Someone said on a thread that if I couldn't catch catfish at Tawakoni, then I should probably quit. Well, guess I should just quit then. I have been out there about a dozen times to a number of different places and can never catch more than one or two. I have used a number of different baits and techniques but to no avail. I have used several different punch baits, shrimp, night crawlers, shad, cut bait, whole small perch etc etc. I guess I just suck at trying to catch catfish on Tawakoni. I guess I should add that I am restricted to bank fishing ol Twak.

Tawakoni has a reputation as a top cat’n lake, but my experience has matched yours. In fact I took my boat out there for a full week of fishing and had more skunk days than not.

A buddy of mine came out to join me one day and his Plan B worked, he caught a 40 pound blue. Another friend who fishes the lake regularly offered to take me out a year or so ago and we fished for 13 hours before we finally caught one.

Personally I think it’s been over fished/harvested the last few years. The days of anglers regularly winning tournaments with 500 pounds of blues are long past. Sure, they are still in there, but I think those heady days are gone.

Added to that the spawn is on right now, so the worst possible time for cats.

Don’t give up!

I even fished up shallow yesterday right up near the rocks and only caught 1. Lol

As mentioned above. Do not give up. Keep fishing and good things will happen.

Man, I wish I could help you. I have only fished there from a boat. I will say this though, don't give up! Tawakoni is a good catfish lake. Someone here will chime in with some help. Keep in mind that right now it's a tough time anywhere with the spawn going on. Learn to identify situational circumstances. For example, If you get a ton of rain one day, go fish in the mouth of the river that dumps into the lake. Find a spot with a lot of current and put your bait in any slack water you can find. They'll be there picking up bait that gets washed into these areas. A month ago, you just had to fish anywhere that you could see shad on the bank really early in the morning, but the shad spawn is over now. Give it a couple of weeks and find anywhere you can get to deeper water from the bank.


This is the state park on the south side of the lake. I would try the areas circled in blue. I don't know if this will help you any or not. Definitely fish when the sun's coming up or just before it starts to set in the evening. Just keep at it. It'll pay off eventually.

Tawakoni was recognized as the Catfish Capital of Texas by the legislature. Since then, I think Bob is right it has been overfished some. BUT... don't give up. Tawakoni is a 39,000is arce lake. The blues have a lot of room to roam. There are lots of fish in there and there are still some really big ones too. If you are relegated to the bank, There is a fishing dock at Wind Point, another at Sky Point. There is a spot on the rip rap at the West Tawakoni Boat Ramp, lots of access on Arm Point to both the main lake and Rabbit Cove. If you have only been out there a dozen or so times, you are just scratching the surface.

Keep at it, the fish will come. Good luck and happy hunting.

Oh, and ignore the negative comments. Just focus on the positive!

Bob is right. Twok is a shadow of what it was. I’ve been fishing it for 20 yrs and the rate at which it has declined in the last 6 or 7 has been dramatic. Too many guys who don’t care about the resource, pulling out the big fish who breed the most, and this is what happens. It doesn’t take decades to mess up a good thing and Twok is proof. Now that there are so many fewer big fish in that lake you’re starting to see the effects on the eater population as well. The regulations they tried to implement on that fishery weren’t enough and weren’t done in time. 5 yrs ago I would have told you Twok is on its way to becoming a 100 lbr lake. It’s still a pretty good lake on a good day but nowhere close to what it was. I tried warn you guys that Twok was getting decimated but it only brought negativity. Tawakoni is the perfect example of what can happen to a great fishery when fisherman use the resource instead of take care of it.

As to where to fish? I’d be fishing points with wind blowing on them or timber. Blues are in the spawn which makes catching anything over 10 lbs very difficult but eater sized fish can be caught no problem as blues don’t start spawning until they get bigger.

I can put some fish in the boat, no master but lake tawakoni eats me up.. think last 5 trips I was skunked 4 times.

I'm not an expert catfisher like some of these other guys. But, my experience on Twok is that the wind is EVERYTHING! You need to be fishing the wind blown points/banks. That's where I've had all of my success the few times if fished Twok. If you're on the bank that can be dificult if there isn't good access to those area's given the wind direction. If you're on a boat, find you a point with the wind hitting it mostly dead on and fish from 1' to 10'. That will get you the box fish. If you're after the giants, i can't help you other than I know they're hard to pattern this time of year.

If you want to catch fish consistently then use chum. Pick a spot where you can fish 3 days in a row. Fish the first day and at the end of the day throw out a couple of pounds of range cubes. Fish the next day and you should get similar results. Chum at the end of the day. Fish the third day and if you don’t catch a bunch of fish then change spots. The lake is full of catfish. You just have to find them.