Thinking of fishing Athens soon. Looking for recommendations on hotel or even campground that is close & safe. Thanks

I have not been there in a while, but the Lake Athens Marina has reservations. Not sure about tents. It is there by the ramp, and they have a restaurant and store.

I was thinking about heading there on Saturday, and was wondering how busy the ramp is lately. I think they have limited parking, and I’ll be driving ~ 2hours to get there.

Here is the fishing report from the Athens Daily Review of 5/28/2020:

ATHENS - Water level about 3 inches high early in the week and clear. Water temp in the upper 70s.

Fishing guide Jim Brack says bass fishing patterns remain unchanged from last week. Brack says the grass bite is still a good play with decent numbers of fish taking shad pattern jerk baits, white Senkos, swim jigs and small swim baits worked along outside grass edges in 8-12 feet of water. Brush piles in the 15-20 foot range also holding fish to be caught on Texas rigs and cranks. Crappie fishermen reporting a few limits on small jigs soaked around brush piles in 20-25 feet. Chartreuse confetti has been a hot color as of late.

There is an RV park at the marina and several motels in Athens [Holiday Inn; Best Western plus a few more]. Purtis Creek State Park has camping available [RV or tent, but check the TPW website for info on availability]. It is located north of Eustace and would be about a 20 mile drive to Lake Athens. The ramp [and the RV park] were busy during the COVID-19 shut down, but it has slowed down some in the last week or so. However, the ramp is nearly always busy on weekends. Parking at the ramp is somewhat limited, but there is plenty of overflow parking on top of the hill past the RV park. It is a 3 lane ramp with courtesy docks.

Hope this helps.

Thanks a bunch

I'm fishing Athens for the first time Friday morning.. 3 1/2hrs for me. I'll report back on the crowd at the ramp

From what I'm reading on here about this lake, I should have a 10 pounder in the boat on 2nd cast.

you spending the night if so where, if it good place thanks.

You should, but likely won’t see a bass over 3 pounds all day. The lake is full of 16-17” fish.

Thanks for the report back, appreciate it!

Big help, thanks!!

I like being a smart [censored] sometimes... But really, these folks hype this lake up pretty high so I expect to have a decent day. I'm here to have fun and catch fish, I'm not after the biggest bass in the lake. If she hangs on then that's just a plus Y'all most likely have me numbered on PB bass.. Mine was a 9 on Houston County at the hump in front of the marina. If Athens breaks that for me (which it's supposedly guranteed to, I'll post pics)

Whoever asked where I'm staying, I have a cabin at Houston County in Crockett. I'll just be fishing Athens Friday morning then heading down to Crockett, so I'm as clueless as you.

You may see us on Athens on Friday morning. If so, say hello and we can trade fishing reports. It will be me and my wife and the dog in a blue G3 with a 90 Yamaha.

Fished it Memorial Day and that was pretty much my experience. Caught a lot, but only one that went a tad over 3 lbs.

I was there yesterday and the bite was solid for the first 4 hours until the sun got high. Parking lot had 15 boat trailers in it at 5:45 am, which I was very surprised for a Wednesday.

Apparently two guys caught a 12 pounder and were at the ramp showing it off. No clue on what they caught it on or any more details but I am hoping someone posts something about it soon.

I'll be in a grey Majek Extreme center console with a 225 Opti. If I see ya I'll say hi! Should be there around 7 or so. You'll know it's me when you hear a trailer rattling and clanging coming into the marina

Just fished Athens and it was tougher than I thought it would be. Caught some nice chunks, but not the frequency I was hoping for.