Nolan River 3/18/2011

I went with a friend to the Nolan River today. The water was down due to a lack of rain in the area. The water was clear and cool probably in the high fifties or low sixties. We had high pressure, but wind and the air temperature was in the eighties or maybe the low nineties. By the afternoon, wet wading would have been comfortable. The drive takes about an hour from south Fort Worth.

I hooked a large bass on a olive beadhead wooly bugger, but did not land the fish before the 3X tippet broke. He was larger enough to put on the reel. I caught a bluegill of respectable size with a new pattern that is based on a wooly bugger, but with a shell back. I fished mostly subsurface flies. I have a list of flies that I need to tie before the next trip. I got no pictures.

Along the river, there is a formation contact between limestone and an unconsolidated sand with large clasts. I will need to look at some surface geology maps before the next trip. Saw a number of Ammonite fragments while walking on the limestone ledges. Really a beautiful river and a nice day all around.

This was the last trip in the 2004 Xterra. Paul will get the old car soon as I bought a new truck.

PK Tailrace 2-13-2011

I went out to the Brazos River below PK this morning. I normally don't fish mornings this time of year, but I was invited to fish with a group of guys who already had the outing planned. I got skunked. Only one of the group caught any fish. He used a Whitlock squirreltail nymph in black. The water was very cold.

I tried the following flies to no avail:

General nymph - black and olive

Egg-laying Caddis with Zebra Midge dropper

Egg-laying Caddis w/o dripper

BH dove tail nymph

This was the third outing of the year. I went to the Brazos River below DeCordova the first weekend of January and struck out. I also went to Bear Creek the weekend after and could not park by the bridge and therefore could not walk up to the holes that I know hold fish. The creek is still fishable, but I will need to take the canoe.

Due to the poor weather - snow for several days - I have been tying flies. I have pictures of some of my flies that I will post later. I have also started to spin deer hair flies. A couple look fishable.

Fly Fishing Jigs

These are some fly fishing jigs that I have tied to catch bluegill and crappie. Start with a some flash for the tail. Palmer some flashy chenille for the body. Then tie in some rubber legs.

PK Tailrace 12-30-2010

Yesterday, I went fishing at PK again. The water was crowded not only with hardware and bait fishers, but also fly fishers. The action was slow at first, but I went up stream and caught some stripers. The crowd disappeared after the first big pool. They were small fish. I caught them on a fly that tied, and I saw them rise and made some good casts to them. I tied an elk hair caddis fly with a black dubbed body. Small or not, they were still pretty cool to catch. I also caught a rainbow trout. I caught it on a small zebra midge that I tied. I had some new waders that performed well. Not a bad end to the year. I need to start taking some pictures of my fly tying efforts.

PK Tailrace 12-23-2010

Got out for the first time in a couple of months. I went to the Brazos River below Possum Kingdom dam. The weather has cooled off. The air temp was in the 50's. Swamped my hip waders and messed up my iphone. I did not get any pictures of the two trout I caught. Both were caught on a zebra midge with a gold beadhead and green wire ribbing. Dropped some of the flys I bought in the river. Not a good trip as far as gear goes.

De Cordova Dam - Brazos River 6/27/2010

Another early Sunday morning trip to DeCordova Dam. I caught this bass on an olive beadhead Wooly Bugger. The water seemed a little cooler, but it is summer in Texas. Most of the action was done when the sun hit the water. There were fish crashing the surface. I had a number of hook ups, but only got one picture. A front is supposed to move through here on Monday or Tuesday and cool things off, if the low 90's are cool. If it does not rain, this could be the last trip for a while.

De Cordova Dam - Brazos River 6/20/2010

I went out this morning to DeCordova Dam at Granbury Lake. The weather continues to be hot during the day, so early morning trips are still productive. This morning I caught a stripped bass on a blue slider (no picture), and a largemouth bass on a gray Clouser Minnow. The water was warm and the Brazos River Authority had no gates open on the dam. There were a large number of vultures around the dam site. This was my first stripper, I wish that I was able to get a picture.