Fly Fishing the Chisolm Trail

Lake Nocona largemouth bass caught on fly in April along the shores of Lake Nocona.

The first thing that comes to mind when Texans mention Nocona is boots. I’ve got some, and if you are a boot wearing Texan, chances are you have a pair too. Nocona makes good boots, and Nocona also has an interesting lake by the same name.

HISTORY OF NOCONA TEXAS
Nocona isn’t named after boots. It’s named after Peta Nocona, chief of Noconi band of Comanches, and father of Quannah Parker. Nocona is the last stop on the Chislom Trail before crossing the Red River into Oklahoma.

The other name synonymous with boots is Justin, and in an interesting twist, the origins of Justin boots can be traced and tied to Nocona as well. Regardless of the boot industry, Nocona is another of those towns, where the west begins, that not surprisingly owes its existence to the railroad.

About fifteen miles north of Nocona, near where Salt Creek enters the Red River, is the Red River Station – the actual place where cowboys moved their cattle along the Chisolm and across the river.

The lake is a hybrid itself, combining two segregated areas – one public access, and the other private gated communities.

One thing you will always find is that a more concentrated population also brings much more concentrated wear and tear on those areas deemed public. And Lake Nocona is no exception. The trash and filth along the public areas is phenomenally bad. I make a pretty concerted effort to look past all the trash wherever I go (and pick up as time allows), but we’re talking hypodermic needles, broken glass, monofilament … on, and on. I am guessing that it’s hard to get folks together and clean up their meager public access areas when they look across the lake at the huge lake houses … it’s a place where the public areas are certainly used by the 99-percent while the 1-percent appear to own the best 90-percent of the lake.

Lake Nocona is also extremely low, and that also has a tendency to expose trash that was lurking just under the surface. It also makes walking easier, and kayak fishing a much more attractive proposition.

The topography of the lake is varied, with naturally rocky points, a rip rap dam, coves and emerging points that can make power boat navigation a challenge. Otherwise, there’s plenty of open water on a lake that covers 1,323 acres. The water is pretty clear, and submerged vegetation is already pretty dense. I did locate a few fish in the backs of coves, but most of the flat cove habitat is lacking in bedding that bass desire.

What I did happen onto, was a point where young pound to pound-and-a-half largemouth bass were schooling and shredding baitfish. There haven’t been a lot of times that I have been able to experience large numbers of schooling largemouth bass, but it was an experience I won’t soon forget. These fish were very wild, green and full of fight. They fought pound-for-pound as good as the best largemouth bass I have ever caught.

Although their sizes were virtually identical, these fish were surprising in their ariel displays, long hard runs and sheer determination to win. It took me awhile to get over the typical four to six huge jumps I got from virtually every fish, and settle into a calm battle royale. After catching about fifteen of these mean green bass, I had all I could take, and called it a day.

On subsequent visits to Lake Nocona, between shifts, the crappie were also in full spawn and found quite easily in the back ends, and deepest portions of coves. A slow drag of a Clouser minnow – bright colors like white over white with lots of silver flash – proved deadly to the count of two to three dozen crappie on each outing.

Part 2 of On The Road: Fly Fishing Lake Nocona Texas will highlight the other things to see, Texas history, near Lake Nocona.

Talk about challenging! Try to remember an ostrich, emu, or yak can show up in your backcast any time.

I stuck my finger in my ears, one at a time, rotated to check for wax and pulled my finger out with a pop. Nope, clean as a whistle. “You need me to tell you what’s in your pond?” I could hardly believe my ears.

The biggest greenie I have ever caught. Heck of a beautiful fish that can wreak havoc in a pond’s delicate balance.

The pond came about as a place for Joe to let his Dad and Granddad wet a line. It has a couple of deep holes and a good amount of surface area. Along the way fish caught elsewhere made it into Joe’s pond, but they hadn’t been seen in awhile. Thus the mystery that needed solving.

Joe wanted to know what he had and what he needed for his pond. I figured I knew just enough, from paying attention to experts on pond biology and fish stocking, to be able to at least provide an educated guess on what was going on under the surface. The last thing Joe had to report on his pond was that a recent flash flood had come through and left a five pound largemouth sacrificed on a nearby fence.

Other than that, there were a few other variables running around in the pasture where Joe’s pond is located. A full size ostrich, a flock of emu and a couple of yaks could show up at any time to do quality assessment of my backcast, and didn’t mind digging through any bags of gear left on the ground as I wandered off into bliss.

My first trip to evaluate the pond was earlier last week, and I had arrived late in the evening and managed only a few minutes of evaluation once my adrenalin settled from the face off with two friendly feisty yaks. I apologized for having their relatives hair in my fly box, and they calmed down a bit.

My first cast caught a largemouth that ran about a pound-and-a-half, and just about every cast lead to largemouth from six to fourteen inches in length. They all appeared to be males, and they had nice bellies (probably because Joe had several pounds of minnows put in the day before.

Joe told me the water is very clear typically (we were being assaulted by serious winds), and the main water source was drainage from the pasture and in extreme rains – water comes from across the road, down a ditch and finally rushing into one end of the pond. That end was rendered pretty shallow and muddy, but I caught fish there as well.

The clarity combined with the thick green slime along most of the shore, lead me to believe the pond could be suffering from an abundance of nitrogen. Drainage off the homes across the road and the abundance of animal life in close proximity seemed like it could be the cause. In the long run these problems can lead to a fish kill due to oxygen deprivation.

DAY 2

On day two, I was able to take Joel and his son out to Joe’s pond, but instead of disclosing all the details, I created a surprise for his three-year-old that he’s not likely to forget anytime soon – birds, a camel, deer and a menagerie of animals left him wide-eyed and speechless.

The tough guy look from a proud fisherman.

I knew Joel was needing a fish fix since his promotion to associate principal of his high school, and we all know what a day of catching can do for a three-year-old’s outlook on the sport of fishing. Throw in a demonstration of the strength of ostrich eggs (I stood on one), and I am thinking this day will be etched in his memory banks for awhile. Ponds are the cure for all that ails us.

Two fish on the first cast basically set the tone for a frenzy of catching fish, shooing away prehistoric looking birds with evil eye stares, and battling another stiff wind with fly rods.

For Sunday’s test, I went to a smaller black woolly bugger in hopes of catching smaller fish that we could learn from as well. Nothing doing. Bass attacked, but I was finally able to filter through them and catch a coupe of huge greenies on that same bugger. The term “huge” may not be scientific, but when I say huge I mean huge. They were larger than the palm of my hand and every bit as hard a fight as any largemouth bass – the largest I had ever caught.

Unfortunately greenies really like to raid largemouth bass beds for eggs and compete directly with largemouth for food resources. Greenies this size could be a troubling thing for the pond’s balance, and Joel recommended a future release into grease for any caught.

His assessment included the observation that there were no females caught, and we both realized that the larger bass we caught were actually thinner and more disproportionate than the smaller bass. It’s one of those wicked problems that requires some tough love – culling. Fortunately, there are a few ponds on Joe’s place, so an aerated bucket would save those unlucky enough to be caught. In this instance a cull wouldn’t be a kill, a real best case scenario. There’s still the question of the depths of Joe’s pond, and before I can produce a final opinion on the population in the pond, I will have to have some calm weather and different options for fishing the depths of Joe’s pond.

We hopped aboard Joe’s chariot and headed back to the barn where Joe’s camel was hanging out. Just another day in the wilds of Texas.

Joe’s Pond near Krum, Texas.

What a load of crap-pie! The crappie are plentiful on Lake Nocona, Texas, as are largemouth bass. Check back this coming week for a detailed report for fly fishers and some Texas History for non fly fishers.

FROM PURGATORY
It all started a couple of weeks ago when my significant other thought she heard a water leak. Digging the new water line ourselves, or having it dug by our plumber was a numerical no-brainer – $300. we dig, $1200. he digs.

Along the way my shovel ready significant other, digging oh so shallowly, cut our Verizon FIOS line. Not chewed, not frayed, no it was cut clean just six inches below our organic lawn.

A few days with no TV or super high speed “interwebs” was followed by a temporary top of ground wire running from across the neighborhood street to our side of the street and to the house. We were connected, but it’s pretty embarrassing when the only line in the street leads to our house.

Finally, after multiple calls, independent contractors show up to bury the line. Suddenly, they tell me the line had just been jerked free of its splice and of course that’s not their department. They said they would call the crew out to do that job. Two more days disconnected follow – to and through this day.

Now if you can feel my pain, then you too may be self employed, internet dependent and working from home. Imagine communication grinding to a gear grinding halt during the busiest month so far this year. The horror …

The Fishing

Not only did the disconnect do a number on work, it also did a number on the fish communiques. So what’s been happening this week?

First, let me start with the last, and say if you are texting me looking for tips and / or hotspots, you can give it up. Here’s the word – GO SOUTH where it’s a little warmer and maybe you can find a place to escape this incessant wind as well. Conditions from where I sit (alongside the Chisholm Trail and near the Red River) are windy and remarkably cool and will probably continue to be erratic through the next couple of days.

SATURDAY – I am a bit hesitant to recommend you make a run to Lake Fork for the kayak fishing tournament with the weather conditions changing so drastically in the last two days. Weather looks to be smoothing out, but it will still probably make fishing difficult in a tournament setting on that lake.

Still Working – I have all the pieces of a story on Lake Nocona and a visit to the end of the road – Spanish Fort, Texas. Now that I have some down time from work, I will pull all that together, and (with internet connections willing) get that out in two parts beginning Monday. It’s a heck of an adventure, not one to set any worlds on fire though. Think of Nocona as a place to go on a nice Sunday with a pace like you’re going to church.

LOSS – Levon Helm died this week after a lengthy battle with throat cancer. This loss is hard to measure. He was a vital part of my music scene the last few years, and sparked a deeper interest in The Band and that volume of work. Thank you Mr. Helm.

And lest I forget, I was asked to take a look at a pond last night to do an “inventory” – see what it had. It’s an older pond and my friend who owns it built it, so he knows the contours and what’s gone into it. The question is; what’s still in it? I know, it’s a tough job, but someone had to do it. If I can come up with some photographs after the weather warms to normal, I will detail this expedition for you. Believe me, it looks like an expedition – to Africa – where this pond is located.