Hey yall,

This is my first report.
Here's just a report from my last 3 trips this past week to Mason creek in Katy.

For LMB, The extreme heat and low water levels is making the best fishing to occur in the evening during & after sundown and morning during & after sunrise. So far the best tactics for LMB has been using soft plastics rigged in a light/finesse way (I myself am constantly using an 8" Worm on a Split-Shot Rig). I would be pitching the lures next to heavy structure and along side sharp dropoffs. Ive been catching 2 lbers this way.



However, if numbers matter more than size, then I would recommend taking ultralight equipment and tackle with you. Ive been seeing nice size schools of sunfish & rios roaming in the shallow rocks. They mainly feast on crappie-size dark soft plastics, or you can use live night crawlers.

Hey Adan,
You might also try some small topwaters. I caught a couple of 2 pounders a couple of Sundays ago before the sun hit the water on a small (2") rebel popper. Good stuff!

Thanks. From what Ive seen, the LMB on Mason creek average from 1.5 to 2 lbers.

The biggest I caught was just over 3.5 lbs.


Ive never had any luck on poppers (except to catch gars), but I'll keep trying them.

Would a crankbait work to catch LMB?

Yes, the biggest LMB I caught on Mason creek was a bit over 3.5 lbs. I was caught on a SK Red Eye shad.

An update if anyone wants to take their children there for small panfish:

I took my son there today for about an hour (behind the paintball and RC park)

I made him a Corked split-shot rig with the smallest hook I had available (the lead was about 1.5 feet long). I brought some of my homemade hotdog bait to use as bait.

On each cast, about a half-dozen sunfish & bluegills ambushed the bait and were fighting for it like a school of piranhas. However, the smallest hook I had was still a little too big (its not a exactly a pan-fish hook), so he could only hook 1 out of every 5 casts. Fortunately, he landed about a dozen of them for the whole hour we were there. I spent the whole time baiting his hook and unhooking the fish, not that I mind

Absolutely! I usually use small ones, like Tiny Minus-1, and catch large sunnines as well as the bass.

Okay, thanks.

I'll pick some up.
Im trying to put together a "panfish tackle box" for my boy.

Hey yall,

Just an update. The water level at Mason creek rose up by a few inches from last weekend's rain.

Bass: Black Bass remains a bit finicky, caught a few today ranging from 1 lb to 3 lbers on Black or Junebug Senkos or Worms.

Panfish: Rios, Bluegills, and Sunfish remain pretty vigilant using nightcrawlers, corn, or whatever is your liking.

Also, I took a 2nd setup with me with a box of night-crawlers to see what else I can hook. Ended up hooking and landing a 3 lb Channel Catfish while using a Carolina Rig.

[img:left][/img]


I also decided to cut up a small bluegill to see if I can catch another cat. I did ended up hooking another about the same size, but I lost it as I was hauling it.

I'll have to try that area some time. Does the creek get much wider than it is by the bridge close to the Kingsland Park & Ride?

Yes it does. After the bridge at Kingsland and Westgreen, it expands from 10 feet, to about 30 feet. The depth varies alot because of the low water level. Some places its about 5 feet deep, others are less than 1 foot but tend to hold carp/buffalo during the mornings and evenings.

Awesome reports, Mason Creek sure is a gold mine for a variety of fish, that's the main place I fish in Katy since it has a large variety instead of just bass, gills, and cats which about 99 if not 100% of ponds in Katy have.
Plan to fish it for a bit after class tomorrow, Finally was able to get caught up on class work and get some homework done early so I have time to fish, this whole studying/homework all the time thing is wearing me down, I love college

Are the catfish from Mason Creek & some of the ponds in the various subdivisions in Katy safe to eat? We've got a few ponds around the Seven Meadows & Grand Lakes subdivisions that look pretty promising. I haven't tried them yet but have seen other people fishing there from time to time.

I wouldn't eat anything from Mason Creek, it's pretty highly polluted and that's partly due to being connected to Buffalo Bayou I believe.

Nice Report from Mason Creek. Also love the follow up's

Yeah...that was what I was afraid of.

+1

Yup, Buffalo Bayou is well neglected by folks that frequent there. Another problem is that the drought is causing all the creeks and bayous to become stagnant, which allows pollutants to hold better in the water and not be naturally filtered out through the vegetation.

Lunker, AdanV, I haven't seen any information on the water quality of Mason Creek, but the Rios and sunfish look healthy enough. I've eaten some of the rios from above I-10 and the tasted fine (although that was early in the year...).

Buffalo Bayou is downstream from Mason Creek, so I don't think that it has anything to do with Mason Creek water quality.

I'm not saying the water/fish are fine, I'm just saying that I don't know, but haven't seen any water quality report on it.

By the way, AdanV, nice report!

My favorite Mason Creek stretches are above/under I-10 (mind the homeless guys under the bridge!) and downstream from Fry Rd.

Both sections are 30-40' wide and up to 4' deep. No carp/buffs caught above I-10, but plenty down by Fry. Also largemouths, bluegill, greenies, longears, rios, catfish, and gar.

Last Friday afternoon I caught 15-20 rios, a handfull of small bluegills and greens, and channel cat and a black bullhead. Fun!

Thanks.
I guess the water clarity is stained (clear for 2 feet on average)

At this time, Ive only fished the part behind the medical clinics on Kingsland and Westgreen, and behind the Paintball/RC park.

Do you know of any place to park at or after Fry? I would like to check it out, but I dont want to be too far away from my truck.

9/30/2011

With yesterdays rough thunderstorms (not that Im complaining )
the water rose about a foot and churned up the water very muddy.

Bass: Absolutely no luck today. Tried every rig, hard & soft plastic, but nothing.

Panfish: The action is ok. The muddy water is forcing them to flee to pockets where there's still clear water.

Cats: No luck. I was able to setup a rig with cutbait, however the only action was 2 Spotted gars like the following (each from 2' to 2.5'):

[img:left][/img]



Almost everything is out of whack IMO.
I guess in 2-3 Days, the water will settle and clear out some and would be back to itself again.

Still, Im sure nobody in Texas would mind getting several more storms like yesterday evening.

UPDATE 10/23/2011:

As the temps gotten cooler and the water became clearer, the action has gotten better:

Bass action is okay using Watermelon colored soft plastics.
They're mainly striking as your lure sinks down, so its best to TX-Rig weightless IMO. The photo below is the average size that Ive been catching.

Panfish action (Bluegill, Rios, Sunfish) remains very good on live bait and crappie size soft plastics.

Catfish action was good using dip bait on light Carolina rigs.
The sizes vary from half lb to 5 lbs. The photo below is the biggest catfish Ive caught yesterday.

[img:left][/img]


[img:left][/img]

I looked up the TPWD advisories and didn't see Mason Creek. Here's the link
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/regulations/fish_hunt/fish/consumption_bans.phtml
There are dome email addresses you could ask more questions and you might check with the Fort Bend Ag office and they could point you in a more specific direction

Thanks.
Usually I try to look for warnings on Buffalo bayou, since Mason drains into it. Also, I sometimes see kids take a tray full of bluegills home.

I'll probably email the folks that manage Bush park, maybe they'll know.