Ray Roberts Slot Limit

Should have never been removed!

I loved fishing there during the slot years. Had a day that I caught 3 6+ lbers on 3 consecutive casts. Then the next weekend, caught 3 7+ lbers on 3 consecutive casts. I used to be able to find fish on beds all over the place. The last few years I fished it after they removed the slot, I caught 0, 1 or 2 most of the days I fished it. It was like every spot I had ever fished dried up. Removing the slot ruined the lake in my opinion.

Look how terrible the last two tournament results have been. That will tell you how the lake is fishing.

The pressure has more of an impact IMO. There is alot of coontail coming back and some hydrilla also. Grass is already growing out to 9 feet or so in areas and the west side has it growing as well. Not quite as deep from what I've seen from the east side though.

Stock it like they do Fork and she'll be fine. The smallmouth seem to have almost disappeared which is disappointing.

I guarantee that a few Classic pros will focus solely on the grass. There's alot of it in there without a doubt.

Anyone caught any smallmouth out there recently?

The pressure has more of an impact IMO. There is alot of coontail coming back and some hydrilla also. Grass is already growing out to 9 feet or so in areas and the west side has it growing as well. Not quite as deep from what I've seen from the east side though.

Stock it like they do Fork and she'll be fine. The smallmouth seem to have almost disappeared which is disappointing.

I guarantee that a few Classic pros will focus solely on the grass. There's alot of it in there without a doubt.

Anyone caught any smallmouth out there recently?

My guess is It has very little to do with stocking and everything to do with pressure. Back when the slot was lifted a few guides and businesses got greedy and wanted the slot lifted so the tournaments would come. They got their way and now the tournament pressure is hurting the fishing. I don't think the fish disappeared but they have been conditioned through massive pressure. Tournaments are fine and exciting to participate in but there is a cost to the fisheries no doubt.

I have fished the lake now for over 20 years... The grass was the deal... that being said, I would definitely be in favor of a slot coming back. Lake Ray Roberts is like a really hot girlfriend...looks great, but is a Biatch to deal with...however, every now and then she will give you a reason to come back!!

Grass is everywhere, there is even a good patch of pads i found last year, just not much hydrilla. TPWD is not going to allow hydrilla to come back and will likely kill it anywhere it shows up. "X" number of tournament permits per lake per year based on biologist recommendations and overall fishery health is what I would like to see. A slot would be another way to slow pressure but probably not as effective as limiting big events.(Fork has plenty of tournaments even with the slot) Again, I am not anti tournament, I fish a few myself. I would just like to see them spread out to other locations. Example: Has Bass Champs ever fished Joe Pool or Lake Worth? I don't know but just naming places that are about the same distance to the metromess as Roberts.

Grass makes it easier to catch fish, also provides cover for baby bass. The sand bass numbers on RR seem very high to me compared to other lakes in the area. Lack of grass, those baby bass have no-place to hide in the summer. You could stock it with 400,000 fingerlings a year, do they just become sand bass food?

When the lake is high/flooded, catch rates go way up. That tells me the bass are in the lake, just not as easy to catch in the timber?

How many will have a limit all 3 days of the Classic on RR next month? Forward Facing sonar should be a huge player I would guess.

With all due respect sir, I am not calling you anti tournament but you are very much clueless about them. Roberts has less than 15 tournaments a year, only 2-3 of those are big ones. Roberts is far from over run with tournaments.

Let’s talk Worth for a minute since it was brought up. Ray Bob is 29,350 acres, lake Worth is 3489 acres. (Joe Pool 7,470). Imagine putting 250 boats in Johnson branch, that’s a little smaller but comparable in size to LW. Worth has 26 weeknight tournaments, 3 media bass tournaments, bassaholics tournament, 8 weekend opens this year, plus bass clubs, plus a 2 day championship, plus kings of Cowtown qualifiers, and kings of Cowtown tournament. All of this on a water body 8 times smaller than Ray Bob.

Fish per acre is the problem not tournaments per year or minimum length. Let’s not forget about the giant group of pelicans that won’t freaking leave...watched one gulp down a solid 3 lb bass last week.. how many are those 100 pelicans eating per day while the bass are moving shallow? I feel sure that number is higher than the tournament mortality because those darn things have been there for 2 months!

You are correct in that I don't fish 2-3 tournaments a week like many do. I fish more like 2-3 per year. I threw out the names of those two lakes because they are close to the city like Roberts is. Sounds like they get their share of pounding too, again more reason to limit the number of events held based on heath of the fishery. My opinion and source of irritation with the fishing on Roberts is simply the fact that I have been fishing it as my home lake since 1994 +/- shortly after getting out of the military. My observation is as tournaments have steadily increased in popularity, the fishing at Roberts has gotten steadily worse. You are correct in that there are many other factors such as nature and TPWD that also effect the fishing. I live toward the back of Wolf creek and there are probably a dozen or more heron nests within view of my little landing. Not to mention as you say the pelicans and all of the stinking cormorants. Having said that you can't nor do I believe should attempt to control nature. Where I do think we have a responsibility and a stewardship is to police ourselves and show a little restraint. There may only be 2-5 big tournaments a year but for each of those there is constant prefishing. There are also a bunch of club tournaments as well as weekly jack pots. You are out there frequently, how often have you seen pros practicing for the classic, what about getting ready for champs, or HS events, or the BPS event? All of those draw tons of people to the lake which = more pressure. Stocking sounds great if it would work, lets try that, and a slot limit, and limiting numbers of tournaments, lets try it all until the lake recovers and then try to do a better job of managing the resource. Anyway, I recognize some of my ideas may be off the wall but some real conversations about some real attempts to improve the fishery would be awesome!

Here is a good read regarding TPWD plans and the 2019 survey

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/lake_survey/pwd_rp_t3200_1368_2019.pdf

Here is a good read regarding TPWD plans and the 2019 survey

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/lake_survey/pwd_rp_t3200_1368_2019.pdf

Thanks, I'm reading through this now. One question I have in general (not for anyone specifically) is if the lake is man-made in 1986, how is the distinction made between native and non-native aquatic vegetation. Impoundments themselves are inherently non-native. What are we trying to accomplish by only permitting native aquatic vegetation? It seems to me that the blanket labeling of hydrilla as a non-native/invasive species neglects its benefits..

Giant Salvania is a real problem and it destroys habitats. Hydrilla, not so much (from my understanding). I know it outcompetes native vegetation... but again... we're talking about a man-made lake where native vegetation wouldn't exist if humans didn't build a lake in the first place. I feel like a calculated decision to allow certain non-native plants (e.g., hydrilla) that benefit fish and wildlife as a whole would be win/win. Might just be my ignorance.

You are correct in that I don't fish 2-3 tournaments a week like many do. I fish more like 2-3 per year. I threw out the names of those two lakes because they are close to the city like Roberts is. Sounds like they get their share of pounding too, again more reason to limit the number of events held based on heath of the fishery. My opinion and source of irritation with the fishing on Roberts is simply the fact that I have been fishing it as my home lake since 1994 +/- shortly after getting out of the military. My observation is as tournaments have steadily increased in popularity, the fishing at Roberts has gotten steadily worse. You are correct in that there are many other factors such as nature and TPWD that also effect the fishing. I live toward the back of Wolf creek and there are probably a dozen or more heron nests within view of my little landing. Not to mention as you say the pelicans and all of the stinking cormorants. Having said that you can't nor do I believe should attempt to control nature. Where I do think we have a responsibility and a stewardship is to police ourselves and show a little restraint. There may only be 2-5 big tournaments a year but for each of those there is constant prefishing. There are also a bunch of club tournaments as well as weekly jack pots. You are out there frequently, how often have you seen pros practicing for the classic, what about getting ready for champs, or HS events, or the BPS event? All of those draw tons of people to the lake which = more pressure. Stocking sounds great if it would work, lets try that, and a slot limit, and limiting numbers of tournaments, lets try it all until the lake recovers and then try to do a better job of managing the resource. Anyway, I recognize some of my ideas may be off the wall but some real conversations about some real attempts to improve the fishery would be awesome!