04/12/2001

FRESH WATER AREA LAKES	TEMP	WATER	BLACK BASS	CATFISH	CRAPPIE	HYBRID/ STRIPER	WHITE BASS
LAKE ATHENS	62T	normal	good	good	fair	no report	slow
BOB SANDLIN	61T	normal	good	good	good	no report	fair
CADDO	62T	2.2 feet high	good	fair	good	no report	very good
CEDAR CREEK	61T	normal	good	good	fair	fair	good
COOPER	61T	3 feet high	very good	very good	fair	no report	fair
CYPRESS SPRINGS	61T	normal	good	fair	good	no report	no report
FAIRFIELD	75T	normal	good	good	no report	fair	no report
FORK	61T	normal	very good	fair	good	no report	no report
GRAPEVINE	60T	6.2 feet high	fair	good	fair	no report	fair
HOUSTON COUNTY	64T	normal	very good	fair	excellent	no report	slow
JOE POOL	60T	6 inches high	good	fair	good	no report	fair
LAKE O' THE PINES	62T	14.3 feet high	good	very good	fair	no report	fair
LAVON	61T	2.5 feet high	good	fair	good	slow	fair
LEWISVILLE	61T	3.2 feet high	fair	good	good	fair	good
MONTICELLO	75T	normal	fair	good	no report	no report	no report
PALESTINE	62T	6 inches high	good	fair	good	slow	good
POSSUM KINGDOM	61T	1.1 feet low	fair	good	fair	fair	good
RAY HUBBARD	61T	normal	fair	fair	good	slow	fair
RAY ROBERTS	62T	2 feet high	very good	good	good	no report	fair
RICHLAND CHAMBERS	62T	2 inches high	good	very good	fair	slow	good
SAM RAYBURN	62T	8.4 feet high	good	fair	good	fair	slow
TAWAKONI	60T	8 inches high	fair	good	fair	fair	fair
TEXOMA	58T	6 inches low	fair	fair	good	good	fair
TOLEDO BEND	61T	3 inches high	good	fair	good	fair	fair
WHITNEY	60T	1.1 feet high	good	good	fair	good	good

SALT WATER	REDFISH	TROUT	FLOUNDER
UPPER COAST	good	very good	fair
MIDDLE COAST	good	excellent	fair
LOWER COAST	good	good	fair*

Water temperature key – M: temperature as of Monday; T: temperature as of Tuesday.

HOT SPOTS

Caddo crappie around cypress trees

Bob Curtis at Johnson's Ranch Marina (903-789-3213) says guide Henry Lewis, who has guided from the marina for over 40 years, has been regularly putting his morning clients on 15-25 nice size crappie. Crappie and black bass are staging around isolated cypress trees in water 3-5 feet deep. The trick to catching crappie is dropping live minnows 2 feet under a floater around the root of the trees. Plastic worms and jigs are producing black bass from the same areas. Bass in the 4- to 7-pound range have been common the past week. The key is fishing the baits very slowly and making several casts to each tree. Many limits of white bass were brought by the marina the past few days. Best action is coming on small crawfish, spoons or slabs very near bottom in the center of the river channel. Mixed bags of white and yellow bass are common. Good spots for both species is The Ox Bow, Government Ditch and Dragover.

Bank fishing good in creeks at Cedar Creek Lake

Looking for a good spot to catch sandbass from the bank? Guide Billy Seaman (972-768-1811) rates fishing as awesome for sandbass and hybrid stripers in creeks on up the upper end of Cedar Creek Lake. King, Cedar and Lacy creeks have produced regular limits of sandbass and hybrid stripers stripers up to 12 pounds the past few days. For sandbass and average size hybrids of 4-6 pounds, Seaman suggests working 1/8-ounce Sassy Shad and Road runners in the eddy water of the deeper holes but says he has encountered spawning fish in very shallow water. The guide expects this action to continue throughout the week but when the water warms a couple more degrees, expect schooling action to begin in the main lake.

Ray Roberts action picks up

Guide Wes Winget (940-365-9549) says the action really picked up the past few days. His clients are averaging 15-20 bass per day with several 5-7 pounds; largest was just over 8 pounds. Two techniques are working on these spawning bass. Weightless baby bass colored Lil Shad's in the flooded grass will produce action. Another good pattern is pitching black/blue Zipper worms in the first cover you can find off the bank line (water 4-6 feet deep) for females bass staged to move onto beds. Key on flats close to creek channels or drop offs. Sandbass are beginning to move out of the creeks and staging out from points at the mouths of creeks. Crappie are beginning their move shallow to spawn, jigs and minnows dropped vertically into shoreline will be the ticket the next few weeks.

Texoma stripers on live shiners and artificials

Guide Bill Carey with Striper Express (877-786-4477) says the good bite that began a week ago is still underway. Live shiners remain the top producing bait. Carey suggests fishing the waters between North Island and the Willis Bridge, relatively close to the submerged river channel; Buncombe Creek has also produced some good catches of stripers up to 111/2 pounds. Anchor in water 20-50 feet deep and keep baits 20-24 feet down to intercept the roving schools of stripers. Artificials such as Sassy Shad are just beginning to produce action. The key to using artificials is fishing the most clear water you can locate, work shallow points during early morning when the stripers move shallow to feed, during the remainder of the day, key on water less than 20 feet. The Cross and the Oklahoma bank from Soldiers Creek to Washita Point have been good spots for artificial baits.