Best Lakes in DFW

I am moving to the DFW area and was curious what the local anglers think are the best lakes in the DFW region (or within an hour of the metroplex). I have fished Lake Grapevine for about 30 minutes, which is my only experience fishing in the area.
Have a great day, God bless Texas

You have a few good options:

Lake Worth
Lewisville
Ray Roberts
Grapevine (which you've already visited)

Bridgeport
Tawakoni

There is around 15-16 lakes within one hour from DFW airport. All are good if you know them. All are horrible if ya don’t.

If you increase your drive time a little, there are a few “bucket list” lakes close too.

I know you said an hour but with Fork being only like 30 minutes further it’s worth it.

Ray Roberts hasn’t been very good in a while.

Many good lakes. Where are you moving from?

What part of the metroplex?
It takes an hour to drive across it.

I am moving from Commyfornia. And don't worry we certainly won't be bringing any aspect of the state with us. Keep Texas Great!

I'm moving to Flower Mound

Very cool guys! Thanks for all the info. I will definitely have to check out all these lakes!

Welcome from a prior Commyfornia as well. Moved here in 2019 and not looking back.

Thank you, I really appreciate that. I am so looking forward to it and am very glad to hear you are former Californian turned Texan!

It will be 105 deg f from June 4th through Halloween.
You have been warned

Haha yes thanks for the warning. I have heard the weather can be brutal especially in those summer to fall months. I guess if the fishing is slow I'll just have to jump in to avoid heat stroke.

Sure, just be very careful to watch for gators.

Oh yes, that too. I'll make sure to watch out for them. That will be new for me.

I live just a few minutes outside of Flower Mound.
I have fished Lewisville and Ray Roberts the most.

Lake Lewisville is a semi good lake or a tough lake depending on the time of year. There are some big fish in there. I’ve had many fun days fishing there, but I still have some tough days.
I’ve only fished Grapevine 3-4 times and I never caught many, but maybe I was doing something wrong. It is a small lake.
Ray Roberts is good. It has grass, wood, rock, riprap, offshore structure, and big fish. It’s probably my favorite around here.
I haven’t spent much time on Eagle Mountain but I’ve had some ok and some bad days on there. I think this is my own fault though as there are some good fish there, you just have to figure out how to fish the docks(which I haven’t done).
A lot of people hate Joe Pool. I’ve had one good day on it, some ok days, and several horrible days.
Texoma is 1.5 hours away if you don’t mind the extra drive time. I plan to spend more time on it this year. It has some fairly good smallmouth and largemouth from what I have heard.
I also plan to fish more on Ray Hubbard. I’ve barely fished it but me and my brother both caught our PBs from there (8&9lbs). I think a lot of people don’t like it but I don’t know too much.
Don’t know anything about Lavon, but I have a tournament there in March.
Several of my friends have done kind of good fishing Granbury and Whitney.

As previously mentioned there are some big fish in the DFW area. It just might take a while to figure out the lakes.

Glad to have you to our great state!

Keep in mind though I’m a younger guy and I’ve only had a bass boat for about 3.5 years, but I go out nearly every weekend now. So I’m probably a little less skilled than the average angler.
I just though I should add that disclaimer.

”Jump in”? Well that rules out Lake Worth! 🤔😳🤮

Haha. I've never been to Lake Worth (or any lake in DFW besides Grapevine), is it gross water or alligator infested?

Thanks! I really appreciate all the help and info

Joe Pool
Benbrook
Marine Creek

Marine Creek, I think, has the only share lunker in the metro mess in the past few years

Bridgeport for numbers in the spring. Very challenging lake in the summer; but with your California bass fishing background, I think you’ll be able to figure out the summer patterns there.

It’ll take you under an hour to get to Bridgeport from Flower Mound. In bad traffic, Tawakoni might take 2-3hrs.

I do like Lake Worth a lot. Fishes completely differently from Bridgeport.

I’d start at those two.

If it takes you 2-3hrs to get from Flower Mound to Tawakoni you must be on a bicycle. You will be outside the 1hr window but not by a lot. I gave Tawakoni on my list based on it easily being an hour from Dallas.


As for Bridgeport in the summer. Its a great summer lake and power fishing shallow techniques will work just as well. You do not have to come out here and use just finesse stuff. One of the best squarebill and bladed jig lakes you can fish.

Both, though the gators mostly stay up in the river.

Mark is right; I was exaggerating how bad 380 can get.
Be sure to download the waze app (I’m sure you already have it)
When 380 is bad, it could take you an hour just to get to Mckinney from Flower Mound.

Ya, I’m not near as afraid of gators as I am of what our government dumped into Worth at Carswell AFB decades ago(for decades) 🤔🤪

Pm sent

I agree with you about 380. I try not to ever go that way and 380 even runs near my house...

You gotta give Bridgeport a chance in the summer. Fun times.

Texoma, Ray Roberts, Lewisville

Benbrook
Joe Pool
Arlington

I would recommend getting a guide after you learn your way around a little.

Lewisville can a great in the spring and summer, even during the super hot days. Grapevine has some nice size smallmouths.

Dang I had no idea there were this many lakes in DFW, I'm going to have to try all of them and try to figure out the patterns (this may take me years lol) . Thanks again for all the info.

I moved here 3 years ago. I think the following lakes are great:

Hubbard Creek (grassy)
Possum Kingdom (clear water/bluff walls)
Ray Roberts (love to hate this lake/hot and cold)
Texoma (Great for SM)
Athens (Drive is worth it)

As far as getting your bearings on Texas lake fishing and figuring out dock and rock fishing (within in an hour of Flower Mound, thats mostly gonna be the deal), Bridgeport is a great starting point when water temps get mid-50s. Grapevine is not a bad either to catch a decent quantity of 10 to 16 inchers, and the fish are where they should be pre-spawn through post-spawn. Both of those are real tough when water temps are 44-48. Benbrook has willing fish and is right at an hour from FM. Joe Pool is a solid spring lake, hit or miss for me outside of that. Lewisville is a good post-spawn and summer lake (for me anyway), but is lake rat/jet flea infested in the summer. A little further, Possum Kingdom is just fun to fish and a lot of fun in April and May and again in the fall. Same with Athens and you get to play in the grass there. Then you can graduate up to the highly pressured, working on their PHD and frequently lock-jawed bass on Fork and Ray Roberts (unless they are chomping on beds).

yeah there has always been a consumption advisory there for a reason.

I live on Roberts and drive to Bridgeport, Lewisville, and Texoma a couple times a year each. All are good and are an easy trip from FM. Lewisville and Grapevine are good but a little sketchy once the water warms up because of the pleasure boaters/surfers. You can fish them peacefully until about 10:00 AM and then it is time to get off the water for me and let the surf crowd do their thing.(which BTW is fine, it is public water for everyone to enjoy however they like) Roberts is cool because the lower section is clear the North side has timber which is a deterrent to the surf crowd. Lots of really great lake fishing not to mention all of the parks and ponds around. One of my favorite bank fishing ponds is a city park right there in FM!

Flower Mound is a great area! I just moved here in August. Grapevine is a good lake and it holds smallmouth on a lot of the rocky features. I prefer Lewisville because I caught on to this lakes trends quicker. That being said Lewisville can be awesome and super tough in the same day. When it's on, it's on but when it's off it is OFF. If you're looking to learn the lakes around here quickly you should consider some of the bass clubs around here. I'm in the McKinney Bass Club and we are fishing almost all the lakes they've listed this season.

I'm very glad to hear you do like Flower Mound. I sure am excited to move there. I am definitely going to join the Flower Mound High School Bass Team since I am going to be a junior.

Welcome to Texas, but watch out for those cougars at FMHS.....I mean Jaguars.

Lol, will do.

Richland Chambers is not too far from the metromess either, and has a lot to offer.

Yeah!! Keep Texas great!! LOL

Don’t take this the wrong way. Coming to Texas, and immediately asking for help is kinda “Californian” to me. Lol.



Just kidding.

My sister moved to Los Angeles back in the 90’s. She was there for about 6 years and she’s ruined. Of course, she now lives in Austin where it’s mostly her Cali neighbors there now. So she fits in great.

That's a fair point but I really was not trying to ask for people to give me help and hints while I put in zero effort. It's my bad if it seemed that way. I am more than willing to put in the time and effort to figure out these lakes I really just wanted to see what lake I should go to first. I am going to try all of them. Also here in California there aren't many people I know who have a clue of what bass fishing is so it is nice to be able to talk bass fishing with others. But I do get what you mean, I just want to clear it up that I'm not trying to get help without putting in any effort, I am going to go out myself and start from scratch. This was really just a way for me to learn about what fishing is available in the area and what lakes I should start at. I am just really excited to fish these new lakes so I wanted to learn more about the area.

I'd suggest Twok for sandies, Texoma for stripers, and although a little farther than an hour, cypress for numbers of spots, and Athens for pure fun. The rest...Lew, Grapevine, Roberts, etc, are tough to figure out and are far more frustrating than fun IMHO.

Just messin with ya. I got nothing against someone wanting to get out of there. Texas is a great place to live, just gotta have a good air conditioner and sense of humor come July and August

Thanks man I really appreciate that. I thought I felt hot weather before but from everything I've heard, Texas can get scorching. Going to have that AC blasting probably half the year. Lol

Until you see your electric bill

haha true

If you are joining the Texas High School bass association, you will be in the Metroplex division if you go to FM high or FM Marcus. It is a great set up they have for the high school kids. The tournaments for metroplex are usually Lewisville, Lavon, Ray Hubbard, Ray Roberts and due to covid we had to fish Joe pool this year. Good luck and welcome to Texas.

Very cool I am really looking forward to that. Why did they make you fish Joe Pool because of Covid? Were some of the lakes closed?

Yes we were supposed to fish Hubbard the first tournament of the season, for some reason the weigh in site wouldn't allow that big of a group at one time. Just happened again on our upcoming Feb tournament, they moved it from Eagle mountain to Hubbard.

dfw lakes are mostly corp lakes. no boat docks allowed, hardly any grass. lots of marina and rock fishing. they all fish similar and have nice fish but very crowded with recreational boaters. east Texas is where it gets good and in the piney woods. lots of vegetation and pads to fish along with boat docks and some of the biggest bass in Texas.

I fished JP a lot when i lived 5 minutes from the ramp. Lake has an abundance of 10-14” fish, but there are also a lot of big ones as well. Not a lot in between. I have 2 10+ lbers (weighed) from there, another that i estimate at around 10, and several ~8lbers. Countless dinks. As mentioned above, Athens is worth the drive. Its my favorite lake personally. If squaw creek ever opens back up, pay the exorbitant ramp fee and go during fall/winter, you can smoke 2-3 lbers all day. Like 50+ fish days out there are relatively common.

I live on the north end of Lake Lewisville, I fish Bridgeport, Texoma and Tawakoni all the time. Plus PK, Kemp, Cooper and RC a couple times a year We go to Lewisville weekday evenings

Bridgeport year round