Hello everyone, I wanted to check in on Lake Somerville.
I’m taking two teenage grandsons next weekend 2/23. Going to stay in a cabin at the marina and depends on the wind as to what we’re doing. I had to plan the trip weeks in advance and hope for good weather. Looking at the forecast for Saturday looks like we’re good to launch from where we’re staying. I’m wind watching it close. My boat is a 16’ flat bottom but it’s extra wide and sturdy. With the 40 hp Yamaha I’ve navigated some fairly rough stuff.
But I try to stay where it’s calmer depending on the fishing. I like to drift or troll for catfish however this trip I got a bucket of chum brewing and see if I can keep the kids safe and anchor for some channel cats. Of course things can change and we end up looking for schools of hybrid stripers.
I’ve spent some time on Somerville but I only had to zig zag my way back to the ramp one time. Wind was out of the south and we drifted the area to the right of Rocky creek park. We made two drifts using drift socks and everything was good but the closer we got to the main lake we were drifting towards the bigger the waves were getting and after the 2nd pass I called it. Stowed all the gear and headed in towards the marina.

Zigzagging my way through we got a little spray on us but that’s all. No water in the boat it was a good day.
I don’t know what the wind speed was then and I’m kicking myself for not looking at least one of my gadgets. I figured I’d call the my limit. 20 years ago running a 21’ bass boat and 225 Merc it didn’t matter. But that’s another life and like relaxing while I fish and I respect the water.

Anyone know what 10 to 15 mph winds are going to kick up? I can handle that in the smaller lakes here around Smithville like Lake Baastrop. I can run WOT and stay on top of those waves. But Somerville is a different story and seems like it doesn’t take a whole lot of wind to crack a rib in my boat.

And how about a fishing report or a hint on depth to fish?
I’m hoping to put these boys on some fish.
The wind looks like Sunday morning we may drive around to the east end and launch.

Thanks for reading I appreciate y’all’s input. Keep your lines tight.

The white bass spawn is going strong. Take them bank fishing at Newman Bottom.

Thank you so much. Those boys would love chunking some spoons and catching a load of fish.
Here I am doing all this stuff to the boat and the bank is going to be the way to go. Lol

Give it a month or so and when the shad start spawning the catfish will too, hit the banks in your boat and you’ll catch a good mess of fish!

Fished nails creek by boat for a few hours today,Water temp 55 degrees late afternoon . Fished 2-3 hours and caught 1 crappie and talked to a few guys that said they had a slow day

Everybody thank you for your fishing reports. This will be one of those trips that I’ll have every rod I own ready so we’ll be ready if we run into any schooling. The boys are dead set on going in the boat. Saturday wind looks like it’s going to be just right to put out the drift socks and fish the deeper water. The report says the big catfish are fare in the deep on jugs and drifting. Hybrids are also hitting cut bait according to TPW. That’s what I mainly set my boat up for with 1/2” threaded rod holders and 7’-8’ rods. I got into chasing big catfish while rebuilding the boat and watching the drift fishermen. It’s not all ways good for quantity but a couple 20-30 lb fish makes the day. I still go after eaters I have to bring something home.
I’m hoping to catch some fresh bait Friday night. Shad and blue gill would be nice. Frozen just don’t work.
Early in the morning we’ll chum some spots for channel cat then do some drifting later. Head east in the afternoon and check out what we can get on in the creeks. For that I might trailer the boat to nails or birch so I’m not running the entire length of the lake after dark.
Sunday morning we’ll leave the boat behind and head for Newman Bottom. Which I’ve never been. I looked on line and I found trails but nothing about a fishing spot.
J-Moe can you help me out? Do I park in a parking lot and walk a certain trial? Or someone pm me with a gps coordinate would be awesome?I have to plan out what I get myself into. I can hold up fare. Have to where a brace for my back while in the boat or by the time I get everything set up and start drifting I’m crawling to the seat. I’m only 58 but my back is slowly getting worse with a degenerative disease nothing can be done about.
That’s why I’m doing all the fishing I can and spending time with my 12 grandkids.It says it’s not far from Dime Box which means we’ll have to drive around the lake from the Marina. Depending on check out time I may have to make the trip loaded up with everything but that’s okay.
Thanks again everyone the replies are awesome. Great fishermen on here and even better people.
Y’all keep a tight line.

Howdy Douglas,

You park at Newman Bottom Parking Lot which is right next to the creek. All you have to do is get out and walk a few yards to the creek. The trails run up and downstream. There will be lots of people.

You will need to pay $4 per person to fish the area. This can be done at Nails Creek State park are at the self pay box located at the entrance to the road going to the parking lot.

Very easy trip.

I think it's $5 per person now. Or I've been overpaying.

Thank you again sir. Been a long time since I’ve fished in a crowd. I actually grew up 7 miles down the road on 36 headed towards Brenham. My parents owned the first bait shop to open when the lake did. Named after my oldest brother Big Mike’s Bait and Tackle. Our minnows where guaranteed to catch fish or die trying but our worms would try to wiggle out of the deal.
I just didn’t get to know the lake. The business grew into lot of wholesale and we supplied the stores on the lake and had to route trucks. When I got old enough to drive I was delivering 6,000 minnows to Big Creek every third day at least.We didn’t have a boat and the whole time growing up we stayed to busy anyway. I loved talking to the fisherman and seeing what they caught though. My Dad would let a few people bring in huge flatheads and we would let them swim out in the clean water in one of our many vats.
We would slow down in the winter but we hunted all season.
Fast forward about fishing in a crowded spot. I used to work in College Station and some of us would get together and drive to the dam when the hybrid stripers were about. I remember certain folks that as soon as you catch a fish there would be 4-5 lines landing right in front of you. They crossed our lines many times and tangled us up. I saw the game warden bust a couple. I didn’t even know he was around. I saw a lady taking fish up the hill and putting them in the trunk of a car. Come to find out they were all under size and the officer popped up out of nowhere and had been watching them too. Lol
This was I bet 25 years ago. We finally stopped going. My boss got fed up one day and tied on a big crank bait with three treble hooks on it. He cast it across the water and snagged as many lines as he could. We couldn’t understand what they were saying but they were shouting over at us and my boss just grinned and slowly raised a one finger salute. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I was ready to leave at that point. Back then I thought it was cool. Now I just move along and let what comes around to them happen.

I really appreciate the information. I’m hoping to teach the boys how to respect the things we’re blessed with and about courtesy to other boaters. This will be a great opportunity to teach them how to respect other fishermen.
I’m heading to town and I’ll grab some lures for white bass. All I have now are a couple of spoons and some heavy slabs for open water.

These are great stories. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you sir. I start rambling on sometimes and don’t know when to stop. I have a lot of fishing stories from years ago when I lived on Lake Limestone and was fishing every bass tournament I could and going as fast as my Triton could go.
Now I’m happy with my old 1983 16/52 Monark with a 1992 40 hp 2 stroke Yamaha. I liked the boat because of it being so wide for a 16’ jon. It was sitting out in the elements taking a beating. After a weeks worth of negotiations the guy finally figured a little cash in hand was better than the boat just sitting. I gutted it and found where the floor was a sheet of 3/4” treated plywood and old signs stacked filling in. Didn’t look bad with the no slip covering. That plywood being treated was like cancer though. When I got down to the aluminum I didn’t know if I was going to be able to save it or not. Here I am three years later and no corrosion came back after the abatement. I got in every spot and finished with a Dremel and a magnifying glass. Through a thick coat of polish on it and waited three months. Still looking shiny new and no corrosion. So I got started. Stripped off the polish and coated the aluminum and built me a light weight flooring system and continued on. Not to mention getting to know that Yamaha real good to get it going. I finally hit a point where I could stop a while and use the boat. I’ll be rebuilding the front deck soon making it bigger and a place to stow more stuff and get it out of the way. Anchor trolling motor battery etc. The only thing I have not done is paint it. So I call it my beater boat. Until I get to painting which should be soon also. It had a thick coating of something on the bottom of the hull but me and that Yamaha have removed it.
I’ll stop now. Have a good one and keep a tight line and your hook baited cause you can’t catch ‘em on credit.