Is the lake open? Has anyone fished it yet?

Nope

Recreational services not yet available.

Bois d'Arc Lake is not open for recreation or boat access. There are many factors involved in opening a new lake, and NTMWD will make an announcement on this site when Bois d’Arc Lake is ready to open to the public.

https://boisdarclake.org/

Nope it's gonna be a while. Nearly 6ft low again and with evaporation and them already pumping water going be awhile

Passed over it yesterday. Looked ready to fish!

Just need rain, and a lot of it

So I have never fished a new lake before. How good will it be when it first opens? My guess is we will catch number but not very big fish, is that accurate?

I've fished Limestone, Georgetown and Richland Chambers when they were all new. All of them got better for both numbers and size after they were open a few years.

My opinion, which isn't worth much- I read something that this is the first lake that has been pre-stocked with sharelunker fry, fingerlings and brood stock before opening....but that's not entirely true. Naconiche had ponds stocked as such before it was flooded and opened in 2012. I believe there was a DD caught in the first couple of weeks there. I was there a few times in the first few months it was open and caught A LOT of fish each trip with plenty of 2-4#ers. But Naconiche is a creek arm compared to the size of this one when it gets full (692 acres vs 16,641) so it will be completely different I am sure.

No fish in Bois D'Arc. Dead sea. Go somewhere else.

Good try, get ready for some serious rape-age when it opens.

I'll be in search of skinny water open flats for sure. Carp city.

I just noticed Bois d'Arc on the TP&W website this morning. Last time I looked, a month or so ago, it wasn't there yet. But the link Barn posted does still say it's not open yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqXXx1cBFFU

Naconiche opening day 2012

There already two HS tournaments scheduled there. It’s going to get hammered!

Aren't they both early 2024? Zero chance its open by then. I'd say next May/June best case. Still has to catch 6 feet of water before they open it.

The ponds that are flooded have fish in them. I caught a 6 pounder out of Gilmer the first week it was open.

Where are they going to park 200+ boats? There's not even that many parking spots at all three ramps combined.

Biggest problem will be parking. Two ramps have 50 spots each the other one has 48. Not gonna take long to fill them up. No parking on grass cause they have cable around the whole lot.

And besides that, where is everyone not in their tournament going to park? They think they're getting the lake all to their selves?

Prolly won't even be open by then anyway

I have heard if it will come up 2-3 ft it might open early.

I think they said it was about 5 ft from full level ??

Probably going to pull some people from the DFW area since it would be closer than Fork.

Not to mention Virgin fish ......

More like ramp-age. It should be worth the drive just to watch the spectacle.

Was going to post this same thing. New lake with less experienced boaters is not a good combination.

I've had the opportunity to fish two of them in my lifetime. Caney Lake in Louisiana; the one they have the MLF tournaments, and Cooper Lake. When they first opened you could find one to one and a half pound bass stacked like cord wood and could literally catch bass on any lure you tied on. A friend of mine fished Caney with me one morning; both of us having about a half a dozen rods laying on the deck. We bet each other that we could get bit on every rig we had on back to back cast and did it. Catching 30 plus bass in a day is not uncommon at all. Cooper was the same way.

Was it 30 for 30 pounds?

Exactly

Bois d'Arc Lake
Red River Basin

Lake Levels Updated: Sep 3, 2023

Water Level: 528.20ft

Future Conservation Pool Elevation: 534.00ft

https://boisdarclake.org/

I wouldn't have been able to wipe the grin off my face either! Great catch!

I fished Roberts and Cooper when they first opened. Caught 100's of Bass the first several years but they were all 10-14 inches. I used up a lot of strange colored worms I had collected over the years. They did not care about the color. Taught my young daughter how to worm fish and run the trolling motor on those lakes.

Got to fish Gibbons Creek for three days the first week it opened. Blue fleck worms and homemade spinner baits wore them out those three days. Nothing big but lots of two to three pounders.

Fishing this lake is going to be like going out to eat in Tyler. Everyone will pour into the new and exciting place. When that happens I usually go to the one that was the next big thing before the new next big thing. It's not as crowded anymore.

What is the size limit, I may bring my filet knife and some baggies.

Those lake Tyler threads were some of the most epic and spun out train wrecks in the history of the world wide web

I wonder if that cheating ladder using boat captain that had the run in with Castledine will be there ?

"Lots?" Really? Hmmmmm....

Same as Naconiche when it opened a few years ago. It was ridiculous for a while then pressure dropped, now it's just on a list of good lakes around there

"Lots?" Really? Hmmmmm....[/quote]

Guess I should have said "a good number of". LOL

yes, no more pressure except from me

Nah....pretty sure he got the permanent ",he gone".

Guess I should have said "a good number of". LOL
[/quote]

I like "lots!"

Bumping this thread.

How much longer are they going to keep this lake closed? Its only 5 feet low.

If they would just open it up boat water displacement from the crowds would fill it up.

Only the edges are low, the middle of the lake is full.

They need to put some big balloons under the water and it’ll fill up.

#stupid things you read

The fishing out there has not lived up to the hype in my opinion. I expected bigger fish but the numbers are there for sure.

Thought I saw you by the old railroad bridge

Our local weatherman in OKC just predicted almost 6” of rain at Antlers OK next tues/wed. Antlers is just north of the Red about 50 miles from Paris. Keep in mind the future rainfall forecast leaves a lot to be desired. One can only hope!!

Been crushing on the front looker out there!

The water shed is south west of the lake . They are only calling for a 1” of rain in Bonham

Thought it was closed, no?

Texas better triple out of state licenses.

why?

Because Oklahoma doubled theirs. And we have a tiny new lake that will get annihilated in a year.

I think ok is $55 and tx is $58. A bit more cost isn’t going to reduce fishing pressure, but it might make the ramp longer to launch your boat

Big fish are by the windmill , i was told

They are increasing it to $80 icehole.

They more than doubled archery whitetail. I think it went from 300 to 700 for a job resident. Guess all the Oklahoma resident tears finally got heard.

I am expecting about 3" total next week

well, it's what she said!

Not sure why you feel compelled to call people names.

I think annual non-resident fishing licenses priced between $50-$100 is fair. I also like how some states require purchase of stamps for additional opportunities (I.e. trout stamps or Great Lakes stamps for those doing those things to pay for the extra costs of hatcheries and stocking of those fish)

I would go one more state north then, bigger deer, cheaper prices

Just contact the folks @ Bois D'arc to see if they at least have a tentative date. If I get a reply I'll post it.

Thank you.

next weeks forecast. should be at least 3" sat thru thur. could be more.

In the watershed?

Why don’t people pool money and pour more concrete to get the ramp closer to the water?

yep, I am about 6 mi. north east of the lake.