10 Best Bass Fishing Lakes Near Dallas-Fort Worth

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The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in Texas. More than 7.6 million people call DFW home.

Luckily, with so many anglers, there are also a lot of great fishing lakes in the neighborhood.

The area of North Texas surrounding Dallas and Fort Worth is home to some of the best bass lakes in Texas.

Some, like Lake Ray Roberts, are trophy bass lakes where you have a solid shot at a double-digit bass. Others, like Grapevine Lake, are more about numbers. 

Although largemouth bass are the main target species in most Texas lakes, some of these DFW-area waters also harbor substantial populations of smallmouths and Kentucky spotted bass. 

What follows are the best bass fishing lakes near Dallas-Fort Worth. None are more than a two-hour drive from the cities, and each one has the potential to put some serious fish in your livewell.

Lake Ray Roberts

Just under an hour north of Dallas, Lake Ray Roberts is routinely ranked among the best bass fishing lakes in all of Texas.

It’s a man-made lake on the Trinity River that spans 29,000 acres and offers a wealth of prime largemouth habitat.

Lake Ray Roberts hosted the Bassmaster Classic in 2021, and Hank Cherry Jr. took home the trophy with a string of 15 bass weighing 50 pounds, 15 ounces. Overall, it’s a lake known more for producing big bass than it is for numbers. 

You have a decent shot at a bass close to the 10-pound mark here. The biggest bass in Lake Ray Roberts are caught in February and March, as tends to be the case in most Texas lakes, but you’ll probably catch more fish later in May or June.

One tactic that often proves successful is to focus on rip-rap. Lake Ray Roberts has several major bridge crossings, and they’re all great places to work a crankbait or jig-and-pig around the rocks.

There’s a long stretch of rip-rap along the Ray Roberts Dam at the south end of the lake too.

In springtime, it also pays to focus on points. Deep main lake points offer an opportunity to cover various depths within a relatively small area, which can help you key in on the appropriate depth to fish any time of year.

Jigs and creature baits are great for fishing main lake points on Lake Ray Roberts. 

There’s also a productive area of flats between the feeder creeks in the Isle du Bois Creek arm. A lot of bass spawn here in spring, and it’s a great place to try a Carolina-rigged lizard or worm.

Lake Ray Roberts also has around 2,000 acres of standing timber. Around early June, try vertical jigging areas of standing timber in 20 to 35 feet of water.

There’s not a ton of vegetation in Lake Ray Roberts, so for the most part, it pays to focus on other structure, especially timber and rocks. It’s often most effective to start close to the bank and work your way deeper.

Lake Ray Roberts has seven public boat ramps and numerous parks and public access sites along the shore. Ray Roberts Lake State Park is a good place to start, with a full service marina, shore fishing access and camping. 

Lake Fork

For a long time, Lake Fork was THE Texas bass lake. In many ways, it still is. Bassmaster Magazine ranked it the #1 bass lake in America in 2021. But Lake Fork is unlikely to ever match the hot streak it experienced in the late 80s and early 90s. 

Between 1986 and 1992, six bass weighing over 17 pounds were caught in Lake Fork. To this day, these fish are the six biggest bass ever caught in Texas, including the 18-plus-pound largemouth at the top of the state game fish records listing

No lake can crank out those numbers forever. But even now, this 27,000-acre reservoir 80 miles east of Dallas remains one of the most impressive Texas bass lakes for both size and numbers of fish. 

Early in the spring, when chunky female largemouths head toward shallow water to spawn, there’s no lake in North Texas where you’re more likely to catch a 10 pound bass.

A little later on in the season, there are days when you can catch 2- to 5-pound largemouths until your arms are sore. 

You’ll find a wide range of cover in Lake Fork, so almost any style of bass fishing can work.

In March and April, fishing near the shoreline with spinnerbaits, worms and lipless cranks is a great way to target pre-spawn and spawning largemouths. 

Shad are a major forage fish for bass in Lake Fork, and when the shad spawn in late April and early May, you can’t go wrong throwing a shad imitation.

There’s a great topwater bite this time of the year. Toss a popper, willow-leaf blade spinnerbait or Zoom Fluke around grass lines, clay banks, docks and bridges.

Lake Fork is also a very brushy lake. It’s filled with flooded timber, and a lot of man-made brush piles have also been sunk by Texas Parks & Wildlife. A lot of fish are caught around woody cover, as well as beds of hydrilla in the northern creek arms.

By late May, the water starts to heat up and bass will head deeper. Follow them down long, sloping points and the edges of creek channels, and try jigs and Texas-rigged worms around deep structure.

Lake Fork also has a good nighttime bite during summer. Night fishing is a good way to beat the Texas heat, and bass often fall for topwaters and spinnerbaits after dark. Any lure that makes some noise and vibration can work. 

You can access Lake Fork at more than 20 parks, public access sites and marinas around the shoreline. The Highway 154 public boat ramp and the 515 East boat ramp are good launch sites that don’t charge a fee.

Shore fishing is available near both of those ramps, and also at W.C. Swearington Recreation Area.

Lake Fork is an excellent all-around fishing hole. For instance, you’ll also find it listed among the best crappie fishing spots in Texas.

More: Complete Guide to Lake Fork Fishing

Grapevine Lake

An aerial view of a peninsula with parked cars near the shores of Grapevine Lake, a good bass fishing lake near Dallas-Fort Worth.
Photo by trongnguyen (Depositphotos)

A man-made lake of about 6,700 acres, Grapevine Lake is right in the heart of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, on the north side of the city of Grapevine and less than a half-hour drive from either city’s downtown.

It’s a great bass lake that offers a mix of largemouths, smallmouths and spotted bass. 

There are some good-sized bass in Grapevine Lake, but overall it’s better known for numbers than for big fish. The best bet here is usually to fish tight to structure and target bass in the 2- to 3-pound range. 

Grapevine Lake tends to be moderately stained, and it’s prone to fluctuations in water level, which can significantly impact the fishing.

The best action here tends to be in April and May. Water tends to be a little high this time of year, which allows you to target shoreline trees and boulders that are normally above water.

This is a lake where it really helps to know where the structure is. Grapevine doesn’t have much vegetation to speak of, and you can spend a whole day flailing at open water without so much as a bite, and then catch five keeper bass off a single log or brush pile. 

The Twin Coves area, located in the middle part of the northern shore, is a great place to start. Twin Coves consist of two creek arms that meet before entering the main lake, and there’s quite a bit of brush and standing timber in and around the coves. 

You can usually catch bass in this area, and it’s a relatively small section of the lake, which makes it fairly easy for a newcomer to figure out. A boat launch and campground are available at Twin Coves Park.

When the water is up, try topwaters like chatterbaits and frogs around flooded timber, or work the deeper ends of the flooded areas with lizards or creature baits. 

Dock fishing is also a fairly reliable pattern at Grapevine Lake, partly because they’re some of the most easy-to-spot structures. Try pitching jigs and soft plastics around the marinas at the south end of the lake. 

When all else fails, fish along the dam. Lined with rip-rap and facing the prevailing winds at the east end of Grapevine Lake, the dam almost always holds a few bass. In fact, any wind-blown rocky bank on this lake is worth a few casts.

Try a jig or crankbait around the shallower rip-rap, or move a little deeper with a shakey-head worm or drop-shot rig.

Smallmouth numbers have been on the upswing in recent years, making Grapevine Lake one of the better smallmouth fishing lakes in Texas. You can usually pick up a smallie or two around the rocks. 

Lake Texoma

a picnic table sits on the grassy banks of Lake Texoma, a popular fishing spot on the border between Texas and Oklahoma.
Photo by CheriAlguire (Depositphotos)

Straddling the border between Texas and Oklahoma, Lake Texoma is a massive 74,000-acre reservoir. The lake is roughly 100 miles, or a 2-hour drive, north of DFW, but it’s an often-overlooked bass lake that’s well worth the trip. 

Lake Texoma is mostly known for striped bass—it’s the only major Texas lake with a self-sustaining striper population—and for giant catfish. Largemouth bass swim somewhat under the radar, but there are loads of 5-pound-plus bass in Texoma. 

This lake is also one of the great smallmouth lakes in North Texas. Smallies up to 6 pounds have come from Lake Texoma’s abundant rocky habitat, including a former state record. 

One big factor to keep in mind when fishing Lake Texoma is that aquatic vegetation is largely absent. For the most part, you’ll need to focus on rocks, stumps and standing timber. 

Bass spawn in April and May, and these are great months to find largemouths in less than 10 feet of water. A lot of bass spawn around the mid-lake islands’ rocky points.

The Big Mineral Creek Arm, on the Texas side of the lake, also has a lot of prime shallow spawning habitat. 

Start with a lure that allows you to cover water fast, like a crankbait, spinnerbait or topwater. Once you’ve identified a specific piece of cover that holds fish, slow down and switch to a wacky worm, creature bait or crawfish imitation.

By the time the calendar turns to June, bass will be all spawned out and ready to eat. They’ll head slightly deeper along rocky points, gobbling up shad, crawfish and bluegills in 5 to 20 feet of water. 

For smallmouths, the best area to target is the stretch of steep bluffs near Eisenhower State Park, and the rip-rap along Denison Dam. All bass tend to inhabit rocky areas in Lake Texoma, but smallmouths especially so.

Lake Texoma also has a decent population of spotted bass, though most are small. Spots weighing a pound or two often share habitat with both largemouth and smallmouth bass, but typically favor slightly deeper water on rocky points.

Not surprisingly, Lake Texoma also made our listing of best bass fishing lakes in Oklahoma.

More: Lake Texoma Fishing

Lake Palestine

With 25,000 acres of water less than 2 hours from Dallas-Fort Worth, Lake Palestine is a great multispecies fishery where anglers can catch largemouth and spotted bass, along with crappie, hybrid stripers and catfish. 

Timber and vegetation is most common in the upper portion of the lake, above the Highway 155 Bridge Crossing.

Fishing along the bridge itself is a good place to start—try casting crankbaits and topwaters around the bridge columns—after launching at Kilo Landing or Lakeway Harbor.

Areas farther up in the Highsaw, Ledbetter, Kickapoo and Neches River Arms can be very productive, especially during the spring spawning season in April. Flat Creek is good too.

Target timber in the creeks and coves using floating frogs, flipping jigs and drop-shot rigs. 

Where available, hydrilla and other vegetation can give up a lot of bass. The Kickapoo Creek Arm has the most vegetation. 

In the lower part of the lake, a lot of bass are caught in Cobb and Stone Chimney creeks, and in Saline Bay. Local anglers have sunk numerous artificial brush piles in this section of the lake to make up for the lack of natural cover.

Overall, you can expect lots of largemouths up to 5 pounds, but there’s potential for bigger fish too. Texas Parks & Wildlife has been stocking Florida strain bass here for some time.

The lake tends to be moderately clear, and bass feed heavily on both threadfin and gizzard shad.

Lake Palestine also is one of the best places to catch catfish in Texas as well as one of the better spots in the state for both striped and white bass fishing.

Lake Ray Hubbard

A solitary angler fishing from a pier at Lake Ray Hubbard near Dallas, with a big highway bridge in the background.
Photo by trongnguyen (Depositphotos)

Lake Ray Hubbard is just 20 minutes east of Downtown Dallas, making it a great option for city anglers looking for a fishing spot close to home. It’s a large reservoir spanning about 21,000 acres.

Fishing for bass at Lake Ray Hubbard can be challenging at times, but there are year-round opportunities if you know where to look.

The lake is best known for hybrid striped bass, but largemouth bass fishing has improved in recent years as aquatic vegetation in the lake has increased. 

Lake Ray Hubbard has several major bridge crossings, and targeting rip-rap and bridge pylons is usually a good tactic.

The I-30 bridge in particular can be a productive stretch for largemouths, although some anglers find the traffic noise disconcerting. 

Just south of I-30, there’s a warm water discharge at the Lake Hubbard Generating Station. This is a great area to target during the colder months, and you can often pick off bass along the long rock wall that extends out from the generating station. 

The northern end of the lake above I-30 has more timber and vegetation. You can usually catch bass around beds of hydrilla using topwaters, soft jerkbaits, wacky worms or buzzbaits. 

Bass fishing at Ray Hubbard Lake is a numbers game, so expect to catch a lot of largemouths in the 1- to 3-pound range.

John Paul Jones Park is a great place to launch.

Ray Hubbard Lake also is among the best striped bass fishing spots in Texas and also among the best catfish fishing lakes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Joe Pool Lake

Located within 30 minutes of both Fort Worth and Dallas, Joe Pool Lake offers a lot of fishing options on the south side of the region. It’s a 6,400-acre impoundment with two major arms and a huge bass population. 

There’s a lot going on under the surface of this lake. Examination of the bottom reveals stump fields, old road beds, rock piles, flooded stock ponds and a wealth of other features.

The upper ends of the lake’s two main arms are each loaded with standing timber, and many bass are caught among the trees. 

Joe Pool Lake also has a lot of hydrilla and pondweed, so if you’re an angler who likes to fish vegetation, this lake can be a breath of fresh air. As a lot of local fishermen will tell you, if you want to find the bass, fish the grass.

The area close to the dam, in particular, has abundant hydrilla growth. One option is to launch at Lynn Creek Park and troll along the weeds up to the dam, where there are some major ledges that often hold bass. 

In areas where the hydrilla doesn’t quite reach the surface, topwaters are a great option. Tossing wacky worms, creature baits and football jigs into pockets and along the edges of vegetation is also an effective, if somewhat laborious, tactic.

Cedar Hill State Park encompasses much of the lake’s western shore, and offers boat ramps, a fishing pier and campgrounds.

At times when the lake level is high and the water is a bit stained, try a spinnerbait or buzzbait along the rocky shore by the dam. 

Lewisville Lake

Approximately 29,000-acre Lewisville Lake is located on the north side of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, and it’s one of the largest lakes in the area.

There are a ton of largemouths in this reservoir, but unlocking Lewisville Lake’s secrets is no small task. 

Lewisville Lake has a reputation for being one of the toughest bass lakes in Texas. Fishing pressure and boat traffic are largely to blame. With so many people living so close, this lake gets hit hard.

Still, there are definitely 10-pound largemouths in Lewisville Lake for anyone willing to work for them. Late April into early May is the best time to be on the water. Try to get there early to beat the boat traffic.

The Hickory Creek Arm, on the west side of the lake, is a good place to start.

Focusing on secondary points is a great tactic on Lewisville Lake (main lake points are tough to fish because of boat traffic), and the meandering shoreline of the Hickory Creek Arm has a lot of them.

Look for brush piles, trees and rocks in the coves, and hit them with finesse jigs, craws and topwaters. Tossing a Fluke or other soft jerkbait around shallow brush and flooded timber can get good bites in the morning.

Sycamore Bend Park offers a boat ramp, camping and some shore fishing access on the Hickory Creek Arm of Lewisville Lake. 

Arrowhead Park is another good launch spot. It’s right next to the I-35 bridge, and you can usually catch bass on lipless cranks under the bridge.

Lewisville Lake offers several parks and fishing piers around its shoreline, making it a good option for shore-bound anglers. 

Eagle Mountain Lake

Just 15 miles northwest of Fort Worth, Eagle Mountain Lake is a solid bass lake that’s known for producing some hefty largemouths.

A new lake record of 13.08 pounds was set in 2021, and numerous double digit bass have been brought to the boat over the years.

Eagle Mountain Lake is a 8,700-acre reservoir on the West Fork of the Trinity River. You’ll find spotted bass and smallmouths here in limited numbers, but largemouths are the main target species. 

There are a few ways to fish Eagle Mountain Lake, and the bass here have a reputation for being erratic. If you catch them today, chances are they’ll be in a different spot tomorrow, refusing to bite the same lures. 

Fishing boat docks is a pretty reliable pattern, and if you hit enough marinas, piers and boathouses you should be able to pick up a decent number of bass. Flipping soft plastics under docks is a great morning tactic. 

Check the rocky points and bluffs at the lower end of the lake too. You might also find some big bass along the edge of the reeds toward the northern end of the lake, especially around spawning time. 

The water clarity tends to be pretty good at the southern end near the dam, but it’s usually more stained up in the arms. Plan your approach accordingly. Something with some flash and vibration will tempt strikes in the cloudy water, but a finesse approach may work better in the lower lake. 

Benbrook Lake

The sun barely rises over Benbrook Lake near Fort Worth, Texas, a very good bass fishing lake at this time of morning.
Photo by dfikar (Depositphotos)

Benbrook Lake is just a 20-minute drive southwest of Fort Worth, and it’s definitely one of the best under-the-radar bass lakes in the DFW region.

It’s also one of the oldest lakes in the area, having been impounded in 1952 on the Clear Fork of the Trinity River. 

This isn’t usually a lake where you’ll catch bass all day long. But it is an underrated big bass lake. Every year, a few chunkers from Benbrook Lake end up in the Texas ShareLunker program, and at least one 10-pound bass was caught here in 2021. 

Head to Benbrook Lake in February or March for your best shot at a trophy bass. Focus on coves and the mouths of creeks. The fishing might be slow this time of year, but crankbaits, plastic worms and spinnerbaits account for some big early-season largemouths.

The numbers game improves later in spring and early summer, when bass have finished spawning and are on the lookout for a meal. That’s a great time to try jigging or drop-shotting on long points, drop-offs and bottom humps.

Benbrook Lake has hardly any vegetation and precious little timber other than a few dead trees. The ticket to finding fish here is paying attention to the bottom contours and looking for subtle changes. A good topographic map is a real asset at Benbrook Lake.

Several parks provide launch facilities and shore access, including North Holiday Park near the dam, and Rocky Creek Park on the Rock Creek arm.