I took a short walk around the bank by the rear boat ramp. Any one ever caught anything out of this lake. Something about it doesnt seem very fishy to me.

I have caught a grand total of 1 very undersize LM bass from this lake but I have heard lots of tales. I think you really need a boat or some type of flotation device to be very successful on this lake. I live very near Marine Creek lake and I want to get my float tube out there this year but I'm reluctant because I haven't had any luck here yet. Maybe I need to just air up my tube and go for it.
Anyone know where the fish are, at least where would be a good place for a lake newbie? Crappie, Bass and Catfish are my intended victims.
I think it doesn't seem fishy because there isn't a whole lot of vegetation or debris and structure along the shoreline.

I live in Saginaw too, so I feel the pain of having such a close lake and poor fishing. SUCKS!!!!! No where to really fish from the bank on EM, and you cant eat the fish from Worth. Been driving to Leon, but thats a long drive...kinda getting old.

I gotta get a boat

I live in Watauga, been to this lake a handful of times, I only catch hell from my wife as a result. No fish worth mentioning. Try the creek between Eagle Mtn and Worth off ten mile bridge road

You're always welcome to come fish with me at Western Center and I35 N. I caught 9 Largemouth this past Sunday, but I really wanted to find some Crappie. I just know there are some in this Creek.
Click on Little Fossil Creek, in the left side of your browser.
Fishin Map

Mike where do you park when you fish Western Center & I-35

I always park in the parking lot on the East side of the creek, it's all vacant businesses and so far no one has seemed to mind. If you notice when you go out there, they built a parking lot above the creek, on huge support pillars....that's all brand new. You might get away with parking there too.

Fishing Marine Creek Lake

Interestingly enough, the lake supports shad which, in turn, feed the white bass population (a population not mentioned on the TPWD's site.)

Freshwater drum are present.

Easiest species to catch in there consistently for me have been juvenile largemouth bass. They've been stocked within the last two years as have been channel catfish.

More than any other water body in my experience, Marine Creek has shown a sonar screen full of marks without giving up the fish.

Sounds about right, this is the stingiest lake I have ever fished.

You may not have noticed it, they have a Spotted Bass population too, but no lake record for catching a spotted bass is listed.

Are you talking about Vance's camp?

Hey Mike, what you catch at Indian Creek? I ask, cuz I have friends who live in that gated community accros the way. I have acces to that neighborhood, and I could go to that boat ramp and fish it. Any good?

I know there are Crappie, Bass, Gar and Cats there. I used to have a lot of luck, before they built the gated community, fishing right off the bridge but that is prohibited now as a matter of fact, be prepared for a visit from the Game Warden,,,he patrols this area a lot.

You should air up your tube and do your part. From the west ramp, float southwest to the immediate cove. There is always something there, from small to medium bass to bream. A chart spinnerbait will work and small crankbaits. Go deeper and use small jigs.

For Crappie, try the two northside coves.

Forget about bank fishing, get yourself something to float and get 'em. You won't get any trophies but will have a good day.

Thanks for tips texguppy, I feel a little more confident now.

The crappie are fairly plentiful. In the summer they are in the coves by the west ramp in about 15 feet of water.

Nice! Thanks BassBugg. I have noticed as a bankbeater, there is always someone parked at the dead end entrance leading to the parking lot of the College but I can never actually see them fishing anywhere,,does anyone know if they are hiking up that little creek there? Does anyone catch anything up in this area?

Great fishing at marine creek if you can find them.

I have fish "MC" alot over the years and I never caught any monster fish but I have hooked many small Black Bass and alot of small Crappie over the years..Sometimes "MC" will suprize u with a few Sandbass aswell...Hell I even caught my share of Channel Cat...But with "MC" u have to get lucky sometimes. I have been there and caught 0 before too....For me I like fishing there cause thare not alot of people fishing that lake, so as a bank fisherman I can walk and fish without being in anyones way...
SOON as it worms up and the SANDBASS stop Spawning in the rivers I well be heading back to "MC" again......

Well, the more I read about it and hear you guys posting nice things...I'm getting more receptive to the idea that it isn't a total waste of neighborhood lake. I guess if I learn to fish it now, I should be able to real tear into them share lunker bass when they get more mature.
Thanks for all the info people...keep them coming if you got them.

No one fishes that creek coming in from the northwest side of the lake, near the West side ramp? I'd think that would be a good place.

I have fished MC several times, never really slayed, but caught a few. I am trying to get my canoe set up to fish out of. I think it would do well on MC. PM me and maybe we can hit it together when this cold weather passes!

hey mike i love that spot ,i caught a 8 lbs bass ill never forget it one the best spots in fort worth....

Hey northside!
I've caught a couple of nice ones too..but not that big....yet.

UUUUUUHHhhh Guys,
I just noticed a sign at the west ramp that says, "No personal Watercraft". Does this include float tubes? The last thing I need right now is a ticket/fine/jail.

Personal Watercraft is a Jet ski .

I think what that means is jet flees.

I have fished from the dam side and had no luck. I go to school there now and have been fishing from the college side. If you were to come into the main entrance of the college there is a little cove with plenty of vegitation over there, I have hit this area up a few times and caught 1-2lb'ers, nothing super huge though. I've also fished the other entrance, behind the college where that road dead ends and hardly had any luck there...

I have fished in the same cove on the school side. Just behind the rock piles. I also just caught a few 1-2lb'ers. A campus police officer stopped by to let me know I was still on the TCC campus, so if I had alcohol on me it wasn't allowed. You can't smoke cigarettes there either he said..."school policy". He was nice about it though. Just FYI. (Guess I'm headin' back to the other side!)

Pm little robby or nitroslim, I think he holds the lake record black bass

I have fished marine creek since high school. Use to be a fantasic fishery until the boat races started. The Tarrant County Regional Water Board controls the lake. Best luck I've had is on the north end college side. The trees close to where the sail boats use to sit (small sandy beach) are a row of trees. Work your way north toward the small cove and fence are. Recommend a buzz bait eary morn or late eve. South end of the lake is mostly rock bottom. North end has alot of submerged grass and dead fall. Be careful tubing because the lake does have an undertow.

Don't catch much but small dinks lately around that cove. For that lake you need to really have a boat and throw in your line just north of the cove by the college. The water gets deeper about 50 yards off the point of the cove according to the topo map. It's fun just to kick back and fish. But if your looking for any trophy's it's a hard lake to fish without a boat. I didn't know it had an undertow?...that's crazy.

Yeah....I have a fishing partner that lost a cousin many moons ago to the lake, prior to the drain off. I used to go out early in the morn / eve and throw a white or chart buzz bait in that area from the bank and get nailed. Just had to figure out which grass pile was holding em. We would cath average 3 lbs. Try moving around the fence toward the feeder creek (private property though) and pitch a 4inch purple worm. I don't know how much pressure the lakes gettin due to the new housing in area. Where you find a topo map? Would love to get my hands on one too.

Yeah, I will try a little further North of the cove. As far as the topo map. I would love to get my hands on a free topo map too. Unfortunately, I don't have a hard copy, but for Marine Creek, I'll go to this site....

http://www.trails.com/usgs-topo-marine-creek-stream-topographic-map-1374800.html


Here is another site. A better view....

http://www.digital-topo-maps.com/


You can use the zoom bar on the left part of the map, and zoom in and out. You can get a pretty good idea of how the topo is of the reservoir. So, that is how I found the topo of Marine Creek. You can see where it drops off by trhe cove. Good luck! If you find out where to get more "free"/cheap topo's, PM me!

Thanks.....It is definately better than nothing.

Just a foot note....if you don't feel like the drive you may try Chisholm Park in hurst off Norwood. TPWD stocks it every year for the Kids fishing day or the Bedford Boys Ranch off of forest ridge. I have caught a couple of dinks there, however I have seen some pretty good size ones pulled out also.

Yeah, I like that we can fish for a variety there, I just can't get used to the crowds. Due to my schedule I can only get there on the weekends, and by then, it is pretty packed. It is a great place to fish for the kids, you got that right!

it's a great lake, i caught my first crappie over three pounds there that was probably 20", and 3.75lbs. 3" smaller than a 5lb lmb i caught shortly after, the lake has some serious slab crappie, and good bass as well as good blue cats.

Really? Thats good to hear. Where 'bouts did you catch them?

yes really i was on my friends boat on the dam

Was on the lake approximately a week ago, water temp was 88F.(hottest) fished for about 5hrs. On the water at around 0630 and off around noonish. Threw white,chart,black(got crazy) buzz baits and spinner baits. Not a single nibble, graph showed em there but no hook ups. Had a few smash the surface around the boat and one good size about 15feet away after I thought I covered the area pretty good. I varied my depth and retrieve...no luck. Didn't try a worm as I was trying to cover as much water as I could to see where they were layin. Was very sad to see all the grass and lillies gone, even manage to get back into the creek channels with ease. Plan to try again soon and see how plays out.

Thanks for the depressing report~lol
I wish this lake was better....in any way. More grass, structure, forage or fish! I just don't think anyone really cares about Marine Creek as a fishery, despite the fact that it is a "Share Lunker" lake
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/action/stock_bywater.php?WB_code=0471
Stock report

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/recreational/lakes/marine_creek/


I don't think one single Share Lunker Bass has been caught from this lake yet either. I think they all floated up to fishy heaven. Is 4 years long enough for Fingerlings to grow very much?
It's all about the boat races and if I were a boat racer I probably would not want anything but water in it.

Well hopefully things are going back to the way they were. Co-worker's husband races out there and told me they were not going to be there this year. Now just need some grass to grow. I actually found some structure and saw a couple kindos catching sun fish. I think I needed to down size but 1/4oz was the smallest I had.

yea i never use a spinnerbait or buzzbait this time of year, unless it is in the mid 80's to low 90's in the outside temp. but the real bass killer for that lake is to go out there at night and fish the damn with 7" berkley power worms thats the main way i catch the bass, t-rig or on a carolina rig springtime and wintertime i throw spinnerbaits all the time, and in the spring i catch tons of crappie throwing inline spinners in a few key areas on the lake, and you will occasionally get a big brim, but mostly decent crappie, and it's hard to get the bigger crappie out there i have no clue as to why that is but its the truth, but those sandies bite all the time in the spring and summer.

I fished there a few times with my kids and they had fun with perch but did see ALOT of water snakes.You must be a real man to fish from a tube because i need ground under me to run like a girl!LOL

I've put in there 4 or 5 times in the past year just to get out on the water when I didn't feel like dealing with anyone else and haven't caught a thing. It's almost become a personal obsession now. I go out there every few months for the morning and fish hoping to catch something.

I've tried the whole water column in what I would think are key areas and haven't gotten a bite. Like many others, I've seen them busting the surface right by me, and some decent sized bass at that. Just can't get them to bite.

In fact this thread makes me itch to go out there again just to "see". The sharelunker stocking has always had me curious that there must be some decent fish in there somewhere.

I know one thing though, as soon as my HDS-10 w/Structure Scan is installed I'm going to go take a look at it. Maybe find some stolen cars, who knows Either way, I'm going to take a long good look at it with side imaging and down scan to see if there really is any fish in there. When I do finally get bit, I may never go again lol

Well good luck to ya rofd-ff-engineer, be sure to let us know how it works out. I'll do the same and we will see if we can't figure out were these lunkers if any are still there.

take it from me the lake is tough, some may say relentless to give a fish, but the thing is they're going in the grass beds right now looking for perch and shad, and when they're not there theirs really only one point and cove that constantly produces for me, and a few other spots near the creek mouth and the day i caught that giant crappie, and that big bass it was overcast and some sprinkles, and they came on a grande bass rattlesnake off the dam, and if you really want to tear the bass up go out at night/evening and chunk a t-rigged bluefleck worm, the berkley overshot fleck 7" worm, and work the dam and you'll find they're there.

I night fish the lake with my uncle once or twice a week, plenty of carp and small catfish.

Carp and Catfish will go for the same bait, witch is a homemade cornmeal mix.

We fish off the bank.


The lake is really a mystery sometimes, last year my uncle lost his pole as it flew out of the holder and dissipated into the water 10seconds later, 3huge night crawlers was the bait...

...another time he got hit the line flew out of the reel, he tried to wrap it around his jacket to feel the fish and said it was like a boat pulling.

There are some monsters in this lake, I am sure of it.