Basstacker, Mathis has held plenty of water for alot longer than 1 1/2 years. It has been at a fairly decent level for several yrs now in my opinion. However, 400k bass fingerling does not seem like very many for a lake the size of Mathis.

Also, the rainbow trout will only survive in the lake for the winter and start to die as the water warms up beginning in the spring. Plus, the trout are only kept in a little bitty area of the lake. They are fenced in. It is more of a kid thing for the campers to enjoy. The trout are not out swimming in the open lake. Too bad, because the bass could eat them for a while but it would never be a year round thing. Mathis gets very hot and the trout die fast.

What part of the lake do they keep the trout at? This would be a good place to take my 3 year old son to.

Basstacker the only way to get rid of the water hyacens is to spray them and I don't think parks and wildlife is going to spend the money for that. But it would be nice if they would just control them so maybe some hydrilla would grow.

They keep them down there by the state park area, in a little fence off portion of a cove. Next winter, go to the office and ask one of the park people to show you, but you will drive right past it on your way in. Its not too hard to find.

Also, I guess most of the hyacen grows on the northern areas of the lake. I fish mostly on the southern end and do not see much. However, I do have one spot that I call "Hyacen Hawgs" that is just North of the Park Boat ramp area.

It is like a little canal, made by a flooded Mesquite flat on one side and the Hyacen covered bank on the other. In the middle the water is a little deeper like a channel. It is usuallu about 3 ft under the Hyacen but deeper when the lake is up. I like to punch through the Hyacen with heavy jigs or tungstun wighted (1/2 to 1 0z) plastics. Or sometimes fish the edges with a wacky worm. You usually dont get alot of bites but when you do they are big. Ive seen a 12 lber caught from this area. You can also fish the edges of the Mesquite/timber side. This side produces more fish but they are smaller and it is hard to fish.

what's the lake level at from what i can find it looks like
about 4' low headed down in a couple of weeks

Its a little low, but still nothing to worry about. Check out the caller times website fishing report for current lake levels.

www.callertimes.com

JB, nothing fancy,
$36 CASH entry fee
launch at the state park (safe light)
weigh-in at 3
Most of us come out of Corpus, Ingleside area. we welcome anybody wanting to fish, even non-boaters (just give me some noitce and we'll try and find a ride).
ask for Ray or Eddie at the ramp.

Basstracker, what are you talking about? If JB wants to fish your club tourny, but does not have a boat, then he can fish with me if that is okay. I got a brand new skeeter.

If this is what you are talking about than let me know. I would love to fish with yall guys.

thanks you the info. the last time we we there was back in summer 2006 when the lake was down , wife and I comming down
for alittle bass fishing , just seem like every time we go to
choke their is a tournament there.

MeSkeeter, what does your boat look like? Is it an SX185 or SX200 or something like that? White and Blue?

Tamale, yes it is, I think that I may have met you at a hotel near Falcon lake a few months back if Im not mistaken.

I will definantly be there. Look forward to meeting some bass fisher-people from around the CC area !!!

I know Ray and Eddie, they are buddies of mine!!!

ML

Nope..saw a boat just like yours I guess hit one of the spots we found when we were prefishing for that tourney on Mathis. We've never met, it was just a lucky guess.

Meskeeter, he could fish with you even if he had a boat..we'll see you at the ramp with jb.
robert2119 I'll be looking forward to meeting you.
MLTX I don't claim to know you or the snowman you fish with.
speaking of snowman have you caught any this year? I know where you can catch a Ranger stickman if you want a challange. Here's what you do if you want to fish deep......

Basstracker, does that mean that you were talking about a club tourny? If so, and if you are serious about wanting to get me in it, then send me a PM with some info. What date, time, location, etc.

I like to fish club tournys and would like to see how good some of yall really are!!! Oh yea, making some new fishing buddies is ok too.

I grew up fishing Mathis lake or Lake Corpus Christi. I have a lake house on the lake! This lake definately need restocking. I contacted TP&W about it and the local Biologist says that its too bad! Only the Bass lakes that are High profile get restocking! Due to public interest! I was disgusted about this. Lake Fork gets 2-3 stockings a year and this little lake cant even get one every so often? About 5 years ago the lake was awsome! I was fishing in the spring and had 26+ pounds fun fishing. The fish fight hard like at falcon. I wish this lake got restocked! It sure was good fishing when I was a kid growing up!

Im telling you, Mathis could be among the best lakes in the state if they would do a little stocking here and there, leave some water in it, and implement a slot policy.

Right now, it is left on its own to produce fish, and it is not too shabby. I fish it at least once a week, and on a full day it is not hard for me to catch close to 40 bass. Its just that many of them are in the 12" or less category.

However, I believe that Mathis could rival lakes like Falcon and Choke if given the chance. My reasons are: it has the same warm climate (warmer than Choke), plenty of forage/prew items, adequate cover/structure, deep enough water (over 30ft), fairly large (over 20K acres), and low bass fishing pressure. Plus, Mathis has already proven it can grow big fish. The current record is just shy of 14 lbs. This is not much smaller than choke or falcon. It is not uncommon to catch fish of 6-10 lbs at lake Mathis. To tell you the truth, though the average is much smaller, I have caught my biggest couple bass of the summer at mathis. And this is with me fishing choke once a week and Falcon every 2 weeks or so.

Mathis tourny Sun/27/08
36.00 cash only
meet at the state park about 6am
best 5 fish
weigh-in @ 3pm
top 3 get paid
standard tourny rules apply (sportsmanship, safety ect..)
anyone can fish (no bank fishermen)
and have fun