Ft Worth area lakes

I have a daughter that lives in Ft. Worth, so I may get a chance to fish up there this summer. On the map, I see Eagle Mountain, Lake Worth, and Benbrook, three lakes that are fairly close in. Can some of you Ft. Worth area guys tell me about these lakes for bream, and for bass. Am also wondering if ski boats are bad on these lakes on summer days from Monday through Thursday? Many thanks for replies. I know absolutely nothing about any of these lakes.

Eagle Mountain is well known as a bass lake. It has a population of small sunfish.

Lake Worth is polluted with run off from Carswell joint use base and the fish are under a consumption advisory.

Benbrook is mostly known as a hybrid fishery.It is subject to wild fluctuations in lake level due to its use as a distribution point for water to several area lakes. When it is good it is very good.

Have you considered adding Lake Arlington and Joe Pool Lake to your list? Both have good populations of large bluegills as well as bass. Joe Pool has numerous parks for lake access, but Arlington requires a boat.

Don't overlook little Lake Weatherford for both bass and sunfish.

Smithaven, thank you very much. I greatly appreciate it.

A buddy and I used to go out to Lake Worth after work in the summer. You could get in two or three hours of fishing before dark. There were large schools of sandbass that were surfacing. Some of them over 100 yards long and we were the only ones on the lake. We would catch multiple fish on the same cast sometimes. We didn't keep the fish due to the runoff that was mentioned.

The B-52's make a hell of a racket when teaching off though.

There is only one record sunfish for the three above lakes combined. It is a Redbreast that was caught on Lake Worth back in 1995. .81 Lbs 10.50". Just saying!

Thanks for the additional replies ZzzKing and Banker. I will mark Lake Worth off my list. I keep sunnies to eat, so will avoid a lake that is polluted. Lake Weatherford will probably be closer for me than Arlington or Joe Pool, so I would like to learn more about it.

Lake Weatherford is a water reservoir for the city of Weatherford. The lake was impounded in 1957 and has a chequered fishing history. At one time it was known far and wide for large crappie and bluegill. The lake was covered with aquatic vegetation which provided habitat. Then in 1990 TPWD stocked the lake with 1100 grass carp, which ate every trace of the vegetation and completely destroyed the fishery. The carp slowly died off and the fishing improved but the vegetation never recovered.

The marina crappie house saw large numbers of good sized fish caught. Around 2004 the city officials became unhappy with the lease holders for the marina and put the lease up for bids. As a provision of the new lease the existing boat slips had to be torn down and a larger number of new slips constructed. Unfortunately there was simply no way the boat slips would fit with the crappie house in its then location. The crappie house was moved to its present location around 2006. The fishing suffered another blow and has never returned to the glory days. The boat slips where the crappie house once stood are prized fishing locations. Many of the local fishermen have never forgiven me for my part in moving the crappie house.

The slack was taken up by huge runs of large white bass. Catching a limit of large white bass was no problem.

Another milestone was the decision of the utility board to allow the lake to fluctuate in depth by nine feet. At its lowest depth the crappie house is in very shallow water. The lake level was refilled from time to time with water pumped from Lake Benbrook. The yellow bass was introduced into the lake via the pumps. The yellow bass wiped out the white bass population in a matter of three to four years.

So where are we now? The lake is full. Good catches of crappie are being caught in the crappie house and under the deeper docks. Bluegill can be caught in the spring and summer in the wall area and in the city parks. Big black bass are available. Yellow bass are abundant. Although the lake will probably never be as good as it once was it is still a good fishery.

Smithaven, that is a great rundown on the history of the lake. I greatly appreciate your taking the time to provide it. The story of the Texas Parks and Wildlife using grass carp to remove the vegetation is all to familiar with those of us that live in Austin, where they removed every blade of vegetation in Lake Austin and ruined a great fishery a few years ago. I sometimes wonder what these people are thinking. Anyway, when I get up there, I plan to give Weatherford a try. It will probably be close and convenient for me. Thanks again.