# West Fork/Spring Creek today



## Yort69 (Jan 31, 2011)

Well, I decided to go out today. When I got there this morning water was 46* and the river and creek channels had very little in the way of bait or fish on the move . Things started to pick up after a couple of hours and I caught a bunch of crappie and managed 18 keepers . Didn't see anybody catching much of anything and I can tell you there isn't any WB there. 
Pretty sure the WB have done their thing already. The WB run on Lake Houston just isn't what it used to be...Seems to get worse every year.

Time to head North...


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## kunder3006 (Aug 12, 2005)

sweet haul, like we talked about, not sure where the white bass went for the last couple of years


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## alanmacias541 (Feb 4, 2013)

What a shame... Maybe overharvest?


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## troutless (Feb 17, 2006)

Nice mess of Crappie, catch them on minnows or jigs


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## hopn (Jul 5, 2012)

The oil is at perfect frying temperature... bring over some slabs!!! :-D


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Nice catch of crappie!


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## John_B_1 (Jan 28, 2011)

I talked with a few guys that caught a limit of whites way back in November, I know it sounds crazy but I think the white bass is over also


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## wadefisherman (Oct 26, 2006)

I think it's over! I went out yesterday bright early and fished until 1:00pm. I could not buy a bite on white bass. I caught and released a few crappies. I used minnows plus roadrunners.


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## txcastn'blast (Sep 19, 2005)

Yort69 said:


> Well, I decided to go out today. When I got there this morning water was 46* and the river and creek channels had very little in the way of bait or fish on the move . Things started to pick up after a couple of hours and I caught a bunch of crappie and managed 18 keepers . Didn't see anybody catching much of anything and I can tell you there isn't any WB there.
> Pretty sure the WB have done their thing already. The WB run on Lake Houston just isn't what it used to be...Seems to get worse every year.
> 
> Time to head North...


The WB numbers have been down on the main lake since the drought of 2011, so it makes sense that folks aren't finding them in large numbers up the creeks like they used to. Used to catch limits fairly regularly on the main lake from May - October; however, over the last couple of years the best days produce only about 8 - 12 keepers . . . but those fish have have been in the 15' - 17" range and are probably at the upper end of their natural life cycle. Can tell you we were catching a lot of 6" fish on the main lake during late summer 2013, so my guess is there should be a good crop of keeper WB within the next year or two. Personally, I think it's just a cyclic thing.


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## alanmacias541 (Feb 4, 2013)

Maybe we should petition TPWD to stock some additional whites. Also, looks like Lake Houston hasn't received hybrids in a long time. Would anyone sign such a petition?


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## Steven H (Jan 15, 2006)

Last 3 yrs run has been weak, and I think they may be done too, bite was solid end of December which most consider too early, wish there were some hybrids though.

Truth is fishing changed in 94 when flood washed that big corner out of JJones. Creek flow shifted big time and where the big beach is there at the park used to be 40-50 yds wide, not any more. I recall walking thru spring creek there and that pipeline right of way that crosses downstream from the park was out of the water, now it is below the surface. Things change.


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## Yort69 (Jan 31, 2011)

Thanks Fella's ! I went twice at the end of November and there weren't any WB there. They started showing up in the middle of December in scattered very small numbers and got their 'best' ( which wasn't much at all) right at the end of December through the first week or so of January and then disappeared except for a few stragglers. 
Last year it started around the same time and lasted through end of February but was very weak but not as weak as this year. 
There is a distinct down hill pattern to the WB fishing sense the 2010/2011 run where I remember being there and everybody from the top of JJ to 59 had stringers of fish Lots of small males and females were being caught back then with a mix of larger males and females but mostly what was being caught was the smaller variety. In the last three years it seems all I catch is large females and a few medium to large males with hardly any small WB being caught which is making me wonder if there are any young fish replacing the older ones being harvested. 
Things indeed have not been the same sense the drought but they are getting worse, not better. I know one thing. I usually don't like bringing stuff like this up but now is as good of time as any. When the fishing was good the stringers that were being carried out of there along the west banks around 59 and even JJ would be enough to make one wonder. Its enough to make your blood boil. I'm talking hundreds and hundreds of fish and not near enough fisherman if'n you know what I mean 'and the banks were lined solid with fisherman' ! :ac550: I've seen the same thing going on at JJ this year at its brief peek just not on such a large scale. People calling family/friends down at the end of the day to make the numbers legit. Know a friend who bank fishes there and witnessed guys going home with a limit and coming back for another etc.. and some people who just don't give a **** and keep anything at any size they catch and do it right in front of you. Last year I watched the GW come up the creek and pull up at JJ beach and saw several people abandoning their gear and stringers as they approached! I've even seen people stake their stringers out in two foot of water to hide them under the waterline . 
Anyway, I've said my piece and I'm moving on. On a lighter note, on my way back to the ramp the other day the water had warmed up to 56* and I saw some very encouraging signs, lots of fish and bait on the move up so maybe once the water starts holding in the 50's for a few days the fishing will pick up and hopefully some WB with it...


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## wadefisherman (Oct 26, 2006)

On the last couple outings, I have not seen any yellow bass either. I don't keep full limit of any fishes that I caught. I just keep a few fishes that are just enough for dinner.


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## waterspout (May 21, 2004)

WB were over three weeks ago in east fork.. JS!


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## alanmacias541 (Feb 4, 2013)

That is a shame Yort69...It isn't hard to see why: Lots of fish concentrated in creeks within easy reach of a large metropolitan area. The law of probability would provide that some percentage of those fishing the creek, or any other place for that matter, would not abide by the harvest regulations. The thing I love about the Spring and Cy creeks is that it gives those who live in Houston a viable option for some good fishing without a long drive: however it appears as though that very quality is part of why the creeks and river have been over-fished to the point of damaging the population. I have witnessed over harvest of white bass first hand at Lock N Dam and I must say it made my normally tepid blood boil. 

While I would love for TPWD to restock whites and hybrids in Lake Houston to improve runs in the future I wonder if such a stocking would be in vain due to the lack of regard many who fish the creek display towards the regulations.


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## sac-a-lait (Feb 19, 2009)

this happens everywhere not just lake Houston area


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## Yort69 (Jan 31, 2011)

It does happen everywhere I'm sure as that is just a given. That said what I saw a few years back on a regular basis was startling . There weren't just a 'couple' in the mix doing it especially west of 59. I haven't never witnessed it happening at Livingston but there again I haven't fished it very much . Lake Houston is actually a small lake and its shallow feeder creeks and rivers cant in any way be compared to that of Livingston's and its deep Trinity river . I can see where Lake Houston's WB population could very possibly get overfished. The lack of small WB for the last 3 years is telling.
Where did all the small fish go ?


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## 09 ag fan (Apr 19, 2013)

I'm a part of the lake Houston sports and recreation foundation and we r probably going to start stocking whites this year. We have dropped in about 115,000 largemouth in the past few years. Our contact with tpwd is going to take over the lmb stocking and wants us to venture elsewhere with our resources. Feel free to visit our website at lakehoustonsports.com


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## Yort69 (Jan 31, 2011)

09 ag fan said:


> I'm a part of the lake Houston sports and recreation foundation and we r probably going to start stocking whites this year. We have dropped in about 115,000 largemouth in the past few years. Our contact with tpwd is going to take over the lmb stocking and wants us to venture elsewhere with our resources. Feel free to visit our website at lakehoustonsports.com


I have had plenty of those 115,000 on the end of my line while fishing for WB. Got in to them at spring and cypress fork last year and caught around 50ish in a couple of hours. A decent fill in for the dead WB bite that day.
Have caught plenty this year as well. Hope you do stock some WB...it needs it. A couple of million will do.


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