Personal Bests

Steve Hollensed

Cody wanted to me to enjoy my week's Fall Break, so he booked a Lake Texoma trip with Guide Steve Hollensed of Flywater Angling Adventures.  Originally planned for Thursday, the high winds, tall white caps, and crazy weather pushed our trip back a day to Friday, which turned out to be a beautiful, clear blue sky, and almost no wind day.  Those conditions meant we had to be on top of our game, because the fish could see us and our zinging fly lines long before we saw them.  Choosing to fish with our 7# rods loaded with Generation 3 Class V Streamer Stripper lines, we cast to rocky shorelines and stripped our lines in quickly, then pausing briefly to let our flies sink, we resumed stripping quickly, and cast again.  Our retrieves imitated the abundance of bait fish present.  Our numbers of fish were not high but the quality of fish equaled personal bests on many catches.

We set out on the water prior to sunrise and watched a beautiful morning dawn.  Heading to where Osprey were resting in trees, I cast to a shoreline lined with big rocks.  Steve told us we were going to move after this cast, so I cast towards a small tree about three feet prior to the point, and on the second strip, a fish hammered the chartreuse and white Half and Half Fly.  Then, the fish leapt completely out of the water, and Steve and Cody were hollering, "Whoa, Smallmouth!  Smallmouth!" and "That's a nice Smallmouth!"  "C'mon, Miss Julia, bring her in."  As it neared the boat, the fish headed under the boat by the motor.  At one point, I thought I lost the fish because the line slacked as it swam back toward shore, but another strip eliminated the slack, and I reeled in the excess line.  The leader was at my tip guide, and the fish swam alongside the boat avoiding the net.  While the fight lasted a little over two minutes, when it kept swimming away from the net, I thought I wasn't going to land the largest Smallmouth I had ever caught.  However, Steve netted it, and Cody helped me weigh, 2 1/2 pounds, measure, 17 1/4 inches long, and take my picture with it before releasing that beautiful fish back to its home waters.

Cody began fishing after an enjoyable lunch.  Using a fly Cody learned  to tye from Jen Ripple during her September visit to the Texas IFFF Convention and the Dallas Fly Fishers meeting, Cody caught his personal best Smallmouth and Striper.  We were fishing a rocky embankment, and Cody cast his fly about two inches in front of the rocks.  The fly was barely in the water when his line went tight.  About  two feet from the boat, the fish surfaced just enough for us to see its back so we could identify it as not a Striper.  A few more strips, and Cody's rod tip doubled over.  Cody worked his rod tip under the boat, as the fish swam from one side to the other.  Once back on the shore side of the boat, Cody stripped the fish in, and Steve netted another large Smallmouth.  Cody's fish weighed 2 1/4 pounds but was 21 1/4 inches long.  I really don't know why the fish was skinny, because it was healthy and fought hard.  I enjoyed snapping his photo with the longest Smallmouth I had ever seen!

With waters as smooth as glass, we headed back to a previously fished shoreline.  Graciously, Cody let me have the front of the boat.  Continuing to cast his shad-patterned fly towards the shore while an Osprey watched, Cody's line went tight about five feet from the shore.  Cody reeled, and the fish pulled line off, and Cody reeled and the fish fought back.  We knew Cody either had a Striper or a White Bass.  When he landed the fish, I thought that it was a Hybrid, but Steve told us since these landlocked Stripers don't have a wide gene pool variance, that sometimes their stripes are broken, so looking at the their tongue confirmed the fish identity as a Striper or Hybrid.  Cody's catch had a double tongue, so Cody caught a 4 1/4 pound Striper.

All-in-all, the day's totals were two Smallmouths, two White Bass, one Striper, and because the bait fish were so incredibly thick, five Threadfin Shad.  We also saw many Blue Heron, Osprey, including seeing one catch a fish and fly off with it, and a Bald Eagle.  We worked hard for our catches, and enjoyed a most beautiful Fall day on the water!

Oktoberfisch 2016

Cody and I attended the Fredericksburg Fly Fishers 13th Annual Oktoberfisch Event, which was held at a new venue but still on the South Llano River.  We had the pleasure of RVing next door to our friends the Egglestons as well as being their Friday evening dinner guests.

Since the 2011 drought, this river has changed annually, but this is the most drastic change yet.  What was once a wide river with long deep pools with the occasional Class I and II rapids no longer exists.  Taking its place is a true, riparian corridor where a much narrower river has emerged.  Cody floated using his pontoon boat, and I floated in my kayak.  We each caught our fair share of species:  Redbreast Sunfish; a few Rio Grande Perch for each of us; Guadalupe Bass (the original State Fish of Texas); a few Largemouth Bass; a Smallmouth for Cody; and one Warmouth for me! One fish I had trouble recognizing and was a first catch for me, was a Largemouth Hybrid.  It took reading Steve Quinn's In-Fisherman August 2012 article, "Hybrid Black Bass" to figure it out. Additionally, the Rios that Cody caught had no sores, while the two I caught had those sores.  I can not remember what Kevin Hutchison told us about the Texas Cichlids and these sores, but I do remember him saying they were harmless and disappear on their own.  Going where the flows take our vessels, we had a great day on the water, launching at the South Llano River State Park and taking out at our campground, just upstream of the Loop 481 truss bridge.

For the Saturday night Event dinner, we opted not to buy raffle tickets but tried our luck on the float tube; unfortunately for us, the 8 of Clubs was the winner, and we held the 9 of Diamonds.  We enjoyed our long, beautiful, and fruitful day on the water, as well as seeing good, fly fishing friends.

Guadalupe Bass

Largemouth Bass

Smallmouth Bass

Rio Grande Perch

Redbreast Sunfish

Warmouth

Hybrid Largemouth Bass

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!

Rough Canyon & Devils River at Lake Amistad

Weather creates all kinds of emotions, and today, it was consternation. Where Tuesday was idyllic, today was torturous. Winds were up to about 17 mph, out of the ENE, and the temperature was 68°F. Overall, this year has produced the oddest weather patterns I have seen in Texas ever, and it has been more frustrating than fun, especially since the wind has been a big factor. Warm winds, cold winds, regardless, I don’t like the wind, and while I try to keep in mind The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, because conditions at and near the equator can be quite calm, which exacerbates the humidity and heat, I just wish the winds would die down.

For part of the day, Jason and Dawn were boating with us, so it was to Rough Canyon. I enjoy Rough Canyon. It was the first place I fished my first time at Amistad, and it was genuinely good to me. We boated north to check out Indian Springs, and it is still underwater by about 14 feet. The waters around it, though, look like tropical waters. My first visit to Rough Canyon was soon after our trip to the Seychelles, and the Devils River feeding in to the lake produces water clarity and color just like the tropics, regardless the depth. Deep greens, pale greens, rich blues, it’s all there, along with tall canyon walls. Overall, the lake is still up, but I think from last year to this year, it is down about six to seven feet. We ventured farther up the river (it is no longer Lake Amistad) to Oak Tree Camp, where the waters become shallow, about four feet. It’s odd; in my memory and my Texas Rivers & Rapids book 1972 & 2000 editions, the river was not accessible by boat at this point. This is a treasured camping spot for river rafters along the Devil’s River, where land access is sacrosanct and heavily guarded. Its beauty is unsurpassed, but the fishing here is almost non-existent.


Jason & Dawn at Satan Canyon's mouth

Enough site-seeing and tour-guiding, we headed back down to Four Poles to fish. I love this canyon-walled, tree and shrub-lined spot, because the varied and abundance of fish species is unsurpassed—true Basses, Sunfish, and Carp abound. The wind, however, would not allow us to fish. Even with the drift sock and trolling motor, the wind crashed us directly into the trees. At first gusting and then sustained at 25 mph, we just couldn’t fight the wind and whitecapping waves, so on to Satan Canyon we went; what a nice respite. We caught Sunfish from the shallow side and nothing along the deep, canyon wall side. Back in the farthest section of the canyon, we discovered a spring that we had never seen before today. We push-poled the skiff in to about 10 inches of water and watched the spring. The waters around this area circulated oddly, but due to the spring, they did move. Near the spring, we also found about 20 abandoned Sunfish beds. For us, it was quite fun. Having played this canyon out, regrettably, it was time to move back out in to the winds and fish our way back to Rough Canyon Marina.

I love skiff boats; for fly fishing, they are the best, but seeing as how the Mitzi is only 15 feet long and equipped with just a 25 hp Mercury engine, the pounding the winds gave us was unpleasant. Coming out of Satan Canyon and rounding Slaughter Bend was both beautiful and daunting. White caps were everywhere, and we faced a direct headwind. We sought refuge in Slaughter Bend Cove, which was a honey hole three years ago. It’s supposed to be good for Smallmouth Bass, but we have yet to catch any there. What we did catch were Largemouths and piggy Redbreasted Sunfish. This arm typically doesn’t sport Carp like Box Canyon coves, so I switched out my Bonefish Bitter for a beadchain eye Swamp Monster. (I like Kevin Hutchison, and I really like tying his flies because they work well!) I love my 4# rod—TFO Finesse, 150 grain sinking line can not be beat for fishing the 6-15 feet water column. All fished, time to move.

With calmer winds and fewer white caps, we boated down to Lowrey Springs Canyon. What a great decision on Cody Bell’s part. We headed as far back into the canyon as possible and found Sunfish Heaven, particularly, Redbreast Sunfish. The canyon walls blocked the wind, huge—1 pounders—Sunfish thrived and greedily ate our flies, and three Painted Buntings flew from side to side just above us. The Turkey Vultures circled high overhead causing us to ponder our own demise, but ignoring them, we made many runs through the cove's end, even anchoring to fish, relax, and photograph the birds. We caught 18 Sunfish and two Largemouth Bass, but as soon as we rounded the bend in to deeper waters, the fishing slowed greatly. Light hours would wane soon, so we bid goodbye to a wonderful spot and headed back onto the lake’s main body.

At approximately 29.36600 and -100.57500 GPS is an island that guards a deep-to-shallow water cove. We call this Bonsai Island Cove and enjoy fishing the deeper ends. White Bass are supposed to thrive here, but we only caught Largemouths, aggressive ones that swam hard from the deep to attack our flies. A 1½ pounder fights like a 5 pounder, here, and water clarity allowed us to see this action 10 feet below us. Each using our 7# rods, Cody caught a nice 1¾ pound Bass, and I caught a 1¼ pound one. Both fish bent our rods well, and we thought the fish would be bigger than they were actually. Being about 7 p.m., we fished and boated quickly.

We relocated farther south, hitting a western cove that was deep, clear, and held some fish. We named it Bad Karma Cove because, in spite of our excellent casting, excellent fly selection, and great boating skills, despite the winds, we saw very few fish. Many showed up on the fish finder off the underground hill off a point, but that was it. The boat ate Cody’s sacred 7# line, too, and so we will be on the lookout for its replacement.

With dusk dawning, we had to be selective as to what we did next. Not quite late enough in the day to visit our Smallmouth Bass spot, we hit a cove near it, but lost a lot of flies due to submerged trees, more like a submerged forest. Retrieving and breaking off the flies bought us the time we needed, and we headed for what we named Smallmouth Bass Shore. Fine fishing, I must say. I hung a fly up on a tree, retrieved it, positioned the boat back off shore, Cody cast, and SmallmouthOn, oh yeah. We continued fishing this area, and SmallmouthOn, again. I watched a Largemouth inhale my Bass Brunch just below the surface, and it was about 24” long and fought hard. Just below the nailknot, I had a wind knot, but was too lazy earlier in the day to tie on another leader section. I paid the price for it, too. After about a minute’s fight, I lost that fish when it dove for deeper water. Crushed and really wanting a Smallmouth, too, because that’s the way I’ve always ended our Rough Canyon trips, we fished until there was just a slight orange in the sky. The stars twinkled, the moon’s waxing crescent shone, and we left with Cody landing the only Smallmouths.

We caught lots of fish, but the winds really made the day rough, and we had a difficult time enjoying our day. We already decided if Thursday’s conditions were like today’s, we would forego the fishing.

Totals: Cody—8 Sunfish, 6 Largemouths, and 2 Smallmouths; Julia—10 Sunfish and 8 Largemouths.

Lake Amistad NRA, Rough Canyon

Day 1 turned out to be pretty good fishing for both of us, except neither of us was hot when the other was.  Cody caught 10 fish in the first 20 minutes; I had fish nibble my fly and turn off.  Lake Amistad amazes us each time we fish it.  Its waters are so clear, we watched our flies and saw how the fish reacted to them at 8 feet below the surface!  We caught small, fingerling fish, which were absolutely as beautiful as some of the bigger fish, and we caught 2+ lb. largemouth bass.  Cody ended up with 29 fish, and I had 13.  Lake Amistad yields the prettiest bluegill, even when they are the p-i-g HOG sized ones. 

The best fish story of the day occurrred at 2:30, when I decided to have lunch.  Cody had a TailWaters Creek Crawler fly tied to his 7#, asked if I minded if he fished while I ate, to which I gave him the go ahead, and Cody says I think I'll catch me a bass, and he did!  First cast, barely finished declaring his intentions, and 2lb. bass was fish on!  Now, if anyone had driven by at that time, they would have thought we had ShareLunker #500; we do love catching our fish!

In Satan Canyon, we found a cache of vultures--a little more than 100 (I really don't know what a group of vultures is called)!  Let me just say, I am glad that I was not injured, because they could have picked me clean by midnight there were so many of them, and in Satan Canyon they stayed.

Four Poles turned out to be a Bluegill haven; those fish just loved the CodyBugger fly, regardless which one of us was throwing it.  Regardless the wind's contrariness, we fished that hole for two hours, landing fish about every fourth cast.  The sun began to sink, so we headed back slowly to Rough Canyon.  We fished a new shoreline, which yielded some fish, but, what we began to see were the fish crashing the surface.  At sunset, we stopped to fish a Smallmouth shoreline.  Cody caught a largemouth on topwater, and I called last cast.  Fortunately, it was perfect, and we ended the day with a small largemouth on the fly just as the sun was sinking and before the full moon rose.

The fish are so active, there is no reason to kill ourselves getting up at the crack of dawn, so we'll hit the water, Friday, when we hit the water, and with our great selection of flies, we hope to have another high fish-count day!