# Good Rules of thumb for fishing Conroe or any other Lakes



## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

I have guys not only on this forum but many other forums express their concern about these rules of thumb.
I know most everyone on this forum is very nice and considerate. So here it is read it memorize it.

#1 Never pull up to a boat who is drifting and drift near a hundred yards from them. They are probably using some kind of fish calling device and will not work if two or more boat is within a hundred yards from each other. I'm not just just making this up. Check other forums for your self. Also proven by me.
#2 Absolutely no pot licking. Meaning keep your distance 100 yards. The style of fishing that we are doing in the winter just doesn't allow two or more boat close proximity of one another. If possible ask the first boat that was there first if you can quietly pull up with trolling motor and drift or anchor to fish with them,but absolutely no noise or fish attractors of any kind on your boat. It just doesn't work that well or at all.
#3 If you still not catching fish and it frustrate the hell out of you than hire a guide,ask question,put out the time,be persistent and I guaranteed you will be catching like a pro. That is the way I learned. Not that I'm saying I'm a pro. Im just your average guy who did just that. Put in the hours and hired a guide.

So that's it just three simple rules. And if you read this and still prefer to be ignorance than I got nothing to say to you. Thanks for reading. I welcome anyone seeing me out there to pot luck me. Just do it in a properly discussed manner described above and we be OK.


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## whsalum (Mar 4, 2013)

Good advice !!


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## schoalbeast101 (Oct 23, 2014)

Etiquette is very important but 100 yards between boats drift fishing is about impossible unless you are fishing in the gulf of mexico. I think what Bruce is trying to say is be curteous and boat at a safe distance from other boats. If you are new to drift fishing lakes or in the bay watch and learn what the other boats do. If not sure ask others where the fish or structure is as to not cut off someone's drift or run directly over the fish and break up the school unless the fish are deep. Even if they are deep be as quiet as possible unless you are drumming for whites or strippers. If you are drumming do it away from other boats as the tactic doesn't work if 2 boats are too close together. If you do approach other boats (drumming or not) do it carefully, and quietly with your trolling motor and don't motor your boat 20 feet from other boats that are drifting. While fish do often stack up on certain structure or the same depth ledge learn the etiquette of drifting and everyone will catch fish and be happy. It takes effort but no one owns the water and we should all make an effort to get along. Also if everyone is drifting and you anchor expect people to go right by you (close) if you are in the drift zone. I am fine with people anchoring but don't expect me to use my trolling motor and give you 50 yards.


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## Capt sharky (Feb 22, 2012)

Good luck on that bud wishful thinkin


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

Capt sharky said:


> Good luck on that bud wishful thinkin


I was trying to think of a nice way to say the same. :headknock

I can't fish much any more due to my back, but in my day I did put in the hours...... years actually.
I haven't been able to keep people 100 inches away.


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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

X3


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Now let's see why they ain't catcnig chit. Oh you don't have to put it in a nice way. They gonna learn it the hard way or even learned at all. I'm just gonna pull anchor or drift sock and move. And I'll still be catching. Smart people take this thread as valuable info no need to say why. Not so smart people will see it just as a pot licking thread. They my friend will never learn even if it fell in there laps. Anyway y'all take it how ever you wanted. Got something to talk about. Forum beginning to get boring again.:brew2:


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

brucevannguyen said:


> . Forum beginning to get boring again.:brew2:


What you call boring to me is a big 'ol belly laugh.


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## slabnabbin (May 25, 2010)

There are no fish in lake conroe. 
Lake Livingston has the most fish and easiest to catch!


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

I'm sorry if I define boring to you the wrong way whitebassfisher. My definition of boring is what ever happens to the normally of just catching fish share a little just a little pics report plastics slabs live bait pics of catches. Hell I see guys completely disappear from sharing reports just because they catch a little better than others,yet they check other reports daily. I my friend don't give a dam about those people. Say what y'all wanna say. Ain't gonna hurt me one bit.


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## fishinganimal (Mar 30, 2006)

But they glow in the dark!! LOL


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## fishinganimal (Mar 30, 2006)

Bruce you have some good points but the people you are trying to connect with are never going to change. Hence the name potlicker.


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

Also Bruce, if I came across as personally attacking, I apologize. I was just trying to be realistic. A hundred yard radius around you would be 6.49 acres.


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## Danny O (Apr 14, 2010)

fishinganimal said:


> Bruce you have some good points but the people you are trying to connect with are never going to change. Hence the name potlicker.


We don't know nothin' bout potlicking, right fishinganimal?!!!


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## fishinganimal (Mar 30, 2006)

LOL Sacred fishing ground now!!! Pet Spoon


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## whsalum (Mar 4, 2013)

I'm just ready to go back, I haven't been since December 3rd, its killing me. Most of the water encroachment I see on Livingston is just people not knowing any better. Over the years I've invited people up and even shared slabs with them and they are now friends to this day.


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

whsalum said:


> Most of the water encroachment I see on *Livingston* is just people not knowing any better.


Although most of the threads on this whole freshwater forum have historically been from Livingston, this particular one is about *Lake Conroe*. In fact, quite a few reports have been shown here recently that were from Conroe rather than Livingston. Livingston doesn't receive any hybrids by the TP&WD department because big fast growing predators like hybrids would wreck havoc on the striper fingerlings they put in Livingston. But Conroe receives massive hybrid stockings. In fact, Conroe has such a good population of big hybrids that it hurts the white bass population there. Hybrids get the length of a striper, the fatness of a white bass sow, and the pulling power of a freight train.

I really wish the TP&WD would stock hybrids into Livingston, but it will never happen. They save Livingston for their striper research lake, this was told to me by a TP&WD biologist during one of their electro-shock trips to Livingston getting brood stripers.

http://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/action/stock_bywater.php?WB_code=0192

The above is a link showing the stocking done in Conroe. Conroe obviously gets a lot of hybrids called Palmetto bass. The palmetto is a hybrid â€œmadeâ€ fish, produced by fertilizing eggs from striped bass with sperm-containing milt from a white bass. (Using eggs from white bass and milt from striped bass produces a cross called Sunshine bass.) The result is one of the hardest-fighting, best-tasting game fish in the state. The link also shows the massive stocking of Florida strain largemouths into Conroe.

Maybe since Conroe has so much money so concentrated that they receive these massive stockings; money does talk. Of course too, the recent announcement by the State health officials about the danger of eating fish from Livingston will probably mean that some fishermen will fish Conroe more than before. Five big hybrids per fisherman, and maybe some LMB to boot, makes for several good meals.


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## whsalum (Mar 4, 2013)

Yes sir Whitebassfisher my comments were on Livingston because I have never fished Conroe. I may have to give it a shot if these reports keep coming in LOL. I was guessing the crowded boat pic was from Conroe


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

whsalum said:


> I have never fished Conroe. I may have to give it a shot if these reports keep coming in LOL.


If it weren't for people like Bruce, giving away trips and lures, offering tutorials etc, and particularly letting everyone know that *Conroe is where it's happening*, 2Cool just wouldn't be the same!


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## whsalum (Mar 4, 2013)

Hopefully the East side of Livingston will get fishable pretty soon


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## BigDawg12345 (Dec 10, 2015)

*Stocking*

:bounce: Where did all dem fish go. Should be a billion in Conroe.


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## Yort69 (Jan 31, 2011)

LOL...some folks have mighty high expectations of others. Sorry, but if you are drifting and i find fish down the way and anchor up, your drift is not my problem ! Its not my job to figure out your trajectory or which way the wind and current is taking you. Im there to catch fish and your drifting has no superiority over my catching fish where i find them. 
If you find you are drifting towards someone who is anchored up, i would advise giving them the same respect that you are asking for and steer your rig clear of them or you will get nothing in the way of respect back.


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## schoalbeast101 (Oct 23, 2014)

Yort69 said:


> LOL...some folks have mighty high expectations of others. Sorry, but if you are drifting and i find fish down the way and anchor up, your drift is not my problem ! Its not my job to figure out your trajectory or which way the wind and current is taking you. Im there to catch fish and your drifting has no superiority over my catching fish where i find them.
> If you find you are drifting towards someone who is anchored up, i would advise giving them the same respect that you are asking for and steer your rig clear of them or you will get nothing in the way of respect back.


I don't have problem with people anchoring. Just know that if most people are drifting over a tight structure and you anchor in the zone that people will be drifting close to you. I am there to catch fish also so I won't be making a wide berth around you. Guide etiquette says the drifters have the right of way and you are messing up the fishing by anchoring but I am not that extreme. I get along with everyone and that is how it should be. Did you fish the late spring/summer Specs in East Bay? If you did then you know what I am talking about. Tons of boats all catching plenty of fish and for the most part getting along. No one owns the water.


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## BobBobber (Aug 29, 2015)

Drifting anglers pass through a spot briefly, so I don't worry too much about them. Trolling anglers also pass by briefly. It's bothersome when you've got markers out and/or are trolling when you get another boat that follows your pattern . . . or drops an anchor within casting distance of your boat.

Explosive depth charges aren't legal in most waters, unfortunately, so you'll need to rely on cussing or rude hand signals until they get the idea.

When fish are on spawning runs, courtesy between anglers dwindles. However, there is usually so much action that people are more tolerant if lines don't get tangled. Usually, when everybody is catching limits, close proximity is tolerable.

We have fished for WB and salmon in tight packs of other boats, usually without incident. People just kept a respectable distance.

Until anglers obtain legal deeds for access to their fishin' spots, it's fair game to potlick, however discourteous it might be.

I recall one loud mouthed, profane guide always tried to command a stretch of the Manistee River in Michigan during the salmon run. He'd spot his clients along 200 yards of river bank. They would cast from the bank repeatedly in hopes of landing a salmon.

When boaters would drift through, the guide would scream at them to pull their lines in. BTW, the current was swift enough that most boats would drift through within a couple minutes.

We'd often anchor along the opposite shoreline to fish gravel beds under overhanging tree branches in places where his clients could not dream of casting. The river was wide enough there that nobody could cast across any way. But the overhanging tree branches prevented anybody from casting across the river.

That's a situation where I believe the guide was absolutely at fault. It was a public river. His license did not come with any deed to the river. Plus, he planted his clients in a central spot where potentially almost one hundred boats might pass through.


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## Yort69 (Jan 31, 2011)

schoalbeast101 said:


> I don't have problem with people anchoring. Just know that if most people are drifting over a tight structure and you anchor in the zone that people will be drifting close to you. I am there to catch fish also so I won't be making a wide berth around you. Guide etiquette says the drifters have the right of way and you are messing up the fishing by anchoring but I am not that extreme. I get along with everyone and that is how it should be. Did you fish the late spring/summer Specs in East Bay? If you did then you know what I am talking about. Tons of boats all catching plenty of fish and for the most part getting along. No one owns the water.


Agreed. So long as "most people" are there before i am. I've seen "guide etiquette" suggest that they have the right of way to do just about anything they want as well...One got treated with a very precise shot of treble hooks across his carpet....oops...


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Whitebassfisher said:


> ... (1) Livingston doesn't receive any hybrids by the TP&WD department because big fast growing predators like hybrids would wreck havoc on the striper fingerlings they put in Livingston.
> 
> (2) Conroe receives massive hybrid stockings. In fact, Conroe has such a good population of big hybrids that it hurts the white bass population there.
> 
> ...


Let's review some facts:

1) "Hybrids can't be stocked on Liv because wreck havoc on stripers"....Livingston does not receive hybrids because of the existence of the TP&W brood striper program below the dam on Livingston that provides the stripers stocked on Texas lakes.

Furthermore, arguably one of the top striper lakes in Texas, Twak, received over 1 million hybrids this year from TP&W. In addition Twak and Canyon Lake each have outstanding private hybrid stocking programs....hybrids certainly aren't wreaking havoc on the stripers in those fine lakes.

2) It is just not factual that Conroe receives "massive" stockings of hybrids. This past year they received about 10 fingerlings per acre which is somewhat higher than normal for them but much lower than other lakes in Texas. By comparison, Twak received about 27 per acre or almost three times the stocking rate as Conroe. Hubbard received 57 per acre or almost 6 times what Conroe received...and the white bass fishing on Hubbard is excellent, by the way, as it is on Twak.

3) The largest stripers I'm aware of to come out of Lake Livingston were 30 inches long, both caught on LLA's boat. I personally measured one of these. The largest striper for the Liv water body was 37 inches caught below the dam. Compare that to hybrids which the longest ever recorded from the water body was 28 inches. I've personally caught many stripers over 28 inches from the Lake as well as stripers well over 30 inches from below the dam. In addition, I have personally caught stripers well in excess of 40 inches in other lakes ...and they certainly exceed those lengths considerably.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

It must be s burden.


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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

I have caught a few stripers over 30 inches and I know a lady and a couple other people that have caught a few stripers over 30 inches IN THE LAKE. Can not broad cast it on the internet because of the inconsiderate pot lickers on here. Now below the dam is different and you will catch bigger stripers but you will have to deal with boats all around, thats just the way it is below the dam. Also I don't measure my fish on an ice chest. I have a golden rule for large fish and one for small fish. 
Back to showing some courtesy on the lake. Pleasure boats will be back when the weather warms this spring and they don't care on Conroe. I have seen guides and 2 coolers act ridiculous when a school of stripers came on top. What a shame. Show a little respect and we all can catch fish. Just my 2 cents for what it is worth.


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## KingTut (May 19, 2005)

HERE' A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW.....

Where can I find a copy of this Guide Etiquette book? I have and will always take time to avoid getting too close to another boat's fishing area, but I would greet unsavory and aggressive behavior as a threat should you seek to educate me while on public water. I always appreciate a guide's expertise on these forums and their willingness to share valuable information, but there is one issue that always pours salt in my wounds. The fact that a guide spends so many hours on the water gives them no deed or title. In fact the very quarry you seek to fill your client's cooler are paid for with my tax dollars. And if you're on the water five days a week filling five coolers a week, you've already overstayed your welcome in the Working Man's Fishing Etiquette book. So please don't attempt to school me about how to appease you while you make a living off of fish we the people have supplied, so you can make a living doing what we all wish we could do!


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## schoalbeast101 (Oct 23, 2014)

KingTut said:


> HERE' A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW.....
> 
> Where can I find a copy of this Guide Etiquette book? I have and will always take time to avoid getting too close to another boat's fishing area, but I would greet unsavory and aggressive behavior as a threat should you seek to educate me while on public water. I always appreciate a guide's expertise on these forums and their willingness to share valuable information, but there is one issue that always pours salt in my wounds. The fact that a guide spends so many hours on the water gives them no deed or title. In fact the very quarry you seek to fill your client's cooler are paid for with my tax dollars. And if you're on the water five days a week filling five coolers a week, you've already overstayed your welcome in the Working Man's Fishing Etiquette book. So please don't attempt to school me about how to appease you while you make a living off of fish we the people have supplied, so you can make a living doing what we all wish we could do!


First I am not a guide. There is no Guide etiquette book, per se also there is no clue book for common sense but that doesn't mean there shouldn't be some non-published rules. The fact is everyone is out there to have some fun and catch some fish. I agree just because a guide is out there all the time they don't own the water but remember that is how that person makes a living. While being a guide would be great many times the catching is the only fun of the day. Imagine some of the people guides deal with on a day to day basis. A guide probably gets up 2 hours before you do, mapping a fishing strategy, doing repairs on his boat, filling it with fuel, fixing rods and reels, cleaning his boat, stocking boat with ice and drinks and cleaning fish. It's probably a 12 hour day everyday. Also people pay the guide to learn about fishing a certain lake and to take home fish. Please don't hate on them for that. Also many guides raise funds to stock more fish so it isn't all of your tax dollars at work. Also I would inagine a very small percentage of your taxes go to stocking lakes so that isn't avalid excuse. Have fun fishing and let the drama at home.


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## Ken.Huynh (May 30, 2014)

Yall can drift, anchor, and even tight to my boat if you want.

I normally can't find anything in Conroe anyway.

But all seriously, if you troll close to a boat that is catching fish. 

You will pull the school away and break the school up into small school.

I've seem it many times when I am fishing LL.

I would see someone trolling so close to my boat that I can jump over to their boat. 

Next thing I know the big school under my boat is smaller each passing.

We even asked them sometime to stop and just anchor next to us to keep the school together, but they said trolling catch bigger fish. Not sure where they got that idea.

But maybe a guide and confirm this idea of trolling split the school up.

Jeff the one who told me this and since then i notice more when someone trolling next to me when their is a big school under my boat.


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## Shake52 (Jan 4, 2016)

I'm new to the group and fish Conroe mostly, just started, just retired. Trying to learn it. Consideration for others has always been my key, as I agree with both positions. Common sense should reign over all hopefully. Back to fishing, saw a nice batch of crappie caught last week on jigs in about 25-30 ft of water, didn't get what color. We caught 14-15 lmb, about half keepers, mostly on the south end in 4-8 ft, spinnerbaits and shallow cranks. Good luck all, see you out there, I'll be in a 2200 blue wave with 150 Zuki.


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## slabseeker (Mar 11, 2006)

Like Snabnabbin said. there are no fish in Conroe...stay away...lol


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## fishin_envy (Aug 13, 2010)

It really doesn't matter whether it's Conroe, Livingston, or any other lake. Use some common courtesy. 100 yards between boats would be great, but is kind of unrealistic most of the times. My personal rule of thumb for distance is to keep enough room between boats so each can make an average cast towards the other if they desire without tangling up with one another.


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## fishin_envy (Aug 13, 2010)

As far as the comment "remember that is how that person makes a living." as far as guides go, that is their choice to make a living in a public place using public resources. It absolutely doesn't mean that they should be treated or should treat anyone any different or set any imaginary rules on others that makes their job easier. Maybe guides who like to drift might have a "drifters have the right-of-way" mentality, but I would say that anyone who prefers to anchor doesn't see it that way. I will say that I prefer to drift, but if a boat is anchored down wind of me, I believe it is my responsibility to avoid coming within casting distance of him. I believe the same to be true of boats who troll vs. boats who anchor.

Then of course there are the ones who try to anchor, but end up drifting and dragging their anchor through the fish because of not enough anchor line or undersized anchors...............

Either way, Happy Fishing to all in 2016.


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

fishin_envy said:


> My personal rule of thumb for distance is to keep enough room between boats so each can make an average cast towards the other if they desire without tangling up with one another.


Although your post #34 & #35 are full of good common sense, the above quote from you puts it in a nutshell. 
I have done 10 times more slabbin' than jiggin'. What is the difference? Slabbin' you cast and jiggin' is done vertically. In slabbin', it is similar to being on the diving board is a swimming pool. You cast to the shallow end and then work your lure down the slope. Very productive. You can work the lure differently with the 2 styles, and I just like slabbin'. Jiggin' is much more popular on the lake than slabbin' though, so a boat of jiggers may stop exactly on top of where you were slabbin' (position themselves on the slope). I do admit that jiggin' can end up causing a feeding frenzy directly below your boat. Also, if you are a guide with a boat load of people you don't know, would you prefer they drop there lures straight down or have everything slinging lead with hooks across your face?


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## fishin_envy (Aug 13, 2010)

Whitebassfisher said:


> Although your post #34 & #35 are full of good common sense, the above quote from you puts it in a nutshell.
> I have done 10 times more slabbin' than jiggin'. What is the difference? Slabbin' you cast and jiggin' is done vertically. In slabbin', it is similar to being on the diving board is a swimming pool. You cast to the shallow end and then work your lure down the slope. Very productive. You can work the lure differently with the 2 styles, and I just like slabbin'. Jiggin' is much more popular on the lake than slabbin' though, so a boat of jiggers may stop exactly on top of where you were slabbin' (position themselves on the slope). I do admit that jiggin' can end up causing a feeding frenzy directly below your boat. Also, if you are a guide with a boat load of people you don't know, would you prefer they drop there lures straight down or have everything slinging lead with hooks across your face?


 Yes, sir. Exactly. Plus even if you are jigging, the fish sometimes move 20 or 30 feet one way or another or the boat swings on anchor a bit. Having ample room to cast, gives a boat the opportunity to switch to slabbing without bouncing chunks of lead and treble hooks off the side of someone else's boat(or head).


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