After The Fall
Monday Morning Sidewalk
North Texas skipped past the fall of 2023, as has been normal for many years now, and we start the week with a ball of fur on one end of the couch, disguised as a border collie, and a wad of fleece on the other end that cannot be disguised as anything other than a goblin in waiting.
A look back at October 2023, the “golden month” on the Texas Gulf Coast, shows major progress on the next phase of my “operations” for the Texas fly fishing mobile operations, and is timing out perfectly with all the other (still cloaked) balls in the air. If you want to learn more about the restoration processes for Airstream Trailers visit my YouTube Channel the Loco Airstreamer sometime!
Just as I was clearing the decks for new photography hardware yesterday, I was also looking hard at my Dyna-King Steam Punk Vise, and thinking … it’s time to change out those big fly jaws for the little guys so we can start preparing for winter – that arrived yesterday.
In only a few days, the Blue River gets their first stocking of the season, and this sustained rain has probably done a lot to recharge the aquifer that feeds that beautiful stretch in South Central Oklahoma. I call it a “water park,” but that doesn’t mean it’s crowded with giant rubber duckies or kids run amok. More accurately, it is really a fly fishers water park with easy accesses and stockers fearing for their lives – in the catch-and-kill area anyway.
Time For the BRO Rod
Get out your BRO rod. If you don’t have a BRO rod, go ahead and get yourself one. A BRO rod is a Blue River Oklahoma short fly rod that matches what small trout you will find stocked there – like early easter eggs that move and hide themselves.
I was undisguised in my optimism for spending a lot of years on nothing but a salt diet, and sold off just about every rod below a seven-weight and above four-weight, before moving to South Padre Island, Texas, in October of 2022. Obviously, I am in “buy-back” mode now, and shopping for a solid 4 weight in a “faster” 7’6” length. I stopped the selloff at my TFO 7’6” three-weight and a rare TFO glass 3-4. Already in hand are two new Sage Reels and RIO fly lines – one for the three and one for the four.
Of course nothing works without the right fly on the end of the leader, right? In future posts, we can go over what flies are most functional at the Oklahoma water park, and find videos on how to tie those flies … note that I still hesitate to make videos of tying flies! While the videos outperform all others, they are number one – in lacking creativity.
Thanks for reading, get out the long handles and fleece, and don’t put away the shorts just yet! We have 70’s predicted in a few days!
See the Blue River Oklahoma YouTube Playlist HERE.
Category: Adventure, Airstream Fly Shop, Blue River, Culture on the Skids, Equipment, Fly Lines, Fly Reel, Fly Rods, Oklahoma Report
