Fly Fishing Skinny Freshwater

Jerry Hamon guided the small gathering of Texas Women's Fly Fishers on the Brazos River, Saturday. Bad weather spooked many away, but the day dawned clear and proved to be a fantastic day of fly fishing. Having not fished in three months, I wasn't sure how I was going to fish.  Cody headed downstream and I headed upstream, but not for long.  I walked my kayak downstream and began fishing shorelines, shelf dropoffs, and channels.  Cody fished large boulders and a creek confluence with the river.  For the day's total, we ended up catching Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Hybrid Sriped Bass, Largemouth Bass, Redbreast Sunfish, Spotted Bass, and some hybridization of a Redbreast due to the red eyes.  We also hooked up with Gar and Carp but could not keep them on our lines.  Cody flew his drone down the river system where we fished, and seeing the bird's eye view of the river's depth and open exposure amazed me with the number of fish we caught, especially in a half-day's time frame.

Hybrid Striped Bass

Spotted Bass

Channel Catfish

Hybrid Redbreast Sunfish

Hybrid Redbreast Sunfish

Bluegill

Redbreast Sunfish

Largemouth Bass

Spotted Bass

Spotted Bass

Bud Priddy Any Fly Contest

Cody and I love fly fishing the rivers and streams of the Hill Country.  Now that I am retired from work (but not from grad school), I have tried to attend many of the events work prevented me from attending.  As Bud Priddy is a Texas Legend, I really wanted to attend this event co-hosted by the Alamo Fly Fishers, the Texas Women Fly Fishers, and Project Healing Waters.  Cody had it on his calendar, so I worked on my class papers, lessons, and projects to be able to attend.

We drove down state highway 55, which meant we drove right through the heart of the Nueces Canyon.  I had never heard of nor been in the Nueces Canyon, and so this was a real treat, especially since everything was so green from the last two years' worth of rains.  We were delighted at our first glimpses of the Nueces River, as it was flowing and crystal clear.  We decided to bring our float tubes since the river is long and meandering and kayak access is not always readily available.
We stayed at Big Oak RV park just inside Uvalde County, and what an accommodating and upscale place this campground is. While there is river access, it's a bit of a hike to the river.  State Highway 55 follows this section of the Nueces, so we did some scouting of the upper sections on Friday night, after checking in with TWFF and AFF, and eating the best hot dog I ever ate in Barksdale.
Even though fishing began at dawn Saturday morning, I had a little gut rot to overcome, so we did our usual, awake when awake.  It took us awhile to set up and outfit our tubes, but once we got that settled, we headed north.

Officer Max gets a fly fishing lesson from Cody

Cody was casting to some Sunfish, when a peace officer pulled up.  We thought we were going to be asked for our licenses, but no.  Officer Max wanted to know about fly fishing, so Cody gave him a really nice lesson; I continued to rig up.  We found the least treacherous way to the water, and I put in at the end of a nice set of class-II rapids--overhanging rocks, trees and grasses, and nice eddies meant there were some hungry, unsuspecting fish to be caught.  However, the first order of business was to target the fish in the middle of the river, about 12 feet down.  Cody stood up top and guided my cast to where the Sunfish were hanging around an unoccupied bass bed.  Good direction, decent cast, and FishOn!  At first I thought I had a Bass, but instead, it was a nice Redbreast Sunfish with late spawning colors. She measured 9 inches on the board!  Start the fish count on the scorecard with the first catch of the day!

Winner, winner!  9 inch Redbreast

I kicked back up stream, hard work, and fished the shorelines and caught three more decent size Sunfish--Greenies and Bluegills in the 7 inch range.  Then, Cody and I floated our way down to the low water crossing.  We pulled Bluegills, Largemouth, and Guadalupe Bass from the shoreline.  I politely waited for the snakes, mostly non-poisonous, to swim by before casting.

Float-tube fishing the Nueces River

Downstream of the Country Road 416 Lowater Crossing

After taking out, we decided to drive to other low-water crossings downstream, to see what the water quality and flow was like.  We had only a little luck at one spot around Co. Road 416, so we moved farther down.  Second jackpot of the day.  Cody waded upstream, and I waded downstream.  My day almost ended quite disastrously, as I was about a foot-and-a-half from stepping on a diamondback water snake, but thanks to my new, polarized sunglasses, I spotted that gullet-filled fellow, and gave it a wide berth.

The bulge underneath the moss by the head indicated it had eaten not too long before I snapped this photo

I fished the tail-end of a nice, wide riffle and caught two more Sunfish, and then headed to the other side, which was much deeper and quicker, and I pulled out three Guads.  They sure shone golden in that crystal clear water.

One of many Guadalupe Bass of the day

Earlier, some folks had been swimming in a deep water, swift current pool created by the culverts under the low-water crossing bridge right at the shoreline.  I couldn't really see any fish, but just couldn't pass up the opportunity to give it a try.  Cody had returned from his sojourn upstream and was watching from above on the bridge.  I had fished the first three culverts, when I decided to give the swirling eddy of the middle culvert a try.  My fly got down fast, and I thought I was stuck on debris.  Cody hollered and whooped and threatened me about losing the fish.  He came down and helped me land and measure my personal best on a Guadalupe Bass, 12 1/2 inches.

12 1/2 inch Guadalupe Bass

That was it; we were finished for the day, as it was time to turn in our scorecards.  After picking up some trash and speaking with a friendly Texas Game Warden for a bit, we headed back to camp.  Realizing that my 14 fish for the day, seven Sunfish, seven Bass, were not any where near competition standards, especially since last year's Total Fish category was near 200 caught fish, I just turned it in for show.

Winning Scorecard

The event hosted silent auctions, an excellent BBQ dinner, raffles, and awards, and Cody and I made a good show in several categories.  For the Tournament awards there were three categories:  Largest Bass, Largest Sunfish; Most Fish Caught.  1st, 2nd, 3rd places and an Honorable Mention were awarded in each category.  My 12 1/2 inch bass wasn't too far behind the leaders of 15 inches, 14 1/2 inches, 12 7/8 inches, and 12 3/4 inches, so I was pleased about that.  I didn't come close to the most fish caught, but Lo and Behold, my 9 inch Bluegill put me in a four-way tie for first!  Before the awards had been announced, we voted on how the tie-breaker was to be decided, which was by number of fish caught.  I ended up with the third place prize of a trophy and a Simms Waypoints Chest Pack.

Four-way tie for 1st Place

However, the steal of the night was our silent auction winner.  Lefty Ray Chapa had donated a first edition Bud Priddy Fly Fishing the Texas Hill Country book to the TWFF silent auction.  I told Cody I really wanted that book.  Cody agreed and let me price it to where there was no competition.  We later learned during the recognition portion of the night, that Bud's wife, Pat Priddy and all four of the Priddy children were in attendance.  Pat spoke briefly and thanked us for continuing this event in Bud's memory.  After our group photo, I asked Pat if she would autograph our newly won, pristine condition copy, which she graciously did.  Since there was enough daylight at the end of the night's events, Cody and I made the short drive over to the Camp Wood Cemetery and paid our respects to Bud.  This was a great event, funded by grant money no less, and one we hope to continue attending.  After all, I have a title to defend!

Pat's inscription reads, "Many thanks for letting me represent my husband--he would be so grateful for the honor of the tributes to him--..Pat Priddy"

Fishing with Jerry

Jerry Hamon, President of the Mariner Sails Kayak Fishing Club and member of the Native Watercraft Pro Staff, guided a small get-together of the Texas Women Fly Fishers on a morning kayak trip.  Cody and I chose to spend the night a recently opened campground to make a little adventure of the trip.  We met up, loaded up, and headed on down the river.  We casted deer hair and topwater flies to eager Largemouth Bass swimming in shade-covered, clear water.  We switched to chartreuse and white Clousers and rust-colored Red Asses to land beautiful Stripers, Crappie, Sunfish, and a Gasper Goo.  We watched a young, juvenile Bald Eagle watching us.  All-in-all, it was a great morning, most especially, because we finally got to fish with our friend, Jerry.

Jerry Hamon

Les Jackson

Gator Bait & Lizard Lick

Lake Springfield 2014

TPWD stocks Rainbow Trout throughout the state during the winter months.  Fortunately, one of my favorite places receives an annual stocking the last weekend in January, and Cody and I are usually at the park one week day afternoon immediately after their Trout Derby.  Thanks to Old Man Winter and his freezing cold temperatures or high winds, Cody and I did not make it to Lake Springfield until today.  What a blast we had, after about 30 minutes on the water.

We each started our catches-of-the-day with Redbreast Sunfish.  I snapped a photo of mine; Cody called "Fish on!" and I paddled over to him to snap a photo of his dinner-plate size Redbreast.  I took out the camera, knocked my hand while pulling the camera out, and promptly dropped it.  While waterproof, it's not sink-proof.  Cody doesn't yell, scream, or throw temper fits, but he does have a look of disbelief that can not be mistaken for anything but being upset.  

Cody unhooked both our fish, and we began comtemplating what to do, when I spied the camera. Lake Springfield was about 9 feet deep where we were, and since the water temps were cold, the water was quite clear.  Cody spied the camera, too.  I knew I could swim down and get it, but that meant stripping off the warm water layers, and, well, getting really cold.  I would have done it, especially since it was Cody's camera, but he said we'll think of other options first.  

About then, Everett, the park's camp host whom I had met about a month ago when I took the kayak on its maiden voyage, called from the shore asking if anyone had lost their phone.  I had put my phone in a waterproof pouch and put the pouch in my front pocket, which fell out when I loaded everything up at the parking lot.  Cody paddled over to get my phone and talked with Everett about getting a long pole, when I had an idea.  Everett went to go get some materials to mimic a swimming pool cleaning net; meanwhile, I reeled in my line, removed and stowed my reel, removed the tip section, wrapped my fishing net with the very long, stretchy tether rope around my rod, slowly submerged it, and just like cleaning debris from a pool bottom, slowly scooped that camera into the net.  Boy, was I ever glad to have had my TFO 5# with me!   I hollered to Cody that I had the camera, re-rigged, and we fished.

Cody recorded a three species day, Redbreast Sunfish, Largemouth Bass, and Rainbow Trout, while I had a two species day, no trout, but I was very proud of my first Largemouth Bass of 2014. We paddled all over the 5-acre lake, and I believe I spotted beds.  No fish were on the beds, but I was catching Redbreasts within 15 - 20 feet from them, some with the beginnings of spawning colors.  Cody thought due to the beds' size, they might be Largemouth beds.  Either way, especially with the recent cold temperatures, I was pleasantly surprised to see them.

Year-after-year, we enjoy Fort Parker for its beautiful scenery, many recreational activities, and its wonderful and kind park staff, and today was another splendid day well spent in one of Texas' crown jewels!

Lake Athens

A fellow Dallas Fly Fisher gave a pretty positive report on Lake Athens last week.  Now, we thought his numbers of 140+ fish with many Sunfish weighing over a pound exaggerated, but Cody and I thought we would give Lake Athens a visit.  Originally, we were going to fish on Tuesday, but the winds were 15-20 mph, so we put off our trip to a calmer day, today.  We have fished Lake Athens once before and enjoyed the day there, and today was just as fun!

Bluegill Fun on a 1#

We got on the water at 8:30 a.m. and left at 13:30.  22 fish were brought on the boat, so our numbers were not nearly as high as our fellow DFFer, and while we landed 18 nice Sunfish, none were over 1/2 pound. The two Largemouth Bass weighed in under 1½ pounds.  The GirlieBugger caught 21 of the 22 fish; Kevin Hutchison's Swamp Monster caught the other one.  We fished fly patterns in chartreuse, red, green, and a blue/black combination with no luck.  Black was definitely the color of the day!  Early in the morning, we fished floating lines with a 9-10 foot leader/tippet set-up, but once the ambient temperature reached above 85°F, hook-ups dropped off.  Cody switched to a sink tip line, which proved to be the most successful, because he caught 12 of the fish and had two catches to my one.  We fished northwest of the bridge near the marina along the edges of the hydrilla beds with great success in the morning.  Then, we moved to the shoreline across from the marina boat ramps starting at the little creek and fished all the way to the pump station zone.  While we found some nice Sunfish around the beds, shadowed areas from home owners' boat docks held the larger Sunfish.

After we finished fishing, we boated around to see the lake.  Hydrilla beds have choked most of the coves rendering some inaccessible, and while the lake levels are down, there are still many fishing spots all around.  Fish, not carp, either, consistently crashed the water eating the large dragonflies.  There were very few boats on the water, so crowds were not a problem, and we enjoyed the added bonus of seeing two different flocks of Canada Geese.  Lake Athens is a nice, friendly lake with great fishing spots, especially for Sunfish on small 1 and 2 # rods!

Cody's Largemouth Bass

Bluegill Fun

One of Cody's Two, Large Redear Sunfish

Redbreast Sunfish

Canada Geese

Amistad 2013, Rough Canyon

Well, the House Boats have moved away from Rough Canyon, and a trip up the Devil's River arm made

it obvious as to why they moved to Diablo East.  We visited the NPS office on Sunday and had a really enjoyable talk with the rangers. Based upon information they told us, we went on scavenger hunts each day prior to fishing.  We found the old CP&L Steam Plant (usually completely submerged) and climbed all over it taking photos and even discovering the high point benchmark.  As in the years following the 1998 severe drought, the lake will once again fill up, and taking the pictures and exploring the places that are exposed currently will make us better fishermen, I think.

Okay, excuse the corny irony, but...on the way to Rough Canyon, we had it rough when the flats boat trailer had a flat.  Fortunately, we got it fixed quickly, but not before we had three different offers of assistance--God Bless Texans!

We put in and began heading north, to see:  1) how far north we could boat and 2) where exactly, we were going to fish.  Let me just say, my jaw hung slack, because the low water levels left me dumbfounded and amazed.  On the bright side, the goats and sheep will probably be some of the best livestock in years due to the new, lush green grass on which they gorged themselves.

Rough Canyon kicked my tail.  I caught no fish, had only two hits, and one hook-up.  Cody Bell fished a five species day with two more hook-ups--a Striper, a Hybrid Striper, a Redbreast Sunfish, a Largemouth Bass, and a Blue Catfish, a first for CB3.  Unfortunately, we could not find our Smallmouth Bass. We found the area, but no Smallies--a first for us.  Winds were high and made trolling difficult, so after fishing a few coves on the west, we fished the river walls on the east with much calmer waters.

 
 

So, how far north did we make it?  In a 15 ft. flats boat, we could safely travel no farther than 29.36600 North and 100.57500 West, which put us in 2 ft of water.  Bonsai Island and Cove (our names for the geography) were completely dry, and Cody hiked back in there to snap photos and see what it is we're fishing.  I tried fishing, but the buzzards began circling on my third cast.  It's pretty bad when they're circling looking to take the fish from anglers.  Amistad really isn't a lake here, it truly is the Devil's River.  Lowrey Springs Canyon--dry.  Slaughter Bend Cove--dry.  Indian Springs--could hike to it on dry land and then climb 7 ft. above the water column.  Satan Canyon--dry.  SAD!