Raul and fishing associates,   One area I would love to improve greatly in since moving to east Texas is being able to identify types of timber standing in the lakes.   I want to know what types of timber grows next to or in the bottom creek channels, or a certain type of tree grows on hills, or in certain types of soil.   I can identify alot of living trees, but have a harder time on dead trees.  I feel by being able to identify visible standing timber would allow me to see a hump, creek or creek bend, or determine  the depth,  locate an underwater point, without having to graph it first.  Any sources of info would help.  

Let me see in what I can help...... east Texas, the vegetation is very similar to where I live, how far up north from the border, in the Amarillo area ?

Willows: Willows in my neck of the woods only grow where the soil is moist almost year round, that 's usually along the river and creek banks, a row of willows indicates a river or a creek channel: You can identify them by size and shape, normally those willows are very old by the time the lake was built so they are massive trees with heights up to 60 ft or more so most probably they are the biggest submerged trees you will see, A big body and massive branches extending from it are a trademark of a willow.

Mesquites: Mesquites grow on very poor soil, the tree even if it 's old doesn 't develop the massiveness of a willow, also the branches extend normally from only one main, and the main is usually surrounded and in the middle of them, branches are smaller than the main and divide continously into smaller branches giving the tree the apperance of a webby umbrella also soacing between them is quite regular, mesquites don 't grow in the near proximity of another mesquite they usualy grow 10-15 yards one from another, hang up a bait in them and you will easily recognize a mesquite, tough as nails with very rough bark.

Palo Verde: Palo verdes are not quite true trees they are more like a very huge bush, the brush can grow quite tall, I 've seen 20 ft tall Palo Verdes. The bush has several vertical branches after being in the water for a while the smaller branches  are gone and all you see is a mass of those vertical branches, you can identify them because the bark on them is smooth.

Huizache and cat nail brush: If you see huizaches above unless the lake is old you can bet that almost impenetrable mass of brush is going to be huizache or cat nail brush. The way to differentiate them is by the shape of the thorns, huizaches have long thin straight thorns in pairs, cat nail brush has single short curved thorns similar to a cat nail.

Let me take a look at my picture gallery I 'm shure I have pics where you can see how the timber looks when it 's submerged.

Raul, East Texas doesn't know what a mesquite is-it's mostly oak and pine over there.

Matt, I don't worry so much about the type of timber as I do the way it looks-it can tell you a lot about what lies below.  For example, if you see two trees leaning towards each other it is a good bet there is a creek channel in between them.  If I see a single tree leaning over I always fish the base of the tree on the side it is leaning towards.  There are usually some branches that have broken off at the base of the tree that can hold fish.

Last week while having lunch at one of the local marinas,  one of the guides was having lunch with his clients,  another guide stopped by and they compared notes,  One guide told the other,  "don't waste your time pitching to all the timber, just pitch to birch trees in 15+".  The clients eyes got big, and they just nodded their heads up and down with smiles as to attest to this info.  This might be useful to some,  but what does a birch thats been in water for 20 years look like?  For the first time, I had info  I couldn't relate to or use.

I think they meant, pitch to birch trees in 15 ft of water or deeper.

Okay bassackwards, Like the original post.  Can some one help me with the info on how to identify different types of trees standing in the lake.  If I knew exactly which ones were birch, I'd be in business that day.      

Get yourself a tree identity book and take it with you to the water. Trees such as oaks live on hard bottom areas, cypress, willows live in depressions and creek channels, and pines on sand areas or high points. In your area if you find birch lining the banks of a creek then it would be in the same area if flooded. In Texas river birch don't grow anywhere except on a creek bank. Usually the larger trees are the ones that are next to the channel. If you find a group of cypress next to some pines you might be looking at a high spot in the lake bottom. This high spot might be the edge of a old creek channel. If you can't identify the trees then identify the bottom and look at the trees on either side of the bank to give you a idea what they look like.

Thanks Chris,  This is the type of info I'm looking for.  know of any good books?  Theres so much timber in east TX, and it all looks the same most of the time,  just trying to broaden my "above water map reading skills"  with out the map!

Here is a site that shows trees

http://www.arborday.org/trees/treeguide/browsetrees.cfm