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...