Stalking Redhorse
The first thing you will notice is that there is no photo to accompany this post. The reason being lies in the dynamic of the word “stalking”. I did not choose “secured” or “caught” because I have done neither with the Redhorse; I have only been stalking it.
Participating in what possibly might be the “Best Fly Fishing Tournament in Texas“, I have been actively pursuing the Redhorse on the Guadalupe River for the Texas Hill Country Mixed Bag tourney to no avail.
Alas, all (both) my attempts have been in vain and the Guadalupe River has denied me. So, this is a net call to all my fellow fly fishing anglers. I need your help. All previous patterns, a few bead headed nymphs and scuds, have been ignored by the packs of wandering Redhorses I’ve found. I do not know if it I the particular patterns or set up- but so far it’s been no dice.
What’s your advice? Choice of pattern, method to rig, and technique to fish? Let me know in the comments below. To the first person who’s tips and techniques work I will, in trade, offer 5 self tied Texas River Bum Flying Cats.
Thanks.
See you on the high ground,
AirborneAngler
D-Day plus 107 (D+107)
Well it’s about time isn’t it? No I was not lost out on patrol- but I was on patrol fly fishing the heck out of my float tube. Only until yesterday- I had nothing to report.
I’ve been out handfuls of times since the last Texas Hill Country Mixed-Bag battle tracking update flutter kicking my float tube up and down the river. In short I will cover the near-misses.
There was a 10″ fresh water drum I was excited about on the Colorado River I caught a few weeks back.
The excitement was short lived when I checked to see that 14″ was the minimum. But the biggest near miss was my cell phone; a $500.00 fail. Out on the Guadalupe River just above Canyon Lake I met up with an old Airborne buddy to chase- well anything with fins. That excitement was also short lived when I dropped my Otterbox encased phone into 11′ of water. Repeated dives did not even recover the body. Although we grabbed randomly and several rocks near the same shape and size.
Lastly, I’d show you a picture of a near miss trout, but the Guadalupe hasn’t been kind to me and I don’t have one of those either. 3 skunk attempts tells me she does not like me. So why, with all this failure am I posting you ask?
Because I win.
I mean that I’ve won a moral victory anyway- the contest isn’t over yet but I’m riding high back in second! Judges will likely have to confirm that it is Guadalupe Bass, but man was this one a beaut. Dave and I spent 13 hours on the water and this unconfirmed Guadalupe Bass was caught roughly within the first half hour. That’s all the points the Guad would cough up for me that day. But even if it gets reassigned to a smallie- it’s only worth more points.
Winning.
See you on the high ground,
AirborneAngler
***Update*** As it turns out my Guadie is in fact judged to be a Smallmouth Bass. ***That is all***
D-Day plus 26 (D+26)
Conservation shift fire! Shift fire! We’re shifting fire again from today’s Everyday in May topic prompt- standby for a Texas Hill Country Mixed Bag tourney battle tracking update.
Confirm or Deny was the name of the game today.
The weather forecast was 40% chance of rain.
-Deny. There was no chance of rain. It was guaranteed at 100%.
I was skunked on the Guadalupe River hunting trout, yet again.
-Confirm. No comment.
Shifting to the Blanco is a good plan b to avoid the skunk.
-Confirm. This worked a second time. Even in crummy conditions I still hooked up with good size fish. This river is quickly becoming my favorite. When you know what you know- it’s a good feeling. Confidence is always a game changer.
70 plus degree weather in Texas isn’t cold enough to make your hands go numb.
-Deny. I knew it was time to go and was keenly aware of hypothermia settling in when I started insistently laughing at the fact that fishing today was probably a dumb idea. Not ideal conditions to say the least.
You can troll flying cats and hook up with good sized fish.
-Confirm. This was the only method that caught me fish today. With a drop from recent temperatures, a rise in the water table from decent amounts of rain, and a dropping barometer meant the fishing techniques/tactics had to be switched up. I had no idea how to mitigate these conditions but I was determined.
At first I was trying to hit the banks to no avail. Then something odd thing happened. While transitioning from one spot to the next in my float tube I didn’t bother to strip in my line. Feeling lazy I threw a good cast out and let it drag as I flutter kicked away. But, that’s not what was odd. In route I felt a tug.
Its a good idea to get into a float tube the day after an Army Physical Fitness Test. You won’t be sore form head to toe from the day before.
-Deny. Everything hurt! The APFT isn’t that grueling- but when you give your best, as any good trooper will, you’re going to feel it the next day.
Crying in not authorized.
-Confirm. I’ll stop whining now.
After toolboxing around on the Blanco I hit my favorite pool. Tired of working the banks with no luck I decided to try trolling again. This worked! I lined up with the center of the river, cast out and kicked away. Repeatedly, I got hits on my fly. The best catch that up’ed my point standing was the Red Breast sunfish shown above.
Getting skunked on the Guad twice in a row indicated a big fail!
-Deny! I worked hard both times after having my fly reel handed back to me by the Guad. I am not done yet and will come back until I get it right. What it did do for me was make me push hard to figure something out- on both days in very different conditions. It made me exercise what I know and learn to rely on it. It was all about knowing what you know, and knowing what you don’t know. It was all about playing confirm or deny.
I can catch fish. I can win this contest.
-Confirm. I can. Win or lose I’ll do my best and I’m having fun doing it. What games do you play on the water? How do you push yourself when fishing?
Today’s topic of D-Day plus 26 (D+26) is a deviation of the Everyday in May challenge. For more info click here. For all AirborneAngler Everyday in May posts click here.
D-Day plus 20 (D+20)
Murphy’s Law of Combat states, no initial plan survives initial contact intact. This is a true statement. The night before my intent was to hit the Guadalupe River early and hunt some late season Rainbow Trout. Texas spring in the Hill Country feels a lot like summer for most and anything after sun up is pushing it for trout. Unfortunately intent is not defined as action. Having completely overslept the morning in I was finally boots on ground at the Guad about 3 hours late. Fail. I say again, massive fail, over. The view was nice but the water was ugly and cold. I couldn’t keep the algea bottom growth of my fies to save my life. It was floating everywhere. After about four hours of misfires and no fish to show- it was time to shift fire.
Like a wise little grunt I’ve bookmarked every place my Battle-Buddy Dave (aka Fish Drill Instructor) has taken me. I’ve got the intel plugged in and save on my iPhone. I needed to make a quick move and fast before the BOB (big orange ball) dipped over the horizon and I was running blackout (no light) ops. So off to the Blanco I went.
Transitioning over was easy. A quick leader and tippet swap/re-rig drill and I was ready. Right off the bat I had a hunk of a Rio in hand- sort of… I held the line not the fish. This guy was 9″ and took new new arsenal of self tied Flying Cats (as did all the others) I reloaded on the other day. He also had some funky blistering going on. It was nasty- Medic!!!!!
Following in trail was a green sunfish. It bears to note this guy did not want his picture taken and fought it well. I won.
Next to hand was my war face painted warmouth brother. Pretty fish. I have not seen a lot of these fellas before but I have been running into them a lot lately. This was the first one to hand to meet the contest minimum and came in at 8.5″.
Bringing up the rear was a 15.5″ largemouth bass. He wouldn’t sit still either but it always makes my day when I get a decent bass. This was a nice final touch to add points to the board. All in all it was the best thing to get skunked on the Guad that day. Sometimes you have to just know when to shift fire.
See you on the high ground,
AirborneAngler
PS
I wanted to mention the yellow lab that sat in overwatch nearby whom I suspect is part German. He didn’t have any Shepard markings but his half hour psy-op (deterring psychological operations) barking rant screamed to me in accent “Alarm! Alarm! Alarm!”. Like Samuel L. Jackson said in Pulp Fiction dog- “Be cool honey bunny, be cool.”
-AA
The AirborneAngler 