Fannin County, Texas -- An estimated 16,883 anglers from across Texas and eight other states traveled to Bois d’Arc Lake in Fannin County during the first six months it was open to the public. Ongoing surveys by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Division indicate between April and September 2024 anglers spent $784,341 on fuel, groceries, tackle and lodging during fishing trips and caught nearly 134,000 fish.
Most anglers are targeting largemouth bass and crappie. TPWD first stocked bass in 2019 as fingerlings in brood ponds. The ponds were later flooded as the reservoir was filled, releasing the roughly 1,000 bass into the lake to grow and spawn. The TWPD ShareLunker program supplied the fingerlings, which were selectively bred to reach trophy size. The program is showing early signs of success, as a genetically tested 8-lb Florida largemouth bass was confirmed to be one of the ShareLunker fingerlings from a brood pond.
In addition to the 39,000 bass caught, anglers reeled in roughly 29,000 catfish and 66,000 crappie. Of those, fishermen harvested 50,205 fish.
Dan Bennett, Biologist at TPWD’s Denison District Fisheries, said he’s been seeing more fishermen since the temperatures have begun to cool. He anticipates an active fall fishing season.
“The bass are moving back into shallower water and feeding more frequently since they are less stressed by the hot weather,” Bennett said. “We are also seeing the deeper brush piles the North Texas Municipal Water District created during construction have started to attract more crappie due to thermal destratification, so those should improve fishing success for those targeting crappie.”
He said that while the TPWD’s statewide harvest regulations apply to most fish species, largemouth bass longer than 16 inches must be returned to the lake so they can spawn and establish a strong population.
Bennett encourages anyone who enjoys fishing to visit the lake.
“The fishing can be excellent since is the lake is new and fish are growing quickly and are not yet very smart,” he said. “They can catch largemouth bass, crappie, blue and channel catfish, and some white bass, along with carp, buffalo, and gar.”
