Leader setup

So this is how I setup my leader for nymph fishing. Starting with the leader to fly line connection I use a Needle Knot. I really like this knot as the connection is very smooth and I have never had it catch or hang on a rod guide. This is important if a fish makes a last minute run when you have a few feet of leader in your rod guides. Connections like nail knots and loop to loop catching on the guides with light tippet will likely result in a broke off fish. The leader I choose is normally a 7.5' 0x but sometimes a 9' or even a 12' 0x for deep water applications. The primary reason I choose 0x is for the stiffness of the leader. Turning over heavy nymph rigs with split shot and indicators can be difficult on 3-5wt fly rods. At the end of the leader I attach 18-24" of 3x fluorocarbon tippet with a blood knot. I will then attach 18-24" of 4x fluorocarbon tippet to the end of the 3x section. The 3x section is where I add my split shot, the blood knot connecting the 3x and 4x will keep you split shot from sliding down towards your fly. The 3x is also strong enough to not significantly weaken by the crimping of split shot onto the line. I will attach my first fly onto the 4x, usually that first fly is a larger attractor fly like a san juan or egg pattern. Off my attractor fly I will use 4x/5x to add a dropper fly. At times, especially on some of the tailwater fisheries were you are using small 20-24 midge pupa, you may need to trade out the 3x/4x with 5x/6x. Other than that its a pretty simple setup that can be used in almost all nymph fishing situations. Hopefully this setup will reduce some of the frustrating wind knots that can occur when trying to turn over heavy nymph rigs. And most importantly it adds a few more fish brought to hand.  

Kelly Galloup explains drop shot nymphing. I think his system is particularly effective in deep fast water. This video he did has a wealth of knowledge in it.

Indicators

So I wanted to share 2 indicators with yall that I have been using. They both have there own place and are now the only 2 indicators I carry.

The first one is the New Zealand Strike Indicator. This indicator is wool, it floats high and is very sensitive. I have been using this indicator during low water, calm water, and while using small/smaller flies to wary fish. The indicator lands softly on the water, will detect subtle takes and can be moved up and down the leader with ease.

The other one is the Airlock Strike Indicator. This indicator is similar to the thingamabobber, but doesn't kink your leader as it uses a nut to hold onto the leader. This indicator is best for more turbulent water and heavy nymph rigs. It lands on the water with a plop, isn't as easy to cast, but is my go to indict or for big water deep nymph rigs.

I'm a minimalist by nature, but by having these 2 indicators in your vest you will be covered for any situation you may find while on the water.

The Spot

11-20-15

Today started off really slow with hardly anything going on. At about 11am I stumbled across a hole that was holding several nice spotted bass. The first fish was a solid 4lb fish. Huge for Texas standards. The all time state record is about 5 and a half pounds out of Lake Alan Henry. At first I thought this fish was a nice largemouth but once I went to lip him I knew he was a spot. They can be kind of hard to tell the difference. A largemouth jaw will extend past his eye, and have a broken dorsal fin. A spotted bass dorsal fin will be connected, their jaw will not extend past their eye and they will have a rough patch on their tongue along with dots on their belly that will form lines. In a half dozen cast into this hole I was able to pull out 3 nice fish, all of which were some the largest spotted bass I have landed on the fly. They took a smaller game changer that I tie up, roughly a 3.5" fly that I have been having a lot of luck on this year. 

The Jump After The Release

Here s a little house sparrow that was tangled up in an old cast net. 

Got her untangled and released to see another day. 

Monday Movie; Tigers

Tiger Muskie in New Mexico. A great trip that has to be one of the best DIY muskie fishing options. Another short flight from Dallas to a great little fishery with opportunities for big toothy fish. 

How Bout Them Striper!

10-25-16

I've been fortunate enough to fish for a variety of great fish. Big bull reds, monster pike, tarpon, jack crevalle, amberjack, king mackeral and a lot of stuff in between. But nothing gets my blood pumping like striper. Not sure what it is about them, but the second I hook into a decent fish my heart starts racing and my knees get weak. I love flyfishing for a lot of different fish but when the striper bite is on there is nothing better in my book.     

We had our first decent front push down this weekend. Lots of migratory birds high with the north wind to their back. Approaching cold fronts in the fall seem to always get striper in a feeding frenzy. The fishing this morning started off a little slow but my mid morning I was able to find a pattern and get into a few decent fish. 

Fun Fall Morning

10/18/15

Mid October and not quite fall yet. Should be having some cold fronts start moving in any week now. Just a fun few hours at a local pond this morning with the 3wt. Nothing big but lots of small bass and some hand size gills. That yellow dink diver in picture 2 has been in my flybox for a long time and always tricks some fish. 

Monday Movie; Carp

Fun day fishing for carp. Lots of fish up skinny that day. Really need to carry and do more videoing with the GoPro. But it pretty tough to fish and video at the same time, and all the cool stuff always seems to happen when the video is off. Happy Independence Day!

Fall Carp'n

Today was the first day of fall. Its been a warm week and nothing fall like. Justin and I hit the lake this morning. The carp were little hard to find, but once we found them there were plenty of shots taken. Several flocks of teal spotted, some mallards, some hog wallows and over all a really good day on the water. Got to fish some new carp flies which the fish seemed to really like. Caught a nice bass and drum as well. 

Rainy Day Bronze Back

9-19-15

Wow has the river changed. The lake is back below pool and periods of low water are becoming more routine. Being the first trip I have made since the floods I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew it would be different but was hoping some of my holes would still be there. Unfortunately all have been filled in with rock and sand, some even high ground now. Spent most the morning trying to find new spots and fish. I was finding lots of little spotted bass, not sure if they came from the lake during the flood or just got dispersed from the high waters. 

 I liked how this pic came out, fish shook just at the right time. Lots of small 15" stripers in the river. Hook ups on every cast at times and a few fish in 20-24" range. Most the fish are on the skinny side which is common when an influx of stripers gets flushed into the river. These smaller fish will be the norm till it gets a little colder then they seem to shut off. Shouldn't be long till bigger fish start showing up.

Was fortunate to land this pig of a smallmouth. Defiantly the biggest smallie I have caught on a top water fly, but I also think its my biggest smallmouth to date. This was great fish and I guess I used up all my luck catching and landing the fish because as you can tell the pic didn't come out clear. Its always hard to get good pics when it is raining. There is always something, lens is foggy or has water spots on it. Oh well I couldn't be any happier with this fish. Seeing him clear the water 3 times during the fight will stick with for a while. Also landed a couple grunt size smallmouth. They are always a lot of fun. Wish Texas had more Smallmouth as I could never get tired of these fish. 

Colorado; Day 4

8-20-16

Today I meet my buddy Chuck up at a high country lake to chase some cutthroats. Watching these cuts come up and sip dry's is what its all about. I'll let the pics do the rest of the story telling.

Colorado; Day 3

8-19-16

A mild storm over night turned the crystal clear water a little tainted. It actually probably made the fishing better as it cut down on the light penetrating the water and didn't allow the fish to examine the flies as well. The fish were really keying in on a red san juan worm. All the fish are wild in this section of river and their were several nice white tipped rainbows caught, along with a mixture of browns. Like the previous days the fishing was hot though mid morning, then once the sun got up it drastically slowed down.

Summer Gill'n

Well, this is the last week of Summer Gill'n. It has been a fun series with a lot of really nice fish caught. I came across this interesting article from In-Fisherman regarding weights of bluegill relative to their length. Now to start, the most accurate weight conversions involve length and girth, but if all you have is length the formula below is fairly accurate as this is a species specific formula. This formula was developed by taking length and weight ratio from tens of thousands of fish. I don't think In-Fisherman did much of the actual measuring and weighing of the fish but likely compiled the data from local fish and wildlife agencies. The conversions are not meant to be a hundred percent accurate but will get you in the ballpark of what the fish weighs.    

Bluegill

5 in 0.09 lb

6 in 0.16 lb

7 in 0.27 lb

8 in 0.42 lb

9 in 0.62 lb

10 in 0.88 lb

11 in 1.21 lb

12 in 1.61 lb

13 in 2.10 lb

Colorado; Day 2

8-18-16

A day on the water in Colorado is never a bad day even if the fishing is a little slow. Saw a nice buck as I walked to the river. Today was all brown trout with one rainbow brought to hand while fishing the river. The browns were liking a small foam wing emerger. The rainbow took a caddis emerger pattern. I think I ended up with 8-10 fish and missed or long distance released that many as well. That evening I had a lot of fun fishing Lake Reudi with some buddies. We caught some small rainbows on buggers and had a great time on the lake.

Summer Gill'n

We'll I fished the big gill pond just for grins, knowing the big fish have gone deep to escape the summer temps. Actually the temps haven't been to bad the last few weeks. The fishing was OK, I think most the fish are still deep to escape the sun and warm temps. The first picture is a green sunfish that I know for a fact is the same fish I caught in early July. I caught a couple other decent size gills and a huge bull head catfish; or at least big for a bull head as they don't normally get more than a few pounds. The big gills should return and go on a feeding binge as the fall approaches.