DFF June Outing

We headed to the Elm Fork of the Trinity River Tailrace just below the Lake Lewisville Dam on Sunday for our monthly outing.  While the ambient temperature was a little warm, the water temperature was a nice, cool 74 degrees F.  As they so often are when the dam is generating, the Buffalo were thick as thieves, and after about 15 minutes of fishing, I landed one.  Cody came to help, and I finally have a decent picture with a Smallmouth Buffalo, though I need to adjust my Buff better, so that I don't look so much like a nun.  Though many Buffalo were hooked and several landed, the carp would not take any offerings I made.  Cody was able to hook two with a CodyBugger, and farther downstream, he hooked something that fought in slow motion with slow deliberate headshakes.  Somehow, whatever species it was came unbuttoned and left us pondering what in the world Cody hooked.  It was another great day on the water.

DFF's Sugar Ridge Ranch Outing

 The club's favorite, annual outing is to Sugar Ridge Ranch during peak Bluebonnet season and the Ennis Bluebonnet Festival.  Always well-attended, the four ponds and wildlife offers an almost-guaranteed day of catching, but this year, I learned of a new skill I have--I can mimic a turkey hen effectively enough to garner the attention of a Tom Turkey! 😁  I also petted a hen turkey, worked on my roll cast, and hooked the same bass I landed five minutes previously.

We loved another day at Sugar Ridge and appreciate the kindness and graciousness of our hostess and hosts.  

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.

Fly Fishing Ebbs and Flows

What an up-and-down week in my fly fishing world it has been, and it is only Wednesday!

Saturday--Up:  I found the ever elusive IGFA 1kg/2.2lb class tippet for which I had been searching for the past six months, and Float and Fish marked it half off the regular price (I mean, afterall, what idiot really wants this tippet?)!

Sunday--Up:  I found a Rio 1# line for the 1# rod I wish to build this year, and  Dos Amigos Fly Anglers had it marked at half off the regular price.
              Down:  I have no 1# rod to build.

Monday--Up:  We received the Mud Hole 2012 catalog, and lo and behold, our untouched photo submission shared the front cover honors!  This was a really fun and completely unexpected and unannounced surprise.

                Down:  We received the Jan/Feb 2012 IGFA magazine/newsletter,  and I immediately turned to the World Records section.  Scanning through it I became very, very disheartened that no Bluefin Trevally in 2kg/4.4lb light class tippet was awarded.  However, I was relieved when I looked at all the records published to see that they occurred between March - August 2011.  Hopefully, the September-December 2011 World Records will be published in the March/April 2012 magazine, seeing as Cody and I have no idea how IGFA informs an angler of their certified world record catch.
                 Up:  Dallas Fly Fishers held their first meeting of 2012, and we started the year off with Rick Pope as our guest speaker!  The first 10 days of the fishing season for Cody and I has begun really, really well!

Tuesday--Up:  Cody visited Tailwaters and purchased my 1# TFO Finesse blank; Thank you Rick Pope and Tailwaters; Thank you!
               Down:  I can not find a true 1# reel.  I like the looks and weight of Abel's Trout Light reel Dark Green (yes, Bart, I said Abel), but I am not certain about not having an easily accessible drag.  For me, the drag will be important, because I intend to take this 1# out to catch bass of reasonable size, so this 1# set-up will be used for more than just stocker Trout and baby Bluegill.  I carried out on-line research of the Lamson LiteSpeed reel, but it weighs .7 oz more than the Trout Light, and the Lamson has an "unbalanced" or "harsh, rugged" look about it when paired with the delicacy of this rod.  Part of this is my quirkiness or penchant that all my rods and reels have a theme to them.  (My purple reel is used only for my 9# rod, which is tied with purple threads; my gold reel is used only for my 8# rod, which is tied with gold threads, and so it goes for each of my rods and their coordinating reels, of which no two reels are the same color--2# Grey Mist, 4# Copper, 5# Pink, 6# OD Green, 6# Black, 7# Blood Red, 8# Gold, 9# Purple, & 10# Silver.)  Thus, I can not devise my thread wrapping scheme, thread colors, guide colors, nor a name for this 1#.  It will come, and I will figure it out, but it isn't coming together as quickly as I would like.

Wednesday--Down:  I can not find a Ross CLA 1 Copper spool, and I have asked many fly shops,  phoned Ross Reels, and laboriously delved through e-bay's offerings.  I fish my 4# with a Rio Gold WF4F as often as I fish it with a Sharkskin 150 grain sinking line.  I tire of cutting the backing and a little of each fly line every time I want to switch out the lines.  Ross discontinued the Copper CLA 1 spool, and it seems that no one has one.  Now, there are a plethora of CLA 1.5 copper spools, and why this is, I do not know.
                    Down:  I am going to have to "settle" for a wader that does not fit 100%, including the top-end, high dollar models.  Even this girl does not understand how the fly fishing producers create Women's waders, and I like to shop, and I like clothes and shoes!

Eventually, everything will sort itself out or it won't.  Either way, I will find what works for me, but in the meantime, I thoroughly understand the song, "Everybody's working for the weekend!"  I hope yours is wonderful!