O.H. Ivie Reservoir Fishing Guides and Conditions, Texas

About the O.H. Ivie Reservoir

O.H. Ivie sits where the Colorado and the Concho meet in the dry country east of San Angelo, and over the past decade it has become the lake serious Texas trophy hunters will drive the width of the state to fish. A run of exceptionally heavy largemouth came out of it as the reservoir refilled after a long drought, flooding mesquite and brush that had grown up on the exposed lakebed, and the fishery has stayed strong enough to keep the ramps busy through February.

Ivie is also the clearest illustration in this directory of why reservoir level belongs on a fishing page rather than buried in a dam operator report. The lake has been down tens of feet and back. Drought exposes most of the structure and shrinks it to a fraction of its footprint; the refill drowns a decade of brush growth and produces a boom in fish that grow fast with cover and forage to spare. Where the lake sits on that cycle is the single most useful thing to know before a trip, and the stored volume on the gauge below is the honest version of it.

The other thing worth saying plainly is that the reputation has changed how Ivie is fished. Forward-facing sonar and heavy pressure on a small number of high-percentage spots mean the big fish here have seen a lot of traffic. Anglers who do well tend to fish away from the crowd, move less, and accept far fewer bites in exchange for a better one.

The crappie and catfish are genuinely good and almost entirely ignored.

Access

Concho Park: ramps, camping and the most-used access on the lake.
Kennedy Park: the other main public launch, on the Colorado arm.
Colorado River arm: brush and timber, the classic big-fish water.
Concho River arm: the second major arm, often clearer.
Main lake points near the dam: deep structure and summer fishing.
Nearest services are in Ballinger, Coleman and Paint Rock.
Note: remote country. Arrive fuelled and provisioned, and check ramp status first.

Seasons

Winter: cold, quiet, and the beginning of the heavy-fish staging.
February and March: the peak trophy window and the busiest weeks of the year.
Spring into summer: post-spawn fish move deep, and the crowds thin considerably.
Fall: cooling water and a second, much less pressured stretch of good fishing.