Anybody been on Granger lately? I'll be out there for a few days later in the week, and was just curious how the fishing has been out there.

I haven't been on Granger in a long time but the shallow water fishing should really be picking up. I'd focus on wind blown banks in 5' and less.

Head out myself in the morning. Hopefully can give you some info then. Sounds like the weather going to get warmer as the week goes on. Like Jerry told you look shallow first, then if nothing, drop back to about the 10ft to 15 ft range. That's my game plan for tomorrow.

Just got back. Fished jugs Fri-Tues. I would say slow for Granger. Lots of dinks. Fishing over 100 hooks. live shad, cut shad, wieners, hearts, perch. 50 fish 1-20# yellow 3-15#to20# blues. Rest were 1# to 4#. Willis creek area flat out had 5 jugs stolen the first night. All 5 in one set were missing. Talked to someone at ramp who had same problem. Spring break I guess. Never had this happen before, and have fished their for many years.

A lot of traffic on the lake because of spring break?

We didn't make it yesterday. Yea, your jugs most likely had fish on them and someone helped themselves to them. I have seen people run them over and bust them up with the prop also. I've gotten to were I spray foam in mine, if they hit it, maybe it will stay a float until I find it.

Lot of traffic from spring break and the crappie/white bass run. The older guys who fish Granger call this rookie season. When the crappie stop the spawn, it thins down.

Put a piece of rebar in it and then fill it with foam so that when some jerk decides to run over it, he at least gets to make a trip to the prop shop.
There is no reason to cut any thief any slack.

Make a nice thumb nose there!

Fishing was a little slow, but we did manage a 7,8, and 11 lbs yellow cat. There were a lot of people fishing for whites.

Thanks for the foam tip. Had not thought of that and I own a hardware store. Sell cases of the stuff every month. Not trying to damage some ones boat. I know they can be hit accidentally at night or when sun is in you eyes. Keep the fish but leave the gear. Ain't cheap to make good jug lines. Hopefully they will get theirs in the rear end. Not really much traffic Friday-Tuesday but weather was mostly poor. Had fun and camped, relaxed and drank a few.

Brad of True Value?

Yes that's me.

I had a few hit back during duck season. I figure duck hunters early in the morning. The foam sure does keep it floating for a while and it helps if you have a cat on not to lose it.

I figure the catfishing up the river will be slow in the river right now, lot's of boat traffic going back and forth. Wind has been tough on the main lake some days. Should start to get better in April. Nice catch there JM, them some good eating yellow sizes.

How has the action been on Granger lately?

Heard it's been very tough since middle of the month.

The cats are messed up with all these little front coming through. Couple days wind from the south, then a couple the wind from the north. Being a shallow lake like it is, these little changes can make a difference. We've been catching some but not like we should right now. Catching in 4 ft to 15 ft of water. Shallow early, then adjust back as the day goes on.

Bites are right at sun up till about 10, in 3-4' then moving out in 10-12'

I went out last night and it was super slow. Seemed like they were not biting at all. We had tons of perch still left on the hook untouched. Ended up with one Blue and one Channel.

Over the past month Iv had some of the best fishing I have ever experienced on Granger. Been averaging 10-15 fish each trip with several around 9-10 lbs. Yesterday we brought home 9 blues and channels and released a blue just under 17 lbs. All caught on shad in 2-8'. Granger certainly looks like it's on a good trend right now and it's producing much bigger fish that in the past, for me at least. Hopefully those 10 lbers can get some more time to grow up and really turn this lake into a quality bluecat fishery

Never happen.... Granger will always be a eater type lake. I've been catching huge blue cats out of the San Gabriel river sense the early 70's. My uncle's in-laws use to farm in the area now called the road bed. Granger is to shallow, and to much pressure for a 4000 acre lake. On shallow, the lake is silting in quickly!! By 2030, they expect to lose over 50% of water surface. Look at the river channel already, trees growing on new land. Willis Creek area, will go dry in summer with not average rain fall. Silt is the reason they moved the pump station to Wilson Fox. Deepest side of the lake and only that's around 25 ft., you will find a few deeper holes, but they are holes. The pump station has the capacity to remove over a million gallons of water a day. Granger over all average depth is 4 ft. Have you ever duck hunted Granger, you can get by with hip boots. Granger was built in the late 70's. The San Gabriel has a great number of blue cats in this area, plus they stocked it with blue cats around 1993. Granger was built for flood control and flood control only. The boat ramps and parks was a after thought. They were not even going to open it to the public, but pressure made them do it. Oh, you ever notice all the bar wire fences that barely go under the water, they are to keep the cows from getting stuck in the silt when the lake drops. With the size of this lake, the pressure from people and silting in. It will never happen. If you even put a slot limit on it, now way. You fish it as much as I do, you will see nice size cats floating dead on the lake after being released. I've seen cats over 3 ft floating dead. Time of year, shallow lake equals oxygen levels. They are stressed after being caught, if the oxygen level in the lake is not good, they die. The true reason why I's so successful on fishing Granger, I've learned to fish the oxygen levels for that time of year.

I'm like you Jerry, I wish it would become a good blue cat lake. It's design, overlay of the land and pressure will not allow it to be.

I could see silt being a problem in that lake. Lot of farm land around there.

You make some great points big zee. Silting in, and the depth are the 2 major factors that will prevent it. No way to stop that.. however, the pressure and harvest rates are something that can be controlled. With proper regulations, and education, the amount of fish harvested from the lake can somewhat be controlled.

It really doesn't make sense to me, that little ole mud hole Granger, and many other lakes across the state just like it, have the same harvest regulations as some of the biggest lakes in the state. Those lakes are so very different, how can the same management plans be effective on such different lakes.

I'll probably get shot at for this, but I think harvest regulation would be a good start. I don't see the need for a boat full of people to harvest 25 fish apiece every time they hit the water. Catch a few, leave a few. We all know that's not going to happen. Maybe bag limits and making it a slot lake like Waco is the answer.

Myself on harvest. Granger is in between two worlds. Big city and those good ol country boys. Harvest want work, not enough Game Wardens to enforce the law. To many illegals fish this lake and they don't care for harvest. By illegals, that means in those without licenses. The biggest fine on Granger is fishing with out a licenses. These people don't care about harvest. Granger is over 40 years old now, the limits that are in place are good enough. Have you looked at Lake Somerville Blue cat record, over 80 lbs. Same limits, same type of pressure, but pressure from Houston area. The difference is Somerville is much larger! Much deeper. It still has a silt problem, but much less. The Yegua has a Duck Unlimited project up by Iron Bridge that catches a lot of the silt. But the lake is bigger and deeper, translate to colder waters. Blue cats are a cold water cat. If you duck hunt Somerville, you can still use hip boots, but you don't, why, the water is much colder in the winter when the blue cats make the biggest growth, so you wear waders for warmth. Same weather pattern, same cold fronts but deeper lake, translate to colder water.

You're doing good right now because, when Granger has a flood prone year, like the last two, the water is colder from the rain, once again translate to more prime blue cat water during flooded years. These fish will be harvested out very soon, why, pressure. Even if you drop down to only keeping 15 cats a day, you still have a population of over a million people to the west and it's growing. I watched them build that dam, my brother in law first job was building that dam. When the lake had a 9" cat limit, or even when it had no limit, we caught bigger blue cats, bigger yellow cats and bigger channel cats. Also in those days, you didn't see many boats on the lake, and most of them where 14ft flat bottom with a 15 hp on it. It was a country boy lake all the way. Then Austin started to grow, and the pressure increased, the size went down. Like I said, you can drop it down to 15 cats a day and the harvest rate will still be much more then Lake Waco, due to the amount of people fishing the lake. It's called volume, or simple, supply and demand. Granger can not keep up with the supply, because of the demand. Between the bank fisherman, the kayak guys and those in boats, Granger averages close to 750 people fishing each weekend. Much more then Lake Waco. 750 x 52 weeks= 39000 people a year. Number rise during crappie season. Remember cats bite minnow also. The biggest problem with Granger is the poaching. Cats, Crappie and Bass. Game wardens caught some guys this year, 3 had over 100 fish, that's cats, crappie and bass in the mix. Those guys had been doing this for a long time they said and just finally got caught. How many go by each weekend that don't get caught. Don't blame the Game Wardens, they have some from Milam County, Bell County and of course Williamson County patrolling it. To much pressure for law enforcement, plus a lot of times the GW get's tied up enforcing other laws there also. A lot of times you see the GW and then Williamson county sheriff right behind them. You hear people talking about all the drug use in river area while they are fishing, do they care about harvest.

I will predict, because of the internet and social media, in 10 years all lakes in Texas will be slot lakes. No more trotlines and jug lines. Most likely you will only be able to use two rods in the boat. The old tradition for fishing will be in the past.

All good points.

Look at the way TPWD manages deer populations across the state. For example, south Texas has a very different deer population than the Texas Hill Country. Those 2 areas are managed very differently with different yearly bag limits, antler restrictions, and even different seasons. Great job on this TPWD!

Why can't we have specific regulations for Catfish on each lake, rather than a statewide standard for all lakes?

Zee where did you get your numbers on how many people fish Granger each weekend? I was just curious.

Completely agree with Zee on this one. I lived in Austin for 10 years, i looked hard to find a decent place to fish that didnt have 1,000 people elbow to elbow and ended up out at granger and the san gabriel that feeds the lake. The first couple of years wasnt to bad until crappie and white bass spawn time then it got a little crowded at times. 2013/2014 season was the last time i fished there, usually everyone i met while going out there was nice and courteous to other fishermen. That last year was horrible, i saw people keeping undersized fish ( reported doubt a game warden had time to out and check though), i watched another guy skip an undersized crappie off the bank before it fell dead in the water. I caught a few fish, only to have 4 people come within an arms distance and put lines in right where i was fishing. I dont live there anymore, and do not fish there either. My only hope is that the hog population gets out of control and runs some of them folks off. I am back on my home lake Belton, we still deal with some of those problems but not near as bad i dont think.

Zee you make a ton of great points that I agree with. The biggest problem Granger has is that it has so much fishing pressure on such a small body of water. I also agree that the floods the past 2 years is the biggest reason for the increase in the size of fish this year. I think the floods, fishing pressure, and size of fish all go hand in hand. Just think about how many days over the past 2 years all the boat ramps on Granger were closed due to flooding. All that time of closed ramps resulted in a rest on the fish with no pressure. That resulted in months of no fish being pulled from the lake, and gave a lot of fish more time to grown. Even when the ramps did reopen, the high water levels result in more flooded water shallow areas and more places for fish to hide, and be more difficult to catch during those high water times. The floods gave the fish a break and time to grow. Now we are seeing the benefits of that with much better quality fish being caught.

You are exactly right though. With current regulations of 25 fish per person per day, and the return of the extremely high increase in fishing pressure the lake will receive over this summer, it will not be long before the majority of those fish that had some extra time to grow up, we be caught out of the lake, and Granger will return to the little ole mud hole full of 2-3 lb fish that it is known for.

For the record, I never said I was in favor of a slot limit on Granger like Waco has. While it may be slightly helpful I don't believe it is the right answer for Granger. If not many fish ever make it to 30", then a regulation requiring releasing fish over 30" doesn't do much good. I feel a reduction of the daily bag limit would be a good start. After 5 years of that re-evaluate the lake on the numbers of larger fish and make revisions to the bag limit if needed.

I would love to see those big blues we use to catch. We called them humpback blues back then. I guess Granger is really becoming more and more a urban lake. With the growth of Austin and Williamson County, Granger water is going to be in even bigger demand. That little flood plain lake is going to be taxed really hard for water. They had plans to raise it to 506 for the summer draw down, but it ain't happened yet. Got a lot of red tape to cut through. They were also going to pump water into it from Alcoa, but San Antonio got that water. Water will be the next big boom around here. Fishing and recreation takes a backseat to green lawns in those rocks.

Honestly, I don't know why anyone wants to keep a big blue cat. The skins is to hard to pull off. Give me a big Yellow Cat any day. They skin easy!

We all need to go to the next subject on Lake Granger. "What Have You Had Stolen Off Your Boat Trailer"? .........................

Myself, I had my light covers stolen off, my running boards for the boat taken off my trailer. I will say this, they did put there worn out ones on my trailer, thanks for that.

My buddy had his depthfinder taken off his boat when he went up the hill to get his truck. Another buddy had his rod and reels taken out of his boat when he went to the bathroom at the ramp.

What have ya'll had stolen while fishing Granger?

Nothing so far. Maybe I'm lucky! Not trying to stir the pot or anything, but I was fishing on Granger Saturday night, and I only saw 3 other boats that were fishing. Now, I only saw maybe half the lake, but all the action I saw were people just cruising around and not fishing. I can only speak for what I saw, but I didn't see anywhere near 750 people fishing last weekend.

I guess I've been lucky, but I've only fished Granger a few times. I rarely go fishing without a buddy and one reason for that is security. Nothing of value stays out of my sight long enough to be stolen. Everything goes in the truck ad out of sight, especially if there's a chance I may stop on the way home for something.
Theft isn't limited to the lakes. Snowyriver had someone break into his garage in Cedar Park and take about 10 rod & reels out of his boat, in the garage. That's ballsy but I guess meth heads figure they got nothing to lose. They haven't looked down the barrel of a 1911.

Big Zee, is it one particular ramp you have theft problems with?

I'd also like to know. Iv never had problems with theft at Granger. I launched early Sunday morning from friendship park and fished till a little after noon. Had a spare castnet and a cooler in the back of my truck. Neither were touched.

Will make this short.Ban all jug fishing across the state.

Lived in Taylor since 1966 and fished Granger since 1979 when it opened and the river before that. I have never witnessed the large amount of fisherman talked about in these posts. Camp at least 2 weeks a year and leave the boat in the water out of view most of the time with gear in it. Have never had anything stolen.
Sorry if you have had bad luck but it would seem the exception and not the norm. Jug fishing has been consistent over the past 12 years. Not as many over 25# the last couple of years but other then that not much has changed.

somebody stole my yearly pass out of my truck at fox

I go fishing 4-5 weekends a year at Granger and I just haven't seen that kind of pressure. The busiest weekend I saw was when there was a local cstfishing tournament going on. Even then, no where near 750 people fishing. We normally do pretty well with eater sized blues, and some decent sized yellow cats. I've never been real interested in big blues.

Sorry meant week. Also, It is the average for the year. Take a good look at the steps in the spring.....Can you find a spot to park there on the weekend and even some work days. To get average, you take the whole year. Not just the days you are their. So that's 750 a week (AVERAGE) x 52 weeks a year = total. Average is not just one weekend. It's the whole year together to get it average for the week. Spring might have a day or two..or twenty when all the boat ramps are full, the steps have no where to park and below the dam what about it. Also Willis creek slew might have a lot of people, and don't forget the fishing pier at Wilson Fox. Then we got the west boat ramp, taylor park boat ramp and willis creek boat ramp and friendship boat ramp where people fish from the bank. Don't over look the people fishing at Overlook. Then what about Spring Break. That whole week, lot of families taking their kid fishing. Memorial Weekend, July Fourth, and Labor Day Weekend. You can also throw in the opening day of Dove Season. Those guys with the Annual Hunting Permits also fish to after Dove Hunting. Start bringing these days to the yearly average. What do you get. Please forgive me for not reading my first post and making a mistake on the word weekend not week. Also thank you very much for pointing out the mistake. I hope this clears up the meaning of Average Yearly Week. It will now be referred to as AYW. Also the information proved is by.... Thought I would give you something else to pick at. Plus, this is the last I have to say on this subject. It's been covered very well and now it's time to move on.

I got my stuff taking at Friendship Boat Ramp after they no longer have a yearly gate attendant. Buddy lost his Depthfinder at Wilson Fox. Other Buddy lost his rods at Taylor Park. Also had a buddy get his duck decoys stolen at Taylor Park, went to the bathroom. He got them back at the Pawn Shop in Taylor. This is not a case of bad luck, it's the real world coming to Granger Lake. If you haven't had something taken yet, your real lucky. Crack heads are out there looking for something easy to take. It's not the 70's, 80's or 90's no more. If you fish nights there, have the sheriff office number in your phone. Good luck and good fishing guys.

Have a buddy that had his back window broken on his Suburban and a bunch of gear stolen in middle of the day at Fox parking lot.

Lot of thing get stolen over there. My good Friend works for the Sheriff Department and another works for Taylor PD. They told me some good ones.

Have a fishing buddy that lost his tailgate on his new Chevy truck at Friendship.

I've never had anything stolen at Granger and I've been going there since it opened.
I don't see the fishing pressure talked about either.

use to , maybe 15 years ago you could actually fish at the steps but no more. It looks like home depot parking lot. I think the internet has a lot to do with that. I never fished granger a lot but I know there are a whole hell of a lot more people there now than there used to be. I've only been 3 or 4 times in the last 3-4 years. And it has changed so much since the floods I dont hardly recognize it anymore.

use to , maybe 15 years ago you could actually fish at the steps but no more. It looks like home depot parking lot. I think the internet has a lot to do with that. I never fished granger a lot but I know there are a whole hell of a lot more people there now than there used to be. I've only been 3 or 4 times in the last 3-4 years. And it has changed so much since the floods I dont hardly recognize it anymore.

I'll ask this, how good of fishing do you think the people at the steps or anywhere else along there are actually doing? Are they hammering catfish from there?

We fished the stairs this past Sunday, we got there about 10am fished until lunch and were the only ones there. We had 2 rods for cats and I tossed little jigs and we never got a single bite. It is so over grown there, like no one has been there in months. We then went just up the road to the other place ( not sure what it is called ) and the gate was closed and locked. I know they were doing road work on it months ago but thought it would have been opened by now. Very Disappointed.

Sound like with the bad rap fishing pressure should be decreasing very soon. I love the lake for a place to go 5 minutes from the house. I know there are lots of other lakes that are better in central Texas and probably always will be. But I still enjoy the Lake several times a year. Sorry if I upset anyones apple cart with any comments.
Have fun and great fishing where ever you go.