Hello everyone,
This is my first post to this group so take it easy on me! It�s been several years since I have done much fishing. My twin brother just returned from the service and I would like to take him fishing this weekend. I live west of Fort Worth and I have two wooden kayaks. Here is a picture of the boats I made http://users4.ev1.net/%7Emgober/P1010240.JPG . My choice in boats leaves me with limited fishing time. Benbrook is probably my first choice because it�s very close to home. So my question to you guys: if you had only one or two places to fish on Benbrook where would it be? Where would be the nearest place to launch? What bait/ fish should I target?

I have been reading up on the previous post and it looks like Richardson�s slough has been producing but I am unfamiliar with its location. I drove through Dutch Branch and the dam last night just checking things out. I have also looked at several aerial maps.

I think we may hit the lake early Monday morning to kick off Memorial Day. Any suggestions to make this trip a success would be greatly appreciated.

~gober

WOW == Nice Yaks!!!! You may be way too talented for us

I have some buddies that launch their yaks over at the Longhorn ramp on the East side near the dam and then Yak over to Richardson's - big cove just south of the ramp. Fish the wind blown points/shores for white bass. Go along the rocky bank south of Richardsons and you might hook up a hybrid -- lot of good trees in that area to keep the pleasure boaters away.

Best time to hit the lake this weekend will be early Sunday morning - all the hard partiers the day before will be trying to recover so you can sneak in some fishing, then get off the lake by about 10:00. Not too many other times will be good this weekend.

WELCOME to the TFF !!!!

launch over by the trinity river and yak up the river-- not accessible with a big boat.... but your yaks would be P E R F E C T!! Small crappie jigs would probably catch anything in there that swims!! You can actually go to Whiskey Flats (down 377 past Benbrook) and put in there... yak down to the lake and back. Wouldnt start fishing until the power lines... You will see them overhead.

Welcome to the TFF! Those are some sweet rigs! I'd be with SkeeterRonnie, and my second choice would be Richardson. The lake can get pretty rough with a South wind, and kayaks are hard to see out on the open water. Impaired boaters might make it a risky trip for the holiday weekend.
That said, we caught fish over by the RC Airfield Monday, well within yak distance from th bank.
Good Luck!

Are there any good evening schools busting the surface?

Thanks for the tips everyone. I checked out whiskey flats on Saturday but it looked too low to make it all the way down so we decided on Richardson slough. We got up early on Monday and arrived at Longhorn Park at 6:45, and that is when we realized the park didn�t open until 7:30. We were on the water at about 7:45 or so. The wind really kicked up quick but the kayaks held their own. We first dropped anchor as we entered the north end of Richardson slough. We saw other boats near the area. Man is it deep around there. Stayed for a while without a bite and then headed deeper in the slough. We then tied up at the trees where the slough forks. We spent about an hour or so there, only one bite. Then headed up the right (smaller) fork of the slough and went almost all the way to the back. We stopped at a few groups of stumps near the back and fished without any luck. I caught a nice large mouth bass off the point between the fork and released it. That was about all we caught. The boats we were watching didn�t seem to be having much luck. Any tips having a better trip next time? We were using: live minnows, rattle traps, chatter bait (caught the bass with this), and spoons. I haven�t checked the gps but its looks like it was about a 2 � mile paddle. We still had fun. I am going Lake LBJ this weekend; maybe I�ll have better luck.

~gober

Hi gober,

I think we saw you out there, we were in a 20' pontoon. When we saw you you were out in about 45' to 48' deep water.

In a kayak, your best bet would be to head into richardson slough and fish from the sand flat that is on the outside of the channel. On the northern most shoreline, there is a point that is formed before it curves back into the thin part of the slough. There is a small cove formed by this point and it curves up to where you see those cut down trees in the water or bushes or whatever you want to call them(there are two bunches of them and you will be fishing east of the bushes. We caught fish after fish there the other day with the majority being sandies and hybrids and all were caught on white wildeyes. I would either anchor about 150 yards off shore or wade the area, up to the drop, it is only 3-6ft deep, then it hits 18, then 27ft. I am casting from the shallow water, letting the lure sink in the deeper water and retrieving slow. If you dont get a bite within 30 casts or so, be a little patient but keep your eyes open for schooling fish. RS has been blowing up recently with very large schools of sandies. We were seeing schools as large as two football fields, litterally taking up almost the whole slough.
Another thing to try is to tie up to the sticks you see in the middle of the slough. There is usually a guy in a pontoon tied up but he is not always there, just most of the time..lol.. I bet everyone on that has been on the lake has seen that dude in the pontoon. I saw him sunday and a few times last week. Anyways, those trees hold crappie and an occasional big bass. I have also seen some good hybrids come off of those sticks.
Last thing to try would be to pull a drift from the most southern part of the slough to the caty corner most northern part of the slough. The wind is usually blowing from the southeast and gives you a perfect drift. While drifting, drop down a minnow and have a slab on the other rod. I catch tons of fish pulling that drift. It does help having a depth finder but its not necessary. by making this drift, you will come over two channels in the area and also will go over many trees. I usually dont drop minnow or shad all the way to the bottom, stay a few cranks off. Also, when using braid, I can feel the trees below, so when I do feel them I am sure not to make any quick yanks and try to feel my way around them. Good luck and with the way the wind has been howling, RS is about the only place you can make a decent drift without getting pushed off the lake at 2+Mph. I think most of our recent drifts have been around 1.3 or so but sunday it was more like 1.8-2+. Was WINDY. Good luck and I usually dont take much other than my wildeyes in 3 and 4 inch and a bunch of slabs. My buddy was using traps and did fairly well but there were not any big ones taken on the trap. Good luck

Keith

Wiggins, is that you that is always tied up to the sticks out in the middle? I saw a guy last week with his wife or a woman and also saw a different guy (still pontoon) on Sunday tied up. JUst wondering because I have been seeing tons of the same people out but I never say anything, just wave. I also saw a red and white CC out this past weekend and a white and I think blue cajun that I have seen around.
If that was you on sunday, did you not see all the hybrids and sandies busting??? I noticed that the boats in RS were leaving right as all the fish started busting all over. We were the only boat back in the cove loading up. See you guys out.

Hi John we saw a couple of pontoons, one had three folks the other had two. WOW I knew we were deep but didn�t realize it was that deep. I didn�t know how long the anchor rope was. How did you make out?

PiePuncher first thanks for taking the time so share such a detailed post, I really appreciate it. I read the post several times. I went to maps.google.com to further understand your tips. I pulled down a copy of the slough. I see a small cove in the far north east corner before the slough makes a sharp southerly turn, is this the cove you are talking about? There is another much smaller cove about midway between the opening of the slough and the back corner cover. You are saying maybe anchor off the point about 150 yards and fish towards the center of the slough or towards the point? I ask because I am unsure of the location of the channel. Would you mind if I emailed you the map I downloaded and marked with your advice? I cant figure out how to upload pictures on the board.

Thanks for all the assistance.
~gober

Gober.. When anchored up, you should be casting twords the opposite shoreline(south shoreline) sure you cant even get close(no where near) but there is a channel and two drops in front of that point and the fish hold on both. You also have schools that just come rumbling through and you will catch fish after fish. You are right about which cove it is. It is a fairly large cove, just not a very deep cove, takes a good eye to see it. If the water is right, you can see the sandbar and you can even see the sand color change on the bank. The sand is a red/brown in color. Before the flat, the sand is a white limestone color. I am thinking about heading out in a bit but will walk the shoreline. I chased quite a few schools down that were hanging out in that area the other day and I think I would be more effective wading(No boat motor noise) I noticed the fish would stay up for long periods of time and when I got to them(whether trolling motor or outboard) they would go down or move after about 10 fish or so. If on land or in yak or canoe, the fish tend to stay around a little longer as long as the paddles and myself are not slapping the bottom. Good luck and let me know how you do. If you really think about it, you can tell where the channel is. Remember that it runs back into the slough and there is one on the south shore and one on the north. Both are very deep ranging from 27ft-45 or so, just depends on where you are. If ever in a boat, just cruise around and check out your graph, you can learn quite a bit with a depth finder!!!!!! The lake being low for a year didnt hurt either...

If you head out anytime soon, let me know. I live about 1 mile from lake and am out often. Will either be in a 17ft tracker, yellow canoe, red yak, or will be wading waist-shoulder deep back in the slough. If you go past the sand flat or past the most east point of the cove, the water drops very very fast. 20 yards from shore it goes from 3ft-17 very quick. If in the right place, you can walk all over and it will not be any deeper than about 5ft. if in the yak, anchor at about 5-6ft and work your bait in a fan like area, casting directly south all the way to casting directly west. You will find them, just be patient. I have noticed more schooling in the mid day than in the evening. Bite seems to be best right now around noon-3 or so. I think it died off at around 4 on Sunday and 3 or so on saturday. Went twice in the evening last week and caught nothing but a few yellow bass and missed one good fish. Was slow..

Hey Piepuncher,

Jim and I were out there Friday and Monday. I'm just an old fart and Jim is a real old fart. He's 83 and only like to Crappie fish so that's what we do. So we do fish the sticks your talking about.

Too cool, next time I am out, I will say hi to you guys. I dont think I saw you two but there was another pontoon tied up. Actually, almost everytime I go out, I see a pontoon tied up to the trees. You guys catch any nice ones? My buddy Jared said he caught a few three weeks ago there. Three nice ones and I think three or four small ones.
I was out the last two saturdays and sundays and a few times throughout the week. Will keep my eyes open and good luck to you guys.