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Central Texas

HotSPOTLight: Lake Joe Pool

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LOCATION: Lake Austin
HOTSPOT: Steiner Ranch Lake Club
GPS: N 30 19.551, W 97 55.052
(30.3259, -97.9175)

SPECIES: Largemouth Bass
BEST BAITS: Crankbaits
TIPS: Fish RatLTrap or lipless crankbait; bass can be caught here all day.

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LOCATION: Belton Lake
HOTSPOT: Dam Rip Rap
GPS: N 31 06.596, W 97 28.412
(31.1099, -97.4735)

SPECIES: Smallmouth
BEST BAITS: Jigs, craws
TIPS: Fish 1/8-1/4 oz. black hair jig, pork eel, small plastic craws.

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LOCATION: Lake Buchanan
HOTSPOT: Garret Island Area
GPS: N 30 50.814, W 98 24.9539
(30.8469, -98.4159)

SPECIES: Striped Bass
BEST BAITS: Live shad, top water plugs, jigs, slabs
TIPS: Stripers will be schooled on the upper end of the lake around Garret Island area. Watch for feeding flocks of sea gulls. Stripers, hybrid stripers and white bass will be feeding under those. But best bait will be live bait but artificials will work as well.

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LOCATION: Canyon Lake
HOTSPOT: Turkey Creek Point
GPS: N 29 51.7079, W 98 12.948
(29.8618, -98.2158)

SPECIES: Striped Bass
BEST BAITS: Hogie 5″ Super Shad in “Lime Rita” Color
TIPS: Trolling this area with downriggers seems to produce the best catches. Set the downriggers from 40 to 60 feet deep and look for schools of striped bass. When located, vary trolling speeds until the fish strike.

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LOCATION: Cedar Creek Lake
HOTSPOT: Docks and Secondary Points
GPS: N 32 18.5279, W 96 8.862
(32.3088, -96.1477)

SPECIES: Crappie
BEST BAITS: 1/16th to 1/8th oz. crappie jigs
TIPS: Fish all docks with 6 feet or more of water. Depth and plenty of shade near main lake or secondary points throughout the lake should produce well. Medium action spinning tackle with 6-pound line and 1/16th to 1/8th oz. jigs works best.

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LOCATION: Fayette County
HOTSPOT: Pond at End of Discharge
GPS: N 29 55.662, W 96 45.054
(29.9277, -96.7509)

SPECIES: Catfish
BEST BAITS: CJ’s Punch Bait
TIPS: This pond is just right of discharge. Water is cooling here now. Rocks are close by and there is a sand bottom near rocks. Fish tight line here. Fish shallow at night and 10′ deep in daytime.

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LOCATION: Granger Lake
HOTSPOT: Open Lake Flats
GPS: N 30 42.216, W 97 21.324
(30.7036, -97.3554)

SPECIES: Blue Catfish
BEST BAITS: Shad, cut bait
TIPS: Now is a good time to catch blue catfish on jug lines fished all over the main lake. Depth of water really doesn’t matter. Some places to start would be windy sides of the lake. Shad are blown into these areas and thus concentrate the hungry blues. I like to use #11/0 Mustad circle hooks with no more than two hooks on each jug line. Good luck!

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LOCATION: Lake Joe Pool
HOTSPOT: Walnut Creek Banks
GPS: N 32 35.562, W 97 04.492
(32.5927, -97.0749)

SPECIES: Crappie
BEST BAITS: Minnows
TIPS: Fish live minnows. This spot has lots of bank access and plenty places fish. Avoid midday.

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LOCATION: Lake Lavon
HOTSPOT: Main Lake
GPS: N 33 5.5079, W 96 28.6799
(33.0918, -96.4780)

SPECIES: White Bass & Crappie
BEST BAITS: Flukes
TIPS: Both white bass and crappie will be suspended in about 18-25 feet this time of year. Tapping on the boat with a rubber mallet or a broom stick will usually call them in as they will come to investigate the noise. Dead sticking flukes is usually the best bet.

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LOCATION: Lake LBJ
HOTSPOT: Ferguson Power Plant
GPS: N 30 33.412, W 98 22.068
(30.5569, -98.3678)

SPECIES: White Bass
BEST BAITS: Jigs, slabs
TIPS: Fish the discharge area in 15-25 feet of water, bouncing jigs/slabs off bottom; dawn, morning, night.

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LOCATION: Lake Lewisville
HOTSPOT: Dam Area
GPS: N 33 4.211, W 96 58.132
(33.0702, -96.9689)

SPECIES: Hybrid Striped Bass
BEST BAITS: Shad
TIPS: Drift fish with live shad; good all day.

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LOCATION: Lake Limestone
HOTSPOT: Mouth of Lambs Creek
GPS: N 31 22.806, W 96 18.945
(31.3801, -96.3158)

SPECIES: White Bass
BEST BAITS: Slowly troll Little Georges or inline spinnerbaits
TIPS: Slowly troll Little Georges or inline spinnerbaits; good action all day.

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LOCATION: Lake Ray Hubbard
HOTSPOT: LR East flats
GPS: N 32 53.175, W 96 29.179
(32.8863, -96.4863)

SPECIES: White Bass
BEST BAITS: Spinnerbaits
TIPS: Fish chartreuse tail spinnerbaits. Watch for birds and work the flats; morning, dusk.

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LOCATION: Richland Chambers Lake
HOTSPOT: Windsock Point
GPS: N 31 56.586, W 96 7.452
(31.9431, -96.1242)

SPECIES: Hybrid Stripers
BEST BAITS: 1 oz. Silver Glitter RSR Shad slabs (www.rsrlures.com)
TIPS: As long as we have the normal pleasant December temperatures, you can fish the Windsock Point in the far Southeast corner of the lake near the dam and the Hwy 309 Flats. Expect to be on fish as fish will relate to the deeper sides ( 30′-35′ depths) of the Windsock Point and will be on or near the bottom. Try a 1 oz. RSR Silver Glitter slab and jig it slowly off the bottom. Keep the drag set loosely on your reel as this is a prime time to hook into a large hybrid striper. The initial “hit and run” is when most folks lose these large fish!

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LOCATION: Lake Somerville
HOTSPOT: Rocky Creek Roadbed
GPS: N 30 18.522, W 96 33.39
(30.3087, -96.5565)

SPECIES: Catfish
BEST BAITS: Cut shad
TIPS: Fish Carolina rig with shad using a 3/4-ounce egg sinker and tight line. Water is 18′ deep here.

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LOCATION: Stillhouse Hollow Res.
HOTSPOT: Trimmler Creek
GPS: N 31 0.375, W 97 39.325
(31.0063, -97.6554)

SPECIES: Catfish
BEST BAITS: Crankbaits, slabs
TIPS: Troll crankbaits, use white/chartreuse slabs on creek bends; avoid midday.

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LOCATION: Lake Tawakoni
HOTSPOT: Duck Cove
GPS: N 32 51.07, W 96 3.715
(32.8512, -96.0619)

SPECIES: Crappie
BEST BAITS: Minnows, jigs
TIPS: Work the bridge pilings and brush with live minnows or 1/8-oz. jigs; dawn, midday, dusk.

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LOCATION: Lake Texana
HOTSPOT: Navidad River
GPS: N 29 1.176, W 96 35.048
(29.0196, -96.5841)

SPECIES: Crappie
BEST BAITS: Minnows, jigs
TIPS: Free fall minnows or crappie jigs; the bite should be good here all day.

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LOCATION: Lake Texoma
HOTSPOT: Juniper Point East
GPS: N 33 51.888, W 96 49.8779
(33.8648, -96.8313)

SPECIES: Striped Bass
BEST BAITS: 4-to 6-in. Sassy Shad on 1 oz. jig heads, Road Runner 1 oz. white jigs with a 7-in. worm
TIPS: Few anglers know how good fishing is in December. Cool water temperatures make the fish go into a frenzy. Large fish up to 20 pounds will be on the prowl. A 4″” to 6″” Sassy Shad on a 1 oz. jig head will work the best. Texoma’s stripers prefer white glow and chartreuse colors. Road Runner 1 oz. white jigs with a 7-inch worm are deadly on the big fish holding on structure. Fish the main lake points, mouths of creeks and humps near deep water. Always keep your eyes on the seagulls. Large schools of stripers can be under the birds.

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LOCATION: Lake Waco
HOTSPOT: Entrance to Waco Marina
GPS: N 31 33.277, W 97 14.072
(31.5546, -97.2345)

SPECIES: Largemouth Bass
BEST BAITS: Worms, crankbaits, spinnerbaits
TIPS: Tournament fish release point, Work jetty to south pt; dawn-morn, afternoon-dusk

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LOCATION: Lake Whitney
HOTSPOT: Main Lake
GPS: N 31 54.8279, W 97 21.1019
(31.9138, -97.3517)

SPECIES: Striped Bass & White Bass
BEST BAITS: 1/2 oz. Stripaholic jigs from www.rsrlures.com with 4″ chartreuse swim baits, 1 oz. slabs
TIPS: By late November, early December fishing will be here. The water is cold and the bite is hot! The cold-water temperatures have pushed the bait from the creeks, and they have ganged up in a “safety in numbers” type of deal in the main lake. Some of the satellite schools of stripers have merged into larger schools and are trapping the bait to the surface and up in the cuts along the shoreline as well as in the mouths of some of the creeks. This has been trapping the bait between colder shallow water and the open water. With the 3/4 oz. lead head and swim bait you can make long casts and count your bait down about a foot per second. Then make a medium to slow retrieve and really load the boat. On days that the fish aren’t pushing the bait to the surface we are making long casts with the swim baits and slow trolling (strolling) with the trolling motor set on a medium slow speed. Remember the water is cold and the shad are lethargic. When think you’re fishing slow enough, slow down a little more. RSR lures 1 oz. chartreuse and holographic slabs and the white with holographic are producing a lot of white bass. Find the schools on ledges and edges and drop the slab to the bottom, bouncing it up and down. Remember to work it slowly and try different columns of the water to figure out which depth produces fish.