Southern Man Fly Fishing – Sand Bass on the Fly
OK, Southern Woman too. The headline was too good to pass up.
Creeks, Texas creeks in spring. Those words, after either a long cold winter or a long mild winter, are enough to get fly fishers hearts racing. Some fly fishing requires the proper position of the earth, moon, a chicken foot, and a shot of Tequila.
In Texas, and throughout the south, all that’s required to catch sand bass and even palmetto bass is water running out a creek and into a lake for sand bass to become obsessed, like the exotic salmon, with swimming up the creeks for a little spawning action.
Sand bass are, shall we say, less than exotic. Nonetheless, there is a method to Southern Man Woman fly fishing for sand bass. There are a few things that keep fly fishing for sand bass from being an absolute no-brainer.
First, we have to know when sand bass come out of their deep water habits in lakes, and are headed to, or in, the creeks. Typically, that begins about March around these parts. Joel Hays, the scientist that he is, has chicken foot anecdotes like, “redbud trees are starting to bud,” or “mayflies on the back porch,” are all within the realm of true indicators that IT is about to happen.
Well, IT is about to happen. I’ve been sampling the fishing in the Trinity River below Lake Ray Roberts, and while it’s not quite time for a full-on sand bass run, we’re getting close, very close.
Tomorrow – What’s so Special about sand bass?
Category: Culture on the Skids, Fishing Reports, North Texas
