Dallas, Tx Area fishing

[CPT Scrap]

So, im currently set to be stationed at Ft. Hood in december.  From what ive seen, its only 1-2 hrs south of dallas/ft. worth.  Im curious as to what lakes in the area would be good to fish.  I know of lewisville, because that is were the Boat U.S. college national championships have been held, and ive been to Fork which looks like a 3 hr drive from dallas.  any and all help would be great, thanks guys

Keep the lines wet!

[Pencil Pusher]

You will have a bunch of good lakes much closer than DFW. Belton is right next to Ft Hood and the Colorado river chain of lakes is not far. All of these are much less crowded than the DFW area Lakes. I live in Dallas and you couldn't pay me to fish Lewisville, way too many skiers, wake boarders, and drunks. It is considered the most dangerous lake in Texas. Look up the TPWD website, you can find every lake in Texas listed with information as to location, species, Etc. Also, "Texas Fish & Game" magazine publishes the "Texas Lakes and Bays Fishing Atlas" each year that has maps and detailed information about a number of Texas lakes and inshore bays.

[Matt Fly]

Fork would be about 3.5 hours from Killeen.    You have Stillhous Hollow right in your front door.   Used to have alot of grass, but some of it has disappeared.

You have Waco, Richland Champers, Whitney has great SM population, Belton just to name a few that won't take you long to get to.

Good luck.

[HydrillaKilla]

lt. scrap

if i were only 3 hours from fork i would not care what other lakes existed!  

[flechero]

Ft. Hood is in a great area for fishing... as already mentioned, Belton and Stillhouse are here and depending on your preferences, you can be fishing for a wide range of fish within a reasonable drive.  I will paste an old post below.

If you can tolerate the mid summer heat, Central Tx is a great area.  I live about an hour north of Austin.  Belton Lake has LM, SM, spotted bass, whites, hybrid striped, crappie, catfish and panfish.  Within an hour or hour and a half drive you can also have rainbow trout, Stripers, walleye, landlocked redfish (2 different places) and tilapia.  You won't have a chance at a record trout or walleye, but the numbers are good in all the listed species.  (I can't speak from experience with walleye, I've not fished for them here, just know others that have)  With the diversity of shallow and deep lakes and power plant lakes, you can fish spawn from December through early May if you want.  You'll also have a good variety of lake types, from deep clear rocky bluff lakes, to shallow stumpy hydrilla and weed filled dark water lakes or anything in between... take your pick.  

You'll have Austin just south, Dallas/Ft.Wworth area is 2 hours north, Fork is 3 hours, the coast (Gulf of Mexico) is only a few hours away.  I ended up here purely by luck.  And I don't think you'll ever get me to leave!  I only wish we had musky...  but I need a reason to go north once in a while!

[CPT Scrap]

awesome guys, thanks for the help, and to specify im pretty much a LM, SM, spotted fishermen.  I do go for catfish every now and then, and ive heard some stories about alligator gar fishin in south central tx that sounded fun, but nothin i have would stand up to them.

[EastTexasBassin]

If you head slightly east of Dallas to the Canton area, there are countless ponds and small lakes full of bass.  Most are on private property, but if you're really polite and you promise to clean up they will most likely let you fish.  My first 10 pounder was caught in a pond outside of the city of Van.  There are many other ponds in the area that hold some really nice bass.

[G_Clark]

Lots of good lakes around DFW. On the Ft Worth side you have Eagle Mountain, Benbrook, Lake Worth. In between there is Joe Pool, and Arlington Lake which is small but a good fishery. On the Dallas side there is Lavon, and south of Dallas is Cedar Creek. North of Dallas Grapevine, Lewisville as you mentioned, and a little further north is Ray Roberts a good bass fishery. Fork is 1.5 hours from Dallas.