Lake J B Thomas fishing: Walleye, Largemouth Bass, Blue Catfish
Target species: Walleye, Largemouth Bass, Blue Catfish, White Crappie, Channel Catfish, Bluegill
The lake
Lake J B Thomas covers 7,139 acres in Texas, across 2 counties: Borden and Scurry. It is a lake: the deepest point measured is ≈28 feet (8.5 m). Our records hold 8 species for this water.
6 target fish, led by Walleye
- Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
- Largemouth Bass — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
- Blue Catfish — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
- White Crappie — Feeding water: 65–75°F.
- Channel Catfish — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
- Bluegill — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
Also recorded here: White Bass, Common Carp.
Stocking: 4,543,377 fish, 1965–2026
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department records list 4,543,377 fish released into this water from 1965 to 2026.
- Walleye: 2,750,000 in 1969–1973
- Largemouth Bass: 466,825 in 1965–2022
- Blue Catfish: 266,917 in 1980–2015
- Channel Catfish: 242,388 in 2015
4 more species on the stocking list.
Depth and bottom
Deepest measured point: ≈28 ft (8.5 m). EPA NLA measured 40.4 ft (12.3 m) at one sampling site: that is not the maximum of the water. We hold 38 depth contours for this water, drawn from 47,214 soundings.
- 0–2 ft: 61.7% of the surveyed bottom
- 2–4 ft: 6.7% of the surveyed bottom
- 4–6 ft: 5.6% of the surveyed bottom
- 6–8 ft: 3.3% of the surveyed bottom
- 8–10 ft: 2.7% of the surveyed bottom
- 10–12 ft: 4.2% of the surveyed bottom
- 12–14 ft: 3.4% of the surveyed bottom
- 14–16 ft: 3.1% of the surveyed bottom
- 16–18 ft: 2.5% of the surveyed bottom
- 18–20 ft: 1.6% of the surveyed bottom
- 20–22 ft: 1.2% of the surveyed bottom
- 22–24 ft: 1.5% of the surveyed bottom
- 24–26 ft: 1.7% of the surveyed bottom
- 26–28 ft: 0.9% of the surveyed bottom
Water and conditions
Our water temperature readings average 62°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 8.5. These readings span 2017–2020. The latest reading is from 2020, more than three years ago: read these numbers as history, not as the water today.
What is hard here
Wind is the limit, not the fish: 7,139 acres of open water build a short steep chop, and there is no shelter in the middle.
Where this data comes from
- Texas Water Development Board — Texas Water Development Board: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
- EPA NLA — EPA National Lakes Assessment: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.
Part of these depths rest on an averaged water level, so they are approximate (≈).
