Clearly Better Fishing!

Many people ask me if the fishing at Ray Roberts is as good as I make it out to be (this is BEFORE they go on a trip). People find it hard to believe that there are miles of clear flats just an hour from Dallas or Ft. Worth. "Is it REALLY like fishing on the the coast?", they will ask, adding "I've seen Ray Hubbard (or Lewisville, Lavon, Lake Worth, etc.) and you can't see a thing in it."

Well, sorry for the cliche, but we'll let this picture say a thousand words. I took this two years ago on one of the west-side flats (the camera had a UV filter but NOT a polarizing filter). I was standing in about a foot of water, the angler is in 5-6 inches - the shoreline is 75-80 yards past him. This flat extends about a quarter mile down the shoreline and takes us two to three hours to fish. On a good day we'll easily spot 150 fish on this flat - "SPOT" being the key word.

Roberts is a VERY clear lake by North Texas standards. It is a newer lake so it doesn't have 50-60 years of silt and sediment to get stirred up. It also has a limited upstream drainage and large areas of rocky shorline. All this adds up to a lake with amazing clarity. We even spearfish in parts of it!

So, the answer to the question is "YES, it's really like saltwater flats fishing." Big fish tailing in clear water, tricky presentations and reel-clearing runs. Give me a call and I'll show you . . . (940)391-9480!

The Brothers Bollinger

Fishing Report - 6/01

I took Bruce and Burt Bollinger out Sunday for a full day trip. Eventhough the wind was a relentless 15-20 mph out of the south, we found fish and were able to land about a dozen. Damsel and dragonflies of multiple species are all over the flats and the carp are FEEDING like there is no tomorrow.

The lake was about 2 inches high on Sunday and this had fish back in the grass. We had to take shots at several as they came out of the grass, moving to another feeding spot. Several of the MONSTER carp (20+ lbs.) were spotted but the one we had a shot at wanted nothing to do with Burt's offering. I don't really know what we would have done if he hooked it - he was fishing a 5 wt. rod and the reel only had about 100 yds. of backing.

Bruce seemed to have a talent for catching the unusual: he got a carp to jump - TWICE, caught a gar, and then brought in a catfish.

This is a great time of the year to hit the flats . . . everything that swims in the lake is cruising the shallows. In addition to the above species, we also saw drum, buffalo, and bass.

(Strong winds are forecast for the next several days with clouds and rain into the weekend - I start guiding FULL TIME next week so a little time to tie flies and rest the flats is welcome. I don't know about you, but this has been the windiest spring I can remember - I've only been able to fish about 1/10th of the flats on the lake. When things settle and we get some SE or SW winds, some really PRIME spots will open up -- call me soon! (940)391-9480 )