I live about 300yds from the Trinity River in North Arlington. I usually walk down and fish a couple times a month. My question is what all fish should I be targeting? I have caught channel, blue and flathead catfish, as well as alligator gar. I have never caught, nor seen any other species in this area.

I have thrown for bass quite a bit but with no luck. There is a lot of structure there and I know they are in the Trinity but is there a chance that they are not in this particular part? I have fished another part of the river, in Arlington, and have seen bass, carp, bream, etc. If those fish are in the river across town, shouldn't they be behind the house as well? And no, I am not eating anything from the river. Thanks!

All species should be in that river. They just aren't going to be easy to catch. Too many places for them to go.

Should be plenty of carp, buffalo, and catfish all along the river. The problem is in most places the banks are real steep. Parts of the river have large buffalo, Arlington should be no exception. Good luck.

The banks are steep but I have a few spots that are fairly accessible.

May have to try for my first buffalo then. Time for some research. Thanks Curt.

I wouldn't eat ANYTHING out of there. I hear if you eat a couple of bluegills from that area you get a FULL DOSE of xanax.

Maybe you could catch 'em and sell 'em on the street....

Full dose of xanax! Ateast it would be easy to re catch the fish due to forgetfulness

As stated in the original post, I don't eat anything out of there. Just catch and release!

Use small hooks/baits to catch the perch/bream in the area. I've always done good on pieces of worms, no matter the area.

There's gonna be alot of different fish simply due to your proximity to a big city. I wouldn't be surprised if there were koi, pacu, oscar, really any type of aquarium fish that can sustain a population. As well as bass, hybrids, cichlids, catfish, gar, buffalo, carp, anything that TPWD has stocked at any point along the river. Those perch would be a great all around bait. Tight lines!

Now for me THAT is exciting. When my buddies and I fish competitively, "most different kinds" is the highest level category, even over "most biggest."

The cold spell might knock out some of those, if they can't find a warm spot. Around here the cold intolerant species tend to bunch up around sewage outfalls, power plant discharges and in the ship channel around ship heat exchangers.

Hey I found a spot off 28th st in dwntwn ft worth. That hs crappie!!! Believe it or not pics soon to follow as soon as I figure out how to. Get them on here from my fone.

so the fish out in the trinity shouldn't be eaten at all? I've caught a few carp out in the elm fork area and they all looked healthy. I've even seen people taking the fish home with them.

There are plenty of Largemouth and spotted bass in the Trinity, as well as yellow bass,sand bass, hybrids too - there are some areas better than others, the best spots are around drainage ditches, On the clear fork between Benbrook and Downtown Ft Worth we used to regularly catch Largemouth in the five to eight pound range as well as some really big sandies and hybrids --

Soft plastics worked around over hanging grass slayed big fish -

I doubt you see any Alligator gar - but there are plenty of shortnose and spotted gar - often confused with gator gar -

You have to get below Dallas before the gators make a showing

TPWD did a study some years ago on Trinity and determined fish consumption from it around Urban Metromess should be avoided - high levels of Clorodane, Methyl Mercury, Dioxins, were present in all fish --

One of the mutant invasive species that has evolved in the Trinity. Not for human consumtion..lol

Might catch a alligator.

used to catch giant carp below the lake worth damn,..you could walk across from bank to bank on their backs...

Harmful chemicals can Bio-accumulate in the fatty tissues of fish. The small fish can pick it up, and as the larger fish eat those, it keeps getting more and more concentrated as it moves up the food chain. It can be be more than one chemical as well. By the time it gets to humans, there can be high levels that may not be physically noticable in the fish. This can be due to: 1) a fish's life is relatively short , at least in the smaller species, therefore, the chemicals may not be in their bodies long enough to reveal itself. 2) The fish that are affected and are also successful at breeding and having a successful hatch may have inferior offspring that are slow and or dumb and get eaten pretty quickly. and 3) any cancers that may be present in a fish will probably be in the internal organs. Many of us may not pay attention to the organs as we are cleaning the fish.

I guess my point is..sometimes the problems may not always be noticable.

anything in that water is hard to catch do to their super powers. Many of them have three or more eyes for better vision. Several glow, and are able to melt any line that comes near due to their radioactivity.

Now THAT sounds more like the Houston Ship Channel.....

I worked for many weeks capturing specimens for an environmental study in the ship channel and the adjacent bayous. We found some pretty strange stuff.....

Just East on I 10 was a break in a fence and many folks were fishing in the quite literally glowingly green water for blue cats. We reported both the weird water and the breach in security, and of course nobody showed up, so it musta been "business as usual."

I would be very careful about what I took to eat from such places.

I respectfuly beg to differ. I have caught two behind my house in Arlington. Both gator gar about 4' long. My wife caught one and I caught one.

It's funny, ever since I started noodling in the Trinity I feel stronger. I do have a weird rash and a twitch though.

It's Gar-Man!!!

I see em misidentified all the time - so that was the point - I'd like to see pics -

Lots of folks think all long fish with teeth are gator gar -

Usually just a misnomer

The Trinity holds all four species of gar - Spotted, Shortnose, Longnose and Alligator gar - of the four only gators and longnose get over four feet in length --

Frazier Dam Elm Fork
http://binged.it/tzI75C
We have netted Alligator gar below Frazier dam @(Valley Ranch on Elm Fork) in check nets but seldom see them on the West Fork - not that they don't swim up there

California crossing above Frazier dam

http://youtu.be/mz82n50sNgo

Recreational projects such as this standing wave park on the Trinity will eventually extirpate all Alligator gar getting above it - (except during floods)

http://youtu.be/vgM1qNYMrRs


But heck sure is creating an EXCELLENT white bass hole --


All joking aside form above denizens -- don't pass up this urban river - it may be full of trash , but actually in periods of low flow it has some REAL good fishing for a variety of fish - there are big crappie, Largemouth/Spotted bass, temperate bass, big drum,smallmouth buffalo, grass carp, several species of common carp, flathead catfish, channel cat, blues, mudcat - Pacu are also present - 90% of its flow right now is wastewater discharge, and it carries HUGE amounts of runoff from paved areas -

Words of caution on fish consumption -- crappie and sandies are ok maybe for a once a month meal - but I definitely would pass on all other fish as table fare.

Its a river millions of folks pass over daily but never think twice about --


The old lock and dam above East Beltline Road Dallas

http://binged.it/uIG2bX - accessible by boat - some GREAT fishing here when water conditions are right (like right now)

TonyH. You aren't the first person to question this. Here is the link from the second one we caught. This was about 300yds out my back door in North Arlington.

I love fishing the Trinity. I have landed blues, channels, flatties and gator gar but that is it. I do always catch fish when I go though, although not always good sized fish. I am going to fish it a little more heavily this year and see what species that I can add to it. Thanks for the input everyone.

I'll check out the spot in Dallas one day too. Oh, and I never, ever, ever even think about eating the fish out of there. It is just fun for me and the wife, buddies and nephews.

http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/6463667/Gator_Gar_in_Arlington#Post6463667

Nice gator -good to see they haven't disappeared yet.