Anybody ever fished a lake called Trinidad? Suppose to be somewhere south of Dal/FtW off of 31? Heard that the lake had some nice sized crappie in it.

There are two lake in that area, the first is a power plant lake off of 31 on 1667 limited access from road and bridges. On down to the end is Creslen Park and Creslen Lake (Old Cut Off of Trinity River). Creslen Lake has good fish of all species. Especially Crappie and the occasional grennil.

Trinidad City lake [Not the power plant lake] is located just a mile North of 31,,,It has been fenced off,Can't get in there no more,used to have to go to Trinidad police station and pay a small fee to fish in,,,Bass and Crappie we used to catch from the bank..Closed for now

The last time I went to Creslin park it was fenced off. Someone must have bought it the cleared all those old trailer`s and house`s off. That used to be a great place to catch crappie,kind of a neat out of the way place.
Have not been by there in a couple of year`s though.
JD

basscaster46, That makes me MAD, not at you, but to think that someone has fenced off the Old Cutoff. I didn't think they could do that. I was born and raised at Cross Roads and when I was growing up the Old Cutoff was the only public water we had to fish. Here is an exert from the Athens newspaper;

I wish I knew some lawyer in Henderson County that would check into this for all the people of Texas. I was hoping to go down there this spring or early summer. Does anyone think we could check on this online?
Thanks basscaster46 for your input.

Hey guys, Keystone is talking about the correct Trinidad City lake which is about a mile north of the east end of Trinidad off highway 31.
I'm not sure when Keystone was last there but, I drove in to the lake back last fall and it is open now. it's a pretty small lake, maybe 25 acres? Never fished it but, could be nice crappie lake. You might get a john boat on the water but there is no ramp that I could see and there were only two other people on the lake the day I was there.
Maybe that helps?
PS: I know there is a sign on hwy 31 on the east edge of Trinidad with an arrow pointing north. That's how I found it.

Ok, Guys I did a little checking on this yesterday. Looks like Gary Yamamoto bought Creslen Park and has fenced off the boat ramp. The south end near the old wooden brige is still accessble as it is a county road all the way to the brdge. I am going to looked into it a little more. But the boat ramp was on private property. But the cut off is still accessable just not at creslen park in Trinidad. And no where to drop a bass boat in, but you can still hand load a jon in crossroads.

My grandparents used to live in Trinidad and I grew up learning to fish on the cut off. My granddad had a bass boat that we would beg him to take us out in every time we visited - which was quite often. He would always oblige and I loved every minute of time we spent on the water together.

Man, what great memories... Have not been back there in a long time as both of my grandparents are gone now. Sure do miss 'em!

Here's what i know.

Creslen park was a 99 year land lease by the ranch to people who had fish camps near the cut off. The owners of the ranch busted it up and sold it in i beleive three portions. Gary Yamamoto did own the part with the park,ranch house and the entrance. The land lease expired during his ownership but he never closed it to the public. A few years ago he sold it to another person and they did close it. There is still legal access from the highway and people launch small boats by hand only i think. The south access road was deeded back to the surrounding owners by henderson county and is no longer accessible to my knowledge. This was a pretty big topic around here for awhile. Some people got ticketed for launching boats from the highway and took it to court and won. Alot of bad things were going on down there with drugs etc etc and that didnt help matters in keeping it open on either end to the public.
I havent been to the trinidad city lake (north of 31)in a few years but they werent allowing any boats the last time i was there. It got hit pretty hard by the locals from the bank.
The trinidad power plant lake (circulation lake between trinidad and creslenn) is bank fishing only at the 2 bridges and no fishing from the bridge. The power plant is gas fired and hardly ever is brought online to generate. That lake is one of the first in texas to have florida strain large mouth stocked.

LOADS of crappie in all 3 lakes!

Thanks for the update and info Parker.

Thats Correct Trinidad City Lake,I drove drown the dirt road about 2 months ago,Fenced was Locked,,and yes all fishing was done from the bank,a lot of signs with all kinds of rules before you get to the locked fence.

ya know seems like i heard they lock it up at a certain time. maybe i read it on that sign. the city lake that is.

I don`t know about its past history but I drove up in there today and there was no locked gate. There was a sign however that read "no gas powered boats on the lake". It`s a very nice little lake that I plan of fishing with my 8 fter soon!.

Fishbonz, I live in Trinidad actually. The city limits runs north to Cedar Creek Lake. I haven't driven up to the lake in a couple of years but, yes, you could drive into the lake and there is a place on the north side about half way down the lake to the east that looked like you could launch a john boat or small one or two man boat. Never seen anyone fishing it and have no idea if there are any crappie in it. I couldn't tell what feeds the lake, maybe Cedar Creek?
I'd sure appreciate any info you can share with us if you make it down.

Yeah I went to check on a spot at CC and came down 274 to 31 and drove up there or back in there and stood on the north bnk and pitch a jig with no takers.I saw a large concrete slab structure on the south side but I don`t think there is access to it however I did see what could be a little ramp as you come in on the west side.It looked pretty torn up but had possibilities.I know it has at least one fish in it because I saw a tail swirl near my bobber! I`ll be back GOD willing.