Apr 13 2015
Bryan Buchan
Fingerling
Member Since :
2012
Number of Posts :
77
I met my brother at Cody Ranch for what has become an annual fishing trip. He comes down from Tulsa and I drive up from Austin, and after this weekend we both agreed it was worth every mile. We fished Twin Lakes on Friday PM and Saturday AM, and Hart Lakes on Saturday PM and Sunday AM. The weather was perfect, light winds and temps in the 70's. Out of 117 fish, we caught 3 fish over 20" in Twin Lakes and one 23-3/4"monster in Lower Hart. Three of the big fish were caught on 7" power worms and one was caught on a Heddon Chugger Spook, which is probably a 40 year old popper lure. It sure was fun to see that big bass hit a classic top water like that.
Most of the fish at Twin Lakes were no more than 20 feet from the bank. The big ones were all right on the bank, and all in sawgrass. In two half days of fishing Twin Lakes, we caught about 45 fish, about 1/3 of which were 2+ lbs. The majority of the fish were caught with either spinner baits or Texas rigged power worms. We tube fished, but Twin South could easily be fished from the bank, even in the wooded areas.
We caught a lot more fish at Hart Lakes (72 over two half days) than Twin, but there were a lot of smaller ones, which we harvested. The fish were mostly out in the open part of the lake, and only a couple were caught in the timber. The shallow water was tough to fish because of the moss, but there was plenty of open fishable water and plenty of fish, so we were happy campers.
We caught a few small fish at Moonshine, but just from the bank and didn't do any serious fishing there.
If I had to rank the lakes overall based on our experience (size and number, best to worst), I'd go Lower Hart, South Twin, North Twin, Upper Hart, Moonshine.
This was the bass fishing trip of a lifetime for both of us. Hate to give a secret away, but you guys who don't want to drive up from Dallas to check out this property are missing a real gem. The cabin, the beauty of the property, and the abundance of wildlife (deer, quail, dove, turkeys, ducks, geese, coyotes) make this an enjoyable trip even if there were no fishing. But the fishing makes it a trip to remember.
We'll be back, that's for sure.
Bryan Buchan
Apr 13 2015
Steve Alexander
Admin
Member Since :
2002
Number of Posts :
1129
I have said for 2 years, if this place was in Texas, it would be full every weekend. For some reason our Dallas members feel that driving 2 hours and 15 min north to Oklahoma is like driving to Canada. Our members drive to 2.5 hours to east Texas, but don't like to drive across the red river. Hopefully a report from a member who catches this many fish with a 7 and 8 pounder will get them heading north.
On another note, these lakes are 2 weeks behind us, so the fish should not be spawned out, if you go soon. Most of the females should have some or all their eggs for another week or so.