Kayak Fly Fishing For Chain Pickerel at Daingerfield State Park Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Daingerfield is a lake I visited about four years ago, and was one of the first places I attempted to do a video “podcast” of fly fishing adventures. For those of you who have seen the original, you may want to take one last look because it’s so bad, I am seriously thinking about deleting it. Chalk it up to on the fly learning, or whatever you want … the free information certainly has gotten better, more honed, over the years don’t you think?

Anyway, if you are unable to view the video (and there’s no reason that should be a problem), feel free to ask questions – login and comment – and I will do my best to answer them. Suffice it to say, things are not the way they were three years ago at Daingerfield. Even with the park closed for a year (it reopened last July), something seems to be slightly off on the lake.

Largemouth bass record on fly rod for Daingerfield State Park outside Daingerfield, Texas.

We have had a mild winter, and spring will be coming soon(er), so perhaps that has something to do with the complete lack of bait fish right now. The water looks like it has been low for awhile, and the grass that used to be submerged around the edges is high and dry – dried to a crisp. That is the grass that chain pickerel used to use for their cover and ambush tactics. There’s hardly any of that left at all. Although the largemouth bass that Immanuel Salas caught is a lake record on fly rod, and a real pig, the pickerel caught were emaciated. I have a couple of theories on that, but to give you an idea; Mr.Salas caught one chain pickerel that was about two inches greater than the current fly rod record (stands at 14″), but the fish actually weighed substantially less than the current record (less than a pound).

The most effective fly we used was, again, the Seaducer in white and red – the typical Seaducer. I tried several flies, and that is the one that generated the most action.

Enjoy the video, and ask questions – if you have any. I will only reply to questions posted in the comments. No personal e mails, or questions via the “Contact” form will be answered.

Sometimes fishing is a lot like Wall Street. We run with a rumor, even a true story, and once we can’t get those same results, we sell out and move to either something we know, something else we’ve heard, or back home with our tails between our legs.

Podcast Video Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today wasn’t much different. It’s difficult to know what to do with the air temperatures in the mid 70′s, effectively killing any interest and belief that Oklahoma would produce much in the way of rainbow trout on the Blue River. And since there’s been a cold snap, it’s also hard to believe that any warm water species have been jogged back into activity.

THE RUMOR
This morning’s text message said that someone had caught their limit of crappie at a nearby location, one I had only heard about and never seen. It’s the confluence of Clear Creek and the Trinity River. The fact I have never been there along with the need to walk off a nagging back ache, and put a few fillets on the grille, lead me to chase this rumor to its early demise, and I ended up looking further up the Trinity in hopes ghost crappie had moved north.

THE NEWS
Although I didn’t find any crappie, the sand bass were going strong at the dam just below Ray Roberts Lake. I managed a couple dozen from ten to nearly fourteen inches, but not enough large ones to muster the courage to keep a few. So, if you want to cast off some winter weight, get a good tan and catch a few fish, I’ll see you there again soon. If you go, try a fluorescent red over chartreuse Clouser – shallow! There is little flow, and my best guess is the fish are hiding behind the large boulders in the small current. A drift that swings, or a slow retrieve is your ticket to plenty of small fun.

Note – In the interest of getting this out, I didn’t master the audio. Sorry if you can’t hear it well, but if you really want to know what was said, just ask.