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Home › Waters › Texas › Lake Cypress Springs
Reservoir · Franklin County, the clear-water Big Cypress Creek reservoir south of Mount Vernon, the uppermost of the three lakes on that drainage in north-east Texas · Texas

Lake Cypress Springs Fishing Guides

A 3,400-acre north-east Texas reservoir noted for unusually clear water, steep rocky shoreline and a quality largemouth bass and crappie fishery.

Sunrise burning off mist over a timbered reservoir
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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About the Lake Cypress Springs

Lake Cypress Springs is the smallest and by a wide margin the clearest of the three reservoirs on Big Cypress Creek, sitting above Lake Bob Sandlin south of Mount Vernon. At roughly 3,400 acres it is a compact lake with a steep, rocky, heavily developed shoreline and water clarity that is genuinely unusual for east Texas — several feet of visibility is normal where neighbouring reservoirs run stained. That clarity changes everything about how the lake is fished: finesse presentations, lighter line and longer casts do far better here than the heavy flipping tackle that works a few miles downstream, and the fish are correspondingly spookier.

Largemouth bass are the main fishery and the lake has a reputation for quality over quantity, with fish holding on the rock, the boat docks and the submerged brush that the local lake authority has deliberately added over the years. Crappie are the second draw and are reliable on that same brush and around the bridge crossings. White bass school in the open basin, redear sunfish grow large on the rocky margins and are a genuinely worthwhile target, and channel and blue catfish work the deeper channel. The shoreline is almost entirely private, so this is a boat fishery, and it carries more recreational traffic than its neighbours through the summer.

The gauge near Mount Vernon reports pool elevation and precipitation but no water temperature. On a clear, steep-sided lake the pool reading matters in a particular way: a full pool puts water against the rock and the dock structure where the bass hold, while a drawn-down pool pulls fish off that cover and out to the deeper brush piles and the creek channel. Because this is the top lake in the chain, its level responds to local rainfall more directly than the two below it.

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Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

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5. What we may do

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6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

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Pool right now

375.37ft NGVD29
  • 24 hours-0.01 ft → steady
  • For the dateLow for the date

Reading taken 50 min ago at USGS 07344484, Lk Cypress Spgs nr Mount Vernon, TX. Elevation is the surface of the lake above the survey datum, not depth. Source.

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Posting to Lake Cypress Springs.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Lake level alert

Tell me when the pool at Lake Cypress Springs ft (NGVD29)

Now: 375.37 ft pool elevation, read 6:15 am CST, Mon Nov 2, 2026 (USGS 07344484, Lk Cypress Spgs nr Mount Vernon, TX).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Mount Vernon - the gauge town just north of the lake, with lodging, tackle and food.
Franklin County Water District park - the main public launch and the most reliable access point.
Overlook Park - a south-shore access with parking, ramp and shoreline room.
Walleye Creek - a quieter arm on the western side, useful on windy days.
Cypress Springs Dam - the eastern structure and gauge reference point.
Lake Bob Sandlin - the next reservoir downstream, timbered and stained, a deliberate contrast.
Lake O' the Pines - the larger regional alternative an hour and a half east.

Seasons

Spring: the strongest season, with largemouth bass spawning on the rock and crappie moving onto the brush piles.
Summer: early and late fishing only, as clear water and heavy recreational traffic make the middle of the day difficult.
Fall: excellent and much quieter, with bass grouping on the points and white bass schooling in the basin.
Winter: the best crappie fishing of the year on deep brush, and big largemouth are catchable on slow presentations.

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Questions

What species can you catch on the Lake Cypress Springs?

Anglers target Black Crappie, Blue Catfish, Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Redear Sunfish, White Bass, White Crappie on the Lake Cypress Springs in Texas.

Where can you access the Lake Cypress Springs?

Mount Vernon - the gauge town just north of the lake, with lodging, tackle and food. Franklin County Water District park - the main public launch and the most reliable access point. Overlook Park - a south-shore access with parking, ramp and shoreline room. Walleye Creek - a quieter arm on the western side, useful on windy days. Cypress Springs Dam - the eastern structure and gauge reference point. Lake Bob Sandlin - the next reservoir downstream, timbered and stained, a deliberate contrast. Lake O' the Pines - the larger regional alternative an hour and a half east.

When is the best time to fish the Lake Cypress Springs?

Spring: the strongest season, with largemouth bass spawning on the rock and crappie moving onto the brush piles. Summer: early and late fishing only, as clear water and heavy recreational traffic make the middle of the day difficult. Fall: excellent and much quieter, with bass grouping on the points and white bass schooling in the basin. Winter: the best crappie fishing of the year on deep brush, and big largemouth are catchable on slow presentations.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Lake Cypress Springs?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Texas agency site: https://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoor-annual/fishing