If You're Talking Texas Smallmouth, Two Lakes Dominate the Conversation

WHEN TEXAS ANGLERS talk smallmouth bass, lakes Texoma and Belton are sure to enter the mix.

Though neither impoundment cranks out the numbers and quality with the consistency of northern hotspots like St. Clair or Champlain, both are top notch by Texas standards. In fact, the two lakes are so good for thick-shouldered bronzebacks that putting a finger on which one is best depends entirely on whom you talk to.

Here’s the skinny on Texas’s top-ranked smallmouth lakes, along with some local input on how to approach them during the fall of the year:

Lake Belton

Size: 12,385 acres

Location: Built on Leon River in Bell and Coryell counties

Lake Record: 6.43 pounds, February 1999

How It Fishes: Keith Honeycutt of Temple lives about a half mile from the lake and knows it as well as anyone. On a Texas scale of 1 to 10, he gives Belton a fall rating of 11.

“It’s damn good—like really, really good,” he said. “It’s definitely one of the best smallmouth lakes in Texas. They pretty much dominate most of the tournament weigh-ins from November through February. There are a lot of five- to six-pounders caught here. This year we probably caught more two- to three-pounders than I’ve caught my whole life.”

What makes Belton’s smallmouths really attractive is their fancy for a topwater plug. Honeycutt says they love a popper and walking baits such as a Zara Spook.

“It usually starts in late September and gets better the cooler that water gets. When it hits 55 to 57 degrees they really start crunching.”

Honeycutt spends a high percentage of his time graphing for balls of shad around submerged hardwoods and cedar trees away from the rocky shores in about 25 to 35 feet of water. He said

smallmouths like to suspend in the timber around balls of shad, and they’ll rush to the surface to blast a surface bait.

Flukes, umbrella rigs and medium diving crankbaits such as a Rapala DT10 or Storm Wiggle Wart in a crawfish color pattern also get high marks.

“Electronics is a big key,” he said. “Find the bait and you’ll find the smallmouths.”

Honeycutt prefers fishing the mid to upper lake in early fall. Once the water starts cooling down, he concentrates more on the mid and lower lake.

Smallmouth hit hard and are a thrill to catch whether you are six or 60.

Lake Texoma

Size: 74,686 acres

Location: Lies on the Red River and Washita River along the Texas/Oklahoma border

Lake Record: 7.06 pounds, 22.75 inches, January 2006

Texas Bass pro Chris McCall cut his bass fishing teeth on Lake Texoma as a kid growing up in nearby Gainesville. McCall has since relocated to Palmer, but still heads the Texas/Okie border lake every chance he gets. Fall and winter rank about his favorite times to go for smallmouth.

“They always slow down during summer, but come fall they turn back on,” McCall said. “There aren’t a lot of big tournaments there anymore, but when there is one there during fall the brown fish are always a player. It’s got lots of four- to five-pounders.”

McCall says bronzebacks can be found as far north as Little Glasses creek south to Eisenhower State Park to the Denison dam. He pointed to the classic smallmouth habitat at the lower third of the lake as promising hotbed during autumn and winter. Water depths of 2 to 12 feet are ideal.

“One day they might be on big boulders and next they might be on something flat,” he said. “They aren’t afraid to get around sand and clay drops, either.”

As fishing tactics go, McCall suggests sticking with one of four patterns. His favorite is throwing a Flash Mob, Jr. umbrella rig matched with 3/16 ounce Santone swim bait heads and Zoom Swimming Super Fluke, Jr. swimbaits.

“They love a topwater such as a ‘Spook, Vixen or Pop-R, but there are times when they’ll crush a buzz bait, too. “If they are wanting something on the bottom, a Santone Piglet shaky head or Ned rig can be really effective.”

—story by MATT WILLIAMS