Texas is big. That’s no secret, particularly given the penchant for natives to brag about the size of our state. While it’s true that Alaska is roughly thee times the size of the Lone Star State, Texas is still daunting in size—particularly to visitors or if you’re one of the many transplants that now call Texas your home. In fact, if Texas was a country (which comes up for discussion quite often), it would be the 44th largest on the planet (as of 2019–countries occasionally come and go).
Texas has a far more extensive network of roads (for better or worse) to traverse the vastness than any other state. You’ll have to drive 900 miles to travel from Brownsville in the southernmost end of the Rio Grande Valley to reach Texline in the northwest corner of the Panhandle. It’s a more manageable 800 miles to drive a fairly straight shot from El Paso in the western tip to Waskom near the edge of the Louisiana border.
As a lifelong resident of Texas, I’ve had a wanderlust to explore as many of those miles as possible for as long as I can remember. The contrast in landscape, vegetation and regional culture, even after driving only a short distance, has been a source of endless fascination.
Greater than any other aspect in spurring my drive to hit the open road has been fishing the waters of Texas. I grew up fishing several North Texas lakes from the back of an old bombardier-hulled fiberglass boat with my dad. Casting my trusty spincast combo into any water I could reach while he maneuvered adeptly with the trolling motor into the best position to pitch his Texas-rigged ringtail worms are among my earliest fishing memories. I don’t remember very many of the fish I caught in those days (I do remember hooking his fishing buddy in the earlobe), but those days remain indelible experiences.
By the time I reached sixteen with driver’s license in hand, I was a boy possessed—bent on finding honey holes where mythical-sized bass haunted the depths or crappie swam in schools so thick that you would tire out before the bite ceased. I dreamt of catfish so hefty that wire shank hooks would straighten and even of catching corpulent carp that looked like overfed zoo attractions. I drafted a bucket list—mostly fishing-centric goals I was determined to fulfill: fish every lake in Texas, visit every town in Texas, catch a world record bass, catch a 7 foot long alligator gar, own a vintage movie theater, make millions—the usual stuff.
Decades later and hopefully a tad bit wiser, I still love exploring Texas and still fish, mostly for bass, as often as I can. After years of bank fishing, gradually upgrading to a pack raft and then a float tube, I now spend most of my fishing days in a kayak. Given their popularity, many can similarly attest to the appeal of fishing from paddle craft: affordability, ease of use, access to virtually all waters, no need for boat ramps, and on and on.
While thankfully many of my teenage bucket list goals have faded away, one always remained in the back of my mind—fish every lake in Texas. In 2017, I decided to probe a bit deeper. I had fished quite a few lakes in my life to that point, but how many were in my tally and how many more did I need? The answer to that question turned out to be far more complicated than I expected and led to the creation of this blog, Angling Across Texas.
My objective is not to create yet another site where you watch someone else catch fish and hope to decipher where they were or what bait they were throwing. Instead, I hope to share the research and preparation that goes into achieving my goal and thus help you fish more of Texas and hopefully explore a new piece of our great state. I’m not an expert angler—I’m average at best. I don’t know everything there is to know about bass or boats or gear. What I am is passionate and curious with a true zeal to explore and share what I learn. I believe in fishing with responsibility, courtesy and in keeping with current regulations. I practice catch and release, but generally do not oppose fish harvest when done in accordance with published bag sizes and limits. I strive to keep our waterways clean and try to pick up litter at each site I visit so that it’s a positive experience for other users.
I hope you enjoy the site and that you’ll find something useful in your own quest—wherever it may lead.