Housen Bayou Fishing Guides
A small pine-country bayou draining forty-one square miles of the Sabine National Forest into the upper Toledo Bend arm, with a gauge at the Highway 87 crossing that reads rainfall, flow and stage together.
Guides on the Housen Bayou
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About the Housen Bayou
Housen Bayou drains a little over forty square miles of sandy pine country in Sabine County before it reaches the upper arm of Toledo Bend a short distance below the State Highway 87 crossing near Hemphill. The gauge sits at that crossing and reads rainfall, discharge and stage together, which is an unusually complete picture for a bayou this small and a genuinely useful one, because a watershed of this size responds to a thunderstorm in hours rather than days. Watching the rainfall trace alongside the flow tells you whether the rise you are seeing has crested.
The character is East Texas bottomland rather than delta. Gradient is gentle but not flat, the bed is sand and clay with gravel in places, and the water runs tea-stained from the pine and hardwood litter it drains rather than muddy. Overhanging willow, sweetgum and loblolly shade most of the channel, and the structure that matters is fallen timber and undercut root wads on the outside of the bends. Depth is modest through most of the run and deepens as the bayou approaches the reservoir backwater, where the channel widens and slows.
Fishing splits between the creek itself and the reservoir influence at its mouth. Largemouth and spotted bass hold on the wood, and crappie stage in the lower end where the backwater reaches up the channel in spring. Catfish are abundant and run to size, with channel, flathead and blue catfish all present. Bluegill, redear sunfish, longear sunfish and warmouth are everywhere, and bowfin, spotted gar and chain pickerel fill out a varied piney-woods assemblage.
This is small water best worked from a kayak, a jon boat or the bank. Pressure is light, and most anglers on this side of Toledo Bend are out on the reservoir rather than up the feeder bayous.
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Access
Hemphill - the Sabine County seat, minutes away, with fuel, food, lodging and tackle.
State Highway 87 crossing - the gauge site and the most convenient bank access on the bayou.
Sabine National Forest - public land through much of the watershed, with forest roads reaching the creek in several places.
Toledo Bend Reservoir - the big water this bayou feeds, with developed ramps within a short drive.
Ragtown Recreation Area - a Forest Service site on the reservoir with camping and a ramp.
Indian Mounds Recreation Area - a further Forest Service campground and launch on the Bend.
San Augustine - the nearest town of size to the west, with additional services and guides.
Seasons
Spring: the best of the year, with bass on the wood and crappie stacked in the backwater at the mouth as the water warms.
Summer: fish the shade and the deeper bends early and late, and expect catfish to carry the day and the night.
Fall: cooling water pulls bass back up the channel and the bayou fishes well again once the summer heat breaks.
Winter: low, clear and slow, with fish concentrated in the deepest holes and the reservoir end fishing more reliably than the creek.
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Questions
What species can you catch on the Housen Bayou?
Anglers target Black Crappie, Blue Catfish, Bluegill, Bowfin, Chain Pickerel, Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Longear Sunfish, Redear Sunfish, Spotted Bass, Spotted Gar, Warmouth, White Crappie on the Housen Bayou in Texas.
Where can you access the Housen Bayou?
Hemphill - the Sabine County seat, minutes away, with fuel, food, lodging and tackle. State Highway 87 crossing - the gauge site and the most convenient bank access on the bayou. Sabine National Forest - public land through much of the watershed, with forest roads reaching the creek in several places. Toledo Bend Reservoir - the big water this bayou feeds, with developed ramps within a short drive. Ragtown Recreation Area - a Forest Service site on the reservoir with camping and a ramp. Indian Mounds Recreation Area - a further Forest Service campground and launch on the Bend. San Augustine -...
When is the best time to fish the Housen Bayou?
Spring: the best of the year, with bass on the wood and crappie stacked in the backwater at the mouth as the water warms. Summer: fish the shade and the deeper bends early and late, and expect catfish to carry the day and the night. Fall: cooling water pulls bass back up the channel and the bayou fishes well again once the summer heat breaks. Winter: low, clear and slow, with fish concentrated in the deepest holes and the reservoir end fishing more reliably than the creek.
Where are the fishing regulations for the Housen Bayou?
Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Texas agency site: https://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoor-annual/fishing