Tag: hot spots
Texas Fly Fishing Monday Morning Sidewalk Roundup
Good morning and welcome. We have another winter weather week this week, but with a silver lining of sorts. I ran a FISH FLASH that goes over the details of what we might expect if conditions on my local lake – Ray Roberts – continue through the week. This SPOT could be extremely HOT by tomorrow morning. You can bet I am going to find out for you!
Last week was interesting to say the least for the world, for all of us! It seems like we have a whole new world of concerns now, and for those of you who voted for the winner of the presidential elections – congratulations. Now let us all just see what this means for the habitat we love, cherish and love to fish with. One thing about getting older, it’s a bigger, harder step up to the soap box now, and anyway … I have done a fair job of keeping the political writing here to an “observational” plane over the years.
We journeyed to the razor’s edge last week, and broadcast live from the Fly Shop last Thursday night – to an audience of one. At least theoretically there was one watching. The Google-YouTube interface could well have counted ME as a viewer, meaning essentially no one watched. Can anyone blame them? Hardly. Continue Reading
Monday Morning in the Making
texas fly fishing #flyfishing
Coffee please. I admit the new health kick has a dent in the armor – coffee. Just waking up to the news that Bowie died overnight – from cancer. Wow, now that has to be one of the best kept rock-and-roll secrets of all time. “Black Star” was released on the 8th. – his 69th. birthday.
ATTENTION ANNUAL SUBSCRIBERS – Be sure to let me know your subscription is working! A lot of them expire around this time of year, and I try to reset them all not to AUTO renew.
Speaking of subscriptions, I found an amazing subscription number for a YouTube account that goes by the name “LakeForkGuy” over the weekend. Guy is pushing 80-thousand subscribers, so I just had to let him know how amazing that was, and sent an e mail to the YouTube celebrity. Seems like he could benefit from a little crossover into the carp world, don’t we think? Actually, I think anyone would benefit from the words “Lake Fork” in their names – having a top five US bass lake as your office can’t hurt. A lot of the bass folk are going to be surprised when Lake Ray Roberts ascends the rankings of Texas bass lakes in a couple of years. The wise folks at TPWD will probably increase their stocking of Fork (from triple the stocking of Ray Roberts) another notch or two, just to keep the legendary lake … well, legendary. Folks, do me a favor, and if you haven’t already subscribed to the Texas Fly Caster YouTube channel, please take a moment and head to – THE YOUTUBE CHANNEL – and subscribe. And don’t forget I’m moving a step beyond the YouTube channel, and have set up a Periscope account so you can watch live broadcasting of fly fishing adventures there as well. If I can get my voice back, there’ll be some of both – YouTube and Periscope – next week.
Here are the Lake Fork Fly Fishing Records kept by TPWD.
Today, we’re waiting for it to warm up around here! I’m also weathering the normal January photography business blues, which are an annual event where … absolutely nothing happens. That’s the way of the self-employed. Don’t forget about the side project – PoPs Fly Shop – if you’re looking for unique items, like the rod sock I am about to sew and ship to Durango, Colorado, a sock for a 10-foot fly rod. The warmup is on the way though, and that’ll give me an opportunity to finish the rigging on the skiff, as we depart for South Texas this Friday.
I’ll have an article out about “premeditation” in fly fishing (later this week) just in time for departure to South Texas saltwater fly fishing on the Lower Laguna Madre. It’s a bit of a crossover “to-and-fro” between photography and fly fishing actually, and the article could benefit both of those disciplines (assuming you are interested in both).
FLY FISHING HOTSPOT
If you are ready to take advantage of the midweek warmup, [ppw id=”121578189″ description=”Ray Roberts HotSpot” price=”.10″]
and can’t figure out what to do try this:
- GET UP AND GO to the release area of Lake Ray Roberts Dam.
- TRY a five weight rod for the challenge / floating line / full length fluorocarbon leader in the 4-6 pound range.
- TIME – Early morning and late day.
- WHERE – Base of dam structures (concrete) and right up against them. OR across on the west side riprap (legal area).
- WHAT – Crystal white woolly bugger OR white/white Clouser (variable weights). Circle hooks rock!
- EXPERIMENT – Try a indicator 4-feet above a crystal woolly around that structure and see if it works!
- You’ll be catching crappie near the structure RIGHT UP AGAINST IT, and if you take on the riprap on the west side – throw across the current (at 90-degrees), let out more line and let it swing just enough to clear the submerged shoreline AND hold on for trophy size sand bass in the two-pound range. They come along in waves, and you won’t be attacked as happens with large schools. It will be a few bruisers that will chase in the current, or ambush from the submerged shoreline. HINT – There are no fly rod records on the TPWD site for the Trinity River – for crappie or sand bass at this time!
REMEMBER:
- Exercise caution!
- Fish it only if the fence on the west side of the riprap is submerged (flow is ON)
- Don’t bother with the lower park
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Water Wednesday – Texas Drought Report Lake Ray Roberts Texas
texas water conservation drought #texasdrought ray roberts lake fly fishing #flyfishing
LAKE RAY ROBERTS TEXAS VIDEO REPORT FOR WATER WEDNESDAY
Someday, if we keep doing this long enough, the old guys say there’ll be some good news about the Texas drought. The words that come to mind right now? How about “biblical,” or “epic” for starters. Yes, I know there have been drier times according to the charts and graphs, but we are in the midst of a double whammy – drought and zebra mussels. There’s not much to enjoy about this visual report, but maybe we will be able to look back and laugh at the presentation at a place far far underwater.
My guru always says dealing with changing conditions, means adjusting, modifying techniques, coming up with new tactics, and that’s all quite true. Currently, the conditions could be considered a near perfect storm. Time will tell. I certainly wish I were dependent on a Texas river, or the Gulf Coast for my fly fishing fix. Many Texas rivers are guaranteed to flow, and the Gulf of Mexico? She can be fickle, but damn she’s resilient.(SEE Airstream Trailer)
The current drought map for Texas. “Extreme” and “Exceptional” are the two colors that cover our North Central Texas area. I’m pretty sure somebody ruled out “Biblical” in favor of “Exceptional” due to political sensibilities.
HOTSPOT – Cedar Lakes Texas for Slot Redfish – Including Satellite Maps
Texas fly fishing #flyfishing in texas saltwater map
PREMIUM CONTENT – Satellite Maps of Key Spots
I just received some mapping from a fly fishing friend who is energetically exploring the upper Texas Gulf Coast since his return from a two year stint working in Europe. He’s completely taken in by fishing, conventional and fly, for redfish in the shallow flats from Galveston on down, and he seems to be getting further and further off the grid …
[ppw id=”83708035″ description=”HOTSPOT – REDFISH MAPS” price=”.10″]
WARNING: AREA RAMP CRAWLING WITH THIEVES
In the notes he included, he mentions having items stolen out of the back bed of his truck parked at the free ramp, and it was confirmed that it is a very unsafe place to park by another friend Danny Scarborough of www.houstonflyfishing.com. BUT, Danny also confirmed the place is a real HOTSPOT. This place does not have an option of walk and wade either; “mud up to you knees and waist” if you happen to get out of your kayak, “and there aren’t any flats burners either.” It’s too shallow. That’s a mix of bad and good news, but add Cedar Lakes to your plans, stay ON your boat, and you could be getting yourself into some great redfish action on the Texas Gulf Coast. Maybe you can find another safer place to park and launch. If you do, let us know so we can get that on the map as well. And remember not to leave ANYTHING you want to keep in / on your car. Thanks for the contribution!
Click on these for large version of image! Feel free to drag these off to your desktop to add them to your fly fishing map collection for the Texas Gulf Coast.
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Happening Now at Living Waters Fly Fishing Round Rock Texas
tenkara texas fly fishing #flyfishing austin texas living waters fly fishing
FREE READING – JUST CLICK THE HEADLINE AT TOP TO OPEN STORY
BEGINNING FLY FISHING Saturday, September 13th 9:30 AM — Introduction to Fly Casting (Traditional and Tenkara) We’ll be kicking things off with a casting class catered towards beginners. Join us for a clinic on the basic principles of fly casting. Casting traditional and tenkara fly rods will be demonstrated and discussed, with plenty of interactive learning opportunities! 11:00 AM — Basic Rigging for the Hill Country (Traditional and Tenkara) This presentation will explain the how’s and why’s behind rod, reel, and line selection for fly fishing our local waters. We’ll also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different fly line tapers, and show you the knots you need to get rigged up and ready to fish! 1:00 PM — Local Hot Spots – Llano River, San Gabriel River, and Brushy Creek We did this presentation back in May, and it was a big hit. Come find out where, how, and when to fish our local fishing hot spots. We will be giving a presentation on multiple hill country rivers and will discuss fishing techniques and flies according to each river. After this presentation you can consider yourself to be armed and dangerous from a local fly fishing standpoint! If you’re new to the area, this is a presentation you won’t want to miss! Continue Reading
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