Area Lakes for Bryan Bass Club Tournaments

Besides the brief info given here, each lake title is a link to a Texas Parks & Wildlife lake page.

Lake Somerville - This lake is located on Yegua Creek about a 30 minute drive west of Bryan, near the town of Somerville. The lake covers over 11,000 acres with numerous parks and boat launching facilities around the lake. There are city, state, and several "corps" facilities. The lake is popular for camping and water sport recreation. It's a healthy catfish, white bass, and crappie fishery. Black bass are not to be overlooked - the Somerville Lions Club sponsors an annual bass tournament there in the spring, and the Bryan Bass Club has an annual open team tournament there for the public in late spring. When it warms up, Somerville is a haven for campers, sail boats, skiers and jet-skies. It seems to have a loyal following for water recreation.

Lake Limestone - This lake is located on the Navasota River just over an hour drive northeast of Bryan, between the cities of Marquez, Groesbeck and Jewett. The lake covers over 14,000 acres with three county parks/launches and another public launch at the dam. There's a marina about mid-lake and about a third of the shoreline is dotted with homes and boat docks. Honey Hole BCA held its '97 Top-six Championship bass tournament there in the fall. This lake is nice for small club tournaments or week-end anglers but larger events seem to tax its moderate resources.

Gibbons Creek Reservoir - This lake is located near the Navasota River just about 20 minutes east of Bryan, near the Carlos community off Highway 30. It's a 2,500 acre "catch-and-release-only" TMPA power plant lake at the junction of Gibbons, Cat, Cedar, Plum, Sulphur and Hog creeks. TMPA has a limit on the number of boats and the hours/days of access (open daylight, usually closed Wednesday). The Bryan Bass Club sponsors a seasonal open team "big bass" tournament there. Some bass clubs hold "paper" tournaments on the lake. Gibbons supports a healthy well-trained bass population. Don't be surprised if they aren't dumb enough to bite your artificial lure.

Lake Conroe - This lake is located on the west fork of the San Jacinto River about an hour southeast of Bryan, near Conroe. It's a 21,000 acre lake with a couple of public access launches but mostly private residential or marina access. Once an outstanding bass lake, Conroe's now more known for summer water sports after a grass-carp experiment decimated its aquatic plant/fish ecology. Its recovering with boat dock and deep hump "brushpile" bass fishing patterns, and there are several experiments trying to reestablish some native plant life within specially fenced pens in the water. Granted, hydrilla needs management but please consider a natural method like a winter draw-down. Massive local effort continues to slowly help nature reverse the experiment.

Lake Livingston - This lake is located on the Trinity River about an hour-and-half east of Bryan, near Livingston. It's a 90,000 acre lake with many marina and residential access points plus a state park. It can be considered a shallow pattern bass lake because the flooding Trinity generates a muddy water clarity. The once notorious jungle at the north end is silted in. Navigation through the stumpy lake has been helped by a channel marking effort on the north end. It's just-below-the-water stumps leave their marks on many props and lower units. Many old marinas and fish camps are nestled among the mostly residential rural acreage around the lake.

Richland Chambers Reservoir - This lake is located on the Richland and Chambers creeks about two hours north of Bryan, near Corsicana. It has great lake access and facilities for your club tournament at Midway Landing and Oak Cove marina, plus there are other marina, public, camp and residential access areas. The lake has abundant flooded timber in the two major creek arms. Old obvious boat lanes are becoming less distinct in '97, but a current "Lake Products" map pinpoints the breaking-off tree lines. It's a popular bass fishing lake. B.A.S.S. used it for its megabucks-theme tournament competition.

Sam Rayburn Reservoir - This lake is located on the Angelina River just under three hours east of Bryan, between Lufkin and Jasper. It's a 114,500 acre lake with several "corps", county and marina access points. It's a "corps" lake with restricted shoreline development. The lake is nationally famous for bass fishing. It has a healthy hydrilla grass environment combined with abundant timber and creek terrain. Rayburn is surrounded by rural forest with many beautiful camping areas. Come visit Texas and plan a fishing vacation at the lake. Another giant, Toledo Bend, is a short drive to the east on the Louisiana border.

Toledo Bend Reservoir - This lake is located on the Sabine River just over three-and-a-half hours east of Bryan on the Louisiana border. It's a 185,000 acre lake with many marina and residential access points. The lake is nationally famous for bass fishing. It has a healthy hydrilla grass environment combined with abundant timber and creek terrain. Both Texas and Louisiana completed boat lane marking projects during '94 thru '97 assisting navigation on this massive tree filled lake. Louisiana is completing a large mid-lake tournament facility in '97-'98. The lake's fishing patterns are often described with a geographic reference to north versus south. Come visit the lake and experience the fishing hospitality of two southern cultures, Texas and Louisiana.

This page was updated on September 13, 1999.

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