New kayaker

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txseaghost
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2023 10:17 am

New kayaker

Post by txseaghost »

I used to float tube fish. I thought I'd try out kayak fishing, I'm north of Dallas. Any suggestions as to where to go? I'm such a noob at this.

Thanks!

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SWFinatic
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Re: New kayaker

Post by SWFinatic »

I’m not going to be much help in north Texas but welcome to TKF!
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Rob R
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Re: New kayaker

Post by Rob R »

Screenshot 2023-01-22 084132.png
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Neumie
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Re: New kayaker

Post by Neumie »

I lived there for 7 years, from 2008-2015, so hopefully some of this is still relevant. I lived on the Fort Worth side so this will be skewed some that way.

I preferred to fish rivers, mainly the Brazos below Possum Kingdom (Hwy 16; 32° 51.499'N, 98° 24.697'W) and Lake Whitney (31° 51.996'N, 97° 22.083'W). Both offer great bass and striper fishing. Below Possom gets stocked with trout. At Possum you can paddle both up an down stream from the launch with ease unless they are releasing. Below Whitney you go downstream and can come back up as long as they aren't generating (typical in the summer/early fall), but it's best to utilize Dick's shuttle service and fishing the 8ish mile stretch the entire day.

Urban Fishing in Fort Worth is an ok option on the Clear Fork Trinity and West Fork Trinity from Panther Island.

I did fish the east Fork Trinity River below Lavon (33° 1.371'N, 96° 28.517'W, launch can get muddied up) a couple times and kind of wish I fished it more often. At the launch it is dirtier water but down stream when you get past the powerline easement the river clears up. Lots of bass and it's where I caught a couple of bowfin.

I didn't spend too much time on the large reservoirs. I would fish from Sand Bass Point on Lake Grapevine for, well Sand Bass during the summer months. Trophy Club Park on the NW end of Grapevine gave easy access to Denton Creek for the Sand Bass run.

Ray Roberts was probably my favorite to fish. I preferred the north side of the lake launching from Johnson Branch SP or road easements or the east side on Buck Creek. If you don't have a GPS on your kayak, get Martin's Map for Ray Roberts; extremely detailed and great to have.

I fished Lewisville quite a bit because I had a fishing buddy who lived on the lake, mostly for hybrids, white bass, sand bass and catfish. He was on a smaller cove, so the insane bot traffic was never really an issue; Willow Grove Park would be the closest public ramp where we fished.

Some smaller lakes to fish which are good are White Rock Lake. I never fished there, but I had a couple of friends who had figured it out and consistently caught bass. Would be a good spot to get your sea legs since they don't allow power boats. SE of Farmersville is a small lake (South Lake; 33° 8.166'N, 96° 20.802'W) which is great for kayakers, but does get quite a bit of pressure and during the summer months the shorelines do get thick with vegetation. Near Prosper was a small community lake (33° 14.509'N, 96° 45.602'W) which when I was there, was still an option to kayak fish. It used to kick out some decent bass, but it may get too much pressure these days. Over in Canton is Canton Lake (32° 32.217'N, 95° 51.004'W), and it is a fantastic little lake and worth the drive. Go on First Monday weekends and drop the misses off to shop and you go fishing. Over in Fort Worth, Marine Creek Reservoir is a small lake, but holds big bass.

The two National Grasslands Caddo and LBJ offer great little lakes for kayakers. I never made it to Caddo, but the consensus was Coffee Mill was the better of the two ponds up there. I did fish LBJ Grasslands quite a bit and spent most of my time at Clear and Rhodes lakes. Nothing of size, but good numbers lakes. There are about 9 ponds at LBJ Grassland that are big enough to kayak.

I hope some of this information is still relevant.
txseaghost
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2023 10:17 am

Re: New kayaker

Post by txseaghost »

SWFinatic wrote: Sat Jan 21, 2023 6:08 pm I’m not going to be much help in north Texas but welcome to TKF!
Thanks!
imaoldmanyoungsalt
Posts: 477
Joined: Mon Dec 25, 2017 11:21 am

Re: New kayaker

Post by imaoldmanyoungsalt »

Being as you're north of Dallas, you should hit up Texoma. It's arguably the best striper fishery in the country and it has a great largemouth and smallmouth population too. It has some really large coves where you can fish all day and avoid the wind and most of the boat traffic. You should keep your head on a swivel if you venture out into open water on the main lake, especially during warmer months, as it gets pretty busy with boat traffic. Staying close to main lake shorelines and in coves is pretty safe. I'd focus on the Eisenhower state park area, Little Mineral Arm, and shorelines and coves surrounding Highport Marina. It's one of my favorite lakes to fish and would fish it more if I wasn't over 1.5 hrs away. I still fish it 7 or 8 times a year though. You'll need a special Texoma license that will cover you for both Texas and Oklahoma waters of the lake. The license is only $12. Welcome to the forum and Kayak fishing. You'll love both!
Oh, I forgot to add this. There's a bonus fish you can catch at Texoma called the Goldeye. In the southern US, it's only found in the Red River and Missouri systems. It's kinda like catching a ladyfish in saltwater. Really cool fish that's full of teeth. I've caught a few up to about 1.5 lbs. They're not real big but put up a great fight!
WAFGoldeye.jpg
txseaghost
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2023 10:17 am

Re: New kayaker

Post by txseaghost »

Rob R wrote: Sun Jan 22, 2023 8:42 am Screenshot 2023-01-22 084132.png
Thanks, I'll try to check it out!
txseaghost
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2023 10:17 am

Re: New kayaker

Post by txseaghost »

Neumie wrote: Sun Jan 22, 2023 9:20 am I lived there for 7 years, from 2008-2015, so hopefully some of this is still relevant. I lived on the Fort Worth side so this will be skewed some that way.

I preferred to fish rivers, mainly the Brazos below Possum Kingdom (Hwy 16; 32° 51.499'N, 98° 24.697'W) and Lake Whitney (31° 51.996'N, 97° 22.083'W). Both offer great bass and striper fishing. Below Possom gets stocked with trout. At Possum you can paddle both up an down stream from the launch with ease unless they are releasing. Below Whitney you go downstream and can come back up as long as they aren't generating (typical in the summer/early fall), but it's best to utilize Dick's shuttle service and fishing the 8ish mile stretch the entire day.

Urban Fishing in Fort Worth is an ok option on the Clear Fork Trinity and West Fork Trinity from Panther Island.

I did fish the east Fork Trinity River below Lavon (33° 1.371'N, 96° 28.517'W, launch can get muddied up) a couple times and kind of wish I fished it more often. At the launch it is dirtier water but down stream when you get past the powerline easement the river clears up. Lots of bass and it's where I caught a couple of bowfin.

I didn't spend too much time on the large reservoirs. I would fish from Sand Bass Point on Lake Grapevine for, well Sand Bass during the summer months. Trophy Club Park on the NW end of Grapevine gave easy access to Denton Creek for the Sand Bass run.

Ray Roberts was probably my favorite to fish. I preferred the north side of the lake launching from Johnson Branch SP or road easements or the east side on Buck Creek. If you don't have a GPS on your kayak, get Martin's Map for Ray Roberts; extremely detailed and great to have.

I fished Lewisville quite a bit because I had a fishing buddy who lived on the lake, mostly for hybrids, white bass, sand bass and catfish. He was on a smaller cove, so the insane bot traffic was never really an issue; Willow Grove Park would be the closest public ramp where we fished.

Some smaller lakes to fish which are good are White Rock Lake. I never fished there, but I had a couple of friends who had figured it out and consistently caught bass. Would be a good spot to get your sea legs since they don't allow power boats. SE of Farmersville is a small lake (South Lake; 33° 8.166'N, 96° 20.802'W) which is great for kayakers, but does get quite a bit of pressure and during the summer months the shorelines do get thick with vegetation. Near Prosper was a small community lake (33° 14.509'N, 96° 45.602'W) which when I was there, was still an option to kayak fish. It used to kick out some decent bass, but it may get too much pressure these days. Over in Canton is Canton Lake (32° 32.217'N, 95° 51.004'W), and it is a fantastic little lake and worth the drive. Go on First Monday weekends and drop the misses off to shop and you go fishing. Over in Fort Worth, Marine Creek Reservoir is a small lake, but holds big bass.

The two National Grasslands Caddo and LBJ offer great little lakes for kayakers. I never made it to Caddo, but the consensus was Coffee Mill was the better of the two ponds up there. I did fish LBJ Grasslands quite a bit and spent most of my time at Clear and Rhodes lakes. Nothing of size, but good numbers lakes. There are about 9 ponds at LBJ Grassland that are big enough to kayak.

I hope some of this information is still relevant.
This is great information. I have fished a couple of those lakes in the LBJ Grasslands in my float tube and it was fun! I've also fished Ray Roberts in my float tube, I need to revisit it!

I appreciate it!
txseaghost
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2023 10:17 am

Re: New kayaker

Post by txseaghost »

imaoldmanyoungsalt wrote: Sun Jan 22, 2023 12:27 pm Being as you're north of Dallas, you should hit up Texoma. It's arguably the best striper fishery in the country and it has a great largemouth and smallmouth population too. It has some really large coves where you can fish all day and avoid the wind and most of the boat traffic. You should keep your head on a swivel if you venture out into open water on the main lake, especially during warmer months, as it gets pretty busy with boat traffic. Staying close to main lake shorelines and in coves is pretty safe. I'd focus on the Eisenhower state park area, Little Mineral Arm, and shorelines and coves surrounding Highport Marina. It's one of my favorite lakes to fish and would fish it more if I wasn't over 1.5 hrs away. I still fish it 7 or 8 times a year though. You'll need a special Texoma license that will cover you for both Texas and Oklahoma waters of the lake. The license is only $12. Welcome to the forum and Kayak fishing. You'll love both!
Oh, I forgot to add this. There's a bonus fish you can catch at Texoma called the Goldeye. In the southern US, it's only found in the Red River and Missouri systems. It's kinda like catching a ladyfish in saltwater. Really cool fish that's full of teeth. I've caught a few up to about 1.5 lbs. They're not real big but put up a great fight!WAFGoldeye.jpg
I've thought about Texoma, maybe camp at Eisenhower and put in from there. I hear you on the open waters in that lake, big boats!
imaoldmanyoungsalt
Posts: 477
Joined: Mon Dec 25, 2017 11:21 am

Re: New kayaker

Post by imaoldmanyoungsalt »

txseaghost wrote: Sun Jan 22, 2023 4:14 pmI've thought about Texoma, maybe camp at Eisenhower and put in from there. I hear you on the open waters in that lake, big boats!
I recommend the Screen shelters at Eisenhower for camping unless you have an RV. They do have one actual cabin for rent as well but I've never stayed in it. It's always been booked. Myself, my son and grandson stayed in one of the screen shelters at Eisenhower last year for 3 nights in June. Most of them are completely covered under a large canopy of trees and stay pretty cool, even midday when its 90 degrees out. They also have electricity so we took a fan which kept it very comfortable for sleeping at night. We also made sure we got one that was right across from the bathrooms/showers so we didn't have to drive to them. We would launch in the mornings near the the boat ramp and fish all the way out to the main lake then head NW up the main lake shoreline. There's a few gravel beaches to beach at for a break and a snack or nice shore lunch. Fishing for LMB, SMB, and striper is usually pretty good in the area. My buddy and I caught 161 stripers between the two of us in July a few years ago just outside the Eisenhower cove. Most were in the 15"-16" range but a few 18"-20" were caught. We had a blast. Good luck and let us know how you do if you go!
txseaghost
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2023 10:17 am

Re: New kayaker

Post by txseaghost »

That's great information, I will keep it in mind, thanks!

Not sure when I'll be going, waiting for a nice warmup. :)
Yakety_Yak
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Location: Houston

Re: New kayaker

Post by Yakety_Yak »

txseaghost wrote: Sat Jan 21, 2023 4:24 pm I used to float tube fish. I thought I'd try out kayak fishing, I'm north of Dallas. Any suggestions as to where to go? I'm such a noob at this. Image

Thanks!

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk
Welcome to TKF!
txseaghost
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2023 10:17 am

Re: New kayaker

Post by txseaghost »

Yakety_Yak wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 1:31 pm
txseaghost wrote: Sat Jan 21, 2023 4:24 pm I used to float tube fish. I thought I'd try out kayak fishing, I'm north of Dallas. Any suggestions as to where to go? I'm such a noob at this. Image

Thanks!

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk
Welcome to TKF!
Thanks!
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