Classic Venue Named For Texas Hero

By Lynn Burkhead
OSG Senior Digital Editor

A lot of storylines will emerge from Denton County, Texas over the next couple of weeks as Lake Ray Roberts gets set to host the 51st Bassmaster Classic June 11-13. One of those is who the venue was named for.

Herbert Ray Roberts died in 1992 after a long and distinguished career of serving his country. Following Navy service during World War II and the Korean War, he entered politics, becoming a Texas State Senator in the late 1950s and eventually a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas’ 4th District between 1962 and 1981.

His career was bookended by two of the state’s most legendary political figures, the first being the late Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn, whom Roberts succeeded after winning a special election following Rayburn’s death. The second was longtime Texas congressman Ralph Hall, who succeeded Roberts after his time on Capitol Hill.

Ironically enough, all three men have – or will have – reservoirs in Texas named after them. Lake Ralph Hall is set to be completed near Bonham by 2025.

Was in Kennedy Motor Pool

Roberts was deeply tied to the land in north Texas, as well as the Lone Star State that he represented. Born in McKinney on March 28, 1913, Roberts got his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural business after attending Texas A&M, the University of North Texas, and the University of Texas.

Roberts survived two brushes with death during his service to his country, riding in the Presidential motor pool on the day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in November 1963, as well as surviving the sinking of the USS Hornet aircraft carrier in October 1942 as the Battle of the Pacific raged. Following his wartime service as an active member of the Navy in the 1940s and a Naval Reserve member in the 1950s, he became a farmer and eventually a politician.

Certainly comfortable in the boots and blue jeans worn by Texas farmers and ranchers, Roberts lived to see the construction of the reservoir that bears his name, which was impounded in the late 1980s. But it’s doubtful that he could have envisioned back then the Classic spectacle about to descend on the lake near the land he loved so much.

Roberts was certainly aware of the Bassmaster Classic, since the event was held in 1979 on nearby Lake Texoma, a late-September derby won by Hall of Famer Hank Parker as the Classic was contested a few miles northwest of Denison.

But while Lake Ray Roberts was in the planning and construction stages following his years in Washington, the lake bearing the late congressman’s name and the Classic itself were just a shadow of what they are today.

While the post-pandemic world remains a mystery, the expectation is that big crowds will gather at the Ray Roberts Lake State Park Isle du Bois Unit for the daily launches, throngs of Classic Expo attendees will flock into the Will Rogers Memorial Center in host city Fort Worth and thousands will fill seats in the new Dickies Arena in downtown Cowtown for the weigh-ins.

Not Quite as Expected

While the 25,600-acre Lake Ray Roberts is consistently ranked as one of the better fisheries in Texas each year, it’s a good fishery that has never quite lived up to the hype of its early days, when some hailed it as the next Lake Fork. The once-vast hydrilla patches are a distant memory, primarily because of long-ago work on the dam and a severe lowering of the lake level, although droughts and floods in recent events have contributed, too.

While the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says there is still some vegetation on the lake – a few limited spots of hydrilla, along with chara, milfoil, pondweed, water willows and cattails – the bottom line is that the Classic will likely be won due to timber and topography, not grass and other aquatic vegetation.

With the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers leaving more than 2,000 acres of trees in the upper portions of the lake’s two major arms (the northwestern arm fed by the Elm Fork of the Trinity River and the northeastern arm fed by Isle du Bois Creek), there is still a good amount of timber sticking above the lake’s surface. But much of it has fallen in over the lake’s 40-plus years, leaving a jungle below, not above.

There’s also ample offshore opportunity in a lake that features a surprising amount of humps, ledges, creek channels, ditches, old building foundations and pond dams.

Some Still Spawning?

So, how will the 54 Classic qualifiers fish "Ray Bob" next week?

Had the weather been more normal this spring, the guess here is that it would be a post-spawn event with the offshore bite being a big pathway to victory. But after the historic cold and snow of February – parts of the lake were completely frozen over after the rare sub-zero cold around Valentine’s Day – and a cool, wet spring, the lake seems behind schedule.

In a normal year, it’s doubtful that any of the lake’s truly huge bass – the 2015 lake record of 15.18 pounds as well as five of Ray Roberts’ six ShareLunker bass have been caught in March – would come into play during an early summer event. But the past few months have been anything but normal, with the Classic even having to vacate its previous mid-March spot on the calendar due to ongoing coronavirus concerns.

A January gamble to push the 2021 Classic from March until June has paid off for Classic officials and hosts, allowing for a full fan experience. And ironically enough, the water temperatures and lake level aren’t that different from what a spring derby would have brought. Weeks of rain and cool, overcast weather have the water temperature in the mid to upper 60s and the lake level 1.56 feet above normal.

That’s highly unusual with summertime officially beginning just after the Classic. And with more rain and cooler-than-normal weather in the forecast, it’s possible that some anglers might still find a few fish spawning on the lake in mid-June.

What will this mean come Classic time? Assuming the weather stabilizes and more flooding rains don’t fall in the watershed, Classic anglers should expect to catch numerous 2- to 5-pound fish as well as several in the 7- to 10-pound range. A total three-day weight of 55 to 60 pounds could be necessary to win. And maybe, if a giant double-digit bass is caught, the winning weight could be upward of 65 pounds.

A Few to Watch

Who will be favored according to the venue and the conditions? It’s easy to pick Matt Herren, since he captured the 2016 Toyota Texas Bass Classic at Ray Roberts during a high-water springtime event that saw the lake levels falling each day. Able to grind his way to a $100,000 payday – this year's Classic winner will make three times that amount – Herren keyed on the falling water and ended up with a three-day total of 51-12.

It’s also easy to pick Fort Worth’s Chris Zaldain, who was in contention all the way to the end in the 2016 event before finishing 9th. Had he been able to land another bass in the caliber of the 7-12 largemouth he used to snare the event’s big-bass honor and new pick-up truck, Zaldain might have won the TTBC derby.

Nor is it a longshot to pick reigning B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year Clark Wendlandt. After a successful career on the FLW Tour and a red-hot 2020 on the Elite Series, the Leander resident isn’t having the best of years in 2021. But he’s got ample experience, filming a weekly TV show as he hunts and fishes his way across Texas, including stops on Lake Ray Roberts.

In the end, besides the fortunate winner who’s angling career will change, the biggest winners will be North Texas specifically, and bass fishing fans in general, as an event that wasn’t certain even a few months ago takes place with thousands of fans looking on.

And even though the late Ray Roberts was probably more comfortable riding a tractor in a pair of jeans, cowboy boots, and a Stetson than being inside a crowded arena as TV cameras roll, laser lights flash and confetti falls, the bet here is that somewhere, the late Texas congressman is smiling big.