Prior to World War II, Caddo Lake was the only large fresh water fishery in the state of Texas.
Near Marshall and Jefferson, it has 77 species of fish, more than any other lake in Texas. Unlike most Texas lakes, it is about 6-12 feet deep throughout. Most sought after fish are white perch (crappie), pike (chain pickerel), largemouth bass (Florida strain), bream, hybrid, white & yellow bass, and all varieties of catfish.

Caddo Lake is surrounded by public and leased private hunting lands. The lake itself has always been a major duck hunting destination, although post-WWII reservoir lakes throughout Texas and Louisiana have scattered ducks widely. Caddo still boasts the largest wood duck concentration in the state.

The Caddo Lake Wildlife Management area is primarily wooded with pine, oak, and bottomland hardwoods and covers some 8,000 acres with much of it consisting of lake waters.  A  $40 annual public hunting permit is also required for duck hunting but not for Caddo Lake fishing.   All other state and county hunting regulations, limits, seasons, licenses, etc., of course, apply. Please confirm all rules and laws with Texas Parks and Wildlife or reference your public hunt book if you have one of their four permits.

Pine Needle Lodge also sells the latest and best Caddo Lake map available.  It is a multi-color, water-resistant map with a GPS (Global Positioning System) grid.  It also has the new coordinated Texas and Louisiana boat lane marking system and up-to-date pineneedlelodge.com ads.