Ray Roberts

[roadwarrior]

Fishing report?

[TnRiver46]

@thediscochef is our ray Roberts live reporter

[thediscochef]

Hah, got em

Been in Houston late week, missed most of the ice. Lake Houston is muddy. LMB are poor on everything. Carry on.

[roadwarrior]

So, how is the winter fishing at Ray Roberts?

 

[thediscochef]

21 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

So, how is the winter fishing at Ray Roberts?

 

Good. Better when it's not snowing.

Caught my PB on Christmas. Waters stained, probably 2-4ft vis on average. 48 degrees water temp in upper lake last I checked though the ice storm likely dropped that a degree or two. Black Bass are slow on black chatterbaits but producing bigger fish when worked on rocks. 

White bass exist. 

[Trox]

I feel like the Central Bass Fishing corner never gets any action. Love seeing an actual fishing report on here. I've been thinking about creating separate threads for the lakes I fish, but I can't help to think that it would just be me talking to myself most of the time.

[thediscochef]

On 2/5/2022 at 8:05 PM, TroxBox said:

I feel like the Central Bass Fishing corner never gets any action. Love seeing an actual fishing report on here. I've been thinking about creating separate threads for the lakes I fish, but I can't help to think that it would just be me talking to myself most of the time.

Same though, except when I'm on the road...then even I am busy except evenings. I'm gonna be in the panhandle soon, but no time to fish Lake Meredith ?? I drove across Richland Chambers Reservoir two hours ago but of course, no time and no place right now. I have a Lake Fork trip lined up and a cabin on a private lake in Wimberley on another trip. I have two goals this season, probably either/or type deals - every state park lake in Texas, or ray roberts over 150 times. 5-year goal is every publicly accessible reservoir in Texas with a bass recorded in it.

[thediscochef]

2/8/22 Isle du Bois

Slow shore fishing. Water lightly stained tan-green with 2-4' visibility, 47-49 degrees. Today had west wind 10-20mph, causing 1-2ft swell on the east side of the lake, lesser on the west side. One quality

LMB bit on watermelon pearl jam chatterbait minimax but was not landed. Looked and felt like about a 3-5lbs fish. Bites were had close up on rocks and timber about 4-7' depth within 10 feet of shore or structure. Quality fish can be had for the patient shore angler with fresh arms.

[roadwarrior]

Thanks for the report.  I will be fishing the lake next month.

 

 

[thediscochef]

2 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Thanks for the report.  I will be fishing the lake next month.

 

 

I'll hope to run into you there, I'm taking next month off and will likely be there every day

[thediscochef]

Off to Lake Arrowhead

[Trox]

On 2/7/2022 at 12:14 AM, thediscochef said:

I have two goals this season, probably either/or type deals - every state park lake in Texas, or ray roberts over 150 times. 5-year goal is every publicly accessible reservoir in Texas with a bass recorded in it.

Dang, those are some unique and inspiring goals! Rootin' for ya! When you get ready to make it down to Choke Canyon, Canyon Lake, or Medina Lake, let me know!

[thediscochef]

1 hour ago, TroxBox said:

Dang, those are some unique and inspiring goals! Rootin' for ya! When you get ready to make it down to Choke Canyon, Canyon Lake, or Medina Lake, let me know!

I was at Choke in early January, it was down like 18 feet but I still managed a decent bass. I'll be at corpus in December, and Canyon + Buchanan probably sometime in May. I have family in San Antonio so I'm there semi regularly, I'll dm next time I'm down

 

Thank you for your kind words ? and likewise, anytime yall are near Ray Roberts, hit me up. I don't have a boat, but it'd be cool to meet some B.R. folks!

[Trox]

Absolutely!

[thediscochef]

Looking ahead to this weekend, I'm targeting tomorrow as excellent and friday to be good at any north DFW reservoir, and I intend to be in my usual place, flipping my chatterbaits and working rocks.

 

DFW is looking at 70 in the day and 40 at night, west winds 0 to 5 Thursday and 5 to 15 friday should make the east side of lakes a good bet from the shore. Fish will probably be deeper and closer against rocks, Creek beds, docks etc as the weekend progresses. 47/29 Saturday, 20mph through sunday but warming back up through the beginning of the week. Not sure what the water is going to look like but I'm guessing the usual 2-4ft vis.

 

I'm betting that our major cold snaps are over and a general warming trend is beginning. It's football season, you guys. Let's get em.

[thediscochef]

Me, sitting on set waiting patiently to get on the road home...

[thediscochef]

So this time of year will be a mystery to me still after 2022. My shoots keep getting extended. Which means I'm making better money, and I'm not complaining about that. But after I wrap on Friday, I'll have Saturday and Sunday mornings at Isle du Bois before I leave for a private fishing lake, see my Clear water tactics thread in the tackle forum for more on that. There's much excitement around that.

I'll effectively have fished Ray Roberts maybe 6-8 times in January and February combined in 2022. I didn't even start really fishing on my own until March last year. So January and February are kind of an unknown, save for a couple of bits that are actually quite helpful.
-dinks (fish under 8" or so) stop biting almost immediately when we have a real cold snap, not just a cold night or two. Typically between Christmas and January 21. This year the last bite from small fish was NYE. 
-49 degrees seems to be February football temps. grab your jerkbaits, find some rocks to stand on, and throw it into a dropoff. receive football. I haven't done that myself (not for lack of trying in my aforementioned limited time) but i have seen more than one happen that way, judgingly from a distance. I want the jerkbait football. 

anyway
bedtime

[thediscochef]

As we come into spring-like weather (for real this time) water temps will begin to climb. Over the next week, I expect to see moving baits regain their effectiveness. When the non-surface water dips below 49 here, you need suspending baits or the lightest possible finesse setup, like a ned or shakey head. We are roughly 47-48 right now. Just enough that a chatterbait is a tough sell. A Carolina rig with 36" of line past the swivel would do well, preferably with something like a brush Hog or a swimming fluke that moves well at slow speeds.

 

Hard jerkbaits are king right now from all the other folks I've talked to, and from my own experience. Most jerkbait strikes will happen in the first two or three twitches. Fish are hanging out on gravel flats and not many other places. All of my hits came between 3pm and sunset, the time of day when the water is at its warmest.

[thediscochef]

29000 acres of lake and somehow the Isle du Bois shore fishing pier is the only freakin place in the lake these four boats can seem to find, crossing lines of shore fishers. I thought the whole point of a boat was to go places others couldn't. So lazy, why do these people even have boats? Save your 70k and just fish off the **** pier if that's how you're going to use the boat. A frustrating waste. I didn't even get out of my car, that's all I needed to see to know I'm not fishing here today. I'll be back after sunset when the crowds leave.

[thediscochef]

3/6/22

 

Today would have been the day to have a pop-r or a plopper, as bass were feeding topwater through the noon hour ahead of a cold front that had officially passed as of 4:50pm. From everything I saw and felt, we are now in early spring mode and the water temperatures have started entering the active zone above 48 degrees. Two fish were had at Isle du Bois Wild Plum/Boat Ramp cove today: 2.3lbs spotted bass, and one 12-14" LMB with a lot of melanosis. Spottie was had on a slow rising jerk shad, lmb was my first ever lipless crankbait catch - worked through a creekbed in short rises through the water. Smash one of the eyes off your KVD red-eye shad for similar results. The next day or two will likely be slow as we are post-front, but overall the warming trend continues.

 

If I had a boat, I would be on the flats between sanger boat launch and culp island; also up in the creek branch south of the main Isle du Bois park areas; and the south/east sides of Johnson Branch park. Once we get back to warm temps next week, upper lake should really pick up. Rip rap along the dam is almost always a strong choice.

 

Don't mess with the herons when they've caught more bass than you...they have sharp beaks. If my photo had any fewer pixels, it would be radio. But that happens at a safe distance.

[thediscochef]

3/8/22

SLOW

 

Nature loves to make a fool of me. Just when I think we're about to warm up for good, we will have some freezing rain today with a high of 47. Wednesday and Thursday will be better days, warming to the 60s. Thursday night into Friday we will have yet ANOTHER ice storm with a high of 39. Friday night we will dip into the low 20s with winds 15-25. I wish this crap would stop already, this is one of the later ice events I can remember in recent years and I'm not happy about it.

[TnRiver46]

On 3/6/2022 at 6:43 PM, thediscochef said:

3/6/22

 

Today would have been the day to have a pop-r or a plopper, as bass were feeding topwater through the noon hour ahead of a cold front that had officially passed as of 4:50pm. From everything I saw and felt, we are now in early spring mode and the water temperatures have started entering the active zone above 48 degrees. Two fish were had at Isle du Bois Wild Plum/Boat Ramp cove today: 2.3lbs spotted bass, and one 12-14" LMB with a lot of melanosis. Spottie was had on a slow rising jerk shad, lmb was my first ever lipless crankbait catch - worked through a creekbed in short rises through the water. Smash one of the eyes off your KVD red-eye shad for similar results. The next day or two will likely be slow as we are post-front, but overall the warming trend continues.

 

If I had a boat, I would be on the flats between sanger boat launch and culp island; also up in the creek branch south of the main Isle du Bois park areas; and the south/east sides of Johnson Branch park. Once we get back to warm temps next week, upper lake should really pick up. Rip rap along the dam is almost always a strong choice.

 

Don't mess with the herons when they've caught more bass than you...they have sharp beaks. If my photo had any fewer pixels, it would be radio. But that happens at a safe distance.

It would be radio hahahahahaha. Nice catch by the heron! 

[thediscochef]

5 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

It would be radio hahahahahaha. Nice catch by the heron! 

That was a sight to see for sure. Happened about 30 minutes after I hooked that shad on my jerkbait. Sunday was a weird, weird day. 

I got a melanosis fish on a lipless crank that day, first fish on that bait.

[thediscochef]

3/9/22
SLOW
Water's still very cold. One 2lb spotted bass on a jerkbait.
Air temp will be up 10 degrees tomorrow with a cold front in the evening...going to be hitting it all day with the jerkbaits, lipless cranks, and flukes in hopes of getting on some feeding bass like I did earlier this week.
Friday will be snowing and cold, but it looks like this may finally be the last gasp of winter. Fingers crossed.

[thediscochef]

3/14/22
GOOD
Water is still pretty chilly, but we're firmly into the spring patterns as of yesterday. I think we are right around that 49 degree mark. Winds 20-30 today. LMB are good on sexy shad color jerkbaits, worked actively near gravel beds and flat areas. Lure should suspend in the top 5ft of water for best results. Faster moving baits aren't producing from what I'm seeing, but I did have one bass follow my lure on a fast retreive so they are starting to move again somewhat. When I start having trouble catching with jerkbaits, it will be back to chatterbaits. If that happens. I don't see how a jerkbait will become any less effective as water warms.

This week I'll be looking at Wednesday and Thursday next for best catch rates...77 and 81 high temps, cold front Thursday evening. If it's clear and windy ahead of the front, the hour or so leading up to storms will be great. If still and/or overcast the whole day, it should be solid all the way especially if wind stays 5-10.