And no I am not looking for anyone's secret spots although I will gladly give you directions to areas I know are good.

I fished RR for years in the late 90's early 00's then moved away for job reasons and have just moved back.

Back when I was here first RR was down about 10-12 ft for almost a decade during the same drought everyone else had. Now that I am back it is like it was when I first started fishing it again.

But what I have noticed is that there is more shoreline cover than I have seen since the lake was first opened from it being down so long that new cover grew up. Also I have been told that the lake was so high that significant time was lost for folks trying to fish it for a considerable time because there were no or few boat ramps open for awhile. Is this true?

I was wondering what the experts thought all this new cover and other factors coming into play how it would effect the Crappie and Bass Spawn the last three or four years. It would seem to me that the populations ought to be at levels unseen since the lake opened. Am I wrong?

Love to hear your thoughts.

I do know this, the way it is now made the duck hunting MUCH MUCH MUCH tougher this year than it used to be. LOL

The lake was down for a few years up until the end of 2015 which is when north Texas flooded (the first time). While it was down for a few years, lots of brush grew very high and thick then when it flooded all that brush is now in the water. That's why there is so much structure up shallow. I've seen it on every lake that I've fished the past few years.

And yes I would think since the ramps were closed for awhile, the fishing pressure was so low that the fish population probably grew.

As a fly fishing guide on Ray Roberts, I know what you're talking about. It lead me, in 2015, to go from walk-fishing to a skiff -- in order to get to fish from what I call the "outside in" - the shoreline had receded and overgrown so much during the drought. Now things are stabilizing, and I think the USACE and water district folks have done a fine job of maintaining the lake level - SPECIFICALLY this winter. I do KNOW that there is an abundance of largemouth youth on the lake due to the thick shoreline over the last 2-3 years. Like everyone else, I saw Volkswagen size clouds of the fry last year, caught yearlings and started up catching 2-year-olds this year already. Smallmouth have also taken hold in small numbers, and I have caught yearlings.