Me and my wife live in Abilene and are getting into kayaking and kayak fishing and was just wondering aside from Fort Phantom if anyone had any suggestions or experiences anywhere within about an hour's drive of here?

Any suggestions of tactics and launch spots would be appreciated as well.

how far is Possum Kingdom Lake. i want to go on the Brazos below the dam. supposed to be a great place to kayak fish

The State Park side of PK is only about a 90 minute drive. The other side is closer to about a 3 hour drive

The feeder creeks to Lake Brownwood (Pecan Bayou and Jim Ned) are peaceful and remote for paddling. They are also low energy most of the time and the banks are muddy and steep in most places-getting out to stretch and P is a pain. I've caught black bass, white bass, and crappie but catfish seem to be kings with a bit of flow. Lake Brownwood SP may be the better option if remoteness is not your thing.

Oak Creek Lake outside of Blackwell seems to be a great spot for kayak fishin'. Sits 51 miles from Abilene. Heck last weekend there had to be at least 25 of em on the water @ 7am. Great crappie lake as well.

Thank you! I actually went to college at Howard Payne and used to go clean up Crappie from the bank at Thrifty but haven't seen it in a while. Didn't even think about the SP though! Thanks a million!

Good thinking! My family's deer lease actually has a finger of Oak Creek that comes up on it, haven't had a chance to go in about a year though, lake level pretty good?

It's just an hour and a half to the bridge on 16 at the dam. Go 351 to Albany, then 180 east through Breckenridge to 16, then north to the dam.

There are lots of small lakes near just about every little town around Abilene (Clyde, Baird, Anson, Albany, etc...). Lake Coleman is good fishing. Lake Abilene out at the State Park. Lake Alan Henry, Ivy, Brownwood.... There's a Texas Kayak Trail spot on the Pecan Bayou between Lake Brownwood and the city of Brownwood. Decent fishing in the river along the way.

Kirby is a sleeper lake for those that really know it
Crappie bite yesterday was MASSIVE with 16" males leading the charge in bed defense
9 females over 17" outta 22 sack total for two boats was a good day.
Females came off points hitting 1/4oz with 4" tail plastics
Three bonus blue cat longer then my 24" crappie board were released after jig snacking
So many places to fish around Abilene without driving an hour.
It takes time to learn a lake just like it takes time to learn how to fish from a YAK.

Back in the 70's, Lake Stamford was great for crappie fishing. It lost a lot of water during the drought but it seems to have filled back up.

http://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/recreational/lakes/stamford/

Stamford hasnt recovered from the fish kill due to algae a few yrs ago

Cool! Honestly never caught crappie at Kirby, a few bass but mostly blue cat. Appreciate the advice!

If you know how to drift big perch,the east side of the channel south to north
Then there is the saugeye troll LOL!!
Cool lake for sure,just have to work on it a few seasons

Alan Henry and leave the spinning gear at home!