I have been fishing upstream from the bridge, and doing great. I fished up there again on Saturday and managed to pick up six whites and three crappie, but boy howdy was it ever slow. But from what I�ve read on several forums from the Dallas, Houston and Austin areas, the bite was terribly for everyone this past weekend. So I guess the fish in Texas just quit biting for a little while till these water temps begin to warm up a little again. I look for the bite to start picking back up here real soon though.

Man...yall just aren't holding your mouth right...


J/K...

It's the full moon messing with the fish.. they stay up all night chasing tail and rest up during the day.. happens every year.. by the next full moon in late March it will be all but over in the creeks. I'm looking for spawning activity to peak in the next two weeks and begin to die down after that.. so get it while the getting is good...

Same song, different verse. Fished upstream from Irwin's yesterday. 2 whites and 2 keeper crappie plus 2 more undersized crappie.

I agree that the lunar phases heavily influence the spawn, but I disagree that this also drastically impacts the bite. I have been successful catching whites while they are actively spawning and also on days just before and after a full moon. They are not too tired because of their mating rituals. Also, I caught my limit of whites Sunday - they just came out of a warmer river further south...

Not even a week ago, central TX was hit with rain/sleet/snow. The air and water temp went through a rapid fluctuation that stressed these fish. Plus, another front came on Friday, and that definitely put a damper on the weekend bite.

The whites are still there stacked up in the deeper holes, but they were inactive. The bite will pick up with warmer temps (and with the rain).

With the massive influx of reports and even pics of some honey holes, I imagine the Yegua now trumps the San Gabriel as the most crowded place to hit for the run. The crowds seem to have worsened the past couple years. Hopefully, the quality of fish (i.e. size) won't suffer the same fate as the SG. I like to avoid the circus; thus, I can only enjoy these gems on weekdays.

Yes the Yegua is a very popular place this time of year! Thank goodness the State Park benefits from all the traffic.. Surveys of the lake show that fishing pressure (harvest) has little if any effect on whitebass populations especially when compared to the effect fluctuations in lake level has on spawning. Somerville is a very fertile lake and has a forage base second to none. Growth rates are at the upper end of what is possible for whitebass, hybrids and other fish. Whitebass in lake Somerville are consistently the largest whitebass I've ever heard of or seen and IMHO it's the year after year influence of stocking hybrids. Mother nature might put a dent in the population but fishing legally probably never will..

hl&s, do you mean FERTILE lake? I've caught a few fish there, so I wouldn't call it FUTILE! lol.

I was out there yesterday. I saw a few stringers with limits about half had limits. I got there late so the bite was diminishing. Had 7 nice ones and some crawfish in the traps.

has anyone herd anyone reports about the crappie spawn on the main lake?

The weather was so nice this morning I just had to make a run to Irwin bridge to give it a try. I went upstream first and caught five whites, and six crappie that were barely ten inches. I wont keep those that are that close, so I released them. Went downstream to search for some fish in deeper water and found some.
Picked up nine pretty quick, which four of those were big females, and the males were big too. Decided to call it the day, went to the truck, change shoes, put everything away and away I go. Then I saw a place where people have been parking and going upstream, so I pulled into there, got out to do a little recon, and found another place that was producing some nice size fish, but only caught four before the rain came.
So my total for the day was eighteen whites. Not a real good day considering the time I spent on the water which was five hours. But I did find some good places to fish for the next time I go and I think I can get a limit in a much shorter time frame.

Check out my home made stringer I had to use to transport those four back to the truck. Nothing like a good limber stick.

Love the stringer Gotta do what ya gotta do to get them suckers home!

that aint no lie!! lol

Cats....did you get my other PM?

yes pm replied!

I am planning another Thursday kayak trip up the Yegua with my fly fishers group but it is open to anyone.. I plan to launch from Nails Creek park around 8 to 9 am. The forecast is looking great and the fish should cooperate as the day warms up..