Big Sam is singing the same song all local lakes and rivers are singing.....Water, Water everywhere. Rayburn's levels are now up to 164.07 feet which is basically a half foot below full pool but almost three feet higher that 8-10 days ago. Wow! Two factors brought this on with the first obviously being over 10 inches of rain on Rayburn's upper watershed and the other being minimal generating at the dam. Since Rayburn's lake levels have been low there was ample room in the lake to hold off generating for a few days until the down stream/Angelina River run-off could move downstream. Currently, at press time, which is Tuesday Nov 3, the generating schedule is only 4 hours daily but this could, and more than likely, will change as lake levels continue to rise.
FISHING AND RISING WATER: Rayburn's bass population has a lot more breathing room and Rayburn just became a much bigger lake to fish. With water levels being under 160' for months, many of the drains were only large enough to hold one or two boats. However, that is no longer the case with rising water covering a greater land mass making tournament weekends a little less crowded. Several areas of grass should draw anglers attention with those being the inside edge of main grassline, on top of grassline and the outside edge of grassline.
The first area of the grassline is from the bank all the way back to the inside grass edge. Sometime the fish will be in 12 inches of water when there is a rise like we have now but more often will be on the inside edge of grass from 5 to 8 feet. A Carolina rig worked over the clean bottom will often catch bass in the new water area but if that does not work pull the C.R. to the inside edge of grass where you feel the first bit of grass and slowly work that area.
I like a light weighted rig( 1/4 ounce) for this pattern. On bright days and especially with post frontal conditions, work the outside edge of the main grassline which can be in depths of 10 to 14 feet with the new water. For this I like a Stanley grass jig or a Texas rigged 7 and 10 inch Berkley Power Worm. I like 15 or 17 pound test Stren or Berkley 100% Fluorocarbon for Tx and C.R. and 50 lb Spider braid for jigs. Rat-L-Traps are also catching bass in the new water with both 1/2 as well as 3/4 ounce working. Consider the 1/2 ounce in shallow and the 3/4 on the outside grass. I like Rayburn Red, Toledo Gold, white crawfish and blue/silver trap colors. The new water has helped fishing on Rayburn.