Mitchell Lake Fishing near Texarkana, Texas

• Overview

  Set in Bowie County, Mitchell Lake is a Texas water. The surroundings are dry hill. The water measures roughly 3 acres, so nothing here is far from anything else. Our Bowie County list holds plenty of bigger water. For a base, Texarkana sits 2.4 miles out. Shreveport sits 68 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. Rules can differ a short way off, since the county line is near.

• Where to Fish on Mitchell Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. Rip-rap along the wall holds fish that the open bank never does. A reservoir gives you a hard edge, a shelf, and not much else. Fish reported in the area, according to open records, include green sunfish, yellow bullhead, bluegill, gizzard shad and white crappie. It is a record of sightings and surveys, so use it as a guide. Mitchell Lake gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 43°F to 83°F. Fish stay active all year, but they move with the heat. The first and last hours carry the summer; the middle is slow. Late winter often fishes better here than midsummer does. On Mitchell Lake that shapes the whole year. Wind on the bank for a day or two lifts the fishing there.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. There is somewhere to leave the car, half a mile off. For the catfish, fish bottom baits into the deeper holes and let them sit. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. State Line Lake at 0.7 miles is the sensible second choice. Treat access at Mitchell Lake as something to verify.