Pineywoods Region Week of April 24, 2024

B.A. Steinhagen

GOOD. Water stain; 66 degrees; 0.02 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; 64 degrees; 0.38 feet above pool. Crappie are good in 15-20 feet of water on brush piles or downed timber on minnows or jigs. Catfish are good in 2-6 feet of water 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. Bead heads and closures should work well around retaining walls and boat docks. Top water bite early, late, and on cloudy days should be excellent. Look for crappie around brush and shallow banks, small wooly buggers are excellent. Bream are building beds and are aggressive. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service.

Caddo

FAIR. Water stained; 61 degrees; 2.24 feet above pool. The water level is falling quickly and while the boat ramps have reopened, the bite is tough while fish try to adjust. Bass will be hanging tight to the trees for a week or so until the lake stabilizes. Bass protecting fry near the trees will hit a fluke, senko or swimbait. The frog, and topwater lure bite will come into play as the fish start to feed. Swimbaits over grass will also work in between the trees. With the current spots coming into play a Texas rig or shaky head in the river spots should start working soon as the fish will be stacking up for your summer patterns. As always even if the bite is slow the lake is still amazing to come visit as God spoke this majestic lake into existence and is always an adventure to see. Report provided by Vince Richards, Caddo Lake Fishing & Fellowship.

Conroe

GOOD. Water stained; 72 degrees; 0.20 feet above pool. Catfish have been great on the bulkheads at first light to deep water structure. Largemouth bass have been good on shad colored crankbaits and spinnerbaits. Still some on beds, so sight fishing creature bait can produce pretty well. Report by Brad Doyle with Bradley’s Guide Service. Hybrids in the morning about 12-22 feet of water jigging slabs, swimbaits, minnows or shad. Crappie are in 11-21 feet of water using plastics, hair or minnows. Always wear your life jacket. Report by Mike Cason, Fishical Therapy.

Fork

GOOD. Water Stained; 60 degrees; 0.20 feet above pool. Bass have slowed, but post spawners are setting up on points in 5-7 feet of water with Carolina rigged creature baits. Topwaters and frogs are good early morning around grass. Shaky heads are good around boat houses. Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. Changing weather means changing bite. First phase spawners are now in a post spawn pattern and aggressive. Frog pattern top waters 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, catching them on edge of banks, 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.Crappie are good in 2-13 feet on timber and around grass lines. Some fish are moving back out into the 12-18 feet areas and a little deeper. Black crappie are on a few bridges, but fish are not loaded up yet. Black crappie are also grouping under docks on sunny afternoons. Cast 1/16th ounce hand tied jigs continue to be good in white and gray, white and chartreuse and light blue and gray colors. Minnows will still work very well and especially on shallow fish around grass. Soft plastics will also work well as the fish have been very aggressive. We should see the aggressive bite until the warmer months get here and the fish get a little finicky. Catfishing continues to be good around timber where birds are roosting in 10-18 feet. Also getting reports of some shallow catfish around grass lines and sea walls. Those fish are most likely chasing shad spawns. Catfish are cruising around shallow wood in 6-12 feet, with lots of fry showing up. Use your favorite prepared catfish bait to load the boat once you locate the fish. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.

Houston County

GOOD. Water clear; 67 degrees; 0.37 feet above pool. White bass are good early in 10 feet of water then in 17 feet of water in the afternoon with chartreuse or silver slabs. Shad continue to spawn. The second wave of spawning largemouth bass and crappie should begin soon. 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; 71 degrees; 4.24 feet above pool. Crappie are good 15-20 feet of water on brush with minnows or jigs. Catfish are excellent in 2-6 feet of water on cut bait or worms. Report by Marty Thomas, Lake O’ the Pines Crappie Fishing. Bass are good in flooded bushes with creature baits. Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine.

Livingston

SLOW. Slightly stained; 67 degrees; 1.14 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; 0.01 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 punch bait.

Nacogdoches

GOOD. Water stained; 68 degrees; 0.12 feet above pool. Crappie are on brush piles. Largemouth bass are good in shallow water on chatterbaits, spooks, and frogs. The offshore bite is on crankbaits and Carolina rigs. Report by Wyatt Frankens, Wyatt Frankens Guide Service.

Naconiche

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 70 degrees; full pool. Bass fishing is good with the first signs of post-spawn bass munching on shad or junior sized jerkbaits. Cast squarebill crankbaits in floating timber in 6-10 feet. 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, spooks 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 mouth creeks. Report by Captain Hank Harrison, Double H Precision Fishing.

Raven

GOOD. Water stained; 71 degrees. The water is very turbid due to recent rainfall in Huntsville. Bass are excellent with regular catches from both anglers on shore and on boats casting weightless flukes into vegetation. Crappie are good, but biting less frequently after the recent rainfall made the water turbid. Anglers are reporting success on crappie jigs with live minnows and crappie bites. Catfish are good on worms and catfish stink bait fished off of the bottom. Bluegill are excellent off of worms and hotdogs on the boathouse dock and the fishing piers in the park.

Sam Rayburn

GOOD. Water slightly stained; 70 degrees; 3.49 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; 75 degrees; 0.41 feet below pool. Water levels continue to be high after the recent rains. Fishing will improve when the lake stabilizes. Bass are fair with good numbers of fish being caught, but not many big fish. Shallow bite has been best in 1-5 feet of water with spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and wacky worms. Few fish showed up deeper in 8-14 feet of water hitting shallow running crankbait and Texas rigs. Crappie are fair in shallow water, with a few fish starting to show up on docks and shallow brush piles. The creeks are stained too muddy. Report by Stephen Johnston, Johnston Fishing.

Tyler

SLOW. Water stained; 71 degrees; 0.52 feet above pool. Bass are fair in 10 feet of water on crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and trick worms. Crappie slow and scattered from the shallows to 20 feet of water on brush piles with minnows and jigs. Bream are slow on red worms. Catfish are fair, biting everything as they gear up to 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; 3.46 feet above pool. Catfish are great in brush with the usual blood, cheese bait, and noodles. Crappie are almost done spawning. Post spawn crappie are moving back to edges of deeper water on stumps and brush. It is random right now on which stumps or tops they are on. A bunch of small crappie can be caught on the river side. Report by Jerry Gennings, local angler and guide.

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