By Frank Huneycutt
FWFF Director

The club’s June 18 (Saturday) outing will be held at Black Creek Lake in the LBJ National Grasslands north of Decatur. The 20,313-acre LBJ Grasslands Unit is an underutilized nature area that is only an hour drive from downtown Fort Worth.

This area was once a “Dust Bowl” site during the Depression when people swept bushel baskets of sand from the floors of their homes and animals were suffocated or blinded by “black blizzard” sand storms. Today this U.S. Forest Service-managed area has been restored with tall grass, heavily vegetated woods, and multiple lakes that fish well. It is not unusual to spot wild turkey and deer when you visit the grasslands.

The 35-acre Black Creek Lake will be our destination. This is an outing where a kayak, canoe, boat or float tube will come in handy. There is limited bank fishing. The lake has a concrete boat ramp, restrooms, picnic area and camping sites. Day use is $2 a day and camping is $10 a day, though National Forest Golden Passports and America The Beautiful Passes are honored there. There is a self-pay station at the northeast corner of the lake, so bring correct cash and a ball point pen.

Targeted fish species will be largemouth bass and bream (blue gill & greenies), with catfish, carp and crappie also in the mix. Five-weight and six-weight rods and floating lines are sufficient, although you may want a sinking line to fish the dam area on the east side of the lake. Suggested flies for bass are mouse patterns (Polk’s Dirty Rat & deer hair mouse patterns), gurglers, olive & white Woolly Buggers, and Clouser Minnows. Productive bream flies include poppers (Boogle Bug & Miss Prissy), Jitter Bee, Briminator, Cap Spider and Carter’s Rubber-Legged Dragon (recipe in June newsletter).

If you are ambitious, you may also want to try Cottonwood Lake (40 acres), which is only about a 15-minute drive north of Black Creek Lake. Cottonwood has a concrete boat ramp, but no other amenities. There is no fee to use Cottonwood Lake as all lakes in the LBJ National Grasslands are free with the exception of Black Creek Lake.

I will be at the pay station by 7 a.m. to give directions and answer questions. Pack a lunch and come enjoy the fishing and scenery!

DIRECTIONS

The GPS Coordinates are: 33.34268300, -97.59699500

1. From Fort Worth, take U.S. Hwy. 287 north to Decatur.
2. Go east on U.S. Hwy. 380 for less than a mile.
3. Go north on FM 730 (N. Trinity Street) and continue for 3.1 miles (you will pass the Decatur Municipal Airport).
4. Turn left (northwest) on County Road 2360 and continue for 3.5 miles.
5. Turn left (west) on CR 2372 and continue for 0.3 miles.
6. Turn right (north) on CR 2461 and continue for 0.5 miles.
7. Turn left (west) on Forest Service Road 902 and continue 0.5 miles to the destination.

I’m hosting this outing and would appreciate notification if you plan to attend. You can reach me at frankhuneycutt@att.net or 214-796-7479.

Pin It on Pinterest