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May 16, 2009 - Don Johnson

Begin and end times: 6:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Weather conditions: overcast, storm front approaching
Water condition: off color and a little muddy looking with poor visibility
Flies that worked: Big black popper

I went to Meadow Lake hoping the fish would be energized by an approaching cool front. I caught the bass shown in the photo from the standing timber on the far side of the lake. After Bob Pool’s presentation on catching big bass I went home and tied up some big black foam and rabbit fur poppers; this bass took one of those poppers.

As I fished along the eastern shore I missed a strike and did a long distance release of two bass, both a little smaller, I think, than the one in the photo. I guess I need to work on my hook set and fish playing techniques. I landed a catfish from the reeds on the northern shore. The wind started to blow harder, and I heard a few rumbles of distant thunder, so I decided to start rowing for the takeout point. As I rowed down the North West shore I paused to talk with a fisherman in waders who had waded out into the lake and was casting a crank bait to some stickups. He said he had landed two nice bass. He also said he fishes there pretty often and the lake holds some big bass.

After I got my kick boat onto the top of my car and my gear stowed I sat in the parked car to call my wife to say I was safely off the water. A hard rain abruptly started before the brief call was over, and I drove through a hard rain all the way back to Georgetown

The single fish I caught was nice enough to allow me to count the brief trip a success, but it would have been much better if I had landed everything I hooked.

Mar 31, 2009- Tim Nickels

Begin and end times: 5:15 -6:30
Air Temperature, weather conditions: 70°, clear
Water temperature, water condition: Water was very murky, greenish color, maybe algae
Flies that worked: Didn't fly fish:

Decided to take a look at the lake for the first time since moving here. Chose to throw a small panther martin spinner with my UL spingear since my arm was sore from throwing into the wind with my 4wt yesterday. Managed to catch a nice 1 lb LMB and an 8" LMB. No one else seemed to be catching much. Lots of small minnows on the surface though.

April 22, 2008 - Don Johnson

I Fished from 4:00pm until dark. Caught two decent bass and lost two smaller ones. Both fish came from the timber on the south east shore; one on a Dahlberg diver, the other on a Zonker.

April 5, 2008 - Don Johnson

I put my little kickboat into the water about 3:30pm and fished until about 7:30pm. There was a high blue sky, and the temperature was in the mid seventies. I don't have a thermometer, but I wasn’t wearing waders and my finned feet didn’t get uncomfortable.

I landed three bass, two of which were pretty good sized (see photos). The largest bass was taken on the west shore just north of the boat launch site. It took a silver zonker shad imitation that Brooks Bouldin tied for me (thanks Brooks). The other good fish came from the flooded timber on the south east shore; it took a dark Dahlberg Diver.

I believe the fishing gods must have realized another series of skunk days would turn me off of Meadow Lake forever, so they allowed me just enough success to keep me coming back.

November 19, 2007 - Don Johnson

I finally caught a fish at Meadow Lake, and I have a photo to prove it. I only caught the one fish, and, as you can see, it was quite small, but at least a didn't get completely skunked again.

September 25, 2007 - Don Johnson

Yet another skunk morning on Meadow Lake. I Fished from 7:30AM till 9:30AM and got no strikes at all. The water was muddy, though we haven't had any recent rain, and visiblity was poor.

Oh well, watching the sun rise over a small lake is not the worst way to spend a morning.

August 21, 2007 - Don Johnson

Skunked again! I caught no fish, had no strikes; the high point of the day was when I snagged the bottom and momentarily thought I had a fish. I started at about 7:00 AM and, since the fishing was bad, quit about two hours later. The water was muddy with poor visibility. This late in the summer this lake usually has, if my memory is correct, a lot of hydrilla, but I saw none of it on this trip.

July 12, 2007 - Don Johnson

I fished from about 6:00 a.m. to about 9:00 a.m.. I caught nothing, no long distance releases, no missed strikes -- no nothing. The weather was good: partly cloudy, about 75 degrees when I started and about 85 degrees when I left.

I am getting quite frustrated with my lack of success in this lake. A 2006 Texas Parks and Wildlife fish population survey has statements like: “Largemouth bass were abundant (total CPUE=140/hour). Size structure was excellent, with a large percentage of the population exceeding 14 inches”, “The number of bass collected in 2006 from 8-13.9 inches was greatly increased over previous years, indicating good recruitment from the 2005 year class”, and “The average length of largemouth bass collected from the reservoir was approximately 16 inches.” The contour map of the lake shows that most of the lake is less than four feet deep, and the deepest spot is only eight feet deep. The lake should be a fly fisherman's dream: it has fish; the fish can't hide in deep water, power boats are prohibited, and the lake is small enough to be easily fished completely from a kick boat or kayak. However I have been to the lake four or five times over the last few years and I have never had any luck; always getting skunks or near skunks.

If anybody out there knows the secret of fishing this lake, and is willing to share, please contact me at donavonj@suddenlink.net. I need the help.

November 4, 2006 - Don Johnson

I fished from about 6:30 a.m. to about 9:30 a.m.. I caught nothing, no long distance releases, no missed strikes -- no nothing. I fished with a Dahlberg Diver and a Jack Ellis Grinnel fly, and, as I said, no luck on either. The weather was good: about 45 degrees when I started, cloud cover the whole time, no wind. The water visibility was not too good; when I lowered my rod tip straight down into the water my yellow floating line was no longer visible by the time the second guide from the tip top reached the water. Maybe the water was too cold for top water fishing, but I figured my woolly buggers would just disappear in the off color water.

I saw two hot air balloons. They were quite a way off to the south, but still a pleasant sight. I also saw a flight of six Canada Geese fly the entire length of the lake while about 10 feet above the water. They passed within 100 feet of my canoe -- pretty cool.