East Texas
Texas Fly Fishing Report Summer Winds Down Doldrums Around
Fly Fishing in Texas this week
Thanks again for watching the Texas Fly Fishing Report! Please suggest changes where needed – I won’t complain. I think the audio intro is a bit long-ish.
A hard week on the fly for me – skunked twice. Watch for the details in the video. I was advised to be wary of what I heard (and have been told that many times in the past), and it proved out when it came to Lake Grapevine two days ago.
If you can get to the BP and Rollover Pass, it sounds interesting. But then, I am relying – not on all you readers across the state – but relying on televised reporting and the TPWD fishing reports. I have always had a soft spot for Rollover Pass because there is an incredible amount of movement there. I heard a long time ago they were going to fill that in, but I never heard any more about it? I sure would like to hear from readers, rather than trying to discern second-hand information from the sources I am using. Accuracy is very important to me, so my sources need to be honed and more accountable.
If YOU ARE A GUIDE, feel free to call in your report from wherever you are, and we can record and publish it – as is, unedited and heavily (at my cost) promoted.
Cinco de Mayo Texas Fly Fishing Report
The Original Texas Fly Caster Texas Fly Fishing Report
Hello to all you fly fishers tuning in today – from Texas and beyond, via the worldwide webbage. This report is long overdue, and contains a huge variety of information for your digestion, and indigestion. If you were wondering what books to get, what camera to check out, what fly fishing costume to buy – I don’t have all the answers, but at least I GO THERE. Thanks for watching. Have a great Cinco and a great weekend.
It’s a weekend full of events – like the Lake Fork World Championship Bass on Fly Tournament. That tournament has kicked my bass so many times now, I had to take a break from the bass kicking! If anyone has a post-tournament report, feel free to get it to me as soon as you can!
Rain Mostly Kept at Bay on Water Wednesday in North Texas
fly fishing in daingerfield lake chain pickerel texas weather van vleck tornadoes texas rain map
3Ms Courtesy Photo 2017 Daingerfield State Park Texas.
We had a close brush with much needed (on a yard level) rain over the past two days, but today is a bright sunny day with no rain on the radar for about another week. All we recorded here amounted to barely an inch of precipitation. Just in case you think rain is all about water, it’s not! These cloudy rainy days also trigger fish bites in lesser known places – like Daingerfield Lake in East Texas.
EAST TEXAS DAINGERFIELD LAKE
Daingerfield is a lake known for its abundant, perhaps overabundant, supply of chain pickerel. These East Texas chain pickerel have proven to be extremely susceptible to the fly year after year. But they really come out to play on overcast days more than any other time. So I was not too surprised to hear that this past weekend was not so productive for the 3M’s at Daingerfield.
Daingerfield is a fantastic place to pursue an unusual fish, in a very beautiful setting; surrounded by pine trees, a smallish lake that is completely fishable by kayak. It is perfect for family overnights. It also has crappie, largemouth and sand bass in fair numbers. The lake is a no wake lake, meaning you can bring a boat in, but you can’t go fast enough to make a wake. Why would you want to anyway? This lake is tiny by boating standards, and the quietness is one of the first things that will strike you Metroplexians – right between the ears. This lake is close, and is truly an ESCAPE from what ails you.
- Here is a link to past stories on Lake Daingerfield – the Daingerfield Archives on Texas Fly Caster.
- Here is a link to Daingerfield’s TPWD entry – TPWD Daingerfield
ON TO THE WEATHER
We did have a sweep of rain across North Texas earlier this week, which is great news; it keeps the lakes topped off, and puts pressure on the USACE to release water leading into Spring 2017. Those water releases are key to: 1) the sand bass bite in creeks, 2) big releases in rivers that trigger hybrid bites, and 3) enhances our carp habitat everywhere. Right now, we are looking at consecutive year setting itself up to be off the charts for fly fishing inland Texas waters.
What is not included is a run of very bad weather that hit the Texas Gulf Coast yesterday. Van Vleck apparently suffered the brunt of these unusual February storms. This is dangerous stuff for those of you fly fishing the Texas Gulf Coast.
The map still tells the tale for Texas, plain and simple.
See more details here TEXAS DROUGHT MAP
Special thanks to the 3M’s for sending in their photos from Daingerfield this past weekend!
Monday Morning Sidewalk – Post Christmas Roll
Winter Wonders and Wanders on The Fly
Good morning. I can imagine you are probably enjoying the perfection of this dying year’s calendar, still off from work for another week if you’re lucky, and looking for a fish to catch – trying to get lucky. Well, the temperature here in Houston went over 80-degrees yesterday, and when I was checking with a couple of fly fishing friends in DFW, the temperature hit the high 70’s there as well. Amazing.
Whatever fly fishing you do, be sure to let me/us know about it, and have a great week!
Are You Ready to Get Prehistoric? Houston Bowfin on Fly with Danny Scarborough
LAKE CONROE TEXAS
with Guide Danny Scarborough
Are you ready to get prehistoric? How about on a fly rod? Well if you are ready, then your next destination in Texas could well be Lake Conroe, Texas, to catch bowfin on a fly rod.
“The Cajuns call em choupique, but I’ve also heard mudfish, mud pike, dogfish and cypress trout, but I prefer plain old bowfin,” Danny Scarborough of Houston said.
Diablo Paddlesports “Amigo” make for a great fly casting kayak platform in these demanding conditions.
Bowfin are not that uncommon in East Texas, but have often been regarded as a trash fish, or a nuisance by fishermen seeking largemouth bass around the swamps of places like Caddo Lake. That’s where Scarborough stepped in, and decided to elevate the pursuit of bowfin in the eyes of fly fishermen who might be looking for a new species with new challenges.
Pursuing bowfin, East Texas style, involves slowly, quietly kayaking through shallow coves loaded with stickup branches, and looking for telltale signs of bowfin. Sometimes they find you though.
Bowfin are toothy, aggressive and territorial fish that can reach double-digit weights.
“They actually will come up to my kayak and investigate what’s disturbing their territory. It’s the coolest creepiest thing ever! Anyways one day I was fed up with a Grass carp that had just broke me off and I decided to tie on a streamer and give an area a shot I had been seeing tons of Bowfin,” Scarborough said. Four casts later he had his first ever bowfin on fly, and three more bowfin later, Scarborough knew he was hooked.
“I like everything about them! They’re up shallow, sight castable, aggressive, prehistoric, they have teeth, they’re powerful and will take a streamer,” he said.
The fly fishing season for bowfin runs spring to fall, and hot days reveal the fish more readily as they surface to gulp air and return to their territory. It’s not uncommon to see them cruising the same areas where fly fishermen stalk grass carp or common carp in the warm months.
Two rows of teeth can do damage – to flies and fingers.
A significant number of fly fishers in Texas and the US are interested in seeing just what kind of strange fish they can catch on a fly, and the prehistoric bowfin certainly qualifies as strange. “I don’t know of anyone in Texas consistently catching Bowfin on the fly and definitely no one guiding (specifically) for them on the fly. I’ve heard and read of some guys up north catching them on the fly but mostly Lake Champlain during the spawn,” Scarborough said.
Voila! A typical bowfin fly selection.
HOW TO DO IT
Contact guide Danny Scarborough at www.houstonflyfishing.com, and he will be glad to book an outing with you!
NOTE – This is my version of a story appearing in a recent issue of Lone Star Outdoor News. I checked in with Danny before publishing, to see if this action was still on, and he said the fish are, “even more feisty right now.” 10-07-16
And IF YOU HAVE A FLY FISHING STORY, I would be glad to listen, and perhaps we can work it into something interesting for thousands of readers at Lone Star Outdoor News, or here at Texas Fly Caster. Your first step is to contact me! You can call me, or text me at 9fourOthree800fourO8 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Or fill out the contact information on the “CONTACT” page, and I will respond as soon as possible. REMEMBER – I would always rather talk (write) about and photograph YOUR STORY any day!
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