Squaw Creek Report

Heading to Squaw Creek, does anyone know what the fishing conditions have been? Water temp, clarity, fish locations?

Thanks,

Closed Monday -Wednesday now. Just an FYI.

I've been staying deep. Fishing is tough right now. If you find some deep fish I'd just beat em up until 4 lol.

Water temp is low 70's near south end and mid to low 60's. Catching good numbers deep 35-45' but have to catch 30 before you run in to one over 3 lbs. Saw a few Giants on beds but either they've been caught already or have seen 75000 baits that day

30-45ft deep! I'm going to need to put more line on the reels!

Never been to the lake but will give it a try on the 27th.

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30-45ft deep! I'm going to need to put more line on the reels!

Never been to the lake but will give it a try on the 27th. [/quote]

Big tournament of squaw the 27th. The reservations are full..

That's the one I'm learning to fish the Squaw. I hope the regulars are gentle with me. Got my reservation last week.

-Headlights off.
-Be ready before I get to the ramp.
-Dump boat and hitch a ride to my unmanned boat.

Fishing always gets tough when the spawn is on..... I feel for those fish, going to be beat to death over the next 2 months. Now that the big money tournaments are starting I'll bet the 25 lb bags start showing up again too.

Is this honestly expected? lol

I hope that correct, but unfortunately I think those size bags are things of the past.

Same here

Anyone know why they would not let anyone thru the gate Sunday until almost daylight. There was no fog. I heard a rumor that they are going to start doing that all of the time.

Took 17 1/2 to win our club tournament out there Saturday. 1/2oz jig and 6XD. My son won and beat me from the back of the boat. I had 5th with just under 13#. Caught most of mine on crank baits, nothing shallower than a 3XD, a jig, and one on a Tx rigged baby brush hog. I only caught 8 all day, all keepers. He caught 6, with 1 under. Out of 20 of us, 3 zeroed, several had 2 and 3 fish, and the top 4 went 17 1/2, 15ish, 14ish.

I usually fish on Thursdays, They always held us at the gate until we could just launch and go, usually about 7am after time change. Guess they do it different on the weekends due to the number of people expected?

Yes..

I really wished they wouldn't even let us launch until it was clear to get on the water and go.

That would cure the problem of their 100 boat shot gun start.

From you especially cause you know what your doing. Lol

3300 acre lake with a shotgun start!

Should be fun.

I agree. You just dont see many fish over 3-4lb showing up these days. All the pressure has taken its toll.

Its not the pressure hurting it, I'm a firm believer it's the non fizzing taking its toll.

Yup. That’s is certainly part of it.

Agreed. I had never fished a tourney there until last month...never seen so many floaters after a weigh-in. It's a shame.

Yep, running around all day with fish in the live well that need to be fizzed is not the best thing for the fish. At the rate that place is going to Hell next year 13 lbs will be winning.

I do know that there were some big bass caught that were between 7 to 9 lbs in September but the squaw people are a little concerned about the big bass not showing up.

Got myself some fizzing needles last week just in case I need to use them.

The rise and fall of Squaw.....hope those folks put back some of that killin' they're currently raking in by charging $30/boat, cuz it ain't gonna last much longer. I'll give it 2-3 more years. I would bet that 80% of the tournament fishermen doesn't know how to fizz a fish. If not, learn! It's pretty simple...

I have both kinds of needs needles on my boat. One that can go through the mouth and I have 4 of the kind you use on the side.

Stop the bass tournaments!

How deep is deep enough to need to fizz them? To be honest, I've never thought about it much (bc) I don't fish really deep.

Dont go by how deep you catch them out there, go off there buoyancy in your livewell. I have had to fizz a lot of just caught out of 10ft, just depends they could of moved up out of 30+ ft to feed.

Yep, if you throw them right back they will go down 99 percent of time. When you put them in live well check after few minutes, if they are floating on side or belly up go ahead and fiz them right then. I'm a firm believer that after they have struggled in live well all day it's probably to late. They may swim off but the stress on their system will cause delayed mortality. Do it quick and you are good. Other people have said different but I'm pretty sure they are clueless.

LOL, remember when they first re-opened in 2010 only tourneys allowed were supposed to be one for charitable cause... that didn't last long. Time before last seen a bunch of struggling fish that needed fizzing at the ramp.

Yep I remember! I hate seeing all the floaters after a tournament

Agree. So dangerous. Or idle only until a horn/siren. Scary out there in the mornings.

It's not that scary. Man up

I had to fizz every fish I put in livewell last weekend. Had needle ready and it only took a few seconds.

If you are fishing deep water good to pre-fizz your own self in case you fall in.

it's very dangerous.

this is true and I am not clueless. RIP LL records...

I do remember that now...

If they'd start charging a $500 permit fee to have a non charity tournament on the lake most would go away...get into the the TD's wallet and the schedules for next year change real quick.

Saw 3 floaters on the points around the marina on Saturday. All good fish. One was 25 1/2 inches long! Looked like 8 or 9lber, hard to tell tho.

It WAS fun place to fish before all The PRO ‘S & Tournaments took it over , as always leave it too the all mighty $$$ , $crew$ every thing , what was it 2 day’s a week , 100 boats max. when it re opened .

We had a limit by 8am @fish n chips and fizzed every fish. It really does help

some lakes already do that.

I believe Lavon does that (I may be mistaken)....... guess what lake you rarely ever see a derby on....... yep

I'm going to give you a lesson in economics.

They require 500$ to host a tournament, all that'll happen is just raise the entry fees and or lower the payout and people will still fish just as many. I build homes for a living. When our cost goes up, we just pass it down in some form or fashion to the consumer as does just about any industry.

Only true change would be to manage the tournaments themselves as far as how many, when, and how often. Money wouldn't change a thing

How is it that hard to fizz a fish that you see not doing well in the live well?? I don’t understand why this is even an issue.

I do know the number of fish between 5 and 8 pounds being brought to weigh in has gone down. I am not sure if they are mostly dead and gone (killed by poor handling or old age) or if they have been enlightened by the number of baits they have bit and seen and just harder to catch. When it first reopened big ones were easy to catch shallow, then they were in 15 ft and now hard to catch in over 30.

There has been only two days since Oct. that there were more than 110 boats and one of them was Fish N Chips (Local Charity Tournament). Most weekends 40-50 of the people with a reservation do not show up. Media is only having one tournament and TTO is only good sized one that I have heard of this year. BLT is done. The opens are down and most only seem to have 25 boats or so in them. Some of them have gone to 3 fish and most of those guys are regulars and know how to fizz a fish. They would probably be out there fishing anyway. Blaming Pros and tournaments for the bigger bass not being caught and not including all the just for fun fisherman seems like a stretch. I have not heard of that on Rayburn, Toledo, Falcon and such. Speaking mainly to large fish dying in weigh-in from not being fizzed.

As to the fee to reduce tournaments. I think the tournaments have reduced themselves already. Does not seem fair to small clubs to have to pay a big fee to fish a warm water lake in winter. Still lots of keepers being caught. Only a couple of lakes in the state where most of fisherman have a limit at weigh in Jan. We got spoiled because of the lake not being fished for several years.

I think all lakes cycle. The bait fish grow good some years; the bass have good spawn other years. Fishing gets good, pressure comes, fishing gets bad pressure leaves. Starts over. Lots of variables. On Squaw these thing happen faster due to the year round warm water. Tilapia are a big issue in my opinion. They have helped some bass lakes like Falcon and wrecked others like Lake Calaveras. I like to blame them for reduction but it is all speculation.

I am curious to know how few tournaments a year the lake should have to bring back the larger bass and how that would be determined. Most clubs or opens do not check in with the park so I am not sure if anyone even knows how many have occurred over last few years.
Sorry cjbles we have gotten a little off topic on your post. I will shoot you a pm to answer that.

I've been going every week for the last month, i'm consistently catching 13 lbs. I just can't figure out how to get a good bite out there.

We started counting how many we caught instead of best five weight because of similar weights. Have had over 100 on two occasions between two of us in last few weeks. 30-40 seems like a slow day. Too bad it is not a Major League Fishing format.

Last weekend most of the fish I put in live well were belly up fairly quick. Someone I trust told me to clip one or two alligator clip weights on anal fin and another weight on cull ring to keep nose down. I did this to all fish in the box, checked often and unclipped all weights a few minutes before weigh in. Before they went into the bag all were in excellent condition swimming belly down. All swam away at release. Only had to fizz one of my partners fish. So it appears that if you can keep them in the correct position they will equalize their bladder. Sound correct? Viable option to fizzing?

Yes of course the tourneys and turnouts are down. This just didn't happen. This is a result of the last 3 years. I have been yelling the last few years on here about the multiple tourneys WEEKLY (Sat and Sun) that was occurring on a 3 month stretch that was taken place, but nobody wanted to listen. You can blame it on fizzing, fish care, its doesn't matter, too many tourneys...Speaking of which, where are those guys that held the weekly tourneys, where is their input now.....nothing!! Its good for the fish population [censored]!! Good for your pocket! Go look at my previous post, the lake had great potential for Texas, as usual we don't take care of anything.

Any idea if a fish can be fizzed multiple times and survive?? No studies on this. We cant control nothing but ourselves and we didn't, RIP 25# bag Squaw Creek.

Seems like a lot to do when I can fizz one in just a few seconds & be done.

Thanks for the fizzing heads-up. Tournament angler fish care is a must if we expect to be able to continue having tournaments.

I check on my fish often throughout the day and ensure they are doing well. Good thread for reminding us all to care for our catch.

wow

I agree 100%

I am pretty sure all of the net caster are keeping them. Get them off of the lake and I will bet you see an improvement over time. They have personally laid waste to several of my spots.

I've never seen a single one there, now at fairfield thats a different story.

I see 5 to 6 boats with 4 to 5 in the boat everytime I go.

Go to paper tournaments only.

The best way to ensure no fish are harmed is to not fish. Everyone has that choice. I read a study a few weeks ago that indicated that the mortality rate on just catching and releasing (due to deep hooked or tongue hooked fish)combined with the fish that you break off while fishing is just as high as the mortality rate caused by weigh in's at tournaments. Some fish for fun, some fish to keep and clean and eat the fish and some fish for tournament competition.....but the simple fact is that if you fish, you ARE going to kill fish.

Personally, I don't know of any tournament fishermen that fish the larger tournaments with bigger payouts that don't do everything they can to ensure the survival of their fish. Those pointing fingers at big tournaments, too many tournaments, etc.....need to focus on what they do and understand that they cause death in fishing as well simply by hooking and releasing and/or breaking off fish. Just because you don't enjoy what some of us enjoy doesn't mean that you are doing any less harm. Best way for YOU to ensure that you are doing all that you can do to not harm any fish is to go golfing instead.

Unfortunately I’ve killed quite a few things golfing as well. On a serious note perhaps part of the Squaw problem may be too many bass 3 lbs & under for the lake to support. I haven’t been in a long time but everyone seems to be catching large numbers per trip for several years now...maybe there are too many of that size class.

Well said I agree with you 100% .

The millions and millions of re-producing, fry/plankton/bait eating, Tilapia are the problem. All the decline coincides with their population explosion. If they would shock for them, and give to the needy, the lake would heal itself.

I agree too.
But I think the lake is going through a cycle. I read the average life span of a bass is about 16 years, considering that number is based a regular non power plant lake. I wonder if that number goes down in a hot water lake like squaw creek? I'm no expert though. Just Relax LOL I also agree we got really spoiled when the lake opened back up.

I agree as well. My guess is the average life expectancy of a bass on a powerplant lake is 40% of that. They live fast, love hard, & die young.

I've gotten to know the TPWD Biologist for the area that includes Cypress Springs, Monticello and Bob Sandlin (Tim Bister) pretty well and he said about the same thing. The reason you don't see DD's coming from most power plant lakes is because they simply don't live long enough to get there. I haven't been on Squaw in years so have no idea what's happened out there. It sounds like there are several factors in play but unless they've done a recent survey there won't be any real science to back up any of the numerous opinions. I just hope it rebounds for those that fish it all the time. I don't go over there because I always forget to turn my lights off when backing down the ramp.

I don't mind people not turning off their headlights. I have a set of LED spotlights as my backup lights on my trailer.

went to squaw last summer and the water temp was 108 how can they survive in that????

By going down 80' deep and heading north

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak1BqpnVhr4&feature=share

Some helpful info on how to fizz.

OK, let's be serious. Your golf game needs a lot of help.