My son and I do a decent amount of fishing on Lake Houston b/c we live on Lake Houston. We catch everything other than bass.

So - within a two hour drive of North Houston - can you guys recommend places for catching largemouth? We do not need lunkers...just want to catch more than 1 per week. Should I just go to Sheldon?


We have a jon boat, but not against a guide service (with boat) if less than 500/half day.

summer pattern can be tough depending on your go to technique. how do yall fish?

Gibbons Creek?

slammerag said:

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summer pattern can be tough depending on your go to technique. how do yall fish?

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Only morning and evening near docks and shorelines. I am out of my game fishing lower than 8ft.


I used crankbaits and plastics. He uses only crankbaits. He has caught more gaspergou than bass since March.

GCR is closed after the sale of the property.

Summer patterns can be tough without electronics. There's always some fish shallow, but not near as many as a couple of months ago.

Fayette County may meet the distance requirement. Fayette has a lot of quality fish, but the water will be in the mid-upper 90s, and they like to go deep, but there's always some shallow.

Lake Raven is a fun little lake, no combustion engines but believe you can use trolling motors.

As far as I know, Raven is "idle only". And yes, it can be a fun little lake. There used to be some good ones in there.

Theres some bass in Huntsville state park. Lake raven is the name of it I think.

Caught black bass out of there. Watch out for gators.

Gators are pretty bad at Sheldon.

Watch the weather and throw top water in windy overcast conditions. Throw a square bill in that 8' depth. Deep divers are difficult with electronics due to not knowing if dead water. Learn about the Ned rig.

Look at spring creek park and spring creek greenway trail on google maps.

There are a couple of oxbow lakes back up in the woods with some big bass in there. Black mud at the bottom and big cypress trees.

Be real careful of gators there too.

Also there's small bass in the deep pools along that area of spring creek. White or yellow rooster tail, smaller the better.

For those oxbow lakes, its tight cover, so weedless plastics. Sinko works well and I've had some big bass destroy topwater there but it difficult to cast a topwater from the bank.

Sam Rayburn - lots of bass and you can catch fish fishing along the banks so you don't have to spend a lot of time searching for structure.

Fish grass frogs along the bank early and late. Should be within your 2 hour radius from Lake Houston.

Ratcliff Lake in Davy Crockett national forest (west of Lufkjn ) has good bass fishing and good for Jon Boat.

A hidden gem just North of Nacogdoches is Naconiche Lake - just off 59. The cedar picnic tables in the pavilion were my youngest sons Eagle Scout project. That will be just at your outer edge of 2 hours from N Houston. Perfect lake for a Jon boat.

I second that lake Naconiche. Theres some big bass up in there but you talking 3 hours.

AgFlyGuy said:

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Lake Raven is a fun little lake, no combustion engines but believe you can use trolling motors.

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TM is most effective but you can use your big motor, just gotta stay at "idle speed" as the whole lake is a no wake zone.

I really like fishing Lake Raven. Especially in the late spring after the lily pads have had a chance to really grow up. I throw frog-pattern poppers on the fly there and love the big blow ups.

Thanks everyone - i have heard of very few of these!

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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I second that lake Naconiche. Theres some big bass up in there but you talking 3 hours.

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2 hours 12 min from Humble - lived in Nacogdoches for years and it was always a 2 hr drive from Bush International to home

Thats not bad at all.

Is Lake Raven still good? Used to catch tons of bass there but it's been probably 12-15 years. I live a half hour away now.

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Thats not bad at all.

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that lake used to get almost no pressure except from locals until it was fished in Major League fishing a few years ago - I don't live there anymore so not sure if it has returned to normal fishing levels

Fished Lake Raven from the bank end of March a few years back. Caught four 4+ fish on a green pumpkin grub inside the lily pads

I've heard of locals sneaking in there before TPW opened it for fishing.

I think they let it sit stocked several years before it opened.

Brazos1865 said:

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As far as I know, Raven is "idle only". And yes, it can be a fun little lake. There used to be some good ones in there.

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The lake record is 13.5 lbs. We fished it all the time back in the 80's. It was fun. Had to watch out for the gators though.

Go to Rayburn if you are wanting to fish shallow. 3/8 oz swim jig in white with a beaver style trailer in the thickest grass you can find with 65lb braid and hold on. Can also catch em on a walkin frog in the grass or flip it around the bushes like you would a jig and walk it back to the boat.

Conroe

Go west 2 hours to Fayette

Fayette county has lots of fish. So does Lake Bastrop.

SanAntoneAg said:

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Gibbons Creek?

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Gibbons is no longer open to the public.

From North Houston, you are only a few minutes from Sheldon. You wouldn't have to invest a lot of travel to try it.

Lots of birds and gators. According to park rangers, it's the only lake in the state where you can launch a bass boat and fish without a license because the entire lake is within the park boundaries.

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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I've heard of locals sneaking in there before TPW opened it for fishing.

I think they let it sit stocked several years before it opened.

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they did. Took years to fill it - multiple 10+ came out of there when they first opened it. It was in construction when we moved there in 2004 and didn't open until 2012. It is small enough to kayak fish as well

Are you fishing the main lake on Houston are up the river?

Hire a guide for Lake Houston.

Email?

We live in Humble at Mesa and beltway and have boat for fishing.
We catch bass here and there up Luce bayou
Sheldon is good for bass. We always catch them there even if crappie fishing.
I learned to bass fish on Fayette and that's just under 2 hours.
Caught my pb on Conroe and broke off what easily would been my pb on Rayburn... Just over 2 hours

About 10-15 years ago I read a post on here or somewhere else about a guy catching bass in little white oak bayou right there where it crosses west Cavalcade.

The spot is in Houston right there off 45 by the Astro Inn. You know the place.

Theres a short bridge right there and you really cant even see the bayou from the road in the summer.

In any event, the guy said he was catching bass out of there so I drive by one day to check it out.

I was way too grown up to access. You'd have to go through the Astro Inn parking lot or go down underneath the bridge. It would be risky and hard to access. You'd need a whole squad of mfers to run security so you could fish.

So I abandoned the idea, for those reasons but I'd still think about it from time to time when I pass by that area.

I'm still curious about that spot though. Someone on here probably knows or has some story about it.

Sam Rayburn is within 2 hours of Lake Houston. Launch at Caney Creek and fish any haygrass you find early with a senko in green pumpkin or watermelon red. Wacky or weightless T rig should get you bit.

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