Closing down for this winter...

Here is my second last fish on the Guadalupe; a nice feisty specimen that fell to a San Marcos River Nymph fished with my 2 wt. The last fish was my "teacher" fish of this trip. The 12" rainbow kindly pointed out that 2 wt rod tips, although having enough backbone to tame some heavy fish, still require a delicate touch and proper technique when netting a fish. A warning would have been sufficient but the fishing muses can be cruel.

This year I ended up fishing 3 rivers; the Guadalupe, the San Marcos and the Pedernales; all treasures that will hopefully be preserved for generations to come. Here is my home river, looking from my back yard on the day I returned. A casual glance will reveal that an ice auger might be a better fishing tool than a fly rod. But that will change in only a few short days. That's it for this year. Next year, if circumstance permit, will be spent in Texas or Florida.

Pedernales River sampling...

Sample? Yes it was and unfortunately, it only lasted about an hour. A special afternoon with new friends at their riverside home, a great meal, a dry Reisling, a 3 (or was it 4?) berry desert and the topper...an hour of fishing from the backyard. I managed 5 hook-ups and 3 came to the net. Of course the biggest and baddest fish was instantly lost but I still brought in those 3...one of which was a new species for me.

 The new specie was a red eared sunfish which put up a credible fight on the 2 wt.

My second fish was what we decided must have been a spotted bass. Toothy tongue, 10 dorsal spines, mouth ending near mid eye and spots below the lateral line.

The last was a little bluegill.







Our hostess landed a generic sunfish on a top-water fly, an event that capped one of those wonderful days we sometimes run into. She also introduced me to a 1 wt Sage SPLCA center axis rod that I instantly fell in love with. After viewing some discussions on the UL forum and being allowed to handle the above Sage I can see a 00 wt Sage of some sort joining my arsenal in the coming year.

A little 2 wt action...

Seems like we've been in a deep freeze situation for a while and today offered little different. Temperatures hovered in the low 40s and a slight drizzle helped put a cold, wet coating on everything exposed, glasses, hands, face and fly rod handle. Yeah, I know...I'm whining far too much and pretty well anyone reading this post at this time has colder temps where they are. So quit being so negative and get out fishing. Wanting to do something different, I tried tying a half dozen different boobies but none of them floated long term. That's another experiment of a supposedly very effective fly pattern that will have to wait for my material bin at home. I contemplated reading some more but suddenly the thought of fishing my 2 wt put a half baked smile on my face. I've been fishing my 5 wt exclusively lately while trying for larger trout. I tied on a San Marcos nymph, my attempt at duplicating an effective local pattern with my meager materials box. It worked!

The first was a 16 inch rainbow that had revealed itself with what may have been a splashy rise to a floating insect. A cast centering on the diminishing rings resulted in a solid take and a 5 minute fight brought a nice rainbow to net.

The next fish was an inch shorter and came to the net much quicker. I'm glad I pulled out the 2 wt and thank the local angler who revealed the effective pattern to me. That 2 wt is mathematically proven to be 2.5 times more fun than the average 5 wt.

Proof: (5/2 = 2.5)

Addendum: After yesterday's UL success, I took the 2 wt out again this afternoon and may have caught the same two fish again. One 16" and the other 15"...and the smaller one took a dry. It wasn't really a challenge, this little gal came out of the water to get every mayfly. When I saw the splashy rises I tied on the only dry with me and she smashed it on the second drift.