Saturday, August 25, 2007

Bugs & Such

Spending time around a body of water provides the opportunity to experience the natural world in a way not possible sitting in a high-rise office building or driving along the freeway during a one hour commute. (No kidding Sherlock!)

I took these pictures on Saturday before moving Matt into the dorm.

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Blue Damselfly

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Tandem Rig

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Cicada

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Let Me Go!

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Butterfly on Asphalt

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Acorns


Of course while on my photo-nature tour I kept an eye out for the carp. I had been seeing the them roll in the deeper water but nothing up close to shore. I began to notice the water clearing up after the rain and some distinct areas that were not clearing at the same rate as everything else. I watched these cloudy patches like a hawk and finally spotted what I was suspecting - a carp rooting in the new sediment that had been washed into the lake. I rushed back to the trailer for a fly rod and my carp arsenal but alas when I returned they had stopped feeding and had once again retreated to the deeper water.


After getting Matt moved in and settled we all ate dinner at Ted's Cafe Escondido.

"You will find no better food in Edmond"

Upon returning to the lake, I headed out for one last round of fishing before heading down to Ft. Worth. I went back to the spots I had fished the day before but came up empty. I finally found a school of white bass in a small cove near what I call Rocky Point.


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The cove at Rocky Point

In a span of 30 minutes I caught & released 18 white bass all on white grubs and 10 of them were caught two at a time!. The five doubles were on consecutive casts and I was beginning to think I had the golden touch. Then suddenly the school moved on and that was it. No mas DE Nada.

It was a great way to end the time on lake Arcadia.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Lake Arcadia, OK

This was the week to take Matt back to school at Oklahoma Christian University or "OC" as it is known by the students.

Tracy and I took the travel trailer and stayed at the Central State Park campground and I was ready to chase the carp with a fly rod.

When we arrived, it was obvious that "Plan A" may have to be revised as the wind was blowing steadily and there had been so much rain that the lake was a lot higher than normal. This had all the traditional feeding patterns of the fish messed up so after an unsuccessful attempt at using the fly rod, I switched to the spinning gear.

I was going to have most of an afternoon free as Tracy was going to Panera Bread so she could log on and check her blogs & e-mail. I got a license and some bait and grabbed a sandwich before heading down about 11:30 AM. I had been successful last year in finding some bluegills and small fish off the shore and was sure that I could do the same even under these conditions.

The wind finally settled down and I caught some small fish off a point with some frozed shrimp and worms (yes Mark WORMS).

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Fishing Companions

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White Bass


I caught several small largemouth bass right up tight to the shore.

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Baby Bigmouth

I was fooling around the rocks with the UL and a #16 treble hook baited with a small piece of shrimp when just as I was lifting the line up out of the water I saw a big mouth engulf the shrimp and the fight was on.

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Pescado Gato


This 17-1/2", 2-lb channel catfish gave me quite a ride but finally came to hand up against the rocks.

I continued to fish along and found some more whites at a spot around the corner.
I was catching them two at a time on tandem-rigged white grubs and 1/8 oz jig heads.

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Look Familiar Paul?

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Two Headed Fish?

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Bluegill


About 2:30 PM the sky got really dark and I began hearing thunder off in the distance. I didn't know it but a strong t-storm was barreling my way with wind gusts up to 60mph and heavy rain & hail. I spooled up the line as the sky closed in and made my way to the trailer. The local news was carying the story and I saw the radar just about the time the sirens went off to clear the lake of any boat traffic.

Tracy was safe & sound at Panera Bread in town and we talked on the phone deciding that she needed to stay put until the storm passed by. I battened down the hatches and the storm came through dumping rain and a little hail but the winds were not too bad where I was. Just a couple of miles south it was stronger but it moved on through in about an hour.

Everything cleared off and I even got a nice sunset pic to end the day.

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Sunday, August 19, 2007

Full of Rain

There has been so much rain this year I'm afraid there will be bass in the Evans front yard soon. The lake is now full and the fish are surely having a great time in the deeper holes and plentiful cover.

I was able to catch the last 30 minutes of daylight after services on Sunday evening.

I tied on a BGW and began tickling the shoreline. I hooked up on a small 12 incher and performed a neat C&R move without even getting slime on my hands. Next, I had a bigger fish blow up on the worm right at my feet as I lifted it up out of the water.

A few minutes later I was able to tease him to take the worm but I rushed the hookset and he spit the hook after about a five second fight.

Finally, I placed a sweet cast along the wall and a fat largemouth gobbled up the offering and headed for the middle of the lake. I let him run for a 10-count before "crossing his eyeballs".

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This 18 incher put up a decent fight and made the evening worthwhile.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Oak Island Lodge

I was in charge of designing a meeting at work and decided to look for an off-site location with facilities conducive to bringing a diverse group together to discuss a difficult topic.

Oak Island Lodge turned out to be the "Fit for Purpose" spot that was just what he doctor ordered. Artie Presley and his staff took great care of us and the facility was just the right size to spread out, relax, and work through the task at hand.

Oak Island is located on Trinity Bay in Chambers County just east of Houston.

The bonus of course was the fact that after a full day of meetings, the lights of the pier came on and the fishing heated up. With all the rain we've had in the past three months, the bay was still too fresh for specks but there were plenty of catfish (gafftop, hardheads, and blues), croaker, and some undersized redfish.

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Rat Red

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John with a small Blue Cat

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Baby Blue

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Eric with one of his many Reds

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Bill with a Croaker

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Blue Crab

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Larry's Red

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Ladyfish

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Bill and his Redfish

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Big John & Big Red


The meeting was a success and the fishing was good.

What more could you ask for?

Saturday, August 04, 2007

The Last Cast

I was up early, anticipating a beautiful sunrise over Snake Creek in the Heber Valley and once again, I was not disappointed. I saw a doe feeding in the alfalfa on the way in and a pair of sandhill cranes soared overhead. I jumped a small flock of mallards as I approached the creek and was feeling blessed to be enjoying the beauty of God's creation.


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Snake Creek Sunrise

My game plan was to hit the big pool first to see if I could coax a brown out of the swirling eddy currents and then work my way down to the spot below the trestle and see if I could locate one of the rainbows that are known to frequent the flats below the big riffle.


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The Big Pool

As is my habit when I approach the pool, I left the road about 100 yards before the water and skirted a small tree to approach from downstream. I jumped a muley fawn out from under the tree and he stopped long enough for me to snap a picture. That must have been his mama feeding in the field on the way in.


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Hello Sunshine!

This time of year it is a little easier to keep hidden in the long grass, burrs, and thistle, but they can also make casting a bit challenging.


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Thistles for Tracy

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Fly Catchers

Pretty to look at, but tough on the back cast.

I was able to get close enough to get my first offering – a #14 Stimulator into the tail of the pool, but didn’t find any takers there. I continued to work the pool and switched to a small #20 ant pattern but soon decided that either the fish were spooked or not yet ready to feed.

I worked my way down the creek towards the trestle, casting into the long, deep, grassy, channels of clear water but wasn’t able to fool any fish.


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Fishing Down to the Trestle

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Cattails

The lower end of the creek was shallow and full of aquatic vegetation. You can see that there has been some fishing pressure by the path on the right side of the picture below.


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View From The Tracks

I studied the lay of the land awhile before tying on a #10 white wooly bugger and casting upstream towards the riffle. I worked the streamer down a few times and on the fourth time let it swing on downstream. Just as I was about to retrieve against the current I saw a big swirl right near the end of my line and my hopes of catching the big rainbow evaporated as he realized just in time that what looked like an easy meal was a ruse. I was upstream and even though I was kneeling, I was in clear view and the big bruiser shot across the current to his best hiding place.

I decided to cross over to fish the other side of the creek. I walked back up to the trestle to do so as a hawk nearly came within rod length of me screaming at the top of her voice. There must have been a nest nearby and I was wishing for the Rebel XT and the big lens.

I fished the far side of the creek without any indication of a fish. I changed to a dry dropper – a #10 Royal Wulff above and a #18 caddis pupa below - but finally decided it was just not my day.

I walked back upstream on the opposite side of the creek thinking I would take a final cast or two in the pool before hightailing it for SLC.

I had a plane to catch after all….

I made a stealthy approach at the pool and by now the sun had been on the water for about an hour. I saw some small fish rising in the tailout and worked the white wooly bugger across in front of them without any success. I finally reached the “one last cast” stage and let one go to the head of the pool up near the fast water that comes under the road. As the white streamer came into my view about halfway through the pool I saw a flash of a good sized fish and his butter-yellow flank as I set the hook. Fish on!


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Handful of Gold

I had a few loops of line hanging off my left hand and wrapped around the reel but somehow managed to keep enough pressure on Mr. Brown to get everything straightened out. I can tell you a healthy seventeen inch brown on my little 4wt rod was a lot of fun.


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Uptown Brown

If you are going to fish a couple of hours and only land one fish, this is the way to do it!

I was using a 4X tippet (heavier than normal since I was sure I would need to pull a fish out of the weeds) and a furled leader from Blue Sky. This was my first experience with this type of leader and I must say I like them. They can handle a soft presentation of a dry fly and at the same time can turn over a fairly heavy streamer.

I’ll let this picture tell the rest of the story. My lesson for today – be satisfied with a few hours of fishing but never give up hope. That big one might be there on the last cast.


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Creek Fishing

I found some fish in the creek today. I took off from the office and headed straight for Daniels Canyon. The weather was great and the fish were willing.

I had to go with the UL & WRT. The brush was too thick to cast the fly rod.


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I was greeted by this Mule Deer Buck

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Heber Valley

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Cutthroat on the First Cast

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Baby CuttBow - still has parr marks

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Fat & Healthy CuttBow

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Beaver Dam - prime spot


I caught about six fish in all and had a couple of big takes but no hookup.

Tomorrow I plan on hitting Snake Creek at daylight before heading home.

Stay tuned...