How to fish Cedar Creek Reservoir in East Texas: summer ledges at 14 to 22 feet, grass mats, chunk rock, and what a low pool changes.
Cedar Creek Reservoir covers 32,623 acres of Henderson and Kaufman county farmland with a maximum depth of only 28 feet. On a lake that size and that shallow, most people's instinct is to run the bank. The anglers who consistently weigh big bags here do the opposite. Cedar Creek's reputation as one of the best big-bass lakes in Texas, with a lake record of 14.2 pounds, is built on main lake channel ledges in 14 to 22 feet of water. That is the pattern that separates it from other East Texas reservoirs, and it is worth learning even if you have never fished deep structure before.
The other half of the lake's identity is the exact opposite: hydrilla and milfoil mats in the creek arms that you punch, frog and burn. Cedar Creek gives you both, and which one you commit to on a given day is mostly a question of season and time of day.
Cedar Creek sits at a conservation pool of 322 feet. As of the most recent reading it was at 316.95 feet, about 5.1 feet low and 76.3 percent full, and falling. A year earlier it was 94.5 percent full, so the lake has given up 18.2 points in twelve months.
Treat that as a pattern rather than a number, because the number moves. Down five feet on a lake this flat pulls the water a long way back from the shoreline. Bank cover that is submerged at full pool, the outer edges of flooded brush, the shallowest grass in the backs of pockets, is dry or nearly dry ground. Skipping a Senko at a stump line you remember from a wetter year is often skipping it into mud.
The reasoning that survives any level: when the lake is low, fish pull out to the first hard structure that still has water on it. That means main lake and secondary points, chunk rock that now sits in 4 to 10 feet instead of 2 to 4, the deeper hydrilla edges in 10 to 16 feet, and the channel ledges. Everything shifts one step out. When the lake comes back up, run the same logic in reverse: every foot of rise puts water into brush, grass and terrestrial cover that has been dry, and bass will follow it back rather than sitting on the old edges. New water is worth fishing shallow and worth fishing fast.
A falling lake also concentrates. Fewer places hold fish, and the ones that do hold more of them. That is an argument for spending your morning idling channel breaks instead of covering three miles of bank.
Visibility here runs 1 to 4 feet, stained to a slightly murky green-brown. It is clearest in winter and early spring and dirtiest in summer, after heavy rain and once boat traffic gets going. Wind is the wild card. Cedar Creek is big and open, and a hard blow will knock the main lake color down in a hurry.
Fish it accordingly. Louder, higher-contrast baits earn their keep: chartreuse shad, chartreuse and white, red craw, chrome. Rattles help. So does a bait with a broad flat side and a lot of thump. This is also a lake where heavier fluorocarbon makes sense, 15 and 17 pound test on crankbaits, jigs and worms, because the fish are not line shy in that color of water and you are dragging baits through rock, timber and grass.
When surface temps sit in the 82 to 92 degree range, the main lake channel ledges are the show. Focus on 14 to 22 feet where the flat rolls off into the old channel, and pay particular attention to channel swings that still hold submerged timber in 12 to 20 feet. Points that run out to depth are worth the same attention.
Four baits cover it. A deep crankbait like a Strike King 6XD or Rapala DT16 in Sexy Shad or Chartreuse Shad on 17 pound fluorocarbon, cranked hard enough to reach bottom and deflect off it. A 3/4 ounce football jig with a 4 inch craw trailer in green pumpkin or black and blue, dragged and hopped along the hard bottom transition. A 10 inch Power Worm or Magnum Trick Worm behind a 3/4 ounce Carolina sinker in Junebug or Red Shad, slow dragged with frequent pauses, which is the bait that keeps producing after the school quits reacting. And a 5 inch Keitech on a 1 ounce head or underspin, retrieved medium slow and kept tight to the drop, when the fish want something moving.
The ledge fish here school. Once you get bit, mark it, back off and reset the same drift. One good ledge can be a whole day.
The other summer answer is shallow and violent. Hydrilla and milfoil mats in the creek arms and on the morning feeding flats hold quality fish in the first few hours. A hollow body frog in black, green or white on 65 pound braid, walked and popped across the canopy, gets the reaction bites. When the mat is thick enough that a frog cannot draw them out, punch it: a 4 inch Rage Craw or Brush Hog on a 5/0 heavy hook behind a 1 to 1.5 ounce tungsten weight, black and blue or Junebug, driven through the canopy into 2 to 6 feet, then paused and shaken in place.
Note that grass here is seasonal and its extent moves with the water. On a low pool, the mats that survive are the ones in slightly deeper water, and the outside edges in 10 to 16 feet become the more reliable target as the day heats up.
From about 52 to 64 degrees, the fish stage on secondary points with chunk rock in 4 to 10 feet, on creek arm flats near spawning pockets, and around submerged brush and timber on channel swings in 8 to 14 feet. The Tool and Malakoff shoreline chunk rock is the classic look for this.
A 1/2 ounce lipless crankbait in Red Craw or Sexy Shad ripped through emerging hydrilla on secondary points and creek arm mouths is the workhorse. On warming afternoons, a suspending jerkbait like a Shadow Rap on 12 pound fluorocarbon, worked twitch-twitch-pause along the rock, gets bigger bites. When they will not chase, slow down with a 1/2 ounce football or arkie jig and a 3.5 inch craw trailer in green pumpkin or brown orange, dragged through the 8 to 14 foot staging zone.
At 62 to 72 degrees, look in the protected creek arm pockets with hard bottom in 1 to 5 feet, on shallow flats next to chunk rock in the backs of coves, and around flooded brush in 2 to 6 feet. On a low lake, remember that the back third of a pocket may be out of water entirely, so the useful spawning bottom is further out than it would be at full pool.
A 6 inch Zoom Lizard on a 3/16 ounce tungsten weight in Watermelon Red or Green Pumpkin, dead-sticked and slow dragged, is the direct approach. A 5 inch Senko wacky rigged on a 1/0 hook is the follow-up for fish that will not commit. For covering water and finding the aggressive ones, walk a Zara Spook or Sammy in bone or shad across the shallow flats and grass edges at first light.
Between roughly 70 and 78 degrees, the fish stack on main lake secondary points in 6 to 14 feet, along outside hydrilla edges in creek arms in 5 to 12 feet, and around submerged timber on channel swings. This is a good window for a 3/8 ounce swim jig with a 3.5 inch paddle tail trailer in chartreuse and white, swum along the outside grass line and over timber. Early and late, a 3/8 ounce buzzbait burned over grass tops and along chunk rock banks is hard to beat. When the topwater window closes, a Carolina rigged lizard or craw on an 18 inch leader dragged across 8 to 14 foot points keeps you in fish.
As water drops from the low 70s into the upper 50s, shad move up the creek arms and river channel flats, and the bass go with them. The upper end near Murchison, and the Caney, Kings, Paw Paw and Flat Creek arms, all deserve time. Main lake points in 6 to 14 feet and chunk rock banks stay in play as the grass dies back.
A 1/2 ounce tandem willow spinnerbait in chartreuse and white or Sexy Shad, slow rolled and then burned, matches the shad chase well in stained water. A 3/4 ounce lipless bait ripped through dying hydrilla edges and burned over points is the fast search tool. When the fish are tight to cover, a squarebill like a KVD 2.5 deflected off chunk rock and brush in 4 to 8 feet is the higher percentage bait. At dawn, a popper over points and rock banks is worth a rod, and as the water cools a jerkbait fished along rock transitions in 5 to 12 feet gets the better class of fish.
From 40 to 54 degrees, the fish go to the deepest main lake channel water Cedar Creek has, 18 to 28 feet, along with deep points next to the channel and submerged timber on channel swings in 15 to 25 feet. This is vertical fishing. A 1/2 ounce blade bait or a 3/4 ounce slab spoon in chrome or gold, lifted and allowed to flutter back on a tight line over a school, is the most efficient way to catch them.
On a warming winter afternoon, a suspending jerkbait tuned to hang in 8 to 16 feet near deep points, twitched and then paused for 8 to 12 seconds, will pull fish up off the bottom. For a tougher day, a drop shot with a 4 inch finesse worm dead-sticked in 15 to 25 feet near timber, or a shaky head dragged on deep secondary points in 12 to 20 feet, will keep the day from being a blank. Winter also gives you the clearest water of the year here, so more natural colors like green pumpkin and smoke start earning their spot.
If you have never seen the lake, give yourself a defined piece of it rather than trying to run 32,000 acres. The Highway 334 bridge area and the Cedar Creek Marina area put you near main lake structure without a long run. Long Cove and the Caney, Kings, Paw Paw and Flat Creek arms each give you the full range of what this lake offers: a creek channel, secondary points, chunk rock and grass, all within a short move of each other.
Build the day around the season. In summer, be on a ledge in 14 to 22 feet by mid-morning and use the frog at dawn as a bonus, not a plan. In fall, start on the shad and follow them. In winter, find the deep channel and fish it vertically. And whatever the season, look at the level before you launch. On a low, falling lake, work the first hard structure that still has water on it. On a rising one, get shallow and fish the new water in the brush.
14.2 pounds. Cedar Creek has a long history of double-digit largemouth and is considered one of the top big-bass lakes in Texas.
The most recent reading had it at 316.95 feet against a conservation pool of 322 feet, about 5.1 feet low and 76.3 percent full, and falling. A year earlier it was 94.5 percent full. On a lake with a maximum depth of only 28 feet, five feet down pulls water well back from the bank and moves the fish out to the first hard structure that still has depth on it.
14 to 22 feet on main lake channel ledges. Deep crankbaits like a 6XD or DT16, a 3/4 ounce football jig, a 10 inch worm on a Carolina rig, and a 5 inch swimbait on a 1 ounce head all cover that range.
Stained to slightly murky green-brown, generally 1 to 4 feet of visibility. It is clearest in winter and early spring and most turbid in summer after rain and boat traffic. Wind can dirty the open main lake fast.
Yes, seasonally. Hydrilla and milfoil mats form in the creek arms and on shallow feeding flats, and they hold fish through summer. A hollow body frog on 65 pound braid works the canopy; a 4 inch craw behind a 1 to 1.5 ounce tungsten weight punches through it into 2 to 6 feet.
To the deepest main lake channel water, 18 to 28 feet, plus deep points adjacent to the channel and submerged timber on channel swings in 15 to 25 feet. Vertical presentations, blade baits and slab spoons, are the most efficient way to catch them.
Caney Creek, Kings Creek, Paw Paw Creek and Flat Creek all have the mix of channel, secondary points, chunk rock and grass that this lake rewards. Long Cove, the Highway 334 bridge area and the Cedar Creek Marina area are also good starting points.