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.