Is open! Now we have another lake not to name.

Well don't tell everybody!!

IBTL

Good things about it... there's a lot of room and the inevitable zoo is gonna take pressure off other NTX lakes.

Is it stocked already?

Sharlunker bass have been stocked every year since 2019.
https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/action/stock_bywater.php?WB_code=2067

Several impressive catches have been getting posted on FB today. Come Saturday morning there is going to be some crazy long lines of weekend warriors waiting at the boat ramps.

No crappie, probably too soon and they worry about crappie taking over?

Sandy/white bass take over the lake, not crappie. Is that near the old private power plant lake at Bonham? Fished it long ago with a friend. Fish along the bank just look at you.

We drive over the 897 bridge over the lake to get to the duck club and it looks awesome

A buddy of mine that lives around the monkstown area said it was slammed busy in the area today

What's the flooded timber like? Toledo bend just after open level, Tawakoni level or broken bow non level?

the water management district started stocking local ponds back in 2016, tpwd started in 19. whole lot of sharelunker in there.

On another forum I've read a lot of the green timber is appropriately Bois d'Arcs. Those thorns don't play around. Not good on waders or dog paws.

Going SW thru it won't be fun and looking at OnX recent imagery the main creek has some major log jams. Not sure how far you can get, but I'll find out tomorrow tho cuz I'm hard headed.

I can already see where the havoc boys will head out to the boat lane while real duck hunters take the short route

Hunting

It will take some of the boat hunters off other lakes, but will have no effect on the walk in hunting pressure or those who are only equipped to hunt from shore. They have hunting access and parking set to be only from boat ramps, which pretty much means only the one ramp at the south east boundary of the hunting area. No shoreline access and no hunting from the shoreline allowed. The wetlands unit is over 6 miles as the crow flies from the ramp. With no other access allowed, that makes it difficult for the kayak hunters to get to the good stuff. Come hunting season that one ramp may be a real zoo on weekends with almost all hunters plus the first year fishing traffic. lt might be worth entering at one of the two far ramps and running the main lake to the hunting area to avoid the ramp traffic if you have the boat for the longer run. It will be interesting to see if the game wardens issue warnings the first year to hunters breaking the access rules like entering at bridges or road ends the way they did with Ray Bob or if they go straight to tickets this time.

I would have figured they would have access to those wetlands off hwy 82.

All I know is I've learned to stay away from anything in the type ii book. Far to crowded, I'll occasionally hunt some of it during the week if a big front is pushing in. But it's rare for me to hunt type ii

You would think, but again it is not like a Corps lake. There are three ramps and only one is near the hunting area. It is pretty clear they are limiting hunters to that ramp unless they want to run from one of the far ones. There have been hunting rules set in the APH book for at least two years now, but the lake was not open for access, so who knows what if any changes there will be for next season.

Waterfowl Hunting Only Area: Hunting is
restricted to the water surface of Bois d’ Arc
Lake as identified on area maps. Bank access
or hunting from the shoreline is prohibited.
Hunters must remain within the existing water’s
edge.

SPECIAL REGULATIONS: Hunting is allowed west of the FM 897 bridge by boat access only. No
hunting east of FM 897 and west of County Road 2610 between the bridge and Lake Bonham Dam. No
foot or vehicular access is allowed across private property or NTMWD land. Parking and hunter access
is restricted to designated public boat ramps.

Nice try with the diversion tactic.

I'll be hunting them next week and will let you know.

I saw Nov 9th on Bois d’Arc lake was just announced for the Texas B.A.S.S. Nation Championship Kayak tournament. If that is opening day for waterfowl, those kayaks are going to be in for a surprise.

We had a record year @ my lake in Fannin- 5 miles as the crow flies from new BDA lake. I do believe larger numbers of waterfowl will hold in area due to surface area of water near by.

Love them public hunters!

The southeast arm is where all the ducks are.

"restricted to the water surface of Bois d’ Arc
Lake"


So you must follow the waterline? No blinds up on dry land even if the lake is 2 or 3 ft low?

"hunting from the shoreline is prohibited"

It's gonna be dicey. The main creek channel has some major log jams and they did NOT remove a lot of barbed wire fences. If you're gonna run shorelines like I wanna do, be careful when crossing old tree lines on property boundaries.

Also for fun, the far south end is non-motorized boat traffic only. So either you walk from there, drag a yak, or as John mentioned yak 6 miles. I wanna ask green jeans if it's a marked boundary or not cuz all you got to go by is the incredible detail of the AHP map.

Lots of lakes are like that, feet have to be in the water, technically..

There's a lake in ... Texas... that you can't pass the boundary when the lake is at full level. That means, if the lake is above full ( I think the exact wording is conservation level), you have to be careful where you hunt. If it is below full, I think you have to stay in the water.

And yes. Yes, I am a state namer...

"Parking and hunter access is restricted to designated public boat ramps." You have no choice but to yak 6 miles if your accessing it for hunting. Maybe something will change and they will add hunter access points at the bridge ends like they did at Ray Bob, but all the different wording including this one clearly limits us to boat ramps for now. I read the shoreline management plan too and it being a water supply lake foremost, it is very possible the lake will be closed again by hunting season. "Because of navigational hazards that were not removed during construction, public access boat ramps will generally be closed to restrict Lake access when water levels fall below 525 feet MSL."

I've been saying for years there should be some no motor zones in NTX. But this seems pointless if they don't make a hand launch only off hwy 82 for access.

From the wording and the very limited access at this time it appears they do not want much hunting to occur on this lake and I wouldn't be surprised if they shut it down really quick once water levels start to get low.

No motor zones is hippie bull crap.

How much you think a ticket will be and probability of getting a ticket? $250 and 10% probability? Trying to finalize my hunting budget for next season. $250 x 10% = $25 per hunt, a little over $4 a duck, not too bad.

I bet $150, and who knows if they'll enforce it. I know some young bucks that have been hunting a restricted area for years and they've gotten one $150 ticket in all that time. Most of the "permit" lakes enforcement is nonexistent. If I ever do wanna mess with it I got a plan.



I don't imagine I will tho. My goal is to always get away from the zoo.

Ray Bob, it was not enforced in the first year or two. Only warnings. I have hunted it from the first day it was open for hunting so experienced the progression. During those first couple years it was frustrating to paddle miles from the designated access point doing it legal and see guys illegally walking in to the same spot from the road. Early on I even called a GW to ask if I could enter at a spot close to an access point and got permission, only to be checked by a different GW the next day to be told the law is the law and you have to use the designated access point down the road. A local had seen my truck and called it in. Though I did not get a ticket because of the other GW, they had stopped giving warnings. Those obvious easy non designated access spots on the road started getting tickets and I have not seen hunters parked at those places ever since. Locals had found out about the rules and were calling operation game thief or the local warden. That is how it is is going to get those sneaking in like poachers from 82. Locals driving by will call them in. Especially since the hunting rules are posted on billboards at the ramps.

Good to know

Since I'm a "boat enabled person" (yes, that's poking fun at wokeness), I'm selfishly not concerned about enforcing access points, it's the non-motorized area. Is it even marked? Are they gonna be back there waiting for boats to cross the line? I'd bet it's gonna be more of the typical wait at the boat ramp and question folks that match a description.

I don't know. If people can see someone running a power boat in there from the road, they may still call them in. Other hunters might also. The GW could just watch them from the road too and then wait at the ramp to issue the ticket. That GW in my story had to walk at least a couple miles and waded out to our canoe. He was determined and not real happy about not giving me a ticket. The full tale is a good campfire story if we are ever hunting together. Another time someone at Denison Dam saw me place a fish in my cooler in my truck instead of my stringer and called the GW on me. Two Wardens watched me for 6 hours with night vision and finally gave up on witnessing me "hide" any over limit stripers and visited me. Should have seen their faces when I showed them what I had put in the cooler. It was weighed in later that morning as the State Record River Carpsucker. Maybe it is more of a duty to act thing if it is called in on the hotline. Not just those two personal experiences. I have witnessed more than a few times where they went above and beyond on public land to enforce a relatively minor infraction on someone. It may not matter. It was an area created as one of the required things to do for building the water supply lake. It's purpose was not to benefit waterfowl hunters. I have not seen the area, but it is possible it will be dry 99.9% of the time anyway.

let me warn y'all about our gw up here, mcgee won't mess around with warnings if you get caught, I would say you would have a 95% chance of being ticketed.

I would not want to be on his bad side for any reason.

and for those wondering about getting caught, one word, drone.

For the record I was joking with my post, I’m not that desperate for a duck. My favorite spots are next to the boat ramp.

Something I just noticed. That billboard map does not include the wetland area as part of the hunting area. It will be interesting to see if the APH map changes next season.

Good eye, I didn't really look at the sign's map. I had yesterday afternoon off and wanted to go play with my livescope setup so I ran out there. Did a lot of exploring. I did fish a spot way back through some dense timber that I'm 99.9% no boat had been in before. 3" of water getting in, that was kinda cool. As of now there is no way to get all the way down south anyway. BD creek is chalked full of log jams. You can run to the power lines on the north/west shoreline and can get a bit south from there, but nowhere near the actual wetland area. If it stays like that the duck hunting will be a bust. That lake is in hilly terrain so there are only 2 or 3 spots in the hunting area that had a flat. Not near enough room to mess with. Maybe things will change before fall as the timber dies or maybe some really dedicated guys will go in there with chainsaws and ropes and clear the way. After seeing a cottonmouth as big as my forearm chillin' on a log I was about the hop I turned back around. It's literally miles of backup and canopy. There is one possible route that I found off the creek, but there's a hundred yard stretch or so that would need to be cleared better and I was running out of daylight. I did see a beaver along the creek so fat my first thought was I saw a hog out the corner of my eye.

Already tv commercials selling "lakefront" property starting at $99.9k!

not sure if it is lake related but the traffic on fm 100 seems to be picking up, used to see 1-2 cars a day avg. and now probably 20-25.

It’s because Sniper John named the lake.

Got a mailer for property (tiny houses) at/near the lake last week.

Morning All. Good topics on this lake.
My question is "hunting the surface of the lake".
So the boat is obviously in the water, most likely near the shore.
If you get out and walk on the shore are you now in violation If the GW sees you? With or without your gun.
What if you drop a bird on shore and you have to finish it off?

Just wonder what you all think about this.
Sounds like the GW in the area might be tight fisted on this subject.

He’s tight fisted on everything. I don’t know him on a personal level, but I’ve ran into him a couple of times and have friends that have dealt with him more so. I don’t care for his attitude. My experience with him has been that he assumes you’re doing something wrong and he’s out to prove that you are. I’m not a law breaker or rule bender, btw.

mcgee is a good dude but he won't tolerate chit from anyone and gets a lot of it thrown at him from idiots around here.

he does his job and he does it well.

The kind of game warden that gives all of them a bad name. There is a husband/wife duo down here on the coast that has a similar attitude. If I saw them in distress I would probably keep driving... they had it coming.

Aren’t they all like that? It’s like a cop that pulls you over for traffic violation, they are going to approach the vehicle with thought that “this guy could have a gun, and could kill me”. They would be a pretty lousy GW if they walked up on every hunter and said “I know you got your license and permit, you don’t have lead, you didn’t shoot over your limit or the wrong duck… etc….this is just formality I have to check you…”.

When I see a GW coming, I have my license out and gun unloaded before they get to me, and it’s yes sir no sir. That’s just me tho, I like to butter them up then ask them where the ducks are.

I bumped into him last year. His compadre a younger man from the east, flat footed called me a liar. That escalated.very quickly and McGee was actually the cooler of the two. The guy half apologized when it was all said and done.

I remember when these guys put this together. I can relate to being connected to land that may not be worth a lot on paper, but is priceless nonetheless.

This is a story that has played out countless times. I remember as a kid talking to some old men at a bait shop. They were lamenting the loss of the lands impounded by the lake. Just like these two on Bois d'arc, these old men had used to hunt what is now Ray Hubbard. Every lake in Texas (except Caddo) has this story.

Yall run into game wardens???? I hunt 25-30 days a season almost all entirely on public land within a 2hr drive of dfw and I can count on 1 hand how many times I've been checked by a warden in the last 20 years.

Why does that not surprise me.

Just depends where you go. I see GWs regularly at some places, and never see them at other places.

Hey you mind droppin me a PM of those GW free places?

JK I'm no outlaw

Lake X.

Pretty rare I see green jeans. Once every 5/6 years I’d say. They go for low hanging fruit. Boat ramp with most trucks etc

There is a Facebook lake page. People are showing the ramps and parking lots completely full. And lots of pics of some nice bass being caught. I guess I didn't realize the popularity and demand fishing a new lake would bring. I can only imagine what kind of [censored] show it will be come duck season.

We have property a few miles away from it and I’ve seen hundreds of boats coming and going since it opened and I followed a convoy of 6 boats this morning from east of Texarkana and they all turned off to the lake with Tennessee tags. I bet it’s a complete chit show trying to launch and load a boat on it.

The fisherman are gonna get mad, because the duck hunters will get there first and fill up the parking lot.

Yep, then the fisherman will come and fish in the middle of their dekes.

Well, I will admit, I'm tempted to talk up another lake to get people off of mine. I guess it's kinda like nuclear détente, mutually assured destruction. Still, I wonder if...

Glad to have another public land option and hopefully it’ll help take some pressure off the other public lakes I hunt and fish on!

Yep I agree.They can go hunt Ralph Hall when it opens too in a pontoon boat or whatever. Keep the pressure off public I hunt Way too many groups, and some showing up at 5:30am and setting up close when we get in at 1 am. It's frustrating at times

Sure would like to see the boat ramp this morning. Lol

Wonder how many rainbow teal got shot this morning. Probably more than BWT

My place is 5 miles away as the crow flys……love it, more waterfowl for me. It’s only going to attract more waterfowl to the area.

Y'all notice the AHP page does NOT mention Early Teal as being open? Only North Zone Duck... I wonder how many tickets were written.

That's wild! I bet that caught some off guard incorrectly assuming Teal season was listed as legal game same as the other lakes in the APH book. Can't shoot any bonus snipe during waterfowl season either. But you can shoot Rail come waterfowl season.

I texted the GW and asked, I'll let you guys know what he says. I suspect it is not legal because it does not say you can hunt early teal, but I also suspect it might be an oversight and accidently left out. Not sure what the rational would be to not allow it.

You of all people I would have expected to understand what was happening here.

I have scouted 7 different lakes for teal, that lake is not one of them. I try to avoid the crowds, like 2fly I expected it to be a zoo.

Just messin with you Guy. I have an idea for a fun game. Lets all try to guess the 7 lakes and you tell us when one of us get's it right.

As long as yall don't name one of my lakes I'm all for it. Just send a list of the seven lakes and where you are hunting and I'll let you know if they are on my list...

I rode that entire hunting zone area in my boat and it’s too deep. They can hunt it all they want and keep the crowds away from lakes I hunt. Good luck

Thanks for contacting us!



Per the Bois d'Arc Lake PHL Unit Map, see 602.cdr (texas.gov), waterfowl can be taken during the North Zone Duck and Eastern Zone Goose seasons. This unit does not have a September Teal Only Season. We’ve included information about the North Zone Duck season below as a reference:

Fannin County - 2024-25 Duck Season - Species Info Migratory Game Bird Endorsement, HIP Certification & Federal Duck Stamp Required

North Zone -Zone Map

Regular Season:

Nov. 9 - Dec. 1, 2024
Dec. 7, 2024 - Jan. 26, 2025

Duck Daily Bag Limit with Gun: 6 in the aggregate. Includes mergansers.

No more than:

5 mallards (only two may be hens)
3 wood ducks
2 redheads
2 canvasback
1 scaup
1 pintail
1 "dusky" duck (mottled duck, Mexican-like duck, black duck and their hybrids are closed the first five days of the season in each zone)
All other species not listed: 6

Possession Limit with Gun: Three times the daily bag limit



Thank you kindly,



Texas Parks and Wildlife

On a side note Ralph hall lake should be open in a few years. I assume there will be some hunting opportunity on that lake.

Looks like there is another north east texas lake in the making. Marvin Nichols reservoir at 70k acres. Granted it's not suppose to be completed till 2050

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/article293102284.html

is it drying up?