Sports
Prairies & Lakes Region fishing report - week of Dec. 10
By TPWD
Dec 12, 2025
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Dunlap
SLOW. Water stained; 60 degrees. Bass are very slow with some small bass catches trolling with deep diving crankbaits midlake and mid river. No reports or crappie or catfish. Report by Lee Johnson and Kenneth Linder, local anglers.
 
Aquilla
GOOD. Water normal stain; 62 degrees; 1.01 feet below pool. Crappie are good on brush piles in 20-25 feet of water with minnows or jigs. Bass are good on spinnerbaits in 5-10 feet of water. Catfish are good in the timber with prepared baits. Sand bass are fair in 20-30 feet of water on jigging spoons off main lake humps. Report by Captain Cory Vinson, Guaranteed Guide Service.
 
Arlington
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 66 degrees; 0.08 feet below pool. Cold weather has the bait stacking up in deep water. Bass fishing is tough while fish are transitioning to deeper water. A few fish can be caught dragging points and throwing medium diving crankbaits. Sand bass are on deep flats. Crappie are suspended isolated in the main basin or in schools on deep trees. Report by Cade Rudiger, local angler. All species will sit facing the warm water current at the discharge during the winter months. Report by Cade Rudiger, local angler.
 
Athens
FAIR. Water normal stain; 54 degrees; 0.50 feet above pool. Bass are feeding on shad and bluegill gearing up for winter. There has been a decent concentration of fish shallow and deep. Use live-scop to locate offshore bass and have an umbrella rig or a minnow on a jig head ready. Cast a weightless 5 inch stick bait in shad and bluegill patterns for shallow fish. Mix in a dropshot, Carolina rig, and Texas rig worm on the edge of the grass line. Crappie are schooled up on main lake brush piles hitting crappie jigs or minnows. Use a lighter jig head as the water cools down if the wind allows for it. Water clarity 3-4 feet of visibility. Report by Captain Kirk Pasalich, Artifishable Fishing Guide Service.
 
Bastrop
FAIR. Water normal stain; 64 degrees. Bass should be in the reeds and shallow grass hitting Texas rigs, or squarebill crankbaits. When the water temperature drops below 60 degrees fish will suspend in deeper water.
 
Belton
EXCELLENT. Water normal stain; 63 degrees; 0.39 feet above pool. After two cold fronts in rapid succession accompanied by a full week without direct sunlight white bass fishing took a nosedive thanks to a 5-plus degree temperature drop in under six days. Now, with daytime sunlight and some stability in the weather, the bite is beginning to bounce back. Change to a slower presentation using Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs. The stinger hook feature on this bait adds landed fish to every trip. Fish these white, three-quarter ounce, shad-imitating baits by dropping them to bottom and then slowly steadily reeling them up while watching Garmin LiveScope for a positive response. Many times this past week we found fish which would simply not respond. Other times, fish would respond albeit only for a few minutes before shutting off. Moving frequently was the key to catching. Report by Bob Maindelle, Holding the Line Guide Service. The recent steady cold fronts have increased activity for larger trophy sized blue catfish. Catfish are great and anglers can expect catfish to be very productive throughout the winter months. Deep river channels and sand flats are locations worth fishing in 25-45 feet. Fresh cut bait is best. Report by Brian Worley, B&S Catfishing.
 
Benbrook
FAIR. Water normal stain; 56 degrees; 1.78 feet below pool. Crappie are fair in 15-30 feet next to timber with live minnows. Catfish are good in 20-35 feet with stink bait and cut bait. Hybrids are fair on live bait in 20-40 feet. Report by Hundley's Guide Service.
 
Bois d'Arc
FAIR. Normal stain; 50 degrees; 2.05 below pool. Bass are fair to good mid morning to the afternoon in 5-8 feet of water suspending jerkbaits around pond dams and bushes. Chatterbaits and spinnerbaits are working around grass and bushes in 4-6 feet. Texas rigged creature baits fished very slow around old road beds and big trees are fair in 5-8 feet. Report by Marc Mitchell, Mitchell's Guide Service. Crappie are excellent on tree tops in river channels with minnows on a 1/16 ounce jighead. Crappie can be found from the 897 Bridge to the dam. Report by River Bottom Boys Guide Service.
 
Bridgeport
FAIR. Water clear; 55 degrees; 4.41 feet below pool. Crappie are fair in 8-15 feet of water on docks, and in 25-45 feet of water on offshore brush piles with minnows and jigs. Largemouth bass are fair using deep crankbaits and swimbaits for deeper schooling fish or on banks in the morning with crankbaits and chatterbaits on main lake rock and docks. White bass and hybrids are fair on main lake humps and points, deadsticking slabs or trolling with deep crankbaits. Catfish are good on cut bait and chicken liver on main lake humps, deeper holes in coves, and in the river on boulders. Report by Jack Pellegrini, Lake Bridgeport Crappie Guide Service.
 
Cedar Creek
EXCELLENT. Water slightly stained; 55 degrees; 3.09 feet below pool. Good stacks of hybrid striped bass and white bass are being found on mid-lake points and drop-offs along sandy flats throughout the entire lake including the dam area, Crappie Island, Key Ranch, and the spillway humps in 8-14 feet of water. Cast spinnerbaits and slabs, and watch for schooling fish on these flats as well as around deeper seawalls and shorelines. Fish any hump in 10-14 feet across the lake to find schools stacked up as the day warms. Schooling activity is best on cloudier days. Birds will show you the way and will become more consistent indicators of active fish as fall continues and throughout December. Target hybrids with a spinnerbait or work a slab vertically with a fast up-and-down motion. Strikes are immediate. A slow retrieve with a slab cast and reeled steadily back is also effective. Try rattle traps, spoons, umbrella rigs, slabs, or sassy shads to trigger bites. The crappie bite continues to improve. Target crappie with small jigs and minnows in 5–12 feet under bridge pylons, brush piles, and docks. Anglers are finding limits by moving from spot to spot�"catching several fish before relocating. Guides report conditions improving, with larger crappie showing up more frequently. Report by Brent Herbeck, Herbeck’s Lonestar Fishing Guide Service. Conditions have been consistent so catfish continue to be good with the same pattern. Catfishing is good in 2-8 feet of water on the north end, or drifting 10-36 feet of water throughout the lake with fresh gizzard shad and cut rough fish. Report by Jason Barber, Kings Creek Adventures.
 
Comanche Creek
75 degrees; 0.37 feet above pool. Comanche Creek continues to boast limits of largemouth bass to 8 pounds and eater sized channel catfish. Channel catfish are good on prepared baits and cut bait. Largemouth are good on soft plastics worked near points and creek channels. Tilapia continue to be abundant on worms fished under a cork. Report by Michael Acosta, Unfair Advantage Charters.
 
Cooper
SLOW. Water stained; 53 degrees; 3.67 feet below pool. Crappie are slow and difficult to find. Best bet is to target river channels with minnows. Report by River Bottom Boys Guide Service.
 
Cypress Springs
SLOW. Water normal stain; 53 degrees; 0.78 feet below pool. The pattern remains the same but in the coming week expect crappie to pull off structure and roam. Lots of small crappie are on timber and brush. Keeper crappie are coming off the bridge columns with minnows. Open water suspending crappie are easily spooked due to continuous boat traffic. Report by River Bottom Boys Guide Service.
 
Eagle Mountain
GOOD. Water stained; 56 degrees; 1.86 feet below pool. Fishing patterns have been holding steady. The eater catfish will start to slow, so switch the tactic to drifting. Trophy blue catfish bite should start to pick up. Blue catfish are good with cut shad on trotlines. Yellow catfish are good with live perch on trotlines. Crappie are good on jigs and minnows around boat docks and pushing shallow due to water temperature. Black bass are fair on spinnerbaits and jerkbaits. White bass are fair on slabs over humps and points Perch are good on nightcrawlers around docks. Carp are fair to good on manufactured bait around docks. Report by Captain Bobby Mann, Catch a Dream Guide Service.
 
Fayette
SLOW. Water slightly stained; 65 degrees; full pool. Water clarity is finally clearing. Bass are slow pitching Texas rigs in 6 feet of water against the trees. The morning bass bite continues in shallow water with rattletraps and underspins. Mardi gras or plum apple are good colors. Report by Mark Fransen, Fransen's Guide Service.
 
Graham
SLOW. Water stained; upper 60 degrees; 3.74 feet below pool. Bass are slow with the best bite on slow moving baits. Crappie are good on minnows in 14-18 feet on deep brush or rock piles. Sand bass and hybrids are schooling on main lake flats feeding on shad. The bite is good on slabs and buck tail jigs. Catfish are good in deep water near creek channels with cut shad.
 
Granbury
GOOD. normal stain; 55 degrees; 0.14 feet below pool. Granbury water levels are at full pool. Water clarity is good on the main lake and somewhat stained but clearing in the river above Granbury. There is some floating debris, so be careful navigating the lake. Blue catfish reports are fair to good with catches up to 15 pounds on cut bait fished on the upper ends. Striped bass to 7 pounds are slow to fair on jigs and live bait fished on the lower ends and near Indian Harbor. Look for birds circling feeding fish. Sand bass are slow to fair on slabs and small jigs worked in 20 feet of water near channel ledges from Decordova to Ports O-Call. Crappie action continues to be good on small jigs worked near submerged structures like timber and bridge pilings. Black bass action is good to 6 pounds on soft plastics worked near main lake points and in the back of sloughs on those warmer afternoons. Report by Michael Acosta, Unfair Advantage Charters.
 
Grapevine
GOOD. Water stained; 57 degrees; 0.31 feet below pool. White bass fishing is best on sunny days. Now is the time to start deadsticking small slabs and small swimbaits. Gulls are still leading the way to fish. Fish are still not in deep water for the winter pattern. Crappie and catfish are mixed in with the sandies. There are plenty of baitfish for the fish to feed on. Report by Omar Cotter, Luck O'the Irish Fishing Guide Service.
 
Hawkins
FAIR. Water slightly stained; 57 degrees. Small poppers fished around grass and isolated stumps should draw a strike from black bass. Small streamers should bring action from chain pickerel. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service.
 
Jacksonville
SLOW. Water normal stain; 50 degrees; 0.10 feet above pool. Bass are slow with a big worm on a Texas rig targeting structure and brush, or with a wacky worm around docks and against the bank. The size and quantity of fish is down.
 
Joe Pool
FAIR. Water normal stain; 60 degrees; 0.28 feet below pool. Cold weather has the bait stacking up in deep water. Bass fishing is tough while fish are transitioning to deeper water. A few fish can be caught dragging points and throwing medium diving crankbaits. Sand bass are on deep flats. Crappie are suspended isolated in the main basin or in schools on deep trees. Report by Cade Rudiger, local angler.
 
Lavon
FAIR. Water stained; 60 degrees; 2.08 feet below pool. After the cold snap crappie are deep hugging the bottom of humps, in 25-30 feet on structure, and hugging silt bottoms. Spider rig fishing working with minnows and jigs. Some crappie can be caught in 6-12 feet in the private boat slips with structure from 7-9 a.m. then from 3 p.m. to dark. White bass are deep anywhere from 100-500 yards off the dam. Turn on your noise making thumper or splasher and anchor up for about 10 minutes. If fish do not come, move a quarter of the way down the dam and try again. Fish should be in the same area as the threadfin. Use live-scope to watch fish get near your lure, then slowly reel up to trigger a bite once the fish starts to study the bait. Small swimbaits on 5/8 ounce jigheads, minnows, or slabs will work. Live threadfin are great. Expect to catch crappie, catfish, or a largemouth while targeting sandies. Catfish are good anchoring on tree lines in 3-15 feet of water with cut bait on the bottom and seem to be producing some very large fish. Catfish are schooling in 25-30 feet feeding on shad. There is a thick wall of bait from the bottom and anywhere from 7-15 feet. Once you see that, you know catfish are in the area. Start dragging cut bait on a santee rig. Black bass are in 15-20 feet of water on laydowns and rock piles. Throw a square bill crankbait up on boat ramps, even in the middle of the day. Put on a 12 foot diver if you do not get a bite. You will be surprised to find not all the fish are deep. Any super sharp drop-offs in 15 feet of water are producing bass with Carolina rigged jigs or a 5/8 ounce jig with a jerkbait soft plastic minnow attached free swimming it over the bass if you have live scope. No reports of bluegill, they have disappeared for the winter. No reports of tilapia. Report by Carey Thorn, White Bass Fishing Texas.
 
Lewisville
FAIR. Water normal stain; 55 degrees; 0.03 feet below pool. Hybrid stripers and white bass are slow to fair on points and humps in 5-30 feet of water. Jigs, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, and live bait are working. There are some fish starting to show up deeper in 30-48 feet as well. Please be aware that there are a lot of undersized hybrid stripers in the lake that look very similar to a white bass. Blue catfish are fair to good on cut shad drifting humps, points, and flats in 15-32 feet of water. Channel catfish are slow to fair on baited holes on humps and points in 20-30 feet of water on cut shad or punch bait. Crappie are fair in 10-34 feet of water with minnows. Check brush piles, submerged timber, laydowns, bridge columns, and rock piles. Submerged cover close to a drop off ledge has been best. Report by Wes Campbell, BendARod Fishing.
 
Limestone
GOOD. Water clear; 57 degrees; 1.72 feet below pool. A lot of catfish have moved into the creeks. Target timber with birds to find catfish beneath. Target largemouth bass in 6 feet of water or less on docks, bulkheads and rocks with red chatterbaits, red rattletraps, and Texas rigs. White bass are in tighter schools feeding on shad. Target sandies on mainlake points and flats with silver super spoons. White bass will be in 6-20 feet of water, and periodically move shallower. Crappie are will scatter on cloudy cold days and bunch up on warm sunny days. Target 8-20 feet of water with minnows. Some crappie will also start suspending on timber and in the middle of creek channels. Some crappie have eggs already. Report by Colan Gonzales, Lake Limestone Guide Service.
 
Navarro Mills
GOOD. 60 degrees; 0.17 full pool. Crappie are good in 14 feet of water on brush piles with minnows. Primarily undersized fish with some limits of good sized crappie. Blue catfish are good from the bank or the boat with cut shad. White bass are slow. Report by Navarro Mills Marina.
 
Palestine
GOOD. water stained; 50 degrees; 0.06 feet below pool. Crappie will start to transition into the creeks. Crappie are good in 16-25 feet of water with jigs or minnows. Bass and hybrids should be more open water oriented chasing bait balls. Catfish are good in shallow water in the creeks with cut bait.
 
Palo Pinto
SLOW. stained; 60 degrees; 0.25 feet below pool. Few reports and anglers on the water. Blue catfish were biting with cut bait and fresh shad. Crappie were biting in deep water with minnows. Drum and carp were biting on worms.
 
Ray Hubbard
GOOD. Water normal stain; 54 degrees; 1.16 feet below pool. White bass are grouped up in large schools on deep flats in 32-38 feet of water. The south end of the lake is the most productive area. Locate schools of bait and fish those areas with the 2-3 jigs tied above a 1 ounce slab. Thumping the boat produces the best chances. Most fish are suspended mid-water. Crappie are fair and also moving out from brush and in the deeper water along flats and levees. Catfish are good in wooded timber 25-28 feet on prepared punch bait. Chumming will help bring the schools into your areas. Some reports of big blues on the deep flats mid lake. Drifting with large cut bait best. Report by John Varner, John Varner's Guide Service.
 
Ray Roberts
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 55 degrees; 0.94 feet below pool. Crappie have moved to main lake brush piles 35-40 feet of water. Crappie are good with natural colored jigs or minnows. Target fish in the middle of the creeks channels in deep holes and pockets, on flats with timber in 12-18 feet or in 25-30 deep brush. Channel catfish are good on baited holes. Blue catfish can be caught on flats with 40-60 feet of water with cut bait. Sand bass are fair on humps with live bait, or slabs. Largemouth bass are fair to good running in pockets, ditches and draws with a swim jig. Report by Daniel Koberna, Lt. Dan's Crappie Co.
 
Richland Chambers
GOOD. Water slightly stained; 59 degrees; 2.00 feet below pool. Catfish numbers are good and it is a great time to fill the freezer. White bass and hybrid bass are moving, but when you locate fish they are bunched up. Fish can be caught deadsticking flukes or hitting slabs, and Pet Spoons. The cold fronts are starting to come in more frequently and when the water temperature drops the bite will improve. The colder the water gets the more the black bass will get on hard structures near drop-offs. Use a tight wobble crankbait and or an All-Terrain jig and work tight to cover. You can still move the bait semi-fast until the temperature really drops. Report by Terry Hawkins Guide Service.
 
Somerville
FAIR. Water stained; 54 degrees; 2.80 feet below pool. The water temperature has dropped 10 degrees in a little over a week. At the marina all species are fair. On the lake crappie are fair with various jigs and minnows holding tight under brush in 8-16 feet of water. Catfish are good in 5-12 feet of water on drop-offs with cut shad, punch bait or using jug lines. Black bass are fair on craw jigs and slow plastic baits in 6-14 feet of water. White bass are slow trolling with various spoons or anchored with shad and ghost minnows. Hybrids are fair with jigs or cut bait in deeper water. Below the dam all species are slow while water is not being discharged. Report by Weldon Kirk, Fish Tales Guide Service.
 
Stillhouse
FAIR. Water stained; 63 degrees; 0.92 feet above pool. After two cold fronts in rapid succession accompanied by a full week without direct sunlight white bass fishing took a nosedive thanks to a 5-plus degree temperature drop in under six days. Now, with daytime sunlight and some stability in the weather, the bite is beginning to bounce back. Change to a slower presentation using Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs. The stinger hook feature on this bait adds landed fish to every trip. Fish these white, three-quarter ounce, shad-imitating baits by dropping them to bottom and then slowly steadily reeling them up while watching Garmin LiveScope for a positive response. Many times this past week we found fish which would simply not respond. Other times, fish would respond albeit only for a few minutes before shutting off. Moving frequently was the key to catching. As a bonus, quality largemouth bass are now showing up in big numbers in deep water, especially where timber exists. This same Slab will remain effective in catching these fish through February. Report by Bob Maindelle, Holding the Line Guide Service. Bass activity has improved, with many fish chasing shad in open water. Forward-facing sonar is helpful for locating these roaming schools, and mid-strolling minnow-style soft plastics or Alabama rigs are producing consistent results. Fishing around rocky structures with football jigs continues to generate solid bites as well. Report by Ander Meine, Bassquatch Fishing,
 
Tawakoni
GOOD. Water lightly stained; 57 degrees; 1.55 feet below pool. Fish are heavily feeding after a significant drop in water temperature. Hybrid striper and white bass action has been good. Seeing limits of big hybrids, most trips and white bass. The best depths have been 10-20 feet. Swimbaits and slabs are working best, however, be looking for these fish to move offshore and into deeper water soon. Eating sized catfish is very good. Limits of quality channel catfish have been reliable on cheese based punch bait in 16-25 feet. Trophy catfish are good and will improve as water temperatures drop. So far we have seen fish to 65 pounds caught on cut bait. Best depths have been 10-25 feet. Crappie fishing is better this week than weeks previous. Target bridge pilings, docks and vertical timber in 15-20 feet of water. Largemouth are very good with squarebill crankbaits in super shallow water next to dock legs and shallow stickups. Report by Captain Michael Littlejohn, Lake Tawakoni Guide Service.
 
Texoma
GOOD. Water stained; 57 degrees; 0.32 feet above pool. Striper fishing for better quality fish is getting hotter as water temperature cools into the 50s. Swimbaits and sassy shad early are catching bigger fish on structures in 10-20 feet. The deadstick bite is really taking off, drifting flukes 50-65 feet of water. Live bait with medium-large gizzards is still catching fish on Main lake points and ledges 25-40 feet of water. Catfishing in the deep water is starting to produce more big fish with the water temperature continuing to fall, 40-60 feet of water on deep flats drifting large cut baits. Crappie fishing will continue to improve as the water temperatures have fallen into the mid 50s and the crappie start to settle in on structure and brush piles in 20-30 feet of water. Bass are starting to settle into a winter pattern. Look to find bass feeding and hanging on shallow structures and flats on sunny days, and hanging a little deeper off the banks on main lake points and structures on cloudy days. Report by Jacob Orr, Lake Texoma, Guaranteed Guide Service. Stripers are good on the ledges and in deeper water with slabs. Fish are either over 20 inches or undersized, not too many in between. Some reports of anglers deadsticking to land catches. A few birds are working. Report by John Blasingame, Adventure Texoma Outdoors.
 
Weatherford
SLOW. Water stained; 52 degrees; 5.41 feet below pool. Bait is starting to transition to the creeks. Bass are slow around docks with crankbaits. Crappie are slow with fish suspending in the main lake. Catfish are fair around rock with liver or stink bait. The visibility is 6 inches.
 
Whitney
FAIR. Water normal stain; 62 degrees; 1.33 feet below pool. Catfish are good using punch bait in 20-30 feet of water. Striped bass are good on live bait in 25-30 feet of water. Crappie are good on main lake brush 20-30 feet of water. White bass are slow on slabs in 20 feet of water. Largemouth bass are fair using soft plastics on deep structure and around docks. Report by Captain Cory Vinson, Guaranteed Guide Service.
 
Worth
GOOD. Water normal; 58 degrees; 1.78 feet below pool. Bass fishing fair using baits with slow presentation. Crappie are slow. Sand bass are good on slabs bounced off the bottom near schools of shad. Catfish are good using cut bait. Report by Michael James, local angler.