FishOn! the Fly

To Punta Allen

2025-04-24T23:51:00.036-05:00

Our transport van arrived, and we began our journey down Quintana Roo Route 15. Our destination was the disused Ultimo Maya dock near Boca Paila where we then boarded Pangas to continue our 1 1/2 hour journey down the inner lagoon to the Seaport Punta Allen where we hopped into trucks for a short drive through the village to Nervous Waters' Maya Azul Lodge, which operates completely off the grid, and does so quite well.

Tulum, Quintana Roo

2025-04-23T23:46:00.002-05:00

Headed to fish Ascension Bay, Cody and I headed out a day early just in case of bad weather or lost luggage. We stayed at the Motto by Hilton Tulum after landing at the new Tulum International Airport. We enjoyed walking around the town, found a pharmacy and our friend Ricky interpreted for us, so I could get my much-needed insulin. We ate at a restaurant that cooked their meats on open smoker grills and had live entertainment. We enjoyed the area around our hotel enjoying live music, finding a podcasting studio called Huddle Puddle, a gelato shop, an Apple Store, and a rather large agave art of a Jumping Bean.

Before our shuttle to Punta Allen arrived, we rented a scooter and visited the Tulum Mayan Ruins at the Tulum National Park. Cody bought a Lucha Libre mask for a funny fishing bit. We shopped at a Sam's-style store for Coke Zero or Sin Azcura, and we had to have a parking ticket which was validated, if we spent a $110 Pesos or more. We also stocked up on nutrition for Montezuma's Revenge. It was a good start to our adventure.

Great Blue Heron Rescue

2024-06-25T01:44:00.003-05:00

I absolutely despise and loathe trotlines/juglines/throwlines. I don't think it's really fishing; people forget where they put these unmanned lines spanning creeks, rivers, and other water body areas, not to mention a line may not be longer than 600 feet, have no more than 50 hooks, and spacing must be 3 feet or greater per hook. Whoopie! some restrictions there.

In early 2020, Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission did change the regulations requiring anglers to check their unmanned lines every six days instead of every 10 days, so that's something, and in 2024, 15 specific water bodies and all community lakes cannot have trotlines. There is so much bycatch entrapped in these lines, that this method of catching should be outlawed. Pick up a rod and go fish for goodness sakes.

Being outside and on the water, fly fishers are invariably conservationists, as well, which also means, knowing how to reach a Game Warden when needed. Fortunately, TPWD publishes its Game Wardens and their contacts by county. Skip 911; skip the state park; skip the operator; instead, access the Game Wardens by County webpage before heading out for a day's fly fishing excursion, and take a screenshot of the warden(s) in the county with their contact phone number. That list is available here: Game Warden Contact Info by County.

Regrettably, we needed a Game Warden recently, as we discovered an injured Great Blue Heron who had become entangled in an abandoned trotline or throwline. We were able to free the bird, who did move to land on its own, and contacted a Game Warden, after phoning and leaving messages with three others, who did not return our call. We do not know the status of the bird, who was in definite need of human assistance, as we had no idea how long it had been entangled. We never saw a Game Warden arrive, though we had been told it would be awhile before he could make it to the area, but that he would come that date. Even with the "improved" six-day maintenance, I don't think the Heron would have survived. This line was old; the hooks were rusted; the bird was a victim of inane fishing practices that offer zero accountability.

The Dodo YouTube Channel posts stories like these often across social media channels, and though we have seen many, this was the first encounter we have ever had. Hopefully, we did some good by freeing the majestic bird, who suffered a wounded left wing, a wound to its neck, and hopefully by freeing its left foot, which it did start moving in the water, it did not lose the use of it.

Birthday Fly Fishing

2024-06-23T23:39:00.003-05:00

Every year, I ask to go fishing around my birthday, and this year was no different. After much prepping, a new trolling motor battery, and several dry runs, the boat was ready. We loaded our fly rods, boat bags, fly boxes, and planned a day of catching.

Not long after we got out on the lake, we began to experience a engine problems. Being the handy person that he is, Cody had our engine problems solved, and off we continued. Seeing and casting to fish, and then having them chase the fly is oh so much fun. Cody had more fun, as he caught fish; first of the day, a Gasper Goo. I had followers but no takers. Then, Cody caught a rather nice Bluegill.

Gasper Goo

Having targeted all the fishy spots and shady spots, we moved locales. I missed much of the trip as I needed to change from floating reel to sinking spool, and make a better fly choice. Cody continued catching, adding a Blue Catfish to his list. Finally, I was able to add a Largemouth Bass, not big, but I was thrilled I wasn't skunked.

Penguin Photobomber

Moving locales, we found our attention was needed. We then set out to purposefully catch very small Sunfish, which Cody succeeded. My job was to keep them from escaping the net, I almost executed my duties completely, but Cody added Green Sunfish and Bluegill.

Sacrificial food source

We moved again, and though the area looked incredibly fishy and fish lit up the fish finder, we both left the area with no catches. Cody let me pick the next area, and Voila! it was teeming with some of the biggest Sunfish I've ever seen in our boat. I kept getting hits, while Cody was catching...and weighing, yes, weighing Sunfish. Upon examining my well-fished GirlieBugger, it had NO HOOK! Yes, that's right, all the teasing hits, and the well placed casts with a 350 grain sinking line was for naught. Somewhere in the evening, I had a particularly enthusiastic hit that blew up my fly. Mollified that I wasn't as bad an angler as I had believed because I couldn't set the hook, I was disheartened because I waited so long to inspect the fly. Meanwhile, Cody continued catching a weighing Sunfish, all of which exceeded 3/4 of a pound, with one being an ounce away from weighing a pound. These were P-I-G hogs!

1 oz. shy of a pound!

We enjoyed a gorgeous sunset-to-dusk-to-night ride back to the docks glad to be here celebrating another trip around the sun.

Charleston, SC

2024-06-07T23:30:00.002-05:00

It was a brutal day fly fishing South Carolina, as the 35 mph winds blew in from the north-northeast, and muddied the waters. There was not much sightcasting, but we did get to target some fish. We had told Fab #5 to practice in windy conditions, which he did, but as this was his first saltwater outing, casting in winds that destroy a backcast was a first. Pat, of Redfin Charters, did a great job of offering tips and pointers and even came off the polling platform and demonstrated a way to cast to help protect the backcast. I enjoyed getting to spend the day fishing new-to-me-waters with family members, even going tight on a small Bullhead Shark, and I appreciated the efforts and energy Pat gave to a first-time saltwater fisher. Our Near Shore excursion scheduled for the next day was canceled, as the winds kept gusting over the next several days. We hope to make it back to Charleston before its time for Fab #5 to return to college, but if not, we do plan on making some Gulf Coast trips together.

Spring Rains

2024-04-19T21:44:00.016-05:00

I happened to be at a Sisters on the Fly Outing this weekend, and though it was one dedicated to playing games, I headed to the river after getting booted from L-R-C quickly. The rains have filled the area's rivers, which is great to see, but I did not recognize many spots, due to a full flow. There was much Carp Love going on, but none liked what I was offering. I did manage to hook some Sunfish and Catfish, so it was a good day. I hiked about 1 river mile and had to work hard for each catch.

Channel Catfish

Passing on the Love

2024-03-14T20:28:00.055-05:00

When Fabs #4 and #5 were young, we gave each one of those Sage rods (I do not nor will I ever again fish Sage) for kids; one was bubblegum pink and the other was bright blue. They would fish with us, but finding areas to fish where they could safely backcast was not an easy endeavor. Fab #5 liked fishing but just decided he wanted to do conventional tackle. We've taken him many places to fish, but we were so surprised a few weeks before Thanksgiving when Fab #5 texted and asked for a fly rod. We actually thought he was joking and called his sister to ask if this was something he really wanted, or it was just a funny, Ha Ha text. Evidently, he really wanted it, because Sister begged us to get it for him, so he would stop talking about wanting one.

When you gift someone a fly set-up, we think you need to take them fishing, so we booked a guide trip with KC Williams out of Living Waters Fly Shop and headed to the Texas Hill Country. We told KC to focus on Fab #5, and that for the most part, Cody and I could fend for ourselves; this trip was all about teaching him to catch fish today, but to also transfer what he learned so he could fish wherever he could find places near college and fish on his own successfully.

KC was great; the Hill Country was great; the weather was great; and Cody and I were outfished by the lad! Couldn't ask for a better day topped off with a BBQ dinner at Cooper's. When we got back to the ranch, he headed off to fish the Catfish Pond and caught three catfish on his own. We didn't even know he had gone.

The other item to note, is that I fished a new-to-me rod that I won at the Dallas Fly Fishers' 2024 Auction. Due to the generous Legacy gifting, I got to bid on and win a rod from Tom Klaasen, a beloved member who passed away in 2023. I had sat with Tom at the 2022 Holiday Party and heard Tom talk of this particular 3# rod, so my bidding was one of sentimentality, as well as needing to add a 3# rod to my arsenal. As with all my rods, it needed its new name, and thus, I named Tom's Orvis rod "TKO" which stands for Tom Klaasen's Ovation. I loved this 2 piece little jewel that was a definite knock-out with the fish.

UPDATE: It absolutely makes my heart happy when we receive texts letting us know he's been out casting and fishing and catching, and we are going on a saltwater Redfish outing before he begins his summer internship!

One of many species for the day--White Bass, Guadalupe Bass,
Channel Catfish, and Sunfish

Guadalupe Bass

Using the new-to-me TKO rod

Cooper's BBQ

24 April text

11 May Text

Winter's Late Rains

2024-02-24T22:00:00.001-06:00

Winter and Spring are colliding with one another in February and March, but the rains, Oh! how fortunate we have been. Our water tables are full; our streams and creeks and rivers flow once again after a tough summer. Right now, it is good to be a Texas fly fisher! The days I have set aside to fish are turning out to be less fortuitous, so I'm glad I'm not an even bigger gambler. We had several warm days, but the day I had to go fishing, a cold front had blown across the prairie, not as bad as the one when we fished the Lampasas the week previously, but enough of a front to make the fishing once again a challenge. No matter, to see the Limestone Chalk Bluffs, the riverbed completely full from bank-to-bank, and the restorative peace of a moving river all filled my soul with great joy.

I hit a few spots where other anglers were but had no luck, so I quickly moved downstream for more solitude. Get to my favorite spot and WHOA! what a difference nice rainfall makes. I did not recognize the water, as the area was so different. No fish holding here, today, so I moved on downstream and found a nice, calm and deep pool. First cast, FishOn!, but I didn't know it, and the take was so subtle that I was stunned to see a Bluegill at the end of my line. Definitely the softest Sunfish take I've ever experienced. This was about the tenth cast of the day, so I thought I'd be hammering the Sunfish; well, I thought wrong! The day's fishing was slow, but I did end up with several Sunfish and Spotted Bass to hand in a beautiful and healthy and flowing river (the secret was a fly with legs regardless the color). My cup runneth over!

Pre-spawn Bluegill

Spotted Bass

Lampasas River Outing

2024-02-18T21:00:00.012-06:00

Oh how finnicky Mother Nature can be. All this week, the northern Hill Country enjoyed warm weather, so much so that the Redbuds have really been blooming, which means...Those Fat Girls are uh runnin! That's probably my favorite springtime saying, "When the Redbuds are blooming, the White Bass are running." Stocker trout season with TPWD is coming to an end, fish on beds, fish running upstream, serious Carp Love with aerial cavorting, and Big Fish, it's all happening in the spring.

Much to my chagrin, Old Man Winter and Mother Nature must have had a serious disagreement, because the temperatures dropped 30 degrees on Saturday, and while they warmed on Sunday, it was still 20 degrees colder than what the previous week experienced.

Using the Parrie Haynes Equestrian Center private access, we put in just upstream of the Old Maxdale Bridge. First, Kudos to the Bell County Commissioners. I have not seen this area looking so clean and litter-free, but closing the Old Maxdale Bridge from public access gave the area a tremendous upgrade. Next, we received a report while donning our waders that four miles downstream, White Bass were being caught. With spirits high, I set off on a two mile hike downstream to see if I could locate any of those White Bass. I saw bed activity but no fish. I targeted the east bank as the sun was shining on this bright, clear afternoon. I eventually caught a small Largemouth Bass, but that had to have been the slowest take I ever experienced. I casted upstream and just the nicely flowing Lampasas carry my fly downstream. I was as tight the bank as I could be while still being in the water. Hit, wait, wait, wait; softer hit, wait, wait, wait; twitched the rod, and FishOn! Phew and finally and thank you, Largemouth Bass. I did not want to be skunked on my first fishing outing of 2024. Same scenario about 100 yards downstream, and this time, I landed a Spotted Bass. By this time, the sun casted some long shadows, and the trek against the current required a little more energy, so I headed back upstream, happy I caught fish but disappointed that I had not yet found the White Bass.

Rainfall made for a nice flow

Bedding activity

Largemouth Bass--first fish of 2024!

Spotted Bass

DFF June Outing

2023-06-11T22:21:00.000-05:00

We headed to the Elm Fork of the Trinity River Tailrace just below the Lake Lewisville Dam on Sunday for our monthly outing. While the ambient temperature was a little warm, the water temperature was a nice, cool 74 degrees F. As they so often are when the dam is generating, the Buffalo were thick as thieves, and after about 15 minutes of fishing, I landed one. Cody came to help, and I finally have a decent picture with a Smallmouth Buffalo, though I need to adjust my Buff better, so that I don't look so much like a nun. Though many Buffalo were hooked and several landed, the carp would not take any offerings I made. Cody was able to hook two with a CodyBugger, and farther downstream, he hooked something that fought in slow motion with slow deliberate headshakes. Somehow, whatever species it was came unbuttoned and left us pondering what in the world Cody hooked. It was another great day on the water.

98th Species and the Countdown is On

2023-05-10T22:00:00.004-05:00

Today was the DFF outing to the Brazos River. Several attendees cancelled due to the rains that moved in 13 hours early. It wasn't a heavy rain, a hard rain, or falling fast enough to raise the river water levels. It did affect the water clarity, so it was a mostly blind casting kind of day. That was okay by me, as I hooked five species, landing four, and none were Sunfish, except the odd Largemouth Bass that has a possible distended jaw and no traditional LMB markings.

I had seen what I though was a carp playing about in skinny water near downed trees holding on the upstream side of a bridge pillar. I targeted it, but no luck, so I began fishing the waters behind a big boulder. Nip, nip then a pick up and recast, and BAM, FishOn. It what was a serious comedy of errors, I somehow managed to land the Bigmouth Buffalo and snap photos. Still amazed the fish didn't come unbuttoned, but it didn't, and so, I hit the 98 mark. I added a White Bass, a Channel Catfish, and a strangely marked Largemouth Bass, and then targeted one and enjoyed six additional hook-ups with Spotted Gar. It was a marvelous day on the water!

DFF's Sugar Ridge Ranch Outing

2023-04-15T18:40:00.009-05:00

The club's favorite, annual outing is to Sugar Ridge Ranch during peak Bluebonnet season and the Ennis Bluebonnet Festival. Always well-attended, the four ponds and wildlife offers an almost-guaranteed day of catching, but this year, I learned of a new skill I have--I can mimic a turkey hen effectively enough to garner the attention of a Tom Turkey! 😁 I also petted a hen turkey, worked on my roll cast, and hooked the same bass I landed five minutes previously.

We loved another day at Sugar Ridge and appreciate the kindness and graciousness of our hostess and hosts.

Nolan River's Not White Bass

2023-04-09T22:30:00.009-05:00

As Cody was out-of-town visiting his family this Easter, Momma and I enjoyed a good, but quite Easter dinner and afternoon fun. After hearing from several DFF members who attended the March Nolan River Outing, I decided to fish the Nolan at a time many found most productive this odd-weather spring. Going prepared with White Bass flies, I was shocked at the low, but steadily flowing waters. Where I caught fish in previous years were high-and-dry this year, and I could not find the White Bass. Not to be dismayed for long, I kept seeing Gar, almost stepping on some of them. Keeping on my rather flashy fly, I set to work.

In my life, I've had six gar hook-ups with only one being luck. The other Five were purposeful targets in the last two years. I don't target gar the way I hear most presenters discuss, which is a "Crossing the T" method, with the gar being the stem and dragging the fly perpendicularly to the gar, the "T" crossbar. The reason I don't do this comes from a SCUBA show I saw friend William Seals give at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center (and many times since his 2013 presentation). When the diver would feed the fish, even though the bait was dead, every time the Gar fed, it sidled on its prey, and when it ate, it was a quick jerk of the head to no more than the 11:00 or 1:00 o'clock position. Once, I saw the gar backpedal to get in align in order to feed. Sometimes, they align close to their hinge--prey was small--and sometimes, they aligned closer to their nose tip--prey was larger, but regardless, they ate from the side and never head-on. It remains the same for whether they are in captivity or the wild.

I typically find gar in slack water, near the shore, surrounded with good cover. I spotted one 15 feet from me with his head facing downstream; I cast downstream about 20 feet and parallel to the gar, pulled the fly upstream past his left side at a bout a five inch, constant but not fast retrieve. He did not take the fly, but he reacted, as his fins started moving, but he held his position. I cast again, lined the fish, got the fly line off his body (he never moved or reacted to the fly line), pulled the fly parallel to the gar, and he ate hard, close to his hinge. I strip set; he thrashed, and the fly worked its way closer to the tip, but a harder strip set stuck. I got him in the net. Once in, he opened his mouth, the fly dropped out, and I tried to take him from the net for a photo, but it was just too awkward, so I snapped his photo in my net. Voila! not only was this my first gar to-hand, Mr. Spotted Gar made my 97th species on the fly!

DFF Outing

2023-03-30T22:00:00.077-05:00

Spring has sprung within the Dallas Fly Fishers and so have the springtime outings. We held our first White Bass Run Outing last week, and this week we decided to fish the ponds and Brazos River access at Latham Springs Baptist encampment.

The Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush were in early bloom full and thick, and the fish ate hungrily and often in spite of the quite cool temperatures. River and lake fishing were healthy and robust. If we had kept the number of Crappie we caught, what a fish fry we could have had and the numbers they would have fed! Amongst the successes were field testing flies and catching my 96th species on the fly, an Orangespotted Sunfish. In addition, I think I now have caught all of the Sunfish species swimming in Texas' waters. They are such fun, particularly due in part to the aggressive nature with which they attack a fly.

The club outings are fun to enjoy with fellow fishy folk, and rather sadly, this was Cody's and my first foray into an event and fishing this year. Though late on wetting a line, at least we started with a bang!

My 96th species on the fly!

2023's First Line Wetting

2023-03-29T15:00:00.009-05:00

Life has been busy, and Cody and I have just not had the opportunity to fish. I had to visit a fellow DFF Board Member, and he graciously provided us with rigged rods and allowed us to fish his ponds. We only had about 30 minutes, but we were guided to just the right spots. Thankful for good, fishy people and to finally get to fish! We do have an outing tomorrow where we will get to devote the day to fishing, so all will be well.

LLELA

2022-09-24T18:00:00.038-05:00

The Dallas Fly Fishers held a Basic Fly Fishing Education class today at the Lake Lewisville Environmental Learning Area. I brought my fishing rig to target those carp and buffalo that abound in the Lake Lewisville Tailrace. I had targeted these species in the Spring after our entomology day but came up empty handed.

These species are everywhere, take just a bit to spook, and I don't think it was possible for me to catch one after the fiasco in the spring.

I fished for two-and-a-half hours before giving up and calling last cast. I had hooked several, spooked dozens several times over, but I just wasn't feeling the love. I used a brass conehead CodyBugger, cast one last time where I began my casting that day and yielded nothing for my efforts.

I don't know why now or what the combination was, but it was FIshOn! Several others watched who had also fished for these oh so picky fish and hollered congratulations form the shore.

I netted it and took a weak selfie and added my 96th species to the list!

Springtime with the Tenkara

2021-03-06T21:05:00.001-06:00

I had hopes that my hand would have been healed by now; it is healing, slowly and steadily with more steps forward and fewer backwards, so I'll take that. One difficulty I'm still experiencing is the ability to grab a fly line and retrieve a fighting fish, regardless if it's a small or large fish, that strong pincher movement is just not happening. However, TenkaraUSA keeps me on the water, my rod tip bent, fish in the net, and provides me with happy days. I'm now up to three species on the rod--Sunfish, Largemouth Bass (I know they are in the Sunfish family, but it's an IGFA species, so I'm counting it!), and Nolan River White Bass.

Sunfish--Bluegill

Largemouth Bass

Largemouth Bass 2

"The Claw" at work

Fighting fish with The Claw is hard work

Nolan River White Bass

The Gift of Tenkara

2020-08-23T22:00:00.000-05:00

2020's summer has not been kind to our family. One instance was me breaking my dominant arm while fly fishing in Pass Creek near South Fork, Colorado my first day on vacation! The following week, I had surgery to repair both my radius and ulna. Wanting to be able to still enjoy fly fishing, I began seriously investigating Tenkara Fly Fishing, since that can be accomplished with one arm. While researching, my uncle called to talk, check on me, and wish me a speedy recovery, and during our conversation, I enthusiastically told my uncle all about Tenkara Fly Fishing in great detail. A few weeks later and with the help of my cousins, my uncle gifted me with a Tenkara USA Rhodo Rod and Tenkara Rod Co. Crossbreed fly line. Our postman, Rance, had no idea the joy he delivered when he brought that rod and fly line to our doorstep!

Still incapable of quite a lot, I couldn't rig the rod myself, so Cody had to also learn about Tenkara lines. Having watched several videos himself, Cody set to tying knots, adjoining lines, and tying my fly (a CodyBugger christened my rod), and we headed to a very small pond in our town. Neither of us had fished the pond, but we figured there just had to be fish in it.

Finding a shady spot near a downed branch, I made my first cast and was rewarded with several hits. Talk about excitement! I continued to adjust to the Tenkara-style of fly fishing, though not in the traditional sense, as I was fishing warm water that wasn't moving! Finding another shady spot with overhanging branches and switching to a topwater grasshopper, I had fishing slurping, hitting, and aggressively slamming that fly, which now has little bite marks in the foam body and one less antenna and leg. Still though, I had no hook-ups. Cody selected a wet fly pattern with a size 16 hook, and it was FishOn! I hooked a Green Sunfish first, but I failed to execute the hookset correctly, so I had an LDR (long-distance release). I did manage to land my first fish--a small but aggressive Bluegill. Then, at dusk, I told Cody "Five more casts," and on the first of the five, Bam! FishOn! A bigger, hungrier Bluegill grabbed my fly on the second twitch. I thought I'd exercise my winged hand by trying to hold the line in it and the rod in my good hand, but that didn't work too well. However, Cody patiently helped me get the fish and the rod situated and then snapped my photo. My fish weren't World Record fish, but they brought me great joy and taught me a thing or two.

I have much to learn about Tenkara, but it was a great christening! My Dad, who passed away suddenly in June, put my first fly rod in my hand to help me heal from breast cancer. My uncle put my first Tenkara rod in my hand to help me heal from a broken arm. Fly fishing truly is a powerful gift!

Mongolia, Julia's #1 Bucketlist Trip

2018-09-30T15:14:00.008-05:00

21-30 September

When I was in the third grade at C.C. Duff Elementary, Miss Winkles' lesson on countries allowed us to select a country other than the USA about which we would learn. I chose Mongolia. I have no idea why, but I knew I wanted Mongolia. I was the nerdy little kid that when the National Geographic magazines arrived, the adults handed me the maps, and off I would go to my room, pouring endless hours into studying that edition's map. So when we were given the opportunity, I did not need to study a map or a globe, I just raised my hand and asked for Mongolia. Fast-forward to my college days where I studied for a Bachelor of Arts in History, specializing in Military History. In 1988, I took a Russian history class where I had to write a paper about the Russian Communism 1930s purge years, and in that paper, I discussed the decimation of the Dayan Derkh Buddhist Monastery, which was located in northern Mongolia. Fast-forward again to September 2018, when Cody booked us a trip to fly fish the Eg-Uur River Watershed and attend the Golden Eagle festival in Mongolia. I can't say when, but for decades I have wanted to catch a Lenok, being that this salmonoid has been around since the Glacial Epoch period, and a Taimen, the largest salmonid species on the planet, both of whose populations only seem healthy in Mongolia and Russia's Lake Baikal region, which once belonged to Mongolia. We chose to book with Sweetwater Travel due to its conservation efforts along the Eg-Uur fishery protecting 110 river miles. What I learned while there: Mongolia is both rugged and beautiful. Its people love color and are hospitable, kind, and resourceful. There are nine animals for every one person in the entire country. Mongolia has the second largest coal reserves and a significantly large plutonium reserve had just been newly discovered earlier that summer in Mongolia and thought to be a part of the Kazakhstan mine; the people were very nervous about both Russia's and China's reactions to the discovery. The biggest surprise for me, I learned Sweetwater also rebuilt the Dayan Derkh Monastery, which we were allowed to visit. It was an epic trip for us. Cody caught his 100th species on the fly, a Lenok, photographed the Golden Eagle festival in Bayan-Olgii aimag, learned about the What 3 Words app as we drove across Mongolia where there were no roads, and ate new-to-him meats. I also added to my species list, saw ancient Deerstones, petted a yak, enjoyed a camel, saw so many amazing birds, and celebrated our 8th anniversary there. There are still more places to tick on our Bucket Lists, but to have visited the #1 choice? Satisfaction, glorious reverie and satisfaction, indeed.

Chenggis Khan Memorial statue outside Ulaanbaatar

Camp Gers

A person was paid to come add coal and stoke our fire; we were not supposed
to handle any of the coal or keep the fire going. By 4 am, it was cold.

Wool rugs kept everything warm and were hand woven

Camp Kitchen and Entertaining Area

Camp Bathhouse and Toilets

September Full Moon

Cody's 1st Taimen, Day 1

Cody's 2nd Taimen, Day 2

Day 4's Taimen

Taimen Release

Telltale white mouth

Julia's 1st Taimen, Day 4

Final Taimen, Day 6

Last day: Julia's IGFA World Record, 6kg/12lb Tippet class, Taimen weighed 7 lb, 12 oz.

Celebrating successes

Last day: Cody's 1st Lenok and 100th species on the fly

Last Day: Julia's 1st Lenok

Dayan Derkh Monastery

Last night's entertainment was a musical performance from nearby villagers (2 hours away)

I was taught Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the opening to We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Sunrise over the Eg-Uur Watershed

Conejos River

2018-06-29T19:42:00.000-05:00

On Thursday, we took a break from fishing and rode the train from Chama, NM to Antonito, CO. It was a great adventure! We returned to fishing on Friday. We headed back to The Meadows to try and fish some areas we didn't hit on Wednesday; Cody fished it well, while I only had one species, but I got to add to the species list with my catch. After enjoying our packed lunch, we headed up above Platoro Reservoir and fished the headwaters. We were amazed at how well hidden the fish were in the faster moving headwaters, and how close to us they were--9 feet or closer. Interestingly, we caught no Rainbows.

One of Cody's Several Browns--Love the Sparkles

Another Brownie for Cody

Conejos River between The Meadows and The Pocket Water

They had my attention for about 30 minutes

Added White Mountain Sucker to the Species List!

So Carp-like

Headwaters above Platoro Reservoir

First of two Browns in the same area

Second Brown; they were almost side-by-side

Conejos River Anglers

2018-06-27T19:11:00.000-05:00

After first learning of the Conejos River and Conejos River Anglers from TroutFest 2015, we joined TWFFers in Southern Colorado and booked our day. Our guide was K.K., and he took us into the Rio Grande National Forest to fish the Meadow and the Pocket Water sections below Platoro Village. The morning action was grand, but due to unseasonably high temps, drought conditions, and fishing pressure, the afternoon action was slow in the public waters. Still, we landed quality fish numbering in to the double digits, so it was an excellent day of guided, wade fishing!

Fishing The Meadows with K.K.

The Trout LOVED the foam Mayfly

Brown Trout Happiness

Brown Trout Happiness, Squared

Cody's Rainbow Caught in Skinny Water

Fishing the Pocket Water

Platoro Reservoir Conejos River, Colorado

2018-06-26T17:45:00.000-05:00

To escape from the Texas heat, participate in TWFF's unofficial outing, and to redeem our Conejos River trip won at the Fort Worth Fly Fishers auction from the Conejos River Anglers, Cody and I headed northwest; Cody pulled the RV, and I pulled the kayaks. We camped at the Conejos River RV Park just east of the Rio Grande National Forest for a week. We fished on our own, with Conejos River Anglers' guide K.K., from our kayaks on Platoro Lake, and waded the Conejos River headwaters into the reservoir. Temperatures were mild; fishing was grand; and the wildfires had not yet begun.

Deep, cool, and clear

Brown Trout

Rainbow Trout

My first Kokanee Salmon

Moon rise over Platoro Reservoir

Arkansas River

2018-04-27T23:03:00.000-05:00

Caddis Hatch on the Arkansas River

Cody and I headed northwest to Cutty's RV park on Hayden Creek in Coaldale, Colorado to fish the spring pre-runoff Caddis Hatch. I was attending a Sisters on the Fly event, the 6th annual Caddis Hatch event hosted by Michelle Cummings, and Cody and I planned to go to Eagle's Nest, NM for Pike afterwards. Weather prevented our trip to NM, but we certainly enjoyed fishing both the Arkansas River and the smaller but equally fun Texas Creek. The Arkansas' cut through glaciation geology takes fly fishers through a majestic beauty backdropped by snowcapped Rocky Mountain peaks. While not big fish, the Arkansas boasts some excellent dry fly fishing, partly due to the ongoing caddis hatch. Not yet warm enough to move the fish to depths of the river, we casted to and caught fish in some pretty skinny water, skinny enough that we could see their flashes as they turned on to and took our flies. Seeing the resilience of these trout was pretty amazing, especially how healthy one particular Brown Trout was seeing a bird of prey's talon had harpooned it previously. We enjoyed our guided trip with Matt from Ark Anglers, as he put us on many trout, a total of 27 boated for the picture-perfect day.

The next day we took our very small rods and headed to two creeks, Hayden Creek at Cutty's RV Park, and then farther east to Texas Creek. Regrettably, the slope of Hayden Creek was a little too steep, and the water flowing through it was too fast with almost no pools that would allow trout to hold in the creek. So, we moved farther east to Texas Creek, where we learned is not at the Texas Creek Recreation Area, which is where Texas Creek confluences with the Arkansas. Instead, we headed down Colorado State Highway 69. Using the 4WD, we made our way down a dirt road to a nice meadow parking area. Encompassed by shrubs meant wading in the creek, and moving upstream provided great access to small, wild trout who greedily ate size 12 Elk Hair Caddis flies. Aggressive fish, regardless the size, offer amazing fishing on small weight rods, an experience which I always enjoy.

Hayden Creek

Upstream on the Texas Creek

Downstream on the Texas Creek

Oktoberfisch 2017

2017-10-22T19:00:00.000-05:00

Cody and I took our new Lance RV south to Junction to participate in the 14th Oktoberfish hosted by the Fredericksburg Fly Fishers. This was our 11th Oktoberfisch and the second one at the South Llano RV Park. We had a good time, appreciated the improvements made by the RV park, and enjoyed fishing one of our favorite Texas rivers, whose health continues to improve from the fires, flooding, and drought.

We put in at our usual spot, the South Llano River State Park. We endured quite a crowd and high river traffic on Saturday due to the Llano River Alliance Watershed's earlier announcement on their social media sites.

Texas Parks and Wildlife released 15 retired Guadalupe Bass broodstock back into the South Llano River on October 17, 2017. The broodstock were used to successfully restore the genetically hybridized South llano population. To celebrate this and other recent conservation successes for our state fish, Llano River Watershed Alliances is partnering with Texas Parks and Wildlife and Bass Pro Shops on a prize giveaway in which prizes will be presented to anglers who catch these Guadalupe Bass and return a tag Eligible Guadalupe Bass will have registered TPWD Floy Tags. If you catch one of these fish, please clip (do not pull) the tag and take a photo with the fish! Beginning October 17, 2017 and continuing until December 31, 2018, any angler who catches a tagged Guadalupe Bass from the South Llano River will receive their choice of prizes from an assortment of fly fishing gear donated by Bass Pro Shops.¹

Our friend Russell Hustead caught the first tagged fish on Thursday; one was caught on Saturday, and bird had killed a tagged fish but the tag was submitted. However, the crowds trying to catch one of these fish put intense pressure, and the Guads were rather shy on Saturday.

Friday, I had fished the stretch of river that was the southernmost end of the former Morgan Shady campground to just west of the bridge and hammered the Redbreast Sunfish. They destroyed my Bonefish Bitter.

8 Inch Redbreast Sunfish

Healthy, pure strain Guadalupe Bass

Demolished Bonefish Bitter--its legs are gone

Cody decided upon a new strategy this year, which was to put in and then by-pass the fishing at the state park. In years past, we would spend so much time fishing at the top part of the run, that we ended up just kayaking through the bottom part. Cody also targeted all the sideways and byways of the river, fishing the places others snubbed. We also decided to stay close together this trip. Cody slayed the fish; I only did okay, because I didn't fulfill my motto, "I Come to the South for the Rio," but Cody caught some beautiful Rio Grande Perch. They are some of my favorite freshwater fish. I did catch the most numbers of Largemouth Bass I have ever caught on the South Llano, and I think Nick of the Alamo Fly Fishers, who also said he caught the most LMBs he's ever caught, was right in that the high presence of kayaks and numbers of anglers really spooked the Guadalupe Bass in to hiding, Saturday.

Cody with a Guadalupe Bass; something was wrong with its back

One of Cody's many Rio Grande Perch

4 Inch Bluegill on a Bonefish Bitter

4 1/4 inch Fingerling Guadalupe Bass on the Red-lipped CodyBugger

Hybridized Guadalupe-Smallmouth Bass, what the Alliance & TPWD are trying to eliminate

Pure Strain Guadalupe Bass

At the end of the day, Saturday, I was making my way down the "Park Run" (where I fished Friday from RV park boundary to RV park Boundary), when I heard another water craft pretty close behind me. I didn't really pay attention to the boat, until I heard its pilot speak. It was our friend Kevin Hutchison in his blue pontoon. I let Kevin have the lead and watched him fish while we chatted, since Grad School had really interfered with my fishing the past two years. The days cooler weather combined with the high angler pressure just did not produce the fish it did the previous day. Regardless, I loved the rare treat of getting to see Kevin fish instead of being the guide.

We enjoyed our time in the Hill Country once again and are looking forward to next year's trip. However, we hope the Alliance contest occurs after Oktoberfisch, so we don't have to "combat fish."

^{1. Llano River Watershed Alliance. "Celebrating Conservation Milestones for the South Llano River and the State Fish of Texas." Last modified 21 October 2017. Accessed 23 October 2017. https://www.llanoriver.org/guadalupe-bass."↩}

Trinity Bass Battle--A Month of Tourneys

2017-10-01T21:25:00.001-05:00

Cody could not be home for our 7th Anniversary, so for our anniversary, he gave me use of his car and encouraged me to go fishing in Backwoods' Trinity Bass Battle Tournament, which occurs every other Sunday through 12 November 2017! So, I set my alarm, got up at 4:00 a.m., loaded Cody's car with all kinds of kayak and fly fishing paraphernalia (my little hybrid can't tow), and headed off to the Panther Pavilion area in Fort Worth. I had a great day, even though I was the only fly fisher, and I was really excited to see a nice number of women fishing.

I didn't place, but I had my best tournament, E-V-E-R! However, I couldn't get credit for all that I caught, because something happened when I snapped the photo of my 18 inch Largemouth. It's just a white screen, and for those that don't know me, there ain't nothing white on my kayak. Even my Hawg Trough is marked up with black, blue, and red lines, and my 'Yak, well, it's purple, pink, and gray; I kid you not! I wore blue shorts and my pink Breast Cancer Awareness fishing shirt and sun visor. I'm telling ya, I have no idea what happened on that photo, but I know I caught it, so the memory's mine. Officially, I submitted 46.75 total inches; unofficially, I caught 64.75 inches. Sadly, even if my big one had counted, I still would not have placed. Big Bass was 20.25 inches with a two-way tie for third, with each fisherman submitting an 18.50 inch bass. Overall winner today submitted an 80.something inches scorecard! In Texas, Fall doesn't mean much, until it's time to fish, and then, it means everything because The Bite is happening!

Phone screenshot showing a photo was taken; it even says "Live" with that icon

Pretty Longear Sunfish

Bluegill, who jerked just as I snapped