Rain is coming down this morning, and it’s a pale shade of grey outside our new windows here in Denton.

TO DO LIST

If you were thinking about hitting Lake Fork For the Bass Fly Fishing World Championships, you never know – it could be a bright sunny day at kickoff tomorrow morning. Last year, we were pummeled by severe thunder,lightning and rain the night before we paddled out to do battle with largemouth bass, and found our quarry had retreated to locations unknown to us. Defeat was ours. Read all about it at “Lake Fork: The Devil You Don’t”,“The Devil You Know vs. The Devil You Don’t'”, and this year’s release on the tournament – “Bass Fly World Championships Lake Fork”.

When the weather goes this way, it really is a grand time for exploration and rediscovery. I’ve had ideas about Lewisville Lake, found launch points, and watched intently as the lake level seems to be remaining pretty constantly at conservation level. Looking out the window, I don’t think there was enough rain to alter that assessment, but who knows how much it rained elsewhere. The idea that interests me most, is

revisiting the cut in the old dam on Lewisville Lake

, a place where I caught plenty of largemouth bass, an occasional palmetto (wiper in northern-speak), crappie and sand bass (this spot is where I set waterbody record for small, but largest, hybrid). The levels were so low that it was easy to walk to and across the cut. Not any more. Factor in the snakes, in walking across the top of the dam, and it’s a kayak reach with huge benefits of speed and access. And that’s just one idea I have for Lewisville.

Lake Ray Roberts is a known entity, and the northern reaches have been on my list since the end of last season. The vegetation and structure and clarity is the best on the entire lake – up north, way, way up north.

Oklahoma is calling my name these days, and a glowing report on smallmouth and largemouth activity on the enigmatic Blue River has me working to complete my weekend projects in order to get there first. I have a complete report from Oklahoma Wildlife coming out Sunday.

THE WELCOME MAT

I know there are some new locals reading, and welcome to you – from Montana to Texas is a heck of an adjustment. To help you in you assimilation, you must start with what goes in, in this case what goes in your ears. Strangely enough, while you are here, my stepkid is in Bozeman, Montana, taking in the scene there, and according to him, “getting tattoos and watching movies.” I am still trying to forgive him for not knowing Bozeman is fly fishing mecca. He’s a Boulder, Coloradan, and we all know there’s no reason to know any other geography besides where Lyons and upper Boulder Creek are located.

Also, to you new locals, enjoy this weather because it really isn’t like this anymore. We had extraordinary heat that succumbed to this rain respite. North Texas is no place to be in a Texas summer, and now that Austin and the Hill Country, the capital of Texas fly fishing, are getting some precipitation, it won’t be long to pack the tent and head south. If you want accompaniment (flies, rods and knowledge) in going to the salt, I am good for that too – just not certified to guide on salt.

THE SENSES

For newcomers and those relocated to Texas and looking for fly fishing cultural integration, we should probably start with a direct connection to the brain – the ears. Tonight in Denton, Texas, you can get a sense of what the genre “Texas Music” really is, when Joe Ely takes the stage at Dan’s Silver Leaf in the vital and growing (but still quaint) scene that lies on the east side of Downtown Denton, Texas. Joe Ely is top shelf talent in the “Texas Music” scene, and the ambience, a no smoking show, all combine to make Dan’s the place to be tonight.

With sound comes taste, and Denton, Texas, has a couple of newer places to contend for your buds. Mellow Mushroom has fantastic Italian fare, and a huge beer selection that most likely even contains Moose Drool! There’s a new (food-less) beer garden that is located on the site, and inside an historic house formerly known as the the Shipley Manor – the Oak Street Draft House could, after a couple, make you think you are in Boulder, Colorado, before the Californication. For a quieter time with wine and small selection of cigars, as well as a smoking room, stop at the Cellar 22, which gets its name from license plate number 22 from … Teton County Wyoming. Full circle, almost.

CHORES

We all have our respective weekend lists. Thankfully, my lists run all week long, and I have the job that gives me a chance to; plow, fertilize, purchase and plant in the garden / remember Mother’s Day / stock the bar / and a paltry few other things.

The other “chores” are to install the kayak saddles on the roof rack so my kayak doesn’t go sliding all across those cheap and virtually worthless nylon covered insulation foam kayak pads – like the one’s sold at Mariner Sails (today’s DO NOT BUY) -

Do not purchase this style of pad from Mariner Sails, or anywhere, unless your kayak has a flat bottom.

Because of the dynamic shapes of the hulls of my boats, I decided to go with the Yakima Mako Saddles, and have a pair of these to install today -

Accurately measure the distance between your crossbars, and then measure the distance between the saddles while your kayak is upside down on the ground if you want to get close on the first try of positioning these. The great thing about these, besides the fact they aren’t Mariner Sails worthless pads, is they keep your kayak forward aligned – pointed straight into the wind.

The next chore is tying flies. I was distressed to open my fly box while fishing with this undisclosed person on an undisclosed lake (pictured below), and find that I was out of my increasingly famous and seasonally deadly double bunnies – and we’re not talking Playboy here. The one double bunny I had left was shriveled, lifeless and limp until moisture was added … undisclosed lake water that is. The double bunny comes to life once it gets soaked, and I will put it up, head-to-head, against a plastic worm anywhere, anytime.

Have a great weekend!

Publisher’s Note – Reminder that anywhere I am invited to fish, is on the record, unless we agreed to keep dirty little secrets in advance. That’s how this site started, and that’s how it will always be. I have kept your spots quiet a few times, but mostly because they would never have been hit anyway. The only exception comes when being formally guided, and I will defer to a guide’s preferences every time. I trust that those of you scheduled to go out with me will do the same.

The North Texas music scene is already heating things up a bit.

DAN’S SILVERLEAF
Wednesday night it’s Joe Pat Hennen, and Thursday Dan’s has The Gourds.

MUSIC AROUND DFW
I came across a publication that I hadn’t seen in awhile (about half as thick as it used to be), the Dallas Observer. It did have some good leads for live music including:
- Ryan Bingham & Dead Horses – They are playing at Dallas Observer’s St. Patrick’s Day Celebration at Energy Square on the corner of Greenville Ave., and University.
- Slobberbone — Barley House February 18
- James McMurtry — The Kessler Theater February 24
- Smoking Joe Kubek & Bnois King Acoustic Show — Pearl at Commerce February 24
- Junior Brown — The Granada February 25
- The Chieftans — Bass Performance Hall February 28
- Big Head Todd & The Monsters — House of Blues March 1

FEBRUARY AUSTIN MUSIC SCENE

- Hayes Carll — Gibson Guitar Showroom February 15
- Jimmy Lafave — Gruene Hall February 16
- Bob Schneider — Helotes February 17
- Loretta Lynn — Moody Theater February 17
- Dale Watson & His Lonestars — Continental Club February 18
- Jimmy Lafavre — Cactus Cafe UT Austin February 18
- Over the Rhyne — Cactus Cafe UT Austin February 19
- Dale Watson & His Lonestars — Continental Club February 20
- Alejandro Escovedo — Continental Club February 21
- James McMurtry (solo) — Continental Club Gallery February 28 8:30
- James McMurtry — Gypsy Lounge February 28 10:00
- James McMurtry & Heartless Bastards — Continental Club February 19

This year is off to a slow musical start, but it always seems to start this way. As things warm up, so does the music scene. Stay tuned.

GUTHRIE PROJECT, NEW MULTITUDES, TO BE RELEASED ON FEBRUARY 28

Like a cadre of musical brothers finally coalescing after years on the road apart, Jay Farrar (Son Volt, Gob Iron, Uncle Tupelo), Will Johnson (Centro-matic, South San Gabriel), Anders Parker (Varnaline, Gob Iron) and Yim Yames (My Morning Jacket, Monsters of Folk) gratefully deliver New Multitudes, an intimate interpretation of American icon and musical legend Woody Guthrie’s previously unrecorded lyrics.

Set to coincide with the centennial celebration of Woody Guthrie’s birth year, New Multitudes will be released on February 28, 2012 by Rounder Records as a 12 track release and a 24 track limited edition. The limited edition features original Guthrie lyric sheets, the 12 track release, and 12 additional compositions recorded by Farrar and Parker. The album will also be available on vinyl.

We have created a new Facebook page for the group. Right now, we are streaming “Old L.A.” from the album, featuring Anders Parker on lead vocal. Please “like” this page so you can receive updates including interview footage, live performance video, etc.

http://www.facebook.com/newmultitudes

The band will hit the road for a select run of dates in March.

March 6 – The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA
March 7 – Music Box – Los Angeles, CA
March 9 – Crystal Ballroom – Portland, OR
March 10 – Showbox – Seattle, WA
March 12 – The Birchmere – Alexandria, VA
March 13 – Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA
March 14 – Webster Hall – New York, NY
March 16 – Paradise – Boston, MA

Under the invitation of Nora Guthrie, Woody’s daughter, to tour the Guthrie archives, each of the four songwriters were offered the chance to plumb and mine the plethora of notebooks, scratch pads, napkins, etc. for anything that might inspire them to lend their voices and give the words new life. “These guys worked on an amazing group of lyrics, much of it culled from Woody’s times in LA. Lyric wise, it’s a part of the story that is still mostly unknown. From Woody’s experiences on LA’s skid row to his later years in Topanga Canyon, they are uniquely intimate, and relate two distinctly emotional periods in his life.”

The spirit of Guthrie may have been involved in more ways than one, as all four songwriters mentioned the immediate connection to the songs they chose, or as they would suggest, “chose them.” The writing came together quickly, as if the mischief muse who originally penned them latched himself to each writer’s grey matter upon first contact.

Musically, it is this sense of collaboration that makes New Multitudes not just another trite and traditional acoustic regurgitation of back porch blues. From the ragged jangle of its opening track, “Hoping Machine”, the loping lilt of “Fly High”, the floorboard stomp of “No Fear”, to the lush warmth and sudden sonic gut punch of “My Revolutionary Mind” the cohorts deliver a lesson in discovering a song’s sweet spot. It’s the function and preparedness of each artist’s dogged work ethic gleaned the old-fashion way; veracious songs, road weary odometers, and sweat stained live shows, all attributes of the man they are honoring.

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More news soon!

Thank you.

http://www.centro-matic.com

Digging a little deeper, here’s the track list for “New Multitudes” -

1. Hoping Machine
2. Fly High
3. My Revolutionary Mind
4. VD City
5. Old L.A.
6. Talking Empty Bed Blues
7. Chorine
8. Careless Reckless Love
9. Angel’s Blues
10. No Fear
11. Changing World
12. New Multitudes