Fellow anglers, anyone got any good bodies of water in mind in the Spring, Texas area to catch Carp? I am relatively new to the Euro style fishing. Have only caught two Commons thus far. I am mainly using oats and corn pack bait. Using pop ups and bolies over the pack bait. Looking to increase PB's, in Common, Buffalo, Koi, Mirror, Leather, any Carp species. Mainly after Commons. Used to paylake back East, now wild water Carp'r only. I am fishing smaller waters, State Parks, Regional Parks, as they are not flooded as of late, like some of the river fed lakes, etc. No boat, so banking fishing only. Any info is appreciated. Tips on body of water, where bigger Carp are is what I am after. Right now PB Common is 16 lbs, Buffalo 44 lbs. Thanks and Tight Lines!

There are several Houston area carpers. They should chime in for you.

CarpT3,
The upper reaches of Lake Houston, under and around 59 has a health population (when not being bow-killed)... snaggy, though.
Lake Woodlands has some nice ones, but not a large population so it can be spotty. Helpful to prebait a few days ahead of time.
Try the dam area and North Park.
Some of the Woodlands' ponds have koi, but are not easy to catch!
Used to be lots of grassers in Conroe; not sure about it now. Also some buffalo.
Good luck! hope to see some of your catches soon!

I'd like a PM about how the pay lake operations work back East. I believe Texas has enough people wanting nothing more than a tight line with a fish on the end that a good carp fishery would be an easy sell. As a fisheries biologist I operate and help manage several private fisheries (mostly about bass) and would invest in a carp fishery in a heartbeat if I understood how they worked.

I stocked Lake Woodlands in 1981/82 or so and have restocked fish in there every now and again as well as electrofished, netted and studied the lake upside down and backwards. I do the water testing for the triathalons (Woodlands had its swim in the lake, but not up the canal, one of the few areas this spring that had wild water swims) and spray for weeds now and again.

So, there was a big carp die off about three years ago in the spring, I suspected KHV (CyHv3 aka "Koi Herpes Virus") as only carp and no other species died. If bad water, I'd see a lot of yellow bass and shad, very sensitive species.

Some of the carp lived through it and I bet they've gotten huge with less competition for food but also more difficult to catch. Not sure how many small carp may be about, but the bass in the lake have kept the carp spawn pretty well trimmed down.

Under the bridge (Lake Woodlands Dr.) at North Shore , perhaps under the bridge (Research Forest Dr.) in the upper end of the lake (shady spots for summer), and anywhere you can access the lake and bait an area ought to produce a big carp or two. Maybe a really big blue cat as well.

Sure would like a report if you go to Lake Woodlands for carp.

Brett

Brett: Sorry a little bit off topic, but are there really yellow bass in Lake Woodlands? I have never caught one before and sure would like to add it to my list. Do you know if there is a better location on the lake that is best for them?