Fishing last Saturday

About 9 of us kayakers went to Texoma last Saturday morning to try and catch a few fish. It was very, very cold but we did it anyway. We launched at Eisenhower State Park and after getting past the boat houses we scattered like a bunch of rats. I fished the boathouse coves the entire trip. I was successful at catching a bass before calling it a day.



The other 8 folks caught 2 fish. I was pretty happy!!!

Beau & Grandpa Fishing

Today I had the privilege of taking my grandson fishing for the first time.
We headed out with the intention of going to Cabelas to get bait, go to Mc Donalds for lunch, and then to the pond to fish. We got to Cabelas, looked around, found our bait, and left. Once in the truck Beau says "I want to go fishing and then go eat". Okay, it's his day so we'll go with that. We get to the pond, bait his hook, I cast it out and within 3 or 4 minutes its "fish on!!!".

Then we moved around the pond and caught several more.

It was a really fun day. At one point he said "you are a really good grandpa" to me. Yes, I choked back a tear!!!

Latest stuff...

Today I fished Loy Lake with Greg. It was a windy nightmare and my first skunking at Loy. My main objective was to try out the new yak with the fish finder and anchor trolley installed. They worked perfectly.

Yesterday we went to Tish to the Blue River Trout Derby to talk fly fishing. We met lots of folks and had a great time.

We met a guy named Ted Meador who caught the biggest trout on Sunday weighing in at over 10 pounds.

(photo by Barry Shrader)


Last Saturday we had a fishing get-together at Pickens Lake with Mariner Sails.

Patty and I went to Tish a few weeks ago and camped on Pennington Creek. It is a beautiful park and the fishing is great there on the creek.

Catch up post (again)!!! :- )

Things have been a little crazy lately so I'll try to bring the old blog up to speed.

1st - I broke down and bought a new truck. The old 2003 was tired and needed to be put out to pasture. So, here's the new baby.

2nd - I had my first "turtle" experience in the yak on the Norfolk River in Arkansas last Friday so I was then ready for a new yak.

Last week we were at the FFF SOC Conclave in Mt Home, Arkansas.
We had a great time cooking, fishing, presenting, and fellowshipping.

We are also making plans for the Red River Rendezvous.
More details here:

http://redriverrendezvous.vpweb.com/

This weeks adventures...

I decided to use my days off and take me fishing.
I fished Eisenhower all three days.
Thursday the stripers blew up on top and we caught quite a few.
Friday nothing bit. NOTH...ING!!!
Saturday started out slow. No stripers, no smallies.
Then there was a blow up, I casted there and BAM.

In this heat one fish can easily make my day!!!

Latest Adventures

Of course it's "hotter than a $2 pistol" here in N Texas lately.
That has really slowed down my fishing. I've been doing a few early morning trips and trying to be off the water by 10AM. The rest of the time I've been at the vise tying flies or doing speaking/teaching.

This weekend the RRFF group went to Texoma (Eisenhower State Park) to target some smallmouth bass. We launched at the lighted fishing pier with plans to fish around the cliffs at the yacht club. As soon as we got on the water the stripers exploded on top. I only had my 5wt but I quickly threw a popper on and cast that way. FISH ON, no fish (and popper) off. He hit it like a freight train and broke my 6# leader. So, I kicked around to the cliffs and started hunting for the "target species". The water blew up over there and I cast a #8 white clouser and BAM FISH ON!!! It wasn't a huge one but maybe 13-14 inches. I caught 2 smaller ones and 2 greenies before it heated up and we headed to the A/C.

Friday myself and john Fulton did a "Fly Fishing" presentation for the Preston Trail Rotary Club in Celina. They really seemed to enjoy it and asked lots of questions.

Last Saturday I met Eric at a pond and we managed to put him on some nice bass.

The poor old foam hopper was the bait of choice.
I also hooked up with a small bass on the Pearow 2WT as we were leaving.

My Youngest Client

I had an opportunity on Friday to take my grandson Christian fishing.
We found a nice shady spot by a pond in Frisco, baited up his pole with a
live cricket and chunked it in.

Fish #1

Fish #2

Fish #3

He really enjoyed catching the "bluegills and boss fish".

I kinda liked it too!!!

Friday and Saturday Trips

This was a busy week for me with two guide trips on my days off.

Friday I took Mike and Jeff to a new pond in Allen. It was Mike's second fly fishing trip
but his first oportunity to catch a fish on "the fly" We found bluegill on their beds and needless to say he caught his first fly fish and about 49 more before we left.

Close up of the "first fly fish"!!!



Oh yeah, Jeff caught a few also!!!

Saturday I took Anil and his TFO Finess 1wt to the same pond. He caught a few nice bluegills also.



And then he caught this guy.





We're going to say this was a productive fishing weekend.

TPWD Area Chief Meeting - April 16 & 17th

I took off to Killeen on Saturday morning for our annual TPWD Area Chief meeting at Parrie Haynes Ranch on the beautiful Lampassas River. A good time was had by all and lots of information sharing and networking took place.

Saturday afternoon when all the sessions were over there were a couple of hours of free time so I grabbed my trusty TFO rod and headed to the river. The fish were not cooperating at first but then they turned on.
I caught several bass, a few green sunfish, and a beautiful orange sunfish.

Here's the whole clan!!!

If you're not a TPWD Angler Ed Instructor and want to be, get with me. We can make it happen!

Loy Lake Friday

I headed out to Loy Lake on Friday to do a pre-trip scouting expedition.
The wind was still up but it was safe to fish. I first fished the dam area catching a few greenies and a couple of small bass. Then I headed to an area know to hold bedding bluegill. When I got to the area I cast an olive Cap Spider under an indicator and immediately caught a nice gill. Every cast after that yeilded me a nice bluegill. I caught and released over 100 gills that morning before heading home.