Community Park Fishing

A chunky green sunfish

This morning my wife was helping with coordinating a car wash fundraiser for the high school band so I had the kids. I told my son and youngest daughter to get dressed as I was going to take them to a local park with a couple of ponds that we haven't been to in a long time.

I used to fish this park years ago and it used to contain large brim and some decent bass but droughts and then a really bad flood years ago changed it and seemed to have wiped out most of the bass. The park went through a renovation last year with a new club house with deck, sidewalks, new playscape, parking and boulders placed along the pond shore for small casting decks. It is quite nice now but how was the fishing?

These little guys were super colorful ... and fun!

I only took my son's Albright 5wt fly rod as I wanted him to practice his casting and catch some brim. We started with the quick reminder lesson. His false casts had nice tight looks but whenever he made his final cast, he would drop the tip and open up the loop so we worked on that. It was also very windy which for any fly fisher is a pain. He soon started catching small brim quite regularly.

After a while, he mentioned going over to the second pond on the other end of the park. The only problem with that pond is that except for one spot, it is surrounded by trees. Of course, the one spot faces into the wind so casting was a challenge. However, he was catching some better quality brim. He ended up landing a big green sunfish as well as small bass for some of the better catches from this spot. After a couple hours being at the park, regularly catching brim, we all got hungry and left to get pizza for lunch.

I enjoyed taking the kids out to the park and watching my son fish. I hope to do this again soon.

Fishing on the Llano RIver

I have today and tomorrow off. Originally, I was planning to go down to the coast to fish the Laguna Madre but my cousin called and said we would have to postpone. So, since I still had the time off, I decided to fish a river that I have been wanting to for some time, the Llano. With some information from the Fly Fishing the Texas Hill Country book about the access points available. I picked a section along a low water crossing off CR-103 just west of the town of Llano.

It was a nice hour and a half drive out to Llano this morning and the access point was easy to find. Presumably the deeper water was upstream from the crossing so I put in there and fished to about 500 yards upstream.

The water is very clear and it makes it hard to determine the depth of the water. Fish get easily spooked in clear water as well so I was going to have to be careful. I noticed a lot of baby frogs so I tied on a Gurgler top water fly. This fly would turn out to be pretty productive. I ended up catching about 8 or so small largemouth and Guadalupe bass along with several brim. A couple of bass really killed the Gurgler when I dropped it on the water. In one section, I paddled right over a hole that held a 2 pound bass. In retrospect, I should have fished it before paddling over it. Oh well.


This river has a lot of granite along it and unlike the San Gabriel, it tends to be wide in most parts. I also noticed that not a lot of trees line the river bank which is something I really like about the San Gabriel. Comparisons aside, I liked fishing this river and hope to do so again.

Later in the morning a southerly wind started to really pick up making it difficult to stay in one spot (in some wide open sections I was getting blown upstream) and cast well so I headed back to the low water bridge as I was getting hungry.

On the way back through Llano, I stopped at the famous Cooper's Old Time Pit BBQ restaurant. I got some sausage and brisket and a large cup of sweet iced tea. The place was packed! That was a great way to end the adventure this morning!

Fall is almost upon us

Early yesterday morning I headed to fish one of my favorite spots on the San Gabriel river. The morning air temperature was pleasant. A sign that autumn is almost here.

As I got out to unload my gear at the low water crossing, I could here gunfire all around. Another sign that fall is almost here. Dove season started on September 1 here in Texas and hunters were out in force this morning.

As I unloaded my kayak, there was also the unmistakable stench of something dead. Nearby in a ditch, there was a young dead pit bull puppy partially covered by a cloth. I am not sure if someone dumped him there or if he got run over. Regardless, I hate seeing that sort of thing.

As I paddled and waded two miles upriver to my destination, shotgun blasts continued all the way. Like I said, the hunters were out in force. About 5 or 6 years ago, I was fishing a small lake early in the morning that was near some property where some dove hunters were close by. So close in fact that as they shot up at the doves, the pellets rained down around me. No harm but just strange.

When I got to my destination, I tied on a black and purple #4 cactus shrimp and cast it to a spot along the opposite bank that looked "bassy". On my second cast, the line started moving down river. Fish on! I then saw what looked like a 3lb bass shoot upriver and head to a broken piece of concrete pipe and he pulled hard and then he broke me off at the 10lb tippet! Dang!

I caught a few small bass here and there but never saw the 3lb bass again. I also had spotted gar taking swipes at my flies. One surprise was catching a nice Rio Grande Cichlid. I think this is the first I have caught this year. I've caught several in past years. I find the turquoise dots on their body to be a really nice color.

On my paddle back, I ran across a father and son in WS Tarpon 120 kayak. His 7 or so year old son had a small fishing pole with him. We exchanged hellos and asked how each did. Apparently, the boy did really well and had a limit of bass on a stringer. Pretty impressive and they likely had a tasty lunch. I thought that was such as great lesson being taught to another generation.

It was a great morning on the water. The river had a bit more algae and color to it than in the spring but all in all still running which was a blessing. I hope to get out fishing again soon.

The river changes yet stays the same

I haven't been to the San Gabriel river since the first week of January. I had a chance to go out there this morning so I packed up my flies and 5wt and got there at 8am.

Water felt really good on a warm, muggy morning. Rains from a week ago look to have washed away some gravel bars and reshaped the river, widening it somewhat.

I paddled up to the first pool and caught a small bass and a couple of brim. I saw a lot of spotted gar in the area so I tried to sight cast to them just for the challenge since they looked hungry. It was windy so several times, the wind would "feather" the surface making it very difficult to find the fish. I did get a couple of gar to chase my fly and take a swipe at it but no hook ups.

I continued upriver and passed a couple of guys dragging a small canoe downriver as we walked on the shallow flats. I got to deeper water and continued the paddle upriver to a favorite spot I call "The Narrows" because it is a section where the river narrows for a small length. Above it is a S shaped chute. This place usually hold a lot of fish (bass, brim, carp, catfish, and gar) because it is like a conveyor belt of prey for these guys. They just park and wait for something to sweep by.

At the narrows, I caught another small bass. After catching it, I looked down and saw what I thought was a carp at first but it turned out to be a huge river bass! It looked around 4 to 5 pounds. It then disappeared into the deeper, darker water along the opposite bank. All attempts to coax it back out failed. I walk up a little to the S chute to try my luck there.

I like this part because as the water comes down and turns, there is a pool on the opposite side of slow water. I like to cast my fly in there because there are usually predators there. I picked up couple of nice brim and then as I cast to the exposed roots of a tree, I got a really good hit and the fish swam into the current, putting a nice bend in my 5wt. I played the fish to the bank and lipped a nice healthy 1.5lber! It seems this bass and the brim liked the #4 chartreuse bucktail clouser minnow I was using.

After a mom and dad and couple of young kids all paddled by in their individual kayaks, I ended up making my way downstream to head home for lunch.

It was nice to get out again and nicer still actually catching some fish. I hope I get another chance soon.

Smells great to me

I took a vacation day today from work in order to go fishing. It has seemed like ages since I have been fishing. Since we had gotten some decent rain last weekend I decided to see what the San Gabriel river looked like.

I got to the low water crossing just before 8am and noticed a little algae and the smell of, well, zoo water. You know the smell from the man made streams at the zoos. That smell. No matter, it smells like the outdoors; take it in!

I headed upstream and found some muddying carp and spent what seemed like twenty minutes trying to get a take. Nothing. I moved on further up the river.

I fished above some rapids and eventually landed a small bass. He looked like he had some sort of skin problem as it had red sores on the body and tail. I spent some more time at the pool but nothing. I moved on further up the river.

Traveling upstream I could see lots of silt on the limestone bottom. It seems that the river keeps getting nastier and nastier every year. I recall when the river looked so pristine (and didn't smell like zoo water).

On some flats I found a tailing carp and started stalking it low to the water. I took a shot and my leader touch it. Spooked the carp. :-(

I found a couple other carp in the shallows but kept alerting them and so they would just swim off out of range.

Continuing on I ran into schools of spotted gar. Most less than a couple of feet long though as I paddled quietly I spooked one that was at least three feet long and looked like a fat torpedo. Whoa!

I finally made it to a narrowing in the river and beached the kayak. This area has always been great for bass and catfish. After a few casts I had a bass. For the next hour it was brim and bass at a good pace. I caught more than a dozen bass with a couple over 2 pounds. One of the bass regurgitated a baitfish when I started removing the fly. Smelled good!

That ain't no tongue with eyes mister!

It started getting pretty hot around noon and knowing I had a long paddle and wade back to the low water crossing I headed back out. As I paddled back under the shade of the huge trees along the shore, I would hear the loud buzzing of swarms of bees working the flowering plants. I also saw a large deer dash into the thicket ahead of me. Cool!

Too bad y'all can't smell me now (especially after pulling the kayak out through that nutrient rich black river mud). It smells like I've been fishing!

Easter fishing

Last night we went to Easter vigil mass and today on Easter Sunday we spent the entire day with family, had a great lunch, and the kids had the traditional Easter egg hunt. Later that afternoon I took my son and youngest daughter out to the YMCA lake for some more practice with his fly rod.

Not surprisingly there were some families out there enjoying the park as well as fishing. We found a spot in the shade and my son proceeded to cast and fish. During all of this, I tried offering advice to correct issues I saw but otherwise he was fishing. It didn't take long before the first bluegill hookup!

He caught another fish and we moved around a bit and worked on the casting in the meantime and tried a few different flies.

After discussing some strategies about fishing the edges of weed lines, my son caught his third little bluegill. This one was the smallest of the bunch and this is the one he wanted a photo of to show just how small it was.

Check out my cool fish bone polo shirt!

We started getting hungry so after walking around the park for a bit checking out future fishing spots, we headed home for dinner. It was another successful and fun trip.

Son's first fish on the fly rod

I went with my two youngest kids out to the small lake by the local YMCA to give my son some additional casting lessons with his fly rod.

While my youngest daughter ran around and played, my son assembled his two piece 5wt and I showed him how to properly pass the fly line through the guides and we selected a fly and tied it to the end of the leader.

It had been some time since we had last tried casting and we had to focus once more on the pickup, sudden stop, line control, keeping the loop intact, removing slack and stripping. Lots of things to remember.

One lesson that was learned was to mind your backcast as the first fly was lost to an oak tree behind us. We then moved to a small fishing platform along the shoreline.

The platform offered better casting and we decided to cast towards the shore where we saw small baitfish getting spooked. As I was showing him to how to get the line right up to the shore, I got a nibble so I was positive we would get a hookup.

After a few casts my son hooked a small bluegill! First fish on the fly! He was pretty happy and so was I.

We spent some more time casting but we received no additional bites. He started jigging the fly along the edge of the platform and we could see brim approaching the fly but no commitment. We tried several different flies yet nothing worked for him.

It started getting dark and I rounded up both kids and we headed home. Both declared they had fun so that made me happy. I would love it if we could get more rain so that I can take my son on a river trip where he try for some bass on the fly. That would be very nice.

Arkansas Bend at Lake Travis

I think the last time I went fishing around Arkansas Bend at Lake Travis was probably a year ago. I did fish a different part of the lake in February though. Driving down the road as I approached the lake from the top of a hill, I could tell that the water level was low once again. I hoped that the water temperature was the only other thing that fallen in the hopes this would start giving the fish the idea Autumn is approaching and to start feeding aggressively.

According to lake level data, the lake is down by around 22 feet. A couple of years ago we had a really bad drought where the lake dropped by almost 40 feet. Thanks to rains in the spring of 2007, the lake recovered nicely.

I was able to park on the shore which is normally underwater and launch my kayak in calm, clear water. The air temperature was around 70 degrees and water was warmer than that at about 81 degrees. A power boat had started working the point where I was launch and the angler caught a nice bass on what looked to be a spinnerbait as I was paddling to the next point.

The first fly I tied on was a size #2 Gurgler top water fly in yellow and orange. It wasn't long before I had a bite. It was a big brim. As I worked the point I kept catching these big brim and seemed that each was bigger than the rest. I was really hoping for a bass.

I entered a nearby cove and worked my way around it and continued to catch big brim on minnow flies and managed one small bass. I then moved on and started working around the swimming platforms. Same pattern occurred on all of them as I would catch big brim along the shady side of the platform.

As I was undoing a knot on my fly line I felt a large tug and thought I had finally caught a decent bass. It tuned out to be a really big coppernose which is a hybrid type bluegill found in the lake that can be identified by a copper or golden color near the top of its head.

As I looked up I saw a big roadrunner trying to catch a meal along the grass and I paddled my way back.

Before leaving for the day, I started fishing around the point where my truck was located trying to catch a decent size bass. I was stripping my minnow back to the kayak when I saw not one but a school of four bass following it! They looked to have been about two pounds each! But they continued to follow it to the kayak, saw me and departed. Nuts!

I decided to switch to a black woolly bugger and work it slowly. After a few casts I felt some resistance and was fighting a very nice Guadalupe bass. I netted it, photographed and admired it and then released it. I fished for a little while longer but it was tough with all the ski boats, cigar boats and personal water craft making lots of waves and stirring up the bottom so I got out and headed home.

It was beautiful morning to be fishing on the lake. The water was a pretty green color and fish were caught. I'm not sure I could ask for anything more though I am hoping we get some rain soon so the lakes don't get any lower. I'll try fishing the lake after the next real cold front and hopefully I will catch some more bass.

Nice day to fish and explore Brushy Creek

It seems like we are almost done with summer. Clear nights and drier air are making for cooler nights. This morning was really nice so I headed out to the same spot at Brushy Creek with the hope of also exploring further upstream this time.

Not long after getting in the water I caught a small green sunfish and while drifting the black foam spider down the center of the creek, I caught a nice little bass that shot straight up out of the water and I had to maintain pressure on so it wouldn't wrap itself around a rock or branch along the shoreline.

Typical of a river bass, it fought hard but eventually gave in and I brought it to hand. It was about 12 inches long and spunky. The fish was cool to the touch as were all the other fish I caught as the water flowing through the shade of the trees was also cool.

Moving upstream, I caught more green sunfish and another small bass. In a new-to-me narrow section that had a pool between two and three feet deep I finally caught another Rio Grande Cichlid. This one seemed a little different than others and I wonder if maybe it had bred with some other fish though I am positive it is a Rio as you can see from the photo.

About this time, a deer bolted from the brush and scared the crap out of me. Of course there are so many deer in the area that I was bound to come across one. I kept on.

I eventually got to a fork and stayed to the left until I got to a wide and slower section of the creek and could see small catfish but was not able to entice one. I caught some more green sunfish that were big enough that I could stick my thumb in the their mouths to lip them. I headed back downstream and caught a few more sunfish before leaving.

It was a lovely time on the water. I saw blooming red salvia plants along the shore and big red crayfish in the clear water. Vultures were perched high up in one of the trees. Some golden and red leaves occasionally dropped to the water so I expect Autumn is not to far off.

As soon as Fall weather starts to come, I really need to revisit my old fishing spots on Lake Travis. I look forward to it.

Rio Fest on Brushy Creek

Having grown up in deep south Texas, a.k.a. the Rio Grande Valley, I am aware that the city of Harlingen has an annual festival called RioFest that occurs in the spring. Today I had a rio fest of my own but it was in no way related to the one just mentioned.

This afternoon, I decided to beat the close to 100 degree heat by wet wading the cool tree lined waters of Brushy Creek. I had gotten a tip from Chris at the Living Waters fly shop on Saturday of new spot to try.

This new spot was nice. There was plenty of room to cast the 8'6" 4wt I brought with me. I was in the water around 5pm and proceeded to wade and fish upstream. After a few casts drifting a black foam spider, I caught a tiny bass. I then caught a green sunfish.

Not long after having caught a few more green sunfish, I caught a nice Rio Grande Cichlid. This made the fourth one this year. Two of the other three had been caught in this same creek though further downstream and the other on the San Gabriel river.

The Rios can be pretty fish and kind of ugly at other times. They have brilliant turqoise spots all over and black bars or large dots closer to their tails. They have bright yellow eyes as well. I have seen some that have had what look like red bumps or sores along both sides of their bodies. Some look half black and half ash white while in the water but look a bit different once removed from the water. It is an interesting species to run across.

About 100 yards downstream I saw a man and little girl walking in the water so I started moving upstream. I continued catching green sunfish, small bass, and an occasional redbreast sunfish. However, I also caught two more Rios which sort of surprised me.

I headed upstream about another 200 yards and caught two more Rio Grande Cichlids. This made a total of five Rio Grande Cichlids which is the most I have ever caught at any one time and this was only in two hours of fishing. By contrast, last year I think I only caught two.

I recorded the spots where I caught the Rios to memory in case a fishing buddy ever wants to record a new unique species to try and catch on the fly.

The Rio Grande is a rare prize for some fly fishers. It is also selective on the flies it takes. I was able to catch them mostly on a #10 olive bead head nymph and on a #10 orange and pearl Cypert's mylar minnow.

It was refreshing to be in cool running water again and I am very thankful to have caught some fish that I don't get to catch that often. I'll be back some other day for sure. Maybe I will have my own annual Rio Fest, too.

Exploring Brushy Creek

About a 15 minute drive from the house runs a creek through some scenic views that I have been meaning to explore. So, I took my 4wt and decided to fish it for a bit for about an hour or two before lunch.

We had some rain a few days ago that were remnants of Hurricane Dolly yet the creek was running clear. The area I tried had had trees surrounding each bank and above it. In some spots the creek was somewhat narrow but casting was not hindered too much.

Wading downstream I was surprised with the depth of the water. I had figured it was going to be really shallow but there were some areas where the water went above my knees. This is of course more than adequate for a largemouth bass to lie in ambush for a woolly bugger.

I caught a couple of really bright orange spotted fish which I think were Pumpkinseeds, and some green sunfish along with a Rio Grande Cichlid. I could see beds in lots of places plus bass patrolling around these beds.

Farther downstream I found a hole that contained a school of dozens of baby catfish. In this hole were a couple of good size bass over one pound that were mingling among the catfish school. I wasn't able to catch either after switching out flies several times.

It was getting to be noon and I was really hungry so I went back upstream and left. I expect to be back to this creek and next time explore the upstream section.

One reason I had come to this creek was because of what I had heard about carp being in there though I did not find any in the small section I explored.

Rivers of Texas Rally

This weekend brings probably over 50,000 motorcycle enthusiasts to the Republic of Texas (ROT) Rally here in Austin. While all those bikers were heading into town, I headed to the San Gabriel river instead with my kayak and 6wt and it turned into a rally of sorts there as well.

I got to the low water crossing at Highway 29 and CR100 around 8am and found three fisherman there. Two were loading up kayaks and the third was wading and casting with a fly rod. I went up to the first two to say good morning and then put together my stuff and started paddling towards the third angler.

I greeted him and started talking with him for a bit. As it turned out he belonged to the Austin Fly Fishers club. It turns out we both knew some of the same folks. One name I mentioned was a fishing pal of one of the guys that had launched their kayak before me. It also turned out that they all worked for IBM. Wow, small world since so do I. I wished him well and paddled upriver.

I came upon the second fly fisher in the kayak and told him I knew, actually worked in the same department with, his best pal. Apparently the guy we mutually knew moved to Boston not long ago but he still keeps in touch. After chatting for a while I headed upstream passing a couple of guys fishing from shore.

At the pool above the rapids I encountered a man and his son bowfishing for carp. For those not familiar with this sport, one uses a regular bow but with an arrow with a special tip that folds back when it penetrates the fish and opens back up after it goes through. The arrow has a line attached that is wound on a spool with a reel that is attached to the bow. The carp is reeled in sort of like when using a rod and reel. The only obvious difference is there is never such a thing as "catch and release" with this method. Although you can eat carp, typically they are ground up for fertilizer.

I continued paddling upstream avoiding to get near the bow fishing duo. After reaching my destination a half mile upstream, I cast a sort of wooly bugger looking fly that is really meant for redfish and caught the bass pictured above on that first cast. I caught several more small bass and lost one that was really nice and was putting a nice bend in my 6wt. After a while I noticed a couple of kayaks downstream so I put my gear up and started paddling back downstream.

It turns out that in one of those kayaks was an angler that frequents the forums at texaskayakfisherman.com so I stopped by and said hello and chatted with him and his wife for a short while. We talked about how nice and peaceful it was fishing in that section of the river. I mentioned to his wife that I had seen a large raccoon on the paddle upstream before it retreated into the woods. After a while I bid them good luck and kept going back downstream.

I fished the next pool for a while catching yet more bass and other sunfish and then I saw one of the fly fishers approaching. I went over and he was stalking carp. He had caught one below the rapids and was looking for another in the pool. We tied on a damselfly nymph and while I was making my way through the rapids he caught another carp! I need to tie up some of those flies!

On the way out at the low water crossing, I found the first fly fisher that had been wading earlier in the morning and he was waiting for his buddies. They weren't all that far behind me and while I was loading up my gear in the truck we talked for a bit and he invited me for a cold beer after they loaded up. I told him I had to pass. Can you imagine if I get home and my wife smells beer on my breath? Oh no boy!

I haven't had so much social interaction on the river like this in a long while. It was kind of nice. However, I am glad that I didn't find 50,000 anglers in the river this morning. I would still be there saying hello to everyone.

Another Bass Sunday

I set off once again this morning to my favorite hole on the San Gabriel river. The target species would be bass so I took along my trusty 6wt and some bass flies I have tied.

I got there around 8 a.m. and started paddling upstream to find a fly fisherman wading in the river. We talked a bit and he said he had caught a couple of bass on poppers earlier. I told him I was heading upstream and wished him luck.

About 400 yards upstream, I ran into a kayak angler and he hadn't had much luck yet. I told him a few spots to try and wished him luck as I continued paddling upstream.

I finally reached the rapids and proceeded to catch small largemouth and Guadalupe bass. I saw plenty of carp and tried several times for some of those but was rejected. Besides bass, I did manage several red breasted sunfish.

I also lost a lot of flies today; mostly to overhanging trees. I may have to start tying some of the last of the ones I lost, such as the black Zonker Bonker I broke off.

On my way back out, I met up with the other kayak angler who had done well catching bass on one particular timber laydown.

It was another good dayto be out on the river. One good thing about fishing in a river like this when the sun is hot is you can fish in the shade of the large trees growing along the shore. Getting in the water to wade is also refreshing. It's much nicer than fishing on a large lake and I'll be back again though I will likely try one of my other spots along the river next time.

I think I need to get my son a fly rod

This afternoon I took my son to the pond for an hour of fishing before dinner. I took my 4wt and he took his spinning rod and worms.

We both started catching brim soon after getting there though I caught a few more while he re-baited his hooks with worms. After a while, he asked me for a fly. At first, I told him to stick to the worms. He asked me again so I took out my fly box and let him choose a fly. He chose a white #8 Cypert's mylar minnow. I tied it on and adjusted his float a bit higher. I figured in a few minutes we would be back to the worm hook and worms.

To my surprise, a short time later he hooked a sunfish! This went on several times and some of the brim he caught were pretty good sized! I kept wondering just how he did this. It seemed that his casts were near the fountain in the center of the pond that circulates the water. Near it you get some wave action so apparently the minnow under the float would jig up and down and possibly looked like an injured or dying fish and the big brim couldn't stand it!

Well, after a while we had to leave but I am now seriously considering a fly rod for this boy. If he's willing to try a fly on a spinning rod, I might as well replace the spinning rod with a fly rod and complete the package. I may have to research some fly rods for him and possibly take a trip to Cabela's and see what fly rod combo kits they have in a 5wt.

My son caught a bass!

This weekend I took my kids to the pond a couple of afternoons. My son continues to outfish me with his spinning tackle.

I did manage to catch a few bass on Friday afternoon that were all pretty small along with some nice brim. However, my son definitely caught more brim.

On Sunday afternoon we went back and continued to catch more brim and a few small bass.

I decided to move across the pond and leave my son in his favorite spot. Then I heard him call me and I noticed his rod was bent over deeply. He caught a bass! It made one splash and then made a run for some heavy vegetation and snapped the 6lb line on my son's reel. Even though he didn't land it, he was really excited and so was I. I instructed him what to do if this happened again which was to try and steer the fish to shallow water without vegetation if he could without pulling too hard on the line. We estimate the bass was around 2 1/2 pounds. It was his first sizable largemouth.

It wasn't much later than I also hooked a largemouth bass on my 4wt that I had to work out of the vegetation a couple of times but was able to land safely. I estimate it was a healthy 1 1/2 to 2lb fish. Snapped this photo and released it.

Again, my son outfished me both in numbers and with a larger bass. He asked me if there was a place we could go to catch big bass now that he had a taste of what it feels like catching one. I'll have to consider this question carefully.

Windy day fishing

I had promised my son to take him back to the pond one last time before he goes back to school tomorrow. I picked up some night crawlers from Wally world and we headed to the pond for an hour as we had to be back early.

The conditions today were cloudy skies and windy. I decided to still take along my 2wt as I would try to keep the wind behind me.

The night crawlers I bought were huge and so we had to cut them up into chunks that would fit on the size 10 hook my son was using. It was a dirty job but once we did that, my son started catching fish.

We found a corner of the pond where the wind was to our back and was a bit more sheltered that I could cast well enough. It also happened to contain plenty of bluegill so we stayed in that area for the entire time.

As I was bringing in a rather large bluegill, I saw what looked like a 2lb bass cruising like a shark near the struggling bluegill. I called my son over and we saw the bass take the entire bluegill in its mouth and start heading to deeper water! My 2wt started bending deeply and then the bass released the bluegill though it kept close to it until I pulled it from the water and released it.

Even though today was a short outing, it was still a fun and memorable time with the kids.

Pond fishfest

On Friday I took my son and youngest daughter to the same pond we went to last weekend. The day turned out to be a very warm day with temperatures reaching into the 90s. We waited until about an hour before sunset to start fishing as by then there was some shade available and the fish should be eager to bite.

Earlier in the day, we had stopped at a trading store in town and picked up some red worms and so this was the primary bait for today. It took my son a while to figure out how to keep the worms from falling off the hook. Eventually, once he did, he caught his first fish of the day; a small bluegill.

My son continued catching bluegills pretty steadily. They were small at first and progressively got bigger. There are some really big 'gills in that pond! We also saw a huge crawfish walking along the shoreline.

My daughter found a friend to play with at the pond. Another gentleman had showed up at the pond to fish and brought his daughter that looked to be 4 or 5. My daughter, being a socialite, went over to make a new friend and they basically ran around the pond searching for plastic lures and playing with the worms.

Since my son was doing really well on his own, I decided to take my 4wt to fish along with him. I was using a size 8 Cypert minnow fly and caught so many bluegills in the 7" to 9" size that I lost count. We did catch one small green sunfish but primarily the pond was filled with healthy bluegill. I did also catch one small bass and I figure there are much larger bass in there but I didn't managed any.

Sunset came around and it started getting dark. My son didn't want to leave. As the frogs started to sing, I switched over to a small Gurgler top water fly and as soon as it hit the water, I caught another big bluegill. Eventually I couldn't see my cast around 8:20pm and I told the kids it was time to leave. My son asked me if I had any of my headlamps in the truck so we could keep fishing. I told him we would come back some other day.

While I was packing up the rods and the worms, the kids rolled each other down the steep grass embankment.

I intend to take the kids one more time this weekend before their spring break vacation comes to an end. It is supposed to be pretty windy today with gusts in the 20 to 30mph category. I hope not since that pond would be great to try my 2wt on. I'll post up later as to how today's trip went. Hopefully, it will be as good or better than Friday's.

At the pond with my son

Last weekend I took my son to Cabelas so he could pick out a new fishing rod/reel combo. We ended up selecting a new 6' spinning rod and reel combo made by Quantum. Today we took it out to a new pond to give it a test drive.

As is a policy of mine, when taking the kids fishing I myself don't fish so that I can devote my time to coaching them.

We picked up some small meal worms and proceeded to fish the pond. It is essentially a retention pond about a 1/4 acre in size at the entrance of a subdivision. I was told it held sizable bluegill so I thought we should take a look.

In the middle of the pond is a large fountain that I expect circulates the water to reduce algae growth. The center of the pond seems at least to be three feet deep. My son started fishing on one end where we had seen some fish as we came close to the pond. However, after about 10 minutes or so we moved on to the opposite end.

While I was checking the count of meal worms we had, my son caught the first bluegill which was fairly nice sized. We photographed and released it.

We moved around the pond and had one other bite in the hour and a half we were there. Even though the fishing was slow, we observed the shoreline of the pond had hundreds of snail shells along it as well as baby frogs jumping into the water as we walked by.

It was a good time and I was very happy taking my son out. It's spring break for his school this week so I plan to have a couple more outings. We might even try fishing for white bass in one of the rivers in which they come in about this time of the year to spawn. I'll have to check the reports though before heading out there.

The next generation fisherman

This afternoon, I asked my kids if they wanted to go fishing. The youngest two said "Yes!". Last weekend I took them briefly to the YMCA lake without any luck but this time we were going to a neighborhood park and we were going to give meal worms under a float a try.

Before we left, I had stopped by the local pet shop for a cup of meal worms but all they had were the "super" worms. They were a bit big but since that is all they had and sunset was going to be approaching soon, I got them anyways.

I rigged up a small spinning rod for my son and the pink Barbie pole for my daughter and we headed to the park.

The day had turned out to be a pleasant day with temperatures in the 60s. We walked around the pond looking for fish. I decided to every once in a while throw a meal worm in the water and see what happened. In one spot, soon after the meal worm would hit the water, you would see a swirl appear and the meal worm would get sucked into the vortex. I told my son to cast into the vortex and we waited.

Not long afterwards, the float went below the water surface and start taking off. It was a nice sunfish! I had my son bring in the fish and we snapped a photo of this nice 8 1/2" to 9" Green Sunfish and then released it.

My daughter, however, seemed to be more interested in exploring the park and had abandoned her Barbie pole. My son was intent on catching more fish though the "super" meal worms were fascinating him.

We moved to a different spot and found fish but given the size of the worms, the smaller sunfish would grab the tail but not the hook and so we had a lot of false strikes.

As the sun started setting and we were out of worms, I told the kids we were heading home. My son was disappointed as he wanted to continue fishing. While in the truck he asked me about building his own spinning rod which is something we discussed last weekend. He was still interested in doing that. I am still looking for an inexpensive kit for an ultralight spinning rod.

Just before bedtime tonight, my son asked me if we could go fishing tomorrow. I told him that tomorrow is a school day and he answered, "What about after school?". I responded, "We'll see".

I am getting the impression that my son is now coming into his own passion as I did about fishing. So it looks like this year I will be devoting much more time to fueling this passion by taking him with me more often. It also seems like I have some work to do with my daughter. ;-)

Sardine sized trout? Not for me thanks!

This past Wednesday, Texas Parks & Wildlife stocked San Gabriel City Park with approximately 2,500 rainbow trout. I decided to go yesterday afternoon to check out the scene.

While there were several folks there fishing from shore, there were a couple in canoes. I decide to just paddle around and investigate. The water was clear yet I didn't spot any schooling rainbows or see anyone pulling any fish out. So I just paddled back and decided I would fish a spot downstream from the park past the retention dam/falls and a low water bridge. On my way out someone cast an in-line spinner across my bow and I barely avoid getting hooked. This was confirmation that it would not only be nicer fishing somewhere more secluded but safer.

Below the bridge, you can wade and paddle downstream and it becomes really scenic and sometimes feels quite secluded. On my way down, I spotted what looked like a rainbow trout no longer than 7 inches long. It looks as if some had made it over the falls. However, having caught some that size last year, they were all not that impressive fighters so I decided to pass. I headed further downstream to fish below riffles and rapids for bass and brim instead.

The water was so nice and clear and the temperature seemed to be in mid 60s. It was cool but not really cold. A lot of the algae was gone and the rocks below the clear water looked like granite to me. Before, with silt and algae clinging to it, I wasn't sure if they were just limestone or not.

Long story short, I caught several feisty Guadalupe bass, Largemouth bass, and some nice brim. I caught one beauty that was 9 inches long and it fought hard in the rapids and put a nice bend in my 4wt.

On my way back out, I found a young fly fisher wading near where I saw the small rainbow and he was apparently catching and keeping them. I circled wide behind him to the opposite side of the river to avoid disturbing him and the the rainbows. I wanted to tell him that when he got tired of catching hatchery fish that he could wade downstream and tangle with some wild bass and brim and have more fun but I was in hurry to get home to get ready for a Christmas party so I let him be. Maybe I'll see him out there again.