I live in Addison and the closest fishable body of water to me is the Elm Fork of the Trinity River. Does anyone know any good spots to fish the Elm Fork, and when does the water typically go down enough that it's worth fishing?

Looking mostly for bass, but any good spots for catfish, gar, etc. would be appreciated too!

I live in Addison and you will catch more bass in any of the ponds and creeks than in the river, especially with the water fluctuations that are normal at least for the time being. BTW if you want to catch catfish learn how to walk the bank on white rock creek anywhere between greenville and white rock lake, fishing the woodpiles and trees (instead of sitting and waiting).

Eric

Thanks for the advice Eric!

I'm pretty new to fishing still. Rather than putting a hunk of chicken liver on a hook, casting it out, and waiting, how do you fish specific woodpiles and trees for catfish? Sorry for such a basic question.

Drop bait in front of tree, wait 3 minutes, if no bite put it in a different spot on the tree, 3 minutes, probe holes in thickest part of tree, wait 5 minutes, etc. Spend no more than 20 minutes on a piece of cover without a bite. If cover is on other side then use a peg bobber to keep bait from snagging and cast to cover, cast to multiple angles of it.... move on to next log jam, etc. You can even use line on a long strong stick if you wanted.....

Keep a tight line (unless using a float) so that you set the hook immediately and the fish doesn't dive back into the thickest part and break you off.

Eric

The elm fork was producing big hybrids and sandbass before the lakes started releasing.

Boy was it!

This is California Crossing spillway last week BEFORE the weekend deluges:





Ideal water clarity and flow for optimum fishing conditions for this part of the river. In fact while i was there giving away some hefty catfish i caught a couple miles upstream, I saw a HUGE hybrid break off from a guy right at the wall in the pic, and a HUGE Blue Cat throw a hook about 10 ft from the wall!

This is the same dam, on Wednesday afternoon:



The actual spillway, clearly visible in the first two photos, is a good 5-8 ft UNDER the water! Not at all fishable!

This is the elm fork near Luna/635 BEFORE the weekend rains:



Normal summer level, water clearing, very fishable, catfish spawning in the rocks no more than 15-20 ft from shoreline.

Then the rains came, and:



The spot I took the first picture from is under about 9-10 ft of water, and so dirty, it is unfishable.

Elm Fork between 635 and 183 is not very fishable if at all, right now.

Rudy

Rudy-

That is one excellent report. Thanks for the photos and the detailed info!

I'd never heard of the California Crossing spillway, but it looks perfect. Hopefully it gets more dry soon!

Good stuff and pics! Always wondered way Cali crossing looked like!? Looks like enough water to have a good fishing summer!

Good pics Rudy! Looks like it will be at least a month before the river is fishable again and that is with no more rain.

Will it really take a month before the water goes down? I would imagine the river would drain quicker than that.

It's not the river draining, it's because the river is high from LL releasing a lot of water. They will keep releasing until the lakes are close to normal. Ray Rob goes into LL, LL goes to the main Trinity... it's a system of flood control. Once RR and LL get close to normal the water will get turned down some.

Eric

Exactly. Then when RR and LL are back to normal they will get Gvine back to normal.