I'm in CA but will be in Tx in April./May Please recommend the best Fly fishing lakes for LMB. Great if they have good crappie as well. I'll have a boat. I will be there 2 weeks, and I'm not married to any one location. Thanks

Athens has a fly fishing club, and that's where there are quite a few tournaments. Good sized fish...
You can get some bank fishing for LMB or Stripers on some lakes below the dams as well.

What part(s) of Texas will you be visiting?

I'm not yet in any one spot; it's up for grabs. I have timeshare locations available in Flint, in Willis, and near Lake Fork; but I have time to go elsewhere if the fishing warrants.

Agree with Athens when you are in the Lake Fork and Flint area.

I’d want to fly fish the Brazos River between Possum Kingsom and Lake Whitney.
Starting at the Possum Kingdom tailrace.
This is best done from a kayak or canoe

Be sure to post in the flyfishing subforum if you haven’t already.
They will know of the best places.

Some years, we get a lot of rain April and May so be very careful fishing downstream of spillways and dams.

Thanks, but I'm looking for the best lakes, not streams. I'm hearing Lake Fork and Lake Athens frequently; any others? Is Purtis Creek good?

No on Purtis Creek.
Now, 20 years ago, absolutely; but that lake has had a devastating loss of vegetation and fishing quality....and that’s all I’m going to say about that.

Fork is a madhouse April/May. You have a shot at catching your pb largest bass on fly fishing gear, but it will be full of boats and other anglers.

When you are in the Willis area, I’d drive up to Lufkin (city hall room 250) and get a permit to fly fish Lake Kurth

Thanks CC; I would have gone to Curtis; never heard of Kurth but it sounds good. Looks like a week around Lake, LOP, and Caddo and a week in Willis and Kurth, probable Conroe first, them Fork. Any other gotta go to places?

Hahaha, lots of other places to go. We are blessed here with lots of good lakes, but that doesn’t stop us from finding things to complain about.

You’ll get lost in the forest trying to fish a lot of different lakes and will need a vacation from your vacation running around this big state.

Athens, Kurth, and Caddo would be my top three. Caddo, with all that vegetation, might be a challenge to fly fish; but, a very special place and definitely worth driving there.
If you are going to drive up to Lake of Pines, go ahead and fly fish Brandy Branch/Pirky—might be the clearest water in east Texas.

Davy Crockett would be a fun one to fly-fish in the spring before the pads get too thick! It's about 2 hours north of Fork. Coffee Mill right next door for some of the most prolific Crappie waters in the state!.

Thanks again CC; we have several weeks to tie up weed guarded flies and lots of Covid restricted time to do it. I saw a quote somewhere about a lake that had some very large fish and lots of 2 to 3 lb fish; there is a current tournament there now. Any idea which it is and might it be a good choice?

Sounds like San Rayburn. It’s always got a tournament or five on it.