This thread is for anyone who wants to share info on current fishing conditions on Grapevine lake. Please be positive, helpful, and I encourage even the smallest tip is helpful to others.

For reference. See the previous three years posts. If you dig, you will find pretty much every gps coordinate on the lake that I fish. I might try and collect these waypoints and add them somewhere easier to find.

Gob Bless us, and I hope we all have a safe year.

Prosise

2021 Thread
https://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/14199544/1

2022 Thread
https://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/14344351/1

2023 Thread
https://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/14586992/1/grapevine-lake-2023

I fished on Tuesday 1-2-24 and if you go due north off of sandbass hump until your in the 30-35 ft range. (This is the hump out in front of the west side entrance of scotts landing) I found some big sandbass out off the drop, but they didn't want anything to do with my spoon. I accidentally snagged one, and it was in the 15 inch size.. I could see others on livescope, but they didn't want anything to do with me. If you had some shad, or maybe a inline spinner you would be in business. Didn't stay long, and I was looking for the green fish primarily. Take care all..



Prosise

Love threads like these!

Have you ever used jigs and plastics via dead sticking single or tandem ??

I have not been using soft plastics in the last year. Spoons, and inline spinners only while sandbass fishing. Been chasing the green fish primarily. Caught a real nice bass this morning about an hour before sunrise (7.03lbs).

Excellent green fish Prosise! That fish looks like it has been loading up for the winter!

Totally agree, 21'ish inch fish at 7 pounds is a healthy girl. This last year all my biggest fish were caught about an hour before sunrise. It was a brutal decision, but the reward was well worth it. Bait is plentiful in GV, and if the level is up like it is during the shad spawn it will continue to be a surplus bait lake.

Take care all. Going to fish wed with my mentor, I found a massive school of really big fish (not drum or gar) that will not hit anything I throw at them. My mentor thinks it could be catfish. So if he is right I will report. I found giant schools of big fish in 39ft of water and there are many of them. They are a couple hundred yards west of the location I referenced in the earlier post. Will know more wed. Keep warm, and many blessings.

My chores today is smoking chicken thighs, and enjoying a few double IPA's.






Prosise

I can almost guarantee that their Catfish. That has been my wintertime cat spot for 30 years,

Catfish spot you say?

Great fish Prosise! Looking forward to following along with another year of adventures on the mighty Vine and hope to run into on your water again!

Dan

On another note I drove on the dam road today and I have never seen GV that rough huge swells.

It's always a pleasure crossing paths with the TFF crowd. I had a surprise last week, ran into someone I haven't seen in a couple years. Me and Mr P. We're out on the drop at Meadomere catching sandbass, and I caught a 8.1lb bass on a jigging spoon. He took the picture for me before we released her. He was at the ramp last week, and reminded me of that day. I will be chasing the green fish until the sandbass start their party in March, but I will be tinkering with the lake spawners. Always enjoy the people, and stories we create out there. Take care all.


Here was the Fluke bass. It was named by my mentor, as it was a fluke she was out at that location. Note: up until this year the three largest bass I had caught were all landed while I was sandbass fishing. That should tell you something about the big girls. This was an exciting experience me and Mr P. experienced that day. And lastly, the top 4 largest bass I have caught on GV, either the thumper was running on the Bluetooth speaker or the music was loud as I could play it. Whew on that for a minute...

Nov-8-2021 out off the drop in Meadomere. This video hasn't been shared on the forum before.

Nice Black Bass, can't remember seeing one fight that hard and long !

I saw cats on bottom in 20-25 ft out in front of twin coves last week. There were tons of them.

Brutal day, I tried to see what the fish were that I found. I did catch 6 shad and I tried to get the fish to eat but it was a no-go. Wind was very bad, and the lake it tore up from the high winds. Silver lake barrier was butchered. I found a very large seadoo, large floating foam roll, and a large inflatable that you pull behind the boat which all were lost from silver lake. I tied up the items to the marina, and went back to casting practice. I would give the lake a break until the wind dies down. Nothing to report that is positive, but that's fishing sometimes.

Hoping to get the 'yak out Saturday morning before the wind picks up to chase some largemouth. Went out last Saturday from Meadowmere in the AM and Lakeview Sunday PM with not much luck. Wind is a real pain when trying to fish slow and keep position with a paddle, lol. Still learning the ropes of cold water fishing, and fishing with a fish finder off shore. The majority of my life has just been fair-weather, shallow water. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

i sent you an instant message.. Keep me posted, and if you have questions just reply to the IM.

I would have gone out and fished in this weather 45 years ago but not now.

He is just testing. To see if it is really cold

After getting a participation award last wed, and being b that today was the only day I could have gone out. Well, as long as I can do it comfortably, I'm gonna do it. Caught a decent fish, so I didn't have to get another participation award. Bait is all out in the middle of the lake, and didn't see any bait in the creeks. Water is 45.6 in the warmest area I found.

Nothing wants to work in this weather. After the first time I changed locations, I had to let the 360 sit in the water for a minutes before turning it on. Bait cast reels would freeze up the level wind. Eyes on the rod would freeze up with ice. Spinning reel anti reverse stopped working. Engine hydraulics really struggled with the oil being so thick.

But, the old Merc ran like it was stolen with the cold dense air. Really liked the cool air, and water.

Toe warmers in my boots, and hot hands between my gloves and my palms made it nice. Stayed on the lower end, and had a good day just going with the flow. Hardly nothing seen on the south side of the lake from the island to silver lake. Looks like everything is out in open water. Didn't go looking for sandbsss, just idled in some areas for info.

Now you are just showing off. I did something similar on Lewisville to what you did on Grapevine. But that was 40 years ago.

I fished on Sunday 1-21, launched at Meadomere just before 6am and water was 38.2 at the Meadomere ramp. Water temp at the dam was 41.9 just before 7am. Fished for the green fish all day, and scouted allot of water graphing. Fishing is slow as molasses, no bait seen in Scotts, Silver lake, Meadomere, or twin coves. It's all down on the lower end in 30-50ft. Water level looks like it is 100% at full level, and it didn't not appear that they are letting out hardly any water at the discharge tower. Nothing to report except the bait is all at the lower end, and I mean all of it. It's strange seeing whole creeks completely void of bait. Both tire barriers at silver lake, and Scott's were damaged by the high winds . Take care all, and stay warm. Only bass caught the whole day were caught at night between 6:15am to just before sunrise. Fishing in 32F was a piece of cake compared to last week in 12F. Definitely not an IQ contest being out there. But this last Sunday I saw 6 boats. Several boats drifting out in the bait, don't know if they were fishing for sandbass or Catfish.


Pictures from Meadomere ramp when I launched.

]


Near the dam. Notice bait out over deep water.



Looking out from Scott's marina.

What is you catch your LMB on?

Black/Blue 3/4oz large colorado blade spinnerbait.

I add a black/blue plastic on the back (super glued on the hook), and I run a trailer hook that is free. I put the trailer hook over the spinnerbait hook, and then apply a plastic retainer so the hook is not restricted from moving. This is my year round night time goto bait, and if your not dragging it on the bottom your spinning your wheels. See the bottom picture which shows the front of the spinnerbait (from bumping the bottom/rocks).

Neat thread.

Went out today and spend several hours looking around on the main lake. Skunked! Most of the bait is out deep and there are what seem to be billions of them out there in 50 ft suspended 30-40 ft deep. Crappie have finally done their winter vanishing act. Didn't see any white bass or at least I couldnt get them to bite. Fish will be in the creeks in a few weeks so it will get better but it is tough right now

Fished half the night, and until 4pm. Water is up since I fished last week. Bait is on the south side of the lake, and in Dove. I didn't go up from dove, but I'm curious if the bait is up in Meadomere. Big schools of bait at 30ft in the channels. Sandbass are playing hide-n-seek. If you want to catch some catfish, they are schooled up down at the mouth of silver lake between the tires and the bank. I caught 4 decent cats on a 6xd, and a glide bait. They didn't want anything to do with any type of bait I tried that looked like a shad. Ended up just letting the crankbait float up into the school and slightly swim it thru them. If you have bait, you can clean house. They are on the bottom, but the bigger ones are having a pow wow suspended about 10ft below the surface. You could prob tie up to the tires and drop bait. Anyhoo, bass fishing is tough. Sandbass are prob migrating up the lake, the lake spawners will be stacking up on main lake points but I haven't been up the lake to check. Tired, and I'm enjoying a very nice "kol beer". It was chilly this morning, water was freezing on the boat. Then this afternoon I just about melted from all my layers.


Catfish

I went out yesterday (1/31/) in my Kayak to investigate these catfish prosise mentioned. My first time fishing that area of the lake and wouldn't you know my fish finder crapped out for unknown reasons!? Would not power up at the launch ramp. I will have to look into that.

I went out undeterred. Used chicken breast with the strawberry jello application as bait. I had fun, weather was perfect and much better than being at work, however I only caught two catfish. A decent eater blue and baby channel cat. Had a few other bites but they did not hook up. If I had my fish finder I could have been more targeted. Half the time I was wondering if I was fishing around fish or wasting time. Also deployed 3 jugs at 12-15 feet also baited with chicken and those did not get touched.

The water down there was very off color with lots of debris. Wood, sticks, branches, mustard packets, Gatorade caps, condoms... you know all the normal stuff. I plucked some of the bigger stuff out and threw it away at the ramp... the plastic bottles.

Hell Yeah. Great report. Fishing Blind and you got a good one.

Thank you sir!

Went today from the bank for catfish. Had two good takes on chicken breast and caught one. Decent size. Will make a fine dinner... for one lol.

When I got home started looking into the fish finder and wouldn't you guess it worked fine in the garage lol. Hate when that happens.

Water was super duper muddy... not shocking. Waters up. Higher than I've seen since last spring.

So not the main lake, but i did go up the creek today and caught 16 fish only 7 keeper sandies. I would guess another 2 weeks and it'll be roaring. Glad the water level is good this year.

Don't think the Sandbass got the memo about the run up the creek. I caught sandbass on just about every hump I checked today. Murrell Park point was the best with big fat fish. Took a break from bass fishing, and was very happy to catch some good sandbass. They didn't like the bait moving much. Prob caught a hundred today just piddling around between bass fishing spots. Not one under fish, which was strange.

Nice report Prosise! You never know.....your biggest bass came while fishing for sandbass! I know this is the white bass section but how has the bass fishing been for you lately?

Bass fishing was brutally tough yesterday.

But fun

God willing and if the wind does not get rowdy I am going to get out and give it whirl on Friday in the Kayak! Launch out of Murrell park is the plan.

Going to fish a few jugs, see if I cannot get a catfish for dinner, and really target bass... if I graph any sandies though, well those eat pretty good too. Will give yall a full report. If anyone plans to be out, feel free to say high.

**Was very windy. Did not make it out** Seems like every Friday (my one day off) a cold front is coming through.

Note: Found a new sunken boat at the mouth of the cove at Murrell Park/point that hasn't been there long. If you side scan down the drop towards the old closed down boat ramp, in about 23ft is a sunk boat.

Lake came up 1ft from the rain in the last three days. If you want a lake level link for Grapevine use the one below.

https://waterdatafortexas.org/reservoirs/individual/grapevine

Sunken boat

Report for Tuesday evening of 3/12 is a big fat zero. Meadowmere off the west point, I found a big school with side imagining and as soon as I got turned around to set up on them with livescope and they were gone. I hit a few spots west and went back over to Murrell and never found anything. I scanned from 12 ft to 30 ft deep spots and never found anything. Windy and rough afternoon.
The birds were no help and were just loafing around.

Saturday 3/23 - Day started super slow, checking humps and my usual spots on the North side of the lake from Murrell all the way down north of the crusher. No trouble trouble finding fish, but getting them to eat was a different story. Stayed after them and when the wind laid we checked a couple humps NE of the island and landed on top of them. Was steady catching for 2 hours.. Lots of smalls with some good size fish mixed in.. All caught on inline spinners..

Thanks for the report!

I checked murrell point, and several areas up the lake from Teton and it was a ghost town. I should have checked the thread, I needed a fix. Caught two real nice bass this morning, but the daytime bite was rough for me on the green fish. Bait is everywhere in the creeks, and if everything holds were going to have a good shad spawn. Don't know if this is correct, still have to verify but I Heard a rumor that the lake will be dropped this summer. Scheduled work on the dam, so it will be very interesting seeing the lake down. If anyone has a way to verify, please share.

I called the "Corps of Engineers" at Grapevine lake and other than road work on the dam, the gentleman hadn't heard anything about bringing the water down for dam repairs. If anyone hears anything, let me know. Not fishing until Sunday, doing chores the next few days before work. BTW, lake from about Murrelll park, and up is stained from the 35+ gusting winds we had in the last three days. When I was up near the crusher, I could see the water color up coming from the creek (Denton Creek) was really bad. The protected coves with Rocky banks were clearest, for bass fishing. But any exposed (clay) on the north side really stained up the water in those areas. The coves that are stained are loaded with bait, as the bait balls use this as cover. When the shad spawn starts, it's going to be good. Lake still coming up, and I was down on the lower end when they increased the outflow of the discharge yesterday. They changed from 115 to297 (DSF). I thought the outflow was in CFM, but the report I use has it labeled as (DSF), which I have to look up to understand. I found someone's 14" cast net, with taped mod in the middle of the channel in Meadomere on my way in. It was hung up on a concrete weighted metal structure that weighed at least 100 pounds. I recovered the net, and will check it out to see if it can be repaired. Take care all.

One of the usual suspects Mr R. Is preparing for a fish fry, he said Joe pool is doing well. I think he said three days this week, he has limited. Today him and his sidekick both limited pretty quickly. Average fish 12", but plenty of them. Chores for me today.

Got the pontoon out Saturday for a quick test drive and to do some crappie fishing in the creeks. While I didn't do any sand bass fishing, I did see one of the guides and his customers catching fish on the hump/creek bend/drop off on the SE corner of the island. (almost due East going towards the dam) We didn't get close enough to see what size they were catching. Seemed locked on the spot despite the wind. Prosise knows the spot well, as he's reported on it over the years. Crappie fishing (at least for us) was not very good. Thought we could catch a few on minnows in the back of Silverlake Marina cove and didn't get a bite. Not even from a bass or catfish!

Crappie on Grapevine right now are tough. Most are in the marinas spawning

My fishing mentor fished today and he said big sandbass were on Murrell Park point. Also lots of gar..

Update, Mr "R" fished GV today and limited of 12"-13"on sandbass hump. The hump just outside of Scott's on the north point.

Prosie I drove out to Murrell Park yesterday after lunch noticed quite a few Terns dive bombing right off shore had to be shad in the shallows they were working pretty good. Do you think early stages of the shad spawn is starting?

Bank fishing on Grapevine has once again proven to be an exercise in futility. Fished on Easter from about 0400-1200 around Oak Grove, McPherson Slough, and all over Murrell and didn't even get a single bite. Was mostly trying to catch catfish with punchbait, shrimp, and cut bluegill but I also threw some lures, drop shots, crappie jigs, and a worm under a bobber and nada. Went out again on Saturday from about 0500-1300. Fished around the White Chapel trailhead and then went to Trophy Club when they opened. Fish were jumping at Trophy Club but be damned if they were buying what I was trying to sell. Had something nibbling at a worm on a dropshot but that was it. I have always been a glutton for punishment so I'll be back at it again Wednesday night hopefully. I went today and picked up a bag of 20% range cubes from the feed store and a couple of whole Norwegian mackerel and some chicken hearts from the Asian Market. Never tried the range cubes before. Looking forward to baiting up a few spots and seeing what happens.

Catfish30------- two things, if we get allot of rain and Denton Creek starts flowing allot, trophy Club park (where the Creek enters the lake is really good for catfish. The catfish will move up in the creek and you can have some good fishing for catfish. Secondly, for the next couple of months you can take advantage of the shad spawn. Right now on the north bank, and inside twin coves there is a light shad spawn. Look for the white birds on the bank in the mornings. The thing that you need to focus on is the birds, and you don't have to cast far. I caught two catfish yesterday on a spinnerbait in around 5ft close to the banks. The catfish will be doing this, and it will get better as the water warms up.

Sandbass fishing yesterday was interesting during the eclipse. When it got dark, the fish turned off . It took a little while for then to group back up. Sandbass on Murrelll point, and sandbass hump. The fish were smaller, with only a few big ones. But you could sit on top of sandbass hump and catch small fish non-stop with the right lure. I met a new contact "J", and he was using a 3/4 oz inline spinner and him and his old man were catching the fish way faster than me by a mile. There were massive schools of fish, but they would do much with the small spoon. Or slabs. You really had to keep it moving for them to react. I will get the name of the little he was using, and as it when he responds.


Trophy Club park. Where I launch my canoe if I am piddling around on the upper end. Or a good catfish spot if there is current from the rains. It's got to be moving, and chocolate milk water.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/QEbGfphTiavakht58



Catfish caught while bass fishing shallow along the north banks. Look for white birds.

I fished with Mr "B" on Monday, wind wasn't bad but I sure wished we had some sunshine. The bass bite was off, as the lake came up last week. I marked the level at the ramp, and when we pulled out 8 hours later the level was down 2". The whole lake is stained from the rain, and the high winds we had over the weekend. WIth that said, the bait is stacked in the creeks. You can goto the mouth of any creek and fish outside of them on the main lake points and find sandbass. We caught sandbass at the main point of Twin coves, Scotts, and some down near Rock Ledge park on the windy banks. Birds are everywhere waiting for the shad spawn to happen. You can see them picking up a shad every now and then, but it hasn't officially started. Just check the channel going into the main creeks, and you will find bait. We caught the sandbass on crankbaits, and spinnerbaits. They were pounding the worm Mr. "B" was using, but they were just pecking at it. Take care all.

I should be out there around 5pm today. Save me some action!

Any news or updates on the shad spawn or how the Sandies are biting? Took my son out a few times for the first time to Grapevine last year and had a blast, and we have been looking forward to going again all year.....but just wanted to make sure it would be worth it beforehand.

I know my son has been checking this forum constantly waiting for any news or updates, lol

It is starting to pick up…slowly but I would give it at least another week. At least on the north side the shad spawn is not yet underway but should be soon.

Me and my fishing mentor were out today looking for the green fish. Caught a bunch of really big ones at the mouth of twin coves up on the rocks. Tons of bait, and fish. Just when we saw a good sandbass, Mr "B" would catch a bigger one on the 3xd.

I was out there yesterday (4/24) as well! Looks like I might have been fishing a bit too deep based on Prosise's report of getting them on a 3X.

Fished along Murrell park. Had 4 sandies trolling a Fliker Shad in about 14 feet. 3 were small one was 14 inches! Nice one. Tons of shad all over but not really on the banks doing the spawning thing just yet... Its any day now from what I saw.

Saw a lot of LARGE buffs rolling around, tried fishing vertically on some big schools of fish but no luck doing that.

I did get "interviewed" by a nice guy from TPWD Inland Fisheries'. Asked about how long I had been fishing, what I had caught, how much money I spent that day to go on that trip, how far I drove from... Think that was it. Doing an impact/creel survey I suppose.

Im sorry, he was using a Pop-R, and a 3xd.. He was working the Pop-R very aggressively to make noise. I think we saw you over by Grapevine point, we saw two kayaks in that area. Looked like you were going into that little cove with the ramp that was closed down. But I know i saw two kayaks. We were in a blue/grey 20ft champion ( rear seat is blue). BTW, the bait has moved around allot, you really need to keep an eye out for birds working the water edge. If you see a bunch of white birds on a bank, but they are all just sitting there not picking bait keep an eye on them. The shad we saw yesterday that were actively spawning were by Twin coves and they were very small (maybe 1.5" inches long). You will see one occasionally floating on the surface of the water. We saw allot of areas with birds, but they were only hoping for some action. If you see an area where you see multiple snakes, it is a good area that has allot of bait. The snakes come out when it is very active in the shad spawn. We are still a little early, and as the water warms up it will be better. We did see some carp sucking on the green vegetation along the edge of the lake, this is what the eggs stick to. Wind is going to blow pretty good until Monday, so be careful all....

Nice! Yes I saw you guys. Pop-R!? Cool. I did not really see anything on top but buff;s or I would have been all over that.

I was indeed in that cove, as was the other yakker. He and I were both in and out of there all morning. I did not catch anything in there. I think he did but I did not get a good look at what it was. He hooked into something over by that standing timber. Now submerged again, as you know the lake is high.

My yak is grayish (The Gray Ghost) his is Green and black. I have seen him there a lot. He gets out more than me.

I would have said hi but that was not your boat... I kind of recognize your boat. You are right about the wind! I will be sticking to the bank for the next several days. Too much wind for a kayak for sure.

Enjoy your reports. Should get really good soon! Will see you on the water soon enough and say hello in person again.

Taking the canoe out of Trophy Club Park to look around. There's catfish up in the shallows where I launch my canoe. The very back side of the park closest to the mouth of the lake. Big catfish sucking the debris off the top of the water. We'll report more when I get back

Wonder what specifically they are feeding on in that scenario...

Hope it was a productive or at least interesting run!

The upper end of the lake is pretty flooded with debris, quite a few trees traveled down Denton Creek into the lake. I took the canoe down about 3 mi on the North Bank. Looking around. Found a kayak that looks like it was lost and drifted down the lake. If you know anybody that lost a kayak, have them get in touch with me. Catfish are biting pretty good in Denton Creek at the mouth of the lake. Went home and me and my son went back out. We caught about a dozen catfish near the parking lot at the back side of trophy Club Park. The creek is running pretty strong.

There was a couple of fishermen on the bank where we were fishing and they had quite a few good catfish as well. We released everything we caught.


Trophy Club Park

I fished from 4am-1:30pm today, fish The lower end as the water is clearer. Fish for the green fish this morning and when the sun came up I was on the North end of the dam. Lots of bait and sand bass in this area. Pulled out my spinning rod and a rooster tail and caught quite a few large sand bass that were out roaming. I caught them using livescope, the schools were very small so it would be very hard to just go in this area and catch Sand Bass but they are there. There is a tremendous amount of bait in the Northeast corner of the dam area, so if you can stay around bait you can try to find some sand bass. I forgot to mention yesterday, the wild berries are out in full force. If you know where to look, there are going to be a tremendous amount available this week and next week. I will add a map below for the areas that I know of. Be careful of snakes , I wear snake chaps
nd good boots when I'm picking berries. Yesterday when I was in the canoe I saw a life vest on the bank, when I went up and picked It up there was a small cottonmouth underneath it about 2 ft long. Be careful out there. I launched at Katie woods ramp and the ramp was not visible because of the high water. When I came back they were putting up barricades to close this ramp. They opened the Katie woods high water level ramp so it's still available. I talked to the guy who was putting up barricades and they actually closed the outflow of Grapevine from 500 to 200 because of politics, So the lake will probably come up some more, he mentioned that the flow of 200 will probably be for the rest of the week. Bass fishing is brutally tough during the day with the high water, you got a flip brush if you want to catch a bass. If it's windy, find a Windy Bank and you might be able to use a moving bait but the fishing is really tough right now. For sand bass you got to go looking, I didn't look around too much on the lower end other than Sand Bass hump which is saturated with bait but there's no sand bass.



Katy woods ramp underwater



Berries

Great report! Another spring with a flooded gvine! As long as it doesn’t get 10 plus ft high,, im fine with it.

They do not slow the flow because of politics lol it’s pretty simple really. They use gvine as a holding lake since it is one of the few that can flood and not flood houses. They hold the water while the downstream flooding subsides. One it does, they dump gvine.

As always great report!!

I caught a bunch of sandies from the bank this AM on Grapevine on a Yellow Magic Magnum lol. I think it was working because of the moving water. I was not getting nearly as much action on Rooster Tails or a Spoon.

Shad spawn definitely happening caught a bunch of small sandies this AM shad all over the bank on the north side.

I will be out there tomorrow morning! Is the normal ramp still open at Murrell? Last week it looked like if the water came up any higher that would not work anymore and they would have to start using the high water ramp... Just curious if you noticed.

I was not at Murrell this AM but I certainly doubt the normal ramp is open at 4’ high probably have to go the high water ramp. I “think” Twin Coves ramp is still okay but not if the level comes up much more. I just looked on the COE site is has come up more since this morning the high water ramp in Murrell might be your best option. If not raining I may wade fish at Murrell in the morning.

Yah, i'm seeing 4.5' high being reported, and Denton creek is at 11'+ (minor flooding level, they say). Can't make a guess, but the lake is going to be comming up some more.

I meant for this to be on the lake thread.

Data is power. Here are some links to some websites I use regularly. We got a good rain last night, Grapevine will be way up in the next 48 hrs. I would say that Ferris, and the high water ramp at Katy woods will be your go-to ramps.
When I was talking to the guy that was putting up barriers on the Katy Woods ramp, he said someone backed down off the edge of the ramp. When I asked if they increased the outflow, he said "no". I was very surprised, and mentioned that some of the parks would be affected if we got anymore rain. He said it was not in their control, as Ray Roberts & Lewisville flows were affecting how much could be released by Grapevine. Grapevine was built as a flood control lake, so that's why it goes so far up, and down. But Lewisville really has GV by the"Cajones", as homeowners have been in legal battle to keep their property from flooding. The parks worker told me quite a bit of juicy info, and Said it costs Grapevine allot of money repairing the parks after the high water events.
Anyhoo, if you want to catch some good catfish, if be out at trophy club Park at the very back parking lot. You can fish if the bank, out from a kayak/canoe easily. You will need some bait, we caught a dozen small shad at the boat ramp at the park, but you need something more. The guys we fished with on Monday were using cut up carp.
Take care all, and be careful out on the lake. Try to collect any trash you see, "Lady Grapevine lake" appreciates it.

This is the map location we fished of the bank.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/bk42mu8zubt213Sf6




Rainfall totals for the day.
https://dentonrainfall.com/areaRain.php

Last nights rain around Grapevine Lake






Wind
https://www.windalert.com/spot/574
When you goto this link, select the option (Blend) on the top two charts. The top will give you wind speed, and the red lines/dots are gusts. The chart below the top one will give you a forecast out 7 days. This is what I use to determine my plan for the coming days. This is surprising accurate, and I have validated it's forecast.








Water flow in & out of GV, and area lakes.


https://www.swf-wc.usace.army.mil/selectreport/

Go-to this link, and hit the "Submit" button. It will then give you a list of lakes, with flows that the lakes are discharging. And incoming flows to the lake as well. This chart tend to be updated at the beginning of the day.






Water level for Grapevine
https://waterdatafortexas.org/reservoirs/individual/grapevine
This is a good site, the top chart appears to update at the beginning of the day, but if you go down it will show you by the hour.

What the worker said was spot on and has always been the case. Sucks for us but is the reality of flood control lakes. Gvine will end up close to 8-10 ft high if I had to guess. More heavy rain tonight and all weekend.

I sure hope not

I hope not too

Showing 5.28 ft high now and up 1.5 ft in 24 hours. Not good

Yeah no kidding barricades up in Murrell keeping anyone out of the the area straight in including the normal level boat ramp and bank access to the point by the picnic tables. I caught a few sandies at Twin but bank access very limited with the high water at least unless you have on waders. I was shocked the ramp was still open at Twin but that may well be short lived.

"Normal" ramps closed at Murrell. Fished 6 hours. Caught 5 sandies and that was it. Shad spawn seems all messed up as the water is super high and rising.

Was not supposed to rain but did for 3 hours.

Netted a lot of trash. Including a full diaper.

Went to Murrell Park at sunrise to get some bait. Didn't really see the birds working much. It was harder to net Shad than I anticipated but I was able to get enough and then headed to my first visit to Trophy Club Park to try bank fishing for catfish... rumor is its been good there ha.

Didn't really do a lot of research and didn't realize you had to pay to get into the park. Not a big deal but heads up it's $5 if you don't live in Trophy Club $2 if you do. All of the bank fishing spots that Propise had been highlighting were full of anglers by 730am.

I settled for what was probably an inferior spot but was the only one left. Caught four small blue cats, a gar and a drum. I had a couple of bigger fish on but couldn't turn them right away and got tangled up in Lord knows what. Snaggy is an understatement lol. Retied at least 8 times in 4 hours.

Had bites almost non stop! But I think a lot of those were gar. They would pick it up run with it and then just drop it. The larger fish I had on I felt very undermatched with my gear. 20 lb mono on one rod 30 lb braid on another and that just wasn't enough to horse em.

Lots of people, lots of snakes saw several, lots of bites. I'll definitely be back probably on a weekday and or with my kayak.

Great report. I agree, take the Kayak and just tie up to something along the bank. I would also take the kayak to go get your line unhung. Although it is very nice to setup the rods on land. There are allot of things to get hung up on along the banks, and no telling what was newly added from the latest flows. If your not seeing flow along the other side (channel) it is allot slower fishing. But it sounds like you did well. I drop the canoe in, and go down just below the area where the bank fisherman will be along the banks. If we get some good rain tonight, me and mason will probably be out there some tomorrow. Will be on main lake chasing the elusive green fish on the weekday.

Sat 5/4

The wife and I headed out mid morning to take a boat ride and see if we could find any fish with the high water. Put in at the Katie Woods ramp and was headed west to see how far the muddy water had pushed into the lake. Immediately saw birds working around the island. We caught sandies solid for 2-3 hours. Most smalls with some decent fish mixed in. The wife always keeps count of her catch, we stopped when she hit 100.


You could catch bigger fish off the bottom beneath the smaller surfacing fish...

We are well on the way there. The Lake Grapevine Dam had an inch of rain last night. The gauge reads 542.33 which is 7 1/3 feet above conservation and rising rapidly from the runoff in Justin. Houston is flooded, so the Army Corp. of Engineers are not letting water out of Lake Grapevine.

On the bright side, I caught 19 Sandbass yesterday evening before the rain. Once you find them, they were not picky. I caught them on a 3/16 oz curly tail jig, a 1/4 oz Rattletrap and a Whopper Plopper 60.

542.69 which is 7.7 feet over conservation level.
Twin Coves Park closed their boat ramp and kayak launches site this morning. I believe you can still launch a kayak from the sidewalk or grass.

8.09 ft high now... Good news is the rain looks to be over for a little while

So is Katie Woods the only ramp open on the Grapevine side now?

Maybe Farris Branch? I have not been lately....

Ferris branch probably is too

I launched at Ferris today, it is a ramp that is good when the water is high. At this level you don't have to back that far into the water to launch at Ferris. I didn't look for the Sandbass today, but I caught some on the north east corner of the dam. The grey cranes were diving into the Sandbass pushing up the shad. I had a very strange day fishing for the green fish today, I caught all smallies and no largemouth. I fished the north bank and I fished the roughest wind blown areas. Put everything up that I normally use, and pulled out the meat grinder (spinning reel) and finesse fished.
Never done this on GV (had so many small mouth), I should probably go buy a lottery ticket. Caught the smallies, catfish, and drum on a drop shot with a shad type minnow bait in 7-10ft. To be honest I would rather catch a 1lb smallies, over a 4lb largemouth. They fight so hard, and they can mangle a spinnerbait like no other.

Wind was pretty ugly today, and the lake is beat up. I see more people having trouble getting their boat on the trailer at the deep ramp at Katy woods. It is very steep, and even I don't like using it.
The one thing I like about Katy Woods parking area, the police frequently check it after dark. If I'm fishing the lower end at night I go-to Katy, or Meadomere. Take care all.

Great report and thanks on the info for the Ferris ramp.

9.5' high, according to the NWS version. I don't think we'll see 10', but it's looking close.

Tons of sandbass on the north bank near the dam in the morning. You could prob have a good day there, bait is out in 20+ ft after 10am, but if you see a mud line go up and check it. Caught 5 really nice smallies on the north bank, and one on the south east corner of the dam. One was really big, and after looking I caught the same fish twice within 3 hours on the same rock pile. Had to get out of the wind so I moved to the protected side, got lucky and picked up one of my big fish. Bait is all on the north bank (from the dam to murrelll point). Good luck, and if you can handle the wind, you will find fish on the windy side of the lake.

You are the Grapevine fish whisperer ! The intel you provide enables the greenest of green angler the potential to get bit !!

Thank you for the kind words. If all possible I hope it helps people get on the fish with their kids, or just getting out of the house. I know too many people that work too darn much, with no playtime.

If anyone is going out today, the birds are working around island. Or at least they were when I left an hour ago.. We would still be catching whites had my trolling motor not decided that today was the day to give me some trouble for the 1st time. Hopefully I can get her fixed and be back out soon..

Put in @ Ferris ramp with no problems..

I will be out there about 5 pm ish. So, I will follow up on you good fortune.

Prosise has saved many a day for me (and others) for catching fish on Grapevine!! And occasionally an overboard rod/reel!

Well Friday evening the birds were still working the island over pretty good at 5 pm, but by 6 they were gone. We landed maybe 35 to 40 fish only 5 or 6 were over 10". I worked deep and my fishing partner worked shallow, and we both had the same results. Fun while it lasted. We searched other areas but by 6:30 the fish were unresponsive.
With Livescope we dropped all kinds of different baits on their noses but no takers. All the fish we caught were busting from the seams with all the shad in them. Water clarity wasn't bad for GV either considering the flooding conditions.

Fished from 3am-2pm chasing the green fish. Found sandbass in the NE corner of the dam (north bank), and on the end of the main point of meadowmere park. The end of meadowmere park was a zoo, saturated with big sandbass. Go in close to the bank in 10-12ft and just throw a crankbait.

I typically don't have much success with the green fish when the lake is high, but I whacked them again today. Caught some really good smallmouth.

I took a picture so you could see the bank in the background.



Grapevine point park underwater

Man you are tearing it up!

Excellent catching!
How full is the ramp parking? I can't handle the weekend traffic.

Ramp parking is fine on the weekday at Ferris. Don't know about Katy. Last week I noticed someone parked on the ramp where you are supposed to pull in, and back up.

Thanks for the report. Ferris ramp was a little crazy Friday but due able. I guess I was looking too deep out at Meadomere on Friday. Will probably be out Wednesday evening again to try and get some keepers for a fish fry.

My wife is off this week we took the old Skeeter to GV and found a big school near Murrell caught fish solid for over a hour counted 72 but lots of small ones mixed in with nice ones. I was catching a lot of doubles on the spoon/crappie jig the ones in the pic smaller but got some nices ones that way as well. Could not buy a LMB or SMB bite but with the bluebird conditions I will take the sandies and be happy.

Fished today, late start. As I came out of Scott's Marina the birds were working just outside the main points. I saw the birds working In Meadomere mid-day as well. Just look for them, and it will speed up finding fish. Didn't find the big sandbass on Meadomere Park point, so I moved in and found some birds working near the swim area. Caught a couple that were in the 10" range, and continued my hunt for the green fish. Lake is up more today, and there are lots floating logs down the lake. Saw the fire dept boat out today, don't know if they were training or collecting large wood. Take care all, done for the week. Green fish bite it brutally tough, smallmouth bite is much better for me. More boats out , and the weekend traffic will be busier so be careful. Not many ramps open, so go early and you won't have to struggle for parking. Ferris has overflow parking across the street from where you enter the ramp area. Outflow from the discharge is still at 233 so it will not be going down soon.


Ferris overflow parking


Lake level

Like the report. Yah, I have to follow the birds.

Friday 5/17/24

Over 100 fish for the day.. Caught them steady once I found them. These were the 2 hot spots for the day day. Both in 20-25 foot of water
lot of smalls, but did have a lot of good size fish mixed in as well.

Thank you Damon for allowing me to fish behind you that day! And thank you for your recommendation to join this forum. I appreciate everyone's insight. Very helpful for a beginner!!!

You are very welcome... Glad I could help ya get on a few.

That's what it's all about. Kudos Damon.. Mr. Green, I sent you a reply. Going out at midnight to chase the green fish with the bear full moon. Take care all.

Sandbass working the surface in the north end of the dam at sunrise. Just look for the cranes diving into the water. About 11am I checked humps on the east side of the island, but nothing was on them. A guide, and a new contact "D" were on the protected side of the island catching sandbass. I worked out in the wind on the east side in 25-27ft, and caught about 20 decent ones before they moved on. They are not holding on the thumper, and they are moving pretty fast. If you can keep one on, they will hang around a little. That slowed down, and I headed for the house to keep the boat dry. Caught about 40lbs of drum fishing rock piles looking for bass, and hooked a 16lb buffalo. For a second I thought I had a giant. Caught three real nice smallies, which made my day. One had a bait stuck in its throat, so I did a good deed removing it. Largemouth are hunkered down in the submerged brush, and they are not coming out. You might as well put on braid, and doodle sock your bait right down into the brush. Shad spawn still happening on the north side, look for birds. Caught about 6 catfish, but only took pictures of the bigger ones. Dispatched about a 4ft gar, so I could get my spinnerbait back. Take care all, done for the week.

Fished with my son Saturday morning. Found sandbass on Sandbass Point in 20 fow around 7:30 am - same spot as DamonJ posted. Steady action for just over an hour. Headed to the north side of the dam. Saw plenty of fish on the graph but only managed to catch a few. They did tend to be larger than the ones on Sandbass Point. By then the lake was getting busy so headed to a cove to try our luck with catfish. We didn't stay long but did catch a 6lb Channel.

Headed back early as it appeared that the boat ramp was only going to get busier as day went on.

I fished Saturday (5/25) morning and found the Sandbass on the hump at Kirkwood. They stayed for about 1 hour. I believe we caught around 40.

I fished with my fishing mentor today, and I taught him a lesson on catching bass. He caught a little bitty largemouth, and I caught a huge spotted bass. You will see what I mean with the pictures. I had to edit his picture to protect his spot, as we don't kiss and tell about bass info. Around 10 we went out by the east side of the island, and pulled out a can of "Whoop @SS" on the Sandbass. Big magnum sandbass, and the farther east on the hump we went the bigger the fish were. We finally had to say last cast about 50 times, and headed home before the circus started at the ramp. Was really fun, and we were worn out. For the record, I got my butt kicked today and loved it. Sandbass count was very high, and I don't want to estimate but it was triple digits. Spoons on the bottom, fish very thick but you sometimes could not get them to bite. You would move 30 ft, and it was crazy.

I updated the map, the first picture was not right. 25-27ft was the sweet spot.

I took my family out today to tube and "hang out." I will just say this...anyone brave enough to fish on a holiday/holiday weekend has my respect!!!! Crazy out there!!!!

I was out last year, and the level of insanity was scary. Totally agree, complete chaos.

Lake up another 1.5 ft so far today. DC is almost in major flood stage and running 4100 CFS. Would not surprise me to see the lake come up another couple feet in the coming days

We were out on the lake from 4:30 to 4pm. It was pretty hairy with 70+ mph winds. We holed up in a empty stall in Scott's, and rode out the bad part of the storm. Right now the lake is almost 3 ft up from this morning. The storm blew the tires at Scott's out of position, and Ferris ramp dock was blown out into the creek. The private marina over near Murrelll point was broken up into three pieces in the creek. Mr B caught a nice bass when we were staying out of e wind. We went out about 12 to the east side of the island and whacked on the sandbass. They were closer into the island, but still on the hump. Good day out fishing, and an experience with the storm.
I have allot of good video but, it's "Beer-30". Take care all.. several sail boats were damaged, some were moved up on top of the dock.



It seems the site is having trouble with the videos. Will check back tomorrow.


Just copy these links. These are the clips on Vimeo.
https://vimeo.com/951311610
https://vimeo.com/951311461
https://vimeo.com/951492401

Fished today scouting the high waters. If you know someone who lost a Kayak have them contact me. I found sandbass all over the lake, and had fun. There is a hump on the south side up the lake that I had fun with a 6xd. I caught a limit of keepers before I started recording the Livescope. They are on top of the hump, and the big crankbait really gets them going. I will add a clip of this area with GPS coordinates in the video. You just have to get on the edge, and cast over the top of it. This is the only hump in this area, and you would have to go more than a half mile to find one that has this depth out in open water.
I also found the sandbass on the east side of the island today, they were in full force. I will add some video of the livescope, there are allot of fish here and they are on the bottom. If you don't have livescope, don't be looking for schools of fish off the bottom. The fish are stuck to the bottom like glue, and they cover some ground in large schools. If you think you see fish on the bottom, stop and cast out a slab and (drag it back). I was not able to get them to react to a bait vertical jigging today. I would cast out, and drag the bait back by reeling the reel a couple turns to move the bait. I am keeping the slab on the bottom, and you will feel a "tick", that is the fish hitting the bait. Sometimes you will get many hits before they hook up. Note: If you are buying slabs, they normally have large treble hooks on them, I replace these with smaller hooks. I covered allot of water today, and scouted the entire north bank from the dam to way above the beach area.


And yes, I have music playing that loud while I'm fishing.. I like to Jam when I fish, it is my thumper substitute...

Hump on the south side Up the lake

Thousands of sandbass on the bottom

]https://vimeo.com/951748218



East of the Island


https://vimeo.com/951744543


Pictures from Today

Ferris Ramp


Emergency spillway





Grapevine Point Park





Possible traffic violation

Yah, the NWS says it's 247.9' (12-13' high?!!).

They are not letting any water out. Outflow of 16 is probably about as low as they can go. It was 1000+ two weeks ago before a new wave of rain topped everything off again. Good thing is the Sandbass are active, and are getting easier to catch. Remember stay in the 25ft range to locate, and adjust. I tried out in deeper water but they would always be in the 24-28 range in massive schools. If you hear of anyone who lost a kayak have them get in touch with me. Take care all, working next 3 days.

Lake Grapevine is 551.45 and still rising.
There is a lot of floating debris due to rising water and changes in wind direction. I couldn’t believe the number of wakeboard boats running down wind this evening.

Went out Friday in the yak and didn't recognize the place! The high water ramp in Murrell Park is closed. With a little finagling you can put a kayak in there but that's going to be it.

There's so much flooded cover, junk in the water, mud lines etc. that I think the fish don't know what to do. Or I didn't know what to do because I didn't have a bite.... still, nice day.

I saw two other kayakers but other than that not a single other vessel was out there Friday morning that I saw. I would not advise anyone to be pulling wake boards or tubers. I covered a small area but saw plenty of large floating debris that would be bad news for someone being towed.