Tuesday, January 3, 2012
I'm Back!
Ok, so it is obvious that I let my blog slide for a while, with no new posts in, well, a LONG time. But one of my 2012 New Years resolutions is to get this blog up and running again. I'll have more fishing reports, trip reports, gear reviews, and general shenanigans. Stay tuned!!!
~Jeff
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
A Look Back: Texas (July, 2009)
At the time, most of Texas was experiencing a serious heat wave and one of their worst droughts in years. Reservoirs were critically low and the heat of the day was excruciating (at least to me it was, coming from the high country of Wyoming). So... what better thing to do than go fishing?
I flew in a small plane from Laramie down to Denver and made my way to the gate for the San Antonio flight with two fly rod tubes strapped to the outside of my backpack. After a few curious glances from other waiting passengers, a Texas woman finally asked...
"What are those things?"
"Fly rods."
"Are you coming home from a trip to the mountains?"
"No, I am from Wyoming and actually going fishing in Texas."
"IN JULY? WHY???"
I just smiled. "Why not?"
I landed in San Antonio at about 10pm on a Sunday evening. I grabbed my bag and got a call from Brooks that he was waiting outside baggage claim. I walked out in to the thick night air and the heat hit me like a freight train. What am I doing?!?!?
I threw my bags in the trunk of his Honda Accord and we peeled off to get on the freeway. Ahead of us was a 2 hour drive south into the darkness towards Corpus Christi. We had plans to meet up with Brooks' friend Cory, who has a skiff... at about 4:30am for a pre-dawn boat launch. You know, "to avoid the heat".
We grabbed a cheap hotel room in Corpus and tried to sleep for about 2 or 3 hours before a nearly full day of fishing in Baffin Bay on the Texas Gulf Coast. It was not nearly enough to rest up for the following day. Thank God for coffee.
The next morning we met up with Cory and put the boat in the water. I strung up my 9wt fly rod in the dark, not really sure what kind of fly to use or even what species of fish we would encounter. Cory and Brooks were using spinning gear and had far more experience in this environment than I did. I honestly had no idea what I was doing.
We pulled up next to a small island and Cory dropped the anchor. The water was not completely clear and the sun was not high enough yet, so I couldn't see the bottom. For all I knew, the water was 30 feet deep with a bunch of creatures that would be thrilled to take a bite out of my flesh. Turns out, it was only about 3 feet deep. Cory and Brooks slipped off the skiff like it was no big deal. All I could think about were the stories of people stepping on stingrays.
I took a deep breath and a leap of faith. The bottom was grassy and muddy. The only thought in my mind was that my next step would surely be on the back of a ray. I shuffled my feet as I made my way closer to shore and my mind began to calm down. I noticed the birds, the smell of salt water, the breeze.
I worked myself close to the shore of this small island, not really sure if I was heading in the right direction or not. Brooks and Cory worked the water a little further from shore, but I felt a certain sense of comfort being closer to the shallows.
After snapping out of my trance, I realized that I better saddle up and try to make a good cast to this fish. I pulled line from my reel, gripped my rod and began making false casts to get my line out. My first cast was too short, but now I was determined to get it right. In my excitement, I was not paying attention to my technique. I attempted a double haul and shot the line towards the fish. My cast was sloppy and I over shot the fish by about 10 feet. My line landed right on the back of the fish and it spooked. DAMN!
We decided to head in at about 1pm so that Brooks and I could make the drive back up to San Antonio. I had an absolute blast out there that day, even though I did not catch a single fish. I knew that my lack of experience and casting ability with a big game rod had me at a disadvantage all day... but the only way to get better is to get out there and do it. There is something special about being out "in the salt".
The next day, Brooks took me out on his bass boat in a lake near San Antonio. Again, it was extremely hot and the water was low. Brooks caught a few bass and I was once again skunked (again, fishing with fly gear).
This summer Brooks and his family are planning to come up to Wyoming and I hope to return the favor of playing fishing guide for a few days. I am also looking forward to the next chance I get to get back down to Texas and go after some of those redfish on the fly.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Signs of Spring
The ice is beginning to break up on the lower sections of the rivers and thinning on the lakes everyday. The Big Laramie River section in town is running free of substantial ice but storm water from Laramie has reduced visibility to about a foot. Now is the time to start fishing the deeper holes and cut banks for hungry rainbow and brown trout - hopefully the water clarity improves a little before the big runoff hits.
I am most excited to get out to one of my favorite Laramie Plains Lakes. Gelatt is the smallest of the Laramie Plains Lakes and is quite shallow, however the Wyoming Game and Fish Department has installed an aerator to reduce winter kills and it has been successful for 3 years now. Hold over trout are getting bigger and fatter.
There will be more spring snow storms moving through the valley over the next couple weeks, alternating with warm sunny days. Stay tuned for more updates this spring!
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