Tyler — GOOD. Water normal stain; 85 degrees; 0.13 feet above pool.
Summer fishing patterns are holding steady. Night fishing is good for catfish and crappie in the lights. Crappie are good using minnows and jigs on brush in 16 feet of water.
Catfish are fair in 12-16 feet of water shrimp, and liver. Bream are good on red worms off the barge and throughout the lake. Bass are good out to 16 feet of water with topwaters, spinnerbaits and crankbaits.
Report by The Boulders at Lake Tyler. Martin Creek — GOOD. Water stained; 92 degrees; 0.
51 feet below pool. Bass are good early and late afternoon on lipless crankbaits and plum colored worms fishing the hydrilla. 8XD crankbaits off points over brush in 15-25 feet.
Crappie remain good to excellent suspended in timber that is 20-30 feet with minnows and pintail jigs work great. Large catfish are being caught below where the crappie are on live bait. Report by Hambone Guide Service.
Palestine — SLOW. Water slightly stained; 91 degrees; 0.13 feet below pool.
Hot weather continues to impact all species, making for early bite periods, often the bite is over by 9 a.m. Blue and channel catfish may continue through the day on stronger baits, such as shrimp.
Some hybrid stripers have been caught by trolling redneck rigs with 2 inch Pet spoons over humps and roads. A large factor has been the thermocline, which continues to be high in the water column, only about 13 feet down, less in shallower water. Jim Beggerly, Jim’s Fishing Lake Palestine.
Report by Jim Beggerly, Jim’s Fishing Lake Palestine. Bob Sandlin — GOOD. Water slightly stained; 93 degrees; 0.
04 feet above pool. Summer fishing patterns are holding steady. Big blue catfish 15 feet or less.
Channel catfish are fair in 15-20 feet of water on baited holes with stink bait. Crappie are good in 30 feet of water, or suspended in 15 feet of water with minnows. White bass are good at night in the lights with a white spinnerbaits.
A few catches of white bass while targeting crappie with a crappie jig and white curly tailed jig. Report by Joey Crews, Lake Bob Sandlin Chubby Chaser Guide Service. Black bass are feeding early on shad patterns around grass and retaining walls.
Main lake points are good for bass using clouser type patterns. Bream are plentiful with wooly buggers and small worm patterns.Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service.
Bass are good on points in 18-22 feet of water using deep water baits like deep diving crankbaits, dropshots and Texas rigs. Night fishing has the best bite and is an escape from the heat and recreational boaters. Sand bass and black bass schooling together near the dam, and bridges.
Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine. Caddo — GOOD. Water stained; 80 degrees; 0.
23 feet above pool. While it is hot on the water the lake bass fishing is also hot! Lots of schooling action all over the lake so have a top water handy. A fluke or light Texas rig worm will work good when fish transition deeper.
The river is setting up well, so have a spoon, light Texas rig, dropshot or shaky head covering a lot of water targeting the turns, cuts and the grass or pad lines. Caddo Lake is beautiful this time of year and the bass are cooperating, so come enjoy this majestic lake that God spoke into existence. Report provided by Vince Richards, Caddo Lake Fishing & Fellowship.
Fork — GOOD. Water Stained; 81 degrees; 0.67 feet below pool.
Bass are good early morning in shallow water 2-4 feet around flooded grass and weeds on chatterbaits, and flukes. Offshore bite is fair in and around points, humps, road beds and old house foundations in 18-25 feet. Deep crankbaits are fair over deep points and humps in 22-26 feet.
Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. August brings in hot temperatures. Bass are feeding in 10-12 feet where the thermocline is not present.
Look for schooling bass in the open water and creeks as shad hatch is in full swing. Also, check out the brush piles as big bass are using them to feed on crappie. Bream are excellent in the shallows, wooly buggers and small poppers should bring a strike.
Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. The crappie fishing on Lake Fork continues to be excellent as we get deeper into the summer pattern. Fish are still stacked up on brush, trees and some lay downs.
Best depths are 14-28 feet with a few fish a little shallower and a little deeper. The bite has been somewhat finicky lately. Minnows are a good choice to help overcome the slower bite.
You can still catch fish on smaller hand tied baits or soft plastics. I’ve also noticed that rotating spots or finding new spots with less pressured fish has been important. The catfishing on Lake Fork is excellent like it seems to always be for eater sized channel cats.
There are still tons of fish under roosting trees in 14-22 feet of water on the north ends of the lake. Bait a hole with cattle cubes or sour grains to get those fish concentrated. Then use any catfish bait of choice to load the boat.
Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service. Lake O’ the Pines — GOOD. Water stained; 90 degrees; 0.
01 feet above pool. Solid summer pattern is holding steady for the bass. Bass are good with schooling activity starting to pick up.
Follow the shad to find the bass. There is still some bass in the bushes along the banks pitching Texas rigged worms and jigs, or wacky rigs. Bass are good on brush piles on points on the south end of the lake in 15-25 feet of water with deep running crankbaits, jigs, wacky worms and Texas rigs.
The north end of the lake is producing catches in the grass and bushes. Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine. Athens — SLOW.
Water normal stain; 87 degrees; 0.17 feet above pool. Summer fishing patterns are holding steady.
Bass have been slow and scattered. Best options are outside grass lines on windy banks. Jigs and shaky-head worms are working, but you will need to cover a lot of water.
Some bass are schooling. Crappie are slow as well. The night bite on deep brush with minnows is the most consistent pattern.
Report by Jim Brack, Athens Guide Service. Hawkins — GOOD. Water slightly stained.
80 degrees. Bass are good with clousers around edges of grass during the day. Bead heads will tempt bream and bass.
Bream will be on beds and easy to spot, remember they can see you too. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. Jacksonville — SLOW.
Water normal stain; 90 degrees; 0.03 feet above pool. Bass are biting soft plastics on brush from 10-16 feet, and schoolers can be caught with swimbaits.
Crankbaits are also working, especially for the spotted bass..
