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Great trip to east Texas (Nacogdoches) #14016785 05/31/21 10:24 PM
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dk2429 Online Content OP
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Buddy and I just rolled back into Houston from a 6 day trip fishing the Nacogdoches vicinity for the first time (I'm sure a lot of you remember my countless posts about it.) We went in to it not expecting much due to all the rain right before we left but it actually turned out to be awesome time. Just figured I'd share my thoughts on the 5 lakes we covered for the very first time in 6 days.. Rated from our favorite lakes down to the least favorite. I can't give the best opinion being our first time and not having a lot of time to learn the lakes.

1- Pinkston
2- Nacogdoches
3- Murvual
4- Timpson
5- Naconiche

Pinkston was just an AWESOME fishery. Perfect little off the beaten path lake that I could tell not many know about. Initially was kinda worried about even being able to drag a 22 footer center console to it from all the posts I've read on here about the terrible access, which was kind of blow out of proportion in my opinion. We put in at the dam ramp every time and had no issues whatsoever getting down that tiny road or any issues with the ramp. Could have done that with a minivan as the tow vehicle. I was expecting it to be just absolute hell. Anyway, fishing was great! EVERY SINGLE FISH was caught on topwater all the times we went (the lake we revisted the most.) Texas rig, crankbait, fluke, whatever... no bite. Top water popper, tore them up. The first morning around 8:30am I caught what I believe was my PB bass. Didn't have a scale so I have no idea, but she was a honker. I'd estimate 7-8lbs maybe (i've caught many fish up to 4 pounds so a fish like that was crazy.) The rest were all 1-2 pounds. We covered almost the whole lake and the crazy thing was we caught probably 80% of them on one single about 1/4 mile long bank on the south arm. Didn't do well on the north arm at all. Just an awesome little lake that I will definitely be returning to in the near future.

Nacogdoches was the one lake that we almost guranteed to be a bust due to high water and it being muddy. Boat docks underwater.... We fished it first time Friday morning and were extremely dissappointed.. All the locals at the ramp weren't happy either. Went back Sunday morning, and abosutely put the beat down on them. Citrus shad and sexy shad shallow cranks around boat docks and grass the whole day. Biggest one was maybe 4lbs, but we had to catch 15-20 fish. It was just non stop constant. Caught a good chunk of them up in one cove on the west side of the lake. Didn't fish much above the high lines because the water was terrible. My absolute favorite type of fishing is running crank baits around docks and bulkheads covering water, and this lake was perfect for that

Murvual wasn't on our plan list but after giving up on Naconiche we decided to head up that way. I honestly can't say we did that great (fished the heat of the day and didn't know what to expected) but it was a beautiful lake that I'll be returning to without doubt. Only caught a couple maybe hitting 2 pounds, but I could tell it's a lake with a lot of potential that I need to spend more time on. Put in at the main marina and fished about 1/2 way down the lake on both sides

Timpson wasn't the greatest.. Hung a few 3 pounders on fire tiger shallow divers on the west side of the lake. Very grassy and nasty lake IMO. Water wasn't muddy, it just was nasty. Best way I can describe it is as an oversized, shallow neighboorhood pond. Way too much grass, and it was that nasty grass that is thick and hard to get off your lure. It was worth the time to say we've been there, but by no means will I be returning.

Naconiche was the lake we had high hopes for and left very dissappointed. Water was clear, and it is a pretty lake without question that looks very fishy. Only caught 3 up to 2lbs on crank baits. VERY stumpy lake. I just got my trolling motor out of the shop after being overhauled and cracked the shaft from the head down to the lower unit on this lake. Wasn't even on and trolling.. Just standing there fishing drifting with the wind and nailed a nice juicy stump that you could barely see. We fished all up both arms and the dam. This lake was defintion of too many boats, not enough water. It was clearly a highly pressured lake. It may be we just weren't fishing it properly, but unless someone asks me to go that knows what they're doing, I have no reason to go back. I almost feel like it's a great lake, but we just couldn't find the pattern, or fishing was just off the day we went.

This is what I thought about all of these.. Overall a great trip, and glad we didn't cancel. I'll be repeating this same run sometime for sure minus Timpson and Naconiche. If any of y'all were out there we were in the gray center console being towed by a clapped out Dmax with a light bar zip tied on the rear bumper grin


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Re: Great trip to east Texas (Nacogdoches) [Re: dk2429] #14016824 05/31/21 11:01 PM
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Glad you and your friend enjoyed the trip. You were blessed with a brief window without downpouring rain. Thanks for the reports.


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Re: Great trip to east Texas (Nacogdoches) [Re: dk2429] #14017012 06/01/21 02:01 AM
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We got a little bit of rain early Friday morning and didn't start fishing until about 10am, but that's about it. Great weather, and Nacogdoches was the only one with nasty water, but it turned out to not really matter it seemed like


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Re: Great trip to east Texas (Nacogdoches) [Re: dk2429] #14017044 06/01/21 02:23 AM
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Dr JL Offline
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Nice report.
Pinkston water clarity?

Re: Great trip to east Texas (Nacogdoches) [Re: dk2429] #14017048 06/01/21 02:28 AM
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They know about Pinkston now!! RIP


Jesus loves all of us
Re: Great trip to east Texas (Nacogdoches) [Re: dk2429] #14017089 06/01/21 03:24 AM
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cheers


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Re: Great trip to east Texas (Nacogdoches) [Re: Frank the Tank] #14017117 06/01/21 04:09 AM
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Originally Posted by Frank the Tank
They know about Pinkston now!! RIP


Ha! Talking with locals at the ramp made it pretty clear that they want to keep the lake on the low.. Not in a rude way, one of them I was literally stuck talking to for about an hour and a half at 9 o clock at night. I don't blame them, it's not a big enough lake to support a "popular fishery."


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Re: Great trip to east Texas (Nacogdoches) [Re: Dr JL] #14017120 06/01/21 04:11 AM
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Originally Posted by Dr JL
Nice report.
Pinkston water clarity?


Clear water. Real pretty lake


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Re: Great trip to east Texas (Nacogdoches) [Re: BigDozer66] #14017121 06/01/21 04:11 AM
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Originally Posted by BigDozer66
cheers


Thank you by the way Lynn for answering my texts out there on the middle of Nacogdoches trying to figure out where I was safe to go.. No incident


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Re: Great trip to east Texas (Nacogdoches) [Re: dk2429] #14017253 06/01/21 01:08 PM
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Originally Posted by dk2429
Originally Posted by BigDozer66
cheers


Thank you by the way Lynn for answering my texts out there on the middle of Nacogdoches trying to figure out where I was safe to go.. No incident


Anytime brother! thumb


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Re: Great trip to east Texas (Nacogdoches) [Re: dk2429] #14017307 06/01/21 01:56 PM
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I have fished Naconiche three times and it has been terrible for me on all three trips. If we hadn't found a few fish on beds last time I was there (March) we wouldn't have caught anything. Maybe I'm fishing it wrong, but I have no desire to go back.

There were six of us there. The only fish anyone caught were on beds or schooling.

Re: Great trip to east Texas (Nacogdoches) [Re: dk2429] #14017342 06/01/21 02:25 PM
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Pinkston is no secret, it just gets lost in the other 3-4 really good lakes in the area. Nacogdoches area has arguably the best fishing within 30 minutes of any city you could live in. When I lived there, pinkston would be 3rd or 4th on our list. Still today it would be probably 3rd. Nacogdoches and naconiche are really good if you figure them out. Kurth was near the top back then but I wouldn't waste my money and time anymore to go there.

Re: Great trip to east Texas (Nacogdoches) [Re: Jarrett Latta] #14017354 06/01/21 02:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Jarrett Latta
Pinkston is no secret, it just gets lost in the other 3-4 really good lakes in the area. Nacogdoches area has arguably the best fishing within 30 minutes of any city you could live in. When I lived there, pinkston would be 3rd or 4th on our list. Still today it would be probably 3rd. Nacogdoches and naconiche are really good if you figure them out. Kurth was near the top back then but I wouldn't waste my money and time anymore to go there.


I agree 100%. I lived in Nacogdoches for 18 years and I miss the fishing. Nacogdoches was my favorite lake and still may be. Pinkston was hit and miss but not our favorite. Sometimes we would fish Pinkston early, go eat lunch in Nacogdoches, then finish the day on Lake Nac. Kurth was really good once you got past the thought of fishing around so many big gators. I didn't usually catch a lot of fish on Timpson, but most of the ones I caught were in the 4-5 pound range. Then there is Rayburn, which may be the best spot in America to retire if you just want to fish.

Naconiche wasn't there yet.

When I was a lot younger and didn't have a boat yet we would go over to Garrison and fish Lake Tinkle. I remember the old lady who rented us the jon boats would always say, "You should have been here yesterday. They tore 'em up yesterday!"

Re: Great trip to east Texas (Nacogdoches) [Re: dk2429] #14017534 06/01/21 05:46 PM
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Nice report, thanks for sharing.... thumb






Re: Great trip to east Texas (Nacogdoches) [Re: Razorback] #14017581 06/01/21 06:30 PM
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Originally Posted by Razorback
Originally Posted by Jarrett Latta
Pinkston is no secret, it just gets lost in the other 3-4 really good lakes in the area. Nacogdoches area has arguably the best fishing within 30 minutes of any city you could live in. When I lived there, pinkston would be 3rd or 4th on our list. Still today it would be probably 3rd. Nacogdoches and naconiche are really good if you figure them out. Kurth was near the top back then but I wouldn't waste my money and time anymore to go there.


I agree 100%. I lived in Nacogdoches for 18 years and I miss the fishing. Nacogdoches was my favorite lake and still may be. Pinkston was hit and miss but not our favorite. Sometimes we would fish Pinkston early, go eat lunch in Nacogdoches, then finish the day on Lake Nac. Kurth was really good once you got past the thought of fishing around so many big gators. I didn't usually catch a lot of fish on Timpson, but most of the ones I caught were in the 4-5 pound range. Then there is Rayburn, which may be the best spot in America to retire if you just want to fish.

Naconiche wasn't there yet.

When I was a lot younger and didn't have a boat yet we would go over to Garrison and fish Lake Tinkle. I remember the old lady who rented us the jon boats would always say, "You should have been here yesterday. They tore 'em up yesterday!"


That's pretty much what we did the whole trip.. Fish morning, come in to eat, then go fish either that same lake from the morning or go elsewhere.. Only day we fished the same lake morning and evening was Pinkston on Thursday. That's why when I make these trips I like to have multiple lakes to choose from. If one just ain't doing it, then you have more options.

Next haul though is gonna be most likely this fall.. Lake O' the Pines, Caddo, Wright Patman. Lake O' the Pines is on the top of my list and it was super tempting to not just drive the 1 1/2hrs to it, but I didn't want use that time to get up there and have 40,000 acres to cover in a short amount of time and come out empty. That's next time for sure

By the way razor, you wern't kidding about the all the red dust and dirt from Pinkston roflmao My boat doesn't have carpet so it wasn't a huge deal, but there's still red dirt all over the trailer, truck, boat, everything.

Last edited by dk2429; 06/01/21 06:33 PM.

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