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.

Box Canyon & Cow Creek at Lake Amistad

Monday--too windy and too cold to fish.

Tuesday--What a difference a day makes. Calm winds—3mph, calm seas—smooth as glass, made for an enjoyable day. Wondering what fishing the day after a storm would produce, we waited before hitting the water. The morning was still cool, 58°F, but the sun shone without a cloud in the sky to block it. We started differently beginning our trip at Box Canyon. With maybe a dozen trailers in the lot, we knew we would not spot many people, so we headed up river to buoy 21, near to a cove we coined last year as “Anchor Cove” because of its appearance as one on a map. While on our way there, on the Mexican side we saw an airplane land on the water, collect water, and take off. It was all done in such slow motion, that at first, we thought it was a kite. We saw no smoke, so we thought there was a pilot-in-training. It always turned at the buoy, never venturing into American airspace, and was not very loud, either.

Cody forgot his hand-held GPS, which has waypoints from previous trips marked, so we navigated by map, and his new Hummingbird GPS/Fish Finder. Lowrance GPS is better, but the clarity of the images produced from the fish finder was stellar. Between buoy 21 and buoy 22 are coves that have islands at their mouths, so we decided to fish them. We saw many bass coming from the deep chasing our flies, but then, they turned off. For almost an hour, we watched this action, unable to figure out what was happening, but it was good to see fish and have good water clarity. The depth was 22 feet and we could watch our flies with ease. On the fourth cast, using my 4# sinking line, I caught a nice little Longear, but that was it for a while. Finally, on the windward side near some cane, using Duane Hada’s Creek Crawler, Cody hooked up with two nice bass--1½ lbs. and 1¼ lbs., and it was FishOn from there.

We fished the coves set just behind these islands using the trolling motor. The winds picked up, but with the bends and turns, we received cover, as well. We named one cove that was new to us, “Carp Cove,” because there must have been at least 50 Carp, and wherever the Carp were, so were the Gar, with fingerling Largemouth Bass following them. Cody hooked up with some more Largemouths with his biggest being one weighing in at 2¼lbs. Back in the shallows of this cove, there must have been 20 carp tailing; it was like looking at tailing Bonefish. Cody cast to them, but they spooked easily and ignored the CodyBugger. I was having a terrible time with my hook set and had lost four fish, with one being a White Crappie. Having fished out this cove, we moved to the next one.

Being deeper, we switched to heavier rods with sinking lines. Cody hooked up with three more bass, and I lost three more, but we were really interested in the Carp behavior. With these Carp less skittish, Cody had a theory that if we tossed behind them and pulled the fly beside them, that attracted their attention without making them jittery. Using a lighter rod, Cody tested it out and had CarpOn, until it broke off in a tree. Three more turned and gave chase to the fly after that, but we didn’t hook up with any more.

Exhausting this cove, we moved on out to the main body and began heading down river. We were looking for last year’s Anchor Cove without our GPS. We thought we found it, but its appearance was really different from last year’s. Again, I had two nice Largemouths on that threw my fly topwater. While frustrated from the all the lost fish, eight total for the day, since they were doing it topwater, I could really see some interesting feeding habits. The bottom and water clarity changed from hard limestone, crystal clear waters, to silt and cloudiness. We explored the rest of this area, but it was getting on 4 p.m., and we were wasting time here.

We headed back down river, and now the plane was dropping its water loads over land, which was really pretty cool to see. With the fires raging in the Davis Mountains four days previously, we believed this was a training mission for Mexico’s pilots, just in case the fires spread southward along the mountain range.

We motored up Cow Creek past the cliffs to one of Cody’s fishing spots, where we saw Bass tailing. I had not seen Bass tailing, but due to the water clarity, we could definitely tell it was a Bass. Cody landed a rather piggy Redbreast Sunfish, and I finally landed a small Largemouth. I had been pleased that I was having many hook-ups with the Bass Brunch Threadfin Shad pattern, because I had not fished it before, but it was finally nice to have a fish in the boat.

Seeing that light was beginning to wane, we moved back down the creek to fish some of the eastern coves near its mouth. We chose one, and then chose the left arm of the cove. I like the coves that have many bends to it, and this one also had nice walls buffering it. In testing my theory that one of our green Bonefish Bitters would mimic grass and attract the Carp found earlier in the day, I still had it tied on my 4#. We were tired; it was near the end of the day, so we stowed the heavy rods. I ended up wrapping my fly around the only protruding branch, so I trolled the boat to the cliff, and Cody told me to hold the boat, because he saw raccoons. They were big, nesting in a hole, and a little shy. Cody took their photos and off we went. The day’s mild winds were dying, the light casted long shadows, and the fish began to roll. We watched a couple of spots where Bass continued to roll and hit the water where the cove became very shallow. Cody cast to them and BassOn in two different areas. Now, I had called one of the spots, but seeing as how I wrapped my fly around the end of my line, I gave the spot up to Cody. We both believe in creating good karma, and even though we don’t want to do something, because we do, we believe good karma comes back to us. Cody said I would have good karma, because I gave him my spot.

It’s important to note, that while I was interested in the Carp’s behavior earlier in the day, I do not like Carp. To test out my Bonefish Bitter theory, earlier in the day we had returned to Carp Cove only to find that less than a dozen remained. I did wonder what caused this change and to where they had gone, but I really could care less about catching Carp. I think they are slimy and ugly and do not seek them out, “Golden Bonefish” or not. It’s also important to note, that one can not break the law or the rules, because they are set. What one can do is break one’s will about the rule or the law.

I cast to the same spot I gave to Cody just before, and Holy Cow, FishOn! I had seen that silver flash and the tugging commenced. I thought I had a 4 lb. Bass on my line, but this fish wasn’t tiring, and the bow in my 4# was a true arc. I reeled in line; he took out line; he went under the boat twice, and we still couldn’t tell what kind of fish was creating this commotion. Cody couldn’t decide whether to get the net ready or the camera ready, and all the while, I hear, “Just keep him out of the brush, good woman, keep him out of the brush.” Then, Cody jokingly says, “What if this is a Carp?” I am pretty excited, and suddenly, he quit fighting, side rolled to the surface, and it was a Carp. Cody started laughing; I really wanted to land this fish, and whiz, he took off straight for the bottom. I put a hard bend in the rod, because the tip was actually lower than the butt, and the Carp came back up to the side, where Cody netted him. I apologized to Norm, who was rolling in his grave, but the TX Fishes contest broke my will against catching Carp. It was fun, a lot of fun, but after this multispecies contest is over, I will not seek out this ugly fish. Call me a snob, but I do not like Carp.

Dusk. Carp commotion over, and top water action turned on. The Bass were crashing the surface—hard and often, so much so, that it looked like people were standing on the cliff walls chunking rocks down on the water. We stow all our rods and drag out the poppers on our 6#s. Ugh, at the end of the day, where a lot of casting has occurred, our arms, hands, and bodies were sore, but the adrenalin rush from the splashes everywhere kept us going. Cody landed another large Redbreasted Sunfish. We each had BassOn, but neither of us landed them. With just a little sunlight left, we headed back to Box Canyon vowing next year to land more fish on topwaters.

Totals:  Cody Bell, most fish with 13 for the day; Julia, big fish with 3½-pounder for the day.

Whitecaps and Wind

Lake Amistad National Recreation Area, Del Rio!

Choosing to take the scenic route, we drove through Kerrville and along the backroads following the scenic Guadalupe River.  Not too far outside of Kerrville, we passed through the incoming front.  In five miles of driving, the temperature dropped from 77°F to 66°F, but about 20 minutes later, the temperatures were back up to the mid-70s.  When we reached Del Rio, the temperature was 91°F.

While the temperatures were warm, the winds blew out of the west at 24 mph with gusts clocked at 35mph.  We visited Diablo East Marina and whitecaps were everywhere; flags were blowing parallel to the ground; one boat, outfitted with two motors, struggled to dock, and its owner found it difficult to trailer the boat.  We bought our boat permit with great reservations about hitting the water tomorrow.  With Monday's forecast scheduled to be a high of 68°F, 30% chance of rain, and winds out of the NNW at 25-30 mph with gusts of 35-38 mph, we are thinking about hitting local streams in a nearby state park.  Jason and Dawn are continuing with their plans to go out with a guide.  It will be an on-the-spot decision for us.

 

Central Texas Fly Fishing

We all have places we love to go fishing, and for me Central Texas is it—limestone bottoms, crystal clear waters, sight casting, trickles that turn into pools, a significantly varied fish population.  There are many other reasons, too, but those are my list toppers.  We break the trip to Del Rio in to two days, which allows us to layover in Central Texas, whether it’s at the Ranch or somewhere else.  Yesterday, we spent the day with a friend outside of Johnson City.  Cody and Robert kept telling me I would catch a Rainbow Trout, and I kept thinking, in Central Texas, last day of April, water temps above 70° F, yeah, right!  Well, since a picture is worth a 1,000 words, I’ll let Miller Creek in Blanco County tell its story.

Fort Parker Surprise

I headed to Fort Parker after work, today.  Mainly, I was hoping to catch a couple of Rainbows, and I am still trying out my Bass Brunch fly.  Since I haven't used it on Lake Springfield's waters, today was as good as any other day to try it out.  It was a rough day on the water, and the wind was behaving.  Everything is on its bed right now, which means very little was biting.  For the day, I ended up with a small Largemouth Bass and two Bluegill.  I thought the fish would be pounding my flies, just because it has always been that way when I've fished Springfield, and I had FishOn! the third cast.  The Bass Brunch snared all three of the fish, but I fished a Popper and a Bonefish Bitter.  The Bitter had no takers, and the popper garnered some interest, but I saw only seven fish total for the day--very, very low.

The day was beautiful, somewhat windy, and areas of the Duckweed had dissipated, but the pollen from Monday's and Tuesday's high winds coated the water.  I wanted to stay on the water until dusk, but since the pathway from the parking lot to Lake Springfield had wash-out spots all along the way, I came off the water early.  For some dumb reason, Sunday night I had a nightmare that I was fishing Springfield and was attacked by Water Moccasins, Lonesome Dove style.  In addition to that, I "Like" Texas Parks & Wildlife on facebook and have seen the two different pictures on their page where the snake is eating a fish.  Lake Springfield does have a few springs feeding it in places, but I did ask the Rangers when I checked in this afternoon about snakes, especially on the trail and in the water.  I do not want to be bitten by a snake!  The rangers said there had been no reports of snakes out there, so I felt good.  Then, I walked around the corner and a noise in the bushes attracted my attention; boy was I surprised but remained calm.  I let the Rangers know, and we all watched the Chicken Snakes doing their mating ritual.

No Rainbows, but my fly caught fish, and the Chicken Snakes were really cool--all in all, a good day!





Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Egg hunt at Old City Lake, Kiwanis Park, Ennis

Being Easter, Cody and I decided we would go on an egg hunt this afternoon at the Kiwanis Park in Ennis.  The park has a nice playground, wide-open spaces, a good area for families to gather, and oh, a lake, Old City Lake, to be specific.  The wind blew and gave no respite, so the small rods again stayed in their cases, and the 4# and 5# saw action. Equipped with our flies, fly rods, and I in my float tube, we searched for spawning beds.   The Mama Bass's spawning beds and eggs draw large schools of carnivores who just lurk and hover hoping to eat her eggs.  When we fish, since lurkers harangue the female Bass to hysteria, we ignore her and try not to catch the bass on their beds.  Wanting to give the Bass parents some reprieve from the pesky predators, we cast near their egg-laden beds and were rewarded nicely for a couple hours of fishing.  Cody cast a CodyBugger and caught six, huge Bluegills and Green Sunfish. I also tied on a CodyBugger pattern, until some fish hammered it hard and ripped the lips and palmered grizzly hackle from the fly; I wish I had landed that one!  Then, I tied on a Crayfish (tied for Belize, last year) and caught a Redear Sunfish, Bluegill, and a male Laregmouth Bass.   Measured by our catches, we enjoyed a successful egg hunt and a happy Easter!

Nolan River White Bass



Cody and I read Russell's post about Sandies in the Nolan on the Texas Fishing Forum's Fly Fishing posts.  I went to high school in Granbury and lived near the De Cordova Bend Dam.  I canoed a short stretch of the Nolan one afternoon more than 25 years ago, and it looked like the pictures in Russell's post was the place I had been.  Missing the White Bass run wherever we went this season, I sweet-talked Cody Bell in to a Sunday afternoon trip to the Nolan.

We tried to get in at Adair Spring Park, but the ambulance, fire truck, and volunteer fire fighters blocked the way, so we headed over to Nolan River Park, aka Poison Ivy Heaven.  The wind blew straight from the west with no buffer, and Cody intended to wet wade and didn't feel like a long, drawn-out ordeal with Poison Ivy.  We monitored the airwaves for news on the activity at Adair Spring.  Care Flight had been released; they decided not to boat the victim to help, and when we made it back over there, medical crews were leisurely leaving.  We waited, pulled in, geared up, and headed on.

We waded the creek bed to its confluence with the Nolan.  Cody crossed to the western side and found a nice bed of greedy Redear Sunfish.  There was a Mama Bass bedding and lots of rather large, 12 oz. size, Redears lurking, hoping to eat some eggs.  We left the Mama alone and targeted the harassing Redears, who just loved the CodyBugger fly.  They were hungry, greedy, and hammering the flies.  Even a little Dollar Sunfish got in on the action.

We passed the narrow little slew that opened in to a nice elongated pool, and choosing the low bank, we cast to and caught some aggressive Bluegill.  Eventually, we climbed and walked the high bank, and realized that the pool was somewhat shallower than we thought originally, but with our polarized glasses and sunlight, it was like looking in to a managed aquarium.  We saw a male Largemouth Bass and small, separate schools of Bluegill.  Due to its shallow depth, the Duckweed was rather a nuisance, but the Bluegills were fun.

Originally, we planned to hike all the way to the old train tress, but the trail became difficult and laden with Poison Ivy, so we decided that the pool beginning at the big boulders resting in the river bed was as far as we would go.  Cody cast his CodyBugger, and we saw the hit-and-run, silver flash of the White Bass.  I switched out my fly to a Bonefish Bitter, hoping that crayfish were on the fishes' menu.  Cody caught two nice-sized Bluegill, and I wandered over to the riverbank and began fishing the tree-lined, shady streamside.  Spending about 10 minutes over there, I hear Cody hollering and walking his pet "fish on its leash" towards me.  Sure enough, a nice White Bass was at the end of Cody's line. 

Cody switched to a bead-chain eye, grey-and-white Clouser, and had moved about 15 ft. farther downstream from where he caught the Bluegill.  Sharing another bead-chain Clouser in chartreuse and white, Cody showed me where to cast, offered the advice to strip quickly, and I had FishOn!, too.  It was a nice White Bass.  I was happy, but now I had to know if my BassBrunch--Gizzard Shad pattern would work.  I moved about 6 ft. downstream, and even though the Duckweed would cover the fly, entangle the lines, and snag in the guides, the spot was the honey hole!  My BassBrunch was the fly I had hoped it would be.  I ended up catching eight White Bass on my fly, and Cody continued to catch them on his Clouser.  Finally, after a continual chorus of FishOn!, Cody gave the five-minute call. 

Our sweet friend, fellow fly tyer, and DFF member Harvey Stahl passed away on Wednesday 6 April 2011, and Harvey's memorial service would be Monday, so before my last cast, I called the final fish of the day in memory of Harvey.  I was rewarded with a rather nice White Bass.  Cody also called his Last Cast in Harvey's memory and was honored nicely, too.  We missed the White Bass run on the Sabine and Colorado Rivers, so stumbling in to the White Bass on our first fishing trip to the Nolan--wonderful.  Designing a successful fly--superb.  The fact that we were the only two on the river--priceless!


My "Harvey" catch



Cody's "Harvey" catch













A Whole Lotta' Firsts

Today was the first outing for the Mitzi Skiff in 2011, and what a fine outing Cody and I had!  We had heard several weeks ago that Lake Athens was chalking up a nice White Bass spawn, so we decided to give it a try.  Lake Athens was a new destination for us, so we talked with the gentleman in the Marina.  Unfortunately, he told us the fishing was very slow and a few Crappie were being caught on the beds in about 5 - 6 feet of water and that was it.  We talked about going next door to the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center Outdoor Fools Day or sticking with fishing Athens.  Decision made, Cody and I studied their map and chose a cove that would buffer us from those SSW 19 mph winds and headed off.  (I really am despising these frequent, high winds!)

With the high winds, we left the smaller rods in the car.  Cody chose to take his TFO TiCrX 7# and St. Croix 4#, both rigged with sinking lines.  I chose my brand new TFO 7# Professional rigged with Orvis' 300 grain Depth Charge line on my brand new Nautilus NV Reel, and my CfR 5# rigged with Jim Teeny CfR floating line.  (I finished building my 7# back in January, but every time we planned a trip, bad weather interfered.)  I was tyring out my new fly, bream pattern, in lake waters to see if the results I experienced on the small ponds would hold true.  New lake, new rod, new reel, new line, new fly--WHEW! the pressure was definitely on!


Okay, I know everyone says front-of-the-boat is best, but when Cody and I fish, our little Mitzi Skiff has a polling platform, and it's easy to spot the fish from there, and when your feet tire, you can sit and fish.  When you're up front, stand, stand, stand is all there is and it's a hard surface.  As a result, we like back-of-the-boat fishing.  I drew the short straw and got the front. 

Like all other Texas water bodies right now, the lake level was down about 4 - 5 feet.  We hit a cove and struggled with the headwind, but we did see lots of Spotted Gar and some Largemouth Bass, who were too spooked to take anything we would offer.  We worked our way across to another cove, and Cody Bell had FishOn! his 4#.  That 1.75# bass loved his CodyBugger!  The fish was healthy and fought hard.  Some pressure had been relieved.  The cove was active but shallow, so I switched to my floating line with our Bonefish Bitter pattern.  I tried to catch a gar and had several lookers and one chaser but no fish.  Most of the bass we saw were hovering near beds, so we didn't pester them.

The wind died down to a reasonable 10 mph, and so we wind-drifted along the shore using the drift sock to help keep us aligned and fine business was had.  I really got to work my rod and Orvis Depth Charge line, and let me say I am in love.  It is a smooth line that really loads the rod well, and it does not feel like I'm throwing a 300 grain line.  A backcast, a double-haul, and line just slips through the guides.  Now, when it hits the water, it sinks every bit like a 300 grain should.  I have sinking lines and sink tip lines made by Rio and Scientific Angler, but from here on out, it is definitely Orvis Depth Charge that I will choose. 

In my rods, I like medium action.  I want to feel a tug on the back cast and have some time between forward and backwards motions.  Cody let me cast his TFO Professional last year, and I really loved the feel, so that is what prompted me to build 6, 7, and 9 weight rods from that TFO line.  The 6# debuted at Unalakleet, Alaska, and so now, the 7# needed its debut.  Knowing that I will be using the 7# for fresh and saltwater fishing, I chose a Nautilus Reel NV.  Maybe a little hefty for lake fishing, but the look is awesome.  I build my rods with a color scheme in mind and then name the rod.  The 7# is my homage to my alma mater, Texas A&M University, and is aptly named WHOOP!

Whoop I did when the 1.25# Largemouth took the Bass Brunch.  The pressure was completely off.  Everything worked and worked well and felt great.  We continued to fish this cove catching more Largemouths, but we were really surprised that we'd had no Sunfishes.  Having fished most of the cove's shorelines, we moved and fished a more developed area, and Cody caught two nice sized Bluegill--a .5# and a .75#.  For  3.5 hours, the boat netted seven Largemouth Bass and two Bluegill, mostly because of Cody and his CodyBugger.  I would say Lake Athens, et. al. was a great firsts spot and is fishing better for the fly fishers than bait chunkers.

Bass Brunch--Fluke or Fact

Since Friday's test went so well, I decided today would be Test Day 2.  Cody bought clams and veal for supper, so my test wasn't going to last long.  I also heard some advice about fishing, and I wanted to test out the theory.  Yesterday, Monday, was a rather cold day, with the nighttime temps getting in to the mid 30s.  Today warmed up to 72 degrees, so it was time to get the fishing going. 

I again chose the Streetman pond, and seeing as I had about 30-40 minutes in which to fish, I neglected the northern and eastern shores.  I fished along the western shore as I headed south, and in the southwestern corner, I had a hit.  Immediately afterwards, the fellow jumped out of the water.  Talk about rubbing salt in some wounds.  I fished the area again but with no luck.  I was fishing from about 40 feet from the bank.  I hit many spots along the southern bank, and fished pretty heavily where I caught Friday's fish.  No luck, though.  The wind blew from the northwest, so I let it push my tube easterly.  About 15 feet from where I caught Friday's Largemouth Bass, Bam!  FishOn.  I didn't set the hook really well though, and in his mid-air jump, he threw my fly off.  It could have easily been the same fish from Friday.  I continued to let the wind blow me to the southeastern corner with no other bites, but I was content that I had a fish take the fly.

I was feeling pretty good, two days, two fish, the Bass Brunch is working.  Now, I wanted to test out advice I had heard from two different people that the bigger fish are 8-12 feet, at least, from shore, not necessarily hugging the bottom in the springtime, but farther back than the spawning females.  Second 80 foot cast, about 1/3 of the line stripped in, and something grabbed my line and pulled hard.  I don't know why I always initially think that I'm hung up, but I do.  I was using my 4# rod, and I knew I had a big fish on the end of my line for that rod size.  Rob Woodruff gave some advice on landing bass, and it was to bring your hand perpendicular to the water line, which causes the fish to fight the entire rod and not just the tip section.  Why, in my excitement I chose to remember that, I do not know, but remember and apply that tidbit I did, and what a difference in the fight.  At one time the fish was pulling really hard to get away.  One time it jumped out of the water, shaking its head side-to-side, and another instance, it swam straight at me, but when it turned and I pushed my wrist down, the fish's fight subsided quickly.  I landed him in the net and began the picture taking.

I held the fish as far away from me as I could, and I couldn't frame the fish entirely.  I put the fish on my tube's bib, and I held the camera as high as I could over my head, getting 99.9% of the fish framed.  I measured, and he was a little more than 15 3/4" long and about 6" girth.  I don't have a Boga Grip, so I don't know how much it weighed, but I would guess over a 1 pound.  Fighting a fish in a float tube v. from a boat adds a new perspective easily.  I know the fight is a lot more fun in the tube.  I photographed him as best I could and let him go. 

Seeing as I had been on the water since 3:50, it was time to come off and head home for veal and a clam bake.  I love this field testing and will be trying out a different water body a little later in the week.  Hopefully, I will be like the Rangers' Kinsler and Cruz--3 days, 3 hits, 3 home runs, baby!

Field Test

Bass Brunch--Bream pattern

I worked on tying more Bass Brunch flies this week, but with work, didn't give fishing too much thought, until Friday.  On the old 75 Dallas-Houston highway, which is now State Highway 75, I pass through a town called Streetman in northern Freestone County when I go in to the office.  In Streetman are three nice one-yhree acre ponds.  They look really, really fishy.  One day in May 2010, I stopped on my way home to briefly fish the southern shore of the front pond.  I wasn't dismayed, catching one Largemouth Bass on a small red and white Clouser.  As often as I pass these ponds, I have only fished one shore of one pond, once.

In trying to decide where to test out the new fly, I had several criteria I wanted to meet.  I want the fly to have a good profile in the water.  I want the fly to ride anywhere from 1- 3 feet in the water column.  Passionately, I want the fly to catch fish.  I knew if I went to Fort Parker and fished Lake Springfield, I would catch fish, but anyone could take a thread from a loose button, wrap it around a hook, and catch fish at Lake Springfield.  Thus, I decided I couldn't test Bass Brunch at Fort Parker, so I stopped at Streetman Pond for the field test.

I fished from the western shore, but seeing as the water is low and trees circle the bank, there just isn't much fishing that can be done successfully from the bank.  I got the float tube, the 4#, and the camera, because I was determined to catch fish.  The north and west sides were a waste of time, except that I got some practice in throwing the line.  I had Bass Brunch tied on my 150 grain sinking line.  There are some fishy spots, but they are very silty instead of rocky, so spawning is a little more difficult for the bass.  Since the pond is about six to seven feet low, there is an abundance of weed growth, and while the fly pulled through it okay, I did get tired of catching grass. 

Moving to the east side (and sunnier side), I cast in to this one little mouth where it was rather shallow, safe from the wind, and flat.  I immediately thought I was hung up in weeds, until the "weeds" pulled back heading toward the tree stump.  The bass fought nicely, but I brought her in to the tube.  I was the only person on the pond, but I hooted, hollered, and laughed joyously.  My fly creation worked.  I landed the Largemouth Bass, not a big one by any means, but it was a fish, nonetheless, and it was the species I was targeting.  I hooked up with four more, but they broke off in the grass and on a stump.

We tied flies at Bass Pro Shops Saturday morning, and I tied more of the Bream pattern.  I will work on the Shad patterns, and then test those out on Lake Texoma.  What a penultimate--a fish caught on a rod I built with a fly I tied, and a pattern I created!