Usually bank fishermen don't share locations or secret techniques on the Internet because our access to good bank fishing spots are very limited, if the words get out there would be people swamping the spots...

I'm going to make an exception for Lake Tawakoni because this special lake has an over abundant population of blue catfish and with the new regulations restrictions drastically limiting harvesting the number of catfish 20 inch or longer this lake is going to be inundated with big spawners that will lay millions of excess eggs every year,... TOO MANY LITTLE CATFISH WILL SWIM in this lake... So come catch blue catfish at Lake Tawakoni and have fish fries everyone. Lol

I'll add all the info that you need to catch blue catfish in the following posts as time permitted.

First, best catfish bait is not shad but ghost minnows. I know it's sacrilegious here but I'm telling you from experiences and what the regulars are using to catch coolers and coolers of box fish at Tawakoni.

Best fresh baits are
1. Ghost Minnows
2. Cut gizzard shad
3. Threadfin shad
4. Cut carp or buffalo fish
5. Nightcrawlers
6. Cut bluegills or perch

We are talking about blue catfish and occasional stripers not channel catfish, so no stinkbaits are mentioned above on purpose.

A word on bank fishing baits, ghost minnows vs shad
The old fishing adage " follow the bait fish..." is also true for bank fishing, but we're stuck at the bank, can't really follow the shad any further than the distance my pole can cast, right? Shad come and go but Ghost minnows tend to stick around near shoreline longer than shad and can tolerate wilder swing in water temperature, so they hank around shallow when shad disappeared. Big fish know it and they want gm any time...


Tawakoni Best and consistent producing BANK FISHING SPOTS
1. Arm Point Park - the EAST side shore toward the point are good for blue catfish, hybrids, white bass, stripers ... look for SE or NE wind.
2. Tawakoni City Park - the point is good for bluecatfish wb and hybrids, but best blue catfish spots are the east side shore, best bait here is cut gizzard shad. West side shore has lots of yellow bass. N winds.
3. SRA boat ramp, the sandbar just west of the fence, blues, hybrids, sandbass and big yellow bass, N winds.
4. Wind Point Park, blue catfish. There are no bad spots here, my secret spot is the broken boat ramp just south of fishing pier, S winds.
5. Sky Point Park, S and SW winds, blue catfish and occasional hybrids
6. State Park, N wind, fish north point for bluecatfish early in the morning, fish the river channel east of the point for big bluecatfish and hybrids better luck at night when there no boat traffics

This should get your army of bank fisherman going lol.

I want to add one thing. Arm point park fishing will be horrible this weekend. Nobody should go there until AFTER this weekend... which is when I will be there lol.

Totally kidding. I can second that Arm point park has great bank fishing.

Can you actually get banned from bank fishing??? LOL

Really, Great post bankangler, people posting info like this is what drew me to this forum. Doesn't happen enough any more.

Yep bankangler is da man! He helps a lot met him a spot on Twok and we was killing the hybrids. If you go to Trot line bait and tackle my buddies friend have a pics of a 4ft catfish there caught that sucker bank fishing huge whale.

Thanks Hurricane 201, and shimanotoshort for the comments. I don't know about bank fishing ban, but I imagine I would have a lot explaining to do, lol. Here's what I'd say the more people catching blue catfish from Tawakoni the bigger they will get and fatter. It's been great so far... My worry is you can't keep up with the multiple folds increase of the number of big spawners that won't be removed from the lake after September 1, 2016... No one wants to catch stunt 10" catfish,... all the bank spots I listed above have produced quality fish in past years up to the first flood of last year. I doubt it will last with these new catfish regulations. If all you catch are skinny 10" catfish, then those spots are no better than some small pond in the city, not worth driving an hour to T-wok.... So why not tell more people about Tawakoni and invite them to enjoy great fishing at Tawakoni. I'm really fishing for great men here in hope more people know how great the fishing are at old Tawakoni so more people will know difference after September 1...

More on SRA boat ramp which adjacent to Holiday Marina property fence.
The shoreline to the left of the boat ramp all the way to the little cove about a third way into marina property line has many good fishing structures including rocks boulders, a long sandbar, a nice stretch of ridge with upto a yard of dropoff, etc. These structures are under water and beyond reach from the bank, other wise, this would be number one spot on my list. The rocks area were magnet for channel catfish in Springs and early Summer that made for some fast and furious double actions. The little cove in front of the boat ramp and near the rocks are good blue catfish 4-5 lbers range that you can catch them with light tackles. We used to go there after the rain and sometimes during a drizzle in Fall and early Winter and caught a cooler full of blue catfish in less than an hour, just plain old nightcrawlers...

But the best structure is the sandbar and rock piles on both sides of the sandbar, especially those on the left side of the bar. Many large fish were caught there. 20, 30, 40 lb blue catfish were common, my oldest son caught up his personal best, just under 17lb striper there, wife's personal best 25 lb blue cat, and my 10 y.o. son's pb 11 blue catfish, all were caught there. In Spring and summer, schools of sandbass and hybrids frequent this area, over the years we caught our shares of limits there. Did I mention fat torpedo shape LMB? Those large rock piles and boulders in the deeper area just sought of the sandbar hold some of the biggest LMB up to 7 lb the ones I caught....

If water ever go down below pool at least 3 feet, this place would be packed with bank fishermen night and day alike in spring and summer, especially on weekends.

Excellent post

Thanks kodys'papa for the kind words. You're one of the luckiest men who gets to live in fishing paradise... Bank fishing regardless of fish species is definitely undeserved in many of lakes, but Tawakoni is exceptional well managed for bank fishing. My hat is off to the Sabin River Authority, they understand fishing, all SRA built parks are on points or near sandbars which are excellent for both bank and boat fishermen. I really don't mind paying to fish at SRA built parks, Arm Point $7, Wind Point $5, Sky Point $5, because they all well worth for every penny. By the way fishing fee is the same as boat launch fee except at Anchor Inn marina which is $3 more for boat launch. Good fishing also bring in more fishing campers which add enough extra revenue to help upkeep of park roads and shore clean up. It's a win-win for all.

And West Tawakoni City Park was built for bank fishing

Even the State Park has some very good bank fishing spots for big blue catfish and big hybrids... TPWD should take some lessons from SRA on how to manage lake resources, including their open bidding process for park and marina management contract. It's all winners with SRA competency. Can't say the same with TPWD.

And West Tawakoni City Park was built for bank fishing


Yes bank angler, it was. The grant was from US Fish & game and that paid for the ramp and the roads down to the point, along with culverts and turnouts for banking.

Thank you for the info! I plan to fish "TWOK" in the future and you have gave me some ideas.

I second that BankAngler50. Ghost minnow is the only bait I use when bank fishing. I'll catch cats to hybrids. Loved them! I can cast out really far with them. Thanks for the kind post. Love this post.

Great info!!

I used to post maps of good fishing holes on the Brazos above Lake Whitney.

It really made some people very mad. Even though they never fished those spots and probably tried them on their next trip.

What are Ghost minnows and where do you get them?

I wish someone would do this for Granger!! Very nice post BankAngler!

They are a long, skinny, almost opaque minnow. We catch them with a throw net.

Caught many a channel on them and sandies too out of Grapevine. Live or dead they work better than anything. I used to thread them on a hook like a worm and slow drag them across the bottom off of sand bass point. I caught mine with jugs and cornmeal. If I had help we just seined them along the sandy bank.

Pretty good description and advices above. Yes 1/4" mesh castnet or a 2 men minnow seine will catch the minnows. I usually start at the boat ramp, then any hard bottom shore line as mentioned above should catch plenty of minnows.

thanks kodys'papa for sharing this info, only you would know these details from inside city hall. It's one of a kind park as far bank fishing goes. The irony is other on weekends, this park actually the whole lake is under utilized 3 seasons out of a year. When I goes on week days usually not many people were fishing there at all, Springs and ear summer probably the only time you see people lining up the banks, and even then there's plenty of room for everyone to fish.

If I can help it, we need more bankers at Tawakoni, so that the politicians won't do what they did to Dalrock Park at ray Hubbard.

So come on y'all, go catch some fish at Tawakoni. Everyone at all age can catch fish at old T-wok. If you're not sure where to start keep follow this thread, I'm going through the process in reverse order by giving the necessary info to those experienced anglers first, such as what baits and where, but will gradually going into the nuts and bolts for beginners soon after I cover weather, winds, water temperature and currents which is intermediate level of fishing. So stick around y'all.

If anyone have any questions please don't hesitate to ask here in this thread or pm me.

Thunders -- get off the water and seek shelter. fish go deep and lock jaws. Don't touch your graphite rods.

Drizzle, light rain and shower can be really good for catfishing....

More later....

BA50, thanks for sharing your wisdom with fellow bankers. I don't know if i will ever get to fish at that lake, but i really appreciate your honest effort regardless to help out other bankers. Other's might worry about ruining their honey holes, but that's their agenda. you do what you believe is right. nobody can satisfy everyone, it's just part of our lives.

Besides that, i just found my old castnet from the garage which i haven't used for like a decay.. how would i go about targeting this ghost minnows around lavon or lewisville? Do i need to hire "ghostbusters".. sorry couldn't resist..

I would like to try the lewisville broken dam someday with ghost minnows for cats and hybrids. I don't know when that will be but for the future reference.

I can't seem to search up the location of Arm Point park....is that a "local" name?

Just Google "Arm Point Park" and it pulls up a map and everything...What are you doing to "search up"?
Here's the link to the Google search:
Google Search for "arm point park"

Here's the screenshot of the Google search:

Thank you for being kind to us kinda new bank fisherman. Ive had some good luck there but only been to a few spots. I really appreciate this post!

You're welcome DD, and thanks for the kind words. First you probably need to buy a new net, 1/4 inch mesh net to catch minnows. I would start at any wind swept boat ramp especially those that has those green slimy algae, ghost minnows love those green algae. Wear polarized sunglasses so you can see them. Throw the net where you see them. Look for those green algae to give you clue how deep you need to throw, usually one side of the boat hold more minnows than three other. Throw once to right side, then throw once to the left, then one more throw to middle, now your done, minnows are gone, you have wait st least 30 minutes before they come back

Any hard bottom areas, sand, gravel, or compact dirt along the shore will hold minnows

Catfishing Weather

Thunders -- get off the water and seek shelter. fish go deep and lock jaws. Don't touch your graphite rods.

Drizzle, light rain and shower can be really good for catfishing. I usually fish with waders and wader jacket ($20 from Academy ) so rain never bothered me.

The day after a good soaking rain with runoff is excellent for catfishing. Find a little pocket of water where wind current push the water back into that pocket, food stubs (insects, worms and other nutrients that were washed down from the fields) tend to collect there, schools of blue catfish will come. I especially like the north winds and three places never failed to produce, 1. Little cove in front of the SRA boat ramp , 2. Little pocket of water on the right hand side of the northern main point arm at State Park. 3. Little cove on east side of West Tawakoni City Park point. Nightcrawlers are the ticket. It's a little tricky when lake has flowing currents when water level is over pool as it is currently. I'm going to say the SP spot should still produce, but the other two might not. The reason being current might carry food stubs away from those places.


More later....

Anyone go fishing Twok tomorrow morning?

Here's a good example, you got some rain today and assuming the ground was fairly saturated from previous rains, there was runoff water into the lake. Steady NW winds 9-10 MPH. wind die down a bit but steady N wind 4 mph into the morning. Moon won't be up till pass 3 am,... perfect for dawn catfishing tomorrow morning. Under normal years conditions, ie no flowing currents in the lake, West Tawakoni City Park East side of the point would be crawling with 4-5 lb blue catfish, so would SRA Boat ramp, and SP north point both sides.

thanks for the updates! I'm going up there next weekend to try it out and I really appreciate all the helpful advice.

You're welcome catcrap. I'm glad you can get some helpful info from this thread and that's exactly is the purpose of this thread. I notice you're from Austin and you're driving all the way to Tawakoni next weekend for some catfishing? That's a long drive I hope your trip worth the drive. Are you bank or boat fishing? If I can be of any help please don't hesitate to pm me. Good fishing to ya!

yessir, I figured I've been running around on the lakes down here for long enough. I always see so many awesome pictures from all of yall up in that neck of the woods, and after I saw your post I figured it'd be worth the trip. I'm planning on bringing the canoe and a little 4hp motor, so a little bit of both. I will certainly shoot you a pm if I can think of anything you didn't cover, although with all the great tips you've shared already I don't know how I could not catch some. I'll be sure to post updates after the trip too. Thanks again!!

Outstanding thread.
Thank you Bank Angler. For starting it.
A true post for the Working-Man. Wanting to enjoy fishing. Along with KEEPING. Fish, for
eating.

You're welcome Bittercreek, I like what you said l couldn't have said it better myself. You're actually describing a lot of people who enjoy fishing and keeping fish to eat. I know we're the MAJORITY of the fishing community, but most of just keep keep quiet to ourselves. You've spoken out quite a bit, I'm doing my part. We need to find our voice somehow so that this aged old tradition will continue for our children to enjoy as well.

Go get them catcrap! Yes I pretty much cover all the main points, except wind directions and currents, but you probably already know. Bank fishing lake with currents is quite challenging, your canoe come in handy

I found an interesting article on river fishing techniques that might be helpful. I'll try to add a link here later. Got to run now, lol.

Catfishing in Current

Sometimes you might just have to get off the bank and get on a small craft, canoe, kayak, etc. And go up the creeks or river to chase blue catfish. Tawakoni water still over pool, which means it's tributaries still have some currents, and lake itself has currents. Catfishing feeding patterns change when lake has currents. In-Fishermen article below described best techniques to fish blue catfish in big river, , but you get some ideas on how blue catfish feed in current.

In-Fishermen Top Techniques for Big Rivers Blue Catfish

Thanks for the info BankAngler. I hit the water yesterday in the boat and went to some similar places as you have described and we put 25 eaters in the box. Biggest around 5 pounds. Channels are starting to move up also.

I did not go to any place you mentioned because I wanted to leave that for the bankers. I know there are lots of places for the boaters.

Awesome Stratos, I'm glad you found them. No problem, any time and thanks for sharing. You're a true gentleman and I must say a smart fisherman. You gathered the necessary info and notice chacteristics of good fishing spots and bam! the entire lake is wide open for your fishing and catching pleasure. Good job!

Our Church-Group. Returned from the Annual. Twak. Jug-Trip. Last week.
We fished all along those Areas. You recommended above.
Great water. - Will not post Photos.. Due to the more-"Sensitve Folks". Getting upset.
We do this trip twice a year. For an annual. Fish-Fry at a local. Nursing-Home.
Along with another. Fish-Fry in the Fall. For the Immediate area. Firefighters, and PD.
Great Lake. Outstanding Locals. Best eating Blues and Yellows. In the State.

Sounds like your group had a successful trip, well done, congratulations. I admire you and your group, doing what you enjoying doing which is fishing, using your skills to catch fish for your community traditional gathering fish fry, bringing the community that much closer. Life can't get any more real than that, to me that is a great way of life.

Tawakoni is a great lake, local people are as real as can be, and I have to agree with you 120% on Tawakoni catfish taste, Twok bluecats "taste like butter" meant to pick this one lol

Alright let's wrap up weather, wind directions and temperature. Some might think that it doesn't matter you go fishing whenever ever you can, while that's true, hey if you give me choice of sitting around the house and go fishing skunks and all, you bet I'd rather sitting by the lake with my fishing poles. However most of us has to work for a living, time is always an issue, so if you want maximize your chance of catching quality fish, banking of course, understanding weather, winds, currents and water temperature can help plan a more enjoyable fishing trip. I'm probably one of the lucky few who work for themselves, no boss, I have some flexibility and I can plan ahead when want to go fishing.

Let's talk about wind directions. There are two kinds of currents, water surface currents which are caused by wind actions on water surface that creates waves carrying microorganisms collectively called zooplankton, toward the bank. Bait fish, shad and minnows follow zooplankton, they eat zooplankton. Blue catfish come to wind swept shallow water to eat these bait fish, and you want to be there to catch those blue cats. So winds and water surface currents are your friends.

The other current is flowing currents where the entire water column is moving down stream. In a lake, this is not your friend, it change everything. Water flow distribute zooplankton down stream through out lake and bait fish are spreading out, hence, catfish are spread or they will skip wind blown points and go up to mouth of tributary and lay low waiting for food items to tumble down to their mouths.

True that on the wind!

Thank you BankAngler50, You are the second person to share great spots and advice . I get why people don't share great fishing spots , but man its tough when you are new to Texas and really want to feel the line go tight with a nice fish , I paid for a trip with Carey Thorn and he shared spots to catch fish and shared a wealth of information to having more success , Thanks to you and Carey and others like you guys it makes this forum so much more enjoyable . I realize that as people share the honey holes the army's of litter bugs will come and go , I have been walking up to these people as they drop trash and I pick up their trash and put it in my bag and try to remind them of the values of not littering while not being confrontational , of course it helps when I can get a few other fishermen to help me . What kind of rig would you recommend ? I have noticed the rigs with the weight at the end then a hook about a foot up the tied to the main line, also I have seen the three way swivel with the hook about eight inches away from the swivel . Thank You for a great thread .

Thinking of going Arm point this week. Anybody been and is this a good place to start bank fishing for some catfish? Thanks for the help.

According to this post it is. Main thing is to look at the wind direction and pick your location accordingly.

where do you get ghost minnows?

Are ghost minnows the ones that are in the shallows with what looks like a white / clear spot on the top of their head .

they are in the shallow but I didn't notice their head... ghost minnows have long slender body that look almost transparent color like glass, their other name is "glass minnows". You can find ghost minnows at any boat ramps in Tawakoni. You can seine in almost any shallow shoreline water that has clear bottom, ie, without muddy or silt bottom. You can't catch gm with 3/8" mesh net, you need net with 1/4 " mesh to catch them.

Duplicate post. ...

yup, it is the best bank fishing spot on lake Tawakoni and very popular with regular bank fishermen, that's the reason it cost $7 to fish there. People fish there 24 hours a day in Springs and Summer. I'd bet you could shorten your learning time quicker by just watching the regulars fish, including what poles, rigs, baits, how and where they catch baits, etc.

Darrell, I'm glad you ask about catfish rigs, all the rigs you mentioned were variety of 3-way rigs. 3-way rigs are simple to tie and they work best from the bank, imho. Maybe someone can take pictures of their 3w rigs and post them up to share with fellow anglers who are just starting catfishing.

I will talk about catfishing gears that I use, shortly, and will tie a few 3-way rigs to show to our new catfish anglers who are interested in learning the basic nuts and bolts of this addictive passion that I call fishing. Btw, 3-way rigs will catch stripers, too.lol..

Thank you for the confirmation on the 3 way rigs BankAngler50 . I am sorry to beat a dead horse to death on the whole ghost minnow subject but I really want to make sure I am getting it , The minnows that I'm finding are a little transparent in the body, and they are in about 0-1 ft. of water and they have a slightly upturned mouth for maybe surface feeding, they are maybe 2-3 inches long . I can catch them pretty easy with a fine net, but if the net has 1/4 inch gaps they would get away . If these guys are the right minnows then I guess I am real surprised that they work so well when I see how much bigger shad get, and shad would provide larger meal . I didn't realize I have been missing out on such a plentiful source of bait .

yep, those are ghost minnows. The minnows seine has smaller mesh and they will catch even the tiniest of minnows, but for net, I don't think we can buy net finer than 1/4" mesh, and 1/4" mesh will catch relatively bigger size minnows while allowing the tiny ones escape. You're absolutely right on the unbelievable amount of minnows in the lake. A fair warning, you will catch more than just catfish with ghost minnows,

Let me start with saying thank you for this thread.
I am looking at purchasing a minnow seine to catch some ghost minnows, my question is what size hook (circle or kahle hook)would you recommend?
Also hooking through bottom lip? Sorry if I missed this in a previous post here.

No problem, jgauna, those are good questions. For minnows, I recommend Gamakatsu octopus hooks, size 2/0 and 4/0. You hook minnows like you hook nightcrawlers, in through the mouth or lower portion of eye socket, thread through the body and out by the tail, make sure hook tip poke through skin, barely. . . Minnows on a 3-way rig you can throw a country mile out from the bank

On Ivie. This time year. We really hammer the bank. Along the Concho. Mud/ Rocky shoreline.
We seine. In along the mud banks. When it warms up. During the Day. Small Perch. Along with.
Baby Mudcats. All under 2''. Watch the Mudcats. Snip their fin's off. With a bell sinker. tied to tag end of line. Attach 3-way. About 3ft. above it. Run out 12 '' of leader. Off a side swivel. With 2/0 True-Turn hook.. run 1/4 o.z. egg-weight. Up line running down from rod. After you get that egg-weight up the line. Tie a solid. Polyermeyer-Knot to the top eye of 3-way.
Cast out, and let it drift in. until Bell Sinker. Hits bottom. Also;. place good Cork. Where the whole set-up. stays about 5'.
Chicken-Skin is also great bait. To get bit. On Channels this time year. Shallow at night.
GoodLuck. And please watch out for snakes. This time 'year along the bank.
GodBless.

Prety good advices right there, Thanks Bittercreek for sharing. You touched on a couple of things that I will definitely elaborate on a bit more for Tawakoni banking. Once again, good stuff Bittercreek

3-way catfish rigs

Sorry don't have time to tie and photo them, yet. But since we got a couple questions on it, let me try to describe my versions of 3-way rigs that I like.

Materials: 30# mono or fluorocarbon, 20# mono lines, 2/0 swivels, 3/0 snap swivel, 3-way T swivels, 3 or 4 oz bank sinkers, 2/0 and 4/0 Gamakatsu offset octopus hooks.

1. Tie a trilene knot from mainline to 2/0 swivel,
2. Tie 2 foot of 30# fluorocarbon to 2/0 swivel and tie the other end to a T 3-way swivel, both trilene knot.
3. 1 1/2 to 2 foot of 20# mono, tie an overhand loop at one end, and tie a trilene knot to bottom loop of the T 3-way swivel,
4. Thread the overhand loop through eye of 3/0 snap swivel, bring the loop completely over the swivel and pull to secure. The snap swivel is for bank sinker.
5. Cut 18" of Fluorocarbon 30# line, tie a figure-8 loop at one end, and snell the 2/0 or 4/0 octopus hook at the other end. You want between 5 to 10 inches of leader for your hook.
6. Thread the figure-8 loop through the third eye of 3-way swivel and thread the hook through the figure8 loop, pull hook and leader line through loop to secure.

Put a 3 oz sinker on snap swivel and minnow on the hook,... you now ready to catch fish.

Side note : step 5, figure-8 loop allows for quick change of pre-tied hooks. For example, I may have pre-tied 2/0 and 4/0 hooks, depending on kinds of bait available or sizes of fish that are biting, I might switch from 2/0 to 4/0 hooks or bigger. However figure-8 loop is not a strong knot, you might lose a fish here and there, in theory... So instead of figure-8 knot just tie trilene knot to the swivel if you're targeting bigger fish.

Big waves bank fishing

When you have steady 10-20 mph wind in your face, especially north winds at lake Tawakoni you could be fishing in 2-3 foot waves, this is prime big cats fishing condition, even better if wind didn't change direction since previous day. Big fish will come shallow scavenging for scrap bits and pieces left there by all species of fish and big fish will feed on all those species as well. Big blue catfish grow big quickly by eating whatever fish that fit into their mouths including stripers. Here I'd use 50# braid mainline, and 50# / 30# fluorocarbon/mono lines for leaders, and upto 7/0 hooks. Big chunks of cut gizzard shad or buffalo fish are preferred baits.

A few words on 3-way rigs...

There are a few variety of 3-way rigs that don't use 3-way swivels. In place of the 3-way swivel you may tie a dropper loop knot or a twisted droper loop knot, they work just as well. The twisted drop-loop knot rig was my favorite for years before I switched to 3-way T swivels rigs. The reason I like the swivel version is very simple, you can change the length of your leaders quickly without having to re-tie the whole rig.

But why do I like 3-way rigs vs Carolina rig types?
Answers are very simple 1. 3-way rigs cast much further than Carolina types rigs. 2. I can tie a weak knot to create the weakest link at the sinker and by using lesser pound tested line. . If a big fish drag my sinker underneath a big pile of rocks and it got snagged the worst that can happen is losing a sinker but not the fish because the sinker has the weakest link and will break off when I pull hard enough.

Bump

How long will the blues stay shallow enough to catch good numbers from the bank? Are they shallow right now because they are spawning or because the shad are shallow? Do they go deeper once they spawn out?

Lots of interesting info here. What type rod do you use with this setup?

Stratos, I think they are shallow because shad are around and the females have eggs. With all the water in the lake and flooded cover, fish are scattered. We even caught a couple of legal hybrids north of the bridge over by the golf course last week while catfishing in10-14 feet

Thanks BankfishinDave and Bittercreek for the bump,

Cool Arrow, I use 9-12 foot medium heavy surf rods.

+1, also when Tawakoni has no flowing currents, shad and minnows are shallow early in morning pretty much year round except the coldest months in late fall and winter. With flood water fish are scattered, but in years past, you could catch blue catfish at lake Tawakoni pretty much year round, late fall and winter months are even better for big catfish from the bank, sometimes you need to wade down and cast further out... when you can't catch shad or ghost minnows shallow, use cut carp or baffallo fish.

Good to read some useful bank fishing gear and tactic info on here that will hopefully help others along the way. Weather, wind speed & direction combined with the seasonal fish behaviors play a big part in catching catfish from the bank . Accurate info BankAngler. Although , I don't advocate regularly keeping big fish( fish over 15 lbs.) , we will agree to disagree there and move along. Keep up the good literature!

Good time for banking here now. Channel cats are shallow.

Thank you sir!

What about the Two Mile bridge and the 751 bridge?

only fish a couple times at 751, fishing from a busy boat ramp parking lot wasn't my cup of tea, never went back there, so couldn't tell you much about it.

Two miles bridge used to be pretty good b4 the new bridge construction started. It's very popular spot for family fishing in Springs and early summer. Children could catch chanel catfish pretty close to the rock rip raps with light tackles and corks. The point is good for bluecatfish and flatheads. Haven't been there since the construction started,...

thanks for the report kodys'papa. Wished I wasn't 300 miles away, love Ole Twok shallow chanel catfish fast and furious fishing actions this time of the year.

Tandem 3-way rigs for channel catfish
Recommend 15# fluorocarbon for leaders and 7' medium heavy rod or 9' salmon/steelhead rod. For rig, you may use drop-loop or twisted drop-loop or the T 3-way swivel, first hook a foot off bottom, second hook 10-12 inch above first hook, 5-7" hook leader is all you need, 2 oz bank sinkers. #2 octopus hooks or kahle hooks, cut ghost minnows or cut threadfin shad for baits.

You're welcome cool arrow

Tawakoni special catfish bank fishing gears:

Rod - 9 to 12 foot medium heavy graphite surf rods
Reel - 5000-8000 series spinning reels
Rigs - 3-way sinker at the bottom is all I use for catfish
Hooks - Gamakatsu octopus hooks 2/0 4/0 7/0 for blue catfish; #2 kahle hooks for channel catfish

300 miles away?? man, you are one dedicated catfisher man. i might as well drive to gulf for that distance. what city you live in?

Good information, right there.
Thank you for shareing. BankAngler 50.

We live in West Tx.. Its a drive for us. We do it 3 times a 'year. .
Worth the drive. Too fill the freezer. Great Lake. Outstanding Regular Folks.
Never had a bad experience.
Those are some of the best eating fish there is.

You're welcome Bittercreek, I'm more than glad to share what I know in hope that those info will help some fellow anglers along the way.

hahaha, not quite that dedicated, I just moved to Austin area two months ago, haven't fish once yet, left alone driving all the way to |Twok.

just want to add a few words on fishing tandem 3-way rigs...fishing shallow water you want both of your baits to hover just off the bottom, you can accomplish that by laying your rod tip low by propping your rod at a low angle. Stay close to your poles and be ready to set the hook.

how is austin? i am beginning to dislike dfw more and more. traffic is getting worse everyday. i hate my job and stubborn boss. austin is considered to be tx silicon valley and it's more close to gulf. maybe a few years later, i'll move to austin.

Very dynamic but EXPENSIVE place to live. Gotta work like a dog to pay bills. Lol. DFW has its advantages, a good fisherman can supplement his income by catching and eating fresh and delicious fried fish fillet, etc. He could get by with 24k/year on family of four, and if you know how to make fancy fish dishes (hehm, YouTube dishes, if you must, lol), the kids wouldn't know that they were poor.

Traffic in and around Austin is much worse than DFW imo.
Stacks up on 35 every day all the way back up to Georgetown.
West and Northwest just as bad. Gets worse every year.

I-35 backs up north and south every day. You learn to get a map and figure a route from the toll road to wherever you want to go.

main local north-south routes are clogged up during rush hours, too. It took us over an hour to drive 10 miles on 734 (Palmer Ln), lol.

I'm wrapping up this thread with the nuts and bolts gears here. I'd like to add a few more words on the specifics then we're done. ..

9 to 12 foot surf graphite rods... Catfish may come really close to shore real early in the morning then they drop back deeper as the sun rises. The same is true late afternoon and into the night, especially in Spring and early summer. They might bite real shallow early in evening then drop a little deeper as night fall, etc. Having longer poles allow you to cast further out to reach the fish. Quite often we wade down in the water then cast out. I highly recommend waders if fish regularly. I like graphite rods because they're more sensitive and you can fill the fish better from 100 yards away, it's mainly just for fun at the beginning, but as you gain more experiences the sensitivity will quickly tell you if your drag is too tight or too loose (so you may adjust drag accordingly ) and the flexibility of graphite rod will compensate the tightness of your drag so fish don't break off too easily. I use Daiwa Sealine mh rods they're $70-90 range.

Reels... Spinning reels are best for bank catfishing. Bankers like to cast into the winds and baitcast reels tend to backlash in windy conditions, you don't want to deal with bird nests. I use the cheapest saltwater spinning reels that I can find that are watertight, because muddy water is bad for internal gears of your reel and will make your drag sticky and not smooth. Shimano Socorro reels are around $70, they are a bit slow to reel but drag is strong and pretty smooth for the price. 5000 series is minimum, and upto 8000 series maybe needed if you use heavier lines and/or if you fish a flat and wade down very far from shore to reach the nearest drop off where bigger fish tend to congregate.

Rigs - 3-way sinker at the bottom is all I use for catfish
Hooks - Gamakatsu octopus hooks 2/0 4/0 7/0 for blue catfish; #2 kahle hooks for channel catfish

I've covered 3-way rigs extensively, mainly on its long distance casting advantage over other kinds of rigs. I might add that it's very easy and quickly to re-bait 3-way rigs.

On hooks, those are just my preferences over the years, they seem to work best for me because gamagatsu hooks are very sharp and stay sharp, they also work great for whitebass and stripers also. I use these very same setups to catch stripers and hybrids at lake Tawakoni. They work and will help you catch fish. And with that you should be ready to catch some catfish of all sizes and some stripers and hybrids. Thank you for reading and sharing, and I apologize for taking so long to write this... Wishing every one full stringer of fish or loaded cooler on every fishing trip.

left out main line, 20# and 30# braided line, PowerPro Silk, for eater catfish, 50# PP silk for big blue catfish. It's all about small diameter of braided line so you can cast out a good distance. For leaders I use 15#, 20#, 30#, and 50# fluorocarbon or mono lines, I recommend using fluorocarbon for leaders because fluorocarbon lines don't tangled up main line as much as mono lines. The exception is leader for the sinker, always us mono leader for sinker if it's all possible. For 50# leaders mono will do, diameter pretty big it won't tangle with anything.

THIS THREAD FREAKING RULES.

Tag

Great info

Been fishing at Duck Cove Marina from the sailboat dock, have been 3 times and only caught 2 cats, 1 blue about six or seven pounds and 1 channel about 13-14" long. Caught the blue on a live perch about 3" long and the channel on bait shrimp. I have used cut bait, shrimp, catfish dough bait, punch bait, live shad and cut shad. What am I doing wrong ??

If you cant catch catfish at Tawakoni you need to just quit.

Just not getting bit yet, hoping that they will move in soon. Am I fishing the wrong spot ? I go there with my friend since he has a sail boat there.

Yes it does!