First Trip to New lake

Nov 20 2021

John Shepard

Slot Fish

Member Since :
2015
Number of Posts :
186

Reservation Number : 30431
Property Name : Indian Hills Farms
Reservation Date : 11/19/2021 All Day -
Total Fish/Sizes : 24 bass / 8-14" plus 2 large catfish
Lures Used : dropshot, beetlespin, weightless wacky worm

Fellow member Ron Dupree and I fished new club lake Smithville Indian Hills Farms on Friday the 19th.  It was less than a 2 hour drive from Katy and easy to navigate to.  The lake is elongated N-S with the deepest (20 ft +) water in front of the dam but areas of >10 foot water extend far toward the south end of the lake.  The proximity of deeper water to flats plus a number of  “steep” underwater slopes appear to provide good bass habitat plus angler target zones.  There are a few brushpiles and additional laydowns.  Submerged vegetation appears modest and scattered. Good shoreline vegetation. Water visibilty was surprisingly good (~3 feet?).

For whatever reason (the lunar eclipse, the post-front bluebird day, our skills,…???), we weren’t able to find any bass over 14.5” on this trip. Ron did land two impressively large catfish.  He thought at first that he had hooked one of the 8# bass until the catfish began twisting under the boat.  We caught 24 bass (harvested 18), half by walking the bank and half from the boat.  Most were about 10”. The only lures that worked in the morning were worms, either dropshot or weightless wacky.  In the afternoon, we caught some using beetlespins around wood and shorelines in the shallow areas. Ron outfished me all day.

We met the nice and personable owners and they opened up the cabin to give us a look.  This is a VERY NICE cabin.  We both noted that it would exceed our wives’ standards (unlike many of the places we stay on fishing trips).  Nice addition to the club.