Hello all,

I am going to be offered a job in a couple of days that I'm thinking about taking. I'm happy in my current job and so decisions like these often come down to things that are inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. The one for me is fishing. I don't want to move somewhere I'm not going to enjoy fishing. To write that seems petty to me, but it's true...

The job I'm going to be offered would make it likely I'd live in either Mesquite or Rockwall. The big lake I know there from my research is Lake Ray Hubbard. I tried searching TFF for more info, but is Ray Hubbard a fun lake to yak-fish on? What's the fishing like? I saw on TPWD that bass fishing is "good," but what does that mean?

I'd be interested to know what I'd be getting into fishing-wise if I moved to the big city... any insight would be welcome! Knowing many of you are praying folk, I'd covet those for discernment as well.

Thanks in advance!

I've always done well on Hubbard. Not exactly a yak friendly lake in my opinion at least during the summer. A lot of pleasure boaters out there and the water gets very rough but all my fishing on the lake has been out of a boat.

Great lake for bass,hybrids,sand bass, flat heads all in all it's a nice lake for being a Metromess Lake.As stated before come summer time it does get crowded and rough I look at it as freshwater BTB Plus you have Lavon close by probably one of the best kitty lakes.Good luck with your job and decision.

You'd only be an hour or so from some of the best lakes east Texas has to offer. Hubbard has some good fishing. I've never kayaked the lake, though.

I grew up fishing on Hubbard. I always fished on the bank or from a boat, never a yak. Good for hybrids, sand bass, catfish, perch. The water does have a lot of boat traffic and is usually very rough. If you have any luck on a yak it would be on the Rowlett side of I-30 Bridge towards 66 Bridge, also known as �Party Cove�. The I-30 Bridge usually blocks the wind and this side of the lake is usually calm. Fishing is pretty good in this area as well. You are also not far from Lake Fork, Lavon or Palestine.

There's good fish in Hubbard but man it's busy and dangerous when the skiers start up. You will miss that east texas grass and those power plant lakes though! No grass. 100s of miles of riprap and the fish move around a lot so cranking the rocks can be tough to cover enough ground to find them in a kayak. It does have 1 or 2 unique spots...

As has been said, mesquite/Rockwall is not too far from fork and there are several great small lakes in the area within 1-2 hours. I realize that's not the same as being 15 minutes from a great lake but I've always said that I'd rather commute 90 minutes once a week to my favorite fishing hole than commute 90 minutes in traffic to work every day.

You'd be 40 minutes from Tawakoni...don't know why it hasn't been mentioned.

Ray Hubbard is a good lake - like others have said it can be tough to get away from the pleasure boat crowd in the warmer months, but there is plenty of water to escape to.

On top of those two lakes you'll have Lavon, Fork, Cooper, Ray Roberts, Richland Chambers, and several others within about an hour drive. All of which are excellent lakes.

Hubbard is a good lake overall, as others have said the main lake can get dicey in parts because of the recreational boating, but all my time on the lake(over the past 2 years I've been kayak fishing) has been around the Miller road bridge where the paddle point kayaking trail launch is located(launching is super easy from there). In the summer months there's a yak rental place that operates out of the lot there, and so at times there can be a lot of newbies in yaks going out and exploring that area that perhaps aren't as versed in fishing etiquette as I'd like(like these are often people that have literally never been in a yak before, and so they can easily crowd you even accidentally, yell a lot and not realize you can hear them from a half mile off, etc.) but most of the time these people are looking for herons and such and so don't typically sit around the areas where I fish for long, and most leave me be.

And the fishing there is pretty good...to the south side of the Miller road bridge the water opens up more and there's still little boating here because it's not on the main lake(and there's not a launch very close). THat bridge, the railroad bridge north of it and the 66 bridge all have rocky banks that provide good fishing, and I've had luck even catching crappie in the deeper channels near the miller bridge. And I've heard others talk of spots around the lake that are also yak friendly, so I think from a fishing perspective you'll be able to do alright. And Lavon is actually just a 10-15 minute drive from Rockwall now that the turnpike runs through there, and it's a good lake with areas that also have little boat traffic due to stumps(the main lake of course can get busy with boaters, but the entire north parts can't be easily navigated by boat at all...too many stumps).

So both are good fishing lakes, and I wouldn't be worried about having to move to the area(I moved close by specifically because of the lakes...if I have to live and work in the city, at least I want to be near water.) The main problem with both these lakes at the moment is that they're EXTREMELY low. This might be good in some ways, as I imagine there's little pressure from boats where the trees are so close to the surface now(I'm not even sure you can get a yak under the 66 bridge at the moment...) and my big boat is dry-docked and is about to be for sale because I"m not sure when we'll even be able to launch it again. On lavon, I'm not even sure where there's an open launch ramp anymore, but you'll be alright kayaking for sure. If you only had a big boat I'd be much more worried as the lakes just haven't recovered much at all from the drought. Two years ago I hit a rock with my prop that's normally 12' under water, and the lake is no higher now than then. It might just be a bunch of yakkers out there this summer!

Thanks for the help y'all! This was exactly the info I was looking for. You're the best!

It may be a little late but I'll chime in on Hubbard, too. I've put in at the Miller Rd paddle point that FishDragon was talking about many times (it's only about 15 minutes from my house. I haven't fished much on the south side of Miller but there are some really good spots in the water between Miller and the RR, and from the RR to 66. The area is great for kayaks because it is generally well protected from wind, and the stumps keep the boat traffic down. Even the occasional "big" boat that comes in there is either another fisherman or going very slow. I've caught whites, hybids, crappie and large mouth in there.

Like any other place I've fished, I'ver been skunked a few times, and I admit that there are better places to fish on the lake. But you can't beat the paddle point area for ease of entry, protection against the elements and other boats, and good underwater structures. It will at least give you a good opportunity to get your feet wet (no pun intended) on the lake.

Everyone is right that Dallas has perhaps the best concentration of great fishing lakes in the state. There are 5-6 within thirty minutes of Dallas, and perhaps a dozen within an hour.


I'll jump out with one more lake that is usually overlooked or criticized by most, but if you live in or around east Dallas, I would not rule out White Rock Lake. This is a small inter-city lake that was once Dallas's water supply. It got a bad reputation for pollution over the years but the lake is actually quite healthy and has some decent fish. Yeah, you still see way too many plastic water bottles that wash down from the Frisco soccer games but the ecosystem itself is pretty healthy (none of this matters to me too much because I rarely keep fish anyway). White Rock is not going to be the place to catch a limit on every outing but if you want a very quick afternoon or even outing, you can't beat it. There is a 10hp/no wake limit on the lake so you will never have any problem with other boats. I can literally be on the lake in 10 minutes. It may not be your big game lake but it sure satisfies the itch.

Good luck with your new job.