Sea Legs & Wakanda Flies
I hope everyone is feeling well after that Super Bowl game yesterday. I know that I, for one, am very happy that the NFL season is finally over. For me it means the calendar marches on and we head toward spring training – I still tolerate quite a bit of bad baseball (Texas Rangers). Oh yeah, spring means fish too!
SPLISH SPLASH SUNDAY
It was Super Bowl Sunday, and I started with launching the skiff from Jordan and cutting across the northeast finger of Ray Roberts, and dropping into a cove I knew has a feeder creek. I wasn’t hoping for anything, but I was out to run.
The skiff had been sitting in the driveway for two days, expectations for water Friday and Saturday were … squashed. I called Daingerfield and they said rain was coming Saturday and Sunday. So that was a no-go.
No matter what, I had to run the skiff. Hibernating through Saturday was tough, and by Sunday morning there was no stopping me.
I cut across from a protected launch (Jordan out of Pilot Point), and not to my surprise, the waves were already qualified for anything I have seen along the channel in Port Aransas. Practice, I thought, practice.
GET YER SEA LEGS ON
I trimmed the tabs and did my best to get my boat legs back. Imagine a bigger swell, why couldn’t I try going to the rigs if a guy in a little kayak can go to the rigs?
Here I am – at least 400 miles from the nearest Gulf of Mexico rigs, and that’s what I’m thinking? I have seen plenty of tiny aluminum jon boats putzing along in deep water, loaded to the hilt with passengers. I can see the downside on that cruise for sure … I guess it’s just the “corky” feel I get when traveling solo and light across rough waters. What’s that old saying? “Ego Eats Brain.”
So the backs of some of these coves are perfect for spring sand bass runs and carp movement too. That’s because there are a fair number (east branch west side) that have creeks running in way in back. The water is perfect right now – easy to get into and clarity is very good. I don’t have any electronics right now, but you hardly need any for this habitat. I can’t wait to get back there once the water warms a bit, and there’s a hint of flow to send those sand bass into their spring running patterns!
ALL CLEAN – TYING THE WAKANDA FLIES
The Fly Bar is cleaned up and off, and ready for a new broadcast soon. I’ll say it; it’s about time! I am not getting anyone (1 nice person okay) interested in a “FlyPodCast,” so that is off the table, but I AM looking at doing a fly tying a month, or maybe two? The first is actually going to be part of a series: “The Wakanda Fly Series.” And you can probably guess what the Wakanda flies will be all about! BLACK POWER! That is – the power of black flies in Texas freshwater.
Be sure to check back on Wednesday for Wild Art Wednesday! It’s a new column for those who come here for more than fly fishing. That’s pretty easy for me to actually deliver on these days.
Category: Body-Mind-Soul
