Lake Conroe Fishing Report - February 27, 2009
Lake Conroe Fishing Report - Lake Conditions: Hang on to your hat, the wind is blowing; but, the fishing is great. Water temperatures are still on the rise with 67 degree water in many areas at the backs of creeks and on Northern shores. The Lake level is holding?? at 199.75. The water is clear in most areas of the lake with some stain in areas where there has been runoff form some of our rains. Black bass fishing continues to be great, crappie fishing has picked back up with fish moving to the warmer water. Finding water 10 - 15 and even some banks in 4 feet of water has been producing great crappie. Catfish fishing continues to be good with some real nice fish being caught in baited holes in 15 to 20 feet of water. Hybrid activity has picked up with reports of catches in several areas of the Lake. Caney Creek, Lewis Creek and Little Lake Creek have all had a few hybrids caught. We are going to have great weather here for the next few days and fishing continues to improve each day. Be sure and listen to the reports on Sports Radio 610 for weekend updates by Tex Bonin.
Black Bass.
Black Bass fishing continues to be good and the bigger fish are moving back to the shallows in the warmer water on the North end of the Lake. Good solid fish are being caught in brush piles in 12 -15 feet of water during the day, with more and more good fish moving to the heads of creeks on drop off's in 14 - 19 feet of water. Top water baits, soft plastics and spinner baits have all been producing good fish early. Fishing the timber near your favorite spawn beds is also going to be a good bet. Bass fishing on Lake Conroe continues to improve and the Lake is becoming one of the best bass fishing lakes in Texas. Texas Parks And Wildlife has stocked over 1,000,000 Florida Largemouth Bass in Lake Conroe in the past two years. Rick Bearden Jr. boated a 15.93 lb black bass to establish and new lake record for Lake Conroe on Friday, January 30, 2009. Click here for full story There have been lots of fishermen on the Lake this past week and most fishermen are finding good solid fish early and late. The Solunar Tables have indicated better fishing early and late.
Catfish
Catfish fishing just continues to be outstanding. Tex Bonin reported a limit of catfish fishing mid lake. Baited holes in 15 to 20 feet continue to produce good fish. Finding a good spot out of the wind is a real challenge with these fronts continuing to move through every three or four days. Cheese baits, punch baits, shrimp and cut shad have all been good. Good solid fish to 5 pounds are being caught both in the docks and in baited holes. Jug Line fishing for those willing to get out has been outstanding in 30 to 40 feet of water. Magic Bait Company "Stick!It" continues to produce good fish both shallow and deep. Baiting holes almost anywhere on the Lake will result in good numbers of catfish coming to the bait and staying if you bait on a regular basis. With the winds, it is a good idea to find a place out of the wind where you can keep you boat on an anchor or tied to some sort of structure. More and more fishermen are finding Stick!It their bait of choice because it stays on the hook when cast in shallow or deep water and the catfish come to it real quick. Some have been adding a bit of Menhaden Oil to the bait in the cooler weather. Gander Mountain usually has Menhaden Oil in stock if you want to give it a try or you can find it online in several places.
White Bass and Hybrid/Striped Bass
Hybrid activity has picked up with reports of catches in several areas of the Lake. Caney Creek, Lewis Creek and Little Lake Creek have all had a few hybrids caught. Some huge White Bass have been caught this past week trolling Storm Swimming Minnows off points and up in the creeks where pods of shad are located. Spooning Whites and Hybrids on humps and at the mouth of most of the creeks has really picking up. We are getting very close to having the Whites and Hybrids on the bulkheads chasing shad early each morning. Let the fun Begin!!! Once we have shad on the bulkheads, the Whites and Hybrids will begin to hold at the heads of all the creeks and on humps and sandbars on the main Lake. Some of the hybrids were caught with minnows fishing for crappie. Hybrids have also been caught trolling a Pet Spoon behind a deep diving crank bait or Jet Diver to get the spoon down on the edge of flats where there is deep water (22-30 feet). The hot tip now is to locate pods of shad on your electronics and see if there aren't larger fish feeding on them You need to locate the fish with your electronics in 20 to 30 feet of water near a hump or big drop off. WetHook Guide Service reported catching whites & hybrids late trolling Pet Spoon and Inline Spinner Baits behind a JetDiver. The birds are starting to show up on the Lake which indicates it shouldn't be long before we can follow the birds for schooling White Bass and Hybrid Bass.
Bream & Crappie
Crappie fishing has started to pick up in shallower water (10 - 15 feet) along creek channels. The water temperature in the backs of many of the creeks is 60 plus degrees. Nice bunches of Black Crappie males have moved into this shallow water and will move in even shallower as the water temperature warms. If you have a favorite area in the back of one of the creeks or inlets off the main lake that you like to crappie fish, now is the time to visit that spot. Baine Brimberry is pictures holding two of the 12 slab crappie he caught in 4 feet of water in a small slew off of Lewis Creek. All the fish were slabs with one of these being 14 inches. He didn't get a limit; but, he had a real mess of fish. There are many varying opinions among really good fishermen exactly what the best water temp is; however, many fishermen wait too late each year to start looking for crappie in the shallows. A 1/32 - 1/16 oz. crappie jig with chartreuse grubs have been a very popular bait. Minnows are always the favorite of many fishermen. There is a real good article in the TPWL magazine concerning crappie fishing in Texas. Click here for a good article on "Water Temperature". I am afraid too many of us miss some great crappie fishing waiting for the water temperature to get in the high 60's.
More and more fishermen are using jigs instead of minnows when crappie fishing. Bass Pro Shops has a new Tournament Series® Squirmin'® Squirts - 1-1/2'' - 15 Pack tube jig that has been very popular. It slips on the jig head and has a wonderful fall as one piece with a jig head that is 1/16 - 1/64 oz. It has been necessary to fish a heavier jig head with all of the wind the past few weeks in order to let the jig fall in a nice natural presentation. Visit Bass Pro Shops and check out the many colors that are now available.
There has been a lot of fishermen over the years that pay very close attention to the Solunar Times when fishing. Many swear by them, others think it is just so much hoop la. The fact is, some fish and most wildlife are very sensitive to the moon position in relationship to the earth. The crappie pictured were all huge slabs caught by Bain Brimberry in shallow water during the major feeding times. We have a page that is dedicated to providing information concerning the periods of activity of fish each day. See Solunar Tables
Bream fishing is also getting better with "monster" bream being caught on crappie jigs. Most of the bream are in the brush with the Crappie. Glow-Worms (Green Nightcrawlers) have been paying off for several of the guides. We now have some really big bream in Lake Conroe. Many fishermen chum with range cubes to attract and hold the bream. You will also catch a real nice bream when jigging for crappie every now and then
Keep A Tight Line & Enjoy
Papa John
