Navasota Paddle Trail

As far as whitebass fishing goes I think the two dams downstream pretty much block the fish coming up from Lake Limestone. Past flooding might have put or trapped some whitebass in the little lake at Fort Parker but those numbers would be much less then what's coming up from Limestone. At any rate I'm going to check out the area asap.

I have fished below the falls at Ft Parker but never the north section above the lake. Let us know how you do!

I'm headed there in a couple of weeks. Do you mean the river upstream from the lake at Fort Parker? How far up is the damn? I had trouble finding it on google maps. Any other tips for that hole?

We put in on the SE side of the lake just off of 14. The dam creates a waterfall at times. The google maps link is

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.5869513,-96.5257406,235m/data=!3m1!1e3

Put in on the east side where the big dirt patch is or just under the highway. Can be steep.

I have fished the river between 1633 and Fort Parker Lake from my bass boat. It's a great place to fish, very scenic and secluded. There's water in the river that is close to 20' deep. I would think fishing it from a kayak would be a BLAST!! I would love to get in on a day trip down the river. I have a trailer that will carry 5 kayaks. We could park a vehicle at the park, and then all ride to the put in in my truck, splash the yaks and go. If any of you hit it in the next few weeks, don't post pics or there will be hundreds of people flocking to it.

We will keep this just between us Is there any whitebass in that section above Fort Parker lake?

I grew up in Mexia and fished that river many times. No whites back then (70's) but tons o crappie. Still are according to a post I saw on the crappie forum not long ago. There was a video of a guy in a yak, smoking like a freight train and pulling fish after fish... found it --
http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/9487318/Searchpage/1/Main/767332/Words//Search/true/Re:_Video_of_Crappie_Catching_#Post9487318

The Confederate Reunion Grounds mentioned in the link are pretty cool. We lived right outside the gate for a year or two. I remember seeing some huge gar down in there at this little dam. I never made the trip all the way from the reunion ground as described in the paddling trail link. Looks like a great trip... Be sure to hit Wrights BBQ in Mexia, good stuff with some serious smoke!

I haven't targeted white bass there, and haven't caught any, either. If you go in the next couple of weeks, please let us know how the trip was.

BTW, it's a pretty good distance (close to 5-1/2 miles), and the paddle across the lake would be directly into a SE wind. I would choose your weapons carefully. I would definitely choose my Commander 140 over my Ride 115 to make that trip.

Looking at is again, I would probably put in at the Confederate Reunion site and take out at the boat ramp on the lower section of the river. The lake itself isn't that pretty, and I would skip the open water paddle just to avoid power boats as much as possible.

I'm planning for a trip up to Fort Parker Thursday March 6th to paddle around the upper Navasota river. Probably put in at the confederate reunion site and paddle up and down the river from there. Do any of you guys want to join me on the river? I'll shoot for a 10am launch time and pull out around 4pm to be back in Bryan for the CCA banquet. Just doing this trip for fun, to see some new water and make a video of the paddle trail for My blog and YouTube Channel

Last time I was there I saw 4 river otters about a quarter mile downstream of the Confederate reunion grounds. Tons of water turkeys on the river. Don't know about the sandies but the channel cat and crappie fishing is good. Very peaceful river.

Thanks for all the info. I doubt I'll get down there before my intended camping trip in three weeks. I'll post up how it was after that.

July 9, 2009 I posted this on TKF forum. "Floated it about 4 weeks ago. We put in at the Confederate Union Grounds and took out at the Fort Parker S.P. boat access ramp to the river at the upper end of the lake. It was very hot yet shaded. I did not fish muchatall because I had the fam with me. I would like to go back though and give it a try. There is plenty o structure like fallen trees, limestone bluffs, etc. that would hold some pretty good fish. The manager/caretaker at the CUG was extremely nice and even let us back in after 5 to retrieve our "put in" vehicle. If I get the chance to go back, I am going to explore the lake. Have fun. Oh.. surely it's decomposed by now, but there was a decaying cow in a tree about 8 ft up. Must have drowned in the flood and became lodged there. Didn't smell the greatest." I did go back last summer I believe. I put in at the boat ramp above the lake and did yak the lake. There is a cove by the dam that added a bit more exploration to the lake. I enjoyed the river area more than the lake but didn't fish. Camp ground is nice but you have to part the cattails to access the water directly from your camp site.

This last cold spell has me reconsidering my Thursday trip to the Navasota river. I have the CCA banquet to attend in the evening and problems with a server at work.. I think I'll delay a week or two when I might not have so many conflicts with the day off from work
..