Buddy and I make a “big trip” from Houston once year fishing 2-3 lakes in close proximity that we’ve never been to

This year I know we’re gonna do Pines and Caddo. I know these are both good fisheries as I see them mentioned on here quite a bit. I’m just curious about Wright Patman, thinking to maybe add that on the list this trip. Never really seen it talked about on here so I’m just curious!

Shooting for hopefully late May, if not probably sometime this summer. Gonna be in a boat of course. Thanks!

Day in and day out Patman is better than Caddo IMOP, but, not nearly as pretty.....Caddo is like stepping back in time. I think Pines is the best of the 3. That seems to be the general consensus around here amongst the sticks as well.

No one else? I’m assuming with no other comments so far that it’s not worth going to.. lol

It's well worth going to.....it's location gets it overlooked by most as they've never fished it, extreme NE TX, etc. It's a very good fishery, but, like all of em, timing is everything.

I've never fished it. But when I fished in a club and asked, they had fished WP in he past and said it held its own against many lakes. It was a definite we caught fish there.

I wouldn't waste my time fishing Caddo since your not familiar with it... I would just go joy ride for a few hours, then hop over to Pines or WP for the other half of the day...

Agree 100% with everything you said.

Patman has a good crop of fish, big ones and numbers can be caught at times. Little tricky/sketchy to navigate in areas but not too bad so long as you know when/where to get off pad

Yeah honestly we just wanna go to say we’ve been Caddo. Looks like a beautiful scenery out there

Pines is what I’m most excited about. May also try Welsh if we have time. That’s the plan at least unless we decide on another group of 3-4 lakes on proximity of each other to go to

Last year was Nacogdoches.. Nacogdoches, Naconiche, Pinkston, etc.. just enjoy crossing lakes off the list! Wanna make a trip out to Amistad eventually

Caddo is worth a boat ride. To get a good experience on Caddo, put in on the river and go to some of the backwaters, then go through the cut to the main lake. In May, you can’t go wrong with a frog or buzz bait. Grass, cypress trees, and lily pads everywhere.

I'd fish Patman vs Welsh..... it's a fine fishery. It's experienced a rebirth over the last couple of decades.....high water (combined with better management) has resulted in flooded bushes, fields, live timber, etc and better fry survival.... IMOP anyway

For Caddo, I'd launch at the state park, or Johnson's Ranch and run up the river to the main lake. The river, all the cuts, and the houses on the river are really neat to see. Make sure you make a run through Government Ditch...it's the most photographed spot on Caddo. Then, run back up the river and dock your boat at Big Pines Lodge and have lunch. If you fish the river, you can catch numbers easily just fishing the cypress trees along the bank, but they'll be smaller fish mostly. If you are targeting bigger fish hit the isolated trees on the main lake.

Only fished Wright-Pat a couple of times, so don't have a lot of experience, but if the water level is right, it's a blast flipping the bushes.

Good luck!

Is Caddo pretty well marked and somewhat easy to run? In the back of my mind I’m thinking stump fields everywhere

Yes, but do not venture far from the boat lanes. try to stay as close as possible to them.

I don't know when your trip is going to be, but since your planning on fishing Pines DO NOT GO NEXT WEEKEND the 29th - 1st It's the big bass bonanza

Yes Caddo is completely filled w/cypress knees(cypress tree root system) but it’s easy to run. Clearly marked boat trails throughout the lake. Yes they are narrow but simply run the boat lane markers on the side of the markers that with arrows show you to run. When not on plane running the boat lanes trim up and idle only. Also my Navionics Platinum South chip shows all the boat lanes throughout the lake including some pretty small/obscure lanes through the upper end around Uncertain Texas. Absolutely a beautiful one of a kind(at least for Texas) lake that’s worth seeing!

Booked an Airbnb in Linden for June 29-July 3

All three are about 30 mins from there. Also noticed that little Lone Star lake on the map right above Pines