Fishes Neches River, Village Creek
River · Deep East Texas, through the Davy Crockett and Angelina national forests between Lufkin, Rockland and Jasper · Texas
Neches River Fishing Guides
A blackwater bottomland river through the Big Thicket country of deep East Texas, with heavy timber, strong catfish and an unusually wild feel for a Texas float.
Map of the Neches River
7 numbered points: 1 access point, 2 campsites, 2 bridges, 1 hazard, 1 USGS gauge. Tap a marker for details. Reviewed Oct 22, 2026.
- Access / boat ramp (1)
- Campsite (2)
- Bridge crossing (2)
- Dam / hazard (1)
- USGS gauge (1)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Points are curated from OpenStreetMap and state agency sources; confirm access and hours before you go.
Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.
Open the printable mapAll 7 points on this map
| # | Point | Type | Lat, Lon | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SH 7 Neches River Public Boat Ramp Public boat ramp at the State Highway 7 crossing | Access / boat ramp | 31.39692, -94.96518 | km 0 and the top of this sheet. The only named public ramp OpenStreetMap carries on the whole reach; 63 m off the centreline. |
| 2 | Groveton, Lufkin and Northern crossing Rail crossing | Bridge crossing | 31.27379, -94.88949 | km 33.2. Named rail bridge over the Neches, 138 m off the centreline. A river-km landmark, not an access point. |
| 3 | UP Lufkin Subdivision crossing Union Pacific rail crossing near Diboll | Bridge crossing | 31.13349, -94.81205 | km 64.2. Named rail bridge, 9 m off the centreline. OpenStreetMap records an unnamed slipway 190 m away; it is dropped as indeterminate rather than shipped as a ramp nobody can name. |
| 4 | USGS streamgage - Neches River near Rockland USGS streamgage 08033500 | USGS gauge | 31.02500, -94.39944 | km 137.7. Real-time flow, the reference gauge for this reach and the one the water page links. USGS names the site Neches Rv nr Rockland, TX. Coordinate taken from the site roster; 32 m off the centreline. |
| 5 | Bouton Lake Campground Angelina National Forest | Campsite | 31.02747, -94.31744 | km 151.4. Forest Service campground on Bouton Lake, an old Neches oxbow about 0.5 km off the channel. |
| 6 | Martin Dies Jr. State Park camping area B.A. Steinhagen Lake | Campsite | 30.86107, -94.18514 | km 194.4. State park camping on B.A. Steinhagen Lake; nearest park boundary vertex 0.83 km from the centreline. The park's own ramps are the lake access here; OSM leaves them unnamed. |
| 7 | Town Bluff Dam Dam B, impounding B.A. Steinhagen Lake | Dam / hazard | 30.79735, -94.17527 | km 208.2 and the bottom of this sheet. The dam impounding B.A. Steinhagen Lake, 10 m off the centreline. Take out above it; the lower Neches below the dam is a separate float. |
Guides on the Neches River
Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.
Order on this page: premium and outfitter plans first (labelled Premium placement), then claimed free profiles, then unclaimed — one published price, no bidding for position. How placement works
About the Neches River
The Neches drains the piney woods of deep East Texas, running south from near Tyler through the Davy Crockett and Angelina national forests, into B.A. Steinhagen Lake, and eventually to Beaumont and Sabine Lake. The reach around Rockland, above the reservoir, is the one most worth an angler’s time. This is blackwater bottomland river: tannin-stained water the color of strong tea, sandbars on the inside of every bend, and cypress and tupelo standing in the flooded margins. Long sections run through public forest land, which is unusual in Texas and gives the river a genuinely remote feel.
The fishery is a classic southern warmwater mix and the catfish are the backbone of it. Blue and flathead catfish hold in the deep outside bends and around the drowned timber, and they reach the sizes that make a guided trip worth booking. Largemouth and spotted bass work the wood and the cypress knees, white bass push upriver in late winter, and bowfin and alligator gar are common enough that anyone fishing cut bait should expect to meet one. Visibility is low, so this is a fishery of structure and scent rather than sight.
Floating it takes some care. Deadfall across the channel is normal after a high-water year, and a trip that looked simple on a map can involve several portages over logjams. Most guided fishing is done from jon boats working up and down from a ramp rather than as a point-to-point float. Water level swings with releases and with rainfall in the upper basin, and the gauge near Rockland is the practical read on whether the timber is fishable or the river is out in the bottoms. Anglers who want the wildest version of this river should plan a trip through the national forest reaches, where the banks are public and the nearest road is often several miles away.
This water needs a real photo
The photo at the top of this page is not Neches River.
It is a regional stand-in, honestly captioned but generic — we will not put a name to a river we cannot prove. Send us a photograph you took here and it replaces the stand-in, with your credit on it.
Pioneer badgeUnclaimed
Add a photo of this water
Landscape, not fish — the water itself. Reviewed by hand before it appears. The first one published here earns the Pioneer badge.
Fished this water? Add a photo
Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.
Access
Highway 7 crossing near Crockett - upper access into the national forest reaches of the river.
Neches Bluff Overlook in Davy Crockett National Forest - forest access with a primitive launch.
Highway 94 crossing near Lufkin - mid-river access and a common put-in for float trips.
Rockland at the Highway 69 crossing - the gauge site and the main ramp above the reservoir.
B.A. Steinhagen Lake and Martin Dies Jr. State Park - reservoir access at the bottom of the free-flowing reach.
Bevilport near Jasper - lower-river landing below the dam with a public boat ramp.
Big Thicket National Preserve river corridor - protected bottomland frontage on the lower river.
Seasons
Spring: high water spreads into the bottoms, white bass run upriver, and the timber fishes best on a fall.
Summer: low and clear for a blackwater river, the prime season for flathead and blue catfish.
Fall: steady flows, largemouth push back onto the wood, and the bottomland hardwoods make the float.
Winter: cold and often high, slow bass fishing, but big blue catfish hold in the deepest bends.
From the water
No logged trips yet. Be the first to put this water on your map.
Log this water
Fished it or cleaned it? Log in or create a free account to log a trip with photos and earn the waterway badge.
Questions
What is the current flow on the Neches River?
As of Nov 2, 7:00 am, the USGS gauge Neches Rv nr Rockland, TX reads 157 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.
What species can you catch on the Neches River?
Anglers target Alligator Gar, Blue Catfish, Bowfin, Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Spotted Bass, White Bass on the Neches River in Texas.
Are there fishing guides on the Neches River?
GuidedFloats lists 2 guides and outfitters on the Neches River. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.
Where can you access the Neches River?
Highway 7 crossing near Crockett - upper access into the national forest reaches of the river. Neches Bluff Overlook in Davy Crockett National Forest - forest access with a primitive launch. Highway 94 crossing near Lufkin - mid-river access and a common put-in for float trips. Rockland at the Highway 69 crossing - the gauge site and the main ramp above the reservoir. B.A. Steinhagen Lake and Martin Dies Jr. State Park - reservoir access at the bottom of the free-flowing reach. Bevilport near Jasper - lower-river landing below the dam with a public boat ramp. Big Thicket National Preserve rive...
When is the best time to fish the Neches River?
Spring: high water spreads into the bottoms, white bass run upriver, and the timber fishes best on a fall. Summer: low and clear for a blackwater river, the prime season for flathead and blue catfish. Fall: steady flows, largemouth push back onto the wood, and the bottomland hardwoods make the float. Winter: cold and often high, slow bass fishing, but big blue catfish hold in the deepest bends.
Where are the fishing regulations for the Neches River?
Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Texas agency site: https://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoor-annual/fishing