FLIES
Yes, it is finally raining here in North Texas, and cloudy and gloomy, and good for nothing but inside “work” like tying flies! I baited you a few weeks back with the promise of the “ULTIMATE NORTH TEXAS CARP FLY SELECTIONS” because I knew it would do one thing certain; it will definitely generate some controversy because there really isn’t anything definitive on carp flies used to fish shallow freshwater flats in North Texas. It’s a constantly changing lineup, with a couple of superstars and some short lived free agents.

I was delayed in presenting these flies to you because I originally wanted to do something more interesting using video to show the flies from all angles. Alas, the camera I use for doing fly tying videos is now on a shelf in North Hollywood waiting for someone to deliver the bad news … (read previous post). Still photography will have to do for now.

There are flies that are part of the starting team, that are not pictured, either because they are common or I don’t have any good representations on hand. Those are:
- green woolly buggers size 6 to 10 in general
- Headstands in available sizes
- tan over white Clouser in 6 and 8 with gold beadchain eyes
And if you think you have a Billy-Bad-Carp fly, show us.

Carp, like any other fish, respond to what’s available in their neighborhood. Sure, they could swim all the way to The Mansion on Turtle Creek, but what we have here will do just fine, and what we have here is not cottonwood seeds, or delectable berry pastries. The locals have a typical junk food palette – if it looks good, smells good, and looks like it’s worth eating … it’s ON.

I am no scientist. If you want the science of flies, and the nuances of carp flies for North Texas, click on over to www.dfwflyfishing.com, and beat Joel Hays over the head with your questions and opinions (tell him I sent you). For the most part, these flies that I have photographed are made by Joel, and are very good representations of their category. Variations are always good too. We do variations based on water color, bottom color, time of year, as well as what we are seeing at the location. I have roughly a dozen flies I call “One Offs” that are all different in small ways, but I can go to those when the typical patterns (shown and mentioned) are not producing. The Usual Suspects are:

THE COYOTE CARP FLY

THE BONEFISH BITTERS

THE HEXY DAMSEL

Please feel free to visit the post associated with this post to air your questions, and complaints about this “ULTIMATE” collection that is most certainly short a few great flies. If you want formulas and recipes, or to add your fly to the mix, be sure to visit “The Fray” under “Fly Tying.” There are some things about tying these flies that will make them work, and if they don’t they will make you curse repeatedly and out loud to the fish gods. So I suggest, STRONGLY, that if you don’t already know everything there is to know – FEEL FREE TO ASK.

THE OINTMENT

If you are a regular lurker, you may see new advertising in the left and right columns. Yup, TFC has been pushed up a notch this past week. Apparently these folks were impressed with the depth and width of content on TFC, and reached out. If you are shopping, cut straight to the chase and hit these sites. I will be selectively changing out these advertisements for other affiliates from time-to-time. All of them have the TFC stamp of approval.

Besides the new associations with these businesses, this week will witness the rolling out of several new items on the “Fly Merch” e-commerce portion of this site. They include these flies for sale as well as archival prints of miscellaneous artistic meanderings. As the fall rolls around, we will also be carrying the Cimarrona “Angler” fleece and wool hat, and plan on having about twenty different one-of-a-kind “Anglers” for your winter wanderings in the snowy latitudes.

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I was talking to JH just last night after catching two six pound Texas Salmon, and he was commenting on something that’s gotten a lot of attention lately – size, fish size. Now, don’t get me wrong, this site really (really) exists for the sharing of all kinds of information and is less about quantity and size of fish. If you don’t believe it, check the archives. When the spring frenzy starts, and we shake off the cold, it’s difficult not to get caught up in the size race. The truth is, when it comes to fish size, unless you weigh it on a Boga or comparable scale … OR just say “about”, or “I think it was”, or “I am just guessing”, or “I’m gonna’ lie to you, but”. Why? Particularly when it comes to palmettos, they are ferocious fighters, pound-per-pound they are the Pacquiaos of the (warm) freshwater fish world. It may “feel” like a monster, but even my guesstimate of a five pounder being a certain length was quickly proven totally wrong. We can see that sponsoring a fishing “contest” here would be pointless based on weight, so we will be thinking about another angle for that dormant idea.

Now that the “Run” is about over, we can forget all about that, and concentrate on, what else but, largemouth bass! The wise folks at TPWD are probably laying awake at night hoping someone doesn’t already have number 500 sitting in a holding pen somewhere, just swimming around circles to the tune of Jaws. I guess they realized they could get bitten on their collective butts, and came out with some new conditions for the “SLunker 500″.

CHEATERS BEWARE!

ATHENS — Whoever catches Toyota ShareLunker 500 will have to answer a few more questions than usual for someone entering a 13-pound-plus bass into the popular Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) program.

“Because the angler who legally catches and enters ShareLunker 500 into the program will receive $500 a pound from the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation, we will X-ray the fish and require the person to take a polygraph test to confirm that the fish meets all the qualifications,” said Allen Forshage. Forshage is director of the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center, where the ShareLunker program is headquartered.

The ShareLunker program rules require that an angler turn a ShareLunker entry in to TPWD within 12 hours after the fish is caught. “This is to give the fish the best chance of surviving the stress of being caught,” said Forshage. “The sooner we get the fish under the care of the trained biologists here at TFFC the better chance it will have of spawning and being returned to the lake alive. The welfare of the fish always comes first in the ShareLunker program.”

ShareLunker program manager David Campbell will personally pick up ShareLunker 500 and perform the first inspection to be sure the fish is capable of surviving. The fish will not officially become ShareLunker 500 until the X-rays and polygraph test confirms the fish was legally caught and entered.

Anyone legally catching a 13-pound or bigger largemouth bass from Texas waters, public or private, between October 1 and April 30 may submit the fish to the Toyota ShareLunker program by calling program manager David Campbell at (903) 681-0550 or paging him at (888) 784-0600 and leaving a phone number including area code. Fish will be picked up by TPWD personnel within 12 hours.

The Toyota ShareLunker Program is made possible by a grant to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation from Gulf States Toyota. Toyota is a long-time supporter of the Foundation and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, providing major funding for a wide variety of education, fish, parks and wildlife projects.