Morning Guys and Gals,
I am well rested from my weekend trip to North Texas. I left Corsicana at 3:45 AM Saturday morning and after a traffic-free trip through Dallas, I arrived at the Lewisville Fishing Barge.
(Directions: I-35 East to the Hwy 407 Exit. Right from there across the RR Tracks to the 1st stop sign at Mills. Left there about a mile to the Park entrance on the right. Cost: $6 per person)
There were a few folks already there and more came in as the morning wore on. During my time there (5-11 AM) many crappie were caught, mostly too small ones-- But any fish caught is better than no fish caught! I landed only one keeper (just a bump over 10 inches), but they were having a on-barge-only crappie fishing tourney there and I saw a good 10 fish weighed for count while I was there. The largest I saw caught weighed 1.3 pounds by a fellow not in the tourney. A nice keeper.
My one keeper I gave to Bonnie, a pretty blonde fishing besides me with her husband. BTW Bonnie was leading the tourney when I left and I hope she won. (No, she didn't use my fish. Her plan, she said, was to cook it up with her other catches.)
I traveled on up to Denison for my Great-Uncle's 85th Birthday. It went off fine, lots of kinfolk turned out. Unk was delighted as was everyone else.
Saturday afternoon before the party, my cousin Louis drove out to Texoma. Still lots of ice/snow remains around, but roads/streets all clear. At Texoma Dam no generation and only two lone fishermen on OK side of the river and a party of 4 on the Texas side way south past the bait store. Did not see any action on either side during 30-minute stay. We then drove by Waterloo Lake in Denison. Four fishing, but no luck. (BTW, over 2 years, off and on, I have occasionally fished this little lake inside Denison city limits and have not caught, nor seen anyone catch anything. Has anyone?)
Louis and I then drove out to Loy Lake. The little park there is in terrible shape (broken picnic tables, etc) and very muddy. Yet it looks like it should be a prime crappie place once the weather dries up and it gets warmer. (Louis says algae is a problems during summer) So that may not be true unless one has a boat.
Sunday morning I went out to Texoma Dam. They were not generating and the river was real low. Chilly low 40s and smoky breath did nothing to lure me down the steep embankment to wet a hook. There were only two guys fishing and they gave it up shortly without any results.
I then decided to drive over to East Burns Run on the OK side. The lake was down about 3 or 4 feet and wind was nippy. I then re-crossed the dam and went to Eisenhower State Park for their fishing pier. The low surface made the pier look like a stork wading in the water. They have redone the planking and it looks great, no spaces between the planks over 1/4 inch. (Had they done that last year, I wouldn't have lost that two pound crappie through the huge cracks in the old boards!)
Anyway, there were some a few gulls and some ducks working the entrance bay of the marina, so I decided to wet a hook or two. I put out some minnows on bobbers and found the water amazingly clear-- clearest I ever seen it. I could see the minnows swimming 3 feet below my corks.
I made a few tosses of a red-black Frenzy along the lines of tires floating by the slips. Nothing. Tried black-silver and blue-silver Sassy Shads, but still bumpkis. Slight wind from north into dock kept pushing my corks under the pilings and my hands into my pockets. No bites either, but I almost caught a diving duck on a Sassy Shad cast. He came up from a dive almost under my lure.
Stopped about Noon as fingers would hardly bend and headed home for good rest and report.
Take care,
Danny Clay
BTW, if this is a duplicate post, tuff! };^)
I'm lucky enough to live in close proximity to Lake West Point, Lanier, and Eufala, which all host major tournaments every year.
Water temp. is still a little cool here for the spawn to be happening. And, my paintball habit has been cutting into my early spring fishing this year.
Mostly stick to soft plastics on carolina rigs and topwater baits.
I'm blessed to be living just down the road from a guy who runs The Catfish Supply Company so I get all my fishing gear from him and he gives out free advice. It's been fun and I'm looking forward to more fishing.
I'm thinking of either expanding that pond or putting in a second pond. I have a lot to learn about this sort of thing. I did add a few grass carp and about 10 little catfish to the one pond we've got which is about 1500 to 2000 sq. ft. on the surface. Does anyone have a good source of information on these ponds?