Texas Fly Fishing & Wholistic Outdoor Life
Texas Fly Fishing & Wholistic Outdoor Life

DFW Fly Fishing

Where can I fly fish in Dallas, or Fort Worth?

LOCAL CHALLENGES BUILD A BETTER FLY FISHER

Many of you finding this page are looking for a fix. I get it. Maybe you come from a hardcore fly fishing State or Country, and now you feel stranded, lost in Dallas or Fort Worth, Texas, with no idea where to get that next fly fix. Well, rivers do run though North Texas, but are they the kind movies are made about? Hardly. If a North Central Texas river makes a movie, it’s probably because it’s a crime drama, and the river is where they found the body. I am kidding, but only kind of …

Take heart! You have found the longest continuously running, most densely detailed website about fly fishing in North all of Texas, and nearby States! It is going to take some adjustments though. The fish we chase are different, and the habitat and access are radically different than you may be accustomed to as well. Your fly fishing skillset is going to change. The flies you tie will change. The way you actually get to the fish may have to change, RADICALLY, as well. Texas is a whole new fly fishing game. It won’t look like a magazine cover, but fly fishing within 100-miles of your new DFW home, will make you a better fly fisher and expand your fly fishing skills – beyond those you already arrived in Texas with. The great thing about Texas, one great thing about Texas remains – this is a friendly State and that friendliness actually reaches into this website, Texas fly fishers and now out to you!

DFW Fly Fishing Reality

Seasons on Fly in North Central Texas have become wobbly in recent years. It was gradual at first, but more factors, like the pressure of the population explosion here, warming and other debatable factors – have made fly fishing seasons of success more difficult to pin on a calendar.

DFW FLY FISHING FACTS

  • We are warmwater focused in DFW
  • There are seasonal challenges now
  • Pressure is ON
  • Gear and Fly selection can be critical for your fly bite

And that is the tip of the iceberg. Many of these variables have been covered in the last twenty years here, and the last nineteen years on the Texas Fly Caster YouTube Channel. But, I am happy to respond to your questions, and the need I see for UPDATING some of this information. Times change, and so do the DFW fly fishing options!

DFW GREEN TROUT on FLY

Much of the last three years has been spent honing in on the abundant, but sometimes illusive “Green Trout.” If you are new to fishing history, “Green Trout” is the name old timers gave to largemouth bass (LMBs). I guess that was in order to make them more … attractive? You’re in LMB country now, friend!

I don’t know how attractive they are, and they don’t give themselves away very often, like the common carp, but after two years of patterning … I am beginning to get the idea. Green Trout are aggressive, opportunist and do have patterns of behavior that present opportunities for those who are willing to blind cast, get up at the crack of dawn, and fish in the nighttime. That is all true!

DFW FLY FISHING GUIDE

I guide seasonally on Lake Ray Roberts, Texas. That season runs from April to September on a typical weather patterned year. Unfortunately, there are no typical weather patterns to run these trips by anymore (2025). The past two years, including 2025, have included epic, historic and biblical amounts of condensed timeframe rain events. These rain events have two years of data to form a pattern. But will there be three? Predictability has gone out the window for the once reliable and hugely fun and challenging pursuit of common carp on my skiff along the expansive flats of Lake Ray Roberts.

INSTANT KARMA

Because of the unpredictable nature of our DFW carp habitat, specifically the gin clear waters of Lake Ray Roberts, booking a carp trip in advance is NOW a lost cause. Anyone who says otherwise? They want your money.

The past year has been filled with prospecting locally – for a good and accessible bass population. DFW lakes are being pounded mercilessly now, by the increasing numbers of anglers, so I concentrate on lakes and smaller water bodies that are not so thrashed and are within a reasonable distance from Dallas OR Fort Worth. While I have access to some private ponds that were bountiful in 2025, the focus in 2026 is on public access ponds, and getting people on those manageable ponds in places, like the Spring ’26 series on the LBJ Grasslands.

If you want to book a carp trip, this is your first stop – text me and sign up for my SMS = HOTSPOTS26.

When you see my notices there, you will also be alerted to my guiding opportunities! Go to the CONTACT PAGE and fill it out with your phone number now! I guarantee NO SPAM CONTENT will come to you. These notices will be short and sweet, but that is how it works now. Small windows of opportunity that can close in an instant. All because of the unpredictable nature of North Central Texas weather during carp season.

FURTHER ON UP-DOWN THE ROAD

Fly fishing in DFW is difficult to do on a high level nowadays, but if you are willing to go a little further than the rest, things get much better. And further can be in almost any direction! Texas is a huge State, and there seem to be a lot of directions we can go from DFW to somewhere off the beaten path. OKLAHOMA is a great example, and I will show and tell you about the ups and downs of that bordering State in 2026. It will take months of “research” to properly cover that State. However, I have already started covering it, so visit the Oklahoma Fly Fishing page to find out more about that fly fishing opportunity.

SALT

If you are new to Texas, and living in North Texas, this may very well be the closest you have ever been to saltwater fly fishing. When we talk salt on fly here, we are talking about my deepest, longest lasting, and most consuming fly fishing passion. I grew up on salt, and that is where I will end up – ashes spread. Texas saltwater fly fishing has grown exponentially since this website started in 2007, and it still has a full head of steam going into the future. That is because of the fish, the habitat and the phenomenal Texas Gulf Coast access to water. If you are new to Texas fly fishing, and want to cut to a real CHASE? I will send you straight to the Texas Gulf Coast now! Saltwater fly fishing is an entirely new set of variables for those who have never done it. It will also ruin your opinion of freshwater fly fishing. Fly fishing the Texas Gulf Coast is the deepest fly fishing addiction you would ever want to get caught with.

SEEING IS BELIEVING

My Texas Fly Caster YouTube Channel is the repository for many opportunities and RESULTS!