Fly Fishing on the Brazos
Story by Steve Nussbaum | Photos contributed by J.D. Roberts
Although the Possum Kingdom Lake area is not known for its fly fishing, J.D. Roberts and his team at Finstincts make it a point to cater to this type of outdoors experience.
Roberts is the owner of Finstincts, a fly fishing and outdoor guide service located in the PK area, and his love for fly fishing and the outdoors is almost contagious – so much so that he has been able to turn his passion into a living.
Roberts, who attended West Texas A&M University on a rodeo scholarship, has been around the outdoors his whole life thanks to his father, Dan, who had a successful music career as a singer-songwriter and shared his love of the outdoors with his son.
Dan Roberts moved his family to Texas from Nashville, Tennessee, in 2000, after spending time from 1995 to 1997 touring with country music legend Garth Brooks. Dan Roberts wrote the song “Beaches of Cheyenne” that Brooks made famous, and it was the success of that song, along with his music career, that allowed him to relocate his family to Texas.
After attending West Texas A&M, J.D. Roberts moved to Montana, where he became immersed in fly fishing. He spent five years in Montana leading horse packing and fishing trips through Yellowstone National Park. The connections he made during that time were invaluable, and that prompted him to bring western-style fly fishing to Texas upon his return to the Lone Star State in 2018.
From there, he started getting requests from people to take them on fly fishing trips, so he set up his unique guide service the following year.
But it was when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020 that his business really took off. J.D. Roberts knew how special Possum Kingdom Lake was, along with this part of the Brazos River, and people were eager during that time to get out away from civilization and be outdoors.
At first his business grew by word of mouth, but things quickly expanded from there, so he added boats and guides to handle the demand. These days he has eight guides and six boats, which means he can take groups of up to a dozen on one of his trips.
Finstincts does a lot of corporate trips for folks. No experience is required, and the experience is the closest thing guests will find to a fly-fishing trip in Colorado, Wyoming or Montana.
The Finstincts team leads trips down the Brazos from Valentine’s Day through Christmas. The guides take guests fly fishing on PK from mid-May to July, when the striped bass are biting, and J.D. Roberts described this experience as being similar to a saltwater fly-fishing experience.
He noted that a trip with the Finstincts team includes all the food and equipment any fisherman might need.
Pictured above: Finstincts provides all the equipment and instructions to have a great fly fishing experience right here on the Brazos river.
“Just bring your shoes,” he said. “It’s so easy, even a cowboy can do it.”
J.D. Roberts and his wife, Sawyer, have fixed up a hundred-year-old rock house in Graford, and it’s there that they bring people who want to explore fly fishing in the area. Sawyer Roberts helps with marketing and keeping up with all the nitty-gritty details of each trip.
In late 2024, J.D. Roberts received an official sponsorship from outdoor fishing brand Orvis, and the Orvis store in Fort Worth recently played host to an event highlighting his devotion to the sport. It was the largest crowd the local Orvis store ever conducted.
Pictured above: J.D. Roberts, his wife Sawyer and their two daughters, Layne and Hadlee enjoy living the outdoor life.
For J.D. Roberts, getting to share this lifestyle with his wife and daughters, 3-year-old Layne and 1-year-old Hadlee, is the most important part. He said he wants each trip to be an experience to remember – and a chance for anglers of all experience levels to enjoy fly fishing while exploring PK and the Brazos River for themselves.
“It’s all about education and getting new people involved in the sport,” he said.
Pictured above: J.D. Roberts, owner of Finstincts is bringing the fly fishing experience to Possum Kingdom Lake and the local Brazos river area.
Lots of great guides and experiences can be found at PK, but Finstincts offers something a little different. For more information, visit the website www.finstincts.net or check out @finstincts on Instagram.
