New to forums, fishing, and Houston!

Hey all! Family and I just moved to Houston about 2 months ago and had been hitting the local ponds and creeks looking for well...fish! The wifey is hooked on catfish because she loves to eat them and I just like to go out and fish, had fun in Washington state with SMB.

Any good bodies of water we should check out for bank fishing? We don't own a boat so bank fishing is all we would be doing for now but after being here for two months I'm starting to count my pennies for a boat in the future! Couple places we have been too had been:

Buffalo Run - not bad a few small cats and a dinky bass
Lost Creek - when water was higher in September got a good number of blue and channel
Oyster Creek - same as lost creek
Lake Houston - last week and was SO SLOW but got a few cats
Memorial Park - no cats but consistent on dinky bass

We tried to find access to the Brazos but the one spot we found access to was super fast with current and seemed t be a pretty flat bottom with little coverage.

Not looking for peoples spots but just bodies of water to explore, I don't mind the footwork of hiking as long as nothing tries to kill me in the meantime LOL

Thanks all and happy fishing!

First, welcome to Houston and to Texas. You can bank fish several places on Lake Conroe and there's plenty of catfish on that lake. Fayette County is about an hour and a half away and has decent bank fishing at both ramp areas. Fayette has some decent catfishing too.
Another thing you might consider is to head to Galveston or Freeport and fish the beaches there. For a minimal cost, you can fish off the beach for redfish and trout and gafftop (an edible saltwater catfish). Get a few spider weights and a couple of red fish leaders at Academy and some fresh dead shrimp or cut mullet and you'll be in for some fun.

Awesome, thanks I appreciate it! Hopefully we can go to Conroe this weekend!

Welcome to Houston. Catfish stocking season is winding down this year, but there will be another stocking at the end of next week at several Houston-area ponds. Check the schedule here: https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/management/stocking/catfish_stocking.phtml?s=o#largeModal

Note that these are neighborhood fishing ponds, so the regulations are slightly different. Five fish per person, no minimum length, and only rod & reel allowed (two per person). https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_cd_k0700_0100c.pdf

I take my kids regularly to Herman Little Pond on the weekend of a stocking, and we always catch fish. They bite on shrimp, nightcrawlers, hot dogs, whatever you have on hand. Example from two weeks ago, and we had similar results this past Sunday:




I'm guessing you're on the Southwest side of town from the locations you posted? Check out Missouri City CPL for catfish as it is one of the stocked ponds.

Trout stocking starts in November/December, so keep an eye out for the schedule (if you're on these forums, you'll see it). There is a great pond that gets stocked usually in early December on the Southwest side: McGrath Park in Meadows Place. Don't even bother with going to Missouri City CPL for trout unless you like to watch the birds eating them.

Lake Conroe can be tough for bank fishing. There is a Lake Conroe Fishing group on Facebook where you can get some recommendations. The question comes up a lot, and the answers are mostly one of the following:

1. Marinas. I've fished near Stow-a-way Marina and didn't have any luck. No one asked us to leave, but I still felt a little awkward. Maybe call up the marinas and ask if there is a spot to fish nearby if you buy bait from them. The one I see recommended the most is Walden, but it's also the most controversial since the area people recommend fishing at is private property.

2. Bridges. Park nearby and try to find a path to fish under them. I've never done it, as I usually have little kids in tow and the terrain looks a little treacherous and not conducive to kids running around.

3. FM 830 Boat Ramp. I've fished here and got a handful of acceptable sunfish, but never catfish. There's a lot of boat traffic and, depending on the season, swimmers.

4. Lake Conroe Park. Decent place for sunfish and bass. Never seen anyone catch a catfish here (edit: I forgot, saw one guy catch a small one). Has an entry fee and doesn't open until 9:00 a.m. I think, which is a little too late to start fishing for my tastes.

5. Scott's Ridge. I've never been. It's on my list to check out.

6. Cagle Boat Launch. $5 entry fee. Fished here three times and never caught more than a handful of sunfish. I won't be back.

7. Unofficial Camp Sites. On the west side of the lake, follow Forest Service Road 204 or 248 until you see water or a dead-end. I've fished along 248 one time and we had decent luck with sunfish and some freshwater drum. But if it's good weather, you might not have good areas to fish because other campers are around. I was also disgusted by how people leave their trash around everywhere.

8. Stubblefield. This is a common suggestion. It's on my list to try, but I haven't been because I didn't get into fishing Conroe until around the time Harvey rolled through. Harvey destroyed a bridge, so my understanding is you can no longer access Stubblefield from the east side of the lake.

Pavlaugh, looks like a good haul! Our “little one” is 13 and almost 6ft but man he has been loving going fishing.

I’ll start poking around bridges more but the Brazos looks pretty wicked and fast. Is it still plausible to have some good fishing when it’s raging? I would guess maybe a few oz of flat slider weights and some chunky stuff or crawlers for cats.

I've never fished Brazos, but I do frequent some creeks on the north side of town (Spring & Cypress Creeks). Slower and slack water is ideal. A little current has been OK for catching white bass. January/February/March is usually prime time for catching white bass in creeks if that interests y'all.

To the TFF!

Welcome to Houston! You didn't mention where you moved from, or I missed it, but if not from the gulf coast area...you'll want to keep in mind there at lots of gators in this area (including most all of the places mentioned above) and you can assume most any water body, including neighborhood ponds and creeks, can and do have alligators. That was a big surprise for me moving here 25+ years ago from NE Oklahoma. So keep an eye out when wandering the banks in warm weather. Good luck!!

Lots of good advice here. Thanks for sharing and

With both duck and deer seasons opening basically now thru January the national forest areas of Lake Conroe are going to be full of people with guns. Some get a bit protective of their areas when a fisherman comes round.

Good to know! I’ll put the antler hat away lol! But seriously, good to know thanks.

In Sugar Land pretty much every community lake has Catfish. There are tons of bank spots along oyster creek and it’s interconnected waterways. Same is true for Missouri city. I personally don’t care for the community stocked lakes as there is usually a lot of people that show up but from what I hear the stocked cats are really easy to catch. Many of the winter trout stocked ponds are hard to fish especially with lures due to muddy water. If you are looking to go some where out of town I recommend hitting up lake Somerville. If you have any questions feel free to IM me. Good luck and let us know how you do.

I'm new to the forum as well....A LOT of good info. Thanks

Welcome to Texas. Check out this place https://www.mjacompany.com/7lakes.html about an 1.5 hr. south west of Houston. I fished there for a couple if years, mostly bank fishing but there are some boats. Great bass fishing, lots of big cat fish, crappie and carp. There is a small pond with just crappie but all the lakes have them. I think you can even camp there. The ponds are well stocked with bass to 5 lbs and larger, the cats are larger and the ponds in the 5 to 15 acre range. There is an annual membership fee that I think is reasonable around $2000 a yr. for family with unlimited fishing. If your son likes to fish this will a great place to catch a variety of fish. Absolutey a fun place to fish.

I've fished most of the public ponds in and around Houston without much luck. Unless you get there with in a couple of weeks stocking the fishing is not that good

Welcome to Texas and TFF!

Most ponds in the Cinco Ranch area have some good bass in them.