Going Walleye Fishing on new lake in Texas

Hey guys, I could use some help. I have an opportunity to fish a new lake in Texas this Friday. It actually opens Thursday and only allows 15 boats per day on the water. We get to go Friday!
I wanted to ask if any of you have experience at catching Walleye. I have tried to educate myself some but there is wisdom in the multitude of counsel. So, can you guys give me any advise for me and my gal?
Thanks!

FastGuy George is the best walleye angler I know

Roadrunners, sinking Rapala minnows, slabs tipped with night crawlers Rocky shorelines and flats.

What's the name of this mystical lake you speak about?

Ok Grapejuice....here is the secret...Wheeler Branch Park...Glen Rose Texas. Let's not tell the world!
That is where my wife's family live, and now I have something to do on our visits!

to a certain extent, they are a lot like crappie. slow and steady. we slayed them in n alberta on little georges slow rolled just off the bottom. jigs with minnows is a good bait.

Curly Tail Grubs on a jig head. If there is any current, use a floating jig head with a carolina rig. Use a 2.5ft leader. That will get the bait up off the bottom.

Wow! I just looked the place over and it seems very impressive! Good luck keeping those pesky Florida Largemouths off of your hook.

I've fished a lot up in Minnesota. I would also look into Lindy rigs and bottom bouncers. You might also invest in a drift sock. There are many ways of catching them but you may have to try a few things to see what will work. Rocky drop offs are a good place to start with a jig or lindy rig, which I should mention is basically a finesse form of the carolina rig. I like to use spinning gear with them and leave the bail open using my finger to keep the line from unraveling. Hold the rod like it's a gun and the line is the trigger. If you feel something like a wet sock on the end, let line out for ten seconds and then try setting the hook. Slow (I mean SLOW) trolling with down deep husky jerks can also be good or just bouncing a jig off the bottom while drifting.

Thanks to all for your help! I will let you know how it goes! I've been waiting all year for this lake to open. Just a few more days....

OK, since your a pastor.. Don't lip him like a bass or crappie...


Anyone else, and I just would wait for the stories.


Mostly because I have one...

Pasto- sent u a pm

Hate to break it to you but wheeler branch is no secret. Been a hot topic in the freshwater section for some time now.

Thank you Mailman Dan.
I like my fingers!

curly tails and walleye assasins work well. let it sink and reel slow in. caught this one a few months ago

Fish deep rocky points, currents helps, creek channels. worms and minners drifted on jigheads through creeks channels are good. Tgis is all I know on lake fishing for walleye, I usually fly fish in current for them.

Yeah, I was suprised to see your post. Haven't fished for Walleyes since I lived in Michigan. We used to use a variety of lures that are designed to bump along the rocky bottoms. You want to find the edges of ridges or dropoffs where fish might be holding.

Sinking rapalas, roadrunners are two of the rigs that I've used. I'm sure hat if you use google, that you'll find a number of more. Trolling them along creekbeds and structure should get you some nice fish.

What's your go to flys for targeting walleyes? I live in Granbury but work in Stephenville ...plan on taking side trips home through Glen Rose for some evening fishing!!! I drove out there yesterday just to look at it ...looks sweet. However now I know why the Paluxy has been sucked dry.

Looking at the stocking of that lake, I still don't see how you will catch a Walleye instead of a LMB.
However, I look forward to your post-fishing report with great interest.
Best of Luck!!

You guys probably know this but Beavers Bend in Broken Bow holds some good Walleyes too.

I used to fish for Walleyes in Oklahoma. We trolled with #9 Rapla Shad raps, silver in the sun and gold cloudy. Live bait with big night crawlers hooked in the middle and slow trolled with trolling motor over points and drop-offs. Use light line or Floro. Largest one I ever caught was on Fort Cobb and it weighed 9# 8 oz.

Seems like Texoma was stocked with Walleye at one time but haven't heard anything about them being caught there. Good luck Pastor, keep us posted.
Found it, last time was 77.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/action/stock_bywater.php?WB_code=0723

Grapevine was stocked with them back in the 70's.
deep in the day,shallow at night.

theyre there, but it can be tricky fishing at times, lots of frustrating hang ups, and lots of lost baits in search for good ones

white/chart clouser, or an olive wooly bugger. vary the depth, weight, size, etc to conditions and sixe of fish. usually a small 2-3" clouser is hard to beat. if i were fishing deep, id fish with a sink tip and a 5-6wt, if i were fishing shallow, id use a short 3 weight, and maybe a 4

Pastor Terry, keep us posted on the results please.

Been up north fishing on Lake Oahe SD and if your slow trolling or drifting with steady wind in say 10 to 20 of water use a bottom bouncer with a worm rig trailing behind it. The rig will have beads and spinners on it and will be say 3 to 4 feet behind the bottom bouncer. They love night crawlers and we also use leachs as well on these rigs but they be hard to find down here. I would also do a search on youtube for Al Lindner as he is one of the best. My dad was semipro and fished with Al alot. Others use lures but I never had.

I cannot believe that in spite of my efforts to tell the world about the Wheeler Branch Reservoir and the beautiful park built with your TPWD matching funds that it is still a secret. See my numerous posts in the Open Freshwater Discussion forum for information on the lake and the controversy over the fees.

All that aside, please post the results of Walleye fishing on the lake. Thus far no Walleye catches have been reported to me.

Walleye????

Grew up fishing walleye my biggestt is 12.5 lbs 31 inches. I would start with 1/8 or 1/4 once chartrues jig tipped with a minow, then go to leaches or night crawlers if that doesn't work.They are going to be tight tight tight to the bottom your jig should be in constant contact with the botom. Bottom lift 3-6 inches then bottom. They can bite very light line may just be a little heave or a little light anything different from normal set the hoop.

The Labor Day weekend is over and not one person reported a walleye. Surely someone caught one even if by accident.

Word in the raccoon circles is; they were very tasty.

no one I saw caught a Walleye. We did catch some Black bass. Some guys caught some channel cats but not one Walleye. I was told by some that the Walleye will not bite until late fall. They are very deep and inactive. The black bass were suspended in about 20' of water. I caught on fire twice it was so hot! The new lake is beautiful! I will go again!
I have sent some bucks on Walleye bait!

I had a feeling you would catch bass instead. I don't know why they try to stock Walleye in our lakes. Seems like a waste of time and money.

The fish stocking research is one of the few things TPWD does right. Just think, if they had not done the research 30 years ago we would not have the Florida bass or the Striper Hybrids.

Some of these deep Texas lakes should have conditions where popular northern fish such as the Walleye or yellow Perch can grow, even if they cannot reproduce.

They are not spending great sums of money on the Walleye. As I understand it they are trading Florida Bass fertilized eggs for fertilized Walleye eggs. The eggs are then placed in the lake to hatch. Although a lot of them die there is still a yield of hatched fish. That method does not take nearly the time, facilities or money hatching the fish and raising them to fingerlings would take.

If you look at stocking records throuhout the years, you will find that TPW has tried stocking walleye for decades. I haven' t seen a lake where they have taken yet, so that' s why I look at it as a waste of time at the very least.

Interesting, walleye fishing in Texas other than Meredith. I looked at the park pictures, can't really see if the lake has any rocky points, islands. One of the PDFs says there are rocky islands for bird sanctuaries. What kind of structure and cover do you have there, how deep is the lake? Does it have a rip rap dam?

Really hard to say where and how to fish that would be of any use. I love to fish for eyes, they are not easy to catch. You will catch one here and there, but after time on the water keeping track of conditions, fish caught locations, depths, etc will put on fish more often. Fishing with meat is always good, minnow or crawler.

Those eyes may be inactive during the day, fish towards evening or at night or just deeper.

Before Squaw Creek started generating . We did good around the dam in Feb. on cranks. Think once it cools off they will turn on. Great eating fish !

Walleye's are some good eatin.

nightcrawlers and minnows

it does have a rocky dam. There are two rock piles out from the boat ramp. I found a deep water brush pile. There are several ledges that drop from 20' to 45'. The deepest water I found was about 80' although I am told there is some 90' water.

Would it work to drop shot a minnow or crawler?