That was Newman's Bottom back when you could drive down to the creek. You can no longer drive down there and it's a mile walk.

Irwin bridge is where CR 124 and CR 132 come together. I park on the side of CR 124 and drag my kayak down to the water.

Does anyone have some information about the John boat with a motor on it in a log jam in the horse shoe area of Irwin bridge. It has yellow tape around it, so someone knows something.

Hi guys I'm new to the freshwater game and live in BCS. I was able to catch them last fall on the main lake but the creeks are completely new to me. I have a shallow running <6" little flats boat. Could I make it into the mouth of these creeks? Or would it be better just to walk in? Thanks!

On a side note I need to get a new spinning setup for the creeks as my inshore rods probably won't work for the smaller baits. What would y'all recommend?

I had someone send me PM and they made the comment on how I no longer give details on my trips. So here we go, I will explain. Social media sucks as far as I am concerned, everyone wants to attack you when you post something you do to catch these fish and you add some details in your post to help out others, or you think you are anyway. Yes, there are so many different baits to use out there and everyone has their bait of choice, so I no longer post this information. From day one while posting fish reports on white bass I have always used the same bait and I will use this bait till I can no longer fish for whites, it's a 1/32 oz. white crappie jig. I have tried other baits and so far this one has out produced the others by a long shot. But that's how I fish for these whites. There is an art to fishing these light weight jigs, it's not something you put on your line, cast it out there and catch a bunch of fish every time. It is just like all other artificial baits, it takes time and practice to figure out what it takes to trigger these fish to bite it so you can get a hook set. I'm guessing that 70% of anglers fishing for these whites catch them on what I call a reaction bait. They cast it out, reel it in kind a fast and the white bass hits it with force and then they set the hook. Fishing with these real small jigs is not like that at all. When they take this jig it is one little tap that you feel and then you set the hook. If you have ever fished with plastic worms for black bass then you know what a light tap feels like, because it's the same thing on these small jigs. But I cannot take what I have learned over 46 years and explain it to someone. I cannot tell someone how I can tell when everything feels just right for a bite and it happens. But this is why I no longer tell things in detail anymore. I mean I have my little tricks, traits or what ever you want to call them that work for me and I stick to them because they have worked so well for me in the past. I have experimented with just about anything and everything over the years and I am still learning from watching others. Just two years ago, maybe three now, I learned how to catch small crawfish and use them for whites. And I'll tell you why I di this. I watched a guy catch limit after limit using these crawfish, so I took it upon myself to figure it out on my own and I did. It's all about putting in the time and effort to gain better results for the years to come. The only way to get better at something is to fail trying. Boy do I have some failure time under my belt. As of right now I cannot think of a way that I have not tried to fish for these whites. Back in my younger days I put in a lot of fishing hours, night fishing with chest waders, fishing out of a boat day or night, sight fishing, fishing when my line would freeze up, had to soak pole to make next cast, ice on top of the water next to shore line. I have put my time in for sure.... I know what lights do to these fish at night, I know how to use them and how not to use them. Why? Because I have been there done that. A lot of people do not want me to tell them stuff because they know it all themselves, therefore I just keep my mouth shut.... For all those know it all's, go get em. LOL Just remember failure is not a bad thing, that's how we learn for ourselves. If only I had access to the internet back when I was learning all of this. I found the Yegua creek by driving around Sommerville, parked at Irwin and walked many miles up and down the banks. I found Newman's by walking from Irwin and I ran into some anglers. I asked them if they walked from the bridge as well. That's when they told me about driving in at Newman's. I had a hard time finding it by road. I missed the road the first time I looked for it and ended up at Nails creek. Second time I just took that gravel road and ended up at Newman's. Boy was I tickled pink. I felt like I had just won the Lottery. Then these fishing forums got started and everyone was telling everyone how to get there, the banks got crowed quickly. But we just learn to deal with folks and keep on going. LOL

fishytx- I've been lurking on this forum for years and have always appreciated the tips you have provided - particularly the ones on this thread and it's predecessor. I also might have caught an extra fish or two in the creeks because of it. So, THANKS! Don't let the debbie downers and naysayers get you down.

Right on! AMEN!

It just gets old defending yourself when all you are trying to do is help some folks out. I have this thing about stepping on my new white jig along the shoreline mud with my toe and tapping it till it gets covered good to make it look better and catch more fish. And this is how I come about this method and why I do it. In my past I have been on a great bite, cast after cast I am hooking up with a fish, then I sang the bottom or throw up into a tree (squirrel fishing is what I call it) and I brake the old discolored jig off and of course I tie on a new jig. It was then that I noticed the new bright white jig wasn't getting bit very fast, so one day I stepped on it in the mud, worked the mud into it real good with my fingers, tossed it back out in the water and bang, fish on. From that day on I have often taken a new jig and stepped on it in the mud to dirty it up. Here again, trial and era.
This isn't something I read about, it's something I learned first hand and I have passed this on for others to try. I have a few anglers I fish with who now do it as well and they too believe it works. There is no dumb way to fish, just try it. For instance, I was bass fishing with my uncle out of his boat on Lake Travis and we were throwing Texas rigged plastic worms up against some cliffs. Well I noticed that my bite as well as his did not materialize until our bait was out in 30 feet of water and maybe 20 yards out from the shoreline, so I rigged up what is now called a drop shot. My uncle looked at it and asked me, what in the heck is that. I told him that I rigged it up this way so I could drop it down to these guys and not waste all that time working it down the side of the bottom. My uncle said, ole man, get that [censored] off your line before one of my friends show up and you embarrass me. So I cut it off. That was like 30 plus years ago before they had a name for it. He also use to get on to me for throwing top water baits in the middle of the day. But after watched me hook up with big bass in these conditions, he to will throw one in the middle of the day. LOL I'll do what ever it takes to get a fish to strike an artificial bait. Success is tricking the fish into thinking an artificial bait is something for them to eat. And there are some things we use for black bass that I have no idea what the fish think it is, but never the less they bite it. There is plastic out there that does not look like anything I have ever seen swimming in the water but yet the bass will just gobble it up. Fishing is my favorite hobby for sure.

That is a jedi technique right there. I am humbled and in awe. &#128583;

Thanks for the detailed reports fishytx. I have been lurking the forums for a couple years too and have learned a lot from you, J-Moe, and hook-line&sinker. Those little white hair jigs can be deadly when nothing else works and there cheap too! I appreciate all the help!

I walked into Newman Bottom yesterday afternoon at 12:30. I talked to 8 fisherman as I was walking in and upstream. None of them had caught more than 4 fish. So I figured the post front weather and fishing in the middle of the day would be a total waste of time. Luckily, I was wrong. It ended up being a decent day as I caught 32.

I also caught 3 females that were 15 inches or better. They showed the battle scars from spawning. I expect this weekend will be great. Unfortunately, I had to leave by 4:30 so I missed that golden hour at 5:30. I wish I could have stayed as it might have turned into one of the 40 or 50 fish days.

I've caught an extra thousand or two using the Fishytx methods. They work very well with a fly rod too.

Yes, I reported it to the game warden almost a month ago. It belongs to an Aggie college student. He and his dog got pulled under. Luckily both were just fine. He is supposed to get someone to help him to get it but he sure seems to be taking his time. It has Arkansas identification numbers on it so it took the game warden a few phone calls before he finally got in touch with him to let him know we found it.

J-Moe, you could've just said college student. the circumstances tell us it was an Aggie. just kidding.....class of '83

Thanks for all the help everyone might try it out this weekend. Last year me and my wife went up birch creek a few times in my boat and caught some large mouth but no whites or crappie is this creek not as popular then the others