Tyler — GOOD. Water stained; 80 degrees; 0.07 feet full pool. Anticipate increased recreational boater traffic for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Crappie are good using minnows and jigs on brush in 16 feet of water. Catfish are good all over the lake on shrimp, and liver. Bream are good on red worms off the barge and throughout the lake. Bass are good on crankbaits, plastic worms and topwater frogs.

Palestine — GOOD. Water slightly stained; 90 degrees; 0.06 feet above pool. Anticipate increased recreational boater traffic for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Some warm water turnovers are occurring in areas of the lake. Look for the bubbles on top of the water floating. This is a good indication there has been a turnover in the area. Try to avoid these areas as the bite will be off due to mixed water oxygen levels. The Texas heat is upon us. Please be sure to hydrate and take water with you, wear sunscreen and seek shade cover while on the water. The white bass have been good with some schooling action in the morning and the evening. Hybrid stripers, yellow bass and largemouth bass are slow throughout the day and good in the early morning and at night. Hybrid stripers are best trolling with spoons. Yellow bass are best on crappie jigs and minnows on humps and roadbeds. Largemouth bass can be caught near shoreline points with Texas rigged soft plastics. Channel catfish are always good on Palestine, but the fish are smaller in size. After the recent storm damage, the boat launch and fish cleaning station is now powered up at Lake Palestine Resort. Report by Jim Beggerly, Jim’s Fishing Lake Palestine.

Bob Sandlin — GOOD. Water slightly stained; 89 degrees; 0.01 feet above pool. Anticipate increased recreational boater traffic for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Channel catfish are excellent in 20-25 feet of water on baited holes with stinkbait. Crappie are good on brush piles and standing timber in 25-30 feet of water with jigs or minnows. White bass are schooling on the main lake in 35-40 feet of water. Report by Joey Crews, Lake Bob Sandlin Chubby Chaser Guide Service. Black bass should be receptive to topwater frogs in shad or bream patterns, and clouser type baits around grass and retaining walls. Bream are slow with water clarity and high water is not good. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. Bass are good on points in 18-22 feet of water using deep water baits. Deep diving crankbaits, dropshots and Texas rigs. Night fishing has the best bite and is an escape from the heat and recreational boaters. Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine.

Caddo — FAIR. Water stained; 80 degrees; 1.12 feet above pool. Anticipate increased recreational boater traffic for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Caddo is really looking good and healthy after the wet spring. The lake level is still up a little with some current still flowing down the river, but it is not in a flood stage so it is safe to navigate and fish. Bass are starting to school and can be caught on top waters, flukes, Texas rigs or dropshot worms and even rattle traps. The frog bite, choppo or buzz bait bite is starting to produce some giants as it does every July and August around lily pads, grass and trees. You will not get numbers of bites but the ones you do will be big. Water is clearing nicely on the main lake but is still little stained near the river with all the current. July on Caddo Lake is beautiful every year, so prepare for amazing sunrises and sunsets when you come to fish this majestic lake that God spoke into existence. Report provided by Vince Richards, Caddo Lake Fishing & Fellowship.

Fork — GOOD. Water Stained; 81 degrees; 0.05 feet above pool. Anticipate increased recreational boater traffic for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Bass are good shallow in the mornings on chatterbaits and flukes until about an hour after sunrise. Then there is a decent bite in 5-8 feet on crankbaits and light Carolina rigs. High spots are best with deeper water close by. June bug or green pumpkin are best on plastics and bream pattern square bills in a 2.5 are best. Offshore the bite continues to improve, if you can find the group of fish that wants to bite. Target humps, roadbeds, and long points in 18-25 feet of water with Carolina rigs with big worms. Blue fleck or watermelon red are best. Crankbaits are still good over deeper points. Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. Black bass are chasing topwater patterns early in the day and later in the day when it is dark. Check out the brush piles as big bass are using them to feed on crappie. Bream are excellent in the shallows on wooly buggers and small poppers. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. Lake Fork crappie fishing continues to be excellent going into the dog days of summer. Fish are in all the places they should be for this time of year. Look for crappie holding on brush piles, summer time trees, lay downs, bridges and docks. You can find fish in 14-30 feet right now but it seems like those fish will be above 14-16 feet as that is where the thermocline is showing up. One of the biggest keys to loading the boat with crappie has been finding the fish that haven’t been pressured as much. We are still having a lot of success with very small hand tied jigs in 1/16 ounce. Cut the tails down shorter to get those finicky bites to hook up. Minnows are producing bites but it seems the hook up ratio is much lower and we end up losing a lot of minnows to those finicky fish. Soft plastics will work on the more aggressive crappie too. Staying off huge groups of fish, pitching and swimming jigs will also help to keep those fish put a little longer. If you get the boat right over fish with the really bright sunny skies they will move off most times and relocate. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.

Lake O’ the Pines — GOOD. Water stained; 87 degrees; 2.75 feet above pool. Anticipate increased recreational boater traffic for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Channel catfish are good in 15-20 feet of water in the bridge shade. Crappie are good in 16-25 feet in standing timber with minnows on a cork. Report by Joey Crews, Lake Bob Sandlin Chubby Chaser Guide Service. Bass are good in the bushes along the banks pitching Texas rigged worms and jigs, or wacky rigs. Bass are good on brush piles on points on the south end of the lake in 15-25 feet of water with deep running crankbaits, jigs, wacky worms and Texas rigs. The north end of the lake is producing catches on the grass and bushes. Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine.

Athens — GOOD. Water normal stain; 87 degrees; 0.27 feet above pool. Anticipate increased recreational boater traffic for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Fishing patterns are holding steady. Bass fishing has settled in the normal summer pattern with the best bite early or late in the day. Bass are fair on the outside of grass lines in 8-12 feet of water with shaky heads, topwater frogs. Crappie are fair at night with minnows in 25 feet of water on brush. Report by Jim Brack, Athens Guide Service.

Hawkins — GOOD. Water slighinedtly sta. 80 degrees. Anticipate increased recreational boater traffic for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Black bass are in their summer pattern, try dropping baits at the edge of grass and slow moving streamers in shad colors. Early morning should draw strikes around grass beds and lily pads. Bead heads will tempt bream and bass. Bream will be easy to spot on beds, remember they can see you too. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service.

Jacksonville — SLOW. Water slightly stained; 92 degrees; 0.12 feet above pool. Anticipate increased recreational boater traffic for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Water temperatures are in the 90s and the water is clearing up. Thermocline varies from 16-20 feet. Bass are slow, but can be caught from the bank to 14 feet on brush with soft plastics and crankbaits.

Cypress Springs — GOOD. Water stained; 88 degrees; 0.25 feet above pool. Anticipate increased recreational boater traffic for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Channel catfish limits can be caught quickly in 13 feet of water with stink bait. Crappie are good in 20-25 feet of water on brush piles with electric chicken jigs, and minnows. Report by Joey Crews, Lake Bob Sandlin Chubby Chaser Guide Service. Bass are fair on deep water points. Night fishing has the best bite and is an escape from the heat and recreational boaters. Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine.

— Hicks can be reached at phicks@tylerpaper.com