Sabine River busy with activity

Published 3:45 pm Thursday, March 6, 2025

March is here, and all of East Texas is set to hit the water fishing.

Area lakes are heating up a few degrees each day and the fishing is heating up as well. Our beloved Sabine River is heating up as well and things look to get hotter.

If you have never fished in this river, makes plans to change that and make them soon. River fishing is different but it is just as fun and productive as any other water body. Spend some time on the river this year and you will be glad you tried it.

The Sabine starts near Greenville and winds Southeasterly through or bordering Wood County, Smith, Gregg, and Rusk then Harrison and Panola to Logansport where Toledo Bend begins. The Sabine continues south of Toledo and eventually terminates into Sabine Lake and eventually the Gulf at Sabine Pass.

This waterway is excellent fishing the entire length. People usually equate a river to catfish and the Sabine does not disappoint. Trot lines or throw-lines are popular ways to put some catfish in the freezer or the ever popular fish fry.

According to recent reports, the rod and reel catfish bite is really starting to fire in the southern reaches near Logansport. Setting up on a sandbar with multiple rigs and baits, tightlining is as much fun as golden brown filets and hushpuppies.

Shrimp, nightcrawlers, chicken livers and the list goes on and on are popular baits for the channel and blue cats. Live bait will be needed to catch a Flathead and a small perch is hard to beat.

We can’t really talk about the Sabine without White Bass popping up. As of this writing the white bass stampede is full force, pumping out 25 fish limits in 1.5 hours for some.

Look for this to continue as the white bass push upstream for their annual spawning run. Undisputed best bait for white bass appears to be whatever you have. Any artificial mimicking a shad is going to work. Treble hooks may become problematic if the fish are really biting. The trebles can be tough to take out of the fish without pliers.

For this reason, a single hook bait like a crappie jig or an underspin jig will work just fine. Of course any live bait or recently alive bait is killer for white bass.

River fishing and crappie are the same and the Sabine is loaded with crappie. The March crappie spawn is legendary on the Sabine in the shallows. Cypress trees and buck brush will be involved as well as big slabs. In some high water events, the crappie will push upstream to spawn, much like the white bass. Find the right culvert with a strong discharge and the crappie could be stacked and waiting for you to rescue them.

The Sabine is home to largemouth and spotted bass. Actually these fish may see less pressure than any other game fish in the river. The river bass will be more aggressive than lake bass and a school of spots may keep a boat full of people busy for quite some time.

Keep in mind these fish may have never seen a spinnerbait or any bait for that matter. Just remember to scale down on the size of your baits.

The Sabine is home to many other species of fish with different ways of catching them. March is an awesome time to try your Sabine River fishing skills.