Bikedog's Stuff

New Bicycle Helmet goodness...and a surprise!!

2011-02-16T16:39:00.001-08:00

Here is the new S-Works Prevail helmet I have been waiting for. It is smoking, good and sexy light!! I have used it a couple of times now and think it is the bomb diggity for helmets! Had a nice ride in it today w/my buddy Alisha. We talk about all kinds of weird stuff and suffered in the wind. Good times!

Here is a great clip for you. This is a pretty fine example of how people are weird in their own ways, and how bizarre some of us are!!

Kinda scary, even if you're not in his boat!!!

2011-02-01T15:24:00.001-08:00

Not going into lots of details here but this French guy, not gonna hate just cause of the French thing, is trying to break the sailboat around the world record. Alright, if you have the time and the money WTF?? Try it, I don't sail but if I could afford something like this and had the time sure. But this sure makes you wonder about that choice, especially right after starting. The sea is not gonna get easier to deal with!!

WTF!!!! This guy is really good.....

2011-01-30T19:39:00.001-08:00

I guess. I am white and a horrible dancer after all. But from

what I can spot here he is pretty damn good! Check him out!!!

Things I Love

2010-12-08T10:30:00.001-08:00

If anyone has followed this blog they know that I have shifted the direction of this one to general bikedog stuff. My new fishing blog is at Smells Fishy Here, check it out.

Now let's talk about things I love.

Knickers for riding bicycles, they rock!! Not full tights but not shorts either. Thermafleece lined and perfect for almost any day of riding your bike in DFW.

How about nice warm gloves, again a great piece for riding in DFW. Especially if you are like me and have hands that freeze instantly.

How about the feeling of finishing that thing, however difficult, that you weren't sure you could. That's a good feeling.

Fishing? How about a cast that lays out smooth and pretty; and thankfully right where you aimed it. Plus the bonus of getting that sick drift that you only see in videos of the fly fishing gods.

Or the feel of a great drift that ends with the tug of the fish you "knew" was there. Bonus is getting him to hand, while your fishing buddies are there to see!!

Maybe finishing that long day to come home and find your house is just where you want to be and it is exactly how you want it. That's pretty darn fine!

Finally there is the best, falling asleep in the arms of the one you love and adore. That is the balls!! It is the best feeling and you can consider yourself super lucky to find it every day, I am! Bonus is waking up tucked in with that one person you adore on a nice quiet morning. I get that with the fabulous Boo here in my world.

How about you? what things do you love??

This ain't my kind of training.

2010-11-24T17:07:00.001-08:00

If you have ever ridden rollers this will be eye opening for you. Having trained on rollers, years ago mind you, I can tell you this is impressive. The part that makes it impressive is they are holding their line while spinning like that. That ain't easy!!!!

Sick??? Blechhhhh

2010-11-20T09:34:00.001-08:00

So I caught some cold or something, of course right before a very busy weekend for me. I was planning a rally ride today, group date thing tonight and some fishing tomorrow. Not looking good for those.

Maybe next week will be better? I was hoping to do the normal Thanksgiving trip to Broken Bow and get some fishing in. Hopefully I can still put that together. Looks like it will be alone again, maybe I can check out some MTB trails there this trip.

Not mine but still that is what it can look like there riding off road. I ride the park roads and that is really nice, but I haven't tried the MTB trails and may check those out.

Really??!!?? In that wind, REALLY???

2010-11-18T07:22:00.001-08:00

So Jeff wouldn't give up Wednesday morning and convinced me to get out and ride, even in that nasty wind. Now I have ridden in worse winds, but I also know that if it is 15 in the early morning it will only get worse.

So we set out and churned out our 40 slow miles in some mild cold with that stupid wind beating us down. I know, it's Texas and this is what you get 80% of the time; doesn't mean I am gonna like it 80% of the time!!

That's not me and Jeff but a very good simulation of what it felt like. I am kinda glad we did it but man do my legs hurt today!! Ahhhhhhh.......

Next month we swear we are going to ride slower!! HAHAHA

Goodbye Mama

2010-10-17T18:08:00.001-07:00

Today was a very sad morning for us. We were getting ready for a bicycle ride and almost ready to head out. Lucie had been calling one of our cats, Kai Tai, and hadn't seen her. I didn't know she hadn't been in for breakfast, and neither of us realized she was out last night. She was not responding, unlike her to do that, and I wanted to take a minute to try to spot her. I walked out front and as I came around the corner saw here lying the grass. She was still, I knew it as soon as I saw her. She hadn't survived the night.

Kai was a pretty girl who had been adopted by a friend of the bike shop. That person named her Charlotte, and she was NOT a Charlotte! When she ended up coming to stay at the shop we renamed her Kai Tai to reflect her Siamese looks. She was there for a few months until the manager decided to get rid of her. The options were go to the local crazy cat lady or Lucie would take her. Lucie adopted Kai and the rest is history.

We believe she was really a burmin with beautiful blue eyes. The ASPCA determined she had in fact been a mama kitty at one time. Kai found her place in our world of cats and became a fixture in our lives. She was a great kitty for sitting in your lap. She also had a habit of rolling on her back and showing her largeness to you!

One night while we watched animal planet they had a show with baby kittens on it. Kai heard those kittens and went nuts trying to find them! She was pawing at the screen, calling to them and even looked behind the TV to see where the kittens who needed here were. Sad, but in a really beautiful way.

She also adopted the Beau Bunny when we got him. She would sit next to his cage or on it. He was definitely her newest kitten. Another time I heard rattling in my office and went to see what was going on. There I found Kai in the trash can, just looking around. When I came in she looked up as though to say, "What? This is not weird."

The big girl lived the last 9+ years with us and was pampered as all of our cats are. She gave back as much love as we gave her , over and over. Kai was a great kitty and we already miss her horribly!! I have no doubt that she is surrounded by kittens in the afterlife right now.

Crossroads

2010-09-15T10:32:00.001-07:00

It has been a while since I had something I had to say, but now I think I do. At least maybe I need to say this, whether it matters or not is open to interpretation. Oh well, it is your choice to decide if this matters or not.

It seems like I am at several crossroads in my life right now. So many parts of my world are in turmoil and I sometimes feel like I won't be able to get them under control. Certainly people feel like this all the time, but now I have to figure out how I am going to deal with this and what choices I should make.

I have a business opportunity that I may be able to get into and it seems like this could be a wonderful thing for my life and peace of mind. It is what I have envisioned for my life for several years now and feel I would find great joy doing this. There are going to be numerous pitfalls and difficulties just to get started, not to mention once things are up and rolling. But it is something I really want to do.

There are so many things in my personal world that are going to be difficult for many, many reasons and years. Many times I wonder how I could get through these and come out the other side alive and possibly sane! ARGH!!! That is a large source of my fear every moment of every day. Feeling this is what happens as we grow and mature, but I have fears of what is going to happen and how I will deal with it. I have always been able to get through before but I just don't feel the strength I have had before and that worries me.

There are so many things I see that I feel responsible for and don't feel like I have control of. I am not sure how I have come to feel this out of control of my life but I have and it is frightening. So many adult things that I seem to be struggling with right now it makes me wonder how other people seem to float through the world. Do they have a secret recipe to make all of life seem easy, or do they detach themselves so that no one is counting on them for anything?

People are counting on me for so much and I don't always feel I am the person to be counted on for that kind of support. Right now I think my personal strength is at an all time low and it causes me to wonder if I can regain it. I really need to recharge my "life batteries" and move forward but am not certain that it will be easily possible for me. Each time I seem to get some fuel in me to go forward I feel like I am getting shot down by life, is that really possible or am I just not seeing how the opportunities are presenting themselves? Things happen and I believe they always happen for a reason yet as of late I am having trouble seeing what those reasons are and how these things should apply to my life. This is the confusion that is hounding my thoughts right now.

I feel caught between whether I should live the status quo or move into something different. And there are people counting on me for a variety of things and I can't see a way to get past that right now. I don't want to let them down but in many ways I can't see how I can keep up this without letting someone down. So many times before in life I have hoisted the "world" onto my shoulders and soldiered on but I just don't feel like I can do that anymore, or at least not right now. It gives me a feeling of helplessness that is foreboding and overwhelming for someone like me. I have usually been the person who can plow forward without fear and yet now there are many, many fears hounding my mind. And now I cant get them out of there.

ARGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fly fisherman egos, WTH is up with that?!?!?

2010-01-31T08:29:00.001-08:00

Pondering a few things about fishing lately and it occurs to me that the ego is one of the biggest downfalls for fishermen in general, not just fly fishermen. I believe this is why instructional videos sell but seem to not be heeded much. Same with advice given, no matter how correct it is. This is a strange phenomenon and it puzzles me. What is it about us that doesn't allow us to accept advice and makes us learn the hard way about these things.

Now, why am I thinking about this? Many of you know that I intend to, at some point, make my living through fishing and specifically fly fishing. There are a lot of possibilities about how I may do this but to be successful I feel a significant understanding of your customer and their needs/wants is mandatory. So I am trying to find some keys to being successful and I am seeing that ego may be one of the keys to this.

There are so many ways to be pre-prejudiced about many things in life, not just fishing. There are so many pieces of info that are available to us as citizens it can be overwhelming and causes many of us to be "instant experts" on many, many subjects. I know that I easily fall in to that category on many things. I wonder how I can overcome this human tendency and get people to look past their egos?

Example: Last year at the One Fly a person walked up to me and asked what the P on my hat was for, it was a Permian hat, I told him and he was shocked. He had graduated from Midland Lee! Nearly 25 years after we were vicious rivals in the world of West Texas HS football he we were on a river in Oklahoma fishing and introducing ourselves. A younger bikedog would have eschewed this Rebel and gone on in his own tunnel-visioned world thinking that all was right because someone from Permian no doubt could better a Lee Rebel at everything.

Thankfully I am an older, and hopefully wiser, person and Merc and I became friends. As such I have learned tons about fishing and having fun with Merc. We have been on several trips and share a passion for lots of things. To me this is a perfect example of not letting ego prevent a great experience from happening.

Now the real question is how to get people to move past their own egos and accept life and experience as it comes to them. That may be a real conundrum but I have some ideas and I hope to try them out in this world of fishing and maybe be a success. We will see!!!!

PICKEREL!!!!!!!

2010-01-27T11:57:00.001-08:00

The weather should be great for you to fish, it will be sunny and 65 or so. That was the forecast and most people's prognosis of my pickerel fishing trip last Sunday. The unfortunate truth was that it would really be bad weather for catching these toothy little critters, Esox Niger data, and had me a bit concerned about a trip without many fish. There are largemouth bass there also so it might turn out alright.

I made it to the boat ramp about 15 minutes late, seems like I am always late for this trip! Tom and Rob were waiting and getting ready to roll. The rods were strung and we rolled out. Our first target area is a bank at the end of the ramp area so it didn't take long until we were slinging some streamers at the bank and waiting for a bang. I quickly got a nab but didn't get the hook set well and he was gone. The sun came out and the fishing went a bit, uhhhh, DEAD! We fished until about 11:15AM before our first fish was brought to hand, he was just north of a pound and feisty as I remembered chain pickerel are.

Right before we were ready to pull out and head to lunch I saw a promising looking tree laying out from the bank. This had been the pattern so far, fish hiding along structure and ambushing from there. With a new large perch colored streamer that had just produced I shot a cast deep to the bank and BLAMMO!!!! It got nailed by a BIG fish who promptly snapped me off, AT THE TOP OF THE LEADER!!!! There was a wind knot that was not noticed and it cost us a real good fish. Retie and go back after him for about 10 minutes but nothing. I wanted that streamer back!

We pulled up and headed to lunch at the BBQ place in town. All the locals go there and after church on Sunday it gets crowded! But the food is really good and worth the time. After that we headed back and set out after more picks, plus the weather had really improved for us,chilly and overcast like the picks like!

We got started and it was apparent Tom was not feeling great this day. It was not long before he needed to head for home and get some rest. Fortunately he said later that he was getting well.

Rob and I headed back out on the lake in search of more pickerel and we found them. They were all 1.5 pounds plus which meant that every fish I caught that day broke the current waterbody record. I just don't want to kill fish for a small record like that. So all of these fish were released to catch another day.

The last fish was caught in the dying light of the day and was a nice fighting fellow that was a hair shy of three pounds. He gave a great fight which I was thankful for. Before putting him back I was amazed at how much movement and dexterity these fish have with their fins. I can see how it makes pickerel and their larger cousins pike such effective predators.

Overall a very successful trip and worth the time, plus when I got home the lovely Lucie was here waiting for me and that always makes it better!

Here is the last and largest fish caught on this day! Cheers and go fish!!

Short day on the LMF, but good

2009-11-24T19:52:00.001-08:00

I got a late start and arrived around 2PM today ready for some trout fishing here in Beaver's Bend State Park on the Lower Mountain Fork River. Stopped at Three Rivers Fly Shop to pick up a couple of flies and a few goodies. After getting started later than expected I hit the river and got to some fishing.

I headed down to the Bluffs by way of the Evening Hole. I worked a few spots in the EH and didn't really have anything happening there and realized how different the river looks there. Not sure if it is better or worse, but definitely different. The upper half of that section is very different than before.

Once at the Bluffs I found more people than I had hoped to find, but there was a little room I could fish. And then after about half an hour I got to fish the section I wanted and was really loving it. It is one of my favorite places to fish anywhere.

I always seem to zone in really hard on the fishing in this section for some reason. The fish there are really finicky and it takes a lot of hard work to figure them out and catch them. I started out with a nymph rig with two flies and was moving down the river. I found a nice native rainbow who attacked the PT nymph on my leader. He was a beautiful wild fish with vibrant, strong colors and tons of spots and fins that were not worn. The tips of the fins were full and tipped with white. I didn't get a picture of him and I regret that. But he went back to fight again.

I am ready for tomorrow and more fishing on my favorite river. This is such a beautiful place and a wonderful fishery that I totally love. There are so many reasons to be here enjoying this area and taking part in nature, how do people not get out and enjoy nature and the outdoors?

Tomorrow I will shoot pictures and some video to in some way attempt to express how amazing this area is.

Sunday I am heading up to the Blue River in Oklahoma with Merc for a day of fun on the little Blue for some different trout fishing. I have been there before but not in quite a long time. It should be a blast, especially with Merc. We will undoubtedly have a great day!

Quick recap of Stars win 11/21/09

2009-11-22T07:42:00.001-08:00

The tickets were ready and we headed down on the train to see the Stars take on the New Jersey Devils. I love hockey and the Dallas Stars so this is a blast for me anytime I get to see the Stars live.

Moving forward to the really interesting part of the game, oh yeah the Stars won 5-3, Stars beat Devils 11/21/09. Sitting in front of us in the stands though were 5 guys who took the time to don full Devils uniforms including a guy in full Brodeur goalie gear! Plus they brought a "coach" who was drawing up "plays" for his team in the stands!! It was interesting for about one period, then it became sad. Even worse they did this and got to watch their team lose while wearing full regalia.

This was great to see no doubt! The Stars won with some good solid play by lots of their players. As always we waited after the game to see who the three stars of the game were. Number 3 was Brian Rolston from New Jersey. Number 2 was Mike Ribiero from the Stars, Ribs' insane shootout winner. He came out and tossed his game puck into the stands. Right into my hands!!!!! No BS, here it is!!!

Needless to say it capped off a great night of hockey fun for me!! THX Sherree for the tickets and THX Boo for going along and enjoying the good times!!!

Another trip and more feesh!! Striped bass on Texoma...

2009-11-20T19:10:00.001-08:00

Seems that almost every fishing trip starts on some almost absolute notes. You head out hoping or lots of fish, a BIG fish and a wonderful day to remember. Now I am not saying this is bad, wrong or even unexpected; it merely is what it is. I know that for me these are constants for a fishing trip be it home waters, new waters, lake, river, creek ditch, by myself, guided or with buddies. These ideas are in my head every time I head out the door with my gear and always will be.

So, I drove to Lake Texoma again for another trip with Steve Hollensed to fish for striped bass. And I had many of the feelings described above on the way there, and I have been out fishing with Steve 10-12 times in the past couple years. He was even able to help me learn to be a good fly caster, and that wasn't easy! Back to the trip; headed to Highport Marina to meet up with Steve for a half day of chasing stripers on Texoma. If I had to choose one species of fish to chase from now on it would definitely still be trout, but stripers would be a close second right now. They are fantastic to catch on a fly rod; built to swim fast almost torpedo like and when they decide something they see is food they attack to kill! Needless to say topwater action from stripers is amazing and exciting. The hardest thing to do when fishing for striper is not get excited and start making mistakes. Especially when they are blitzing, now that is exciting to fish in!! That is a blitz on the east coast, but the Texoma blitzes look exactly same.

What I found was some amazing fishing in November for striper here in Texas. We headed north out of Highport and ran into the Ouchita river where the fishing had been good of late. The fishing has been really good there around this time of year. We stopped at railroad bridge where the birds were on a school of striper and got rid of the skunk, not big but he thought he was at least 15 pounds and tried to prove it! Pretty quickly the birds stopped and we moved on.

Heading north a few miles further we found another flock of birds working and this was a large flock of birds. Getting the fly in the water we worked to keep up with the birds and fish. Not only were these fish active, they were hitting the fly like speeding bullet trains, they were moving fast chasing the shad. Steve was running the trolling motor flat out most of the time to attempt to stay on the schools. There were huge schools of fish in this part of the lake and they were chasing shad everywhere. Now we were into them and these fish were hot! On fire might be the right way to describe it really. I landed fish after fish for more than 2 hours. Some were small, 1-2 pounds, and some were over 21" long and pushing 9-10 pounds!! We followed these schools for a long time.

I have a belief the same as Steve's, you don't leave fish to go find fish. It is very testosterone filled to say you left them biting, but I just think it is silly. So we followed this school until it finally pushed the baitfish up to the bank and started hitting them there. But, we hadn't made it up to where we trying to go to fish. We broke our rule and headed up above Eisenhower State Park and found more fish, there must be millions of striper in this lake! Especially when you consider that it is legal to take 10 fish per day per angler out of the water to keep and you still find them thick in the water like this!

I had to finish up and head home for a Mavs game at 5:30 so we headed in. I think Steve was almost as disappointed as I was to leave fish on the bite out there. I have yet to not have a great time fishing with Steve and don't know that I ever could. You can't go wrong by taking a trip with him and learning about the amazing striped bass fishery that is Lake Texoma. Videos are being edited and will follow this report soon. Here are a couple pictures of a nice striper from April to tide you over. OUT!

Winter and fishing is getting started!!!

2009-11-17T19:42:00.001-08:00

So we are heading into winter around the SW part of the country and with it is coming some of the best fishing. That means bigger stripers are heading up shallow and searching for food, the LMF is getting less pressure and plenty of fish and the Little Blue is finally getting her stocking. Things are getting really good now.

I am heading to Texoma tomorrow for a half day of chasing stripers with Steve Hollensed, this can be some great fun! Looking to break double digits this time. Next week will be a trip to the LMF for some trout chasing, and there will be a lot of those in there after this week. Also I may hit the Little Blue for some of their stocked rainbows. I really need to head there for the C&R area they have started.

I guess the theme hear is to get out and fish, it is a great time for it. Especially if you are a fly fishing, trout chasing bonehead like me. Time to hit the bed and get some good sleep for Wednesdays big fun.

Did I mention that Boo and I get to see the Mavs tomorrow night? WooHoo!!!!1

Where is this heading?? Really???

2009-07-04T08:15:00.001-07:00

So I am embarking on something sort of scary and at the same time exciting. A journey to clarity and direction for my life. A way to be sure I am doing what makes me happy and fulfilled. This will include some new things and some new ones and hopefully combine into the life I want to lead.

It will likely involve a change in company of employment and maybe a change in career direction. These are things that remain to be seen. I know that where I am at right now is less than ideal for me and has to be changed.

This may be the hardest thing I ever do, but may also be the most fulfilling and eye opening at the same time. It all is a work in progress, and does that ever really change? At some point we are more comfortable or less than "normal" but do we ever stop working on ourselves?

I truly feel much better about this life change day by day and really think it is in my best interest for my life. What do I want to do and where? That is something to be decided as this process goes on. Ideally I would like to do something in the fly fishing world; but I might stay in bicycling but in a different capacity. I am not sure yet that I would go "out on the road" in bicycling but it could be a possibility.

There are so many things to work out but at least I feel like I am on a more positive path with my life. Now the really tough work comes, figuring it all out and making it happen!

Thought I had blown it on the way into Broken Bow!

2009-05-07T20:27:00.001-07:00

Got up and headed for my little slice of heaven in Oklahoma yesterday morning, cause I really needed a fishing fix! Has my life really gotten this stressful? Damn! On the way to Broken Bow I hit a storm; Biblical proportion Noah get the Ark kind of storm I am talking here! It was coming down in sheets, and more sheets! I thought I had really screwed the pooch on this one for sure. The river was going to be completely unfishable no doubt, but I was almost there so what the hell!

Got into town and headed to the coffee shop for a snack and a refill. I headed straight to Spillway Creek to exact some revenge on the fish that had gotten the better of me a couple of weeks ago. Walking in I realized that this might really be a short trip with the runoff coming down into the river. No doubt I was alone on the water in the morning, who else is dumb enough to drive 3 hours into a downpour to fish? Me and a couple herons were about all!

This is what I found, stained and high don't do justice to how rough it was looking. I made my way up the trail to the hole I was going to fish and wondered if I should even try to get in position. The water was high enough and swift enough that I began to wonder how I could kill the rest of the day. I was determined and got in and started working the pool I wanted and was able to make it out alive, whew! But it was tough and there were no fish to show, yet!

So I walk back down and decide to try right above the lower foot bridge. I also made a pattern switch to a red San Juan worm, BINGO! I started getting into fish now. The best was a nice colorful 12" bow. Sorry, no picture of him though. He got hooked with my leader stuck on a 2 foot branch and running downstream into a fast current. I thought losing a fly was better than floating into the Cold Hole and he was gone! The skunk was gone and I am in the game now.

I moved to the Evening Hole and found some more fish, and lots of debris. The river had really gotten up and there were leaves and branches all over the path in the middle of EH. It looked like the flood aftermath last year, WOW! But there were fish feeding and getting hooked which changes your view of things quick! I hooked 8 fish in the EH and landed one, it was tough. And apparently there was a Dork Fish there that let me land him! What is a Dork Fish?!?

So I headed to Three Rivers Fly Shop for a break and to settle up on some stuff. We chatted for a bit and talked about the didymo that was found recently. A huge threat to trout fishing!!!! And then decided to head back for a little more fishing before I was off to home.

Back to Spillway Creek and the water is really clearing up now. Time to go exact revenge back in the original hole. I was hopeful but not expecting tons of fish. I got there and it was open, a small victory to start. Move out and start working, drift after drift goes by and I am not getting anything. Lose a couple of flies, now the frustration is setting in. More weight to get down deep fast, still nothing. A hunch says to move the indicator down and fish a little less deep; not much but about 12-18 inches. A couple more drifts and BAM!!! Fish On! He feels nice and weighty. I am trying to get him turned to me and get my net, watch out for the wading staff, net on him and gone! The net missed and popped the fly out of his mouth. Next fish turned, saw him and felt the tug before he spit the fly at me. How rude! Another fish on and it won't come up, must be nice; don't run under that rock and damn! Broke me off!

Alright, just one fish and a picture is all I want. It is amazing how fishing can make you religious, "Please let me lift a fish and get a picture and I will be ready to go Lord. " Sound familiar? Drift after drift and I am thinking that Dork Fish is the only thing I am lifting today, until WHAMMO! A nice strong tug and I am back in the fight. Work the fish, keep it off the log and turn it. Keep tension but don't break it off; come here and get in the net. YEA!!! Got her. Nice, thick shouldered female about 14" long. Good heavy fish. Picture taken, see below, and a successful release! YES!!!

The water had cleared significantly since the shots in the morning. I could see almost everything like I normally do at the lower foot bridge. It had been a good day and I was ready to head home. Stopped for a few last pics on the river.

Nice peaceful drive home and some good memories of fishing for me. Made it home to find the fabulous Lucie waiting for me to tuck in with her and dream of how great life is knowing she is there for me! A good day indeed!

A day on Texoma chasing stripers

2009-04-11T17:36:00.001-07:00

When you meet Steve Hollensed you first realize what a nice person he is. Then it becomes very apparent how good he is at his job and how much he loves to fish. Those are just a couple of the reasons I keep going back to Steve for some incredible striper fishing, and of course his wife's home made brownies! Plus the brownies are on the boat with you while fishing, just another little slice of heaven!

So we started at ~2PM Wednesday and went on the hunt for early season striper. The fish had been a little active but not blitzing yet. The plus was that the fish biting were the large ones, I liked the sound of that! We headed out and checked one point where the fish might be moving into but it was a bit early for that point to be productive. We ran across the lake to another creek mouth where there were some fish feeding the day before.

We drifted in and watched as the depth finder started marking large groups of fish. Lots of fish were in the creek and we were getting excited. The boat drifted into the creek slowly and I put the fly deep to try and get some of them to move. Nothing! But, we were following a live bait casting boat through the creek who was trolling through with his motor running. They caught a few but I think the motor was putting those fish on the defensive. We felt like it was best to let them rest and relax for the late afternoon bite.

We moved to a creek and found a few birds working in there. The fly was changed to a smaller clouser in chartreuse and white which got our first fish of the day on. A nice 2 to 2 1/2 pound striper, followed quickly by a similar weight sand bass. The skunk was gone and we felt like we were finally in the game. After another brownie we checked our options and thought it was time to head back to the first creek channel.

Once there we found some fish but not the numbers we saw before. I was working the fly deep and trying to stir up something when Steve swore he had seen a couple of fish blowing up by the shore and so we discussed moving that way. It was really too early to have fish feeding up top but I trust Steve's ability to spot striper feeding up top, he has seen a few of those over the years!

As we got over that way we saw the birds and noticed they were really acting like they wanted to start working some shad on the top, that's a great sign! We moved over and shut the big motor down and trolled into the area and BAM! The fish hit the top and it was on, STIPER BLITZING!!!

It was brief but it was there and we had hit it just right. It wasn't long until we had the first one of this school up, and then a bigger one, and a bigger one. I was casting to a rising fish who was out of the main school and thought that I should concentrate on being in the main pod when SLAM!!!! I had another strike and set the hook then put tension to him and he almost yanked the rod out of my hands! THIS IS A BIG FISH!!!! I thought about trying to put him on the reel and then decided to keep the rod high and the line tight. He ran and then eased, ran and then eased and made the big mistake of turning and running toward us and I got the line up and tight, Steve hit the net and WHAM, we had him in the boat. No need to ask on this one, it is a picture fish!

There was more fishing after that but no bite to speak of and we let the day die slowly to dusk. It was a great day of fly fishing for stripers on Texoma. And it is always my pleasure to fish with Steve Hollensed.

Home to the Opry and such

2009-03-08T08:15:00.001-07:00

So Randell and I really are tourists; John(aka Morrie), Randell and I went to take in some sights Saturday. Real Hawaiian shirt wearing, annoying picture taking kinds of things. We went to brunch at Noshville, where they have hot dogs and everything Jackson, and then hit some of the Nashville sights.

This is the Parthenon, in Nashville, which we viewed. It is a replica of the Greek one that was built in 1996 for the Centennial that year. It sits in a large park and would be an amazing place during the summer for family outings I am certain. John/Morrie said that the tour of the inside wasn't worth the $5 admission fee though.

Here is the stage at the Ryman auditorium. This was the home of the Grand Ole Opry for many, many years. It is quite a fantastic place and would be a phenomenal place to see a show, I am very jealous that Morrie saw the Pretenders there! The history of this facility is amazing and you really get the feeling of what those times were like as this was quite a family facility. Minnie Pearl said that she could always remember the smell of everyone's fried chicken as the audiences would bring "picnic" dinners to the shows.

On the road......

2009-03-08T08:14:00.001-07:00

So this is the weekend of the AC/DC show in Nashville. Randell and I are flying there to go see Angus and the boys with our friend John who is hosting us. He may not remember what pains Ran and I can be after more than a couple of hours.

I just bought a $4 beer on the plane, with my debit card! What a country!! The flight has been alright so far but I did have to mail my pocket knife back to myself, and they said it would take about 2 weeks to get from Love field to my house!! Is someone going to walk over and drop it in the mailbox?

Looks like tonight we are either going to the Station Inn or the Grand Ole Opry. It has the potential to be a very interesting evening for us. Not sure yet if John's family is coming with us or it is a boy's night out. I guess we will find out soon enough.

Randell has gotten a new golf game for his PSP and is trying real hard to beat a girl; things aren't looking good for him on that. But he has gotten through the designing of his profile successfully, baby steps there big fella!

Looks like about one more hour before we land, just hope Randell's luggage makes it to Nville with us. He couldn't fit his bag in the overhead and it had to be put below. He could be hurting for seatcovers real quick.

WTF!!!!!!

2009-03-08T08:10:00.001-07:00

Well, it appears I had gotten a bit inconsistent on my postings again; sorry for that. If anyone is really reading this.

So the reason for sporadic posting is sporadic fishing opportunities. I have not gotten many chances this year to make it out to the water. Hopefully that can change soon. I am going to Fork with Rob Woodruff Wednesday the 11th to try again for a large spawning bass. Rob has put me on the big fish a couple of times, just haven't been able to really stick them and get them into the boat. Maybe this time!

Then I have a trip to Broken Bow for an April weekend with a lot of friends coming up this year. I think it will be an even better trip than last time since we now know what to expect and how to get set up for this one.

I still need to get my canoe out on the water, the trailer isn't done yet damnit!! I might see about getting out to Cedar Creek for some sandies as I have heard they are starting to get active.

I have a striper trip to Texoma scheduled in July which I hope will become amazing, especially if we hit the afternoon blitz right!

Beyond that it is a matter of getting my butt back in shape and getting things in the new house sorted a bit better; but isn't that always the way?

C-YA

Alright, WTF?!?!?!?!?

2009-02-18T14:42:00.001-08:00

I am almost ready to give up every now and then, and this is getting to be one of those times. I haven't been able to get out to Broken Bow for any fishing in what now seems like a total eternity, but is really about 6 weeks. I seem to find more and more ways to occupy my time that aren't fishing, some good and some less good. Maybe it is just the way things go, but it is not working for my mental health!

OK, the fishing thing is really getting to me. I will be in Broken Bow next weekend for the LMFRF meeting and One Fly tournament and hopefully I will get plenty of time on the water then. The reports I have heard indicate fishing is really good right now, that makes it even worse. But, I have been trying to get some fishing in lately to ease the tension but I have been getting the skunk more than I want to lately.

Then there are all the extra things I am doing in my life that are not fishing. The skating, riding and fitness things are not bad for me, but they aren't fishing! The others just seem to wear on me more than I really want them to. I guess this is the definition of "fighting the good fight."

At least the Stars have been getting some good wins lately which is nice for me. But there are 7 weeks left in the regular season so it is not decided yet. Hopefully they can get past the injuries that have been a plague for them at the beginning of the season. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

But, my birthday was good. A nice pair of Tony Lama full quill ostrich boots and a great dinner at Hector's on Henderson made for quite a wonderful 43rd birthday. Plus my wonderful girlfriend loves me which makes all the suffering seem bearable.

How about a little river porn? What do you say? Here is a beautiful shot of the Chute in Zone 2 of the LMF river.

Sad day for my family....

2009-01-25T09:37:00.001-08:00

I got the call this morning at 7:47AM from my Grandmother, "They just knocked on my door and Winston got killed outside!" My heart sank and I was out of the bed and on my way to help.

Winston, the little white fellow above, was Grandmother's poodle mix that had been with her for 15 years. He was a great dog for her, he adored her above all else. He was a perfect pet for this little woman to have.

I was living in Wills Point at the time and working in Dallas for days at a time back in 1993 so I thought getting her a little dog would be the perfect idea. My rott Gil was there for protection but he was not a cuddly inside dog. After buying a miniature dachshund for my girlfriend of the time I realized that a new poodle would be great for Grandmother. She had always had white poodles so I set out on my day off to find one. I visited numerous shelters looking for a rescue poodle for her. I had found a similar breed at a shelter and was on my last chance for a poodle I thought. I went to the shelter in Garland and asked if they had anything like what I was after. Not really, but there might be a chance something just came in I was told.

The clerk took me back to the holding area and there was a cute little scruffy fellow that looked confused and scared. I asked if I could open the cage and the lady said sure. It was the old cliche' of him running to me and going crazy, he wanted to go with me!!! She said he had been found at Lake Ray Hubbard and was brought in that morning. He wouldn't be ready to be adopted until the next day so I let her know I would be back the next day and paid for him then.

We kept him at our house for 2 days and on Christmas went to Wills Point with Winston, the name given at the shelter. He had a little Christmas bow around his neck. When we went in the house we walked through the kitchen and around the corner to the living room, and then he saw her. Grandmother was sitting in her chair and Winston knew she was his! He ran over and jumped straight in her lap! This little dog was home now and there was nowhere he wanted to be more than with Grandmother! And that is how his love affair with Grandmother started.

For the next 15+ years everyone that knew my Grandmother knew about dog, she rarely called him Winston. They heard about his exploits and triumphs. He was absolutely perfect for her. He didn't need to be walked, she would open the door and he would go to the grass and do his business. When it had been too long she would clap her hands and here he would come, shot out of a cannon!

When he was nearly paralyzed by a ruptured disk in his back we had it surgically repaired, that isn't cheap for dogs either, and she visited him every day at the hospital. And Grandmother was so happy when he had recovered and got to come home. His back was about 85-90% good, but he never had quite the same strength in his legs. He got around fine and could run and play but never jump as he had before.

Winston loved to get groomed, he was a proud little fellow when he had been primped. He would strut about and fully enjoyed being complimented on his appearance. He was a great dog for her. He was a gentleman and liked to show off his new coif. He would sleep under her bed, never on it, right below where she was.

After she moved to the retirement apartments he began to decline. His body began to slow down and stiffen; his eyes and ears were getting bad. Where he used to run and bark if someone knocked at the door, now he would merely look up and saunter over if he knew you. We had been talking about the fact that he might need to be put down soon.

Last night Grandmother put Winston out to potty and forgot to let him back in, I suspect this has happened quite a bit in recent months. Never a problem really as he always knew where to find Grandmother and wouldn't stray far from that area. To the best of our knowledge he ran across a wild critter and got bit. He had a wound on his neck and had been bleeding. He likely never heard or saw the animal that bit him.

Grandmother called back and said that he wasn't dead and so we rushed over. I pulled around to the back and found him in a towel she had put on him. he was breathing barely and he had that distant look in his eyes. When we got there he knew as he began to want help and was struggling in his last moments to move for us.

We took him to the emergency clinic and he was alive all the way there. They rushed him in and gave him some morphine for his pain. We were counseled about his condition and asked what we wanted to do for him. It was time and we agreed he should be put down and out of his suffering. They brought his little body in afterward and she said goodbye to him.

A 15 year love affair ended today, and I am proud that I had been a part of it. This little dog gave my Grandmother everything he had lovewise, he literally adored her. There was no where else that little fellow should have been, they were meant for each other. And it was a joy to be able to witness that.

Godspeed Winston, you were truly a great friend to grandmother and one of the loves of her life. You will be missed always.

Skunked on the Duck!!!

2009-01-18T16:59:00.001-08:00

Ouch!!! That was the story today, a big old skunking. But, it is January 18th and not consistently warm with a stiff north wind. What was I to expect!?! Ah well, I tried.

I did get to take out the 4 weight again. I have gotten to really like that rod and the set up on it. It is a really nice casting rod, and I haven't tired it with the double taper line I have for it. I really like the four for nymphing and high sticking.

Ah, back to the Duck. The creek AKA Duck Creek Linear Park, in the summer it is a slam dunk kinda bluegill creek. Right in the middle of a neighborhood with people everywhere, and if you know the tricks there are some nice bass in there. I need to get the canoe out and find some of the other areas in DFW to fish in the summer. I have spent some time on White Rock Lake and found some fine gills there, and a few bass also. There are sandies and carp in there as well and I am starting to get the rumors about technique for those.

Rowlett Creek has a nice sand bass run coming up but it gets nightmare crowded, may need to take the kayak over for that one. Plus WRL Creek has some great holes for sand bass as well.

And there are lots of trips to take this year so we will see what happens, but I do know there will be some fishing for me this year!

Alright, back to the reality of life and it's normal drudgery. But, go forth good fisher persons and catch them fishes! Or, good luck and get out and fish!

What to write about tonight??

2009-01-13T19:41:00.001-08:00

Well I had been pondering what I wanted to write about tonight; I haven't tied in a day or two and the fishing has been even less frequent than that.

So I began to hunt the interwebs to find something and happened upon this video about the Lower Mountain Fork River, and you know I love that. So I checked it out and decided to link it here for all to see. "Tribute to the Lower Mountain Fork River" by Fish-N-Feathers Outdoors

I also found this video which is from someone's vacation trip to Broken Bow. Pretty nice and they even got some stocking happening, that's what the guy with the net is doing. More Lower Mountain Fork Fishing

Then I found this, I Am A Fisherman-Rough Cut , and I can't wait to see Brent fishing again. It intrigues me like a total train wreck does the average Joe driving by. This is greatness on a level most people have never seen. Brent again! Here is my hero again Please tell me this is going to come out sometime!

I need to go fish, really bad!! C-YA out there!!!

Practice, practice, practice......

2009-01-12T16:56:00.001-08:00

Yeah, the old joke says it is the way to get to Kennedy Center and lots of places. But it is also the only way to get better at something, especially when your goal is to become an instructor at that thing.

I hope to some day be a CCI, Federation of Fly Fishers Certified Casting Instructor, and have plans to attend the Southern Council's Conclave and take the CCI test there. Some of you know that I hope to be a guide when I retire and I think this is a big feather in the cap of a guide.

So what do you do when practicing? Cast, cast and cast some more. Things that you focus on are loop control, accuracy and distance. The nice thing about it is that as you begin to cast and be more comfortable it becomes more and more fun! Being able to make the line do what you want is a great feeling, and helpful on the water.

If you are interested in what this will take here is the link to the FFF Education information, FFF Certified Casting Instructors Page.

So that is what I did tonight after work. And it felt great. If you haven't yet I highly suggest taking lessons from a CCI and getting some help with your casting.

Alright, what about some fish porn?

This is a beautiful 16" brown trout I caught in Steamboat this year. He was in a riffle near the confluence of the Yampa and Fish Creek Falls. I love catching wild fish.

Alright, not really fish porn but river porn. LMF river at Old Park Dam. I love being there and especially at the right time to see this!

Get out and go fish!

Been Fishing.......

2009-01-11T13:29:00.001-08:00

I wish I had been. It has been a bit too long since I did so what have I been doing? Well, there is the joy we call work which I am determined to convince myself I love. I must or I wouldn't keep going back! The everyday grind of living life with an aging parent that has memory issues, that is not near as fun as it sounds. :(

I have gotten my canoe hanger finished and usable now. Hope I can get a trailer soon, that's not even a hint if you read it Shannon! ;) I fixed a ton of leaders that got junked up over the months and now they are ready to go. I may even go practice casting here in a bit.

Mostly I have been tying......

Quite a space there huh? This is where the magic happens! Well at least this is where I try to believe I am able to tie flies, there are even a few clouser minnows in the container up front. It is a great way to try and stay in touch with what I am passionate about right now, fishing!!! And hopefully, soon, fly fishing guiding.

Yeah, this is where I am spending more and more of my time right now. But, it could be much worse. Fast cars, booze and loose women could fill my time again. And that never got me anywhere; damn it was fun though!

Oh well, no looking back now. If the weather is good enough I am going to try to put the canoe in the water Wednesday and fish White Rock Lake a bit, probably won't have much success but I need to get the canoe wet and see how she works. Plus I think I am going to do a Sunday run to Broken Bow next week. The park is empty and the fish should have seen decreased angler pressure, which is great for me!

Hopefully I can get my friend Scott to make the trip, we will see. I most likely will do the overnight camp thing and fish the next day. Hope I see all of you on the water soon.

It's official!!!! LMFRF Board of Director!

2009-01-08T19:49:00.001-08:00

Today is the day of the first vote I participated in as a member of the board of directors of the Lower Mountain Fork River Foundation. I was asked if I would consider serving before the last meeting of 2008 and was voted in at that meeting.

This was something that really gave me great pride about being asked to serve this foundation. They do so many great things for the LMF river. I hope we can make a huge difference for that area during my time on the board.

My first meeting will be 2/28/09 and will coincide with the annual One Fly tournament, which I will get to participate in for the first time this year. That should be a really great time.

It should be a great year for me and my passion for fishing on the LMF river!

One Fly 2/28/09

2009-01-07T09:17:00.001-08:00

Alright it is time for the annual Lower Mountain Fork River Foundation One Fly tournament soon. It is scheduled for 2/28/09 this year and will be a great event. The One Fly is a tournament/fundraiser for the Lower Mountain Fork River Foundation which focuses on the LMF fishery and helping keep it going and maintaining it for we SW area fly fishers who need the trouts fix regularly!

You fish 1 fly for the allotted hours and tally points based on the fish caught and add bonus points based on some size of the fish criteria. Here is the link to the LMFRF page about the One Fly, LMFRF One Fly Tournament .

This year the fly is going to be the same for all anglers and will be picked by the judges when you start the day. It will really even the playing field and focus this contest on the ability of the angler.

Get registered now and be sure you make the time to head up to Broken Bow for this fun, exciting tournament!

A Great way to start 2009!

2009-01-04T16:06:00.001-08:00

I was able to string together some days off from work and some vacation leftovers into a great trip for some LMF fishing and camping to end 2008/begin 2009 the best way possible.

I made it to Beavers Bend park about 8:30 Monday night and got the tent ready for the night. I had enough light to get things going and ready for 2 days of camping. The Boy Scouts in the other campground were a bit wound up but I forgave them quick enough, and the beer started kicking in so I didn't care about them after that.

Up early and off to the river for some trouts on Tuesday morning. I love the river there and was really ready to hit it.......where did all these people come from?!? DAMNIT!!! I must have run into the middle of a festival of people who intended to ruin my great feeling of solitude and peace. Alright, just make your way through Lost Creek and back to the Bluffs and all will be well.

I find the Bluff area in great shape and start to look for elusive, wily fishes. None found my offerings tempting back there so I worked around to the stream under Cold Hole where fish had started to hold. I am doing fine until the heavily layered bait chunker stumbles up to my hole. He proceeds to stand on a rock right over the fish I am working, then while I am tying up again drops his spinner right in where I was fishing. That is not bad enough but then he catches the fish which he drops on the rocks before lobbing it back in the water like a softball! UGH! I hastily retreat to the truck and a bit of sanity.

I hit the Upper Footbridge and move to the Pillars for some pocket water work. I see Woodruff and get introduced to Pat Waters and Tom Atwood of the LMFRF. I move down to the Pillars hole and begin working fish there. Around 2:30 I head to town for some errands I am needing to run. On the way back I stop and chat with Linda at 3 Rivers for a while before I make my way back to the Evening Hole and fish until dusk. The night ends with some college ball and a few beers. Not to mention me trying to start a fire with wet wood for about an hour and a half. Quite the mountain man I am!

I wake the next morning and break camp, Boo is coming in and we are moving to a B&B for New Year's Eve. I know it is not the most manly way to rough it but I have to say the B&B thing is great. We got home made breakfast both days and they even did some laundry for me! I was blown away with the service there! It is called Reuben's Rest and I highly recommend people try it. It is like going to your parents' house without the bickering, fighting and guilt.

On to fishing, I went back to Lost Creek and found that lots of people had left. The area was much quieter than the day before so I set up there again for a bit. I worked down to the Evening Hole this time and got into lots of dinks before I found a nice sized Bow and had a blast stalking him until he hit the faithful old Partridge and Orange soft hackle. I headed to the B&B to clean up for dinner and wait for Boo.

After a nice quiet dinner for New Year's Eve we got some sleep and I got a late start to the New Year but still found the park fairly empty. I moved to Z2 this time and found the fishing there is getting back to the more difficult side of the equation. I did get a fairly nice Bow on but he shot me the fin with an LDR before I headed out for lunch. After getting some food I made my way back to the EH for what turned out to be a great timing on a lot of fish rising to chase emergers. They were chasing some tiny little insects though and I had trouble getting a fly small enough on to get their interest. Plus I had forgotten my wader socks and was now wondering why my feet didn't quite feel like they were there! I left the stream headed to the room and took a shower and realized that my feet were still a little blue and without all their feeling! Won't be doing that again.

I woke next to the wonderful Boo Friday morning and we went down for breakfast. She left to feed the kids at home and I went to the river for a bit more fishing. This time I worked LC and finally found the right fly to make the fish get going. I had about 12-15 fish on in an hour and a half of work there. Mostly dinks but still fun to hit on the 3 wt. rod. I finally gave the hole to a younger kid and his Dad when I headed to the shop to order some new boots. I chatted with Jess and Linda for a bit before heading to Z2.

When pulling up I noticed a familiar green car with a Drake sticker on it and knew that my friend Scott was in the water somewhere. I got my gear out and headed down to the water. I made my way to the section I enjoy and found a person fishing; I asked if I could "share" the hole and started working. He left shortly after and paused on his way out. I moved down to try the area he had and after seeing a few rises decided I needed to get closer to them. This is where it gets stupid; after thinking to myself that this isn't the best idea I kept heading across. I found the rocks I know are there that are slick and angled just in time to take a spill! DAMNIT!!!

I gather up any of my pride that is left and head to the truck. As I approach the mighty black steed, Nissan, I find my buddy Scott there waiting to see me. He had been the person I "shared" the water with! Talk about not having a clue. We talked for a bit and I changed for the drive home. It was great to see him again and catch up some. We BS'd for a good half hour or so and plan to hit the LMF together soon.

I didn't get any pictures this time but you all know how pretty it is there so there is no point to that. Plus you all know what a 10-12" rainbow looks like.

Needless to say it was a good time and I will be back there soon. Keep reading, I plan to be better about posting this stuff up this year. Whether you guys like it or not! HAHAHAHA!!!!!

Another one slips by me....

2009-01-04T15:25:00.001-08:00

So I got all my gear ready last night, after the fabulous Boo said pack like you are spending the night and if you don't no big deal. Thanks sweetie, I appreciate you encouraging me.

So this morning the alarm goes off at 4:10 just like it was planned and I begin to ponder the trip. I was heading to Broken Bow for a day or so of fishing the Lower Mountain Fork river and some trouts, but the more I thought about it the less it seemed like I was wanting to do that. I love fishing that river and the area, I had all my gear ready to go, and I have tied about 5 dozen flies lately; but the thought of another trip by myself just wasn't doing it for me. I don't really mind it normally, even the Boo says fine to fishing when I want to. But something told me this wasn't that time, it just didn't feel right. So I made breakfast, did some internet stuff and here I sit wondering how great the trip was going to be.

I will get a lot accomplished today without a doubt, but I am torn about not making the trip I wanted to. I wonder how good I am at being a solitary angler, does it really feel good to catch fish that no one else enjoys all the time. Oh well, I will have to work on that problem some and see what answer I come up with.

I haven't really sent this picture out enough, but here is the BIG bow I caught in Steamboat in September. It was a great fish and I had lots of fun that day and all of the days I spend in Steamboat. Sorry for the goofy hero shot, but I was jacked to catch a fish that big. Thanks to Andy Radzavich of Bucking Rainbow Outfitters for putting me on this hawg!

Hopefully there is more fishing in my near future! C-YA!!!!

(originally written in early November)

Duck Creek Update

2008-05-28T16:57:00.001-07:00

So I have been able to get on the Creek de Duck 3 times in the last 4 days, and they have all been good trips for the catching. Even today, after some heavy rains yesterday I thought the fish would be down but they weren't. I found them really working the surface and giving me a lot of fun for the day.

The water was pretty murky today, but that didn't stop the fish from hitting poppers and sliders with a vengeance. They were slamming the poppers, in fact topwater was all I fished today and caught lots of fish. The first section I was on had large greenies smacking my popper and putting up some great fights. Then I threw a cast deep into an area I am not going to walk in with all the snakes I keep seeing. BAM! This bass smashed it back there. I am not sure why the fish were feeding up top after the rain and with the sun beating down on them today, but they were. It might be that they water ran high yesterday and they thought anything that was on the water today was food, that's my guess.

I worked a lot of the creek today and caught lots of fish, as I had the previous days, and had a great time. Fishing the poppers and sliders is great fun, I feel more connected to the catch when the fish hit those. I even had another bass take my popper back in that same section as the one pictured above. Interesting to throw about60-70 feet deep and get hit, talk about working for a hook set!

The previous days I was trying a popper/dropper combo that was killing at many times. The dropper, mostly woolies, were outfishing the popper about 6 to 1 I estimate. But the water was crystal clear until yesterday which definitely had an effect. It was interesting also that I had a small combo on first, then went to a bigger combo and started getting bigger fish.

Here is today's final fish. I saw a large clump of weeds under the surface and decided that it would hold a fish, probably a big one, and cast beside it. BAM! He engulfed the popper and started heading for shelter. After pulling him through some moss he came up and here he is. Nice little greenie with a real fight to him. There ain't no give in that one. (Old West Texas term.)

I thought I would also show you why they call it Duck Creek. There are lots of ducks there and they do spawn from time to time. Here is Mom Duck taking the kids out for a swimming lesson.
They are tucked right in there because there is a big guy taking their picture.

Hopefully this entry finds everyone doing well and living the good life. Good luck and get out to go fish!!

LMF trip May 17 and 18

2008-05-23T19:07:00.001-07:00

I made the trip to Broken Bow 5/16/08 for the Entomology for Fly Fishers class at Three Rivers Fly Shop taught by Rob Woodruff. That class is worth every penny and the time to take it, read my review here; Entomology class review. If you want to be more effective at figuring out what fish are eating, this is the way to go!

Before the class started on Saturday morning I got to do a bit of fishing. I started in the place I normally do to keep from getting skunked, it almost always brings me a fish or two. I was not disappointed when I hooked into a large 'bow that I got up and ready to lift, then he tangled me in a branch and was gone! But I hooked this guy right after and got him up for a picture, a nicely colored 'bow about 18" long. He was really beautiful!

I moved down to the Evening Hole for a check on that water and found a couple of fish, though nowhere near the fish that were there before the water releases.There doesn't really seem to be any rhyme or reason as to why the fish in that area abandoned the EH almost completely. But, there are trout starting to move back in there, and I think there are a few hold over fish also. I have hooked trout in there since right after the releases stopped, just not tons of them. After moving all the way down to the stump I was very surprised to hook this guy, a walleye down in that hole. He must have been swept through the gates and found a deep run to hold in. He had several marks on his back that were distinctly from cormorants taking shots at him, maybe that is why the other fish left. Just a guess.

After taking the field trip with Woodruff on Sunday Tom had to get home and I decided to make a fast run through the park fishing. This is how I fish on lots of my day trips, hit sections of the river for a little bit and then move on. It is a way to see how the river as a whole is fishing but doesn't give me the time to really zero in on a section as I like to when I have the time. But all the same it works for me. First to the Spillway Creek area where I caught a couple of fish that morning. Starting at the lower footbridge I didn't find as many fish as I wanted.

After spending the amount of time I wanted there I moved on to the Lost Creek area to see how the fish were there. I had not hooked any fish there Saturday afternoon with Tom, but that was after lots of pressure that day. I found a pod of fish toward the end of Lost Creek and it produced several nice fish, and they were very hungry. The largest was this big thick one that was a blast to catch. Almost looks like a football!

After having a great time there I decided to see if the fish were hitting in Zone 2, I didn't have time to get to Zone 3 that day. I heard that a fisherman had landed ~17 fish under OPD the night before, that sounded good to me! I moved in under OPD and began working the seams there that I know hold fish. I had a few strikes, but no fish. I think it was the wrong time of day and this little fellow was not helping me at all I am sure. It is amazing to watch these birds work a hole and see how many fish they will pull out of there. Think of the best fisherman you know; that guy you don't want to fish behind because you won't catch anything. And multiply his efficiency times 20 and you would be getting closer to how effective these birds are.

After spending about an hour in Zone 2 fatigue started to hit me.My friend Tom had bought a nice bottle of scotch that we shared a big part of the night before, plus being on the water at sunrise that morning was really wearing me out. I decided that it was best to head home and not be on the side of the road sleeping or worse. I had a bottle of 5 Hour Energy that I drank to get me home, thank goodness. I made it home fine and found my lovely girlfriend here getting ready to move into our new house. We are really looking forward to early July when we can move into Our Place.

I am leaving you with a picture of what I see looking from Old Park Dam down river there. I hope this will entice you to take a trip to Broken Bow and fish the Lower Mountain Fork River. Good luck and get out to fish!!

BASS!!! Fun on the beds at the "Secret Creek"

2008-03-30T17:13:00.000-07:00

This fish was caught on my first cast today. When this happens you just know it is going to be a good day! This one was the most aggressive of the 4 or 5 that saw my fly hit the water right by them. It was a nice little 14-15" fish that was a very satisfying catch. Until....

I found this girl up on a bed and got the fly right where it would get her to attack. A nice fish from right here in the heart of Dallas! I just can't believe that people who fish don't look for these opportunities more often. It is so great for me to be able to get to this in 15 minutes and have this much fun.

Here is the BIG winner for me today. This fish wouldn't move off her bed no matter how many times I put a fly in front of her and that gave me lots of chances to try flies over and over til we found a dark brown leech pattern that worked. And now I have these pictures and the memories of getting her up to hand. She was a beautiful fish and I would love the chance to catch her again someday. Hopefully she will spawn and lots of her fry will be there growing big soon!

This was the last fish I caught today, a good way to end the day no doubt! I had a great time for 3 hours today catching these fish and enjoying their fight. I had a couple of people come up and ask if there were fish in this creek, well yeah! It is almost criminal to have this much fun, especially without leaving town. I love going to all of the different areas I get to fish in, but this is really fun.

And soon the bream will start to spawn and this creek has some pretty nice green sunfish in it. That is equally as fun as anything else for me. I think it may be a really good summer for fishing around here. I can't wait to see how this turns out.

Good luck and go fish!!

LMF 3-26-08 and lots of fun fishing!!!!!!!

2008-03-30T16:40:00.000-07:00

Finally made it back to the LMF today for some long overdue fishing. After stopping for coffee and a snack for later I hit the water around 9AM and landed in Lost Creek to start. The Cold Hole had tons of bait fishers around it all day but the creek itself was fairly empty. I went straight to the end and began working woolys and clousers to the fish there. They were more than happy with those and in 1 1/2 hours I had landed 4 and missed about 10 more fish there.

I moved across to the area just above the Evening Hole and again started getting bites almost immediately. The first was from a chunky rainbow that was not in an area I expected large fish to be, BONUS! There were several more fish here and they were all hungry.

From there I went upstream to the shallow bluffs area and found more fish. I switched to soft hackles and that got their attention. I like that section for it's solitude and the challenge those fish provide, they are very picky back there. Today I didn't get caught in my usual standoff with them and got going fairly quickly. I have been known to work on those fish for hours and hours trying to figure them out.

Now it was time to move to the Evening Hole and see how things were there. 1st cast brought a nice plump rainbow to hand. And then 2 more in the first hole I fished. I moved down about 30-40 feet and worked a trough on the far side. The fish in there were hungry! I immediately started to get fish on almost every cast, until I got into a large fish who worked me and then broke off my clouser and left with it! I kept working other flies with varying amounts of success. At one point I saw 1 fish hit a magog smelt 4 times on one cast, it was fantastic!

Here is a fish I caught in the Evening Hole on the day after my birthday last year. My pictures from this trip won't download so I am using "stock footage" to represent the fun I had fishing and catching fish today.

I decided to take a "lunch break" and run up to see Jesse and Linda, plus reload on some flies. As usual I found Linda and Jesse helping people gear up for some trout fishing and offering their own great service to all. Psst, this is called a shameless plug. It is always great to visit with Linda and Jesse and I for one really appreciate all they do for us wandering fly fishermen.

Alright, back to the river. This afternoon it was time to hit Spillway Creek and see what the action was like there. I started in a couple of slower pools and had some action on woolys again. Not much though. This caused me to change my game plan and head to the pillars. It was time for some high sticking! I started with the Y2K attractor and a flashback PT nymph, this brought little success. I decided it was best to go back to the bh thread midges behind he Y2K I had success with last Thanksgiving, thanks for that tip Jesse! And then it was on! I worked my way up the pillars pool and landed 6 fish in that stretch. Each successive stretch brought 2-4 more fish to hand. I had a blast, and those fish were really thick and chunky. I guess they were from the rearing pens or just really healthy fish. But they all had good fins and lots of color.

This is my friend Jeff with a fish he caught in August while he was in Spillway Creek on his first trip to the LMF river. It was also his first time fly fishing ever. We are currently working on his casting and getting him ready to be a fly fishing nut like the rest of us.

After staying 2 hours more than I expected it was time to leave. I made my way to the truck, with little enthusiasm, and loaded my equipment for the drive home. I always have a hard time leaving Beavers Bend and the LMF, it is such a great place. I know I will be back there soon but it would be so much easier to be there everyday.

I used olive, white and brown woolys with decent success. The partridge and orange soft hackle worked well on some fish. But the winner today was a Y2K with a midge behind it high sticked through the pocket water in Spillway Creek. It caught loads of fish and was the most fun to fish today.

Good luck and go fish!

Fun at the "Secret Creek"

2008-03-21T19:22:00.000-07:00

I got out after work today to see if the water had cleared up any around here. The starting point was Duck Creek in Garland which had some fish in it about 2 weeks ago. The water level had dropped back down a lot since the rainstorm earlier this week. The clarity was a different story though. It was still pretty murky and had very limited visibility. I decided to try my luck for a bit, but luck wasn't on my side.

From the height of the trash in the trees it appears the water was about 12-14 feet higher than normal from all the rain we had. They also have 2 areas of construction on the creek above this section which is putting a lot of dirt in the water. When it clears this area will be fun to fish. After about half an hour of trying convinced me it was time to move to a better area.

I thought about it for a bit and decided to go north and see what the story was there. I hit the freeway and made it there ASAP to see if it was worth fishing. I pulled up and had a good feeling about the creek there. I got my stuff out and headed to the creek and the water looked good. It was clear enough and not running high. I was on the opposite side from where I normally work this creek. I could see fish rising on the other side tight against the bank. Starting with some minnow imitations I didn't get a bite though I had couple of follows from the bass there.

I changed to a partridge and orange soft hackle and quickly found that the big bream were ready to spawn and hungry. I landed a large girl from the far side. I worked that fly for a while and then decided to try some poppers. That turned out to be the ticket. Casting across the creek to the opposite side and working it back would bring explosive strikes from those large bream. They had large bellies and and were ready to spawn. I spent about an hour and a half landing fish after fish and loving every minute of it. Life doesn't get much better than that!

Add lots of rain to that last lamenting post.....

2008-03-19T12:53:00.001-07:00

This is a typical day off for me now it seems, less than 24 hours after some torrential rain my day off is greeted with a gale force wind. The wind is the least of my problems today, everything for fishing is running high and murky. Well, maybe by the weekend it will clear up a bit and we can get back to some semblance of normal and I can get out to wet a line. Hope springs eternal.

Since I am kind of stuck here, just no fishing makes me feel stuck, I thought I would show a couple of pictures I like from my collection. This one is Zone 3 of the LMF river. It is just above the Highway 70 bridge and is very seldom fished. That doesn't mean there are lots of fish there, but it can be very quiet and solitary there, until the canoes and kayaks hit. But by then it is usually about lunch time anyway.

This next picture my daughter took up in Spillway Creek one day. I don't have a lot of pictures of me actaully looking like I can cast, just looking like I can I said. This was a nice day and we were darn close to a good old skunking, I finally got 2 of the stockers there to take woolys. Of course I lost those flies and that was the only color they had interest in so it was soon time to leave. She has a very good eye for taking pictures I think.

This shot was taken at the Chutes in Zone 2 on a beautiful day in May of 2007. I met my friend Scott and his friend Laura to do some trout fishing. Laura was very new to it and was a real trooper and stuck with it even though success was minimal. But when you are able to spend time on a river on a day like this catching fish is not as critical as at other times. After this I moved up to the Evening Hole and was really getting into the fish there, sorry Scott and Laura. But what a fantastic day to be out on the water.

That's it for today, just a quick trip down memory lane. Those days are not far off for me and hopefully everyone else as well. There are lots of fish waiting for us and the weather to hit right. Good luck and get out and go fish!

Arrghhh!!!!! Wiinds

2008-03-16T20:17:00.000-07:00

Today was that kind of day; wind, wind and more WIND!!!!! Still I needed to get out and fish some. I decided to head to Richardson to see what the secret creek had going on this time of year. The water was much clearer than it had been a few weeks ago. That was probably the biggest plus for today.

The water was very choppy and as such I decided to start as far into the wind as I could and work my way back to the truck. As I scanned the water from the shoreline I didn't see many fish moving around, especially sizable ones. So I felt my only chance was to move down to the very end of the creek where I always seem to find fish. And once there I found some fish, even a few of the bass that the creek holds. The bass were sitting really low and didn't budge until I actually hit them with the fly! So catching bass seemed out of the question.

In the process of chasing the bass I found a good size school of "bream" there. I decided to start with a little rabbit hair nymph I had tied under an indicator. I soon found that this was not the ticket. So I put an Y2K and a small soft hackle under the indicator. Casting the 6 weight for the bass was not bad, but a 3 weight with an indicator and 2 flys in the wind that we had today was more than a chore. But once I got that combo in the water where I wanted I had a lot of looks. Then a quick hit on the Y2K and a fish that quickly tangled me in the netting along the shore and broke me off. I tried another Y2K for quite some time before figuring out that it wasn't the choice today either. Back to the drawing board.

I tried a couple of the bass flies I had with me and had mild interest from the bream at best. Next was a favorite for me the white wooly bugger, but no hits. I then decided to fall back on the old reliable, a partridge and orange soft hackle. Without the indicator it was easier to cast this setup. and once I spotted the fish to cast to again I was hooked up with one! It seems somewhat silly to some people, but I love to catch bream on a fly rod. They are a blast to play with and always eager to bite! I soon found that a slow retrieve with some pauses got me fish after fish. I hooked about 12-15 fish and had a blast.

Now the wind was a different story. I cursed it all day long and did lots of swearing and cursing at it. Often questioning why I can't get a day off without a cold front and/or strong wind it seems. One of my friends said he has been able to predict the weather by when I want to go fishing. If I am coming fishing, there is probably going to be a cold front. But that is life I guess. I have a good life and a beautiful woman that loves me, I guess a little wind is a cross I am willing to bear.
Good Luck and get out and fish!!!

Pickerel! Lake Hawkins 2-27-08

2008-03-04T05:55:00.000-08:00

It all started out with me getting up a little late, no shocker there, and having to really rush to get to Lake Hawkins on time. I made it just about right, and found Rob Woodruff, Woodruff Guide Service, walking toward me with a rod in hand. He had just hooked a nice chunky pickerel right there by the dock. A good sign I hoped.

Tom made it back soon after that, sorry about the license thing Tom and Rob, and we got started. Rob put us right next to the dock and started working that shore line. He educated us about pickerel, esox niger, and how they sit while waiting for food chances. The fish will sit very close to the shore with their tail toward land waiting to chase down their meal. Interesting. It took all of about 15 minutes before Tom had gotten into his first pickerel, of the trip and his life actually. It was a nice little fish and they put up quite a fight.

We continued down that shore and got 4-5 fish along there before moving around the corner. We figured out that on this day they were in water with more woods and a bit deeper than expected. We found fish in several areas before breaking for lunch. We pulled the boat and headed to Subway for a sandwich. It was quick and got us back on the water sooner.

This one looks like he was ready for lunch as well. If I was a better photographer you could see those rows of little needle like teeth in his mouth. You need forceps everytime you unhook one of these fish!

Once back in the water we tried the shore beside the dock again and found about a half dozen more pickerel there. Throughout the day we also added about 4 black bass to our catch, they were really healthy looking as well. Could be a good sign for the summer bass there on Hawkins.

We moved to the north side of the lake and worked the shore there. It seemed we were catching fewer fish but definitely larger per fish there. Tom bested me again, from the back of the boat no less, by getting into a nice 2.5 pound pickerel on this side of the lake. We ran the shore by the dock one more time and again got into about 5-6 fish within the 150 yards by the dock!

I had to add that picture as it is the only picture of a fish I caught that day. And he was a fairly nice one also! But here is a link to video of Tom catching what would have been a lake fly fishing pickerel record, and probably an all tackle record. We had not looked at the records for that body of water and missed a great chance, DOH! But I know I will be back to fish for these fun fish again as soon as I get a chance!

Tom's "Record" catch!

I made the drive home and got to enjoy my favorite thing of all, spending time with Lucie! That made it a really great day all around!

If you want to enjoy some great fly fishing for these pickerel, bass or even the trout in Oklahoma contact Rob Woodruff at Woodruff guide service. There is a link to his website at the top of this blog. Good luck and get out and fish!!!!

Lower Mountain Fork Zone Three 2-10-08

2008-03-04T05:27:00.000-08:00

This is what the day was all about for me. I hired Jesse from Three Rivers and we went to Zone Three to see what it held. We started at the Rereg Dam and caught several fish there. The fish were all very strong and healthy which makes the fishing so much fun it should be a crime.

We moved down the way to some riffles about 150 yards from the dam. There we found fish slurping little emerging insects from the film hungrily. We worked that section for a bit and hooked several more fish. This was a good section for working on reach casts and getting a good loop out over the water. Slowly we worked our way back up to the parking area and headed for lunch.

After lunch it was time to see what Presbyterian Falls held for us this afternoon. As a bit of an aside, this area of the river is some of the most beautiful in my opinion. It makes me feel like I am in a completely different state when I am down there. That being said, we made our way over to the river and found several people had the same idea we did. But after some hiking we found areas that didn't have fisherman in them. And those areas had fish in them.

We worked several riffles that should have held fish but we didn't find much, until we did some serious wading (it can be tough as I found out by falling) and came upon a pool of fish rising. I don't know about anybody else but when I see those little rings of fish feeding I get excited and ready to catch some fish! We decided to "break the hatch", switching to a different fly than what they seem to be feeding on to create a "frenzy of feeding." We went with an olive wooly, big shock huh, and started getting 4-5 strikes per cast. On a couple of casts we would have an LDR and then hook another fish right after on the same cast! This was a blast!

We moved up to the top of the pool and found more fish rising. So we decided to go back to the hatch and work small emergers again. When I say small I am talking tiny, 20-22 soft hackle emergers. This was a perfect type of fly as we hooked fish after fish. You know the scene, I hope, so many fish rising you don't know who to cast to first. It is magical to say the least.

After the fishing was done it was time for a long satisfying drive home where the lovely Lucie was waiting for me. A long day, but worth the time spent no doubt. If you haven't been in Zone Three take the time to go there, with a guide is best, and see some of the most beautiful parts of the Lower Mountain Fork river while fishing for beautiful trout.

Lower Mountain Fork 1-23-08; Great fun!!

2008-01-29T15:43:00.000-08:00

5:41AM is what the clock in my truck says there as I pull out to head to Broken Bow for a day of fly fishing. I don't think early even begins to describe that! But 3 hours up the road a fine day of fishing awaited, life is a beautiful thing. So I jammed on down the road and made it to the Lower Mountain Fork river and my favorite thing, fly fishing for trout! Here is the road leading to the Cold Hole and the bottom of Spillway Creek. It is also the bottom of a very tough uphill climb on a bike.

The top of Lost Creek is to the side of the Cold Hole, Lost Creek is a new section that has huge potential. I started there to see if the fish were holding in there and found lots of fish, it seemed that every pool had trout in it. And now they are starting to get some "stream smarts" to them. You have to work a little harder to get them to bite now. I think that is great as they are going to stay in there longer with that mindset. I hooked some fish there before moving on to the Evening Hole to check it out there. This fine looking rainbow started my day of fish catching off nicely.

This little section of Lost Creek holds a very large rainbow in it. It is a very large fish and almost looks like someone is feeding him by hand. Makes me wonder about why I see a guy who has a corn cob with him every time he is down toward Lost Creek. Hmmmm, nobody would do that would they?

In the Evening Hole I found lots of fish again, they are just getting really spooky in there. I consider it to be a blessing as now you really have to think about how to fish in those areas. Being stealthy and smart are more important than they were last year to catch fish there. No more dropping an egg pattern in and waiting. Now you really have to think about making your first cast count and get a good presentation and drift to get a strike. I hooked a couple of nice fish here but gave them freedom via long distance release, hereafter known as LDR. In the Evening Hole they are planting 286 trees to keep it from being quite the "swimming hole" that some freaked out about last year. I think they are also improving some of the stream area as well.

I moved up to Spillway Creek next and went to the Upper Footbridge there to see how things were in that section. Again I found fish in almost every pool I stopped in. In a somewhat peculiar occurrence the only place I didn't find fish was the stocking point this time. There were a few in there but not stocked like cord wood as is normal. The fish feeding here were smaller, but they didn't think so. They fought and jumped like giants, several fish had multiple jumps during our struggle. Spillway Creek without anyone else around is hard to walk away from. It is just so much fun in there fishing that tight pocket water.

I went to Three Rivers Fly Shop, www.threeriversflyshop.com, to visit with Jesse and Linda King and pick up some flies. I love going to the shop and seeing them both, though Jesse warned me I was going to become known as a fly shop bum, every trip. After getting some "supplies" and sharing some good conversation I was refreshed and decided to head to Zone 2 for the remainder of my day, about 1 1/2 hours.

I walked in at Old Park Dam and saw that Rob Woodruff was guiding a client there and moved around behind them to the far edge. I worked that seam for about 15-20minutes before moving over by the "trail side" of the river and throwing some streamers. I had wanted to do that originally to see if I could find some large fish there eating the smaller stockers that come in. I had no luck and decided to follow Rob and his client down stream to try some other water. It was getting dark and I couldn't find what I wanted so I spectated for a bit and packed it in. At the car I saw Rob and he said the same as I felt, Zone 2 is getting a bit harder to fish right now and takes some real work to get a feel for. It isn't like it has been where anybody can catch fish in there without much thought. That made me feel better, kind of.

After a long drive home I made it to Dallas and my beautiful girlfriend Lucie safely. Overall I had a great day fishing, as always. I found that really small flies are the order of the day right now, size 18 or smaller were the most productive flies for me. There were not really much in the way of hatches coming off but it was still a beautiful day to fish,as is any day when you aren't at work. Is there really anything better than some fine trout fishing that is close to home? Til next time....

Still not much fishing, yet.

2008-01-15T12:32:00.000-08:00

Fishing has been slow for me still. I did get over to Allen and found that the trout are few and far between in that pond. We fished for about an hour and a half to maybe two hours with little success. I did find a couple of hungry little black bass in the grass there. But no trout were caught this time.

It looks like I will make a trip somewhere tomorrow, not sure where yet, but I will fish some tomorrow. I might head to Athens and go to the TFFC and catch some stockers, or maybe Tishomingo. I might even suck it up and drive to Broken Bow, but I don't know yet. We will find out tomorrow.

I didn't get pictures Sunday, but I will include a couple from some previous trips. Now February is a different story on fishing. There will be plenty of fishing in February; I have 2 pickerel trips planned with Woodruff Guide Service, a trip to broken Bow for an entomology class with Rob Woodruff and probably another trip in there just for good measure. It will be a busy month for me, but I would fish everyday if I could.

Also I need to get back to practicing for my future CCI certification test. I am not sure when I can take it but I would like to have passed it before I get to Steamboat next year. I think I can pass it, but want to make sure I am ready before taking the time to test. Again, we will see.

C-YA

Fishing has been limited....

2008-01-11T06:36:00.000-08:00

Well it seems fishing time has been limited lately, but all is not lost as I get to wet a line a bit Sunday. I am taking my friend and his daughter fishing in Allen for some stocked trout hopefully.
We shall see if they are still there as it has been a month since the fish were put in. I am keeping my fingers crossed on this one.

I am also taking the League of American Bicyclists Road 1 course this weekend. It is a course on riding safely and legally in the U.S.A. and is a prerequisite if I decide to become a League Certified Instructor and teach these classes.

Hopefully next week I can get a couple of days fishing in and get some more reports for you guys.
For my fantastic girlfriend who will be at the game Sunday, GO COWBOYS!!!! And for her Dad who is going with her, GO GIANTS!!!!!!

How about a couple of fishing pictures? The scenery is OPD in Broken Bow in the morning, the second is me with a brown caught in Steamboat Springs, Colorado 8/06.

C-YA
eric

LMF River Trip 12-28 to 12-31

2008-01-06T11:52:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to join the Dallas Fly Fishers over part of the New Years weekend for some fishing in Broken Bow. I really love fishing there, it has so many different types of fishing in a small area that is very close to my home.

I was able to get to the cabin, Centennial Lodge, about 8:30 on Friday night. Everyone was there and I got the chance to make a lot of new friends. We stayed up extra late and watched videos, tied flies and got equipment ready. Going to bed at 1AM is not very conducive to rising early. :) Still I was up at 6 the next morning to shower and get ready. I ran over to 3 Rivers Fly Shop to pick up some goodies and see Jesse. We chatted and shot the bull until I had missed the meeting time, or so I thought. I went to see if I spotted anybody on the river and found no one. I decided to slip into Zone 2 and see what I could find there. At Old Park Dam I saw 2 other fishermen, but no fish. After a good 45 minutes of working that water I moved downstream to see if I could find some fish downstream. Another hour of fishing found no fish and suddenly there was "fisherman hatch" going on. I was now in the midst of 8 other fishermen in about 200 yards of river, it was time to move on. I headed for Zone 3, all the way to the highway 70 bridge, and some prospecting for trout. The water has gotten cold enough down there for the fish to feed, and I saw some feeding, but I couldn't get the right combo of drift and fly together for them. I grabbed a sandwich and headed back to the cabin.

At the cabin I found everybody coming back from fishing. It seems I had gotten to Beavers Bend Fly Shop a bit early and missed everyone, OOOPS, before I headed out to fish. The rest of the crew was ready to call it a day and relax, but I had a few more hours of fishing light and rigged some new goodies and headed to the Evening Hole. Once there I found quite a few fisherman and mad my way to the top pretty quickly, I stuck about 5 healthy rainbows in the end of Lost Creek. On the way out of the Evening Hole I caught a few more fish before heading for the cabin. There are fish everywhere in that section now, despite some people still wanting to poach in there, and I know there are going to be some large fish coming out of there in the next few years. Reports of fish from 18" to 24" are becoming more common there.

We had a great time chatting with lots of new friends that night. We watched some football and then saw the Jeff Dunham DVD a second time. Lots of fishing stories and some general BS was thrown out. S'mores were made and lots of beer, wine and liquor was consumed. It was a very friendly atmosphere and many new friendships were made. The night ran a bit late again, but only to about 12:30AM this time.

Getting up at 6:30AM this time I realized I was a bit more eager than some of the others. After some talk about fishing and a cup of coffee I couldn't wait anymore and headed out to fish. I started in the Evening Hole again, totally alone this time, and found a lot of fish throughout that section of the river. I worked mostly in the upper section of the Evening Hole. Moving up to the end of Lost Creek I found several chunky, strong rainbows in there. They are really fat and healthy in that pool. Then I moved up under the bluffs to see if there were fish there. Once there I found fish feeding in the surface film and started trying to find the right fly for them. I had to work down to a size 22 Griffith's Gnat before I got some interest. I finally got about 4 of them to bite, but what a workout! They were very picky back there and needed just the right drift and fly to hook these fish. I decided to end a bit earlier and get some more relaxing time. A quick stop at the liquor store and we were ready for another night of bonding. There was twist this time though, we decided to have our New Year's Eve on Sunday night. We even lit the fire pit and sat around it shooting the bull for a few hours. This was a great idea and we had a blast sitting there drinking champagne and telling war stories.

The next morning I slept in until about 7:30AM before getting ready to leave. We had to clean and get things ready for travel. Two of us decided to head to the river before starting our drives. I thought about Spillway Creek as a spot to fish but changed my mind when I saw the number of people already fishing there. The bluffs were my destination this afternoon again, and it was exactly what I thought it would be, tough work to get a couple of fish to bite. Thankfully I enjoy the challenge and had a great time fighting hard to get bites and looks. Very small flies were the order of the day again. I decided to head home a bit earlier this time. After putting everything away I got on the road with one thought to keep me going; I miss my wonderful, beautiful girlfriend Lucie.

Overall this trip was a blast. There were good people to enjoy the time with, and fish to fight with. All of this was only 3 hours from my door which is the reason I make frequent trips to Broken Bow.

New Year and a New Beginning

2007-12-26T15:30:00.000-08:00

As we move towards the beginning of the year 2008 I have decided to begin this blog about my fishing adventures. This will be almost exclusively fly fishing as that is what I like to do. There is no specific species of fish or type of water that I fish in. You may read about and see pictures of local DFW bluegill fishing up to trips to hunt for trout in the backwoods of far off places when I get the chance to take those trips. I have no pretense that I am an expert or better than any other fisherman, just a very enthusiastic guy about fishing with a fly rod.

I fished a great deal as a young guy, til I was about 12-13 really then became more sporadic about it. About 2 years ago my lovely girlfriend heard me talking about how much I love to fly fish and won an auction on a trip to Steamboat Springs with a guided trip to fish there. Not wanting to spend the majority of my guide time relearning to fly fish I found that a friend was also a very avid fly fisherman. After taking his advice and getting a nice combo from Cabela's I began to learn to really cast a fly rod correctly. Tom taught me quite a great deal about casting and how to do it well. After several months of practice I made it to Steamboat and did not embarass myself. Heck, I even caught some fish, but I was not able to get some to feed my girlfriend and me. Thankfully there are lots of places to eat there.

Upon our return to Dallas I needed to find places around here to fish. I found close trout fishing in Arkansas and Oklahoma. This has given me the opportunity to spend a lot of time on the water. The next year Lucie, my fantastic girlfriend, won another charity auction for a trip to Broken Bow. Again with a guided trip of fly fishing. On this trip I met Jesse and Linda King of Three Rivers Fly Shop in Broken Bow and made some great friends. I also found a person in Jesse to tutor me on how to improve my fishing every time I go out with him. Thanks for everything Jesse and Linda!

Now I try to make a trip to Broken Bow to fish the Lower Mountain Fork River at least once a month. And generally I am very successful at getting away, even if it is just a day trip. It is a really beautiful place close to home that I can go to and get my fix for my favorite thing, fly fishing for trout. And that is a beautiful thing.

That brings us to here roughly, with a few things like bluegill and bass fishing not yet discussed. There is a lot of time to talk about fishing, casting and fishing. And probably a lot of other things too. But for now we are all on this blog for fishing talk. I will leave you with a picture of a beautiful place that I love to visit. It is a section of Zone 3 of the Lower Mountain Fork river. It is at the top of the page.

There are going to be lots more pictures and soon some videos here.

C-YA