Texas Freshwater Fishing Report
Published 10:10 pm Wednesday, January 5, 2022
Athens — GOOD. Water clear; 59-61 degrees; 0.37 feet above. Bass are slow, work jigs and c-rigs around brush out in 20-25 feet of water. Also, look for shad on deep points using flutter spoons. Crappie are slow as well with a few limits reported off of brush in 20-25 feet of water using minnows and jigs. Report by Jim Brack, Athens Guide Service.
Bob Sandlin — GOOD. Water clear; 43 degrees; 1.41 feet low. Crappie are scattered from 30-40 feet of water biting on minnows or jigs. Catfish are good in 20-25 feet of water biting on cheesebait. Report by Marty Thomas, Lake O the Pines Crappie Fishing.
Trending
Caddo — GOOD. Water lightly stained; 55 degrees; 0.44 feet high. Largemouth bass are good working crankbaits, flipping jigs, buzz baits, wacky rigs, drop shots near creek channels, crossings, points, and trees. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs near brush piles and timber. White bass are good on slabs, live bait, and jigging spoons on the channel edges, flats, and main lake humps. Chain pickerel are slow. Catfish are good on live bait, nightcrawlers, and punch bait.
Cedar Creek — EXCELLENT. Water lightly stained; 55-58 degrees; 1.64 feet low. Largemouth bass are good in main lake brush piles in 15-25 feet of water using Carolina rig worms, and black/blue jigs. Crappie are fair to good on main lake brush piles in 35-45 feet of water. Sand and hybrid bass are good under the birds in 20-40 feet of water. Catfish continue to be good in baited holes. Report by Kyle Miers, Lake Country Outfitters.
Fork — FAIR. Water lightly stained; 56 degrees; 6.05 feet low. Still waiting for the water to cool down to the seasonal norm of 40s. Fish should stay deep another month before moving to spawning areas. Crappie are good suspended 52-60 feet in the mainlake and in 15-35 feet in trees. Smaller crappie are grouped up with a few bites on jigs, but the minnow bite is strong. The deeper Bois D’arc trees are holding larger fish. The water level is low so exercise caution when navigating. Stay in the main lake around buoys and do not venture to arms because the lake is down six feet. Report by Jacky Wiggins of Jack Wiggins Guide Service. The lake is down about four feet and is fairly dangerous to navigate, so be extremely careful out there. Largemouth bass are good on ViperXP jigs around creek channels and drop-offs on big wood in 5-10 feet of water. Chatterbaits still picking up a few on windy banks an points in 3-5 feet of water. Suspending jerkbaits continue to be ok around points an creeks in 5-8 feet of water. Good luck and good fishing! Report by Lake Fork fishing guides Jason Hoffman and Marc Mitchell (lakeforkpro.com).
Jacksonville — GOOD. Water lightly stained; 65 degrees; 0.08 feet above. Largemouth bass are fair with deep diving crankbaits, shaky head jigs, Texas-rigged plastic worms near points, timber, and brush piles. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs working for timber and brush piles. Catfish are good on punch bait and cut bait.
Lake O’ the Pines — GOOD. Water lightly stained; 57 degrees; 0.46 feet low. Crappie are good at the dam drifting with minnows. Crappie are fair in standing timber in 25-30 feet of water using jigs. The crappie are still small by the 155 bridge. Catfish are good in 15-20 feet of water using cheese bait. Report by Marty Thomas, Lake O the Pines Crappie Fishing.
Palestine — GOOD. Water lightly stained; 55 degrees; 0.21 feet low. Crappie are good using jigs suspended from 16-24 feet of water and on vertical structure and timber in 22-35 feet of water
Trending
Sam Rayburn — GOOD. Water stained; 57-58 degrees; 3.49 feet low. Bass are still good in the shallow water in creek channels, and chasing shad into deeper water. Biting on chatterbaits, spinner bait, flukes and Carolina rigs. Crappie are good using minnows and jigs moving into creek and river systems. Catfish are good in 12-15 feet of water, success coming with cheese bait and noodles. Report by Lynn Atkinson, Reel Um N Guide Service.
Sulphur Springs — GOOD. Water lightly stained; 55 degrees; 5.22 feet low. Suspending jerkbaits are best along the drop-offs and ditches in 6-10 feet of water. Slow rolling spinner baits in these same areas work also. Viper XP jigs in black and blue are working against big wood along the creeks and ditches in 7-10 feet. Shaky heads also working in these areas with a four inch Ring Fry.
Toledo Bend — GOOD. Water clear; 58-65 degrees; 3.75 feet low. GOOD. The water level is 168.1 with no generators running. The water is clear in the main lake and in the feeder creeks. Water temperature in the main lake is running 58-65 degrees and further back up in the creeks is 58. Largemouth bass have been scattered. Don’t forget to cast your big lizards on a Texas rig, Carolina rig, spinner bait and flukes in shallow water for bass. Deep water fishermen are still finding winter bass chasing shad. Find the bait balls of shad on your electronics and you will find big schools of bass. You can also slow roll an A-rig, deep diving crankbait, big jigs (black/blue, black/red or watermelon red) or vertical jig with a slab spoon. The crappie guys reported they were catching good numbers of fish on the breaks in the river channel north of the bridge. With freezing weather coming, the chicken coop area should start getting right for the January bite. The white bass should be moving north to the head waters very soon for their spawn. Kayakers reported bass on flukes in 2-4 feet of water. Also a three-eighth ounce double blade white spinner bait paralleling just off the bank at a 30-degree angle with a slow 5-1 or 6-1 gear ratio reel. No catfish bites were reported this week. Now is the time to go out and scout to find your underwater structures before the water starts coming back up for Spring fishing. Take your camera and map. January and February are good months on TBend for a fish of a lifetime. Good luck and tight lines! Report from Captain Steve (Scooby) Stubbe, Mudfish Adventures LLC, Mudfish Rod Shop, Kayak/Guide Service.
Tyler — GOOD. Water lightly stained; 62 degrees; 0.24 feet low. Fishing has slacked after the recent cold front. High tides and the lunr cycle should bring good fishing next week. Bream and crappie are fair in 20-25 feet of water with live minnows. Catfish are good biting on chicken liver and garlic. Bass are fair, catching smaller sized fish using spinner bait. Report by Paul Taylor, The Boulders at Lake Tyler.