Tyler — GOOD. Water stained; 80 degrees; 0.19 feet above pool. Rain and cooler weather in the forecast for the weekend. Crappie are good using minnows and jigs on brush in 16 feet of water. Catfish are good in 12-16 feet of water nightcrawlers, shrimp, and liver. Bream are good on red worms off the barge and throughout the lake. Bass are good on crankbaits, plastic worms and topwater frogs. Carp are biting minnows, worms, and dough bait. Report by The Boulders at Lake Tyler.

Palestine — GOOD. Water slightly stained; 90 degrees; 0.08 feet above pool. Fishing patterns are holding steady. Some warm water turnovers are occurring in areas of the lake. Look for the bubbles on top of the water floating. This is a good indication there has been a turnover in the area. Try to avoid these areas as the bite will be off due to mixed water oxygen levels. The Texas heat is upon us. Please be sure to hydrate and take water with you, wear sunscreen and seek shade cover while on the water. The white bass have been good with some schooling action in the morning and the evening. Hybrid stripers, yellow bass and largemouth bass are slow throughout the day and good in the early morning and at night. Hybrid stripers are best trolling with spoons. Yellow bass are best on crappie jigs and minnows on humps and roadbeds. Largemouth bass can be caught near shoreline points with Texas rigged soft plastics. Channel catfish are always good on Palestine, but the fish are smaller in size. After the recent storm damage, the boat launch and fish cleaning station is now powered up at Lake Palestine Resort. Report by Jim Beggerly, Jim’s Fishing Lake Palestine.

Caddo — FAIR. Water stained; 80 degrees; 1.65 feet above pool. Another week and another rain event so the lake is muddy and the bite slow. When the water settles and clears a dropshot or Texas rig in the river will land a bass. Work flukes, top water plugs and buzz baits or frog type baits around the pads and grass line. The bite has been slow with all the rain but the good thing is we will have current on the lake all the way through September, so the bite should continue all summer. Lake is still beautiful and majestic to come look at even if the bite is slow. Caddo is a one of a kind lake that God spoke into existence and we get to experience. Report provided by Vince Richards, Caddo Lake Fishing & Fellowship.

Lake O’ the Pines — GOOD. Water stained; 90 degrees; 1.63 feet above pool. Channel catfish are good in 15-20 feet of water in the bridge shade. Channel catfish bite in 3-4 feet of water under trees. Crappie are good in 16-25 feet in standing timber with minnows on a cork. Report by Joey Crews, Lake Bob Sandlin Chubby Chaser Guide Service. Solid summer pattern is holding steady for the bass. Bass are good with schooling activity starting to pick up. Follow the shad to find the bass. There is still some bass in the bushes along the banks pitching Texas rigged worms and jigs, or wacky rigs. Bass are good on brush piles on points on the south end of the lake in 15-25 feet of water with deep running crankbaits, jigs, wacky worms and Texas rigs. The north end of the lake is producing catches on the grass and bushes. Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine.

Fork — GOOD. Water Stained; 81 degrees; 0.09 feet above pool. Bass are fairly slow in the mornings, but there is a shaky head bite with yum dingers in both sizes on timber in 5-7 feet on breaklines. Best bite is Carolina rigs offshore in 15-25 feet on humps, road beds, points, all are producing. Big worms like blue fleck, tequila sunrise and plum seem to be best 10-12 inches. Crankbaits are still good over channel catfish bends deep humps and road beds. Shad patterns and chart blue back XD 6 — XD 8 are best, Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. Black bass are chasing topwater patterns early in the day and later in the day when it is dark. Check out the brush piles as big bass are using them to feed on crappie. Bream are excellent in the shallows on wooly buggers and small poppers. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. Lake Fork crappie fishing is in full time summer pattern. Huge numbers of black crappie are loading up at the base of trees, on main lake points and lay downs. There are still good numbers of white crappie on brush piles and in trees. Focus on areas in 14-22 feet for the most fish. The bite has been finicky when fishing for schools of fish. Minnows on very small gold Aberdeen hooks and 6-8 pound test fluorocarbon line has been the go to set up. Small hand tied jigs in natural colors are also working if you swim them over and get those fish to chase and grab. Even if you see a hundred fish in a group just catch the few more aggressive fish and move on if you want to catch numbers. Larger soft plastics should still work on bigger white crappies that are solo on timber. The catfish bite is still red hot. You can load the boat fast in roosting areas that have overnight birds in the trees. We are also seeing big numbers of catfish on main lake points in 14-28 feet around timber. If you find an area with lots of bait the catfish will be close by. Bait an area with cattle cubes or sour grain to group those fish up. Then use your prepared bait of choice to get those fish biting. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.

Athens — FAIR. Water normal stain; 90 degrees; 0.18 feet above pool. Fishing patterns are stable. Bass are slow, but solid body frogs, buzz baits, and chatterbaits are catching fish early and late. After the sun rises target Shaky-head worms and jigs on the outside of grass lines 8-12 feet on main lake points and flats. Crappie limits are possible at night over brush in 20-25 feet with small jigs. Report by Jim Brack, Athens Guide Service.

Cedar Creek — EXCELLENT. slightly stained; 87 degrees; 0.37 feet below pool. Hybrids and white bass are good at daylight on midlake points and drop offs along sandy flats throughout the dam area, Crappie Island, Key Ranch and the spillway humps in 13-22 feet. Cast spinners and slabs and look for schooling fish on these flats as well as deeper seawalls and shorelines. Then fish any hump in 17-25 feet throughout the lake to find fish stacked up in schools as the day heats up. Use spinnerbaits or drop a slab down to the bottom and work it fast up and down and the fish will hit it immediately. Also throwing out a slab and reeling it back with a slow retrieve is also working well. The evening bite from 5-9 p.m has also been very good. Hit up seawalls close to points in depths of 1-18 feet and cast rattle traps, spoons, slabs or sassy shads to get the hybrids to bite. The crappie bite has been challenging. Now Target crappie with small jigs in 5-12 feet under bridge pylons, hidden brush piles throughout the lake or under docks. Limits are being reported, although guides have been reporting very tough conditions with smaller sized fish being caught. Report by Brent Herbeck, Herbeck’s Lonestar Fishing Guide Service. The water temperature ranges from mid to upper 80s, and is slightly stained to stained heading south to north. Blue catfish are still in the deeper water with the best action on main lake humps in 12-24 feet with cut shad. During the dog days of summer try floating a bait across deep water in 15-30 feet, suspend the bait 2-5 feet down from the surface of the water to fish the upper column of the water. Channel catfish can be caught in most any cove or point on the lake with punch bait, cut bait, earthworms or shrimp. Report by Jason Barber, Kings Creek Adventures.

Cypress Springs — GOOD. Water stained; 91 degrees; 0.1—3 feet above pool. Channel catfish limits can be caught quickly in 15-20 feet of water with stink bait. Crappie are good in 25 feet of water on brush piles with minnows. Report by Joey Crews, Lake Bob Sandlin Chubby Chaser Guide Service. Bass are good on deep water points and boat docks with deep jigs, diving crankbaits, dropshots and Texas rigs. Schooling activity has picked up on main lake points. Night fishing has the best bite and is an escape from the heat and recreational boaters. Report by Mike Stroman, R & R Marine.

Hawkins — GOOD. Water slightly stained. 80 degrees. Black bass are in their summer pattern, try dropping baits at the edge of grass and slow moving streamers in shad colors. Early morning should draw strikes around grass beds and lily pads. Bead heads will tempt bream and bass. Bream will be easy to spot on beds, remember they can see you too. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service.

Jacksonville — SLOW. Water normal stain; 88 degrees; 0.13 feet above pool. Water temperatures are 87-89 degrees, the clarity is improving on the south end. Thermocline is between 14-20 feet depending on the area of the lake. Bass fishing has improved in 6-8 feet on crankbaits, Texas rigged soft plastics, and dropshots. Suspended fish can be caught on swimbaits.

— Hicks can be reached at phicks@tylerpaper.com