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Spillway tailrace fly fishing
#11680217
06/21/16 04:52 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,141
hook-line&sinker
OP
TFF Guru
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OP
TFF Guru
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,141 |
Summer starts the usual way.. HOT & Humid! and making it less than pleasant to hit the water with a fishing pole in hand and catching a few bass on the brain.. This heat gives new meaning to the term "sweat equity" which is what we do in the sunny south anytime the temperature along with the humidity climb near the century mark.. time to wet wade and swim fish! This spillway fishing is going on all over the state as lake managers attempt to get their lakes back to normal levels.. This is lake Somerville where J-Moe and I will be fishing all summer for whitebass and hybrids "one the fly"
>)));> Wishin' I was Fishin' <;(((<
“Personnel is the most vital and important aspect of any industry. If you’re just going to grind them up, it’s not going to end well for anybody.” SCOTT REINARDY
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Re: Spillway tailrace fly fishing
[Re: hook-line&sinker]
#11680260
06/21/16 05:17 PM
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,367
keebranch
Extreme Angler
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Extreme Angler
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,367 |
Great report Ben!
I like your last comment "I need to keep some fish at some point". Yep I've had the same regrets on some of my sand bass outings.
Les
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Re: Spillway tailrace fly fishing
[Re: hook-line&sinker]
#11680416
06/21/16 06:59 PM
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 98
Ruffhouse
Outdoorsman
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Outdoorsman
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 98 |
Great video. This looks like a blast. Are there any spillway's around DFW that you can fish from the bank like this? I am sure they are flowing right now.
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Re: Spillway tailrace fly fishing
[Re: hook-line&sinker]
#11680725
06/21/16 09:45 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,141
hook-line&sinker
OP
TFF Guru
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OP
TFF Guru
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,141 |
Every lake in Texas has a spillway but which ones are accessible is something I do not know..
>)));> Wishin' I was Fishin' <;(((<
“Personnel is the most vital and important aspect of any industry. If you’re just going to grind them up, it’s not going to end well for anybody.” SCOTT REINARDY
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Re: Spillway tailrace fly fishing
[Re: hook-line&sinker]
#11680762
06/21/16 10:02 PM
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,367
keebranch
Extreme Angler
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Extreme Angler
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,367 |
Joe Poole is one which has bank fishermen You can fish at Lela for a fee (lewisville ) Ray Roberts is accessible Drive around some or use google earth
Les
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Re: Spillway tailrace fly fishing
[Re: hook-line&sinker]
#11685231
06/24/16 12:15 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,141
hook-line&sinker
OP
TFF Guru
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OP
TFF Guru
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,141 |
Dam spillway fishing in the summer is tough but well worth the extended effort when the fish are biting like they are now. Whitebass and hybrid stripers have razor sharp gill plates which makes handling them a risky venture.. One of those little slimy boogers got my pinky finger on Wednesday as I released it back into the water so that's the blood part of the title.. Being a glutton for punishment of the fishy kind, J-Moe and I have beaten a trail to the Lake Somerville spillway many times over the last two weeks as the fishing ramps up for the long summer season.. We never know how long this frantic feeding frenzy will last so we are just taking advantage of this moment in time..
>)));> Wishin' I was Fishin' <;(((<
“Personnel is the most vital and important aspect of any industry. If you’re just going to grind them up, it’s not going to end well for anybody.” SCOTT REINARDY
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Re: Spillway tailrace fly fishing
[Re: hook-line&sinker]
#11686434
06/24/16 03:12 PM
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 2,250
texasflycaster
Extreme Angler
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Extreme Angler
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 2,250 |
Ray ROBERTS dam is open ( not a classic tail race not actually the spillway). And the heat seems to have made a dent in the elbow-to-elbow crowds. The lake is dropping so fast it's having a huge impact on shallow fish. Could change any second though!
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Re: Spillway tailrace fly fishing
[Re: hook-line&sinker]
#11688929
06/26/16 02:09 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,141
hook-line&sinker
OP
TFF Guru
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OP
TFF Guru
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,141 |
>)));> Wishin' I was Fishin' <;(((<
“Personnel is the most vital and important aspect of any industry. If you’re just going to grind them up, it’s not going to end well for anybody.” SCOTT REINARDY
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Re: Spillway tailrace fly fishing
[Re: hook-line&sinker]
#11688966
06/26/16 02:25 AM
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Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 828
mbarker68x
Pro Angler
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Pro Angler
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 828 |
I hit up Stilhouse Res spillway instead of heading down your way. I little bass and saw a few gar but couldn't get them to take anything.
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Re: Spillway tailrace fly fishing
[Re: hook-line&sinker]
#11689381
06/26/16 01:30 PM
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,367
keebranch
Extreme Angler
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Extreme Angler
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,367 |
nice Ben That Cricket fly was a good call- classic matching the hatch.
Les
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Re: Spillway tailrace fly fishing
[Re: hook-line&sinker]
#11690069
06/26/16 08:36 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,141
hook-line&sinker
OP
TFF Guru
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OP
TFF Guru
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,141 |
J-Moe tells me the spillway has really turned off.. Saturday evening was dead, dead, dead... neither of us could buy a bite much less a fish!
>)));> Wishin' I was Fishin' <;(((<
“Personnel is the most vital and important aspect of any industry. If you’re just going to grind them up, it’s not going to end well for anybody.” SCOTT REINARDY
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Re: Spillway tailrace fly fishing
[Re: hook-line&sinker]
#11691011
06/27/16 01:59 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,141
hook-line&sinker
OP
TFF Guru
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OP
TFF Guru
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,141 |
The regular early and late activity cycle was bound to change but the only way to know is to keep fishing.. We narrowly avoided the skunk on this evening trip and will take a break until Thursday morning to let things cycle back into a morning and evening rhythm. But I'll bet the sunny side is great fishing almost every morning as long as the crickets are there in big numbers.. Great fly fishing is short lived in the spillway whether "time of day" or the "moon cycle" or a host of other factors (read excuses) that affect the fish and the catching of them. Saturday evening the weather put a damper on the lake that pretty much shut the fish down altogether. If it wasn't for one nice sunfish caught on the lake side of the dam J-Moe and I were both smelling the skunk coming. The little stinker doesn't get to us very often as we will put in the extra effort to avoid him but Saturday evening was something different. I've got a long list of excuses for my fly fish failings but haven't decided which of those might apply for last Saturday.
>)));> Wishin' I was Fishin' <;(((<
“Personnel is the most vital and important aspect of any industry. If you’re just going to grind them up, it’s not going to end well for anybody.” SCOTT REINARDY
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Re: Spillway tailrace fly fishing
[Re: hook-line&sinker]
#11693657
06/28/16 04:40 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,141
hook-line&sinker
OP
TFF Guru
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OP
TFF Guru
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,141 |
Lake Whitney is coming down a foot per day and at that rate the Brazos river below the dam will be fishable by mid July if not sooner. The massive amount of floodwater released from the lake above undoubtedly has carried with it lots of fish namely the highly prized striped bass. This situation is similar to last year and the river will be fishing well overall but especially good and predictable with the power generation cycle as the stripers come up to feed when the river rises. Improvements to the hydroelectric power station has changed the access rules to the area directly below the dam. These rules deal mostly with the rapid rise of the river when the generators automatically kick in responding to increased demand for power. The warning siren still sounds but the river will rise very quickly making for a dangerous and risky situation for the unprepared. I captured on the video below the wall of water (last year) that comes from the power station when they start generating power. Now with the improvements to the power plant turbines the wall of water could be one third again that volume and moving quicker making the river deeper and a bit more dangerous. From last year late July, J-Moe and I fishing with Robert Hunter..
>)));> Wishin' I was Fishin' <;(((<
“Personnel is the most vital and important aspect of any industry. If you’re just going to grind them up, it’s not going to end well for anybody.” SCOTT REINARDY
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Re: Spillway tailrace fly fishing
[Re: hook-line&sinker]
#11694203
06/28/16 08:42 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,141
hook-line&sinker
OP
TFF Guru
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OP
TFF Guru
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,141 |
Yep it's summer time in Texas.. Hot and humid with the temperature and humidity nearing the century mark daily. Those two things really do a number on us fishermen who won't stay in the house when the fish are biting in the heat of the day..
>)));> Wishin' I was Fishin' <;(((<
“Personnel is the most vital and important aspect of any industry. If you’re just going to grind them up, it’s not going to end well for anybody.” SCOTT REINARDY
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Re: Spillway tailrace fly fishing
[Re: hook-line&sinker]
#11694899
06/29/16 02:35 AM
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Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 75,773
banker-always fishing
Pumpkin Head
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Pumpkin Head
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 75,773 |
Awesome post!
IGFA World Record Rio Grande Cichlid. Lake Dunlap. John 3:16 Sinner's Prayer. God forgive me a sinner. I accept Jesus Christ as my Savior !
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