Anglers tired of the crowds at the new Bois d’Arc Reservoir in northeast Texas may want to consider an excursion just a few miles to the northeast.
At Davy Crockett Lake, located in Fannin County near the Red River, the Inland Fisheries Denison District shared on Facebook multiple big bass recently brought in during a daytime shocking survey. The lake, managed for big bass, has a 16-inch maximum length limit.
The small reservoir, at 355 acres with a maximum depth of 20 feet, can’t handle big crowds, but the bass are impressive. One largemouth had a giant gizzard shad coming out of its mouth when pulled from the water.
Fishermen on the lake keep their catches to themselves, and while none would discuss their fishing, some replied to the photos.
“There goes that secret honey hole,” Phil Miller posted.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department fisheries biologist Dan Bennett said restrictive harvest regulation of larger bass specifically on the lake is working.
“We have a 16-inch maximum length limit which means you can harvest five bass a day under 16 inches, but anything you catch over that has to be released,” he said. “Davy Crockett has big bass and very stable water levels which allow exotic vegetation to be maintained over time. They’re real dependent on aquatic vegetation for the younger fish to hide in and have the opportunity to grow large enough to avoid predation of the bigger fish.”
Bennett also said the lake provides refuge habitat for the larger fish during the spawning season.
“The 16-inch maximum length limit is a specific regulation designed and intended to
increase the number of and quality of fish in that lake,” he said. “We are really trying to conserve the large bass aspect of Davy Crockett.”
The Florida largemouth bass stocked at the lake come from the offspring of fish donated through the ShareLunker program in which anglers provide bass caught that are 13 pounds or larger.
“The goal is to really ramp up the large bass potential by stocking up lakes with those fish,” Bennett said.
