Texas Fly Fishing Report – Thursday 2-26
houston sand bass fly fishing texas scott null scott sommerlatte eric glass allwater guides #flyfishing report texas
Snow, ice and rain are just part of the recent past and near future – here in North Texas this week. In the last few years, it has become predictable that the ides of early spring are squashed by a late winter last gasp here in North Texas. It won’t matter nearly as much, to me personally, come next winter, but the sheer brutality of winter this year is …
EAST TEXAS SAND BASS FULL ON
It’s time to pull the trigger and hit the water if you fly fish for sand bass. Typical patterns separate the timing of the boys from the girls, and when it comes to sand bass spring spawn; you should see the big fat girl fish! This is not more evident than over in East Texas and the Houston, Texas, area right now. The cold that is hiting here today will reach all the way to Houston in the next 24-hours, but looking at the forecast shows it to still be about fifteen degrees warmer there than here on the grassy plains. Photographs from Houston Fly Fishing look a lot like the ditch fishing we do here in spring, but there’s one big difference – the creeks have water, and they’re catching fish! Follow Danny Scarborough on Instagram at HoustonFlyFishing. He’s tuned in to the creeks and lakes, and available for bookings.
CENTRAL TEXAS SPRING LARGEMOUTH BASS WAKING UP
Move on down to Austin, Texas, and the fly fishers at Allwater Guides, and these guys are already on to spectacular Colorado River largemouth bass. This group of Orvis Endorsed Guides will put you on the fish, and if you are a regular reader here, you know I believe that Austin, Texas, and the surrounding area, is the epicenter of the Texas fly fishing scene.
TEXAS GULF COAST COUNTING BLESSINGS
If you look at the track of these storms that sweep across Texas and then to the Eastern Seaboard of the USA, you will see that there’s little impact to the south of a line that (liberally) runs from Austin to Houston. That means a huge majority of the Texas Gulf Coast has been spared the ice, snow and cold weather that blasts through here and on to the Deep South and then Eastern USA. Even though they are spared the blasts we are getting, you will find fish mostly on the transitions – where the Intracoastal rolls up shallower, or in the guts. Fish are also being found on the humps and edges of oysters, but for fly fishers these are arguably the the most difficult days of the year.
We’ve been blessed for the better part of three decades on the Texas Gulf Coast – for not having one of those historic coastal freezes that triggers a huge fish kill event. (I quietly wonder how many of us realize that TPWD stocks redfish on our Gulf Coast.) Economically, the blessings of no hurricanes continue on the Texas Coast as well. But to think that last blessing will go on forever is naive at best, foolhardy at worst. To me, it smells like we’re in for one (a hurricane) this year. Locally, I hear, “What we need is a hurricane,” when it comes to drought relief around these parts. No, WE really don’t. People die, and the destruction lasts a lot longer than the benefits to the watersheds does (see TFC articles on conservation please).
Be sure to check in with Scott Null, Scott Sommerlatte and Eric Glass if you are looking for top shelf Texas Gulf Coast guiding services. These guys have virtually abandoned updating their websites, but they can be found on Facebook (yeah, Facebook has been down behind the scenes lately) for better or worse – all the time.
THE KAYAK SCENE
I have been spending a little more time and effort on the kayak lately, and was surprised to see there’s actually a kayak bass tournament in Lubbock, Texas, of all places! IF YOU are in West Texas, you don’t have to be a fly fisher to compete in these kayak “fishing” tournaments (not a “fly” event), and it appears that with the economy picking up, so are the opportunities to pit yourself against other kayak fishers – all across Texas – in several tours and events.
While the general economy may be on the go, I am still working my way along to get past kayaks and into boats, and the gear I am coming up with for kayaks these days will be transferred over to a boat when that time does come. I’ll bring readers into the loop on the technology that is coming online this year, on kayak, and maybe it will help inform you on what to consider and what to avoid.
HOUSTON BOUND
Things will get a little sketchy around the TFC site in the next few days, as we hit the road, and visit the Houston Fishing Show, dodge weather bullets, and maybe get free and clear to find some of that sand bass on fly action around Houston. If YOU want the most up-to-the-minute reporting, you’ll want to tune into Texas Fly Caster Instagram or TexasFlyCaster Twitter for that information.
I am looking for some “cultural enlightenment” while in the Houston area, so if you know of any locations or events (think art or brewery or feeding), please feel free to let me know via e mail or text me at the number 8040-083-049. Think backwards please.
Category: Adventure, Central Texas, Fishing Reports, Flats Boats, Guides, kayaking, On The Road, Saltwater Fly Fishing Texas, TECHNICAL, Texas Gulf Coast, Texas Hill Country
