Athens — SLOW. Water clear; 58-61 degrees; 1.04 feet below. Fishing patterns are holding steady. Bass are good on brush piles out to 25 feet on jigs and dropshot worms. Bass are still feeding shallow as well. Target weed lines in 10-12 feet with shaky-head worms and jigs. Crappie are good on deep brush with minnows and small jigs. Report by Jim Brack, Athens Guide Service.
Caddo — GOOD. Water stained; 60 degrees; 1.09 feet above. The bite on Caddo is good with tons of white bass and yellow bass running in the river systems. You can catch them on shad pattern baits such as spoons, rattletraps, crankbaits and Alabama rigs. The black bass are slow to the party but getting better as the water temps start to fall into the mid 50s. It will only get better if you love winter fishing out on Caddo. This is a favorite time of the year to bring the family out fishing so they can learn why we spend all day on the water. The bite becomes easy and you can get them hooked on fishing easy as well. Plus, you get to share with them the majestic views only Caddo has as God spoke this wonderful lake into existence. Report provided by Vince Richards, Caddo Lake Fishing & Fellowship.
Cedar Creek — EXCELLENT. Water normal stain; 54-58 degrees; 3.35 feet low. Crappie are fair using minnows or jigs on select docks that have 6-8 feet of water, and brush piles in 5-20 feet of water and bridge pilings. Largemouth bass are good on brush piles 5-10 feet of water with Carolina rigs, or fishing bridge pilings with a shaky head. White bass and hybrid bass are under birds in 30-40 feet of water deadsticking. Report by Kyle Miers, Lake Country Outfitters.
Fork — FAIR. Water Stained; 65 degrees; 5.81 feet low. The bass bite should change after the rise in water. Suspending jerkbaits are still best worked over 7-10 feet around ditches and creeks. Spinnerbaits have been good in the same areas, slowly rolled near big wood. Viper XP jigs in sourgrape, PBJ, Purple Passion, are still good on big wood near the edges of the creeks 8-10 feet. Report by Lake Fork fishing guide Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Pro. Bass are slow on Carolina rigs, dropshots, and jigging spoons in 15-18 feet of water, and squarebill crankbaits in 3-6 feet of water. Report by Jason Hoffman, Lake Fork Guide Service. Rising water level will bring feeding bass shallow. Fish newly flooded grass and timber with streamers for bass chasing shad. Some bream will be mixed in on warmer sunny days. Crappie will be moving towards wintertime schools in the open water and deep pockets, beaded woolies fished with a 5 wt rod and sinking lines. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. The bite is getting better and better going into the winter months. Big crappie are beginning to show up in numbers as the water temps continue to drop into the 50s. Catches over two pounds are landed each day with some fish closer to the three pound range. Timber on flats and along the main lake creek channels in 28-50 feet all seem to be holding good fish. We are seeing a good balance of white crappie and black crappie both being caught each day. Minnows still seem to be the dominant bait, but the jig bite is coming around finally on Lake Fork. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.
Hawkins — GOOD. 63 degrees. Streamers fished around lilly pads and above submerged vegetation are drawing strikes from bass and chain pickerel. Chain pickerel will become more active as water cools, try small fish patterns around lilies and boat houses. Look for crappie suspending in mid lake. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service.
Jacksonville — GOOD. Water lightly stained; 67 degrees; 1.94 feet below. Bass are good on soft plastics, flukes, and crankbaits on brush from the bank to 12 feet
Lake O’ the Pines — FAIR. Water lightly stained; 50 degrees; 0.20 feet low. Crappie are good on standing timber 25-40 feet deep on jigs or minnows. Catfish are good 20-30 feet of water on baited holes. Bass are good early on shallow crankbaits. Report by Marty Thomas, Lake O the Pines Crappie Fishing.
Palestine — GOOD. Water lightly stained; 55 degrees; 2.10 feet low. Catfish continue to be good in the river baited holes using nightcrawlers, cut shad and punch bait. Bass are fair with a few catches early in the morning shallow with Carolina rigs, then throwing Carolina rigs off points into deeper water for better quality and numbers of bass. Crappie are fair in the natural timber near the river on jigs. White bass and hybrids are slow, slow, slow with very bites on rattletraps. You can find some in the river. Report by Ricky Vandergriff, Ricky’s Guide Service.
Sam Rayburn — GOOD. Water stained; 55 degrees; 6.31 feet low. All species are chasing the bait in the back of creeks. Bass are good with the bigger sized catches coming on deeper ledges with a big worm, Carolina rig. White bass are good on spoons. Crappie are migrating up the river hanging around stumps like they are Christmas ornaments. They are moving quick biting on minnows or white feather jigs. Catfish are moving to the backs of creeks, and brush piles biting on cut bait and minnows. Report by Lynn Atkinson, Reel Um N Guide Service.
Toledo Bend — GOOD. Water stained; 59 degrees; 4.25 feet low. GOOD. The water level is 167.7 with no generators running. Water temperature at the Dam is 59 degrees. The back feeder creeks are stained and muddy with lots of Fall leaves floating on the surface, and the main lake remains clear. We were blessed with some rain this week 2-3 inches. Not much has changed on the pattern this week. Chatter baits are still producing in 3/8 to 3/4 ounce white, chartreuse, watermelon pepper, and red/black skirts. To cover a lot of water, use a square bill crank bait or a flat side crank bait and smaller rattle traps from 0-8 feet in shad and perch imitation colors and the Rayburn red traps are still working. For deeper Bass, cast a Carolina rig with a worm or lizard. Jigging spoons are still producing quality bass on 1/2 to 3/4 ounce (silver with a white or yellow accent tail feather or a deep diving crank bait in citrus shad and Tennessee shad colors). The jig and pig bite has been strong. Cast your jig to long tapering points that drop off into deep water, the best colors are black and blue, PB&J football jigs 3/8 – 3/4 ounce with a 3-inch matching color craw trailer, and a green pumpkin jig with a chunk style trailer. The Crappie bite is still good in 12-20 feet on the edge of the river channels using 1/16- and 3/32-ounce Wager Baits, #46 Bluegrass, #3 Monkey Milk, #09 Electric Chicken, #10 Black and Chartreuse and small minnows depending on the cloud cover and cooling night temperatures. Now that the lake is at a Winter drawdown, it’s prime time to go out scouting for new areas for Springtime fishing. Look for areas like feeder creeks, ditches, man-made structures, creek bends and undercuts, etc. Reminder: Keep and extra set of clothes in a dry bag stowed away on your vessel just in case you get caught in the rain, heavy winds, etc. Hypothermia happens quickly. Good luck and keep casting forward! Report from Master Captain Steve “Scooby” Stubbe, Mudfish Adventures LLC, Orvis Endorsed Fly Fishing Guide, and Mudfish Custom Rod Shop
Tyler — GOOD. Water lightly stained; 60 degrees; 2.78 feet below. Catfish are good on nightcrawlers and stink baits in brush piles in 10 feet of water. Eight pound blue catfish caught off the barge. Larger catfish are biting on cut bait. Bass are fair on crankbaits at the fishing barge brush piles. Crappie are slow using live minnows in 25-30 feet of water. Bluegill are good on red worms. Report by Paul Taylor, The Boulders at Lake Tyler.
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