I've never fished at Grapevine Lake but somebody at work told me about it when I asked for places to fish. What kind of bank access is there? How is it for crappie/catfish?

My son has caught many good-sized channel catfish fishing off the north shoreline in the area just west of the dam. We have also caught some crappie in the Twin Coves area fishing the tree stumps in the Spring. In another month the crappie should start moving into Denton creek; park along Highway 377 and follow the trails.

Grapevine has great bank access over by Murrell Park (Flower Mound side). Part of it is closed for the winter but some of it is open now. I think Twin-Coves Park is also closed for the winter but there are spots there where you can actually fish timber from the bank. The parks on either side of the dam have some decent spots for catfish.

In my opinion Grapevine has the best bank access of any lake I have seen around here. It has a lot of rocky shore-line and in the summer you can catch some craw-dads while you fish. I like it.

Good luck with it. Maybe I'll see you out there some time. I'll keep my eyes open for a garbage truck.

[This message has been edited by gregd (edited 02-06-2003).]

Marshall Creek, and up towards Denton Creek is a great place for crappie and catfish... good bank access too..

I fished the Oak Grove Park(McPherson Slough to be exact) area in the Fall, and had pretty good luck catching sand bass off of white roadrunners. Also snagged a couple of shade and fished those of the bottom and caught a few good sized largemouth. Hope this is helpful

Thanks guys, for all the input. I'm definitely going to get out there and give it a try.

GM

[This message has been edited by Garbage Man (edited 02-07-2003).]

Well, I have fished Grapevine Lake from the bank and from boats since the early 70's. Unfortunately, many of the areas I use to fish from the bank are no longer accessible. BUT, as others have stated, the Denton creek area will be prime in the next couple of weeks. The pattern will last almost 1 month (all of March) for sandbass. Then the crappie fishing really cranks up in March and April. The bank fishing in the Twin Coves area is pretty good. My best luck has been to walk the banks with a long crappie pole (about 10' long will do) and jig a small jig around the stumps and logs in 1-3 ft of water. You can also toss a small roadrunner around this area and catch some too. Also, the McPherson Slough area behind the boathouses can really get good in March using these same techniques. Just be sure to keep moving till you find some. I haven't had near as much luck by staying put in one spot for hours. In fact, I fish this area in the spring when there is bad weather on the way and I don't want to take the boat out. That way, when the weather hits, I jump in the truck to hide for a bit. You can also catch some good crappie over by the dam next to Silverlake Marina. There is a small pocket there that always has crappie in the spring but I would suggest you get there early because it does get crowded along that bank at times. Basically, anywhere along the south side of the lake where you can park and walk to the water is generally good in the Spring, so long as there is some brush to jig around. Good luck and I will probably see you there.

Has anyone fished back behind Silver Lake Marina where they dredged some out to go to Opry Land?
I went back up in there last summer. Looks really fishy. Didn't catch anything then.
But, I also hear stories from some of the good folks that work around there that they have caught many a sand bass running behind the boathouses there at Silver Lake.

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Happy Hookin'
-Jeff

Almost forgot. Someone had mentioned Oak Grove Park. If you park just before you get to the first little park there, you can walk pretty easily down to the water. Although, I haven't searched much there. I only had a few minutes while I was on lunch one day. Anyways, looks pretty good for some shallow crappie.
Plus, while I was there throwing my little jig mainly to get a line wet, a guy in a two man water buster brought in about a 3# LMB.
If you're on here buddy, sorry, didn't mean to give up your spot.

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Happy Hookin'
-Jeff

[This message has been edited by JBrown (edited 02-07-2003).]

Oh, I forgot to mention, when walking the banks, watch for snakes. They are quite abundant in these areas during the spring. Most are just plain watersnakes and not poisonous but they will sure get your hair standing on end when you walk within a couple of feet of one! Oh, regarding the sandbass behind Silverlake Marina, yes, you can sometime catch them back there but more often than not, they run a bit small. JBrown, not really sure about the dredging you referred to but there is some good fishing behind the marina. Actually, they built up the lake bottom to build the bridge crossing the cove back there. The creek channel that runs down the left bank (east side) comes to a complete stop under the bridge, then resumes after passing the bridge.

This is great info. Thanks everybody. See you out there.

Greg