God I hate doing this but here goes.
Blue cat was always my fav lake there. But lately I have heard that ShellCracker is much better. I was there the year it was donated to TWRA and the years following and it was the best fishing I had ever done anywhere. If there is a fisherman Heaven, it must be like that place once was. There were Largemouth to 7 pounds, Hybrid Blue Cats to 15 pounds, and Hybrids Stripped Bass to 10 pounds (now there are some pushing 20#). I can’t even begin to tell you how exciting it once was to fish there. It has been steadily declining due to pressure and poaching but TWRA is trying hard to keep it going. (WARNING, RANT AHEAD!) I wish the Hell they would just make the whole park catch and release only. (END OF RANT)
I mostly used large creek minnows as bait, Shiners don't work for some reason. . There are some good numbers of big Hybrids in the lake and they surface feed on Shad around dark on most days. I have had some unreal days using live bait there. Fly fishing can also be productive on the lake. I troll big shad patterns on a 9wt and cast to surface feeding fish later in the day. Trolling crankbaits might produce a few fish if you don’t have any bait.
At one time there were some great Blue cats in the lake, I had my boat pulled around by plenty of them. The jug fishing seems to have had a negative effect on the size and numbers of these fish. (Another rant) WHY DO THEY ALLOW JUG FISHING IN A STATE STOCKED LAKE?
? (END OF RANT) I think shrimp works good for the catfish on the lake, if you don't have creeks minnows.
If you put in at the ramp there are two coves in front of the ramp on the other side of the lake. The first cove has never really been that good but the point it makes into the lake is a good place. Then the second cove is a great place, look for fish all the way in the back if it’s warm enough for spawning. There is a bunch of tall reeds in the back this is how you know your in the right place. That whole cove is good fishing.
The middle of the lake and the cove to the right of the boat dock is another good place to fish. Don't bother much with the farthest end of the lake opposite the dam as I have almost never caught anything there??? There is almost no structure on the banks so the fish here don’t relate to the banks much. You will catch most of your fish in deeper featureless water.
Here is a pic taken from Blue Cat back in the good ole days. This was a very common
problem if you want to call that a problem...
Here is an average Hybrid caught on the fly. Keep in mind I am a pretty big guy. Not a pretty, big guy.
