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Lake Conroe Fishing Report - Lake Conditions: The “Summer Patterns” are set in
and fishing couldn’t be better. There is little to no boat traffic on the Lake during the week and weekends are just not that bad.
Early and late bite continues to be the best with cool mornings and cooling evenings after our daily summer showers. The Lake is down at 200.00 feet.  Evaporation is starting to drop the level of the lake a little bit each day. The water is clear
and the surface temperature keeps going up and is now 87 degrees plus on the main lake. Black bass fishing continues to be good with the bigger fish moving to deeper water and out of
the warming shallow water. Large fish are still being caught; but, the numbers of fish in the tournaments has decreased. Hybrid fishing has pretty much been restricted to deeper
water. Live bait has continued to produced the most fish. White Bass fishing just hasn’t had that many folks trying. Crappie fishing has been fair. Still lots of undersized fish on
the brush piles. Big Bream fishing continues to be great with lots of palm size bream being caught in 6 to 10 feet of water in and around rocks. Catfish fishing has been outstanding with
lots of 2 1/2 to 4 pound fish being caught in boat docks in he shade in 3 to 4 feet of water. It is hard to believe the catfish are still around the docks; but, limits of fish are coming in
every day by fishermen baiting shadded docks in 3 to 5 feet of water.The 1097 Bridge is also producing good fish. If you chum, the grass carp will be a real pest!!!!!! If you are looking for a
great vacation treat for your family close to home, give one of our guides a call and book a trip on one of the best fishing lakes in Texas
Black Bass
 Bass fishing is getting to be a bigger challenge.
There is NO HYDRILLA left in the Lake and other aquatic plants are very scarce in most areas of the Lake. We have had one of the best bass fishing years in recent history; but,
with the total depletion of all grass by the Grass Carp, we are back to fishing structure, drop-offs and brush piles. More and more of the fish are being caught on brush piles in 8 to
15 feet of water and on structure in the same depths near deeper water. The total numbers of fish in the tournaments has decreased; but, still 10 plus pound fish are being weighed in.
The bigger fish have moved back into deeper water on drop-off’s and in brush piles and other submurged structure. Deep diving crankbaits and Carolina Rigger worms around pond dams
and brush piles have been producing some of the larger fish midday. Worms in pumpkin seed and watermelon are producing good solid fish. Lizard also have been a good bait. Dale Collier of Spring, Texas weighed in a 13 lb. 8 oz. Black Bass on Sunday, 07/13/08 at
April Plaza Marina on Lake Conroe. Tex Bonin, Texas Guide Service said this fish might have been a lake record if caught prior to the spawn. The fish was spawned out; but, still weighed in at 13 1/2 pounds. The current lake
record is held by Bill Boyett. Boyett caught his 14.91 lb. fish on March 4, 1997. The Budweiser ShareLunker season ended April 30 with a total of 13 fish entered into the program in 2008. Had
Collier's fish been caught prior to April 30, it would have qualified to be in the program. This is the second fish over 13 pounds caught in Lake Conroe this year. Tyler Goetzman of Willis, Texas caught
the first ShareLunker fish reported in 2008 on January 13th. Goetzman's fish was ShareLunker No.442 and weighed in at 13.06 lbs. Lake Conroe is becoming one of the most productive lakes in
Texas for 'Big Bass"
Collier's big fish was kept in the fish tank at April Plaza Marina until it could be picked up on Monday by Chris Fenwick of the
Aquarium Design Group in Houston. The fish was relocated to the fish aquarium at
Bass Pro Shops in Pearland, Texas.
Aquarium Design Group maintains the fish aquarium for Bass Pro Shops. The “Thursday Night Tournament” hosted by April Plaza Marina has
been consistently reporting good catches. The tournament is from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. each Thursday from April through August. All entry money except $5 per week per fisherman is paid back to the
fishermen. The $5 withheld is used in the Lake Conroe restocking program.
Catfish
 Catfish fishing continues to just be outstanding. See our photo page for recent catches of catfish. The big surprise this year is that we
continue to find lots of catfish in the shallow water in the shade. Many fishermen are still fishing the boat docks and bulkheads where
there is shade long after the shad quit coming in early and late. Most of the guides are using King Kat Fish Bait (Premo)., shrimp dipped in Premo, Glo Worms and punch bait. We are
testing a new punch bait for Magic Bait Company. It has been remarkable. It is going to be called “Stick It”.
You can cast the bait while fishing the bulkheads and docks and several limits of catfish have been caught this past week using several varieties of the ‘test bait’. One of the real advantages with this new
bait is that you can fish close to home. For those that live on the Lake or have boats in storage facilities on the Lake, baited holes near home are getting to be the hot tip with the price of gas.
We will keep you posted as to when and where you can buy this new bait. You are going to love it if you fish for catfish on a regular basis. The guides have all been finding catfish on baited holes in 15
to 20 feet of water. When fishing bulkheads and docks, try and find an area near a point or secondary point where the wind is blowing into the dock and creating an eddy on the backside of the
boat dock. You will just about always find three of four catfish in these eddies. Other baits include
cut shad, cheese baits, nightcrawlers and liver. We have one of the best catfish fishing lakes in Texas.
 White Bass and Hybrid/Striped Bass
 The Hybrid fishing has been good out on the open water over humps and drop-off’s near the River and on the South end of the Lake. The guides are
finding hybrids early using live shad and fresh shad under a cork. The hybrids have been on humps in 18 -21 when feeding. Late afternoon fishing in deeper water where you
can see the hybrids chasing huge shad and been the hot tip. You can cast Storm Swim Shad in the areas you see the shad jumping. Trolling Jet Divers with a #13 Pet Spoon as a trailer
continues to catch hybrids once they are located. Be sure the Pet Spoon is at least 4 feet behind the Jet Diver and further if you can slow your troll down. The fish are suspended over
humps in 35 feet of water. White Bass fishing has picked up using inline spinner bait  behind a jet diver trolling. Jigging spoons & slabs along all the creek beds on the drop-offs in 20 to 24 feet of water has been also produced some white bass.
Several fishermen have gone back to using leadcore line and a countdown Rapala in shad color or the blue color to catch the hybrids trolling in deeper
water. The large schools of hybrids are gathering at the mouth of the creeks, in deep spots along the river close to humps and are staying in the
deeper parts of the creek off secondary points. The key is finding the fish is with your electronics. Using the inline spinner bait also catches hybrids, catfish, bream, black bass and even a crappie every
now and them. Trolling with the inline spinner bait makes for an easy day with younger fishermen in your boat and it is fun for all. Never quite sure what you might catch. The only disadvantage is the
smaller hook makes it pretty easy for the hybrids to get off the hook.
Bream & Crappie
 Crappie fishing reports have not been as good this week.
Crappie fishing over all has been real slow the past couple of weeks. Lots of small undersized fish on the brush piles. Bream fishing continues to be outstanding with lots of good sized fish
in 5 to 12 feet of water. Glow-Worms (Green Nightcrawlers) have been paying off for several of the guides. These worms have a milkey green discharge when they hit the water which
seems to attract the bream very quickly. Not sure why; but, they sure work on both bream and catfish. Ask Tex!!! Light tackle provides a action packed adventure when bream fishing.
Bream are being caught along the bulkheads as well as in deeper water when chumming for catfish. We now have some really big bream in Lake Conroe. Many fishermen chum with range
cubes to attract and hold the bream. Only problem, this has also been attracting the grass carp. The grass carp are biting night crawlers and put up a real fight when caught. These fish must
be released unharmed back into the Lake. Meal Worms and regular nightcrawlers are also a good bet. Several buckets of hand sized bream were caught this week using crickets. Don’t forget to check the
Academy Weekly Ad for real saving on all your fishing, sports and outdoor gear.
Click Here To See Photos Of Recent Catches.
Click Here For Update On White Amur And The Lake Conroe Hydrilla Control Program.
 Keep A Tight Line & Enjoy!
Papa John
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