Thanks Goes Out to the Red River Fly Fishers Club
#flyfishing texas fly fishing for carp
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT at RRFF Last Night
Thank you to the members and guests last night at the monthly meeting of the Red River Fly Fishers club out of Sherman, Texas! I imagine they were slightly surprised at the content of the “Carp on Fly 2014 – Update,” and the wide focus on Texas water policy and problems. The intent of the multimedia presentation is to report and inform, so any inadvertent opinions that may have surfaced – are strictly my own. Thanks to those of you purchasing the Coyote Carp Flies as well!
As I reported, and you have been reading here, we are running a bit behind the seasonal calendar*, but I see rising hope for new habitat as the water goes down. I think we can still make a silk purse out of this sow’s ear of a drought, and will explain that in more detail later this week – I need to create a new illustration for that.
*Rather than a full-lenght spring in ’14, I think we are looking at a “compressed” spring fishing season – shorter, more disorganized and less intense — then straight into summer!
DENISON DAM & LAKE TEXOMA
Just up the road from the evening meeting in Sherman yesterday, there waited Lake Texoma and Denison Dam. I took a look, and threw a line at both. It was great casting practice, but not much more. The boat ramp at the dam is shut down due to water levels, and although it’s easy to see several feet below the surface along the rocks and outlook area, there are no fish to see – roaming, hanging, chasing or dark shadows. And the same goes for the river below the Denison Dam.
After a long season of electricity generating water releases, apparently political pressure from Oklahoma politicians has put a stop to the draining of Texoma for electricity generation. Now, the once abundantly productive area below the Dam (in past years) is a calm (but still dangerously slippery) place with NO ONE there, no one fishing at all. That tells you exactly what’s going on there – ZERO. Don’t bother to burn that expensive gas, like I did!
GLEANING FROM THE MEETING
Expert fly fisherman, and kayak god, Jerry Hamon was at the Red River Fly Fishers meeting last night – and he was as proud as a Grandpa flashing phone photos – to show his new Native 9.5 Ultimate (out of production) supposedly for the grandkids, and tantalize us with few details of his recently ordered Native 12FX. You know how much I like the Native kayaks, so I really want to see more of this FX in person.
Jerry was also espousing the benefits of different fly colors for catching those moody river run carp and buffalo. First, try thinking white flies during the high sun times of day. Second, and I have been thinking on this one for awhile, red in your typical fly tying for carp can really improve your odds during the times when sun is more indirect.
RED is a color that is gaining a lot of momentum, and one that I started using, in small ways on flies, years back. In lakes, a carp’s taste for red is definitely part of seasonal offerings. NOW, I am tying a bunch of “one-offs” using red in different ways and volumes – on OLD FLY PATTERNS – just to test their success. Thanks Jerry, for sharing your knowledge.
NOTE – On the way home from the meeting last night, I drove through swarms of bugs, big ones, that drove home the fact – spring has sprung. Now, what kinds of bugs were they?
OTHER KAYAK FISHING NEWS
In a surprise move, my friend Shaun Russell, out of Valley View, Texas, and the best, most knowledgeable kayak conventional fisher I know around here, is leaving Dallas’ Mariner Sails to take a new job closer to home. He will be working at North Texas Marine, Gainesville, Texas. I am sure he won’t be giving up the kayak anytime soon, but if you’re looking for a boat …
END NOTE – Remember my old adage: See the fish. Be the fish. Catch the fish. Patience …
Category: Culture on the Skids, Fishing Reports, Fly Fishing For Carp, Fly Tying, Industry, kayaking, North Texas, Store Merchandise
Going to lake Texoma for the first time to go fishing next weekend and I couldn’t be more excited!