We went to Lake O� The Pines for the 1st time this Memorial weekend. We stayed at Marley�s Bull Frog Marina in one of their 2-bedroom cabins. The cabin was decked out in red, white, and blue everything, a perfect theme for this weekend. The entire area is on the small side, very clean, and quiet. They do not have a restaurant on site but there is a nice store/office. The lady running the place is incredibly nice as was everyone we ran into up there. The ramp is very well made.

We headed onto the water Saturday morning to fish Johnson Creek right there at the marina. The wind was kicking from the south, making journeying out of the creek very challenging. The lake is at least 2-feet over, so all of the bank grasses were underwater. Unfortunately, we did not get a single strike on this brush all weekend on any type of lure. I noticed two things right away; there was absolutely no submergent vegetation and the water was very �shallow�. You could be 100 feet from the shore and only have 3-feet of water under the boat. We fished a large portion of the creek and hard a very hard time finding fish. In 5 hours, we managed a whopping 5 LMB. We put our boat in our rented slip and went over to a place called �The Cafe�, which is about 5 minutes for the marina. They have a very large selection of home cooked meals but I had to check out their cheeseburger, onion rings and iced tea. They were all good.

Saturday afternoon, the wind out of the south lessened and we decided to cross over to the south shore. We fished a shore line with some of the cleanest water we had seen but it was still shallow. We came across a �dirty/clean� water line and started throwing lipless crank baits in about 8-12 feet of water. A few minutes later, I caught a 1.5 bass. My Wife and I would follow that up with 7 more fish. The water line dissipated and apparently the fish moved on as we didn�t get another bite. It had been a long day, so we called it quits.

Sunday morning, we headed back over to the south shore line but we couldn�t find ANY black bass. I managed one white bass, which did put up a good fight. We went back in for lunch and talked to a guy that said most of the success on this lake with LMB comes from fishing the north river channel. I had been told by a TFF member also, that this was the area to go. So, we ate our lunch, put the boat on the trailer and head to a boat ramp at Highway 155. We had been told that the river channel was marked but we got there, the maze of poles and arrows baffled us. So, we did our best to putt over to a few fishing spots, trying to stay in safe waters. We caught 3 LMB over close to the Pump Station when we heard the 1st rumble. I looked at the radar on my phone, and sure enough, there was a big, ugly cell to the west of us. My Wife said that it was far away, but my experience told me that rain moves faster than fishermen. I also thought about how long it had taken us to travel the short distance because of not knowing the water. We headed out and a bass boat zoomed by us, weaving around the river channel markers. Hallelujah! I put the pedal to the metal and followed my leader. When we got to the ramp, the rain was coming down slightly, but we knew it was going to get bad. The lightning made us hustle even more. The weird thing is that the rain was west of us and we were going east. But it was raining cats and dogs the nearer we got to Marley�s. I had not brought any kind of boat cover because I figured the boat was going to be un the covered slip. I thought that I could put out boat in the water and stick it in our slip BUT IT WAS MONSOONING! I ran from the Jeep to the cabin, leaving everything in the boat.

We cleaned up and went to Longview to see a movie. On the way there, we saw signs of very high winds, tornadoes, or both. There were trees down all over the place. Green leaves were blown all over the roads. The power to the entire theater went out after we started watching the movie. This totally screwed everything up. They apparently had to �reboot� every projector in the theater. It took at least 30 minutes before our movie resumed. At the end of the movie, the sound went out. Picture but no sound. We heard the last 5 minutes of the movie. They gave everyone in the theater free passes to make up for the inconvenience.

We got up this morning and decided to just go back home. We weren�t impressed with the lake and it was probably just going to rain again. I am not trying knock LOTP by saying it reminds me of Lake Conroe. Sandy, shallow and no vegetation.

Great story.....
Sorry you didn't have a great trip. But, sometimes just doing something "new" or a new place for an old hobby is enough to make it worth your time.

Wasn't the best of weekends to be fishing at LOP or any other lake here in the area.

That was a EF-1 tornado that came through Northeast Longview Sunday evening. Actually passed right by the movie theater's property. Still a lot of people without electricity and looks like it maybe Friday before all power is restored.

I'm glad you and your wife are safe and hope you make a return trip another time.

We knew something really bad had happened in that area, for sure. I pray that no one was hurt and that electricity is returned quickly. I don't know about going back to LOTP but I do want to fish Lake Gilmer.

Yea Pines was tough this weekend for more then you

Fishing has been tough on Lake Gilmer the past couple of years, but I"m sure it will get better as the grass returns. I can hook you up on most any of the lakes here in East Texas, so give me a shout when you're in the neighborhood.

Nothing wrong with the Pines. Lake has been on the fall for a month and the fish have transitioned from the bushes.

We had a tough morning but moved down to mid lake in the afternoon and ended up with 30-40 fish for the day.

The boat traffic in Johnson was crazy that afternoon but we smoked them in there.

Yeah LOP sucks!! :grin;

Glad y'all had a safe trip, though

definitely a top 5 lake in Texas for me

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absolutely