TEXAS FLY FISHING NEWS & ADVENTURES

Monday Morning Sidewalk Mixed Bag of Treats

| September 18, 2017 | 0 Comments

Hurricane Relief North Texas Fly Fishing Trimming Skiff Going Coastal

I found a mixed bag on the sidewalk today, and this is what it had in it …

As you read Friday, the Lydia Ann Fly Masters Tournament is cancelled because the infrastructure in Port Aransas / Rockport is so damaged. Yes, the cameras have moved on, but I will be on the ground in that part of Texas next week.

There’s a new four-legged companion in crime potentially coming my way … I am giving it a lot of thought, and in this world as it now is? I could use a therapy dog for a lot of reasons – we all could! We will see; the timing of that trip south next week is a bit precarious. But, how often is one asked to write for Drake magazine unfettered and open ended?

Not one to make things easy, I imagine that drive from Houston to Rockport to be challenging and worthwhile. On the other hand, it sure would be smarter to keep the story local to Houston (where Clyde is parked now), and get in-and-out clean and simple. This weekend job has my you-know-what in a tiny vise, and the tiny handle continues to turn slowly – with no relief in sight.

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Lydia Ann Fly Masters Tournament Cancelled

| September 15, 2017 | 0 Comments

Destruction Means Cancellation of Lydia Ann Fly Fishing Tournament on Texas Gulf Coast

FROM ROB BURLINGAME:

Fellow anglers and CfR supporters,

After a lot of groundwork and fact finding over the last couple of weeks, we are unfortunately going to cancel this year’s tournament due to the impact of Hurricane Harvey on the Aransas Pass/Port Aransas/Rockport area.  While I tried to remain optimistic that we could still hold this year’s event, it looks like it won’t be possible.

If you haven’t been down there in the past couple of weeks, I can tell you that the photos shown on the news don’t do justice to the devastation that occurred.  Many of the hotels, restaurants and businesses, especially those with prime waterfront locations, were badly damaged and aren’t expected to open up for a while.  Add to that the personal homes for many of the owners and staff of those locations that are in disarray.  Many of our sponsors were impacted as well from the coastal areas and from Houston.  Needless to say, the folks living in these areas are facing a tough road for quite some time.

Since many of us like to frequent the area outside of the tournament when we get the fishing bug, please be careful and plan ahead if you plan to head that direction.  Hotel rooms will be difficult to find and restaurants will be very limited.  Many of the boat ramps are still closed and being used for staging areas for utility trucks and other contractors helping to rebuild.  There is still a lot of debris in the water as well, so be extra careful on the water if you do head down.

While we are all waiting for next year’s tournament to take shape, there are a few things I would encourage everyone to do:

  • Join the Facebook group: If you haven’t already joined the tournament Facebook page, please go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/110508092316938/?ref=bookmarks and send me a request to be added to the group.  This will be the fastest way to get updates for next year’s tournament.
  • Support Casting for Recovery: I would encourage each of you to continue supporting Casting for Recovery, especially this year since they will not have the tournament to support their retreats.  There are two main ways you can do this:
  • Support the affected areas: There is a widespread need for assistance right now and it will likely continue for quite some time.  Please consider supporting the fundraising events being held in your areas that are aimed at helping Rockport/Aransas Pass/Port Aransas or the Houston area recover from the storm.  If you are able to, I would also encourage you to head to these areas to lend a hand with the cleanup and rebuilding efforts.  Many of these areas are inundated with supplies and donated goods but they are lacking willing volunteers and strong backs to help.

Thank you to each one of you for your past support of the tournament and for your understanding of the situation this year.  Let’s help get these areas put back together and back on their feet so that we can celebrate at the 2018 tournament.

 

A Bloody Good Chum Line Bayou City Angler

| September 14, 2017 | 0 Comments

SALT IS SALT

 

Bayou City Angler Houston Fly FishingHot fly fishing was the main topic at Bayou City Angler (BCA) in Houston, Texas, yesterday afternoon. And the audience, employees and customers at BCA didn’t need any help whipping themselves into a frenzy over the coastal fly fishing scene with some duck hunting talk thrown in just to increase the volume. It was a chum slick of information, and we were all feeding.

Bayou City Angler Fly Fishing Houston

I did try to settle myself down a bit by looking at all the merchandise at BCA,  and I am very impressed with the inventory that has been built up at BCA since the last time I was in the store. Not only is there good inventory, they have a supply of discontinued Sage rods – right out front and CLEARLY marked down. BCA is also making room for their new fall clothing (out with the summer stuff), and an incredible series of markdowns on the reels we always want but never can afford – Abel and Hatch for example! It looks to me like BCA is establishing a name and place for itself in the fourth largest city in the Country. They also have the most extensive inventory of fly lines I have ever seen in one store, and smartly encourage buyers to try out any rod they are serious about purchasing – three reels per weight, with three different fly lines to help in decision making for line as well as rod.

CLYDE HAS A NEW GUIDE

I was there to pitch the next leg of the Clyde trip (Clyde – the car made famous in Drake magazine) to our old friend Danny Scarborough who now works at Bayou City Angler. Danny, being a wiser man that many I know, has sole possession and control of Clyde, and you can be sure it won’t get hung up sitting in Houston for six months of … let’s just say he won’t be wasting anybody’s time, or throwing me under the bus (still have Dallas tire tracks across my back) – unless I fall asleep in the middle of the road down south. That would be justified.

Clyde Drake Magazine

Danny couldn’t keep his redfish stories from Tuesday out of the Wednesday chum, and not only was that shared information great, so was the growing knowledge of snook showing up “everywhere” in Texas now. Put simply, the level of conversation and free trade of information was like a good shot of top-shelf. In my mind, I thought, “this is how it’s supposed to be.” Heck, when you’re as close to the action as these guys are – THIS IS HOW IT BETTER BE! Not a lot a talk, but talk backed by action – doing every chance they get to do it.

Of course there’s the bad with the good and ugly. Grass carp are being caught out in the bay. The number of commons in the bayous is a fraction of pre Harvey scale count. I am sure the guys that like to kill off these fish in the Houston Bayous are happy. We know they will be back. The mold is settling into the homes inundated by the Harvey floods.

I guess this means I will be forced to commute to Houston on a much more regular basis to get a shot of the real chum, and get back to the level of energy that started this adventure. God knows, I am having a hard time finding a good chum-line in North Texas. Salt is salt – it brings its own energy with it. It heals. Friends have heard me say this, but let me just tell all of you sitting at home – this is a great place for a fly fisher to LIVE.

What The Sheet … Cake is Going On Here?

| September 13, 2017 | 0 Comments

Good Humor Break

Are we about ready for a laugh? Some good old Lucille Ball humor always works for me. Some things never get old, do they? All the seriousness of hurricanes and tragedy aside, for just a minute … we’ll get back to that for real in coming days and weeks. Apparently there are a few organizations stepping up to donate to the recovery causes – information came in since my last post on Monday.

After this hits the digital airwaves, I am headed over to Bayou City Angler to visit with Danny Scarborough, who now works there as well as continuing to guide inside the loop, and visit the one fly shop (that I know of) that has a fundraiser coming this September 24th. Anything else I can find out for you while I’m in the Bayou City (just text me).

Monday Morning Sidewalk

| September 11, 2017 | 0 Comments

Remembering 911 War Hurricane Harvey Irma Call to Action

Welcome to wherever you are today, this great day called Monday! It’s great because my weekend begins in ernest, with a day of rest from everything that comprises my life as I now know it. You, on the other hand, are just getting wound up, caffeinated, motivated and shoveling the trenches for another week of loving war with work. Count yourself more lucky than I – in that respect. I applaud all of you who have dedicated your time, education, intellect and lives to building your careers on solid ground, and not shifting sand.

911 ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER

As the bells chime on the church behind me, I am again reminded this morning of where I was and what I was doing on September 11, 2001. If you replay it like I do (and we should), then you can’t help but still feel melancholy.

What happens when the last WWII veteran dies, do we forget the war? I always thought, as a historian, that living representatives of those events are the ties that bind us to remembering with clarity. Now, our warriors are still engaged in the war, with what I might add is the best set of marching orders yet (best thing the current president has done); moving the decision making from DC fat cats to the battle lines. We have to think of them, the quick and the dead, as well.

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