I'm new to the forum pretty much and new to owning a boat. Do to the daily stress of my job (police officer) ive decided to take life a little easier and unwind on my days off. I hope to get better at fishing on tawakoni. I want to target sand bass, hybrids, strippers and cat fish big and small. I want to fish days and nites live bait and Moes lures. Just don't know a lot about where to go what to look for and how to read the graph very well. Guys any help that can be passed on will greatly appreciated. Docs orders are to get away and de stress some.

Um, two bits of advice:

1) Don't take your boat out at night until you've gotten plenty of time in on that body of water.

2) Go with a guide once or twice & let him know you'd like as much education as he's willing to share with you.

Otherwise, if you search through the whites/striper & catfish sections, you'll find plenty of educational posts about general fishing information, as well as particulars about your home lake.

Welcome to the TFF!

I've been going with a guide n have learned a lot more then I knew. Private lakes and stock tanks are way different then Tawakoni. I been hitting it pretty hard since I got the boat catching or not I enjoy my time out there looking for the birds and the fish. Lol

best stress reliever out there. time on the water and youtube will probably be your best friend unless you get a guide

There are some guides who are willing to come on your boat and teach you how to use it most effectively. Some of the guys on the forum might know a Tawakoni guide who would do this. Fishing is an amazing stress reliever, especially when you're catching them one after another. Good luck!

Im gonna ask around to see if I can find one to help me.

I was in the same boat as you a couple years ago, maybe worse... All I knew to do was troll for whites during the summer months. I have booked with http://www.lakelivingstonadventures.com at least once a season and they helped turn my fishing into catching! My son calls us catchermen now, lol. I haven't trolled since booking with them. I catch fish during every season. Guys buy a boat, graph, ipilot, lures, rods & reels, and try to learn on their own. Its tough! The price for a good guide is worth it after spending that kind of money. A good guide will take you out in their boat or in yours and teach you what you need to know. Lake Livingston Adventures has a guide for Conroe & Livingston and another guide around the Dallas area. These guys will do what it takes to help you!

Glad to see you finally made it over to the TFF

Learn to use your graph and learn to find the fish hanging out on the humps. Also, keep your binoculars in the boat and watch the birds.

Superduck (Moes Tackle shop) can give you some advice on what lures are working. If you're ever in Terrell stop by his slab lab and see the mad scientist at work.

Now you just gotta start eating fish! Lol

Hire a guide a few times a year. It helps with the learning curve.

Electronics with charts will help. Most of the year, fish will be around structure specially Hybrids and Sandies. zebra fish like to be around the 22ft mark, humps and transitions will hold these fish. sometimes in very small areas. Download navionics onto a ipad or computer and look for the humps and secondary points with the right kind of structure on the couch. put coordinates into your machine. spend time looking at your sonar. learn what concentration is worth fishing, and or to keep going. Most of all, spend time on the water. Most consistent areas have the same characteristics on all lakes. These characteristics hold shad. If that doesn't work, pray for birds.

Well said...would recommend using the Navionics app or the free webapp on your computer to look over the areas you plan to target. The difference being on the phone or tablet app you can drop waypoints to hit while you are on your boat.

Best advice out there is to hire a guide to learn the lake and techniquics of species you are fishing for. They will also teach you to read your electronics if you ask. When I first bought my boat, I tried to do it all myself. I would end up out on the water from sun up to sun down catching very little fish or getting skunked, which added to the frustration. I finally took several guide trips, the light bulb came on, and have absalutlty fantastic days on the water. I take the guys from the base with me on trips, and they tell me it's the best fishing trip of their life. That being said, the guys want to fish Joe Pool after work, I booked a trip with JP's Guide Service for next week. I can spend hours, looking for the fish, and cost for operating the boat, or I can split a trip with the guys and learn the lake.

Quality electronics with a map chip is your friend.

I agree with everything said above.
Matt Cartwright is one of the premier guides on Tawakoni. He is an expert also with his electronics, not only will he give you pointers on the lake but also seasonal pointers because we know they change from month to month. Contact him at 214-415-0166. It will be the best investment you can make and it will probably repay itself back in fuel money that you will spend.

Very good thread and thanks for serving, Keener. You're like me, I enjoy being on the water catching or not. Its play time for me and big stress relieve therapy for me as well lol. With that I suggest every trip out is a learning trip for the next one. Have a game plan on the pattern, targeted areas, depths, points, humps etc. By pattern I mean time of year, sun, clouds, water temp, water color, wind speed and direction. Take good photo memories of what's beneath the boat of the areas you fish. It will help you interpret the area better on your next visit. REMEMBER to LOOK at your graph when you are catching cuz your graph will show you what the fish look like. Read TFF.

The key is to find the fish FIRST on the graph. Small 1oz slabs will be the easiest to catch fish for newbies. Then expand to other lures as your confidence grows. At the end of the day it's basically just me verses myself ( and mother nature) so I set my own goals,deadlines and I often win

Towak has been doing great lately. I agree with all the other replies. I have never fished with a guide but time on the water and playing with electronics has been my key.wind blown main lake points almost always work out. We have been killing the dandies on the point just east of the state park. Learn the lake before night trips!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As water levels fluctuate sand bars off of points can get shallow and there is a lot of forest covered up right now with all the fresh water!

Be safe and relax!