TPWD’s Area Lakes Fishing Report

Athens – SLOW. Water normal stain; 87 degrees; 0.34 feet above pool. 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.

Cedar Creek – EXCELLENT. slightly stained; 87 degrees; 0.47 feet below pool. Hybrids and white bass are good early in the morning at daylight on midlake points and drop offs along sandy flats throughout the dam area, Crappie Island, Key Ranch and the spillway humps in 13-22 feet. Cast spinners and slabs and look for schooling fish on these flats as well as deeper seawalls and shorelines. Then fish any hump in 17-25 feet throughout the lake to find fish stacked up in schools as the day heats up. Use spinnerbaits or drop a slab down to the bottom and work it fast up and down and the fish will hit it immediately. Also throwing out a slab and reeling it back with a slow retrieve is also working well. The evening bite from 5-9 p.m has also been very good. Hit up seawalls close to points in depths of 5-18 feet and cast rattle traps, spoons, slabs or sassy shads to get the hybrids to bite. The crappie bite has been getting better. Target crappie with small jigs and minnows in 5-12 feet under bridge pylons, hidden brush piles throughout the lake or under docks. Limits are being reported, although guides have been reporting conditions are improving with bigger sized fish being caught. Report by Brent Herbeck, Herbeck’s Lonestar Fishing Guide Service. Catfish are good in 18-24 feet on main lake humps with cut shad. Report by Jason Barber, Kings Creek Adventures.

Limestone – GOOD. Water slightly stained; 90 degrees; 0.60 feet below pool. Catfish are in 15-20 feet of water. Largemouth bass and crappie are good on offshore brush, standing timber and power lines in 11-14 feet. White bass are good on silver War Eagle super spoons in 6-16 feet. Sandies are schooling on the surface. There is a good bite at night on docks with lights on beetle spins. Report by Colan Gonzales, CG’s Just Fishing Guide Service.

Palestine - SLOW. Water slightly stained; 91 degrees; 0.05 feet above pool. High temperatures, clear skies, and light winds are impacting the fishing. These conditions also keep the water from mixing, resulting in consistent thermocline at 12 feet, and local turnovers. The very first thing in the morning, civil twilight through about 9 a.m. seems to be the best, regardless of moon position, due to weather conditions. All species are slow during the day. The only bright spot has been hybrid stripers, which have been biting redneck trollers with Pet spoons over humps and road beds. Crappie are also being caught by Live-Scopers, but not necessarily in limits and shallow, usually no more than about 10-14 feet deep, and with a lot of urging. Report by Jim Beggerly, Jim’s Fishing Lake Palestine.

Richland Chambers – FAIR. Water normal stain; 88 degrees; 0.10 feet above pool. Fishing continues to be FAIR as the Lake Level is at Full Pool Level and Spillway Gates open. White bass are slow while fish are scattered with very few being found or caught on the Main Lake. A few reports of early morning and late afternoon topwater action on the South Shoreline. Hybrid stripers are fair early morning on the 309 Flats in 20 feet of water. Check out the Lighthouse Area on the South Shoreline when you have a northeast wind. Live Bait is the key to catching the hybrids. Blue and channel catfish are good on shad or punch bait in 20-25 feet of water in timber on the Richland Creek Arm of the Lake. Chum with Range Cubes or fermented grain. Report by Royce Simmons, Gone Fishin’ Guide Service.