Where to fish?

[SlackLines]

Hi all,

I'm from England and will be visiting Houston on a business trip next week. I have a free day on Sunday (17th) and I would like to go fishing. Can anyone suggest a decent fishing lake not too far off, and where I can hire/borrow a rod etc?

Thanks in advance!

[Rollo]

Welcome to the West End!If in H town with a good day off,How about a guided trip with one of our local saltwater guides,the cost is more than made up for by the extent of your experiance on the trip!We have quite a few on this site who would be glad to put you on some good memorys!Others will likely explain more!

[Hesser]

Fathers day may be tough to find an inshore guide. With it being red snapper season, you may try a party boat and go offshore. I have seen several good catches of snapper, ling, kings and chicken mahi over the past couple weeks..

[The Fisherman]

If its lake fishing you are looking for I don't know exactly where you live but Lake Houston is probably the closest. There are several guides on here that you can hire.

[trophytroutman]

Welcome aboard and to Texas.

[Curmudgeon]

Slacklines, we're mainly saltwater fishermen down here, so we don't know much about fishing lakes. I imagine there will be plenty of us on the water come Sunday if you'd like to give it a try. Do you wade or usually fish from a boat?

[mjh]

Well it depends on what you are wanting to fish for. Lake Conroe is only about 30 min from portions of Houston. It just depends on what you want to fish for.

[SUPER SPOOK]

what they said

[SlackLines]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Coming from England (carp, carp, carp, tench...) I'm not really fussy about the venue as long as I catch something different! I'd prefer lake fishing and someone has pointed me towards Mary Jo Peckham Park Pond and Eldridge Park Pond - does anyone know these places? They are not too far from my hotel.

By the way - where I come from we think catfish is really exotic..!

[mjh]

Those are what we call ponds and if you catfish go to Mary Jo peckham park with chicken livers and fish on the.bottom. fish on the bottom.

[Texfish]

Welcome to Texas, good look on your trip.

[SlackLines]

Well I made it Eldridge Park Pond on Sunday - got there about 10 am and straight into a number of small fish (we call 'em "shrapnel" over here); and then I saw this thing lurking in some weed and it took twenty minutes before I managed to hook it.

Trouble is, I haven't a clue what it is! Can anyone identify this type of fish? I reckon it was a pound and a half to two pounds weight.



Also, I like to do things legally so I got myself a one day fishing licence from a store called the Academy. What an amazing place! It has everything - we have nothing like that over here - I really envy you! I treated myself to a Shakespeare closed face reel - again something we don't see much of in the UK and I've been after one for a while (Father's Day present...)

[I'm back home now]

[EZ-E]

welcome to the site ... academy is a pretty good store. they started as a tire shop in san antonio, tx ... then they brought in some military surplus in the 50's .... 60yrs later they are huge.

not sure what kind of fish that is ...i think someone released an aquarium fish in there. it dont really look like a crappie or a giant blue gill but does have their carecteristics ...hmm im do some searching on the net

[EZ-E]

its a tilapia .... they are an invasive species in texas waters ... you are supposed to kill them if you catch them. i think at one time texas parks & wildlife might have put them in there. they did it to several lakes thinking it was a good idea ... then later find out ... not so

Possession and Transport of Exotic Aquatic Species

It is a violation to:

• Possess or transport any exotic aquatic plant or animal listed as harmful or potentially harmful. This includes: plants such as hydrilla, water hyacinth, and giant salvinia; fishes such as tilapia and Asian carps (grass, silver, and bighead carp); and zebra mussels.
• Possess tilapia, grass carp, or any other fish listed as harmful or potentially harmful, without immediately removing the intestines, except on waters where a valid Triploid Grass Carp Permit is in effect. In those waters, it is illegal to possess grass carp. Any grass carp caught must be immediately returned to the water unharmed. Please see our list of waters with Triploid Grass Carp Permits

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/regulations/fish_hunt/fish/general.phtml

[mjh]

Yea its a tilapia.