Hey this is my first post on the forum. I am a VERY new avid fisherman... And yesterday a local fishing guide named Michael helped me save about 100 dollars on tons of lures and fancy stuff not needed to go fishing lol. He convinced me to start going catfishing and I have a good pole and line and am ready to test it out. I live off of 30 and 820 where they come together closer to the Arlington side.

I have tried to go off of Beach and 30 on the Trinity around a bridge and dam but not much success.

Any tips would be GREATLY appreciated!!! I have been reading the forum and it sounds like there are TONS of knowledgable people here. Thanks a ton.

On a side note: I am also a professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter (aka ultimate or cage fighting). I will be fighting May 24th as the main event at Winstar Casino. It will be on Fox Sports Net for anyone who enjoys the sport.

Thanks again!

Nice.

On Lake Arlington, have you tried the concrete pier at Bowman Springs Park? I've seen folks catching cats off the end of it.

JustinWren,
I live in the same area and share the same dilemma. I have recently gotten back into fishing and haven't had much success. I've tried a few local ponds and will be heading to Marine Creek in the near future. At this point, I just want to catch any type of fish, catfish included.

I know this isn't your target but I am out of east Fort Worth and I am fishing two spots in the area while the sandies are in the rivers and creeks. One is Walnut Creek , which feeds Joe Pool, and Clear Fork, which feeds Benbrook. Saturday at the Clear Fork, (aka Whiskey Flats) I caught 9 keeper sandies and 2 keeper hybrids from 5:30 pm till dusk. Sunday I caught 9 keeper sandies and one keeper hybrid between the hours of 7:00 am till 12 noon. Caught all on a black and pearl sassy shad. Also caught 2 carp on it, that surprised me! Besides my braggin, I have seen folks pull a few cats outta the Clear Fork, maybe you should give it a shot.

I don't know about Catfish, but there's a pond on the northwest corner of east loop 820 and Trinity Blvd. When you exit 820 and head west on Trinity, there's a wooded area with trails and tracks off to your right(north). It's a pretty dirty place and I'd never go there at night, but the few times I've been in the morning, I always manage at least a couple of Black Bass, usually of the 2-3 lb variety. I know there are larger bass in there also but I haven't caught any yet.

And I know there are at least a couple of people on here who fish the Trinity north of Arlington, but I think they do it in yaks.

I always seem to catch catfish while carp fishing so I guess I can weigh in on this since I live in Grand Prairie and fish the area extensively.
Joe Pool is prolly your best bet for multiple catches of catfish. They won't be huge but there are a bunch of channels cats close to keeper size. Fish the "steps" behind Lynn Creek Marina just past the weeds but before the bridge. You can also pay to fish the marina barge.
Lake Arlington is good as well but limited "safe" bank access is its main drawback.
Mountain Creek has some very nice size channels in it but the Lake has a consumption ban and is C&R only. Bank access on the Dallas side is limited due to contruction. The GP side has a park of SE14th near 303 with access to decent bank space.
Lakeside park in Duncanville is stocked with channel cats and trout, but space can get limited on nice days after a stocking.
There are a ton of Community fishing lakes that have good channel cats, just check the TPWD site for stocking locations.

Surprised no one has said good ol' vance's camp off of ten mile bridge. great place for sandies and cats! Take boat club rd north to ten mile bridge left. stay on ten mile bridge for 4 miles and then you will look to your right and see some catfish carcasses hanging from a fence. that is the entrance to vance's camp. you pay inside the place and you can fish all up and down in that creek. Not the same place since old man johnny died but it's still good for bank fishing. the dam in the back is a gold mine!

Yah, Vances is horrid now. Last time I went, it looked like a bomb had gone off. Lots of shady characters parked, walking around, etc. I remember one time I fished there and walked up to the damn and was chased by cows/bulls! At 2:00am, that scared the bajebas out of me! lol...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDOBoKbAz0Y

After seeing this, If I'm ever in your fishing spot just let me know. I will move down the bank very quietly while apologizing.

Benbrook has great catfishing and now that the day use area of Holiday park is open again I would suggest there. It costs a few bucks to get in but you don't have drug addicts throwing syringes around like you see at Lake Arlington. It is also above the Trinity River fish consumption problems that are downstream from Ft Worth.

Nice research lawmann

You might try a place called White Lake that is real close to you. I've caught some small bass ( under 3#) there. Don't know about catfish. It is located on the east side of Oakland Blvd just north of I30.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/management/stocking/urban_catfish.phtml

Go there! Man there are two ponds in our area that are constantly stocked! Send me a PM if your lookin for some one to fish with some time!

I would give Eagle mountain lake a good look. Creek Harbour Fish Camp at the lakes NE end. Nice place. Phone # 817-236-6111. There are a couple places near there worth looking into.

Cedar Creek Park marina on Joe Pool has some good catfishing on it at night.

Where exactly is this? is it near the Oasis resturant? Or is it off of 1382 state park entrance?