Gulley Washer

Posted By on May 21, 2011

Man – what a storm system we had yesterday.  The Roberts drainage got over 2″ of rain in some places (and that was in less than 6 hours).  The Trinity River @ Gainesville, which is a NWS river gauge station, saw its water load quadruple in a matter of hours.  The lake is up over 2″ at this writing and still rising as water comes out of the drainage.  The storm total will probably put it up 3″ (it was 15″ low at the beginning of the week).

What does this mean for the fishing?  Well, besides having to postpone a trip this morning . . . this will only make things BETTER!  One foot below lake elevation is about the perfect level at Roberts for exposing the greatest acreage of flats at an optimal depth (about 14″-18″ deep).  This will also flood some shoreline vegetation that harbors excellent carp treats like snails and inchworms.  Finally, this will put a little water/distance between us and the hydrilla that is starting to grow around the edges of the flats.  By mid-summer it could reduce some of the fishable area by half if the water didn’t rise.

We’re getting into a more “May” kind of forecast for the week – humid, partly cloudy with a 20% chance of afternoon storms/rain.  Hopefully we won’t get TOO much additional precip. and warming evening temps will speed up our damsel/dragonfly production.

Categories: Observations
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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!