Lake Conroe Fishing Report - Lake Conditions: The lake level is currently at 199.72, water temperature is still in the 70's and water is clear. The weather has been absolutly beautiful. Clear skies, limited wind and cool most of the day. Fishing has been outstanding. There have been very few fishermen on the lake the past week. Deer season started this weekend and most of the deer hunters are at their leases. Boat traffic has been very limited making most fishing areas free of boat traffic. Black bass fishing continues to be very good, crappie fishing has picked up, catfish fishing continues to be outstanding in both shallow water around the docks and in deep water on baited holes. Drift fishing has been paying big dividends for catching big blue catfish. Hybrid fishing has been fair with a few being caught mixed in with white bass schooling on points and sand bars early and late. Texas Parks And Wildlife completed filming this week for a PBS documentary on catfish fishing on Lake Conroe. The jug line trip was outstanding. Caught lots of fish during the filming and some big fish to boot! Filming continued the following day doing drift fishing, shallow water dock fishing and vertical fishing in baited holes. We all had a great day on the Lake. This pretty weather is just what the fisherman has been looking for. Let's go fishing.
Black Bass
The April Plaza "Thursday Night Bass Tournament Classic" was held on October 25th and 26th. First place went to Vince Aderson and Rusty Lawson with a total of 10 fish for the two days weighing 47.84 pounds. First place paid $5000.00. Big bass was caught by Archie Kitkoski weighing 8.96 pounds. Fishing has been great for all of our bass fishermen and this tournament weighed in some outstanding fish. Lynn Farrell, a local Lake Conroe fisherman caught a beautiful 8 pound bass fishing a main lake point early with a black worm. Top water baits in the shallows and along the rip-rap early has been very productive. Many of the tournament fishermen seemed to be using shallow running crank baits with a lot of success. Plum, black and other dark colored worms have been great later in the day on drop off's, pond dams and brush piles. Some good solid fish have also been being caught in the boat docks on worms flipped back into the shade. There is a lot of bait in shallow water this year and the bass are feeding on the small fish and shad. Brush on the main lake points and secondary points have also been very productive.
Catfish
Catfish fishing has been outstanding. Baited holes in 15 to 20 feet have paid off every day for the past several weeks. Cheese baits, punch baits, shrimp and cut shad have all been good. Good solid fish to 5 pounds. Jug Line fishing has been outstanding. The guides have been fishing most of their catfish on baited holes in 15 to 20 feet of water. The 1097 Bridge has had good days and slow days. Drift fishing has been producing 3 to 9 pound Blue Catfish using shrimp and cut shad for bait. Fishing shallow water in and around the boat docks using the new Magic Bait Company "Stick!It"for bait has produced good solid fish early and late. When fishing bulkheads and docks, try and find an area near a point or secondary point where the wind is blowing into the dock and creating an eddy on the backside of the boat dock. If you need to get out of the wind, find an area that has 50 to 75 yards of open bulkhead with the wind blowing down it into the first dock area. Then throw some range cubes up under the dock in the shade where it is dark. It is a good idea to bait several docks and then just fish them all. You will just about always find three of four catfish in each dock and you can just keep rotating docks until you have your limit. The great thing about "Stick!It "is that you can cast it out 20 to 25 feet from where you want to fish. By staying back a good distance from the dock, you don't spook the fish in the docks where the water is only three to four feet deep. If you move in too quickly, you will spook the fish. Fish the same bulkheads and docks each time you go fishing.
White Bass and Hybrid/Striped Bass
The Hybrid fishing has been fair for those fishing for the pesky critters. One of the guides has been using live bait and doing real well with his clients down on the South end of the Lake. Live bait seems to be the best bait for this time of the year. The fish are in deeper water following the big pods of shad. You need to locate the fish with your electronics in 18 to 22 feet of water near a hump or big drop off. If you see the fish pushing shad to the surface, you can cast Storm Swim Shad in the areas you see the shad jumping. Trolling Jet Divers with a #13 Pet Spoon as a trailer continues to catch a few hybrids once they are located. Be sure the Pet Spoon is at least 4 feet behind the Jet Diver and further if you can slow your troll down. The fish are suspended over humps with deep water to 35 feet and deeper on each of the hump. Jigging spoons & slabs along all the creek beds on the drop-offs in 20 to 24 feet of water has produced some white bass. Several fishermen have gone back to using leadcore line and a countdown Rapala in shad color or the blue color to catch the hybrids trolling in deeper water. There just are not many folks on the Lake right now fishing for hybrids or white bass. Boat traffic in general is very light and makes for great fishing. The weather has also been wonderful for fishing with cool morning and evenings. Time to get your boat out and go fishing!
Bream & Crappie
Crappie fishing is picking up big time. The year with lots of grass provided for a great spawn and there are lots of 8 to 9 inch fish which will be legal size in a month or two. Good stringers of crappie have been caught in water 17 - 21 feet on brush piles and around all the bridge pilings. The 1097 Bridge has had some real nice fish. Brush piles in timber next to creeks and along and near the tram have also been good for crappie. Charturse 1/16 oz. jigs and minnows have been the best baits. We are going to have a much better crappie season this year than we did last year. Bream fishing continues to be outstanding with lots of good sized fish in 5 to 12 feet of water. Glow-Worms (Green Nightcrawlers) have been paying off for several of the guides. Bream are being caught along the bulkheads as well as in deeper water when chumming for catfish. We now have some really big bream in Lake Conroe. Many fishermen chum with range cubes to attract and hold the bream. Only problem, this has also been attracting the grass carp. The grass carp are biting night crawlers and put up a real fight when caught. These fish must be released unharmed back into the Lake. Meal Worms and regular nightcrawlers are also a good bet. Don't forget to use crickets.
Keep A Tight Line & Enjoy
Papa John
