O.H. Ivie Lake is the kind of place that fly fishers from the Texas Hill Country and the Permian Basin know about and exactly nobody else does, and that’s by design. This 19,000-acre West Texas reservoir on the Concho River was draining badly by the early 2000s, recovered through a combination of rainfall and management, and came back with a largemouth bass fishery that stunned the bass fishing world when fish pushing 14 and 15 pounds started showing up in tournament weigh-ins. O.H. Ivie fly fishing is a niche pursuit in a remote location, and that combination is almost always worth investigating.
O.H. Ivie largemouth bass fishing peaked in the early 2010s when the lake’s recovery produced extraordinary numbers of large fish, but the fishery remains well above average for Texas reservoirs. The lake sits in semiarid West Texas ranch country, which means limited public access pressure, clear water by Texas reservoir standards, and largemouth bass that have not been as heavily educated by fishing pressure as their counterparts in more accessible east Texas lakes.
The Concho River arm and the Middle Concho arm provide the best fly fishing structure on O.H. Ivie, with submerged brush, rocky points, and the river channel offering the depth transitions that largemouth use in warm weather. Spring spawn fishing in February and March — West Texas warms early — produces the most accessible bass on the fly, with fish moving into protected coves and flats in water shallow enough to sight fish in the right conditions.
White bass and hybrid striper runs in spring add a bonus opportunity for fly fishers timing their trip around the spawn. O.H. Ivie is remote by Texas standards, requires advance access planning, and rewards the angler who does that work before showing up.
Target Species: Largemouth Bass, White Bass, Hybrid Striped Bass, Catfish, Carp Best Seasons: February–April (spawn) | October–November (fall bass) Fly Patterns: Large poppers, Deceivers, Clousers, crayfish streamers Notable Areas: Concho River arm, Middle Concho arm, Paint Creek arm, rocky south shoreline
Fly Fishing for Bass on O.H. Ivie Lake Texas: An Adventure Fly Fishing for Bass on O.H. Ivie Lake Texas sounds a little crazy at first glance. You hear about twenty […]