Texas Freshwater Fishing Report

Published 2:20 pm Thursday, January 27, 2022

Athens — GOOD. Water clear; 50-55 degrees; 0.28 feet above. Water is cold, and the weather has shut the bite down. Crappie are slow on minnows and jigs. Bass are slow, scattered, and lethargic, with a few bites on shaky heads and jigs. Report by Jim Brack, Athens Guide Service.

Bob Sandlin — GOOD. Water clear; 50 degrees; 1.56 feet low. Crappie are good in 40 feet of water and deeper on minnows. Catfish are good in 20-30 feet of water on cut bait. Report by Marty Thomas, Lake O the Pines Crappie Fishing.

Caddo — GOOD. Water lightly stained; 52 degrees; 1.02 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; 49 degrees; 1.90 feet low. Bass are good in 12-20 feet of water shaky head jigs on brush piles. Crappie fair in 20-30 feet of water using jigs on deep brush piles and standing timber. Hybrid and white bass are excellent in 30-40 feet of water off of creek bends using the deadstick technique live baits or silver slabs. Catfish are good main lake humps or baited holes using frozen or live shad. Report by Kyle Miers, Lake Country Outfitters.

Fork — FAIR. Water lightly stained; 51 degrees; 6.29 feet low. Bass bite is slow due to weather. Viper XP jigs in purple passion are good in 5-7 feet around creeks and big wood. Z-man chatterbaits are also working in the same areas when worked slowly. Suspending jerkbaits have some success near points in 6-8 feet of water. Report by Lake Fork fishing guides Marc Mitchell and Jason Hoffman, Lake Fork Pro. Crappie are good in 40-53 feet of water using minnows. The jig bite is nonexistent. Bigger fish are in the colder water in Bois D’arc trees. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.

Jacksonville — GOOD. Water lightly stained; 46 degrees; 0.17 feet above. Fishing continues to be similar as we head into the weekend. 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; 52 degrees; 1.13 feet low. Crappie are excellent 30 feet of water just off the creek channel. Excellent stringers came in last week’s tournament on jigs or minnows. Catfish are fair in 20-30 feet of water on cheese bait. Report by Marty Thomas, Lake O the Pines Crappie Fishing.

Palestine — FAIR. Water lightly stained; 52-56 degrees; 0.21 feet low. Fishing is fair and slow due to crappie transitioning from deep to shallow water. Fish are scattered in 3-30 feet of water biting on jigs and minnows. Report by Mark Standridge, Three Nails Guide Service.

Sam Rayburn — GOOD. Water stained; 55-58 degrees; 3.33 feet low. Fishing is the same but should change shortly as the fish begin to spawn. Bass are good on Carolina rigs and crankbaits in the points, ditches and drains. Crappie are good on live minnows, then jigs after the live bite subsides. You will find them in creeks and river channels. Catfish are good in shallow to 15 feet of water, moving towards the creeks. Report by Lynn Atkinson, Reel Um N Guide Service.

Sulphur Springs — GOOD. Water lightly stained; 47 degrees; 5.33 feet low. Good fishing weather as we head into the weekend. Bass are fair on crankbaits. Crappie are fair on brush piles on minnows and small jigs. Catfish are good drifting with cut bait.

Tawakoni — GOOD. Water lightly stained; 52 degrees; 2.36 feet low. Blue catfish bite is good Eater catfish are good in 23 feet of water on cut bait. Crappie are good in 8-10 feet of water and in deep brush piles using jigs and minnows. White bass are good on the flats using bucktail jigs and spoons.

Toledo Bend — GOOD. Water stained; 54-58 degrees; 3.55 feet low. The water level is 168.5 with no generators running. The water is clear in the main lake and is muddy in the feeder creeks. Water temperature in the main lake is running 54-58 degrees and further back up in the creeks is 47-48. Largemouth Bass have been scattered due to varying weather patterns (cold and very windy). Crappie are holding in deep water off of brush piles. There have been very few boats running on the lake this week, but monkey milk, NFB T-shad seems to be the winning color in plastics or live minnows in 22-28 feet of water. Winter has made it to East Texas finally with a 27 degree night time temperature. The chicken coop area should start getting active now. The white bass will be moving North to the headwaters very soon for their spawn. Kayakers are catching bass using a half ounce chrome blue/back and an imitation bleeding shad Rat-L-Trap in 2-6 feet of water. No catfish bites were reported this week but with the cooling weather and water rising the bite should turn on soon. 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; 47 degrees; 0.12 feet low. Fishing is the same as we have been seeing, fish are lethargic with the cold temperature so work baits slow. Bass are good on trick worms and crankbaits. Catfish, bream and crappie are good using live bait and worms in 16-25 feet of water. Report by Paul Taylor, The Boulders at Lake Tyler.