Fayette County

How's it been lately? Buddy got a new boat and wants somewhere to go.. Been to Conroe a few times in the past weeks and don't wanna go back really, so Fayette seems logical.

Ramps open? How's it fishing?

Or really any lake with 2 1/2 hours from Houston....

Its closed. Called them yesterday

Fished there two days ago, and both ramps were open. According to the LCRA website, it is still open. All LCRA maintained ramps are closed, Fayette is not maintained by LCRA but rather by an independent contractor. The number to call is 979-249-3504, but probably not answered before 7 or 8.

Oak Thicket Park posted on Facebook YESTERDAY that they are open for now. May change in the future but ARE OPEN NOW.

I prefer Rayburn or Naconichie

Anyone know if it's worth fishing right now though? If not we'll probably head off to Houston County, just haven't been to Fayette in a few years

My neighbor just told me both parks are closed about 1 hour ago.

Parks are closed, but are the ramps open?

Well Houston County it is.. Fayette closed down today via Facebook

I called yesterday around 1pm and they said they had closed, but had just reopened. I called this morning as I was getting ready to head out there, and they said they had made the decision at 6pm last night to formally close the entire park, including the boat ramp.

It should be criminal in my opinion to close down access to lakes right now. It's literally the safest place a person can be and a much needed escape for mental health.

I agree, the problem is common sense. People see an opportunity to get out and they want to gather at the lake. All it takes is a few groups to show up at the ramp/park and it ruins it for the rest of us

LCRA web site says both Fayette ramps are still open as of 6:00 PM 03/27.

Call and ask if they are open......979-249-3504

Criminal? I fully understand wanting to protect their employees, I know I wouldn't want to be dealing with the customers right now. And they cannot leave the gate open due to all the slimeball inbred trash that will tear up everything just because it's there. I want to go fishing, but I also understand why they have shut it down.

Oak Thicket was open 3/26. Fishing was slow for me.
They are re-assessing day by day. Call ahead. Word I got was they are inclined to keep the ramp open but camping may be closed.

Well it don't really matter if it was open or not.. We did GREAT at Houston County today!! 3rd cast buddy hung a 5-6 pounder on a frog 100 yards from the ramp, caught 2 more 5's and a 2lb, and a bunch of small ones.. Lake was awesome today!

And if anyone is wanting to give it a shot, 95% of the fish were caught on a citrus shad shallow diver up in creeks in about 4-5ft of water.. They are spawning and we found beds but throwing everything we could at them, they had nothing to do with it

Just called Fayette County Lake gate phone number, got answering machine message: The complete park facility is closed including boat ramp and bank fishing.

Did you call Oak Thicket and Park Prairie?

Fishing not that great at Fayette really been slow. Houston County on fire!!!

How much maintenance does a boat ramp need? How about if they close the park office and let people use the self-pay box...or fish for free? I have a hard time believing park law enforcement officers were told to stay home. Check for people breaking laws and let everyone else go fishing. The odds of transmitting coronavirus at a boat ramp or on the water are so miniscule that they are virtually non-existent.

Agree. Leave gate open and lock bathrooms if you are worried about the attendants.

Houston County is on fire!

I just called Fayette. Talked to the lady at Oak Thicket and she said it is closed for 1-2 weeks. Wasn't open today and chaining the gate shut this afternoon after the last campers leave. She had no idea about Park Prairie and said information has been changing multiple times. Park Prairie voice mail said it is open, but I have my doubts if Oak Thicket is closed.

I don't think it's a maintenance issue, it's vandalism. I have not heard anything about LE staying home. Another issue is plant security. Yeah, I know it's unlikely that anyone would try to do anything to harm the power plant but I'm sure the plant has security protocols in place and one is they want to know who is entering the lake.

How do you vandalize a boat ramp? What keeps anything from being vandalized at night when the office is closed?

https://youtu.be/qoLzlUPXZiU

You do know n that last picture that your breaking the law and posting it online right? County is a slot lake

My son and I went today. We used the Park Prarie boat ramp. I know LCRA manned parks are closed but this one is operated by a third party according to their website. The fishing wasn't very good for us but we aren't that good either- Lol.

Fish went right back in the water, just put them in the well to have them weighed at CFR and get a pic. No harm done. They swam off alive and healthy

Not the boat ramp, the cabins and campsites. There are employees that work at night in normal times.

The below is directly from TPWD website. It's always fun to get that picture of a successful day but getting a ticket could really end your fun day on a sour note.

Possession of Fish Taken from Public Water

Fish caught and immediately released are not considered to be in possession. Any fish that are retained by using any type of holding device such as stringer, cooler, livewell, or bucket are considered in an angler’s possession and must adhere to established length and bag limits. While fishing, it is illegal to be in possession of more fish than the daily bag limit or fish that are within a protected length limit.

Or how about they keep the staff working to keep an eye on things from a distance, but not have them man the office. Just let people use the self pay box. That'll cover the salaries, keep the staff socially distanced, and let people get out and get some fresh air. Like I said it should be criminal to close the ramps at a time like this. If anyone knows the name of the 3rd party company who runs the parks pleas let me know.

I would guess 1000 Trails operates the concessions.

Oh I don't care if you take some home and do as you want. Just don't want you getting a ticket. That picture can get you a ticket. You have illegal fish in your possession in the photo. Just giving you a heads up.

Got ya, didnt know! So how are you supposed to fish a tournament and have a weigh in? And why is it I've seen multiple people bring bass out of that lake to CFR to have them weighed? I just thought it was okay to keep them for the day to see what kind of fish we could pull

The only tournaments are paper tournaments or you obey the slot limit. Your allowed to keep/retain one over 24" I think it is. You can do as you like with it. I caught one back in 2010 I think it was that was between 10-11 on my scale bouncing all over place that I wanted to get on certified scale but was only 23.5" long. Had to call it a 10 and let it go.

dk2429, if you have a tournament on a lake with a slot limit, you aren't allowed to keep & weigh-in any fish within the slot limit. I would imagine MBoehm is making his statement with an accurate assessment that the fish falls within the slot. Put a fish from the slot in your livewell, and you can expect a citation. How's the officer supposed to know when you intend to release the fish? ....maybe when it gets to your fillet board?

If it’s with in the slot, immediately release, no live well time for pics allowed! It’s illegal.

First, it shouldn’t be criminal. Government parks close down all the time. Completely legal. Second, while it should be safe, I’ve witnessed the following in the last week at different boat ramps in different parts of the state:

People congregating at the ramp because a walking trail goes right through the parking lot and people stopped to rest, people were fishing from the area, people were laying on blankets, people were swimming

A one lane ramp, the only one on the lake, had 100 people trying to use it in the afternoon - everything from people launching bass boats, pontoon boats with 10 people on them, and kayaks. The pontoon boat got stuck on the bank while trying to load all of the passengers in, and they had everyone gather in the back of the boat, then the front, trying to distribute weight so they could get unstuck and get off the bank.

The loan dock at the boat ramp had four guys fishing on it in the morning, standing shoulder to shoulder, walking around each other, etc.

Groups set up on the bank to fish near each other.

A bass boat launching with two older gentlemen, a middle aged guy and a teenaged girl, plus a dog, all arriving in the same SUV, commingling at the ramp for 10 minutes, then hopping in a small bass boat and taking off.

For someone who has been swearing up and down in the OT there is only one way to combat this virus and more data is needed, you sure seem to not have a handle on what the issue is or how people are handling this. In theory, being on the lake is safe, but when you get to the lake, you’ll see what a catastrophe it is when everyone is cooped up for weeks on hand. Maybe not your lake at 7 am, but at plenty of lakes and throughout the day.

You can’t have it both ways. Being in a bass boat isn’t social distancing, unless you have one guy drive and one guy sit on the back deck and idle around. But that’s not what I’m witnessing at ramps in north and east Texas. This is real data. Lakes and green belts are going to be more crowded than ever.

It’s probably busier than normal, because people are bored and the weather is nice. And that’s going to be the downfall. You can be sure that you’re “the lake is the safest place to be” argument just because you want to go fishing by yourself isn’t going to fly, just like Dallas is now threatening to shutdown trails around the city because people aren’t staying six feet apart.

Just read the park web sites of Oak Thicket and Park Prairie. Oak Thicket closed until further notice. Park Prairie is still open. According to their respective web sites.

I witnessed tournaments on both Toledo and Rayburn Saturday. Lakes were packed. Thatll get it shut down quick. Also Abbott just closed down traffic from Louisiana so it's starting. Get ready

Got ya.. thanks everyone. I'm headed back up there Tuesday if no one seems to have a straight answer about Fayette. Also thinking Coleto Creek but no one seems to know if it's open either. It's alright, Houston County I know I can do something at

Knock, knock,....Who's there?
Texas Game Warden!

dk2429, let me know how it goes on Houston County Please! I have never fished it but might go up on Thursday.

It sounds like the few lakes that remain open are getting hammered because so many have been closed. I have not had my boat out in the last two weeks so I've not seen what you've seen, I concede it's entirely possible. Have you driven past a home depot though? People are idiots.

I planned to fish by myself, as I was not going to risk having a buddy in the truck on the ride out. Oak thicket has two large ramps and it's easy to launch and not get near another human on a normal weekend. Out on a lake bathed in UV light should literally be the safest place you can be. The bottle necks at the ramps could be easily managed if they redeployed the fee takers to manage the boat ramps. Stay in your vehicle until a launch lane is open. No more than two people per boat. Same thing when pulling out. Nobody is allowed to fish the docks. It should be vastly safer than going on a bread and milk run to your local grocery store.

My point here is that people need to be able to get outside to stay mentally healthy. It's a shame people are being stupid and the result is our lakes are being closed off.

I still dont understand how the CFR allows you to bring bass up there to weigh if you arent supposed to have them in the livewell

Will do.. It was damn good on Friday, gonna test the waters tomorrow. Hope the weather doesnt mess them up

I totally agree and understand what you’re saying. I’m just saying that’s not reality. Everyone with a boat, kayak, or even the slightest interest in being near water is thinking the same thing - I’ve got to get out of this house, or these kids are driving me crazy and everything is closed, let’s go to the trails or fish from the bank.

In theory, what you’re describing should be true. Two people in a boat, stay in trucks, stay away from docks, etc. I’m just saying it’s not happening. Fishing is a great way to social distance, but the weekenders and occasional anglers (like once or twice a year) are screwing it up for everyone because there’s nothing else to do (these are the same people who don’t know what they’re doing on boat ramps during normal times).

Thank you!

Well Houston County kinda sucked [censored] today. A cold front had blown through this morning and we were getting the tail end of it when we put the boat in.. The problem with that is, I hate fishing slow. We did catch a ton of small ones, but biggest one was maybe 2lbs. Just didn't get to fish the way I like to fish that lake (cranking the banks.) Caught a few on deep cranks around the hump in front of CFR. I knew there was cold front coming in, but my buddy really wanted to hit that lake up so we did.

By the way, whoever designed that public ramp on HC needs an [censored] whuppin. Only time I've put MY boat in that lake was the CFR, first time on the public ramp today. Lets just say, with that straight down drop off at the water line my trailer got a taste of what concrete feels like. Loading up had to have my partner take the truck to CFR to load up there. My rig just didn't like that public ramp.. Oh well, now I know! Just up there friday with my buddy's Blazer and it was fine.. But my 22 footer/tandem axle didn't get along too well with the public ramp.

Also by the way.. As of yesterday Park Prarie on Fayette is open, via phone call to LCRA yesterday (they finally answereed.) Oak Thicket is closed until futher notice.

Only 1 ramp is good at the dam. I bet you used the wrong one. If looking at the lake from on top the right one is good left is bad. And when I say bad its horrible like you described.

Thanks for the update! Think I will be hitting Sam Rayburn instead on Thursday.

Crockett Resort isn't in the business of regulating fishing rules, they will let you take that risk. Next time you are at HCL just ask Eddie and he can explain. He's the local game warden that patrols the lake. Just make sure you don't have any slot fish in possession when you do. If not familiar the, TPWD regulation handbook has a table that shows specific regulations, slots and limits, for all Texas lakes.

"bring bass up there to weight" = YES, but NOT any and all bass. Bass in the slot limit must be released immediately, so you can't take any of that size to be weighed..

Got ya, makes sense now.. Now I know

And yes tr196dc, I have actually ran into Eddie haha. Never asked him anything like that but we did talk for a bit.. He's a cool dude

That makes sense then.. Before I had him drive to CFR he backed down the other side and it did have a much better clearing, but with the boat on there I wasn't sure so just went to load up at CFR. I'll keep that in mind next time.. But still, what a design....lol

The last time I went to the marina the ramp was almost unusable. It must be better now

Been going to that lake pretty often since about 2016 and have never had an issue with the marina ramp.. 22ft center console.

Does anyone know if the Park Prairie ramp is still open at Fayette County? I am getting mixed information.

Called them yesterday and they said they ARE open.

Thanks