Winter structure fishing on north Texas lakes

I have structure fished several winters now for whites/hybrids on Cedar Creek Lake and have had good success. I have been able to find fish hugging the bottom on structures ranging from 14 fow to 28 fow and catch them either casting or jigging a Mepps #4 spinner. This past Saturday SeaPro Todd and I fished Lake Tawakoni, and my objective was to see if I could find and catch fish on structure there like I can on Cedar Creek Lake. While there, we also dead-sticked in several places. The result - we got skunked. No fish of any size and only got 2 bumps.

This leads me to wonder if Cedar Creek is the only north Texas lake where whites/hybrids are catchable on structure in the winter. (I fished Cedar Creek yesterday and caught 25). The water temp at Cedar Creek is 49.5 F now. At Tawakoni Saturday it started at 47.5 and ended at 49 about 5 PM. So, my question to TFFers is: Are there any other north Texas lakes where folks are able to catch whites/hybrids on structure in the winter with temps in the mid 40s to low 50s? I like the variety of fishing other lakes, but, after the Tawakoni experience, I'm wondering if it is worth the effort to try structure fishing at any other lakes this winter.

Friend Paul yesterday with nice sandie structure fishing in 23 fow at CC Lake:

You might give lake fork a try

They hang out around structure in the Brazos. Especially humps and holes.

Ray roberts is notorious for large schools of whites on deep structure this time of year

I went out briefly this afternoon and ran into a big school in 18 to 19 fow.

This pic shows fish on both sides of me and under me in 19.3 fow and water temp at 51.1 F:


This pic shows fish to my right and under me in 18.5 fow and water temp at 49.4 F:


After finding these, I caught this 14 inch sandie on first cast:

I've never fished Ray Roberts but have wanted to. Thanks for the info.

I have focused more on catching striper this winter but the past couple of years I have had good success catching white bass on deep structure at Lake Whitney during the winter. Summer months I have a hard time catching white bass at Whitney on structure. Opposite at Lake Waco, winter structure fishing for me is no good but warm water structure fishing is fantastic most of the spring, summer and fall.

So far, I have two other lakes to try - Ray Roberts and Whitney. Can anyone be more specific about where the deep humps are and what depths you caught them in? Thanks in advance.

Went yesterday and we caught about 30 , all but 2 Black's about 3lbs were sandbass. There is not much structure like on cedar creek but with the winds as high as they were we went to a lake that was manageable with the white caps. Just goes to show everyone has bad day's ,good luck and good fishing.

Dennis, PM sent.

Hey Dennis , Thanks for the update on CC, what structure on your map did you find that big school , great screen shot. Thx

There goes my reputation DOH! Thought we were not supposed to tell anyone??
I also wanted to show DC a good twok DS, trip where football hibbies ( and pesky football sandies too) , follow under your boat for hours and hours but that didn't happened either. Doh!

Good info thread, DC! You are always learning and sharing and absolutely amazing person. Lov ya, DC

SPT

Oh I went to bigT yesterday MLK day and got skunked too after 7 hrs of fishing. Bad weekend here and might as well let it all out

I wish I had more info on the RR structures but I don't have a boat. I just see everyone out fishing deep offshore on bottom this time of year.

Navionics.com will help you find humps, holes, points etc.

You can use this site to access depth maps, which will provide you with a lot of info prior to getting on the water. I always use it, before I go, and try and optimize my time on the water.



http://fishing-app.gpsnauticalchart...+Roberts+boating+app#14/33.4400/-97.0100

Thanks for the help. I have this kind of detail on my Humminbird Mid-south States chip set. Looking over the map, I see many potentially good structures. What I was hoping is that someone would share - maybe privately - which ones of these they have actually caught fish down on in these cold winter months. Also, do I need to worry about submerged timber (I see lots of references to it on the map) and where do you recommend I launch to get me closest to the productive humps without having to steer through flooded timber? Thinking about going tomorrow.

If and when you do fish Whitney I would recommend to use navionics map card or at least the webb app. Lakemaster for Whitney lacks a lot of structure and detail.

HEY DENNIS SENT YOU A P.M.

Well, I've fished two other north Texas lakes (Tawakoni and Ray Roberts) in the last two weeks to see if I can find and catch white bass on structure like I am able to here at Cedar Creek Lake. The results were dismal with no countable fish caught - just one dink white bass. At Ray Roberts on Tuesday, the fish were all at 41 fow and below, and I can't catch them using my Mepps jigging technique that deep - it's just too dark. The deepest I have been able to catch fish with Mepps on structure is 29 fow. Perhaps live bait would work, but that's not my thing. Or perhaps deadsticking would work, but I haven't had any good experiences dead-sticking to date. So, I am beginning to think that Cedar Creek Lake is unique. It's possible that some other lakes south of DFW, such as Richland Chambers, Palestine and Waco, may produce, but I'm out of patience and will just be satisfied with catching them here. I'll keep watching to see if anyone can catch them on structure at other lakes during winter months.

Hey Dennis. Sorry to hear of your lack of success. If you can't make them bite I don't think they will bite.

I think you may be right about Richland Chambers though. Some of those mid lake humps in 20--30 ft and some of the points where water is more like CC I think should produce with Mepps.

I'm still taking things slow after the COVID and don't plan to get out for another week at least. If you decide you want to make a try at Richland Chambers let me know. I would love to go with you. I do know a few spots there where I have consistently caught fish in the past. Not Winter time, but the structures are similar to what you like to fish.

Go my new Graphs on my boat but haven't yet been on the lake to make sure they function right. Maybe next Monday I will make a quick electronics run on Athens. Been wondering if Winter pattern on Athens might produce some fish. Course after you run over here when they should have been reality easy and we didn't find and catch any Winter might be even worse. Thing is I know there are BIG white bass in Athens. As you Sid, maybe just not that many?

Glad your well and got your vaccine . Stay well my friend and God bless.

I went out today from 1:45 PM to 4:30 PM on Cedar Creek Lake and fished 3 structures in the 20 to 29 fow range: Long Ridge West, 3-Jug Hump, and Mid-lake Hump. I caught 11 at Long Ridge, 16 at 3-Jug, and 1 at Mid-lake. Half the fish were caught in one 30 minute span at 3-Jug in 24 fow. Most fish were fat females 13 to 15 inches. In addition to setting up over fish and jigging vertically, I have found that I can drift or troll with trolling motor about 0.3 mph with Mepps about 10 ft behind the boat on the bottom and catch fish by jerking and dragging the Mepps. Caught fish on #5 as well as #4 Mepps today.

For me when deadsticking, I always do better on a slow drift.

Gene, that's also what Todd says about deadsticking. It appears that there is some dynamic about the moving thumping that attracts fish more than thumping sitting still - at least sitting still very long. When I locate and set up over fish and start thumping, after a minute or two fish bite, but after 15 minutes it slows or stops. Then I'll start drifting or trolling from that spot while thumping and will start getting bites immediately.

If you are not on an ambush spot where bait passes thru with fish on them , moving or drifting is critical . The feeding fish are moving to find moving fish, therefore, in order to catch fish, one needs to move with the bait !! Proper drift speed is also critical cuz the water temp is low& fish have no memory . The consensus is .4 to .5 , I prefer to drift with the wind ,wind sock (s) aided and TM to keep the direction on course . My CC tends to drift sideways so all the above is necessary . My favorite is to pull them out of the tops of trees using tandem jigs.

gborg: Interesting post triggering some questions. I know fish are sluggish and move slower when it is cold, but what are the fish forgetting? Do you pull both hybrids and white bass out of the treetops? So, if you are intentionally drifting over flooded timber, how do you determine how deep to lower the baits and not snag up? Just above the highest observed treetops on your down-scan?

WE had another great Texoma trip this week scouting till we found fish then getting upwind and drifting back over them with baits slightly over the marked fish's depth dead stick fishing 1 sand bass but striper limits with thrown back overs, hope for another next week not sure due to doctor appointments possibly Friday. If weather permits it.

My thinking on it is when you are slowly moving the thumper is always bringing in new fish. When spot locked the same fish are always there and I think they slow down on the bite. This is not 100% accurate because I have caught plenty of fish spot locked but for me drifting works better b

No memory, they are reactionary and will only chase a bait a short distance. WE use a count down method to pull tandem jigs just over tops of trees that have fish. Best and most productive method is to speed up troller for a 2 to 3 second burst, stop and let tandem jigs pendulum from horizontal to almost vertical. Have to keep rods perfectly still when using this method. If done properly bite ratio goes up 5 to 1, especially if fish are present and seem to have lock jaw !!