Sunday Morning – Going Under Grab Your Snorkel
There’s word that Possum Kingdom Lake opened another gate at that dam, moving it from epic to biblical release, and many of Texas’ rivers are still rising with runoff from all the rains we’ve had across the State’s watershed this week. I saw plenty of flash flooding in all my driving over the past few days (to and from DFW Airport), and major roads in Grapevine, TX, were shut down Thursday due to high water.
And that water goes somewhere … like Lake [ppw id=”134517975″ description=”Flooding Across Texas” price=”.10″]
Grapevine in the case of what I witnessed Thursday, and as I was passing back over the edges of Lake Lewisville (aka. Lake Dallas) yesterday, I could actually see the ripples and eddies of fast flowing water right off the 2499 bridge, and even strangely off HWY 380’s north side (bridges), I could also see the same kind of huge flow — all going into Lewisville Lake. If that dam’s going to give, this is when it’ll happen.
There is fabulous habitat being flooded around the toll bridge that goes over Lewisville Lake as well, and the carp there should be findable once the sun exposes them. I can imagine the bass will also be shallow too, as the water is so cool these days. We just need the rain to stop to get this party started!
I prefished Ray Roberts Saturday, and it is again bulging at the seams – because they DID shut the dam down, to spare Lewisville. I may have been one of the last to realize exactly how high the water was getting on Saturday as I backed my car into the water to launch. Putting two-and-two together later, and with good information from a friend; they will probably shut down the park ramps this morning. I was motoring over lakeside campsites, behind trees and up near campground parking lots in search of the golden bones. I saw a few, but they were mostly moving and excited about the new eating opportunities (but not calm enough to eat yet). Combining that with the ramp closures, I had no choice but to reschedule today’s guide trip.
Walk and wade opportunities are virtually GONE once again on Ray Roberts, as this year’s round of floods will once again put the flats in deep water, and any shallow carp (stalking on foot) will now be in the bush. One bonus to these conditions is the chance to go after abundant gar that seem to really enjoy these conditions.
However, we’re going to push through this week, and see what opportunities exist in these conditions. That means launching from the Ray Roberts marina ramp (dirty and crowded is typical there), and looking far and wide for targets of opportunity. Next weekend brings a tip to Houston that ends with fly fishing with Danny Scarborough on the coast a week from today.
Here is where you can find the information you want about lake levels in Texas –
http://www.waterdatafortexas.org/reservoirs/statewide
http://www.waterdatafortexas.org/reservoirs/basin/trinity
http://www.waterdatafortexas.org/reservoirs/individual/ray-roberts
For such a big state, it took big rain to do what’s been done to Texas. It’s a bluebird day today, and the four year drought is an ancient memory nowadays. Water conservation? Hey, the party goes on forever, and the water never ends … right?
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Category: Adventure, Complimentary Reading, Culture on the Skids, Fishing Reports, Fly Fishing For Carp, Life Observed, North Texas, On The Water, Science and Environmental, Sunday Summary
