Hey guys,

Edit: I am from Turkey .

I had a 45 days fishing trip in the USA and i traveled through 12 states last year, with an American i met on forums. I am planning to make a documentary out of my experience. This time i am coming back for 7 days to Texas to fulfill some opportunities i missed the last time.


What did i miss?

1- I did a bowfishing trip but i was a total beginner and the weather wasn't good. I gotta do this again.
2- I need to catch some huge fish. Probably a catfishing charter?
3- Not sure yet. But maybe gar fishing?

I can afford 3 charters(1200 USD budget for fishing).

Or ! I can do a bowfishing charter and with the rest of my money i go fishing myself with a boat rented.


Guys, i will fly to and from Houston(May 27-June 3).

Where should i be headed? Since i need to go see a friend in Buffalo, going to Dallas or Forth Worth sounds reasonable. Lots of charters too. But i don't know if fishing is really good there.


Which lake to go for some reasonable boat rentals? If i can't afford boat rentals, fishing from the banks is an option too.


They say 3 days after my arrival is Memorial Day and lakes will be full. Should i avoid a charter that day?


Thank you very much .

I don't have answers to your questions but welcome and thanks for visiting Texas. Hope you have a great time! You might also check the particular sub forums on the TFF for the specific type of fishing you want.

Best wishes!

For $1200 you can do more than three charters if you figure out were you whant to go and when, talk to the quide and get in with a smaller group and split the cost.

That time of year everything is rocking. Stripers at Texoma ( 2 hours drive from Dallas). Big gar on the Trinity bow and tackle( 2 hour drive from Dallas).

If you fly into Houston you got your larger saltwater fish going good in the gulf but the cost for that is at the upper end of your budget.

Boat rentals will be costly on any lake that time of year. I would stick with charters and try some bank fishing at night.

Sheldon and on the fly, thanks guys.

I really need little more specific suggestions guys. I tried to talk to guides to hook me up with another group, so i could do a cheaper charter but haven't ever been responded positively so far.

I know the options are infinite but look at it from my side . I have no clue, which way to go , which charter to pay, what lake to cast my line .

For catfishing go here and make a post about looking for a guide along with the time of year.

http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/forums/5/1/Catfishing

For gar fishing go here and make a similar post:

http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/forums/31/1/Rough_Fish_/_Carp


With regards to bow fishing, I thought we had a bow fishing sub forum. Cannot find at the moment. Avoid posting anything about bow fishing in the Rough Fish section or people will go crazy.

You are better off going with a guide. It will be difficult to find a good spot and have any success. The bank fishing for the most part is not all that great for a visitor.

For catfish I suggest a trip with Michael Littlejohn on Lake Tawakoni

http://www.tawakoniguideservice.com/

Definitely consider booking a trip with a guide on the Trinity River for alligator gar as well.

Both great ideas. You also need to make sure you go to Lake Caddo to see the only natural lake in Texas.

Just a thought, bow fishing is not the only way to see a large alligator gar. There are many fishing guides who will take you fishing for them.

Guys, thank you. As i digged deeper , i am deciding to not do charters and just do boat rentals for many days(besides bowfishing).

Guys, 400 dollars for 4 hour trip. And when it is over, then what? I got a week in Texas and my all money will be over with 12 hours of fishing.

I am not saying it is too much money. All i am saying is, the length of a guide i can afford is very short. Instead , i prefer renting a boat (150 USD a day) and do full fishing for 5 days perhaps.

I don't know why guides can't help hooking me up with some other guys to make it cheaper for me. I found a super nice bowfishing guy who will hook me up and charge only 100 bucks for 4 hours of fishing. Couldn't be any cheaper. I plan to go with him for 2 nights.

http://www.garquest.com



Plus, guided rod&reel trips are somewhat unsatisfactory for a real fisher man. I mean they do everything and you reel the fish in. They don't let you do anything.


Driving up to Texoma for good size stripers and catfish sounds like a good idea. Lots of rentals there too.

I checked rentals around Tawakoni but could find nothing. Cedar Creek is another option.


Trinity river Gar fishing guides are very pricey guys. Tell me if you know a cheaper one though. I know i can do catfishing with a rented boat but not this one.

Lake Fork has boat rentals 1hr 30min from dallas

Rudy, how lucky i am ,Mark Hall offered to take me a day on Lake Fork for fishing. Free of charge of course.

I got the first half of my trip.

2 days in Lake Belton , for Bowfishing. 1 day with Mark on Lake Fork.

Then i am planning to drive up to Lake Texoma for some huge catfish. I found pontoon rental for 140 bucks a day. Pontoon would be much better than other boat options right? Do they have anchors on pontoons?

Check out Mark Malfa with http://bigfishbowfishingtexas.com/
He will do bow or rod and reel

You could save yourself the drive to Texoma and go to Tawakoni from Fork for catfish. Someone around here could probably help you along those lines.

Tony, i talked to this person. Even for 2 day trips, he charges twice more than other guides. Maybe he deserves it. I don't know but i can't afford it.

Garfishingtexas.com will charge 200 bucks for daytime trophy gar fishing or night fishing for carps and others(i will buy both) . This is a great deal but only question in my mind is i am not sure how well night fishing on Trinity River is gonna be. Never seen anyone fishing there at night. Day fishing will be a blast for sure.




Pondfish, thanks man. I couldn't find a rental place on Tawakoni. And Fork apparently doesn't have many large blues(what i read).