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Lake O' the Pines Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Lake O' the Pines: a Corps reservoir on Big Cypress Creek where TPWD lists chain pickerel alongside bass, crappie and catfish.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Lake level
227.13 ft -1.37 vs pool
Air / High
83 / 84 F
Wind
SSE 4 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 07345900, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Lake O' the Pines sits in the sweet spot of the season: active fish and workable weather. The gauge reads 227.13 ft, 1.37 ft below pool, easing 0.23 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind SSE around 4 mph, steady pressure near 1019 hPa and a high of 84. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:55 AM-11:55 AM and 10:23 PM-12:23 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Largemouth bassGood

The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

CrappieFair

Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

White bassFair

Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

Tomorrow: Similar at 86 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Texas requires a fishing licence from age 17, from $30.00 for residents. What a Texas licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing largemouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with TPWD before you keep anything. The season dates for Texas, read off the agency, are on the Texas seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Lk O' the Pines nr Jefferson, TX.

Water level, last 30 days

USGS gauge 07345900. Conservation pool is 228.5 ft.

227.37227.81228.26pool 228.5227.13 ft09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp83 F
High / Low84 / 48 F
WindSSE 4-6 mph
Pressure1018.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:28 / 18:36
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~74 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Lake O' the Pines this week

The best day on Lake O' the Pines this week looks like Monday Oct 26, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Monday, Oct 26 β€” excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:55 AM-11:55 AM and 10:23 PM-12:23 AM
Minor period
4:17 AM-5:17 AM
Sun
07:28 to 18:36
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 6 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake O' the Pines: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: the spring spawn; summer around docks, brush and the thermocline

Two slab-sided panfish, the white crappie and the black crappie, that gather around submerged timber, brush piles, docks and bridge pilings in lakes, reservoirs and slow river backwaters. Texas Parks and Wildlife counts crappie as the state's most popular panfish. Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Year-round, best at dusk and after dark

Three big catfish share most of the country's rivers and reservoirs: the channel catfish, the most widespread; the blue catfish, the largest; and the flathead, which hunts live fish. All feed mostly on or near the bottom. Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

White bass illustration

White bass

Best: the spring run up the tributaries, then summer surface schools

A silvery temperate bass of rivers and large reservoirs, also called sand bass, that schools in open water after shad and runs up tributaries to spawn in early spring. Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

When to come: the Lake O' the Pines calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Crappie
Catfish (blue, channel)
White bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Lake O' the Pines today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 85 F, wind to 5 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 82 F, wind to 5 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 80 F, wind to 7 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Texas requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

TPWD rules for Lake O' the Pines, read October 8, 2026: largemouth and smallmouth 14-inch minimum, 5 black bass a day; channel and blue catfish 25 a day combined, only 10 of them 20 inches or longer; flathead 18-inch minimum, 5 a day; crappie 25 a day, 10-inch minimum from March through November, while from December 1 through February there is no minimum and every crappie caught must be kept; white bass 10-inch minimum, 25 a day; striped and hybrid bass 18-inch minimum, 5 a day. Live nongame fish from Big Cypress Bayou below the dam, including the Texas waters of Caddo Lake, may not be moved to other waters.

Access

TPWD says the Corps, Marion County and private marinas provide access; most ramps charge a launch fee, but the Corps keeps five free ramps besides its developed parks. Corps campgrounds with water and electricity: Brushy Creek, Buckhorn Creek, Johnson Creek and Alley Creek; primitive camping at Cedar Springs and Hurricane Creek.

About this water

19,780 acres at summer pool on Big Cypress Creek, Marion, Morris, Upshur and Camp counties, Texas; Corps of Engineers reservoir completed in 1958.

Fishing Lake O' the Pines: the full guide

The lake

TPWD places Lake O' the Pines on Big Cypress Creek in the Cypress River Basin, 25 miles northeast of Longview, in Marion, Morris, Upshur and Camp counties. It covers 19,780 acres at summer pool (230 feet, May 20 to September 15) and 18,700 acres at winter pool (228.5 feet), reaches 49.5 feet at its deepest, and was impounded beginning in August 1957, with construction finished in June 1958. The Corps of Engineers controls it.

Fish TPWD lists

Largemouth bass, spotted bass, blue, channel and flathead catfish, white bass, crappie, sunfish and chain pickerel are the predominant species. White bass are native to the basin and abundant, black crappie outnumber white crappie, and TPWD stocked Lone Star bass fingerlings in 2023 (141,284) and 2025 (142,059).

Cover

Aquatic plants cover 15 to 20% of the surface, with hydrilla dominant alongside buttonbush, water primrose and American lotus. TPWD and the Corps have added artificial fish habitat, and TPWD's Habitat Structure Viewer offers downloadable GPS coordinates for it.

Common questions

Are there chain pickerel in Lake O' the Pines?

Yes. TPWD lists chain pickerel among the lake's predominant species.

What is the crappie rule?

From December 1 through the end of February there is no minimum length and every crappie caught must be kept; from March through November the minimum is 10 inches. The limit is 25 a day all year.

Why is the lake lower in fall and winter?

The Corps holds a winter conservation pool of 228.5 feet from September 16 to May 19 and a summer pool of 230 feet. The USGS lake gauge (07345900) read 227.47 feet on October 8, 2026.

Is fishing good at Lake O' the Pines right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Lake Bob Sandlin32 miCaddo Lake35 miLake Cypress Springs37 miWright Patman Lake43 miLake Tyler50 miLake Fork54 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 07345900 β€” Lk O' the Pines nr Jefferson, TX
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:30 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 32.8007, -94.6097 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 8, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 8, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.