December Brings Exciting Opportunities

The last month of 2004 may just prove to be the most exciting of the year for our Hill Country Fly Fishers. A couple of first time events will be greeted with about the same degree of excitement that kids experience in looking for the magical visit of Santa Claus, but for us old anglers of the fly, reality is on its way with the stocking of not only treasured Crabapple Creek but also of the beautiful winding water at the Double B Ranch where both wade and float fishing are available. Not only the trout stocking has our hearts beating a little faster, but also the club’s first dinner party meeting will celebrate the season with food, awards, door prizes, a fine program, and warm camaraderie. These events should give us plenty of opportunities to make fly-fishing a big item on our crowded calendars.

By the time this newsletter arrives in your mailbox, we will have introduced those big trout from Missouri into our special places deep in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. Some of our anglers will have already battled with those pretty green, pink, and silver fish. They are due to arrive on December 9th, first to be placed at Crabapple Creek, then at the Double B Ranch. At our November meeting, Rick Wilson, who has been in charge of the ordering and placing of the rainbows for four or five years, explained the process used to greet the tank truck and unload the fish as they arrive. There should be a number of our members present at the time to welcome the much-awaited load and to carry tubs of trout to strategic locations along the streams. The event is both fun and informative. It’s a fine way to locate the fishing areas and to spot the likeliest places where the rainbows will set up housekeeping.

That still leaves our December dinner meeting on December 16th at the Lazy Hills Ranch north of Ingram a few miles (See the map in last month’s newsletter) as a second featured event. The ticket purchases to enjoy the enticing dinner get-together will have been purchased during the first part of the month in time for the hands at Lazy Hills to make proper preparations. The facilities at the ranch are just dandy for this first-time effort to break bread and socialize together with spouses, friends, and guests. If everything works out as planned, this event should mark the beginning of what could be an annual affair. If some of our members are unable to make it for the dinner pleasantries, the business session and program are still worth the pretty drive to the ranch. Ideally, everyone will choose to be at the meal, which will be served at 7 PM, but others can arrive later in time for the activities beginning at 8 PM–some brief business including announcement of nominations for next year’s officers and other items that President Glenewinkel chooses to bring up. Then comes the program.

Our club is presently lacking a valuable asset that would add a whole new dimension to our activities and also enhance our ability to facilitate communication and information on a full-time basis. Michael Brown of the Central Texas Fly Fishers in San Marcos is the founder and webmaster of their club’s excellent website. He will explain how we may make a start in setting up our own website; moreover, he is willing to help us accomplish this goal. Several of the CTFF members may also be at our meeting to tell how their website has been such an admirable asset in bringing about opportunities for all sorts of fly-fishing opportunities that crop up spontaneously. Your board of directors will be active in trying to put wheels on this objective. This program will give our members the opportunity to gain some authoritative insight into this project.

Now, if all of the above isn’t enough to whet your appetite for participation in some really significant events during December, you’ll just have to wait for Santa to come down the chimney.

~~~~~~~~~~

Preparing for Crabapple Creek and the Double B

Rick Wilson highlighted the November meeting of the Hill Country Fly Fishers as he projected maps of both Crabapple Creek and Double B Ranch facilities on the wall and pointed out the roads, trails, parking areas, and sign-in headquarters at each location. He also described the local environment of each fishing stretch and pointed out words of caution and advice along the way. Rick underscored the importance of our members and guests in following the rules that they agreed to when they paid lease fees. Especially important is signing in and out at the headquarters. Too, there are certain areas that are not to be fished at each location. Parking in the designated spots and not driving beyond was also stressed. Vehicles have become stuck in sand or wet areas in the past and required wreckers to pull them out. Paying the wrecker cost and loss of permission to fish will be the consequences.

Following this orientation, our friend showed his favorite way to rig his line for fishing subsurface. He uses an 8' rod, a 5 or 6 wt. With a moveable indicator adapted to various depth conditions usually about 5' above a split shot. Then a 1' or so below the shot, he likes a salmon egg with a dropper attached of a tiny nymph, usually a Brassie. When fishing deep with larger flies, he likes a 6 wt. Rod with a sinking line and leader and tippet with a leach pattern and perhaps another tied below. Woolly Buggers also work well, especially white ones. The fish seem to go for something that looks like a minnow. Emerging Caddis and Damselflies also work well.

During the business portion of the November meeting following introductions of those present, the various committee chairmen gave brief reports:

Guy Harrison mentioned that he has lined up noted San Juan and Guadalupe River guide, Harry Lane, to speak to our club next February. Harry has presented programs for us several times in past years and has a number of our members who say that he is the best guide they ever used. He has always given us a top-notch program chock-full of information. “Doc” also mentioned that plans are still in the works for a mid-April or May fly-fishing instruction event for 4-H Club youth from Comfort, Bandera, Kerrville, and Ingram–maybe others, too.

Danny Wheat told of catching a dozen redfish on the coast using tips that “Lefty” Ray Chapa revealed several months ago at our monthly meeting.

Rick Wilson stated that at that time the water temperature was running from 58 to 70 degrees at Crabapple Creek with the Double B somewhat cooler (Of course, since the November meeting, the temperature has lowered enough to schedule the trout for delivery on December 9th). He said that we may still be able to get some brown trout. If so, they would be stocked at the Double B due to springs providing cooler water.

Mike Andrews presented plans for the dinner meeting at the Lazy Hills Ranch for December (The details are found elsewhere in this month’s newsletter).

President Glenewinkle said that the new caps to be ready last month will take a bit longer and will be available as soon as possible. He also stressed the need for fresh volunteers to man the Camp La Junta youth instruction that our club has conducted for the past several years. His point was that the volunteers who have been manning the operation are wearing thin and the program may become stagnant. New volunteers will refresh all aspects of our club activities. Thus ended the meeting November meeting.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fly Rod Construction from Green Heart to Hexograph

Continued from the November newsletter summarizing Brad Love’s presentation to our club last June

The story ended last month with the rod building development as a small industry being severely affected by WW II when even companies such as Orvis had to change from production of rods to producing ski poles.

Following the war, glass started to dominate the market, and bamboo rod making took a turn for the worse when Korea embargoed China so that no more Tonkin Cane was available. During the 1950's and 1960's fly rods followed a discouraging pattern of choice–either top of the line rods or cheaply made ones were available, with nothing in between.

The 1970's brought change. The space race brought a boom in technology with carbon fiber graphite and Boron fiber. Advances in graphite refinement were notable in the aviation industry. In the 1980's, rod makers began to turn to chemical companies for new recipes.

Up to this point, focus has been on rods as they developed in the East, since that is where they were first brought over from England. Now, the scene shifts to the West Coast where the fly rod made a late entry that called for a different type of rod than that back East so that from the 1900's on, rods in the West took a different path. In the East, a 7' rod was popular; out in the West, the 9' prevailed. By the 1930's fly fishing clubs began to emerge on the West Coast–the San Francisco Casting Club and the Golden Gate Casting Club were two of the first.

Some of the famous names in rod manufacturing emerged from the West Coast. For example, E.C. Powell developed a 12' rod made for casting in casting competition and passed his rod-making skills along to Walton Powell, who later developed the Hexograph rod. Lew Stoner of Winston rods worked with Jim Greene to develop the first fiberglass ferrule that was first butt over tip, but later tip over butt. The story goes on with each year touting the latest innovations of modern fly rods, but here ends your editor’s notes on Brad Love’s presentation to the club meeting that your editor missed. The history is more detailed than this summation, but abundant information is available in the Internet if you wish to peruse some of the names and developments mentioned above in this conclusion to notes taken on Brad’s presentation. Don’t blame Brad for any mistakes. Your editor assumes responsibility.

~~~~~~~~~~

Texas Hill Country Fly Fishing

Following is a continuation of an article by Norman Browne from last month’s newsletter in which and introduction and the topics of “Fish Species” and “Equipment” were covered. Apologies that space did not allow for the complete article last month.

Fly Fishing Styles

For Sunfish: For the many types of sunfish, I generally wade near the center of the stream and cast a few inches to a foot from whichever is the more shaded edge. Often times I’ll overcast onto the grass or rock and then pop the fly gently onto the water’s edge. In pools where aquatic weeds provide shade, I also cast to those areas. Even though fish face in many directions in slow water, I still favor wading upstream as most sunfish are facing against any current, and I spook them less. A comfortable fishing range on most Hill Country streams is 20–30 feet. Rarely is any cast over 50 feet needed, so light line and flexible rods are quite adequate.

I use an upstream cast for a natural float downstream with dry flies and a slow stripping motion with nymphs after letting them settle for a few seconds.

The hottest action is when native Longear Sunfish are on the nesting beds in spring and summer. For a small fish, they put up an excellent tussle. Their beds are in shallow calm water and are easy to spot as the algae is cleaned off into lighter colored circles on the rocks. Casting almost any fly into these beds will bring a hit to the intruder. The hardest fighter ounce for ounce among the sunnies is the Redbreast, known in Texas as the Yellowbelly.

This is the one sunfish not native to the Hill Country having been planted in Texas streams years ago when the Texas Parks and Wildlife acquired them from their native Atlantic Coast Streams. They now spawn naturally and have adapted beautifully. Redbreasts can reach 1 1/4th pounds in Texas. A big one would be in the 3/4 pound range.

The Warmouth and Green Sunfish have larger mouths and will sometimes grab bass size flies. They generally prefer slower deeper water. Overall, the entire tribes of sunfish are strong fighters. As a species, Redear and Bluegill potentially attain the greatest size, but tend to be only medium size in the particular streams I fish.

For Bass: These are the larger members of the sunfish family and the big ones are difficult to fool. Bass in the 10" to 14" category are often caught employing sunfish techniques. Spotted Bass, Guadalupe Bass (the Texas State Fish) and the introduced Northern Smallmouth are well adapted to the faster moving currents and to rocky bottoms that are found in most stretches of Hill Country streams. With those three Smallmouth species a big one is 12"–14" in the rivers.

The native Northern Largemouth is the species that thrives rather well in all of the Hill Country streams. Most pools with a depth of 3 or more feet hold 1 to 3 pound fish and lunkers have been caught over 8 pounds in some of the holes. As mentioned earlier, late or early with no sunlight on the water is the best time to catch these fish. Using imitations of frogs, minnows, crippled “perch” or mice can be very effective, particularly near weeds or downed trees. A favorite of mine is a #6 Hair Frog fished with an occasional pop, a still period of 5–10 seconds and then a slow, twitching, swimming motion.

Another method for luring big bass is to fish a Clouser Minnow with a stripping, darting motion through deeper pools. In a good shady pool, with 4 feet of depth or more, this method can pay off even during the daylight hours.

I do a lot of “blind” fishing for largemouth, whereby I cast to structures without trying to spot the fish first. As a general rule, in these crystal clear rivers, if I see a bass holding or swimming, that bass has probably seen me.

For Catfish: Channel Catfish are found in all 13 of the Hill Country streams and in all their stretches of habitat except the rapids. In addition to schooling in deeper, slower water they also hold in medium speed current and eddies in search of natural prey. The Woolly Worm fished slowly near the bottom is the ticket, but sinking tip lines are rarely needed in most streams or stretches as depth averages are not great. I only switch to a Woolly Worm when I spot a large catfish. With Hill Country water clarity, this is easily accomplished with polarized glasses. River Channel Catfish , while not leapers have outstanding staying power on a fly rod. Their foraging range in the rivers I fish is versatile where depth is concerned as I’ve caught them in 1 foot of water and in 6 feet of the same. Time of day for this species doesn’t seem to matter. Their basic range in many streams is 1/4 pound to 4 pounds.

~~~~~~~~~~

General Comments

This article is not meant to cover the individual streams and their particular characteristics, but a Texas state highway map shows the major steams and Chamber of Commerce and County Seat personnel can provide more detailed county maps.

For specific information and lodging availability, I recommend a useful book by Bud Priddy titled Fly Fishing the Texas Hill Country, published by W. Thomas Taylor, Austin, TX. ISBN 0935072-23-3. Either write or phone to Box 284 Barksdale, TX 78828/tel. 210-234-3250. Bud, a cardiologist, has passed away, but having been raised in the area, he offers much information on the thirteen Hill Country Rivers in his book. Each river is correlated by number to a page in the publication, Roads of Texas, available in most Texas bookstores. The book has had three printings with changes in each.

Of these rivers, all carefully discussed in Dr. Priddy’s book, I’ve fished nine. My favorites, based on access, habitat and action are the Nueces River and the Llano. My comments in this article, for instance, would generally apply to the upper and middle stretches of the Nueces River from Vance to the seventeen mile crossing north of Uvalde, Texas.

In over 30 years of fly fishing the Texas Hill Country, I’ve rarely seen another fly fisherman, other than those who have accompanied me. That’s what I call uncrowded! Hope you get to try the area. Happy fishing!