Texas Freshwater Fishing Report

Published 11:24 pm Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Athens — SLOW. Water clear; 49 degrees; 0.57 feet above. Black bass are slow in brush piles to 30 feet of water using jigs, look for deep bait and throw flutter spoons. Crappie are fair with many small catches coming in deep brush piles. Report by Jim Brack, Athens Guide Service.

Bob Sandlin — GOOD. Water clear; 45 degrees; 1.37 feet low. Crappie are good on minnows starting around 40 feet of water and deeper. Catfish are good in 20-30 feet of water on cut bait. Report by Marty Thomas, Lake O the Pines Crappie Fishing.

Caddo — SLOW. Water lightly stained; 46 degrees; 0.83 feet high. Bass are slow to bite in 5-8 feet of water on the edge of trees and grass lines using Texas rigs and senkos. It is the time of year for the bass to start staging to spawn. Report by Jeremy Baker, Jeremy Baker Fishing.

Cedar Creek — EXCELLENT. Water lightly stained; 47-50 degrees; 1.53 feet low. Crappie are good on brush piles in 15-25 feet of water. Largemouth bass are good in the shallows, and main lake points with rocks and brush piles in 8-12 feet of water using chatterbaits and blue/black three-eight ounce jigs. Hybrid and white bass are good 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 Stained; 52 degrees; 6.14 feet low. Bass bite has been slow most days, but is picking up. Viper XP jigs are working around big wood in 3-6 feet of water. Z-Man chatterbaits and spinnerbaits are good around ditches and creeks in 2-5 feet of water around big wood. Report by Lake Fork fishing guides Marc Mitchell and Jason Hoffman, Lake Fork Pro.

Jacksonville — GOOD. Water lightly stained; 43 degrees; 0.19 feet above. Fishing is the same as we head into a weekend with beautiful weather. Largemouth bass are fair with deep diving crankbaits, shaky head jigs, Texas-rigged plastic worms near points, timber, and brush piles. Starting to stage up for the spawn. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs working for timber and brush piles, starting to migrate to spawn. Catfish are good drifting with cut bait.

Lake O’ the Pines — GOOD. Water lightly stained; 47 degrees; 0.62 feet low. Crappie are good just off the creek channel in 30 feet of water drifting by the dam using minnows or jigs. Catfish are fair in 15-20 feet of water on cheese bait. Report by Marty Thomas, Lake O the Pines Crappie Fishing. Bass are slow on Texas rigged senkos in 5-8 feet of water on the edge of trees and grass lines. Report by Jeremy Baker, Jeremy Baker Fishing.

Palestine — FAIR. Water lightly stained; 52-56 degrees; 0.32 feet high. 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 Standrige, Three Nails Guide Service.

Sam Rayburn — GOOD. Water stained; 49 degrees; 3.46 feet low. The shallow bite has slowed due to the cold water temperatures. Bass are fair using crankbaits on points, ditches and drains and Carolina rigs or drop shots near creek channel ledges. Crappie are slow migrating back into the lake for the spawn. Catfish are in 12-18 feet of water in the channels on cut bait. There is not a lot of grass in the lake, so now is a good time to scope out the hard structures for future fishing. Report by Lynn Atkinson, Reel Um N Guide Service.

Sulphur Springs — GOOD. Water lightly stained; 54 degrees; 5.16 feet low. The forecast is beautiful for fishing 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.

Toledo Bend — FAIR. Water stained; 43-49 degrees; 3.06 feet low. The water level is 168.9 feet with no generators running. The water is clear in the main lake and stained in the feeder creeks. Water temperature in the main lake is 49 degrees and further back up in the creeks is 43. We had some snow in the Mid Lake area. It was light but nevertheless it snowed in East Texas. Largemouth Bass have been scattered due to the freezing weather patterns. Some fishermen are having luck with the Alabama rigs and football jigs on the lake. Crappie are holding in 20-35 feet of water off brush piles and vertical timber, but fingers crossed they should move up when the weather gets warmer. White bass are staging in the Logansport area. Catfish are in 2-4 feet of water at the base of cypress trees in the Mid Lake area. The catfish were biting on shrimp and Captain’s garlic weenies. February and March are excellent months for a big bass on TBend. It’s going to be a nice weekend for fishing. Good luck to all you Kayakers in the tournament this weekend. Watch for gators. 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; 45 degrees; 0.24 feet low. Bass are good in 12-16 feet of water on live bait, trick worms and chatterbaits. You’ll find brim and crappie in 25-30 feet of water. Brim are good on red worms and crappie are good on live minnows. Report by Paul Taylor, The Boulders at Lake Tyler.