Hey guys, relocated to Texas in 14. Haven't been fishing much since I've been here...been working quite a bit. I've noticed most of the information on the internet about fish on any particular lake exclude bluegill. I live just south of DFW with Joe Pool being the closest body. I've read the crappie are pretty decent there, but no information about bluegill. Is this true for most of the lakes in this area or does anyone know where the closest decent gill lake might be? I love bass and crappie fishing also, but a mess of 8"-9" on ultra light tackle really gets my blood boiling. THANKS

Welcome to the forum. I don't know anything about the fish in your area but someone will be along shortly that does.

There are a few on here that fish JP for sunfish that Im sure will chime in.

I would also recommend scouting creeks in your area, any deeps pools should hold sunfish. They will also be on beds soon which makes for fun sight fishing. Good luck and Welcome to TFF

Welcome to Texas. You did not mention where you came from but I am afraid you may be in for culture shock. Hang in there and you will get used to Texas.

First, there are no public lakes near you with any quantity of 8 inch and up Bluegills. That is puzzling since lakes to both the east and the south do have large bluegills. There is something about the area lakes that keep the bluegills from growing large. If you are willing to settle for 7 inch fish with the occasional 8 incher then Joe Pool and Arlington are the places for you. The record bluegill at Joe Pool is 9.88 inches, set in 2009. If you want larger fish the the lakes near Athens are the closest to us.The record bluegill from Athens is 10.00 inches, but the large fish are more common.

You come at a good time. Before the deluge last week the fish were beginning to bite.

If you are at Lynn Creek fishing barge on Joe Pool any Wednesday morning early you will see me there.

Yup,what he said. You ask someone about perch fishing and they'll ask you "where a bouts you got lines at?" Or " you gonna set some lines this weekend?" Meaning most consider them as bait. Smithaven got you answered pretty good.

To the Texas Fishing Forum. Glad to have you on board. Looking forward to reading more of your post! I also do not fish in your area and like what has already been stated several anglers who post in this section fish your area for Bluegill. Hopefully some of them will reapond.



Side Note: Sunfish will getting very active from now until late October or early November!

Thanks for the welcome and the info. Smithhaven I'm assuming you're talking cedar creek, richland, and Palestine. I will do some research on those lakes tonight. I had kind of planned on hitting Navarro mills at some point also as I had a guy I worked with recently retire and say it was a heck of a crappie lake. How far would I have to go to get the best Texas has to offer for gills? I was at fork last spring with a guide and he said there weren't many in there either. Nice crappie and bass though. Thanks again

Lake Athens is one of the best public lakes near the Metroplex. The best lake I know about is Bluegill Lake Cabins near Athens. If you stay in one of the rustic cabins you can fish in several small lakes which contain giant bluegills. Other than that Banker's territory near San Antonio is best. The lakes there have a fish called the Rio Grande Chiclid which is found nowhere else. Also, Lake Fairfield in central Texas has very large bluegills. It had a fish kill a few years in a row, but the bluegills have recovered somewhat. Also, Toledo Bend is a great bluegill lake.

A guide from Waco works Lake Athens. He has the reputation of finding large sunfish. He uses the name Waco Kid. Search for him on the forum to see pictures of large sunfish.

On and around Joe Pool I've caught bluegill at the Lynn Creek barge/docks, fishing State Park jetties when they're accessible, fishing the very back of the lynn Creek park, in various parts of the feeder creeks (Walnut Creek, Bowman Branch, Lynn Creek), next to the boat ramp in lloyd park when the ramp is closed, from the fishing jetties in lloyd park, at the spillway leaving joe pool. I don't keep the fish from the spillway but a lot of people do. I don't know where you're from, but it's different fishing from the North while fishing for bluegill only in that it's hard to see the beds on most lakes, so it can be difficult finding the big ones. Most people don't target bluegill here from boats, but there is a guy named Waco Kid who was guiding trips last year on Athens and I think he planned on doing it again this year. Look through some of the older posts and you'll see the monsters they were catching last year on mainly Athens from what I remember.

To the TFF! You picked a good section to post in!

To the TFF! Great place to hang out.