This is a sticky for guides to utilize as a means to let you folks know what's going on out on the water. In order to make this an effective thread, please refrain from off topic jibber-jabber. (off-topic jibber-jabber to be determined by the moderator)

Is this the year of the woman or what? In celebration, I decided to bring back my free outings for women fly fishers. I tentatively decided on a �Women�s Wednesday,� but we can always adjust that to a �Friday Free Fly,� for females if that works better for your busy schedules.

Anyway, all you have to do is pick your date, Wednesday or Friday, and contact me. That�s all it takes, and we�re good to go. I can take one or two women on the skiff, and we can go for as long or short a day as you want.

The carp are definitely active and should be about done with their spawn behavior this week - and will have a serious case of the munchies on Lake Ray Roberts. They've already been feeding though, so don't put off contacting me! The coming two weekends on Ray Roberts will be a problem for many of us, as there are two bass tournaments back-to-back on that lake. Time to try a different lake!

Yesterday on Lake Ray Roberts was especially good! It was the first time my client had fly fished for carp (next week will be the second), and he did exceptionally well, with ten carp and three buffs - I've never seen conditions any better than what we have now. Behavior of carp seems to be in a "post-spawn wind down" now. There's still some carp sex going on, but they are back to eating and looking to eat. The huge number of buffs was definitely a bonus, and a huge distraction!




THE DAM WAS OPEN YESTERDAY at Lake Ray Roberts, so you can imagine the habitat you see will soon be high and dry - unless rain gets ahead of the release again, or the Trinity system gets overwhelmed again, and they shut it back down.

I couldn't find your guide prices on your website. Did I miss something??

Jonathan

I believe this falls into the "jibber-jabber" category, which is forbidden.

The ups and downs on Lake Ray Roberts seem to be stuck in the up position right now (06-17-16). The flats are as flooded as they ever were, and the carp, buffalo, gar and bass are finding their way back into the shallows. They were skittish at first, but they seem to be calming down some now. I am amazed at how they are not any more spooked by a skiff than a wader, or a kayak. Very interesting.

The heat is something to deal with right now - drink lots of water on the water!

The clarity still leaves something to be desired, so don't be afraid to throw bright flies. The conditions should continue to improve until the water gets just too darn hot in the heat of the day.

Houston bayou report





The past couple of months has been all about rain and flows. Most of the bayous start to get good with flows less than 200cfs. Not than fishing isn't possible with higher flows. It can just be tougher with a lot less shots at Commons and a lot more shots at rising Grass carp. Just avoid flood stage it's not worth your life!
With the higher flows for Common carp and Smallmouth Buffalo go heavier to get the fly down. Instead of bead chain try lead eyes sizes micro to small depending on the current. As for Grass carp look for consistent risers and try dead drifting a dry fly. Watch for the eat!
Also look for bonus species like gar and Koi they've been showing up lately making for some added �trashy� fun!

Houstonflyfishing.com

The creeks and rivers are finally clearing up and the bass fishing is on. Morning and evening bite are really good but if heat doesn't run you off the popper bite is good if not great through out the day. The Spotted bass are super aggressive and so much fun! Forthose who love putting a whopping on sunfish now's a great time with very aggressive topwater bite. They're bedded up and eating all day.

Some of you might know I have "Pay-Per-View" content (because someone once said, nothing good was ever free), and free content. What I am doing here is putting on an excerpt and you can go read the rest of the story free on my site for the next 24 hours if you want to. I am not going to pimp it with links. I am not a saltwater guide, although I always having friends along to catch the fish. This was during July 7-13.

"Even though the tides were against me, I did manage to hit on a few rat reds, just to say I caught a red, and just to feel that drug - the tug. I did see some bigger fish, but since their entire eating pattern was frazzled, so were they. It was pretty darn hard to keep from spooking them, and there just were not enough of them to shake a stick at. Those that did eat, ate a fly I made from what I (think I) know about tying the famous �redfish crack fly.� I took the original pattern from what I know of how to tie the popular Texas Gulf Coast fly, and added an articulated tail section to give it more action (and make it just a little more difficult to tie!).

The reality of flies for redfish on the Texas Coast is that redfish will eat just about anything you throw at them. Hence the huge popularity of redfish! The only catch is; with expanding areas of grass along the inland waterways, fly selection is often based on the ability to keep the fly from snagging grass. I am not a fan of weed guards at all, so casting needs to be deadly accurate. Two three full strips of the line, and the fly is ready to pull, de-weed and cast again. Depending on the sensitivity of the redfish, you could go right back at the same fish with your next cast!"

Let me encourage you who may have thought the season ends when school starts - not true! We've had two epic days of carp on fly on Lake Ray Roberts - back-to-back - this past weekend. Saturday was a numbers day, as I was actually fishing and scouting just after the rains. I managed a PB of 12 common carp and again saw grass carp ranging from 30-60 pounds as best I can tell. And they eat flies, just not that day. I followed up on Sunday, again on the lookout, and riding with a friend on his East Cape, where I managed a 9-pound carp. I am leaving a lot of fish on the table for you guys, just in case you were sitting on the fence, or something else - come out and try a real challenge. There are a few weeks, to about a month left (if history serves) before they shut us down for another year. And trust me when I tell you: The rain clouds may make it hard to see the fish, but they're there and eating well.
Thanks for reading!

Yup, a bit long and rambling, but that's how fly fishing is sometimes, isn't it?

Lake Houston has been fishing really good. With a decent bass popper bite right at sunrise and a really good evening popper bite. Streamer bite is even better and producing a little bit of everything largemouth, spotted bass, channel catfish, Whitebass, crappie and the occasional gar.

Urban bayou are fishing really good with aggressive Grass carp and the occasional common and alligator gar.

Lake Conroe has been staying on for Bowfin and the carp are getting aggressive there to.

Now's a great time to come out for a paddle or wade trip! Fall is in the air and fish are turning on!
Houstonflyfishing.com for trips!

The look of that fish...Hahaha

We have some hybrid action revving up right now. It was quite unexpected for this time of year, but thanks to man, it can happen in January. I am still trying to dial in a pattern; there didn't seem to be one yet, but stay tuned!