being here for 4 months and have been struggling to get bass let alone a good solid thump. went out to texoma on Saturday and got skunked and went to ray rob today and got skunked. Putting a lot of time on the water and have thrown everything. Anybody have any advice for me? Im just not finding any confidence so far and im just itching to get some bass. On a side note, Im fishing from shore and have a tough time finding deeper water and have lost a bunch of t-rig weights and spinnerbaits. But the all the lakes ive fished are beautiful and I cant wait to get to know them better (ray rob, grapevine, texoma, lewsiville so far).

Fish ponds, the big lakes are tough in the Winter.

Like it was said above, winter is tough but you can keep having fun and stay active scouting water and different accesses for later in the year.

I have caught a few bass from the bank in winter mostly crappie fishing. Medium sized minnows or 3 in soft jerkbaits on drop shot rigs. Use multiple rods but that makes you less mobile.

My first 5 lb bass came on a baby bluegill under a bobber in the winter. Catfish too.

I think its great your gettin out this time of year!

Ha- I feel your pain bud. I made a forum account here to ask for advice after getting absolutely smoked on Ray Roberts several trips in a row. If it makes you feel any better, most everyone I've talked to isn't doing any better on Ray Roberts.



You might think about giving Danny Golden a call if you want to fish Ray Roberts- he helped me quite a bit and is a TON of fun to fish with.

James Biggs has been super helpful too. I took a trip with him a couple of months ago that really opened my eyes to stuff I'd never even thought of before. I remember him saying Lewisville is one of his better lakes. Plus, being able to text him random questions and getting a quick reply has been friggin great.

Roberts is BRUTAL when the water gets cold. Even the local sticks out there will tell you the bite gets very tough. Same with Lewisville. And both of them are above pool right now, making it more difficult.

I second the pond suggestion. I know it's not as glamorous as fishing the lake but there are a ton of ponds that can put out 6+lb fish up here. I dunno exactly where you're located but if you close to Lewisville, send me a PM and I can point you to some good ponds that will get ya a few fish.

Squaw, Welsh, etc... find the warm water lakes like everyone else.

Go to Rayburn!

wait 60 days

You can successfully catch good fish from shore in the big lakes, even in winter. There are a couple of keys to it. First is, you don't have to be able to access deep water, but the spot you fish needs to have very close proximity to deep water. If you find that type of spot, on most days some fish will come up to feed. At some point. The next key is patience. You may be slinging for hours in the hopes of getting just one bite. But that bite just might be a dd. To find your spot, study some lake maps. As for baits, everything has its time and place, but I recommend something heavy that you can sling a mile. Lipless cranks, blades, spoons, heavy jigs and t rigs. Think of it like deer hunting. You pick the right spot, you prepare, and you wait. If you are patient, you have a good chance of a big payoff.

Well, thanks to your post I cut my call short with suicide hotline. I thought it was just me,

If you're fishing from the bank, I'd go to Squaw Creek this time of year.

Mike,
I hope to be going to RR this weekend - Saturday afternoon or Sunday or both??? I fish from the bank and would be happy to share what I've learned. It is definitely slow this time of year but, like others said, going out now will make Spring fishing a lot better. I caught my personal best in December one year at RR and I caught this nice little chunk on New Year's Day 2016 so the fish are there.

PM me if you want to meet up or, if you can't, I can send you a PM with some tips.

There is a small lake just north of Decatur on the LBJ Grasslands called Clear Lake. It has good foot access and has some DD'S in it. It has deep water and 3 good size feeder creeks that hold good fish. Winter time in the creeks are really good for some giants. Might be worth it to make a trip up to the LBJ office in Decatur on 287 and get a map. There are a couple of other lakes there as well. I have fishes them for 30 years and done very well. I live close so if I don't get the big boat out, I'll run over there and fish for a couple of hours. Roads lake is also a good one.

Bank fish at squaw on Thursdays... Bembrook has some good bank fishing in most of the south creeks and is a good place to catch a hog... Not so much numbers though.

Benbrook has no docks or private areas back in the creeks so you can walk the entire shoreline and fish and find areas you like. Would wear water proof gear too so you can really get into some areas.