Loy Lake Denison, Texas
Loy Lake fly fishing denison texas #flyfishing
This morning’s service was led by one Robert Doyle Cain at Loy Lake in Denison, Texas. This little jewel sits right off Interstate 35 a few exits before the Denison Dam, and is actually visible from the highway if you look hard enough. Hey, at least I’m not texting when I drive!
Loy Lake was impounded in 1933 and looks like it. It’s one of those old community lakes that was built to provide drinking water, and has all the wonderful characteristics of a well established, old, lake. The vegetation is well rooted and diverse as are the fish. In a single morning of fishing I was able to catch warmouth, sun perch and all the largemouth bass I could handle.
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Another fun and relaxing characteristic of Loy Lake is that it is virtually impossible to fish from the shoreline (due to aforementioned vegetation) and no motorized boats are allowed in this tiny lake. That makes it perfect for kick boat, kayak, jon boat, or any number of other types of non-motorized hydro platforms. This lake is perfect for a Sunday morning, calm and quiet until the highway traffic kicks in. It may be difficult to see from the highway, but even with my bad hearing, the highway is easy to hear from the lake.
According to RDC, it can get a little busy on Loy Lake when fishing conditions are better. This morning’s attendance was pretty sparse with myself, RDC and one other fly fisher (who will go unnamed since he could have been skipping church). We hit the dam pretty hard early, and it paid off in a fish I rarely catch – a warmouth. Ounce-for-ounce there’s nothing quite like a warmouth. They have all the attitude of a largemouth, but in much smaller tank-like bodies. Their red eyes make me think they are straight from hades.
Pretty typical size largemouth bass from Loy Lake. Thanks for the photo RDC.
For those of you interested in going out to Loy Lake, you will have to be able to float it, you will want to think about going light and you will want to think in terms of structure and vegetation. I had a good time with my four weight (except for the one that got away because the 4 could not turn him), and woolly buggers in green / gold bead and green/black with no bead. It’s a situation where you want to literally hit the vegetation with your fly and let it fall right there. Several bass took the fly before the first strip using this method.
The actual conditions today were probably below average with a pea soup of algae mixed into the water that would probably otherwise be a whole lot more clear. Typical of this time of year, I think the action is better early or late, as I could sense a slow down as the day progressed, and a switch to a beaded woolly was necessary to get down a bit deeper by noontime. It will be interesting to see how things change as the fall weather patterns kick in. Some areas of the lake are silted in, and I don’t get the impression anything is happening toward the middle. Keep in mind, this is a small lake, and you could with the aid of the kayak, fish the entire shoreline in a day. There are portions that are, as I said, silted in and other areas are more productive than average. So, if you want to know what those areas are, or you have more knowledge about Loy Lake – Feel Free to Chime in!
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Category: Fishing Reports, North Texas, On The Road
Mudbass and grits? Sounds good JH!