SAN ANGELO, TX — Here is the area fishing report for the week of Feb. 11 from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department:
FAIR. 50 degrees; 5.68 feet below pool. Crappie continue to be fair in 25-35 feet with minnows. Report by Randy Britton, The Bait Shop, Post, Texas.
SLOW. Water stained 59 degrees; 64.96 feet below pool. Water levels at Lake Amistad continue to drop and are now nearing 65 feet below pool. Despite recent cold fronts, water temperatures have climbed into the high 50s. Bass fishing remains challenging overall, though quality fish are being caught at times, with the most consistent bites coming off the tops of ledges in 15-20 feet of water near steep drop-offs, as well as in remaining grass beds in pockets with gradually tapering depths. Crappie reports have been limited over the past couple of weeks. Catfishing has been fair, with glow nightcrawlers producing the best results. Report by Kurt Dove, Amistad Bass Guide
Peterson, 4 Reel Fun Guide Service.
SLOW. Water stained; 50 degrees; 0.56 feet below pool. Expect fish to push deeper and the bite slow due to the weather. Bass should be offshore biting Carolina rigs, jerkbaits or small swimbaits. Crappie will be scattered.
SLOW. Water stained; 50 degrees; 3.14 feet below pool. Black bass to 9.05 pounds are excellent on soft plastic Prickly Pears in Lone Star Disco scoping around docks and jigs in 10-12 feet of water. Use squarebill crankbaits on the rocks around main lake pockets and points. Crappie are slow to 11 inches on minnows in main lake scattered brush piles. White bass are slow to 1.5 pounds scattered around the main lake. Catfish are slow on minnows and on jug lines with cut shad or perch in the main lake docks and drains.
GOOD. Water stained; 53 degrees; 2.50 feet below pool. White bass are good trolling crankbaits in the river. Striped bass are good with jigging spoons or deadsticking soft plastics 30-50 feet of water. Report by Travis Holland, TH Fishing. Crappie are fair with fish bunched up in 25 feet of water on brush and standing timber suspended 25-30 feet down with minnows. Blue catfish are good in 25-30 feet of water on midlake points with cut shad. Report by Jess Rotherham, Texas Crappie Fishing Service. Stripers are good trolling umbrella rigs and downriggers with bucktails in 31-52 feet of water on the points and humps. Livebait and jigging spoons are fair to good along the river channel and main lake points and humps. White bass are good, with some hybrids mixed in, from Garrett Island to the river trolling crankbaits. Stop on the main points and humps with jigging spoons and smaller shad or jumbo minnows in 28-45 feet of water. Report by Captain Aaron Dick, One Up Fishing Guide Service.
GOOD. Water normal stain; 59 degrees; 16.75 feet above pool. Cooler weather and passing fronts have brought north winds and occasional light rain to Lake Cisco, making conditions a bit tougher but still producing fish. Catfish remain the most consistent bite, with anglers catching good numbers on cut shad and punch bait around creek channels. Crappie action is slowly improving on brush and timber in 12-20 feet using minnows. Bass reports are light, but a few are moving shallow on warmer afternoons and hitting spinnerbaits and squarebills around rocks. Wind can make the lake choppy, so use caution.
SLOW. Water stained; 50 degrees; 3.45 feet below pool. Target bass on the points with red crankbait or lipless crankbaits.
GOOD. Water stained; 48 degrees; 5.62 feet below pool. Catfish should be shallow on fresh cut shad. Hybrids should be in 25-30 feet of water trolling or with live bait. Crappie are in 12-20 feet of water on structure with minnows and jigs. Report by Big Country Guide Service. Reports of a 14 pound bass. Target bass on the points with red crankbait or lipless crankbaits.
SLOW. Water Stained; 50 degrees; 14.63 feet below pool. Target bass on the points with red crankbait or lipless crankbaits.
GOOD. Water stained; 56 degrees; 0.75 feet below pool. Bass are being caught on crankbaits in 5–12 feet of water around rocky areas and submerged vegetation. Fish are grouped up, and anglers can often catch multiple bass in small productive zones. Bass are holding in shallow to mid-depth areas and appear to be shifting toward pre-spawn patterns. Anglers should expect to see more fish staging and preparing for the spawn over the next few weeks. Report by Ander Meine, Bassquatch Fishing.
FAIR. Water stained; 59 degrees; 0.19 feet below pool. Crappie are fair in 25-30 feet of water with chartreuse jigs and minnows. Channel and blue catfish are fair in 25-30 feet of water on midlake points with shad. Report by Jess Rotherham, Texas Crappie Fishing Service. Bass fishing is picking up as the water temperature rises. Bass are good slowly dragging a Texas rig over shallow rock piles and rocky banks. Water clarity 2-3 feet of visibility. Report by Evan Coleman, Big Bassin Fishing Tours.
FAIR. Water slightly stained; 53 degrees; 0.92 feet below pool. Bass are fair flipping soft plastics around reed bases and laydowns in 1-5 feet of water. The key is to cover water until you find a good stretch that holds multiple bass. Bass are beginning to transition into spawning areas with the warmer weather we have had lately. Secondary points leading into spawning pockets are going to be key. It is important to slow down your retrieve during the winter months because the fish are more lethargic due the colder water temperatures. Crappie are fair around main lake boat docks on chartreuse jigs and catfish were fair on cut bait and stink bait around river channel bends. Report by the Angelo State Fishing Team.
SLOW. Water stained; 50 degrees; 32.14 feet below pool. Few reports and anglers fishing due to low lake levels.
FAIR. Water stained; 52 degrees; 19.79 feet below pool. Black bass are good to 11 pounds with most fish in the 2-4 pounds. Reports of fish being caught as deep as 25-30 feet on big swimbaits and spoons. Fish around the brush in 5-12 feet as well, but smaller on a variety of baits. Crappie reports are improving. Reports of a limit of crappie in the tops of trees as deep as 50 feet, but primarily in 25-30 feet in the tops of deep trees with minnows working best. White bass are good on spoons and Alabama rigs 30-35 feet on deep points and channel swings. Catfish are good up rivers on a variety of baits with rod-and-reels with shrimp. Report by Wendell Ramsey, Ramsey Fishing.
SLOW. Water lightly stained; 50 degrees; 22.99 feet below pool. Crappie are on brush and roaming open water with jigs or minnows. Bass are slow with soft plastics in deeper water.
GOOD. Water stained; 53 degrees; 2.72 feet below pool. Stripers are slow to fair in 30-40 feet of water. Live bait is still doing good but the artificial deadstick bite is starting to pick up. Jigs with a red head and chartreuse fluke tail seem to be the best color but other colors have been working also. Sand bass are fair in 30-40 feet of water in the main river channel. Live bait has been out performing artificials, but some can also be caught using deadstick techniques. Red head jigs with a white or chartreuse split tail fluke seems to be the best colors for deadsticking. Catfish are fair to good with cut and live shad in 30-40 feet of water fished on or near the bottom. Bass have been steady in deep water around structure in 40-50 feet of water on live bait but can probably be targeted with deep water baits and deadsticking methods. Slow your retrieve way down. The fish are super slow and lethargic due to the cold water. The water temperature is 44-50 degrees, but may warm slightly with the coming warmer days. Water clarity is 8-12 feet of visibility and steady. Bonus rainbow trout catches are possible below the Possum Kingdom Lake Dam at the Hwy 16 Bridge. This is a light tackle fishery so bring your extra light tackle or flys for best results. Use baits like Powerbait in orange or chartreuse colors or whole kernel corn hooked on a very small hook with a light punch wait 12-18m inches above the bait. They will also sometimes hit small jerky baits but dough baits seem to be the best bet. Cast them out and let them sit for best results. Some can be caught using very small jerk baits and swim baits but Powerbait and corn is a more productive method. Report by TJ Ranft, Ranft Guide Service.
FAIR. Water stained; 50 degrees; 2.91 feet below pool. The warmer weather has pushed fish shallower for this time of year. Crappie are on ledges in about 12-18 feet. Bass moved to deep ledges. Catfish moved shallow to 5-15 feet. Hybrids are in the upper end of the lake main river channel on bottom. Report Juan Tienda, local angler.
FAIR. Water stained; 56 degrees; 51.76 feet below pool. Expect this cold front to push fish to deeper water in search of stable water temperatures. Fish will suspend off the bottom, and stack up in channels. Channel catfish are fair on punch and fresh cut bait in deeper water. Blue catfish are fair on fresh cut bait in deep water on flats and channels. On sunny days big blue catfish can be caught on shallow flats. Report by Captain Michael Peterson, 4 Reel Fun Guide Service.
FAIR. Water normal stain; 50 degrees; 1.64 feet above pool. The bite is waking up for all species after the cold spell. Crappie are good at the crappie house and concrete structures with jigs and minnows. Catfish and drum are mixed in with the crappie on the concrete structure. The best bite has been in the afternoons. Bass are fair with red crankbait or lipless crankbaits. Target deeper points on the northern half of the lake.
FAIR. Water stained; 56 degrees; 35.75 feet below pool. Channel and blue catfish are fair on cut bait and punch bait in the channels and on the flats. Report by Captain Michael Peterson, 4 Reel Fun Guide Service.
Subscribe to the LIVE! Daily
Required
Comments
Listed By: Rita Repulsa
Most people don't know that fishing is racist. Maybe student protests against fishing could fight racism the way Bad Bunny's halftime show did. Let me explain:
In recent years, Americans have grown accustomed to seeing high school students walk out of classrooms to protest immigration raids, gun violence, and climate change. Youth activism is no longer unusual; it is part of the civic landscape. What is less familiar is the idea that students might organize around something as seemingly ordinary as fishing. Yet a closer look at the history and culture of recreational fishing in the United States suggests that it, too, sits within a web of racial inequality. If that is true, then student walk-outs aimed at exposing racism in fishing would not be frivolous. They would be consistent with a broader tradition of challenging injustice wherever it hides.
Fishing is often described as a neutral pastime—peaceful, wholesome, open to anyone with a rod and reel. But this image obscures a deeper story. From the 19th century onward, fisheries management systems elevated "sport" species like trout and bass, associated with European settlers and elite leisure, while dismissing native fish such as gar and suckers as "trash fish." Those species had long sustained Indigenous nations, Black communities, and immigrant families. The hierarchy imposed on fish mirrored the racial hierarchy imposed on people. What counted as valuable was defined by white tastes and white institutions.
That hierarchy was enforced not only through policy but also through violence. In Texas in the late 20th century, Vietnamese refugee shrimpers were terrorized by members of the Ku Klux Klan, who burned boats and held rallies to intimidate them out of Gulf waters. In the Pacific Northwest, Native activists staged "fish-ins" during the Fish Wars of the 1960s and 1970s to assert treaty rights that had long been ignored. They were met with arrests, harassment, and sometimes gunfire. These were not isolated conflicts over wildlife management. They were struggles over who belonged in outdoor spaces and whose traditions would be recognized as legitimate.
Even where overt violence has receded, structural barriers remain. Public waterways were once segregated under Jim Crow laws. Today, the legacy of redlining and zoning means that many Black and Latino neighborhoods are far from clean, accessible fishing sites. Uniform licensing fees and equipment costs, presented as neutral policy, weigh more heavily on families already affected by economic disparities rooted in systemic racism. Meanwhile, environmental pollution has disproportionately contaminated rivers and lakes near communities of color, leading to health advisories that make fishing risky rather than relaxing. For some white anglers, fishing represents serenity and escape. For others, it can involve fear of harassment, exposure to toxins, or suspicion from authorities.
If students were to organize walk-outs to protest these inequities, they would be building on a well-established pattern of youth activism. Recent student protests against immigration enforcement showed how young people can force uncomfortable conversations into the open. By leaving classrooms and occupying public space, they reframed what counted as a political issue. A similar strategy directed at fishing could challenge the "colorblind" narrative that outdoor recreation is automatically inclusive.
Imagine students walking out with signs highlighting polluted urban waterways, discriminatory enforcement practices, or the history of Native treaty violations. They might invite Indigenous speakers to share stories of the Fish Wars, or local anglers of color to describe experiences of exclusion. They could connect the dots between environmental racism and recreational policy, arguing that true access to leisure requires clean water, safe spaces, and respect for diverse traditions. Such actions would not be about banning fishing; they would be about transforming it.
There is a recent cultural precedent for this kind of reframing. When Bad Bunny took the stage at the Super Bowl LVIII halftime show, he centered Spanish-language music, Caribbean rhythms, and symbols of Puerto Rican identity before one of the largest television audiences in the country. The performance did not ask permission to exist within a traditionally Anglo-dominated spectacle; it asserted presence. Supporters saw it as a celebration of Latinx culture. Critics complained that it was "too political." The backlash itself revealed how deeply expectations about who belongs on national stages are embedded.
Student protests against racism in fishing could function in a similar way. By insisting that leisure spaces are political, students would expose assumptions that have long gone unquestioned. They might face criticism for being divisive or for targeting an activity many consider harmless. But as history shows—from the harassment of Vietnamese shrimpers to the clashes over Native fishing rights—fishing has never been detached from race and power.
Youth activism often works less by securing immediate policy changes than by shifting public consciousness. Walk-outs against immigration enforcement did not end deportations overnight, but they made the human stakes visible. A coordinated movement addressing fishing could pressure fisheries agencies to reconsider licensing structures, invest in cleaning polluted waterways near marginalized neighborhoods, and incorporate Indigenous ecological knowledge into management plans. Just as important, it could broaden the cultural image of who a fisherman—or fisherwoman—can be.
For high school students watching national debates unfold, the lesson is clear: no institution or pastime is beyond scrutiny. If racism permeates everyday life, then confronting it may require examining even the activities that seem most ordinary. In that sense, a walk-out over fishing would not be an overreach. It would be an affirmation that justice belongs not only in courtrooms and legislatures, but also along the banks of America's rivers and lakes.
- Log in or register to post comments
PermalinkPost a comment to this article here: