Water Wednesday – Rain Improving Conditions BUT There’s a Catch

NOT SO FAST

Okay, so I have always admitted when I was wrong about some thing, and it doesn’t take an elephant to remember that I said Ray Roberts “… could go down to fourteen feet low” last year. Well, we are looking to be up another two feet this week alone, and that leaves us with a deficit of in the neighborhood of four feet low.

It may not have rained when it was supposed to, but now it’s raining when it’s supposed to. Our weather remains unstable here in North Texas, and conducive to more spring storms and RAIN. In the short run, water’s coming in, and only a trickle is being let out of the dam at Lake Ray Roberts. I am watching Lake Lewisville make the upward march as well. I was on that lake last week for a sundowner, and at the very least – it’s a short haul of the kayak from car to water. And that water is alive with fish.

But, and this is a big but, we are still going to have to battle shoreline conditions that are simply awful. And you can imagine why; this new water is rushing up into what were once flats, once five years ago. Now the water is covering fields of brush that has had as much as five years to grow, and as little as one year to grow. In Texas, podnah, that’s a lot of growing.

CURRENT CARP CONDITIONS ON LAKE RAY ROBERTS & Below Dams

So while I was able to hook a few carp last week, [ppw id=”98168379″ description=”Current Water Conditions” price=”.10″]

even though they were in full-on grab ass spawn, once they were hooked, where do you think they went? They shot off like torpedoes under the brush, so much so in fact, that the one fish that held had to be lined in, breaking thick brush and branches off the line, and catching up to her little-by-little. By the time I got her up, she had time to rest, and popped off the bottom lip hookup.

Take some heart though. Even though the weeds would have to be submerged for a year to clear, maybe this is the year. And this kind of habitat bodes well for an unmolested carp spawn of epic proportions – E P I C proportions.

Below the dams is where to watch – just in case the water authorities decide to open them up. That is totally unpredictable, but it usually takes a couple of days for the fish to react to one of these releases anyway. Keep your eyes on the data at all dams in your neck of the woods. There’s more water across the State that could realistically turn ON if they open your local dam.

Around here, odds are they will keep Lewisville Lake Dam open while Ray Roberts’ Dam continues to be (essentially) shut in. Great for Ray Roberts, and as expected at Lewisville, as they are the suppliers to Dallas.

Air temperatures continue to be mild, and a bit cool, but the lakes are finally warming up, and the influx of runoff will help that as well. Keep looking for bass on the edges of creek drop-offs and all the way into the flats now. Carp are absolutely there in huge quantities. They should just about be coming off spawn, and the particulates being washed in by shoreline rains certainly helps their attitudes and our chances.

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Category: Fishing Reports, Texas Water Conservation