TX best catfish lakes pt. 2: Lake O’ The Pines

(This is the second installment of a series examining Texas’ best catfish lakes.)

Fans of the channel cats should definitely give scenic Lake O’ the Pines a try.

This old reservoir by Texas standards is known for producing lots of channel cats for anglers who bait holes and some of those cats grow to impressive sizes. In 2002, angler Wesley Denton caught a 30.25 pound channel cat on a trotline there. That’s huge by channel standards and shows the potential this body of water has to offer.

During summer, anglers should chum around boat docks, brush piles and shallow flats leading into deeper water. Soured milo or cottonseed cakes are the best choices. Fish these spots with slip float rigs baited with cheese, blood bait or nightcrawlers. Channels move around a lot when they feed, so setting out several lines in all areas of the baited spot will help you catch more fish.

A popular way to fish around the boat docks is here is with a marshmallow rigged under a simple bobber. Over the years, anglers have been fishing marshmallows and it seems the channels there have been accustomed to it and have quite the sweet tooth.