Cool May

Posted By on May 17, 2011

Shannon and a close friend

Shannon Drawe and a Ray Roberts carp that put a respectable bend in a Sage Xi2 7wt.!

Everything seemed to be in a rush to summer since Easter.  Water levels were LOW and warming nicely, insect species were popping up that usually don’t hatch until Memorial Day, and we seemed to be breaking out of our La Nina pattern of weather.

All that changed with the rain and associated cool front this past weekend.  The lake came up (only a bit – it’s still 15″ low) and water temps dropped a few degrees with visible effects on the flats fishing.  Bass that had been cruising the flats were non-existant and the carp were very sluggish in the cool morning temps on Sunday.  After the water warmed a few degrees (around 11am), it was as if a switch was flipped and the flats came ALIVE.  We caught two fish in the first two hours on the flats and TWO DOZEN in the third.  By noon there were tailing fish as far as we could see (water levels are PERFECT right now for maximum acreage of flats exposed). 

This was a scouting trip and we tried to cover as mush ground as possible.  By the time we got back to the truck around 2pm, we had covered over 5 miles of shorline/flat and caught over 30 fish between the two of us.  No huge fish but several over six pounds and one four pounder that got WAY into my backing.  Interesting note (probably related to the weather) – no other species were caught.  Shannon said he saw some large buffs on the edge of one flat and I saw a few gar but no bass, catfish, or drum.  Strange.

Water clarity is excellent for this time in May – hopefully that will continue.  We’re in for another round of rain  Thurs./Fri. and then again early next week.  Good news is that evening low temps will be relatively high – this will help get our bugs back in a frisky mode.  Everything is still on track to make this June the best carp fishing we’ve had in years!

Call or email soon to book a trip! You don’t want to miss this.

Categories: Fishing 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!