Sniffles of Spring in the Air
BEST LAID PLANS – 2018 Texas Lakes on List
Do you feel it? No, not the mountain cedar snot, but the signs of spring … flowers are beginning to try, buds are beginning to try and I am about begin trying to dust the cedar off, and try to tie some flies for this spring’s fly fishing breakout season.
The last two years have been epic for carp on Lake Ray Roberts, Texas, and this season may just be the beginning of a downward trend for that action. Why? Lake levels are still good, but we find ourselves in a drought once again this winter leading into spring 2018. IF THE LAKE WASN’T so high to begin with, the situation would be troubling. As it is, we have good levels leading into the spring rainy season with no predictable monsoons ahead. So down we go. That falling lake is actually a fun ride, and extremely productive for most of the ride down. If we DON’T get rain this year, the season will be over before the pain sets in, and 2019 will be the real falling knife.
Couple a fine carp season with a continuing search for other productive lakes – that continues from 2017 – and will put us smack dab in the heat of carp and bass season on lakes that I waited too long to ply last year. I did manage a few wayward fish on those lakes last year*, but here’s the list for this year:
- Bridgeport (took a lake record buff there last year)*
- Kiowa – Private invitation outstanding
- Texoma*
- Amon G.
- Whitney
- Lewisville*
- Grapevine*
- Lake Lavon*
- Rockwall*
- Tawakoni*
- Athens*
- Purtis Creek State Park
- Possum Kingdom
The most difficult part of the adventure is leaving tailing carp on Lake Ray Roberts to go and chase fish unknown and unseen and in unknown places. I was enjoying the fly fishing on Ray Roberts so much last year, it put off those lake adventures from last year* until the more difficult part of the season.
Make no mistake, if we can land some lake records this year on these lakes, we’re going to book them.
BODY-MIND-SOUL
So this year, we will leave the known for the unknown – as soon as it turns on on Ray Roberts! That’ll take some intestinal fortitude, but there’s a balance between too difficult and boredom with the predictable — that went out of balance last year. We will be calling it “Creative Balance,” and will be going in depth on this topic under the Body-Mind-Soul heading in 2018.
Category: Adventure, Body-Mind-Soul, Complimentary Reading
