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I get some very strange fishing reports from readers; but, this one has to take the prize. We all know that we are blessed with a very plentiful population of catfish in our Lake. Often times we get reports of fishermen catching 50 to 100 fish a day in a party of four; however, this is the first time I have heard about someone catching a nice fish from a dangling, unattended line while the fisherman was taking a break.

This fisherman was taking a break from catching fish and stuck his rod in a rod holder with the line dangling in the water. When he came back to get the rod and start fishing, it already had a catfish on the line. Now I guess that is about as easy as it gets.

Check out the fishing report to get the lattest on the catfish!

Have a story you want to share?????….send it with pictures to papajohn@lakeconroefishingguides.com

Jerry Smitherman is a very serious fisherman. He showed up down on the Point Aquarius docks late Friday afternoon and asked how the fishing was. Everyone responded we have caught a few. Jerry wants to know if there were any big ones in the area. Someone responded that most of the fish caught were 11-13 inches. Jerry kind of acted like that wasn’t really what he was interested in.

No one paid much attention to what Jerry was doing, which looked like nothing. Several fishermen were catching fish and of course holding them up for Jerry to see. He just smiled and said he was looking for that one BIG FISH. Well, let me tell you, in about an hour, here comes Jerry down the dock with what everyone thought was a small bass. As he got closer, everyone realized it was a crappie. “Now this is what I call a BIG ONE”, Jerry said as he proceeded to get his picture taken and leave. I guess you only need one if it is almost 17 inches long. Be sure and check the FISHING REPORT for what else is going with the fishing this weekend.

We that live on Lake Conroe and those that visit the Lake from other areas are so blessed to be able to get out and enjoy the beauty of this part of Texas. Spring is upon us. The water temperature of the Lake has increase significantly the past few days and fishing will just continue to improve with each passing day.

I spend most of my days on the Lake and it fills my heart with joy to see more and more fathers taking their kids fishing. Grandparents are also really getting into the swing of things. As the water warms, the crappie and bream are going to move to the shallow water. A cork and a minnow can provide a young fisherman/fisherwoman with a lots of fun.

Don’t forget to take your kids and grandchildren fishing!

Click Here for a current fishing report.

ATHENS—Most ShareLunkers—13-pound-plus bass caught between October 1 and April 30—are caught by ordinary anglers who enjoy a brief flurry of fame and get a fiberglass replica of their catch and some ShareLunker clothing.

The angler who catches the 500th entry into the Toyota ShareLunker program will get all that and a little something extra: $500 a pound for every pound the fish weighs. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is offering the prize to mark the 500th lunker milestone and celebrate the success of the Toyota ShareLunker Program, which began in 1986. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation is providing the prize money.

A fish that meets the minimum 13-pound weight for entry into the program will be worth $6,500. A 14-pounder would garner the angler $7,000. And should someone catch a new state record weighing, say, 18.2 pounds, they would take home a cool $9,100.

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January and February are always good months for bird watching on Lake Conore. We are blessed with an abundance of wildlife and photo oportunities. The weather has been very cold; but, if you bundle up and take it slow, you can see Osprey, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, American White Pelican, Eagles, King Fisher, Blue Birds and many others.

“On Guard” is a photo taken while on a bird watching trip on Lake Conroe with Papa John. The Photo On This Page Is The Property Of Louis E. Wheeler And Is Copy Right Protected. Many photos of wildlife in the Montgomery County area can be viewed at his gallery.

Click Here For More Information.

Lake Conroe has experienced a huge increase in the crappie population the past couple of years. Many that fish for crappie use jigs for bait; however, the bait of choice for many are minnows. The wonderful thing about using minnows for bait is that it makes it possible for the younger fishermen to take part in a fun day on the Lake fishing. We have been getting lots of pics in from families all around the Lake. The temperature is going to start going up a little each day if we don’t get any more real cold fronts. With the warmer water temperature more and more fish will move to the shallows and brush piles in 7 to 12 feet of water. Below is a email I received from one fisherman.

FFA (FISH FILET ASSOCIATION) Report 50 kept- 100- caught—crappie- (1) 15 !/2”—(6) 13”—(7)=12”—(36)=11”——–(16) males—–(34) females—females all have egg roe—no red tail males –should be next week.

We have had a lot of email the past few weeks wondering about Stick!It and how the guides use the bait most effectively.

This new bait has many advantages; but, the biggest one is that it attracts catfish and it says on the hook. Stick!It can be use to both cast and to vertical fish into chum.

When vertical fishing, it is best to use a 1/2 oz. bullet weight about 10 to 15 inches above a VMC 9626 4X STRONG TREBLE HOOK #4. These hooks can be purchased at Academy and are very strong. You can use something like a stick of aluminum stick 1/4 X 1/16 that can be purchased at Low’s or any other hardware outlet and cut into 12 to 14 inch sticks. This allows you to punch the hook down into the bait and pull it our with a nice large marble sized ball of bait around the hook. Then drop the baited hook down into the chum and real the slack out of the line so the line is tight. Lay the rod down on the edge of your boat so you can see the tip move. If it dips, set the hook. In the cold weather the bite will be ever so slight and if you don’t watch the tip, you will miss the bite.

When casting, rig the line the same as you do when vertical fishing only this time leave a slight bow in your line after you cast so the fish can pick up the bait without any resistance. When the line begins to straighten out and get tight, set the hook. Then the fight is on. Click here for more information concerning Stick!It

I just wanted the people of Conroe to know that this past weekend a group of avid cat fishermen from www.FishingAcrossTX.com braved the cold and jugged Lake Conroe hoping to land a big catfish. We gathered at Castaways Campground and RV Park on Weirs Creek, north of FM 1097. The fishermen came from all over the state with the majority from the Temple/Belton area north of Austin. And the furthest angler pulling his boat six hours from the OH Ivie Reservoir area.

It was quite an event with the cold front blowing through Friday and dropping the temperatures to the low 20s. Although the number of fish weren’t counted we, as a group, caught over 400 keeper catfish with the biggest weighing in at 73 pounds on a certified scale. It was caught by anglers Morris Taymon of Katy and Michael Dominguez Of Temple. The second biggest blue catfish was no slough either as it weighed 63 pounds and was caught by Alvin Brown of Conroe. There were also several fish caught in the 30 and 40 pound range. In keeping with conservation and maintaining the great catfish population all large catfish were photographed and released.

Conroe is one of the best if not the best catfishing lake in this great state of Texas. Angles come from afar to catch the catfish in our local lake. And not only is Lake Conroe known for its great catfishing but it is quickly becoming a premier bass fishing lake with four Share Lunkers entered into the Texas Parks and Wildlife Sharelunker program last year, which included the years largest entry at 15.93 pounds by Conroe Angler of the Year Ricky Bearden. Ricky’s sharelunke bass was a new Lake Conroe record. Donald Piper

Joey Anderson had quite a surprise while crappie fishing in the Marina where he keeps his boat for crappie. His wife handed him her rod while she did some cleaning on their boat and the next thing Joey knew, his line was moving off and he was unable to do much about it. He was using an ultra-lite rod and reel and all of a sudden he had a situation to deal with like he had never had before. He played the fish for over 30 minutes and everyone on the dock got involved. A friend with a boat in the next stall had a gaff and with his help they were able to land a 53.8 pound flathead catfish. Joey said this was the biggest fish he had ever caught and it looked like they would have plenty of catfish to eat for weeks to come. Joey’s wife Becky caught some nice crappie the same day; but, had to admit, Joey’s fish was considerably bigger.

Hey Papa John!

Just found your web site after having a great fishing trip on Conroe this past weekend with my son Taylor.

I had fished on Friday, catching limits of Crappie. He wanted to go with me on Saturday, after two friends and myself went on Friday and caught 3 limits of nice Crappie under the 1097 Bridge.

Saturday we caught another limit, along with this huge White Crappie. The fish measures 16.875 inches long and weighed a whopping 2.13 pounds. Now this is a Lake Conroe Crappie my friend! I have been fishing this lake for many years and Crappie fishing for over 35 years steady.

The joy of catching this fish, and having my 17 year old fishing buddy with me, along with my best friends fishing on pylons next to me will be a fishing memory of a lifetime, and I wanted to share it with all your readers.

Everyone fishing around us thought it was a big bass!

I know men who have Crappie fished all their lives, and have never even seen a Crappie this big. It was a truly memory making day.

I went back on Sunday, the 10th of November and me and Matt, a good friend of mine, caught two limits of crappie in 4 hours!

Happy Fishing My Friend !

Rick Bridges
Magnolia, Texas