Looking for some help for my son on Joe Pool

I have a 25 year old son that lives in Mansfield. He drives across Joe Pool everyday to get to work in Cedar Hill. He called me up about a month ago and basically said that it is torture driving across JP and not having any gear to fish it. This past weekend my wife solved that problem as I sent him 3 nice rod/reel combos and a loaded Browning tackle box with all that he would need. He has fished the majority of his life but 95% of it has been from a bass boat. This afternoon he and his newly-wed bride went out for a few hours and bank-fished in one of the parks unsuccessfully. Anybody have any tips on how he might successfully bank fish Joe Pool? We are from San Antonio and he knows nothing about the lakes in the D/FW area. Thanks for your help!!!


On a side note, they are both Chiropractors and Michael works at Expressions Chiropractic and Rehab if anyone needs a good chiropractor.

Hey there Skeeter.

I fish avidly at the Cedar Hill State Park.

If you want to catch fish from the bank you need some minnows. The secret is to drop shot live minnows nose hooked (stab from the bottom and curl through the skull), about a foot and a half off the bottom. Maybe higher or lower depending on the day. Drag it across the floor and jig it up and down once or twice. Let it rest and you should feel the bite. You need to set the hook on the bite. I use #4 Gamakatsu Hooks with 3/8 lead weight. Also Bass only bite from 1 PM to 3 PM then it stops suddenly. The bite is really good all of a sudden then it isn't.

Tell him to buy minnows at The Oasis Marina or to bring his own. You can pay at The Oasis Marina to fish for carp and catfish.

Anyways, you need to Texas Rig up a Red Lizard, or use a swim head jig without skirts and a large "fish shaped" trailer with a boot instead of a straight tail (the minnow bait should be about the size of your palm to your middle finger). They should be the size of a standard Fluke but with a boot/paddle tail. Another good setup is to football head jig rig some crawfish plastic. Don't go overboard on the size and don't use skirts. My crawfish plastic is only about 3 inches long and has 2 appendages. At Wal-Mart or Dicks they sell some "Red Eye Rage" Football Jigs. At Dick's they have a better selection of plastics and there are some cheap ones for $1.50. There are of course more expensive ones which could or could not work better. If you see KVD Beaver Craw with Coffee Scent and check the size your plastic should be about half the size.

At Joe Pool it is a Shad/Crawfish lake.

Carp have been biting too.

Man, my back is killing me, could use a good chiropractor. wowowowooowwwww

PS Congratulations and Keep on Catching.

Thanks Daniel! I have already forwarded this information to my son. He was excited. Any tips on good options/locations to fish from the bank. Down in San Antonio, the bank options are very limited and poor. He said the lady at the park directed him away from the ramps and toward the camp site areas. He said the water was super shallow (6-12") and freshly flooded. Thanks again!!!!

Other two location I would recommend are Lynn Creek Park. There's a section of it known as Dog Leg but warning there's usually a bunch of people there.

At Lloyd park you can go way back up to Walnut Creek but again there's potential for there to be quite a few people there and it can get pretty muddy so bring your boots.

There are 2 Parks, Lynn Creek and Lloyd Park. I have never gone fishing there except for one time at Lloyd Park and I had a really bad time getting situated.

I also live 10 minutes from the Cedar Hill State Park so I go there now.

The State Park has a whole section cut off and there is only 1 side available for fishing. I recommend you fish on the banks instead of the cement jetty. The cement jetty usually gets packed with people and it is full of giant boulders and an erosion net so anything that hits the bottom will most likely get stuck there.

The banks on the other hand of made of gravel and silt. This means you can drag your crawfish in most areas without constantly snagging.
I would just park at the boat ramp parking lot and fish the banks starting from the left side. If your at the boat ramp, facing the lake, then turn left and walk till you see the concrete bag wall. Start from there. Fish that area and walk the entire shore line. There are 2 other parking spaces if you keep going down the main road.

I have landed bass in the shore line of all 3 areas. (Boat Ramp, Kids Perch Pond, and Hiking Area)

Here are some pictures of the stuff I am recommending:

The Jig head I use:



Put something like this on it without a skirt and make sure it is around 3 inches long, don't buy large sizes (target fish are only 3 lbs):



And also use something like this:



Make sure the plastic fish is long. You want a nice size swim jig head too. The one in the picture is small but the shape of the jig head and the shape of the tail of the minnow is what matters.
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BUT!
IF YOU BUY MINNOWS (OR NET SHAD/MINNOWS YOURSELF) THEN USE THIS RIG TO GET FISH:







Click this link for a website with a little more information on rigging a drop shot.
https://fishinaddict.wordpress.com/category/info/

Thanks everybody!!!

Daniel, WOW, you just blew my mind! That was impressive!!! Thanks for your help!!!

Thanks for all the tips. As my dad was saying, my wife and I live in Mansfield and I drive across Joe Pool every day. It has been torture not being able to fish it but now that I have all my equipment up here, I'm ready to get to catching. My wife and I went on Sunday to Lloyd Park. We started fishing near the campsites, then tried over by the ramp. Had no luck at either place. We tried white as well as chartreuse spinner baits, watermelon and red baby brush hogs, and watermelon and candy worms. These baits have served me well in the past in many of the south Texas lakes I have fished, so I thought I would start out with them and see how they would fair. Again, I know almost nothing about this lake or what the bass up here favor. So I appreciate all the help I can get.

If he wants to fish out of my backseat whenever we can coordinate, he's welcome to.

I live about 3 minutes from Lynn Creek. There's a ton of ponds in all these neighborhoods that are much more fun for bank fishing in my opinion. I can show you a few. I also go out quite a bit on JP solo so there's always an open spot.

I know the feeling. I am a spinner bait guy myself. Nothing has beaten live minnows.

I have only caught 1 bass out of that lake on a Chartreuse spinner bait, then promptly lost my lure when it flew off my line. (It was Booyah brand with double solid Chartreuse Blades)
I have only caught 1 bass on red lizard too. (Texas Rigged. Dragged across the floor.)
I have only caught 1 bass on a Mepps Inline Spinner. (Fire Tiger Blase)
I have only caught 2 or 3 bass with the Swim Jig/Boot Tailed Fluke Combo. (Which I got from a "Lucky Tackle Box". It's a mail-order lure website which ships you a variety of lures for $20 every months. It's a surprise but they make videos of the lures to show you how to fish them in case you don't know how.)


But using a minnow I can catch at least four or five off of a dozen minnows. (Most are small bass thought. Only have caught 4 that were nice size.) I haven't gone fishing again though because the minnow guy here only sells them on weekends and I like to fish during the week. And Like I said before, the fishing window is sooo specific it is worthless for me to go any other hour of the day.)

If you fish it like the pictures you will catch something for sure. (Even my mother caught one. A nice one too) If you went to LLoyed Park. The Oasis Marina isn't to far away. Buy yourself a bag of minnows there and try that technique over there. I am sure the fishing pressure isn't as horrible as it is at Cedar Hill State Park.

Yeah we will definitely have to coordinate to fish some of these ponds. I see people fishing at the ponds on England Rd. every day. Seems that place is very popular. Although I'm not sure if it's due to the location or how good the fishing is there. So I would be interested in finding other ponds to fish. I imagine my wife would enjoy that more than bank fishing JP.

Daniel,I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty hesitant to use live bait. I like the thrill of fooling the fish. Although, if I'm not having any luck with the other stuff I may have to try it to keep my wife interested, so I appreciate the tips on how to use the minnows if I decide to explore that option. Happy wife = happy life.

19XD bubble gum color crank bait with a rooster tail trailer. If that doesn't work try a 5 oz. football jig with again, a rooster tail trailer. My go to baits whenever I fish.

IMO the bass are so spread out and there are so many people who bank fish Pool, I just don't see you catching many in most spots that you can get to. Then, they'll usually be small fish. I launch out of Loyd Park and most of the people seem to be fishing for catfish around there. I get offshore just out of their casting range and can pick up bass or pick them up on the shore where bank fishermen can't get to. A pond would be much better and afford you the oppurtunity to move around to get to the fish.

I'd honestly look into picking up something like a 2 man bass buster with a trolling motor where you can get on the water in sheltered areas move around a bit. You get one of those or kayaks, which are becoming popular and you'll have much more fun.

Bobby,
You're probably right, my best bet is probably ponds. I would love to get myself a small little boat with a trolling motor so I could get out onto the lake. Gotta get myself a truck first, then I'll look into getting myself a little boat. Probably in my 5-year plan, not in the immediate future.

Big Tex, I'll look into finding those and give them a shot.

Big Tex, That is one big football jig!! Might want to take a look at that.

I don't know.....I caught 4 overs last weekend along a stretch of bank close to the dam.....had bank fishing dudes hike in on me from the dam. If they had a clue what to do....they could have reached them easier that I could have.

Did a little fishing this morning, thought I would give y'all a report. Went out to the ponds in Mira Lagos. Overcast weather with light rain. Fished for about an hour and a half. First cast, fish on. Caught 12 on a chug bug and 1 on a watermelon candy baby brush hog. Biggest one was about 1 1/2 lb. Small fish but nothing beats a top water bite!

Go out to the Oasis between 9-9:30 on Wednesday nights and ask around/watch weigh in. There are tournaments out there twice a week (Mondays and Wednesdays) and same group of guys are always out there. Last night fishing was really well. Know that Pool is a slot lake. 14"-21" bass must be released. I'll Pm you

A BUBBLEGUM 19 XD & a 5oz. jig. LOL. YA gotta watch some of these guys... Enjoy the days you can get away to fish. Just for fun use a fly rod on some of the subdivision ponds the are FULL of perch!!! My grandkids love using a bobber & worms & honestly it very relaxing to me with them. They'll keep you very busy. Tons of em.

I was throwing a texas rigged brush hog in watermelon red and couldnt keep them off the line. Even had a crappie that had to get in on it

I can't help you on Joe Pool, but I would say the trinity river offers better bank bass fishing than Joe Pool or most of the lake around here. There is a ton of access and some big fish in the rivers.

My actual report isn't anything spectacular so I try to install a little humor good luck fishin!!!

Ok...my tourneys are done there for a while.

Tell your son to flip green pumpkin jigs along the bank in 1 ft of water. And HANG ON!

My best 5 last weekend would have been almost 38 lbs. Today....it was around 20 lbs best 5. All on a jig in 6-12 INCHES of water. So, I'd say the bank is a great place to try his luck.
Funny....boaters are always trying to cast to the bank and bank fishermen are always trying to cast way out. Haha

I don't like minnows either but since I go with other people they get bored if there isn't any fish.

They aren't raised like me where I could spend 4 hours constantly fishing with lures and be happy if I caught a bluegill.