East Texas Fishing Report

Published 12:30 am Thursday, November 23, 2023

Tyler — FAIR. Water stained; 64 degrees; 2.74 feet below pool. All species continue to have a Thanksgiving feast on bait fish. Bluegill are good with nice size catches on minnows, and smaller fish on red worms all over the lake. Catfish are fair all over the lake on nightcrawlers and stinkbait. Bass are fair spinnerbaits and trick worms shallow and deep. Crappie are good in 15 feet of water on brush piles using minnows. Report by Paul Taylor, The Boulders at Lake Tyler.

Palestine — GOOD. Water normal stain; 60-66 degrees; 2.27 feet below pool. Thankfully fishing patterns are consistent heading into the Thanksgiving weekend. Crappie continue to be excellent on minnows and jigs in standing timber and the HWY 155 bridge pillars in 20-35 feet of water. Largemouth bass fishing is slow in shallow water. Locating baitfish and windy points are key this time of year. Topwater bite early, covering water with moving baits after that. Sand bass and hybrids are slow early daylight hours on HWY 155 bridge and main lake humps. Catfish are good in 10-20 feet of water with stink bait or cut bait. Baiting areas helps. Report by Sam Parker, Freshwater Fishing Adventures.

Athens — GOOD. Water normal stain; 63-65 degrees; 1.42 feet below pool. Thankfully the patterns are holding steady. Bass are slow on grass lines out to 12 feet using senkos and shaky-head worms. The offshore bite is tough, fishing Carolina rigs and jigs on deep brush for a few bites. Crappie are good with limits using small jigs on brush out to 25 feet. Happy Thanksgiving! Report by Jim Brack, Athens Guide Service.

Caddo — GOOD. Water stained; 60 degrees; 0.39 feet above pool. Fishing is good and will improve due to the colder weather. Stay in the river system and you should be able to find black bass, crappie and white bass running along the grass lines. Use shad baits like traps, crank baits and spoons. Always look for the birds eating the bait. The lake is beautiful right now as the trees have that November red on the leaves, so come enjoy this majestic lake that God spoke into existence and catch some fish. Report provided by Vince Richards, Caddo Lake Fishing & Fellowship.

Fork — GOOD. Water Stained; 62-65 degrees; 2.13 feet below pool. Bass are good with the best bite on squarebill crankbaits and chatterbaits in 3-5 feet of water. Texas rigs and Viper XP jigs are good on the edge of the weeds and stems in 3-5 feet of water. Carolina rig picking a few up off shore in 8-15 feet on points and humps. Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. Fall has arrived and the fish will start their prep for cold weather. Black bass are feeding in 1-5 feet of water on baitfish imitations. Larger fish should start moving deeper, so a sinking line might work better. Crappie are moving to open water in 20 plus feet of water. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. Lake Fork crappie fishing is awesome as the fish are feeding heavy as they prepare for colder months. The crappie are becoming much more aggressive as water temperatures are dropping into the lower 60s. We are still fishing standing timber and brush piles in 18-40 feet of water. There are still fish on some laydowns but those fish may not bite every day. Bridges are holding fish as well but you will have to weed through short fish to find those keepers. Minnows are still working well but my boat has switched over to all hand tied jigs and I’m sure they will bite most soft plastics as well. Catfishing continues to be incredible on baited holes. If you drop some cattle cubes or sour grain near areas that are holding shad the channel catfish will stack up. Target timber along creek channels in 20-25 feet right now with cheese punch bait. It is common to see 25-50 fish an hour right now. Most fish will be in the 13-16 inch range with a few fish getting up to 4-5 pounds with the occasional 10 pound fish. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.

Lake O’ the Pines — GOOD. Water stained; 61 degrees; 1.10 feet above pool. Happy Thanksgiving! Crappie are good on standing timber 25-30 feet deep using jigs or minnows. Catfish are good on juglines 20-30 feet of water. Report by Marty Thomas, Lake O the Pines Crappie Fishing. Bass are good on topwaters in the grass on the edge of the river. Bass are good out to 12 feet of water using flukes, chatterbaits, lipless crankbaits, and spinnerbaits. There is still hydrilla north of the HWY 155 Bridge holding fish. Cranks, chatterbaits Carolina rigs. Schooling chasing shad. Sloughs coming in the lake 8-10 feet of water Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine.

Hawkins — SLOW. Water slightly stained. 62-65 degrees. Black bass can be caught with streamers fished above the grass and near lily pads in the backs of creeks and main lake points. As the water cools the chain pickerel bite will increase, so try small baitfish imitations with barbless hooks. Happy Thanksgiving! Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service.

Jacksonville — SLOW. Water clear; 64 degrees; 1.87 feet below pool. The water clarity is slightly muddy along the banks in some areas, but clear for the most part. Bass are biting best on a weightless worm against the bank. Topwater bite is nonexistent. Happy Thanksgiving!

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