Bassmaster Magazine is ranking Lake Sam Rayburn as the third best fishing lake in its latest rankings. The rankings are based on the amount of fish and their weight.

Professional Angler Keith Combs said the recent high lake levels have caused the bass to move into the new areas with more food options. As a result this makes it hard for anglers to fish.

“When Rayburn comes up, when it comes up above full pool, like it has spent the entire spring and earlier part of the summer, as high as nine feet high, what happens is that water moves into thick stands of timber, grass, the bank line,” Combs said.

“The lake flooded all the way up into the pine trees which make the fish very hard to access,” Combs said. “They’re still there, they’re growing bigger and bigger and the population is getting better but with the high lake level like that, it just makes it a little bit more difficult to fish,” Combs said.

In the last eight years, the Lone Star State bass fishery has never ranked below 26.

Photo courtesy TPWD