Thursday, September 22, 2016

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. 















Monday, September 19, 2016

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. 



Wednesday, September 14, 2016

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.
















Wednesday, September 7, 2016

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.






Friday, September 2, 2016

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