By Matt Williams
The East Texas Fishing Report for the week of Dec. 18:
ATHENS — Lake Athens is nearly five feet low and clear. Surface temp is in the upper 50s.
Peter Gould at Lake Athens Marina says bass anglers are picking up a few slot fish using plastics and crankbaits, mainly in 4-12 feet of water. Best bite has been early.
Crappie are slow. Catfish are fair to three pounds on punch bait and night crawlers.
CEDAR CREEK — Cedar Creek is about seven feet low and clear. Surface temp is in the upper 50s.
Not many anglers out due to low water conditions, according to Dean Janke at Sunny Glen Resort. No report available.
RICHLAND CHAMBERS — RC is 11 feet low and clear. Water temp is in the upper 50s.
Larry Winters at Midway Landing said catfishing has been good on jugs in 15-25 feet of water. Several blues in the 20-35 pound range reported.
Winters said black bass are slow. White bass are good on spoons bounced off bottom in 28 feet of water.
Launching access is very limited. Midway’s ramp is closed. Ramps at Fisherman’s Point and Oak Cove are still in operation, but anglers are advised to use caution when putting in.
PALESTINE — Lake Palestine is 5 1/2 feet low and clear. Water temp is in the upper 50s.
Crappie are good on minnows soaked at bridge crossings and around submerged brush on deep points and river bends.
Black bass anglers are enjoying a decent bite on plastics, jigs and Rat-L-Traps fished on brushy points and around deeper boat docks.
Catfish are good to 20 pounds on jugs tipped with cut bait and live perch.
SABINE LAKE — The chatter is the recent warming trend has sparked some excellent wade fishing for trout. Mullet pattern topwaters and plastics are producing some quality specks over sand flats and shell. Bank fishermen are using mullet and shrimp to collect some quality reds.
SAM RAYBURN — Sam Rayburn is about two feet low and clear. The warm snap heated surface temps to the upper 50s. Look for water temps to drop after the next front.
Black bass are good to five pounds, according to Ann Thomasson-Wilson at Ann’s Tackle in Jasper. Wilson said the bass are gobbling up Rat-L-Traps in 4-7 feet of water over submerged grass. Spinnerbaits, Super Flukes and Zara Spooks also have been productive.
Crappie are excellent on minnows fished in brush and along edges of the Angelina River channel. Catfish are fair on rod and reel baited with punch bait and cut shad.
TOLEDO BEND — T-Bend is about seven feet low and clear. Water temp is in the upper 50s.
Black bass are fair to four pounds on crankbaits, spinnerbaits and plastics fished over points, along creeks and underwater sloughs.
Charlie Shively at Bill’s Landing said crappie seem to have scattered since the last front. Keepers are holding in water ranging 12-28 feet, mainly along river ledges. Shively predicts better results with the next cool down.
Catfish are good on trotline and rod and reel. Best trotline sets are shallow; cut bait is more reliable than live. Several blues in the 15-pound range caught on cut shad.
Good numbers are of white bass are ganged up in the river from Huxley to Roger’s Harbor.
PINKSTON — Lake Pinkston is about 18 inches low and clear. Water temp is in the upper 50s.
Bass are fair to four pounds on soft jerk baits fished over hydrilla beds. Fishing guide Alan Spruiell says school bass to six pounds have been active near the dam.
FORK — Lake Fork is 6 1/2 feet low and clear. Water temp is in the mid-50s.
Martin Edwards at the Minnow Bucket said bass are good to four pounds on 1/4 ounce Rat-L-Traps and soft jerk baits worked over shallow hydrilla.
Crappie are good to 1 1/2 pounds on minnows soaked in 35-40 feet of water. The fish are on bottom, mainly on points near the dam.
Catfish are excellent to eight pounds under cormorant roosts.
— Matt Williams
