Bass Attack

Posted By on June 16, 2009

I had a great trip with Mark Levock yesterday on the flats of Ray Roberts. The weather was less than cooperative with 10-15 mph sustained winds (that kept changing direction just enough to be annoying) and high cloud cover that did not burn off until after noon. We made the most of the conditions and searched for tails, “muds”, and bubbles in shallow water just off the edge of the grass.
One thing that stood out was the number of bass that were in shallow – and I mean SHALLOW. I believe these fish are up chasing Hex nymphs that are beginning to hatch. Mark caught two nice bass (both around 2 – 2.5 lbs.) that hit Snap Dragons without a moment’s hesitation. The second bass he caught was in a gang of 6 bass that were scouring some flooded grass in about 8 inches of water. When he made the cast, there was actually a large piece of grass on his fly – clearly visible as it landed and he began to strip it in front of the small school. It didn’t matter as the first fish accelerated and nabbed it. I’ve never seen that many “large” bass so close together in such shallow water!
Carp were up feeding aggressively as well; as a matter of fact, the first carp that Mark caught was about as “active” a take as you can get from a carp. This fish turned and nailed a fly 10-12″ away after coming out of a small mud it was creating. The carp then proceeded to burn all the fly line off Mark’s reel as it headed across the flat.

Categories: Trip Report
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About the author

Joel Hays has been a professional guide since 1990, and has guided professionally in Colorado and Texas.

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North Texas Fly Fishing Adventures with Joel Hays

Imagine wading through ten inches of clear water,trying to be as quiet as possible. Fifty feet ahead is a pod of large fish "tailing" on the flat. You strip out fly line, make the cast, and pull your fly in front of the lead fish. After agonizing seconds the fish spots the fly, rushes forward for a quick grab, and feels the hook. The silence is broken as the fish accelerates across the flat, quickly exposing backing on your screaming reel. Sounds like a great day on the coast, or even an exotic bonefish flat, right? Actually it's a great description of the usual day my clients have fishing for Carp on the flats of Lake Ray Roberts where many clients are blown away by the water clarity and the actual ability to sight cast along miles of flats. Big spooky fish in shallow water. They fight and tail like Redfish and can sometimes rival Bonefish in nervousness. This is an EXCELLENT WAY to hone your flats fishing skills and test your "eyes" where it's more about stalking the fish than simply stumbling upon them. You will be a better flats angler!