Best Bass Fishing Lakes in Texas

This 27,700-acre Texas lake is best-known for its proclivity for producing big bass. The six heaviest bass on the state's list of top 50 largemouth bass came from Lake Fork, and the majority of the fish on the list came from the lake. The largest: 18.18 pounds. The lake averages between 12 and 15 feet deep. Unlike other Texas waters, the water levels in Lake Fork are relatively stable. Lake Fork features abundant habitat for largemouth bass, including standing timber and vegetation such as hydrilla and milfoil. As far as big bass go, the lake is especially productive in the late winter and early spring, before the female bass have laid their eggs. The lake receives heavy pressure from anglers and recreational boaters, so many fishermen opt to fish at night, which is when many of the largest bass are caught.

Largemouth bass are the primary quarry in this East Texas, 114,500-acre reservoir. The arms that extend off the main water body contain most of the bass habitat, including timber (some of which is standing or fallen into the water) submerged and emergent vegetation, and brush. The best times of the year to hit Lake Sam Rayburn are during the spring, fall and winter. During these times of year, the water temperatures are the coolest and bass are more likely to be around shallow structure and vegetation. One of the most popular methods of fishing Sam Rayburn is to cast lipless crankbaits and retrieve them over and around cover.

Toledo Bend, part of which is in the state of Louisiana, includes about 185,000 acres of water. The reservoir, like many of the water bodies in Texas, is full of bass habitat like timber and vegetation. Fish lures like jigs and pigs, plastic worms, lipless crankbaits and spinnerbaits in and around bass habitat. Also, anglers here do well by looking off-shore. Toledo Bend has an abundant population of shad and bass will corner these forage species at the surface of the water and go on a feeding spree. Watch for bass feeding on the surface and throw a topwater bait in the area.

This 44,000-acre reservoir is just to the south of Dallas. Unlike many other water bodies in Texas, it has an abundance of open water and a relative lack of cover. The best bass cover is located in the reservoir arms fed by the Richland and Chambers creeks. Anglers who know how to fish deep-water structure such as creek channels and humps often do well on Richland-Chambers. Deep-diving crankbaits are effective in such areas, as are bottom-bumping lures like jigs and plastic worms.

This 19,280-acre reservoir has an abundance of cover. As a result, anglers rarely need to venture into open water. The best strategy is to find likely bass-holding cover (emergent and submerged vegetation, as well as standing and fallen timber) and begin casting to it. Lures like jigs and pigs and Texas-rigged plastic worms are most effective when pitched or flipped around cover on sunny days, while anglers who cast search lures like spinnerbaits and crankbaits do best on overcast days.