The Three Fish
Bluegill, blue catfish and crappie — nothing else. Everything here is checked against Texas Parks & Wildlife and other fisheries agencies, with the source beside each fact.
Lepomis macrochirus
Bluegill
The first fish for most Texans — and a scrappy, sweet-eating fish your whole life.
Also called: bream, perch, sunfish
Ictalurus furcatus
Blue catfish
The big one. Blue cats are open-water shad hunters, and winter is when the giants feed.
Also called: blue cat, blues
Pomoxis annularis (white) · Pomoxis nigromaculatus (black)
Crappie
Texas' favorite eating fish. Find the brush, find the depth, and they come in bunches.
Also called: slabs, white perch, sac-a-lait
Fall turnover
In summer a lake splits into a warm, oxygen-rich top layer over a cold bottom layer that can run out of oxygen. In fall the surface cools and wind mixes the whole lake; afterward fish can be found at any depth. [1] A sudden mix — cold rain plus wind — can drop oxygen too low. Warmwater fish are stressed below about 3 ppm dissolved oxygen, and some die below 2 ppm. [2] When a fishing report on a lake mentions turnover, our outlook marks that lake down for crappie until it settles.
The truth about the barometer
Anglers swear by it, but the science is thin. A TPWD biologist who tracked white crappie at LBJ and Waco saw fish move when pressure changed, hold still and feed less in stable high pressure, and go deeper after cold fronts — and said he couldn't tell whether temperature, wind or pressure was the cause. [3] A controlled lab test on yellow perch found no significant effect of pressure on feeding. [4] So our outlook rates the whole front — wind shift, temperature drop, bright sky — and shows the barometer as the best single sign a front is coming, not as magic.
License, Free Fishing Day and the drain law
- Anyone fishing Texas public water needs a fishing license with a freshwater endorsement — except anglers under 17, Texas residents born before January 1, 1931, and a few others. The license year ends August 31. [5]
- Free Fishing Day is the first Saturday in June every year — no license or endorsement needed that day; every other rule still applies. [6]
- Leaving or approaching public fresh water, you must drain all water from the boat and everything on it — livewells, bilges, motors, bait buckets — kayaks included. Bait you caught yourself stays on that lake; bought bait is fine with a receipt. [7]
- Community Fishing Lakes (public lakes 75 acres or less inside a city or public park): 5 fish a day all species combined, pole and line only, 2 poles. [8]
Handling and releasing big fish
Fish under about 5 lb can be held by the lower jaw; hold bigger fish horizontally with two hands. Wet your hands, keep fish off the boat floor, keep fingers out of the eyes and gills, and keep them out of the water no longer than you can hold your breath. Bring deep fish up slowly, and revive them facing into the current. [9]
Handyman & home repair — Huntsville to Austin, Hwy 105 to Hwy 290, into Austin and through Bastrop.
Sources
- Missouri Dept. of Conservation — Pond turnover
- Texas A&M AquaPlant — Dissolved oxygen
- In-Fisherman (trade magazine) reporting TPWD biologist Craig Bonds' crappie tracking at LBJ and Waco
- Bemidji State University lab study — barometric pressure and yellow perch feeding
- TPWD — fishing licenses and packages
- Texas Parks & Wildlife Code §46.0012 — Free Fishing Day
- TPWD — possession and transport of exotic aquatic species (drain rule)
- TPWD — Community Fishing Lakes rules
- TPWD — catch and release tips