Fly Fish Texas 2012

Ahh, the second Saturday in March is always great fun, because it is Fly Fish Texas at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens. THE definitive place where people can become good anglers. The Dallas Fly Fishers have several roles they play in Fly Fish Texas, and one of them is demonstrating catching fish in one of the aquariums. We used to demonstrate in the Catfish Aquarium, but now we demonstrate in the Stream Exhibit. In the February 2008 Texas Park and Wildlife Magazine, page 49, a Larry Hodge 2007 Fly Fish Texas photograph of Cody fishing the Stream Exhibit appeared. Demonstrating catching fish has always been one of our favorite things to do. This year we split the duties with Diane Blair. After having a delicious BBQ sandwich, we headed to the pavilion and tied flies. I worked on a Ball Joint Popper for Lake Fork for Ted Warren's Bass On The Fly Fishing Tournament 12 May 2012. Cody tied some very pretty Guadalupe Special flies that he donated to Fly-A-Thon 2012. They do catch some pretty trout, especially at Broken Bow, OK.

Unfortunately, many volunteers and public let the weatherman dictate their fun for Saturday. The temps were in the low to mid 50s, and the rain did not show up until 2 p.m., but there were lots of activities indoors, as well. We finished at 4:00 p.m., and the TFFC held a raffle for the volunteers. Orvis gave away a reel; Rick Pope gave away a rod of the winner's choice, and Ted Warren gave away a dozen of Brother's Flies. Unfortunately, neither Cody nor I won, but we still had a great time.

I was bummed by our photography equipment. I had not too long ago charged my camera. Yes, I used it to video some fishing shots, but I really didn't think it had a low battery. Before we left, I debated as to whether or not to take the charger. I decided not to, which was a mistake. (My car has an electrical outlet in it, so I could have charged the battery on the drive over--arrgh!) Cody has two GoPro cameras, and he used his Hero2. We got some video with the GoPro, but for the second time, there was a recording glitch and every photo and video shot afterward is not readable!!! Cody caught a new species--a koi; I caught the Black Crappie, which has grown from last year; Cody caught one of the three 18-20" Rainbows; I caught a tiny Bluegill, one of my favorite of all fishes to catch--all of which are on the GoPro that won't play the files! Larry Hodge did happen to get us catching a Rainbow, and I did get a little video of Cody before the battery was exhausted, but the really fun pictures and videos are trapped in SD Never, Never Land. Maybe Cody can rescue them. That just gives us a new reason to ensure we are at Fly Fish Texas 2013. For more of Larry Hodge's photography, visit the Freshwater Fisheries Center facebook page, and make plans for the second Saturday in March 2013, regardless the weather.