I Was actually going to go fish the spillway on saturday but it was soo low I could see all the fish in there , with the help of my polarized sunglasses, and there looked to just a lot of small crappie. So i went over the dam and fished the reservoir with a Popper and a weedless topwater 'frog like' lure(in the 2nd picture). Caught 3 bass with-in 45 mins, 1 on the popper and 2 on the frog. then they stopped hitting. Turned out to be a very good idea.

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nice fish!

Are you allowed to fish Bear Branch from the dam? All I see is fence from the road. I've caught some toads in ponds around The Woodlands.

There are a lot of nice looking ponds in the Woodlands area. I was down there this weekend for the holiday visiting family. I left my poles and gear at the house here in Longview. I was really wanting to test the waters. My wife could have dropped me off at the interstate access road by the mall while she shopped and I would have been happy. Even though I would have still been on the losing side of that deal. Her aunt and uncle live on off alden brigde road and there are a few good looking ponds in that area. I should have went and bought a new set-up from Academy so that I could fish since they are on sale, but I didn't.

Congrats

Nice....

Thanks guys. BoomBoom, there are signs that state "defacing property results in 200$ fine" and a sign that says "san jacinto water authority property no trespassing". I have been fishing here many times, barely ever the only one there, and have never been bothered.

Im not promoting trespassing, but one of the reasons soo many people go to the spillway and Bear branch is that the other ponds in The Woodlands contain little to no bass, sadly. If anybody else has please let me know, but i havent had much luck at ponds in The Woodlands, other than at this location, in a year or two.

You are right, the ponds are getting tougher every year. Too many home builders keeping them to eat, especially now when they are most vulnerable and easiest to catch.
Lake Woodlands has a ton of nice sized crappie and big bass. I've launched my 19' bass boat in there. Just cant run the big motor. Flip and pitch black/blue and black/chartreuse jigs to any visible shoreline cover.
Shadow Lake has some very nice bass in it too. I used to fish it with a 2-man boat. Jigs and plastics work good. There is another lake in the Shadowbend area that has an island in the middle of it that I've seen a 8lb'r caught out of. The pond just south of Woodlands Parkway on Gosling can be fun. Caught a few nice ones there last weekend on a weight less Senko.

Thanks for the info! im always looking for new places in the woodlands. You are right on about people keeping too many fish. Ive been at the spillway once when a group of home builders arrived and started cast-netting bass and loaded up a 10 gallon cooler to the top right next to where i was fishing. Didnt know the fish and games anonymous tip line number but next time im calling someone for sure.

there is a place behinde hooters in shenendoah that i used to fish alot, its really mossy but has big bass, last i saw they blocked it off, a police officer stoped out there and talked to me a bit and he said it was owned by the city or county or something. may try it if it doesnt have signs up. ive hooked up on lots over 5#. put them all back so there should be good ones still

There are still a few ponds here in The Woodlands with decent bass in them. It's just that some of them don't have the best access without some form of flotation, kayak or canoe. I used to fish Bear Branch quite a bit back when I had my canoe, but when it got taken over by the algae and the weeds, it just sucked. Looks like the cold winter really knocked back the weeds this year. Overall that lake is fairly shallow, but there are a few deep holes and ledges out there that if you can get to 'em in a canoe/kayak, WHOAAAAA NELLLY, it's on like Donkey Kong! Nice fish, and Congrats!

I used to fish it out of a float tube and kayak. Great lake. The shore to the south of the damn has a little deeper water and holds some pretty good fish. If you don't care about size, get a 1/8 oz spinnerbait and you can hit 50 bass easy.

Some nice bass, congrats.

Not my biggest from Bear Branch, but there was a camera available at this time! Sorry for the pic quality, used a scanner! I guessed her at a little over 4lbs.