I'm headed to a town called river side to check on my wife's grandmothers place on the trinity and was thinking about taking the boat and checking out the lake I was wondering about launching the boat and what to throw and any areas that might be good spots to try. Any help would be great. Thanks.

From Riverside you can launch at the Hwy 19 bridge. The whites are still biting in the river. Going downstream, Bethy Creek on the right usually has pretty clear water and good fishing, 3 or 4 bends downstream from there is Carolina creek which is good also.

Thanks ill try to find those places. So the river runs in to the lake.

Yes sir, Be careful of logs floating down the river.

Yes the river runs into the lake, but it gets pretty hairy up there, not much room for error.

A lot of water coming down the river right now so I would expect muddy water and floaters everywhere.

Yep...lots of water coming down the river and it's muddy right now. You might can find some clear water in places. You can run to the actual lake and put in about 45 minutes from Riverside.

Where would the closet ramp on the lake be from riverside I don't want to tear up the boat or have a problem so far from home.

I would recommend maybe launching from Bethy or Carolina Cove. They are just off of FM 980 from Hwy 19. You can get to Harmon as well from Hwy 19. Those ramps are a little more secure and you don't have to run the river if the river is up and moving. You can also get back the ramp fairly easily from both those areas if you do have problems. If you are on the river, it might be another story.

I was there last weekend...Carolina was pretty dirty, except in Thomas Lake. Bethy was dirty, but not as bad as Carolina. The river actually looked pretty good, if I would have had more time I would fished some log jams.

Just take your time and pay attention!

A little story about Carolina Cove. I pulled up in the dark to launch. I had done many times before. The store was not open so I would pay my launch fee upon my return. As I backed the boat in, this guy comes running down to the ramp yelling "You gonna pay a launch fee?" I said "Sure when the store opens and I get back I will, like I always do. I have never had a problem doing that before". He said, "You are going to pay it NOW!! or there will be a problem." I did not notice the collection box that had been put up since the last time I was there so I paid no problem. He went on to explain that bass fisherman never pay a ramp fee so he will hunt them down to get it. He even told me he chased them down with his truck before. I explained that I would not ignore the ramp fee and I would have paid if I had seen the box.
Just a work of caution----have your money in your hand when you drive in or expect to hear the wrath of some guy in a too small t-shirt.

Thanks guys.

Haha the new owners of cove they are something else be careful in the river right now plenty of floaters.

I've met the new Cove owners...never had a problem with him. He even let me use his water hose back in September after it rained and they had 980 all tore up. My boat was covered in mud...couldn't even tell what color it was!

Protected boat docks on the south side of the lake with anything T-rigged in green pumpkin

Anybody fish the state park? Gonna pre-fish tomorrow and looking for new water. I normally fish up at white rock or Kickapoo.