Lake Lavon Texas

Outdoors: Innovations made lasting impact on Texas bass fishing

DALLAS -- While watching a Professional Anglers Association telecast from the Lake Tawakoni tournament this year, I heard yet another bass pro praise Texas fisheries management.

That's a common sentiment among the pros who tour the nation, fishing in tournaments mostly in southern states. Touring bass pros have a pretty good basis for comparison. I've seen a lot of changes in more than 50 years of bass fishing. In no particular order, here are the top nine developments that changed Texas bass fishing:

1. Lake frenzy

In the 1950s and '60s, a reservoir-building craze hit Texas, a state that needed water for its growing population. The lakes were built to provide drinking water and help with flood control, but the habitat was perfect for largemouth bass. In 1950, Texas had about 500,000 acres of public lakes. By 1970, there were 1.5 million acres. Now there are more than 3 million acres of public bass lakes.

East Texas gained national fishing prominence with the completion of Sam Rayburn Reservoir (1965, 114,000 acres), Toledo Bend Reservoir on the Louisiana border (1967, 185,000 acres), and Lake Livingston (1969, 90,000 acres).

Smaller lakes were constructed throughout Texas, including the Dallas area with Lewisville Lake (1954, 29,592 acres), Lake Tawakoni (1960, 36,700 acres), Cedar Creek Lake (1965, 34,300 acres), Lake O' the Pines (1956, 18,700 acres) and Lake Lavon (1953, 21,400 acres).

There was water everywhere you looked, and it was all stocked with fish.Most lakes have camping areas pleasant and gasoline was cheap. People were fishing and for the first time, a large number of fishermen from other states to try their hand at Texas.

2. Wormy Invention

To plastic were invented by a fisherman in Akron, Ohio, named Nick Creme. Creme has used techniques he had learned in the tire industry to mold soft lures that have been irresistible bass. He sold his poems in 1949. Partly because his wife loved the roses and partly due to the rise of Texas low Creme moved his business to Tyler in the 1950s.

More largemouth bass were caught with plastic worms than all other lures combined. New East Texas lakes were filled with stumps and logs. Texas fishermen learned to rig lures Creme with sliding sinker and bury the point of the hook in the body of the worm to lure more smoke-free. This technique is also called "the Texas rigged worm."

3.

Fishing Lake Lavon - Texas Parks and Wildlife

Fishing Cover/Structure

Most structure in this lake is in the form of standing timber, especially uplake in the East Fork Trinity River arm and the Sister Grove/Pilot Grove Creek arm. When present, aquatic vegetation is generally in the backs of the many small bays and coves along both sides of the two main arms running north and south. Infrequent stands of cattail surrounded by water can provide excellent habitat for most species except striped bass and white bass. Outflow from the electric generating plant on the east side of the east arm can attract fish in winter, when ambient water temperatures dip. Rip-rap along the dam provides excellent habitat for largemouth bass, channel catfish, and sunfish.

During the winter, crappie school in deep water and are usually found around deep structure, especially on south-facing shorelines. Some anglers place brush piles in deep water near boat houses for winter fishing. In the spring, these fish migrate into shallow water to spawn and become very vulnerable to angling. Baits of choice would be jigs and minnows. In winter, a very small (1/32 oz) black and white jig can be effective. In spring, try a 1/16 ounce chartreuse and red, chartreuse, white, or yellow jig. Largemouth bass are most active in spring when they move in shallow to spawn. Carolina-rigged 6-inch lizards, Texas-rigged 7-inch worms, and some crankbaits pay off here. The second peak occurs in the fall when bass begin actively feeding for the onset of winter. Try white spinners with gold blades in 3 feet to 1 ½ feet of water, or crawfish-mimicking crankbaits.

Channel catfish angling is best in the early summer when fish head up tributary streams to spawn or get in the rip-rap along the dam. Try cut bait, shrimp, or stink bait fished still or dragged along the bottom with the wind; also known as drift fishing. Blue catfish bite best in the winter and the bait of choice is live shad or sunfish. Drift fish deep, open-water points.

Striped bass are caught year round in open water areas, near the power plant outfall, or anywhere shad are seen on the surface. Live shad, surface baits, plastic shad, or slabs are baits of choice.

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