The first FAOL Texas Regional Fish-In was held on the
Guadalupe River in Central Texas on April 5-7, 2002. The
Guadalupe River is the southern most trout fishery in the
United States due to the waters in this stretch of river
coming from the dam of Canyon Lake. The water is released
from the bottom of the lake and being a very deep lake, the
waters maintain a constant temperature in the lower fifties.
As a result the initial released trout that weren't caught
lived and each year with continued stocking the population
has risen and stabilized. Now we have areas where trout
can only be kept if 18 inches or larger and trout can be
fished year around. It's a prized jewel among Central Texan
Fly Fishers.
Although I'm only 45 minutes away I have never fished this river,
much less for trout. I have pursued Panfish and Bass my whole life
and anyone needing advice for trout fishing certainly wasn't going
to find it from me. This is my tale, my day of trout fishing for
the first time on the fly, while at the Texas Fish-In.
It wasn't a beautiful spring day; in fact it was breezy, cold, and
rainy. Not a favoured day for fishing but the only day I could make
it to the Texas Fish-In. Due to my schedule change at work, I got
home at 4:00 am Saturday morning, packed and got in a two-hour nap
before hitting the road. Now that's dedication! Fortunately my best
friend Scott was doing the driving, but I was too excited to sleep
and we discussed the possibilities of the day ahead during the
45-minute trip.
When we arrived at RIO RESORT at the 4th crossing, there was a sign
with "Welcome FAOL Texas Fish-In." Yep, this was the place. We had
run into several spots with hard rain on the way down but at the
resort there was just a light mist. After checking in at the office
we walked down to the river and Justin, (FreebirdsWB on FAOL
bulletin board), met up with us. After introductions we geared
up and hit the river.
I was unfamiliar with this river and the going was extremely slow.
Fortunately the water is clear and holes were easy to see. Justin
was acting as our guide as he knew this portion of the river and
steered us around potential problems.
The limestone bottom would go from a mere 18 inches to about four
feet in one step. Some of the group had already taken an unplanned
swim. Keeping all this in mind and the fact that the water was only
50 degrees or so, I made sure one foot was firmly planted before
shifting my weight to it.
Finally I found a nice pool of water formed behind a submerged rock
dam. I had no clue what to use and my fly box consisted mainly of
things for panfish and bass. A few of the bass bugs would probably
scare off any self-respecting trout. I still had some small flies
I had tied way back at the beginning of my tying experience. These
were patterns found in books that pertained mostly to trout patterns.
I tried a bead-head black nymph with no luck. I tied on a yellow
ant, then red and lastly black, all to no avail. There was a mayfly
and caddis hatch coming off the water. The mayflies were dark almost
black in color. Luckily I had a similar pattern in my box.
I tied it on and moved to a spot where I had noticed some fish rising.
It was in the same pool but in between some willow trees overhanging
the water.
There was a fairly constant current running at about 4 to 5 knots
and drift times were short. I cast the fly up river of the willows
and let it drift down through the overhanging trees. I did this
a couple of times and was beginning to think with all I had tried;
today was not going to be my day for trout. On the fourth cast
and drift, something rose and took my fly. I had no idea what I
was in for! The drag starting to scream and I quickly palmed the
spool to slow it down. I got him turned and on the reel and was
slowly getting him closer. The fish decided he wanted no part of
it and flew out of the water, did a double half gainer hit the
water on another run! All thoughts of how dreary the day was or
how cold the water was completely left my mind. Time stood still
and all things ceased to exist except the trout and I. Once
again the drag was screaming and I had to palm it to slowly
turn the fish. This time I got my rod tip down and basically
cranked the fish in. As I got him up next to me, I lifted the
rod to hold him in place as I reached down to grab him. He was
a Rainbow coming in at just over 18 inches. In my excitement
the rod slipped and he shook out the hook and was gone. My first
trout on a fly rod, the first one since 1985, when I was fishing
with my dad and certainly the largest one for me.
The afternoon was turning darker and wetter so it was time to
call it a day and head in to rest a bit and get ready for an
evening of tying, story telling and most of all dinner.
In the meeting room everyone set-up their tying stations and were
tying for the next day and just to swap their favorites with each
other.
Shane, (Pioneer on the FAOL Bulletin Board), also noticed the black
mayflies on the river that day and tied a fly to match the hatch.
Steven, (Parnelli on FAOL), and I hit it off and he tied me an
outstanding fly based on a recent Fly Of The Week, "Chamois
Egg-Sucking Leech" by Steven. I now keep it with all my other
special flies to show everyone who visits.
Ross Parsons was a real pleasure to talk with. His experiences and
stories were spell binding. I truly enjoyed my time speaking
with him.
Deb Dunsford, Aggie Fly Girl, (tying below) tied some wonderful flies and shared
some great tips for me to use while I was on the water fishing.
I only caught one trout that day, but as I have said before,
fishing is but a part of this way of life, new scenery, new
friends and new experiences made the whole trip very much worth
while despite the weather. I hope all fly fishers get a chance
to attend a Regional Fish-In. I certainly look forward to the
day I can attend another! ~ Johnny Irvin, AKA Hillfisher
Here's how the Texas Fish-In 2002 got started:
Texas Regional Fish-In 2002
Parnelli's Story
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