Fishing at Lavon Dam
Just north of Sachse is the massive Lavon Lake. It’s 9,540 feet long and covers 21,400 acres of land. It is a freshwater reservoir, meaning that it wasn’t always there. This body of water was created in 1953 by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to provide water and control the floodplain. The dam allows for stunning views, but also sportive fun. Today, it’s a popular destination for freshwater fisherman. There are three types of bass, two types of catfish, crappies, flatheads, and a few sunfish who call Lake Lavon home. This lake is noted for crappie fishing, especially in winter and spring. Largemouth bass, channel catfish, and blue catfish offer good angling opportunities. Sunfish are plentiful, with good populations of several species.
Most structure in this lake is in the form of standing timber, especially uplake in the East Fork Trinity River arm and the Sister Grove/Pilot Grove Creek arm. When present, aquatic vegetation is generally in the backs of the many small bays and coves along both sides of the two main arms running north and south. Infrequent stands of cattail surrounded by water can provide excellent habitat for most species. Outflow from the electric generating plant on the east side of the east arm can attract fish in winter, when ambient water temperatures dip. Rip-rap along the dam provides excellent habitat for largemouth bass, channel catfish, and sunfish. During the winter, crappie school in deep water and are usually found around deep structure, especially on south-facing shorelines. Some anglers place brush piles in deep water near boat houses for winter fishing. In the spring, these fish migrate into shallow water to spawn and become very vulnerable to angling. Baits of choice would be jigs and minnows. In winter, a very small (1/32 oz) black and white jig can be effective. In spring, try a 1/16 ounce chartreuse and red, chartreuse, white, or yellow jig. Largemouth bass are most active in spring when they move in shallow to spawn.
Carolina-rigged 6-inch lizards, Texas-rigged 7-inch worms, and some crankbaits pay off here. The second peak occurs in the fall when bass begin actively feeding for the onset of winter. Try white spinners with gold blades in 3 feet to 1 ½ feet of water, or crawfish-mimicking crankbaits. Channel catfish angling is best in the early summer when fish head up tributary streams to spawn or get in the rip-rap along the dam. Try cut bait, shrimp, or stink bait fished still or dragged along the bottom with the wind; also known as drift fishing. Blue catfish bite best in the winter and the bait of choice is live shad or sunfish. Drift fish deep, open-water points. White bass provide lots of recreational angling most of the year, but peak in the spring when tributaries are running and in summer off the dam in deep water. In summer they are usually feeding on surfacing shad. Use small jigs, topwater baits, or minnows. Sunfish are best caught in shallow water while fishing from the bank, boat house, or pier. The bait of choice is the plain old earthworm.
