Trout Season 2016

With the waters starting to fill up with a flotilla of inner tubes. I will start shifting my focus to other rivers and bass fishing from the kayak. Don't get me wrong. I'll still chase trout, but shift gears to fishing the trout river during the early morning of a weekday before the tube hatch.

This season has been fun. I have made new friends and was able to catch both Rainbow and Brown trout from the Guadalupe river. The flow has been the best I've seen it in years and with the river bottom being changed by the flood it presented a whole new challenge. But that's the fun of it, learn to adapt.

Most that know me, know that I love to fish streamers. It has to do with figuring out the presentation and the speed at which a strike occurs. Once a pattern is figured out then a good day gets better.

This season I pushed myself on a new challenge. Built myself a 5wt glass rod and used it almost exclusively with the exception of days that I tossed large streamers. Talk about fun, the bend of the glass and the fight to land a fish is unreal. I could almost cast a small streamer as far with it as a good Loop rod. Now I'm going to build a 7wt to toss the larger streamers.

This was my third season to fish for trout and by far the best. While there is still a lot to learn I look forward to the challenges that are presented.
See you on the water.

Spring Break Bassin

During Spring Break most people are hitting the beaches while I'm searching the shallow water for any sign of the spawn. With the weather being very inconsistent here in Texas and figuring it was still a few weeks away before the beds are inhabited. I paddled around on the SUP to get a better view from a standing position while throwing poppers and Cajun cheerleaders to the nearby flats.

 

 

It didn't take long to figure out that the bass were not shallow so it was time to move to the deeper trees and toss a crawfish imitation fly into the brushy depths.

 



With no success in the deeper water, tactics were changed again and I started fishing the outer edges of the grass and its drop offs. This was the pattern that I was hoping to find as buck bass were caught followed by some fat females that were bulging with eggs.

With the wind picking up I paddled to a cove and took a quick lunch break and a stretch it was time to get back at it.

 

 

With the weather warming up I was looking forward to some larger females moving up to the break line. I wasn't disappointed as the first one was lifted from the water for a picture.

 

 

 

After catching a few more it was time to paddle in and get out of the wind.

 

 

 





Trout A Plenty

It was a great day to be out on the water. With the recent cold, ice, and snow here in Texas it's made getting out to fish pretty tough.
Loaded the gear last night and headed out early in the morning to the Guadalupe river to try my hand at some trout. Greeted with a brisk wind as the sun began to peak through the clouds roaring by up above. Soon there would be some trout rising and cruising around this stretch of the river and hopefully they would feed on the wooly bugger that was being slowly stripped below the surface.

It wasn't long before the stripped bugger stopped and a trout was doing his best to shake what was now piercing his jaw free. After several runs the net was slid under it and after pictures the fish was set free.

Soon after the release another one took the streamer as it slowly made its way through the river.

The action stayed consistent and after a quick lunch I was back at it with the same pattern still producing.

A much needed break was had and the fish cooperated on this day.
See you on the river.

Passing it on

With the trout not biting, I watched as my son made cast after cast to a section of river that constantly produces for me. With each strip I await the sound that you make when you catch that first fish doing something new. As the sun starts setting behind the trees, a rod tip is lifted and excitement fills the cold air as I hurry back upriver to help net the trout. A quick picture and a high five let me know that a new bond had been formed between him and the river.

This was something that I've been looking forward to the whole time he was away at school. Trying to teach him a new way to fish has not been easy but with some casting help from one of my guide friends he picked up on it after a few hours.

A few minutes later he was hooked up again and after a few jumps the trout sent the wooly bugger back to him. As the light was fading I managed a few trout to the net on a dry fly and he ended the day landing his second trout.

This was one of those days that I had thought of for many years and I cant wait to get back on the water with him soon.

The smile says it all.....
Take a kid fishing...

Lazy Drift

Slowly drifting down the river, the sun rising above ancient Cypress trees that have withstood many devastating floods. I am staring intently at the indicator while the bead and emerger dropper slowly glide along the bottom through the channel.

Having booked a full day trip on the Guadalupe river with ReelFly Fishing Adventures, today wasn't about me but more about helping a friend catch his first trout on the fly rod. Watching his indicator go under and seeing the smile on his face as the trout bent the fly rod over is what its all about. A picture was taken and then a released fish swam away to hopefully bring a smile to another face one day.

After a few more fish, lunch made its way down to the river as ReelFly had BBQ sandwiches delivered to take care of the hunger pains that had built up.
Sliding the raft over the weir, we made our way down to where a limestone shelf runs along the bank and a cut channel right along it. Drifting the rig through and seeing the indicator go under I soon had my first fish of the day.

After releasing the fish. Brent dropped us off on the ledge so we could work down it while he took the raft through a shallow section. Again, my indicator went down and with the rod lifted a large Rainbow came out of the water trying to shake free. Seeing the size of the trout, Brent dropped anchor and came running with the net. The fish had taken me to the reel and ended up bending the hook and releasing itself before we could slide it into the net.
Fixing the hook and casting in the same drift. I was met again with another large trout, this time the odds were in my favor and the fish was quickly released after a photo and high five with the guide.

Working our way down the river brought more fish during the day with most all being good sized trout.

 

 

Having fished the day before and days prior to this trip had me knowing that conditions would be tough. Brent from ReelFly worked hard all day finding fish as well as coming up with a pattern by pumping a few stomachs and matching the hatch. The result was a successful day with close to 15 trout caught and released.

 

 

 

 

If you find yourself in Sattler, TX looking for info on the trout fishing on the Guadalupe river. Stop into ReelFly and they will be more than happy to share information as well as being the best stocked fly shop at the river. Tell them I sent you.

 

 

 





Christmas Dreaming

It's that time of year again, when you start thinking about some gear that you went all year without and would come in handy. While I won't get a fraction of the gear that will be listed here, there are still a few items that would come in useful as I paddle and wade myself across this state.

While we don't get extremely cold for a long period of time, we do have the occasional three to four day front that comes in dropping the temps and making fishing miserable for a while. One thing that is lacking would be a good wading jacket. It would have to be warm but flexible to be able to take while fishing from the kayak or while wading the river.
The KAST  Velocity jacket would be my choice for this since it offers the functionality that i'm looking for.

Another item needed is a new pair of wading boots. Currently I wear a pair of hunting boots over my waders. While they have worked they are not made for wading. The boots that I am looking at are made by Korkers footwear and come with interchangeable soles to change for traction assistance.

When wading I try to pack as light as possible and should be able to save weight and take the important items with me by utilizing a Tightlines Sling Pak by Vedavoo, and it's made by hand in the USA.

 

 

A good pair of nippers comes in handy and the best of the best would be made by Abel Reels. Yes it seems like a lot for a pair of nippers, but if you take care of them I think it would be money well spent judging by the feedback that I get from people who have been using them.

 

 

One can never have too many hats and I like the hats that Howler Brothers offer.

 

 

 



My Lifeproof case has started to wear at the perfect time. I guess putting it in and taking it out of the life jacket case has taken its toll on it. Looking around at my local fly shop and seeing the Lifeproof case by DeYoung Canvasfish has me hoping Santa puts one of these in my stocking.

 

When you wear Buffs on every outing. It doesn't hurt to have a nice variety. Original Buff has been making some that are exclusive to fly fishing and have some cool designs by Bug Slinger.

 

 

 

Since I like to fish glass the list wouldn't be complete without a new hoodie from The Fiberglass Manifesto.

 

 

Hope you enjoyed looking at my list to Santa. What's on yours........