and small spoons. Crappie are slow. Catfish are good on noodles with perch and cut bait.

CORPUS CHRISTI: 80 degrees; 2.27’ low. Largemouth bass are good on shad imitations. White bass are good holding in on spoons, small jigs and live minnows. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs. Catfish are good on worms, shad, soap baits and on juglines.

EAGLE MOUNTAIN: Water stained, 82 degrees; 3.67’ low. White bass are fair to good on chartreuse and white slabs with teaser flies. Crappie are fair to good on jigs and. Blue catfish and channel catfish are good on main lake structure on punch bait.

FALCON: Water stained; 85 degrees; 39.65’ low. Largemouth bass fishing are good on spinner baits, lipless crankbaits and chatterbaits. Catfish are good on a float or bottom rig with cut bait, stink bait and shrimp.

FAYETTE: Water lightly stained; 89 degrees. Largemouth bass are fair on jigs and plastics. Catfish are good on punch bait.

FORK: Water stained; 78 degrees; 5.85’ low. Largemouth bass are good on top-waters, junebug shaky heads and square-billed crankbaits. Crappie are fair on minnows.

GRANBURY: Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 1.64’ low. Largemouth bass are good on frogs and Texasrigged soft plastics. Striped bass are slow.

GRANGER: Water lightly stained; 83 degrees; 1.62’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on white spinner baits. Crappie are good on jigs. White bass are fair trolling crankbaits. Blue catfish are good on jug lines baited with cut shad.

GRAPEVINE: Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 0.03’ low. White bass are good on white slabs on cloudy days and a chartreuse slab on sunny days.

HOUSTON COUNTY: Water stained; 85 degrees; 1.75’ low. Largemouth bass are good on crankbaits and shaky heads. Crappie are good on minnows. HUBBARD CREEK: Water stained; 77-85 degrees; 6.01’ low. Largemouth bass are good on crankbaits and top-waters. Crappie are excellent on minnows. White bass are good on crankbaits and jigs under the lights.

JACKSONVILLE: Water lightly stained; 81 degrees; 1.55’ low. Largemouth bass are good on Texas-rigged soft plastics and drop shots.

JOE POOL: Water stained; 85-87 degrees; 1.01’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to slow on Texas rigs and finesse worms on a drop shot rig.

LAKE O’ THE PINES: Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 1.65’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfish are good on cheese bait.

LAVON: Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 4.77’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters and white and chartreuse spinners with a paddle tail swimbait. White bass are good on white or chartreuse slabs and swimbaits. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfish are good on cut bait and gizzard shad.

LBJ: Water lightly stained; 80-85 degrees; 0.67’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters, weightless flukes and worms. Crappie are good on minnows.

LEWISVILLE: Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 3.44’ low. White bass are fair on slabs and live bait. Catfish are fair drifting cut shad and chicken breasts.

LIMESTONE: Water clear; 86 degrees; 4.16’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on Texas or Carolina rigs, top-waters and crankbaits. Crappie are good on minnows. White bass are good on silver jigging spoons. Catfish are good on cut bait.

LIVINGSTON: Water stained to muddy; 80 degrees; 0.01’ low. White bass are good on top-waters and slabs. Striped bass are slow. Catfish are fair to good on punch bait.

MEDINA: Water lightly stained; 85 degrees; 75.87’ low. Largemouth bass are slow. White bass and striped bass are fair trolling slabs. Catfish are fair on stink bait and cut bait.

MEREDITH: Water stained; 77 degrees; 53.47’ low. Largemouth bass are good on minnows and artificials. Walleye are fair near boulders and ledges on minnows and nightcrawlers. Catfish are good on live bait and stink bait.

MILLERS CREEK: Water stained; 87 degrees; 4.47’ low. Hybrid striped bass are fair on swimbaits. Crappie and white bass are slow. Catfish are fair on shad and punch bait.

NACOGDOCHES: Water lightly stained; 83-87 degrees; 3.02’ low. Largemouth bass are good on top-waters early. Crappie are fair on minnows.

NACONICHE: Water clear to stained; 82 degrees; 1.00’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on jerkbaits and tail spinners. Catfish are slow.

NASWORTHY: Water murky; 85 degrees. 0.95’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on soft plastics, jigs and top-waters. Crappie are fair on black and chartreuse jigs and minnows. Catfish are good on cut bait and stink bait.

NAVARRO MILLS: Water stained; 79 degrees; 2.60’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on crankbaits and soft plastics. Crappie are fair on minnows.

O.H. IVIE: Water stained; 80 degrees; 21.42’ low. Largemouth bass are good on swimbaits and crankbaits. White bass are good with live bait and crankbaits. Crappie are good on jigs and minnows. Catfish are fair on prepared baits, cut bait and live bait.

OAK CREEK:

Water lightly stained; 82 degrees; 9.68 feet low. White bass are good under the lights on spinner baits and gold and silver spoons. Channel catfish are good on chicken liver.

PALESTINE: Water lightly stained; 85 degrees; 1.90’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on big-eyed jigs and Texas-rigged creatures. Crappie are fair on silver jigs with a chartreuse tail. White bass are slow. Catfish are good on chicken liver and heart.

POSSUM KINGDOM: Water lightly stained; 81 degrees; 3.60’ low. Striped bass are good on live shad and trolling white and chartreuse jigs. White bass are good on gold and chartreuse spoons and slabs. Catfish are good on small pieces of cut shad.

PROCTOR: Water stained; 82 degrees; 7.37’ low. Largemouth bass are slow. Hybrid stripers and white bass are slow. Crappie are fair on minnows. Catfish are slow.

RAVEN: Water stained; 86 degrees; 3.50’ low. Largemouth bass are good on Texas-rigged stick baits in junebug color. Crappie and catfish are fair to good on minnows.

RAY HUBBARD: Water lightly stained; 82-84 degrees; 2.00’ low. White bass are good on top-waters and slow-rolling or trolling inline spinners or tail spinners. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfish are good on punch bait.

RAY ROBERTS: Water is clear; 80 degrees; 1.62’ low. Largemouth bass are slow. White bass are good on slabs. Crappie are fair on minnows. Blue catfish are mixed in with the white bass, biting slabs.

RICHLAND CHAMBERS:

Water clear; 82 degrees; 4.28’ low. Crappie are fair on minnows. White bass are slow. Hybrid striped bass are fair on live shad. Channel and blue catfish are excellent on punch bait after chumming with fermented grain.

SAM RAYBURN: Water stained; 83 degrees; 4.48’ low. Largemouth bass are good on crankbaits and Carolina rigs. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs. Catfish are good on punch bait.

SOMERVILLE: Water stained; 82 degrees; 4.22’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on jigs and plastics. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs. Catfish are fair on punch bait and on juglines with shad and cut bait.

STILLHOUSE HOLLOW: Water lightly stained; 81 degrees; 8.89’ low. Largemouth bass are slow. White bass are fair on slabs and tail spinners.

TAWAKONI:

Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 3.39’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters and small creatures. Hybrid stripers and white bass are fair to good on spoons and slabs. Channel catfish are good on dough bait and punch bait. Blue catfish are good drifting cut bait.

TEXANA: Water stained; 80 degrees; 4.09’ low. Largemouth bass are good on crankbaits and weightless flukes. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfish are good on liver perch, cut bait and juglines.

TEXOMA: Water stained; 80 degrees; 1.47 feet low. Largemouth bass are fair on soft plastics. Striped bass are good on slabs and live shad. Crappie are good on minnows. Blue catfish and channel catfish are good on punch bait and cut shad.

TOLEDO BEND: Water stained; 76-78 degrees; 4.03’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on small lipless crankbaits, jerk baits and Texas-rigged ribbon tail worms. Crappie are fair on small minnows.

TRAVIS: Water stained; 80 degrees; 36.17’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters, spinner baits and weightless flukes.

TYLER: Water lightly stained; 81 degrees; 2.14’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters and minnows. Crappie are good on live minnows. Catfish are good on minnows and nightcrawlers.

WACO: Water stained; 81 degrees; 9.76’ low. Crappie are good on minnows and soft-body jigs tipped with minnows. Catfish are mixed in with the crappie. White bass are good early on top-waters.

WALTER E. LONG: Water clear; 84 degrees. Largemouth bass are good early on top-waters, laer on weightless flukes and creatures.

WHITNEY: Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 6.87’ low. Striped bass are good trolling umbrella-rigs with white or chartreuse grub tails or swimbaits and on live shad.

WORTH: Water normally stained; 82 degrees; 2.46’ low. White bass are fair to good on main lake structure on chartreuse and white slabs. Crappie are fair to good on jigs and minnows. Blue catfish and channel catfish are good on punch bait.

WRIGHT PATMAN: Water lightly stained; 79 degrees; 1.28’ high. White bass are slow. Catfish are fair on punch bait.

n Saltwater reports

Page 21

General Manager Capt. Stacy Lynn greeted crowds at the grand opening of Galveston Fishing Company, the island’s first fly-fishing shop. Photo by Shannon Drawe, for Lone Star Outdoor News. Bois d’Arc Lake, in Fannin County, will open when the water rises to safe levels, hopefully before spring 2023. Photo by TPWD.

New fly-fishing store in historic Galveston

By Shannon Drawe

For Lone Star outdoor newS

Galveston Fishing Company held its grand opening in historic downtown Galveston on Sept. 17. Billed as Galveston Island’s first and only fly-fishing and saltwater lifestyle store, the location just off The Strand carries a large variety of fly-fishing brands as well as conventional gear and the latest in technical and recreational gear and clothing.

The historic building, located at 2509 Market Street, is in the heart of the cruise ship long-term parking areas. General Manager Capt. Stacy Lynn, a former Rockport fly-fishing guide, had a busy launch with food, raffles and representatives from several different fly-fishing companies.

Owner Capt. Eric Trout said the building needed lots of work, and while it took longer than expected to open, the results were worth the effort.

Galveston Fishing Company seeks to reach all fly anglers from beginners to experts, and will offer guiding, lessons and instruction for fly anglers and fly tyers.

Trout said the opening had a great turnout.

“We want to be the one-stop shop for fly-fishing,” he said. “We sell, but we also teach. And we work with guides to book trips.”

“The amount of baitfish in the lake is incredible,” the Denison District posted after viewing live sonar on the lake.

Bennet said 416,000 catfish fingerlings and 63 adults were stocked into the lake.

“We saw a few of those last week,” Bennett said. “But the fingerlings will take four to five years to reproduce naturally.”

Crappie didn’t need to be stocked, as they came into the lake from the creek.

“They didn’t need our help,” Bennett said. “They got off one good spawn last year.”

Bennett said staff observed both black and white crappie measuring about 9.25 inches.

The total number of largemouth bass stocked may not seem large when compared with other lakes, but the stocking was specialized.

“We stocked 95,452 ShareLunker bass,” Bennett said. “These are all advanced fish, between 1 and 2 years old. We anticipate good survival, near 100 percent.”

The current water level on the lake is 515.18 feet with conservation pool set at 534 feet. When full, the lake will cover 16,641 acres and will be able to supply 82 million gallons of water per day to North Texas cities.

The lake, built at a total project cost of $16 billion, is expected to provide $509 million in economic benefit to Fannin County, plus an additional $166 million each year after completion.

Fishermen, though, are chomping at the bit to get on the first new lake in Texas in 30 years.

“We hope it will fill up and be ready to open by the time winter ends,” Bennett said.

NTMWD’s Kathleen Gott said she hopes the lake will fill soon.

“Pray for more rain,” she said.

Dove and snapper

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The group, all of whom went to Sharpstown High School in Southwest Houston back in the 70s, were not disappointed. On the first two days of the dove season they hunted on a 5-acre sunflower field near Raymondville. They were joined by about five other hunters spread out in the field.

“At one point we had birds flying around like bats out of a cave,” Gamble said. “They were mostly whitewings mixed with some mourning dove. They began flying at about four that first afternoon. They come to the fields from nearby cities to feed and then head back shortly before sunset. The second day, we managed to put quite a few birds on the ground for a nice hunt. We took the third day of the season off for a break. On the following Monday we met our fishing guide at the dock in Port Mansfield.”

They had planned to head out 40 to 50 miles to target blackfin tuna, dorado and wahoo. But with 4- to 5-foot seas, that was not an option.

“We made the decision to stay in state waters and catch four snapper apiece,” said group member Roger Anderson. “We were in a 31-foot boat and it was a little rough getting out. We probably caught 40 or more red snapper before boxing a state limit of four fish. A lot of the them were small, so we culled to get a limit of snaps in the 4- to 6-pound class.”

Austin Dishman opted to go fly-fishing during the week when the special whitewing season is closed.

“After the first weekend of hunting, I set up two days with a fly-fishing guide on the flats out of Mansfield,” he said. “The first day we had lots of cloud cover and a little bit of rain. But we found lots of tailing reds in about a foot of water at first light. For about three hours it was nonstop action with slow-sinking bead-eye flies. The reds were hungry, and we managed to catch and release nine reds during a half day of fishing.”

Dishman said they plucked a single red from each school of tails. Some of the pods had 15 to 20 reds. There was little wind, so the feeding fish were easy to locate.

“On the second half day of fishing things went in the opposite direction,” said Dishman, who has fly-fished for years. “We went to where we had caught them the day before and immediately spotted to big pods of tails. But they were extremely spooky and disappeared well before we could get within casting range. We gave it a good shot but still got skunked.”

Dishman said the cast and blast is the only way to go during the special whitewinged dove season.

“We had the best of both worlds,” he said. “We rented a nice house with a pool, had excellent hunts and pretty good fishing both inshore and offshore.”

“The Whopper Plopper is a great lure that makes a lot of noise on the surface,” he said. “This is a lure that allows me to cover lots of water and that’s important when the bass are scattered.”

Three of Canada’s favorite areas to fish are Rogers Creek, Glade Creek and Alligator Cove.

“We have very little vegetation on the lake,” he said. “But the areas that have been exposed due to low water have grown up really well. If we are lucky enough to get rain and the lake goes on a rise, that newly flooded vegetation will attract lots of bait along with bass.”

Bass on Fork

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Lost dove

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most hunters do try hard, as they want to find all of their birds.

“I know I’ve lost a bird on bare ground,” he said. “But I have checked guys next to a pond when there’s no wind, and they left birds out on the water saying they couldn’t get them. That wasn’t a good enough excuse.”