Lake Lewisville Fishing Report-Summer Hybrid Striper

Hey Everyone,

Lake Lewisville Fishing Report-Summer Hybrid Striper is red hot, just like the weather. On August 1st, we boated our limit of hybrid stripers with a 10-pound hybrid striper giant to boot! We caught many white bass and catfish along with the hybrid stripers. If you can stand the heat, you can catch fish even in the 100-degree temps. We have been starting at 6:30 AM and getting off the water as it warms up by around 11 or so. Early August produced similar results for all of my trips.

The past few days the hybrid striper have slowed down, but we are still catching hundreds of white bass with some blue and channel catfish mixed in. However, catching these summertime fish is not always easy. As the water temperature rises and the thermocline forms in the water column, the patterns change.

Lake Lewisville Fishing Report-Summer Hybrid Striper

I’ve had to work hard for the hybrid striper we are catching, but at the end of the trip, we have a good box of fish. Late July and early August produced some awesome fishing trips and memories for my clients and me. Live shad was still kicking butt and the fish were still relating to structure in anywhere from 18-30 foot of water. I have seen some signs of a thermocline recently which sometimes makes fishing easier and sometimes makes it more difficult. Recently I have caught fish both on the bottom and suspended in the water column.

A lot of the fish you find are moving a hundred miles an hour, which makes it difficult to catch them. When you can find fish stuck to the bottom, they are usually easier to catch. Suspended fish tend to be cruising quickly through the water column in search of food or a destination that is more comfortable. White bass can be caught all over the lake right now, but you have to find the group that is eating and staying somewhat stationary. I have caught them in the Hickory Creek Arm all the way up to Pecan Creek. Ledges, drop-offs, humps, and points are holding fish. Not all of them, but some of them have fish stacked on them. I have been focusing on the fish glued to the bottom for reasons discussed above.

The suspended fish tend to be moving way too fast. The slab spoon bite for white bass has turned on as well. We can catch more fish using a slab, but oftentimes we will catch the better quality fish using live bait. A half-ounce to an ounce chrome or chartreuse slab will get bit very quick if dropped into a group of white bass. I have seen several groups of seagulls working here in the past few weeks and they have had fish under them each time. A few days ago we fished around birds and marked what looked like every white bass in the lake. My side imaging was lit up on both sides with fish.

Usually, the birds in deeper water will have better fish underneath them. We had a group of gulls last week in about 30 foot of water and caught several hybrid stripers mixed in with the white bass. In conclusion, the fish are still eating. More time searching is required. Both live bait and slabs have been effective.

The Summer Thermocline-Lake Lewisville

The past few years, Lake Lewisville has had a thermocline form in July. This year that never happened. Maybe because of all the rains or somewhat stronger winds. Who knows! I have been seeing more and more fish suspended in the water column and have caught a few of them. I have not marked or graphed a solid thermocline, but the signs of one forming are apparent.

What’s a thermocline? It’s a separating layer of water in the water column between the hot surface water and cooler bottom water where oxygen tends to be rich. As the summer heat continues to warm the water at the surface and we have lighter winds to mix the surface water with the cooler water below, stratification occurs. The middle layer between the hot surface water and cool deeper water is known as the thermocline.

Sometimes when a thermocline forms, the fish will gather in this layer of water and finding and catching them can be easy. Other times they will just cruise through this layer all over the lake in search of food and never group up or stay put.

When fish are cruising the thermocline, trolling can become an effective way to catch these scattered fish. If they group up, you can drop a live shad down to them or a big flutter spoon and get the job done. We’ll see what takes place in the upcoming month on Lake Lewisville. I hope this information has helped you and gets your blood pumping to do some fishing! Please let me know if I can help.  For more information please follow Lake Lewisville Fishing Guide.

Thank you,
Wes Campbell
214-282-7093