Lake Raven

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Bass Slayer
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Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 3:55 pm

Lake Raven

Post by Bass Slayer »

Has anyone fished Lake Raven lately? If so, what's the fishing report? Kayak friendly? Wondering if it's worth making a trip from Houston.

Thanks,
Bass Slayer
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Cityfisher
Posts: 640
Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2014 2:05 pm
Location: Houston, Tx

Re: Lake Raven

Post by Cityfisher »

Not in a couple of years. Catch and release only also. It is very kayak friendly but there are a lot of Alligators. Some big ones. They will ignore you though. I've watched them swim by not even 25 yards away from the swimming area with kids thrashing around in the lake. lol This time of year the bass are probably laying up on their nest along the shorelines.
I know there are some bigggg bass in there but they get a lot of pressure. I had one blow up on my top water one morning that missed my lure that had to have been at least 10lbs!! I still start shaking thinking about that fish as I'm writing this. lol
TexasFlyaker
Posts: 37
Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2016 5:11 pm
Location: Livingston, TX

Re: Lake Raven

Post by TexasFlyaker »

Not recently but I went last august. They had drained the lake pretty low to do some work on the dam. The water was muddy and away from the bank. Because of the low water all the grass and lilly pads had died. It did not look like Raven normally does. I still caught a couple small bass but nothing big. If you go let us know how it looks. I love fishing that lake and hope its back to normal.
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Crusader
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Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 7:28 pm

Re: Lake Raven

Post by Crusader »

Bass Slayer wrote:Has anyone fished Lake Raven lately? If so, what's the fishing report? Kayak friendly? Wondering if it's worth making a trip from Houston.
It is a beautiful lake, surrounded by pine forest and somewhat protected from wind. It gets crowded on weekends. Catching-wise is so-so, it gets a lot of pressure from bass fishermen. Has very small population of crappies. Has few big bass and decent cats. Has big ass redears. Was drained down to ~-5'recently to repair the dam, not sure if it is back up. Has few gators -- they stay in shallow coves. Has special fishing rules (it is a community lake, biggest one in Texas). You can't keep bass at all.

Edit: you should visit it at least once. Exceptionally beautiful on a windless morning at sunrise.
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Native Pedal
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Joined: Fri May 15, 2015 1:34 pm

Re: Lake Raven

Post by Native Pedal »

Visited there early this week for a couple of days. Had a great time but only fished off the bank for about four hours. Caught enough bream to make a meal and had a great time doing nothing. May take the yak back up there tomorrow although I did not take it last Monday. Lots of bass fishermen out while I was there but it is a no wake lake. Lots of kayaks out too. About half fishing and half just enjoying the outdoors.

Below are the postings both from the Park website as well as TPWD.


Fishing Respect our resources; feeding alligators or any other wildlife is prohibited. A fishing license is not required to fish on Lake Raven, however, ALL FISHING REGULATIONS SUCH AS LENGTH AND BAG LIMITS REMAIN IN EFFECT. Largemouth bass is catch-and-release only. If you plan on keeping the fish you catch, Huntsville SP fishing regulations, minimum fish lengths and bag limits are available at park headquarters.

Fishing Regulations for Raven
To combat the spread of invasive zebra mussels, the law requires draining of water from boats and onboard receptacles when leaving or approaching public fresh waters.
Note:
This water body is contained within a State Park boundary. No fishing license required.
Gear restrictions
Fishing is by pole and line only.
Black bass
Catch and release only for largemouth bass, except that any bass 24 inches or longer may be temporarily retained in a live well or other aerated holding device and immediately weighed using personal scales. Bass weighing 13 pounds or more may be donated to the ShareLunker Program; otherwise, the fish must be immediately released in the lake where caught. Anglers wishing to donate their bass must immediately cease fishing and contact TPWD at (903) 681-0550. Anglers may not remove the bass from the immediate vicinity of the reservoir unless instructed to do so by TPWD staff. Bass not accepted by TPWD must be immediately released. For smallmouth bass (if present), minimum length = 14 inches. No length limit on Guadalupe or spotted bass (if present.) Daily bag for smallmouth, spotted and Guadalupe bass is 5 fish in any combination.
White, striped and yellow bass
For striped and hybrid striped bass, minimum length limit = 18 inches and daily bag limit = 5 in any combination. For white bass, minimum length = 10 inches and daily bag is 25. There are no bag or size limits for yellow bass.
Carp
There is no minimum length limit or daily bag limit for common carp.
Catfish
For channel and blue catfish, there is no minimum length and combined daily bag limit = 5. For flathead catfish, minimum length = 18 inches and daily bag = 5.
Crappie
For white and black crappie, their hybrids and subspecies, minimum length limit = 10 inches. Daily bag limit = 25 in any combination.
Gar
For alligator gar, daily bag limit is 1 fish of any size. No bag limits on other species of gar. Certain areas may be temporarily closed to alligator gar fishing when optimum spawning conditions occur. Get details.
Sunfish
There is no minimum length or daily bag limit on bluegill, redear, warmouth or other species of sunfish.
Trout
For rainbow and brown trout, their hybrids and subspecies, there is no minimum length and daily bag limit = 5 trout in any combination.
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