Pineywoods Region Week of April 17, 2024

B.A. Steinhagen

GOOD. Water stain; 66 degrees; 1.34 feet below pool. Catfish are biting in the shallows on cut bait and prepared baits. Largemouth bass can be caught on Texas rigged worms and crankbaits.

Bob Sandlin

GOOD. Water stained; 63 degrees; 0.36 feet above pool. Crappie are good in 15-20 feet of water on brush piles on minnows or jigs. Catfish are good shallow on cut bait or worms. Sand bass are good at Blow Hole using chrome rattle traps. Report by Marty Thomas, Lake O the Pines Crappie Fishing. Bass are transitioning to the first breakline in 6-8 feet of water hitting Texas rig worms, crankbaits, chatterbaits, spinnerbaits. Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine. Look for black bass in feeding areas, boat docks, brush and grass. The topwater bite will be improving as the weather stabilizes, small poppers should be excellent. Look for crappie around brush and retaining walls shallow, small wooly buggers are excellent. Watch for the bream to start moving shallow. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service.

Caddo

FAIR. Water stained; 61 degrees; 4.24 feet above pool. Caddo flooded this past week and there were many ramp closures, so check ramp status before heading out. Navigate with caution watching for floating logs and debris. Expect conditions to clear up in a few weeks, but the good news is all this water will help fishing in May and June with current coming in from Pines. Report provided by Vince Richards, Caddo Lake Fishing & Fellowship.

Conroe

GOOD. Water stained; 70 degrees; 0.25 feet above pool. Catfish have been excellent! Lots of reports from the early bulkhead bite to deep water baited holes all catching great numbers and decent size on Catfish Bubblegum, liver, worms, shad, punch bait, and just about anything else that folks put together. Largemouth bass are good on soft plastics. Report by Brad Doyle with Bradley’s Guide Service. Hybrids are 10-15 feet of water in the morning, pushing to 15-25 feet as the day warms. Fish with swimbaits, minnows, or shad. Crappie are in 12-30 feet of water using plastics, hair or minnows. Still can be a tough bite. Always wear your life jacket. Report by Mike Cason, Fishical Therapy.

Fork

GOOD. Water Stained; 60 degrees; 0.20 feet above pool. Fork has been good with fish in just about every stage of the spawn. Lots of fish are shallow in 1-4 feet with Texas rigs, yum dingers, chatterbaits, flukes, and swim jigs. Offshore bass are good on humps and points in 5-7 feet of water with Carolina rigs with light weights, mid-running crankbaits, and shaky heads. Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. Changing weather means changing bite. First phase bass spawners are now in a post spawn pattern and aggressive. Frog pattern topwaters are excellent in the grass and brush. Casting into the pockets and letting the frog sit for a few seconds is a good idea. Crappies are shallow, small fish patterns like wooly buggers are a good bet. Bream are beginning to make themselves known in the shallows, wooly buggers and small poppers should bring a strike. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. Crappie are great with some pre-spawn fish, some fish actively spawning and some post spawn. Fish can be found in a few feet of water to 30 feet of water. All crappie on Lake Fork do not go shallow to spawn and we catch fish in 18-20 feet that are spawning on timber. You can also find some fish on brush, lay downs, bridges and docks. It is a very versatile time to catch crappie with multiple patterns. Minnows will work great right now but any crappie baits will catch fish. Try small hand tied jigs and soft plastics. Catfishing is excellent right now on Lake Fork around timber in 12-20 feet. Still seeing loads of fish around roosting trees. Lots of birds in the shallow areas close to the bank in the early mornings chasing shad spawns. The catfish are also up there feeding on shad as well. Use any prepared catfish baits or cut shad on baited holes in the timber. Use a cork with anything a catfish will bite up shallow. Minnows and cut shad will work great on this shallow fish. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.

Houston County

GOOD. Water clear; 67 degrees; 0.38 feet above pool. Shad spawn should continue for the next month. The second wave of spawning largemouth bass and crappie should begin soon. White bass are in 1-10 feet of water biting topwaters and beetle spins. Largemouth bass are spawning on beds. Largemouth bass are good in 1-7 feet of water with wacky worms, weightless Texas rigs, yum dingers or swim jigs. Crappie are in 10 feet or less using minnows on standing timber, brush, or deep docks. Report by Colan Gonzales, CG’s Just Fishing Guide Service.

Lake O' the Pines

GOOD. Water stained; 63 degrees; 4.24 feet above pool. Crappie are fair scattered between shallow water and brush in 15 feet of water hitting minnows or jigs. Sand bass are fair in main creek channels on minnows or slabs. Catfish are good in shallow water on cut or worms. Report by Marty Thomas, Lake O’ the Pines Crappie Fishing. Expect the bass bite to be tough after the rains. Target flooded bushes with jigs or Texas rigged creature baits. Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine.

Livingston

SLOW. Slightly stained; 65 degrees; 1.00 feet above pool. Catfish are biting good in shallow water where the shad are spawning. Water is starting to clear a little bit. White bass fishing continues to be spotty. Report by Michael Richardson, Lake Livingston Adventures.

Martin Creek

GOOD. Water stained; 75 degrees; 0.02 feet above pool. Bass are slow catching a few along the hydrilla on spinnerbait and underspin swimbaits. Crappie are good in brush piles in 25 feet of water using minnows and larger jigs. Catfish are fair in 10-15 feet of water using with punch bait.

Nacogdoches

GOOD. Water stained; 65 degrees; 0.68 feet above pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady. Largemouth bass are good with primarily male bass schooling offshore, but females will start to join post spawn. Offshore bass are hitting crankbaits and Carolina rigs. The shallow grass bite is on chatterbaits, or a senko. Crappie are fair in the grass with a beetle spin or rooster tail, any small jig. A few more weeks of warm weather will put fish back on stumps and brush. Report by Wyatt Frankens, Wyatt Frankens Guide Service.

Naconiche

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 68 degrees; full pool. Bass fishing is good with the first signs of post-spawn bass munching on shad. Junior sized jerkbaits and 3.5 inch soft plastic shad imitations are getting bit. Crappie population is good. Catfish are slow. Report by Eric Wolfe, NacoTack Fishing Services.

Pinkston

GOOD. normal stain; 65 degrees. Bass are shallow in the grass schooled up on bait. Cast chatterbaits, swim jigs, topwaters, spook and frogs. This should persist for the next few months. Shad are spawning on the docks, hard clay, trees and grass. Crappie are at the end of the spawn in shallow grass and suspended in trees along the edges and mouths creeks. Report by Captain Hank Harrison, Double H Precision Fishing.

Raven

GOOD. Water stained; 69 degrees. Fishing reports are holding steady. Water clarity is declining due to recent rains. Crappie are excellent fishing jigs over grass in the lake, and with minnows suspended over brush piles and off the Prairie Branch fishing pier. Crappie spawn is in the early stages. Bass are excellent, anglers are reporting great catches on topwater frogs early in the morning. Anglers are also using red crawfish crankbaits, jerkbaits, and weedless worm rigs. Catfish are good on stink bait and worms at the bottom. Anglers on boats should try by the dam as there is excellent catfish habitat. Bluegills are excellent on hotdogs and worms off a bobber at the boathouse and both fishing piers. Water clarity is about one foot of visibility.

Sam Rayburn

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 70 degrees; 5.19 feet below pool. Navigate with caution to avoid sandbars and stumps. Bass are on points and drains in shallow water spawning, and some are in a post spawn biting crankbaits and Carolina rigs. Some topwater along the grass edges. Crappie are fair in the shallows near stumps and fair on the brush piles. Some crappie are spawning near cypress trees, wade anglers can target these. White bass are schooling on main lake points but not surfacing yet. Catch some with jigs, minnows, crankbaits and jigging spoons. Catfish are slowly moving back to the points. Report by Captain Lynn Atkinson, Reel Um N Guide Service. Shad spawn is in full swing. Bass are good keying on hard clay points, grass edges and flooded timber with swim jigs, chatterbaits, topwater spooks or pop-r’s. Offshore bite is 10-20 feet on hard spots and flats, points and creek channel swings using crankbaits, Carolina rigs, shaky heads and dropshots. Crappie have finished spawning in 12-20 feet of water on brush piles and standing timber. Report by Captain Hank Harrison, Double H Precision Fishing.

Toledo Bend

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 64 degrees; 1.09 feet below pool. The water levels came up 3 feet after the recent rains, and the flood gates are open with more water coming down the river. Most of the creeks are muddy and stained. Bass are fair from the flooded bank out to 5 feet with frogs, chatterbaits and spinnerbaits. The mid range fish are hit-and-miss with Carolina rigs, Texas rigs and shallow running crankbaits. The deeper fish have gotten up off the bottom and they are swimming around, just hard to catch at this time due to the rising water. Navigate with caution watching for floating timber. Also with water being this high, lots of the boat lane buoys are almost underwater. More rain in the weekend forecast. Report by Stephen Johnston, Johnston Fishing.

Tyler

SLOW. Water stained; 65 degrees; 0.41 feet above pool. Bass are slow in 10 feet of water on crankbaits and trick worms. Crappie slow in 20 feet of water on brush piles with minnows and jigs. Bream are slow on red worms. Catfish are good biting everything as they gear up for an early spawn. Report by Paul Taylor, The Boulders at Lake Tyler.

Welsh

GOOD. Water normal stain. 70 degrees. Largemouth bass are good with Texas rigged worms, and chatterbaits.

Wright Patman

GOOD. Water stained; 70 degrees; 3.97 feet above pool. Fish seem to be in the flood water. Catfish are being caught back in brush with the usual blood and cheese bait. Kelly Creek has been good for catfish. Crappie are on the bank spawning, and scarce in deeper water. Some crappie continue to spawn along the bank, but many fish have spawned out transitioning to deeper water near major creek mouths. Report by Jerry Gennings, local angler and guide.

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