Reservation Number : 31314
Property Name : Hickory Creek Ranch Lakes
Reservation Date : 02/27/2022 All Day -
Total Fish/Sizes : 63 bass up to nearly 9#; 10 harvested; 9 crappie
Lures Used : chatter bait, dropshot, shaky head, lipless crank

Member Ron Dupree and I fished the big lake at Hickory Creek Ranch from 10AM till 5PM on the 27th.  This was another outstanding day on a Private Water Fishing lake.  There was a stiff breeze blowing when we arrived so we started from the bank, hoping the wind would die down (it didn’t).  We each caught 5 or 6 in shallow water, he at the northern end and me mid-lake.  After a quick lunch and a chat with Wade the property owner, we launched the club boat and started searching deeper water for concentrtions of bass.  It took a while, but by moving around we eventually found numbers of bass around the brush piles and on one of the mid-lake humps.  Very few were near the bank. We saw no “bloody tails” or other body stresses indicative of the spawn. This was what I love about the pre-spawn bite; the bass were fat, aggressive, in great health, and not as spread out as usual.  We often had “doubles” with lines crossing as bass cirled the boat in opposite directions.  Chatterbaits, lipless cranks, dropshot, and shaky head all worked. What was more noteworthy than the number of bass that we landed (63) was the quality of the bass.  We only harvested 10 bass.  Most of the rest were 16”-20.5” and very fat (general body condition plus egg bellies).  I wish we had brought a scale. We probably landed 10 over estimated 5#, 2 over 6#, and a big-belly 23-incher.

I think that Hickory Creek is a great example of fishery management by club leaders, the landowner, and anglers. Ron, Bob Scheideman, and I were one of the first few parties that fished the new club property in early April, 2018.  We had tremendous fun catching several hundred bass among us but most of the bass from the overpopulated big lake were harvest-sized. The average size has increased steadily over the last four years while numbers are still respectable. Wade built the lake, added habitat, has ferilized, added forage, and added other bass strains. Expert lake management guidance from Steve, continuing financial investment from Wade, and good stewardship/harvesting by members have combined to deliver a first-class property. Hats off to all of you!!!