Monday Morning in the Land of Wait
fly fishing lake athens #flyfishing texoma lake ray roberts fly fishing texas ray roberts
Good Monday morning everyone! This has certainly already been a summer to remember, hasn’t it? Time seems to be on a slow drip these days, as we wait for our local (North Central Texas) lakes to open, and look for other opportunities to fill our local fly fishing time.
As for me, I am still waiting for doctors to come back from their summer vacations, scheduling those that are still around, and waiting for the next round of results. But that didn’t stop me from taking a look at the Lake Ray Roberts Dam release yesterday afternoon, after paying a visit to the skiff in storage near the lake.
Measuring the flow of that release, at a 55 miles-per-hour drive-by is slightly difficult, but yesterday’s release looked just right for fly fishing the riprap there – and the parking lot was virtually full. Don’t let that deter you anywhere though; chances are the masses are not going to be where you want to fly fish anyway. And the old rule: Go 20-percent further than the crowd, and get away from 80-percent of the crowd. I know that if that flow rate holds (I think it’s about 3500 cfs) when I get another look today, I will be hitting it on the fence side. You should too.
Elsewhere, friends with a home on Lake Texoma, Texas, tell me the water is extremely polluted along the shoreline, and although I have not seen any testing data by TPWD for fecal bacteria or other potential health threatening bacteria or blooms. I would imagine all State government entities concerned with Texas water resources are, shall we say, busy right now.
Sources also tell me that an East Texas hotspot has made their radar – Lake Athens, Texas is a spot you can check out with a kayak, or even a small boat (how about a skiff?), due to it’s manageable size and accessibility. They are seeing schooling largemouth bass that are acting like … schooling largemouth bass! That doesn’t sound too difficult does it?
Essentially, from smack-dab here in the the middle of North Texas where I sit, I’m in a no-man’s-land, no-fly-fisher’s-land, with lakes open west and east of here. I did recently see an article talking about O2 content in the newly reconstituted lakes out west being counter to restocking those lakes any time soon though. Fortunately, carp, if that’s your game never need restocking!
Personally, I am tired of all this waiting for doctors to get back from vacations, and others trying to “fit me in” to their schedules, so I will get out and get a look somewhere other than HERE – this week. As much as this is a life changing experience, some things I darn well don’t want to change! Please Stay Tuned …
Category: Adventure, Body-Mind-Soul, East Texas, Fishing Reports, Fly Fishing for Largemouth Bass, North Texas
