Texas catfish fishing can be one of the most rewarding types of fishing that you take on. Everyone has heard it said that things are bigger in Texas, and maybe it is true, because large numbers of huge catfish are pulled from hundreds of bodies of water in Texas each year. It is difficult to narrow down your options to just a few places to catch catfish in Texas, but the following listing should help you seek out some fishing holes known for producing anything from large numbers of pan sized cat to huge, record setting catches that you are sure to be talking about for years to come.
Lake Texahoma: Located on the Texas and Oklahoma border, this huge reservoir is known for its trophy-sized blue catfish. This lake fishes best in the winter when they cluster in the shad abundant areas and deeps of this lake. If you want good Texas catfish fishing, here's an ideal place.
Lake Livingston Lake Livingston is located on the Trinity River, northeast of Houston, Texas by approximately seventy-five miles. Lake Livingston is over 82,500 acres, and provides year round abundance of flathead, channel, and blue catfish. In warm weather, look for shallow areas in which shad and other catfish food sources flourish.
Within the Trinity River area, such locations as: Hickman Lake, Horseshoe lake, Hall's Lake, and Hardison Slough are rich catfishing areas sure to produce a great catch. Visit any of these locations for quality fishing.
Lake Tawakoni Lake Tawakoni is located twenty-eight miles east of Dallas, Texas. This lake is part of the Sabine River Authority, and provides ample opportunity to catch blue, channel, and flathead catfish. The flathead found in Tawakoni can become enormous. Most of the flathead fishing here is done by trotline, and fish in excess of 100 pounds have been pulled from the water here.
Lake LBJ Lake LBJ, so named after famed Texan and former president, Lyndon B. Johnson, is part of the Colorado River's Highland Lakes. This huge lake spans over six thousand acres from Granite Shoals to Kingsland, Texas. The big three (flathead, blue, and channel) cat are abundant in this lake, and a day on the lake can easily net you a catch of forty plus fish in the 5 to 40 pound size range. Particularly good, is the spot where the Llano and Colorado rivers converge. This location is especially good during the winter months. This area provides great opportunities for those who prefer fishing the bank.
Choke Canyon Reservoir - The Choke Canyon Reservoir is located on Highway 72, about eighty miles south of San Antonio, Texas, near Three Rivers, Texas. This lake is considered to be one of the very best places to fish in South Texas, if not the entire state. The only time fishing lags in this lake is during the hottest summer months.
Bessie Heights Marsh - Bessie Heights Marsh, is located near Bridge City, Texas. This marsh is at the mouth of the Neches River and flows into the bay of Lake Sabine. Fishing for blue cat begins to pick up substantially in December, and early in the summer. In warmer weather, look to the shallows, because most of the cat caught in milder weather are found in shallow water, fishing is good there, in the marshes during the mild months of the year. In hot or cold weather, fish the deeper holes in the canal areas near the marshes. Be sure to fish when the tide is moving, because these fish rarely take the bait when the water is still.
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Texas is well-known for their catfish fishing opportunities. In fact, there are several species of catfish found in the waters of Texas and they range in a wide variety of sizes. You can also find them in all types of waters ranging from lakes to ponds to rivers. The fact that they are so plentiful in Texas may be one of the reasons why fishing for catfish is so popular in this state.
Catfish are bottom feeders and they will eat just about anything they can get into their mouths. This is fortunate for you because it means that you do not have to worry too much about the bait that you use. However, stink bait always seems to yield the best results due to the extra sensitive smell the catfish have, which is one of their most recognized features. When using stink bait is not an option, worms and minnows are the next best choices to use for catfish bait. For the most part all catfish will respond to any bait that puts off an odor, resembles their natural food source and that is the right size to fit in their mouth.
The bigger the catfish you would like to catch will determine the size of bait you would need to use. The really large catfish will not waste their time chasing after anything that is to small and the smaller ones will avoid any bait that is to large. Therefore, it is important to always choose bait that is suitable for the size of catfish found in any given area. If you are not sure what size fish are found in the area, you can always experiment with different sizes of baits to see which one works the best for you.
Major Lakes in Texas for Catfish Fishing
One thing that you will notice when in Texas is that there are many places where you can go to fish. There are numerous lakes, rivers and reservoirs where the catfish are just waiting to be caught. Below is a list of just a few of these.
Belton Lake
Cooper Lake
Cedar Creek Reservoir
Lake Buchanan
Lake Kemp
Lake Travis
Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir
Stamford Reservoir
Lake Conroe
Proctor Lake
Lake Palestine
Martin Creek Lake
The Texas state record for the blue catfish was caught in Lake Texoma. The channel record catfish was caught and reeled out of the Pedernales and Lake Palestine is where the record for the flathead catfish was caught.
Tips for Catching Catfish in Texas
In Texas you can catch channel catfish anytime of the year unless the state is experiencing extremely cold weather. In this case the catfish will not be biting and you will not be able to catch many of them, if any at all. The spring and fall seasons are the best time of the year to go fishing for catfish in Texas.
You can use a variety of baits to catch catfish but the different species will respond better to certain ones. The best bait to use for catching channel catfish will be other small fish and crawfish. This is why you can find this species in areas where moss is growing and this type of food source is abundant.