Two For Tuesday
fly fishing texas #flyfishing skiff lake ray roberts fishing
Welcome to your “Two for Tuesday” where we try and wrap two days into one single story. Actually, we’re going to wrap a few days into this one, and tie it up nice and tidy-like.
ON THE SKIFF
The Lagoon Skiff is running great, and has been on the water four of the past five days. It’s a bit of putzing around as the motor requires a “break-in” period of slower going. That said, weekdays on Lake Ray Roberts are … well, it’s like a ghost town mostly out there. There were a few boats out yesterday chasing sand bass slicks, and there were a few topwater blitzes that popped as well.
The skiff is performing quite well, and according to a friend I had out on the water Sunday (who’s been on, and owned a number of skiffs) – it works well. Good dry ride, shallow, silent approach, tracks on the pole and doesn’t beat you to death in the chop. That’s what I thought, but it is good to hear it from an independent source. If you are thinking about a Lagoon Skiff, feel free to contact me. I will say that this boat must have trim tabs to control the ride. They make the difference.
Unfortunately, there was a flaw in the placement of the pushpole holders, and the pole (borrowed from the same friend) — a Stiffy Hybrid — broke, nay exploded, in the holders while I was sitting in the marina waiting to load. Let’s just say all eyes (there were dozens) turned when they heard the sound, and I was fumbling around trying to keep both pieces afloat. To add insult to injury … I was sliding the pieces into the car to travel, and one of the broken ends literally “grazed” the dashboard and cut the dash wide open, okay about an inch wide cut. It looks like I’ll be owning this Stiffy Pushpole, but they are reparable – http://stiffypushpoles.com/stiffy-accessories/ferrule-kit-standard .
ON THE WATER
We did find some carp on Ray Roberts during the past few days, and largemouth bass after largemouth bass after largemouth bass … Ray Roberts is headed toward prominence in the bubba bass world in about three years, and I will be guiding you to them sooner and later …
The carp are acting kind of funny, lethargic, extremely happy (barrel rolls witnessed the last two days!), in big schools, big fish (8-pound class) and not eating a darn fly to save my life. They are so docile that I have rolled right over, by and past them on the skiff, and they act like locals watching the tourists – just hanging there and laughing all the way. Needless to say, I am calling in the Guru, and putting him on the platform this Friday. It is time to unravel this mystery.
Lake Ray Roberts looks like a scene from the original “Planet of the Apes” when you see the parks from the water – abandoned, submerged and beaten hard by the floods this summer. Places like Isle DuBois Park, are especially erie. And while there is a lot of water still up in the park, on the grass and vegetation, places I would expect carp to be, there are none. There are bass though, bass after bass, after bass, after bass … all sizes – from millions of fry, to some early and late fatties. (I haven’t been able to time out a fatty bass due to launching too late or needing to get back before dark, but it’s obvious they are there)
Along with the bass, after bass, after bass; there are bait balls the size of the skiff that seek the shade of the boat – in virtually every cove near Isle DuBois State Park. The small bass I’ve caught (while dangling a carp fly) have distended bellies on them. We’re talking epidemic childhood obesity here!
TALKING ABOUT “IT”
As many of the regular readers know, I am dealing with medical problems (I despise the word “issues”) these days, and we really haven’t reached the final verdict on how or when the entire surgery and treatment process will be undertaken. My lovely wife has taken it upon herself to do so much of the heavy lifting of research and gaining knowledge, and most importantly rallying my friends and family around for this upcoming war. The latest news came last Friday, once my ear-nose-throat doctor got a look at the spot that got lit by the PET Scan. Bottom line (which I like to cut to as quick as is practical) is that he said this form of cancer (in my throat) is in his words, “highly curable,” but I am also looking at the vaunted trifecta – surgery, radiation and chemo.
As I have said, I believe that a site like Texas Fly Caster should never be burdened with the heavy lifting of something so frail as a person’s specific health. And that dovetails with a thoughtful surprise of my wife (cancer coach) creating a website for talking about this at – http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/shannondrawe . Meanwhile, I sincerely appreciate my fly friends who have reached out to me (the invisible guy behind the curtain) to express their support and concerns about this. I guess I have not quite figured out how to NOT talk about something that could be helpful to someone down the line. So I should apologize if the “C” word offends you as I talk about it with the candidness of learning as I go. I am old enough to remember when “cancer” was only a whispered word in conversation – how times have changed.
If you DO want to read about this new adventure, feel free to check in at that website. I know the feeling of being out on the water is health giving for me, so you can count on more from the skiff – until somebody or my body says NO.
Category: Adventure, Body-Mind-Soul, Culture on the Skids, Fishing Reports, Flats Boats, North Texas
