Grayson County Fishing Spots: Lake Texoma, Dam & City Lakes

Lake Texoma is the reason most people come here to fish. It’s a Red River reservoir on the Texas–Oklahoma line, impounded in 1944, covering about 74,686 acres and reaching depths of around 100 feet, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife. TPWD also says river flows from the Red and Washita make Texoma one of the few freshwater lakes in the country with a self-sustaining, landlocked population of striped bass. The dozen other Texas lakes with striper fisheries need routine stocking. The state record blue catfish, 121.5 pounds, came out of Texoma in 2004.

You don’t need a boat to get in on it. Below are the public spots with the clearest official rules, grouped from big water to neighborhood ponds. Rules, fees and closures change, so check the linked agency page the morning you go.

Lake Texoma from the bank: Eisenhower State Park

Denison · Lake Texoma

Eisenhower State Park

50 Park Road 20, Denison · (903) 465-1956 · Adults $5, kids 12 and under free (TPWD)

This is the easiest first trip for a newcomer. TPWD’s park page says no fishing license is required when you fish from shore in a Texas state park, and the park lends rods, reels and tackle boxes with hooks, sinkers and bobbers to use on site. It lists two fishing piers, including a lighted pier for evening fishing, plus a fish cleaning station and a boat ramp with a courtesy dock. The park says striped bass, crappie and catfish are the main targets.

Two things to check first. The park’s alert page has listed the Fossil Ridge fishing pier as closed since May 7, 2026, and it currently routes visitors to Exit 72 off Highway 75 because of road construction. TPWD also says the park often fills up and recommends reserving a day pass.

Best for: a no-license, borrowed-gear first cast on Lake Texoma.

Lake Texoma from Eisenhower State Park. Image source: GrapevineTxOnline.com / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

TPWD’s fishing notes say smallmouth bass on Texoma are mostly found around the bluffs near Eisenhower State Park, Denison Dam and up the Washita arm. Its fall tip is to work crankbaits along rocky shorelines for largemouth and spotted bass, or fish the bluffs near the park after dark. Camping guests are the ones who can fish into the night, because day visitors must follow the park’s posted hours.

Other Texas-side public access: TPWD’s Lake Texoma access map lists Juniper Point East and West, Preston Recreation Area, Grandpappy Point and Dam Site Park, along with private marinas such as Highport and Little Mineral. Outside the state park, anyone 17 or older needs a license. Pottsboro is the closest town to much of this shoreline, and our Moving to Pottsboro guide covers lake-side living.

Below the dam: the Denison Dam tailrace

Denison · Red River

Denison Dam tailrace (Texas bank)

Off Highway 91 north of Denison · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Denison Dam area

The moving water below Denison Dam is where locals go for big striped bass from the bank. The license rules here are different from the lake’s, so they’re worth learning before you go. TPWD’s border-water rules say you need a valid Texas license to fish from the Texas bank between Denison Dam and Shawnee Creek, but an Oklahoma license to wade or fish from a boat in those waters. The $12 Lake Texoma license doesn’t cover the tailrace. TPWD says it is valid only on the lake itself.

The striper limit changes too. On the Red River from the dam down to Shawnee Creek, TPWD sets a daily bag of 5 striped or hybrid striped bass with no minimum length. Once a fish goes on a stringer or into a livewell, it counts toward your bag and can’t be released.

Best for: experienced bank anglers chasing stripers in heavy current.

Denison Dam powerhouse and outlet basin. Image source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

The Corps’ Denison Damsite campground sits on the Texas side, and TexomaConnect describes four stairwells down to the river and warns about the strong current when the generators run. Releases follow a power-generation schedule that can change without notice, so check the current schedule before you drive up, and wear a life jacket near fast water.

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge: the Big Mineral arm

Sherman / Pottsboro · Lake Texoma

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge

Visitor Center: 6465 Refuge Road, Sherman · Open sunrise to sunset

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the refuge’s waters include 466 acres of ponds, 2,195 acres of open water on the Big Mineral arm of Lake Texoma, and several miles of Big Mineral, Harris and Sandy creeks. You can catch largemouth, smallmouth, striped and white bass, plus crappie, sunfish and catfish. Fishing is open year-round, but not from bridges, and the refuge is closed at night.

The refuge’s fishing map points bank anglers to Big Mineral Creek, the lake shore at the Goode Day Use Area, Sandy Point, and the oil pad access roads off Oil Field Road. Plover, Tern and Egret roads are closed to fishing because they’re set aside for wildlife viewing. Unlike the state park, the refuge requires a Texas or Lake Texoma fishing license, per the refuge’s fishing and boating rules.

Best for: quiet bank fishing with birding on the side.

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge on Lake Texoma. Image source: Vince Smith / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

The refuge’s seasons matter more than most spots’. Boating runs March 15 through September 30. From October 1 to March 14, only non-motorized boats and tube fishing are allowed on Big Mineral Creek, launched from L Pad Road. The refuge’s old stock ponds open to fishing March 15 through September 30. The rules note one year-round exception, Refuge Road Pond. Jug lines, limb lines, throw lines, yo-yos and noodling are banned. For events and family programs, see our Hagerman refuge guide.

“No fishing license is required when you fish from shore in a Texas state park.”

City lakes and ponds: Denison and Sherman community fishing lakes

Denison · Community fishing lakes

Waterloo Lake and Loy Lake

Waterloo Lake Regional Park, 1101 Waterloo Lake Drive · Loy Lake Park, 457 RC Vaughn Rd (City of Denison)

The City of Denison says Waterloo Lake, the Waterloo Lake pond and Loy Lake are designated community fishing lakes. TPWD’s list puts Waterloo Lake at 52 acres and Loy Lake at 42. The city’s facility page for Waterloo lists a fishing pier, boat ramp, kayak launch and playground. Denison rents kayaks there at $10 an hour with a two-hour minimum, from late February through late fall. Renters must be 18 or older. Loy Lake has nature trails, picnic tables and boat access, with posted hours of 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Denison’s rules for both lakes allow only single electric trolling motors (no gas engines), with no swimming or wading, and a Coast Guard-approved flotation device for each person in a boat. Anglers 17 and older need a Texas freshwater license.

Best for: a short evening trip with kids, close to town.

CCC-built picnic tables at Loy Lake. Image source: Larry D. Moore / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

In Sherman, Herman Baker Park (2500 W Center St.) wraps a 1.5-mile trail around Pickens Lake, which the city says usually covers about 30 acres. The city rents kayaks and paddleboards there at $20 for a two-hour slot, and its rental rules ban night fishing from them. TPWD also lists Dean Gilbert Lake in northwest Sherman, near FM 1417 and US 82, as a community fishing lake of about 45 acres.

The same rules apply at every community fishing lake, from TPWD. You can keep 5 fish a day of all species combined, and only 1 of those can be a black bass, which must be at least 14 inches. Fishing is by pole and line only, with no more than two poles per angler.

TPWD’s list of Grayson County community fishing lakes also includes the T-Bar Park pond southeast of Denison, the Manning Park Plaza pond in northwest Denison, Pottsboro Lake, and several small ponds inside Hagerman refuge. For playgrounds and picnic spots near these lakes, see our parks in Gunter TX guide, which covers Denison’s parks too.

A short drive southwest: Ray Roberts Lake

If you live in Gunter or the 289 corridor, Ray Roberts Lake may be closer than Texoma. TPWD notes that the dam is in Denton County but the 25,600-acre reservoir reaches into Cooke and Grayson counties. All game fish there follow statewide rules. TPWD lists largemouth bass, white bass, catfish, crappie and sunfish as the main catches. White bass peak during the spring spawning run up the tributaries, and crappie and catfish bite year-round. The Johnson Branch unit of Ray Roberts Lake State Park also has small community fishing ponds on TPWD’s list.

Licenses and Lake Texoma rules in plain English

Texas · Oklahoma · Lake Texoma

What to buy before you fish

Texas license: TPWD’s resident freshwater package is $30 and runs through Aug. 31. The senior package for residents 65 and older is $12. Residents under 17 don’t need a license. It covers the Texas side of Texoma, the Texas bank below the dam, and the other Texas lakes in this guide.

Lake Texoma license: $12, valid until Dec. 31 after you buy it. It lets you fish both the Texas and Oklahoma waters of the lake without any other license. It doesn’t work anywhere else, including below the dam. Texas residents 65 and older don’t need it to fish the Oklahoma side, according to TPWD.

Free Fishing Day: On the first Saturday in June, anyone can fish recreationally without a license or endorsement, the City of Denison notes.

Kids on a guided Lake Texoma trip with Grayson County game wardens, June 2026. Image source: KXII

Lake Texoma has its own limits. Under TPWD’s Texoma regulations, you can keep 10 striped or hybrid striped bass a day with no minimum length, but only 2 of them can be 20 inches or longer. The possession limit is 20, and culling is prohibited. Blue and channel catfish have a combined daily bag of 15, and only one blue catfish can be 30 inches or longer. Alligator gar can’t be taken or possessed on the Red River system, including Texoma, during May.

Texoma has zebra mussels. TPWD requires you to drain all water from your boat, livewells and bait buckets before you leave, and it is illegal to possess or transport zebra mussels. The same goes for city lakes like Dean Gilbert, where TPWD confirmed zebra mussels in 2015.

When to go and what’s biting

From TPWD’s Texoma tips and tactics:

• Late fall and winter (now): Stripers often feed at the surface in summer, fall and winter, and diving gulls give them away. Crappie fishing is best in fall and winter, around boathouses, submerged trees, creek channels and brush piles.
• February: Stripers run up both river arms and gather near the river channels.
• Spring: Crappie move shallow to spawn, and black bass spawn in the shallows. Channel catfish bite near creek mouths after a rain, in spring and again in fall. White bass gather at tributary mouths before they run upstream.
• Late spring and summer: After the spawning run, stripers hold over flats near the river channel, where live shad and trolling work. In summer, drift shrimp across flats for channel catfish.

Hiring a striper guide

Guided striper trips are a big part of fishing culture on Texoma. TPWD says striped bass guides work the lake year-round and can take families or large groups. You’ll see it in local news, too. In June 2026, KXII reported that the nonprofit Ashten’s Compassion and Grayson County game wardens matched dozens of kids with fishing guides on Texoma. A warden described kids landing stripers of four or five pounds. In November, the Denison Elks Lodge took local veterans on a guided Texoma trip ahead of Veterans Day.

When you book, ask whether the guide fishes Texas or Oklahoma water and whether you’ll need the $12 Lake Texoma license. Ask what’s included, too. On the kids’ trip, KXII said the guides supplied all the equipment.