It Must Be Friday in the Texas Fly Fishing World – Where’s The Fly Fishing Action?
Yes, there is a gap between fly fishing news stories this week! So what? I mean the Great State of Texas is in the process of floating off the continent and into the Gulf of Mexico as we read away our lives, or sit mesmerized by the little phone screen two feet from our noses, right?
I heard (im)perfect strangers making fun of the sun yesterday – asking what the glowing orb was, sun deniers that could not believe their eyes. I though I was the only one who believed the sun was gone for good.
NOTE 1 – Take advantage of today’s weather and feel free to go do your early voting! It’s the right thing to do in Texas, and the old fears of a “surprise?” That ain’t gonna happen folks. Are you glad to be an American, or what?
NOTE 2 – The lakes are pretty well screwed for the time being. The ramps have been pulled at Lake Ray Roberts as of yesterday afternoon. The dam at Ray Roberts is closed down to a minimum, so they are in a HOLDING pattern there.
If you are unfamiliar with “the chain” that keeps us together … Lake Ray Roberts is a Trinity River fed lake (among other sources), and the flooding downriver is so bad, and saturation so great, that Ray Roberts is holding. I BELIEVE that is actually fantastic for US as fly fishers on Lake Ray Roberts. Although it truly jacks with fishing (all fishing) right now – FOR SEVERAL REASONS – I think this setup takes us into another fantastic, although WAY OFF in the DISTANCE, spring 2019.
NOTE 3 – Don’t tell anybody – ANYBODY! But, we once again have a “recharge” of the fisheries below many of the dams that keep Texas flooding in check. Feel Free to Think. The opposite and equal reaction to all this water being released is … fish are being released from their lake bondages, separated from their parents at the border, and down they go – into the rivers below. Show me a dam that is releasing today, and I will show you insane fly fishing once they close the spigot. And this kind of epic event means great fly fishing for months … until the fish are harvested out by the hungry mostly unseen masses in our US economy of Haves-vs-Have Nots. Grilled striper anybody?
NOTE 4 – The season of fly fishing below Texas dams is actually timing well with the flooding events we are having in this (fall/winter 2018) case. So epic fly fishing is in the offing just as soon as things settle down, and we’re going to it.
NOTE 5 – ALWAYS know before you go! Check your flows at Texas dams. Know your terrain. Don’t go alone if there are real FLOWS that could be dangerous. Check in here for flies to try. Most of the flies I will be telling you about for this action have a history of working very well. HOWEVER, I am beginning to sense a change in fish habits on the lake I major on, as well as other places that take on water from our zeeb infested Texas Lakes. Stay tuned. I will give you my evolving idea on what’s happening with that in future stories.
OKAY, now it is up to you to KEEP ME posted on what you see in the next few days! Remember to hit me on social media – Instagram / Twitter / e-mail / text messages. Thanks for reading. Take the time to visit and buy at your LOCAL FLY SHOPS in Texas. Tell them I sent you! Fish if you can, and let us know how it goes!
In case you missed the LIVE VIDEO last Saturday, it included the “un-boxing” of the new Soft Science wading boot called The Terrafin. I can’t wait to give these a go, and they could be the perfect boot for fly fishing below Texas dams as I have described above! I know they are going to be great on the sand.
Category: Adventure, Complimentary Reading, Culture on the Skids, Fishing Reports, Soggy Bottom Boys, Texas Report
