“A once waterless area, Texas has, within a half century, become one of the most popular fishing states in the nation…Man has succeeded where nature failed.”
– McClane’s Standard Fishing Encyclopedia, 1965.
Most of our drinking water here in San Angelo comes from the O.H. Ivie reservoir, about an hour’s drive east of town.
When the developers of Texas began the massive impoundment projects last century, they saw the opportunity to solve the water problem and build a sportsman’s paradise in one fell swoop.
O.H. Ivie Reservoir has fulfilled both roles perfectly. Supplying drinking and irrigation water to the Upper Colorado, with a side gig of being Number 2 bass fishing spot in the nation, as ranked by Bassmaster magazine in 2024.
Local guide Wendell Ramsey makes his way around the bend at O.H. Ivie Reservoir.
What Makes Lake O.H. Ivie a Bass Paradise
Wendell Ramsey, local tournament angler and guide, has the experience and the know-how,
but wants to emphasize the larger reasons what makes Ivie such a good bass lake:
Out in one of the far-flung corners of this massive basin on the Colorado, he explains, “This spot we’re in was dry ten years ago. In all that time it allowed for this to grow up, and now this is all bass habitat.”
At capacity the lake covers around 20,000 surface acres. Right now, its sitting at just a little over 52%, after getting 7 feet last year, and another 8-9 feet since July of this year. Because the lake sat dry for so many years, he explains, thick brush and vegetation was able to completely cover the area.
The brush sticks up four to five feet back in the river channels.
The oxygen content and the shade are two main priorities for the trophy fish. Especially in the heat of the summer, the bite is always early, and the fish are conserving their energy for the big feed, which is usually when temps reach their lows for the day, during and just after sunrise.
All around the boat though, even in the heat of the day, the fish stay active in the growths of flooded junipers and cedars. Snapping at dragonflies and bugs that had the misfortune to fall into the shady spots.
So we’ve got the habitat, but now we need the population. That’s where Texas Parks and Wildlife comes in with the Sharelunker program:
“The Parks and Wildlife here is the best in the country at growing fish bigger than 13 pounds,” he explains.
Though the largemouth bass is native to Texas’ freshwater rivers, the biggest and the baddest are descended from a Florida variety. These bass are sent to lakes like Ivie where they grow up, feed on the naturally large baitfish populations, and when they’re caught, any over 13 pounds are recorded. At Concho Marina Park and Elm Creek there are stations to hold the fish in aerated water while they’re being registered.
This fish was caught around sunrise a few mornings prior.
From January to March each year, they are taken by the TPWD fishery in San Angelo to the lab in Athens,
Texas. From there, they spawn, make thousands of new bass, are fed, and released back where they came from. Around 60 percent of the “fingerlings” produced by this program are then stocked back into Ivie as well.
These are just a few of the reasons why things at Ivie are starting to look incredibly promising. Ramsey says he expects the upcoming fall and spring seasons to be phenomenal.
“Fish are healthy and fat again, there’s bait everywhere, the water is clear.
“This coming year, especially this fall, is probably going to be the best season in the last 3-4 years.” he says, after last year’s fishing was somewhat weakened by muddy water, the water is now clear down to several feet in the river channels.
Bouncing along the confluence of the Concho and Colorado rivers.
Ramsey’s Read
Trolling along the acres of flooded brush, he zaps quick casts into the thickest cover he can find:
“What I’m looking for now are all these little shady spots. They’ll follow it out of the shade, but this time of day they might not be hungry.
“They’re hiding in these bushes for shade, and they’re looking up right now…” he says, running a topwater frog fast out of the stick-ups.
Ramsey runs this topwater frog fast to create a buzzing effect.
For these he runs thick 50-lb test braid, and for sinking baits he uses 25-lb test fluorocarbon. His rod of choice appears to be a little over 7 foot, medium-heavy action, made by Blue Collar Rods.
One of the big trends in bass lures right now are big swimbaits. These are usually the size of decent perch and baitfish, but sometimes comically oversized.
Ramsey says “These are good on this lake, just not this time of year. In the cooler months though, they are very productive.”
Ramsey explains his techniques while reeling in from the brush.
“Come prepared because these big ol’ bass are mean, they fight hard, and they’ll hurt your feelings.
“One common beginner mistake, I think, is people losing patience too fast. Fishing is a patience game. Now, I’m fishing this frog pretty fast right now, but if you’re fishing a worm or a spinnerbait you’ve got to slow it down.
“People that don’t fish very often lose interest, they get impatient. They might get stubborn and not want to change their pattern.”
Topwater frog made by Hag’s Baits.
To avoid this, he follows a rule:
“If I’m in an area where I know I have fish located, I have a 20 minute rule: if I don’t get bit on in 20 minutes, I’ll change the lure or I’ll change color.
“Off the bank, stick with live bait. On the boat, artificials can be far more effective, since you’re able to move from point to point.”
One important note to keep in mind though, he says:
“Don’t leave fish, to go find fish.”
Ramsey shows off another one of his favorite baits, a craw made by Strike King.
It Pays to Fish with Someone Who Knows
I arrive at the lake a little ahead of my interview with a local pro, who was described by the nice folks at the Concho Park Marina store as the guy to talk to about fishing on Ivie, though he would probably deny it: Wendell Ramsey.
Ramsey started fishing tourneys at 12. And like most anglers out here, he was in a kayak:
“I didn’t get my first bass boat till I was in my forties” he said, while working the pedals, slowly trolling around the outside of a tall growth of trees and brush. “I won a lot of money out of a kayak.”
These early tournaments, sponsored by Gibsons in San Angelo, were held in the Concho River, in the stretch that now runs under Loop 306 by Ethicon. Though many of these parts of the river are a little harder to get to now, Ramsey says the fishing was so good in those days that they took some of the bigger ones to other spots in the river to help the fishing in town. At 17, he took home his first major bag at Lake Brownwood.
Back in the day he took an interest to guiding, and has participated in many hunts, though fishing has always been the main interest.
While he pursued his career at Shannon for 24 years, he won tournaments at Lakes Amistad and LBJ. Once he retired, he decided to go back to his first love of fishing. Now he runs his guide service on Ivie.
Getting to tag along with Ramsey for a short two-hour tour, it’s easy to see why he’s made a success of it. If you go for a trip, you’ll leave with some knowledge you’ll be thinking about every time you go fishing after that. And get to see the tucked away spots that make Ivie the premier fishing destination in Texas.
Full day trips are available for $650, half-day trips $500. Call 325-234-6053.
