Snowing in Central Texas

Got some of that weird white fluffy stuff today. Lake levels should be close to normal after it melts. Cool!

The passing of a great Texas fly fishing master

I was reading through Ken Morrow's blog today and saw the news that Allen Crise of Glen Rose, Texas passed away this week. I was really saddened by this news. Mr. Crise was one of the few Certified Master Casting Instructors in Texas. He was also my teacher for fly casting and fly tying when I took it up in 2004 and I imagine he probably taught a good number of my fellow Texas fly fisherman. He was a great gentlemen as well. My heart goes out to his family and friends. I'll really miss the man and never forget him.

A little mud on the boots

A couple of days ago I drove the four hours from my home near Austin to my cousin's house in Corpus Christi looking forward to a couple of nice days of fishing.

Right before 7:00am on Friday we got to Oso Bay and launched on a high tide. The water was brackish from quite a bit of water flowing in from Oso Creek due to recent rain. We almost got the truck stuck in the mud before we launched and later that day spent over $10 at the car wash trying to get most of that mud off the underside.

We paddled for a while and got to our destination and found a couple of wade fisherman there. One of them was doing well catching trout. I had a really difficult time catching anything. I hooked up once with something that put a deep bend in my rod and pulled drag only to do a long distance release of it. My cousin was doing quite well for himself with several trout on his stringer. I also caught a small multi-spotted redfish with a pink worm fly I was dragging on the bottom.

An hour into fishing, we heard some woots from the wade fisherman and turned to see them holding one of the largest trout I have ever seen! We went over to where they were to check it out. The boga grip read around 9 1/2 pounds! They measured it at around 31 1/2" long! It was a once in a lifetime speckled trout! The guys, visiting from Houston, were shaking from excitement and with one of their cameras I took a photo of the two holding the trout. I had left my camera in my dry bag in the kayak and kick myself for not having it with me so you could have seen this trout.

After a couple more hours of fishing, we headed back to the truck to get something to eat, clean the truck and prepare for some fishing that night.

That evening we went to Bird Island basin and between crossing the JFK bridge, the temperature dropped around 12 degrees. It was pretty cold that evening with the humid northeast wind. In addition, the mosquitoes were out with a vengeance. We were only to pick up one additional keeper black drum before we got back to the house around 11:30pm. A long, tiring day. I slept like a log that night.

Saturday's plan was to fish the same area in Oso Bay though we got a later start. I did manage a couple of trout. The tide this time around was pretty low so there was a lot of walking through a deep muddy bottom.

And folks in Europe pay big bucks for mud like this!

That afternoon when we got back and cleaned everything up, showered, changed and drove to Port Aransas to have dinner at a place called Moby Dick's. I ordered their fried shrimp plate and it was really good! It was a good way to end the trip, enjoying some good food and company of my cousin and his wife. This time I got to bring a few fillets back. I am looking forward to the next trip.

Maybe I should take up ice fishing

The last time I went fishing in below freezing conditions was early in the morning on a day in February 2003 (same day of the Columbia shuttle re-entry disaster). While I was doing OK catching some white bass that morning, I had problems with the tip top guide accumulating ice and then my monofilament line breaking off on casts as it absorbed a little water and then froze. I have an old fishing buddy who grew up in Minnesota and he mentioned fishing through the ice and I thought that was insane.

The past couple of days we have had record low temperatures due to the same bitter cold weather gripping a large portion of the country. Yesterday we had lows in the teens and barely got above freezing. This morning it was 13F! Needless to say I did not head out to the lake or the river to try and catch popsicle bass. I just hope that this cold weather doesn't cause any fish kills on the coast as in years past during long lasting, real cold weather caused the death of lots of speckled trout.

Anyways, I just dumped out the 2 1/2" to 3" thick solid piece of ice from the metal washing tub that serves as the water bowl for my dogs. Hope it thaws out tomorrow.

Waders required

I've had my kayak loaded in the back of my truck for a couple of days now itching to get some more fishing in. We had a cold front come in on the evening of New Year's eve and I got up late on New Year's day and had a few things to do so I didn't get out. I had a late start this afternoon but thought I would try the San Gabriel river once again.

Last time I was here the water level was high and the current was fast. The level went down just a bit and so did the current so that was good. The thing this time is the water was cold (probably in the 50s) and it was extremely clear like green glass. I haven't seen it this clear in a long time.

As I paddled upstream headed towards a favorite spot about 2 miles upstream, I could see some fish, mostly carp and spotted gar, every once in a while. I could see the bottom in spots that I know where around 6 feet deep.

The rapids were not too bad to get past but the shallower, fast water just upstream was a pain as I had to wade it since I couldn't get my paddle stroke deep enough in the water to make much headway that way.

Just before I got to the section I wanted I came across a deep pool that held several dozen spotted gar with some around 3 feet in length that looked like torpedoes. I've caught them only a couple of times when they have been feeding but I was really after bass this time so I kept going.

Once I arrived at my destination I realized that the river had changed here. It looked as if flooding from rain changed it somewhat. Since it took me about an hour just to get there and the sun was already getting low, I only had a few minutes to actually fish. I had to wade in the cold water since there was brush along the shoreline in my way.

No fish were caught and so I headed back to the low water crossing. Needless to say, the paddle downriver went way faster. I did get out once and misjudged the depth in the clear water as I went from shin deep water and stepped off into a drop-off where the water came up to my waist! Good thing I didn't fall!

I'm grateful that I was able to get out on the water again even if I haven't caught that first fish of the year. I will try again soon.