Far From Home - Texas Trip!

Date: 6/7/2012-6/9/2012
Location:  Eagle Mountain Reservoir

Weather:  Sunny, 80-95 degrees during the day.  Rainstorm just before we arrived.

Thea, Dad, Uncle Mike, Lendle, Jon, Jami, and I all fished for 3 great days at and around Uncle Mike's boat dock on Eagle Mountain Reservoir.  We caught a ton of Crappie, Bluegill, Catfish, Largemouth Bass, and Sand Bass over the course of the vacation and punctuated the trip with an awesome fish fry, courtesy of Uncle Mike.  We all had a great trip, with several big angling firsts as Thea caught her first catfish and I seined for minnows and fished with jug lines for the first time.  Live minnows and worms were the most productive baits for the trip, but Thea also had a lot of luck using a clear gummy minnow type jig, including her new personal best bass.   The most productive fly was a pink BBS fished about 1ft deep, and it worked even better tipped with worm. 

In the excitement of fishing in a new place, I forgot to take as many fish photos or document details of fishing as much as I usually do, so there aren't as many photos as I'd like.

Dad and Uncle Mike on the boat:

Thea with her first Catfish:

Thea with a nice Largemouth:

Seining for minnows:

Uncle Mike working on the fish fry:

Great looking fillets:

Day 32 - Dixon Reservoir

Date: 6/3/2012
Location:  Dixon Reservoir

 Time: 2:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Weather: 80 degrees unsettled weather with storms in the area.  Thunderstorm at 5:00 forced us off

Thea and I went to Dixon so I could really give my new 2-wt rod a proper workout.  We had another great day, as we each caught well over 25 fish in our relatively short stay.  We fished from the East side of the outlet structure down the dam face and around to the South end of the beach.  We used Gurgler/BBS combos, with almost all fish coming on the BBS.   Color didn't seem to matter much as yellow, pink, and white BBS flies (all I had left) all produced. 

There was a large school of bluegill right near the outlet structure and we both caught a bunch in that area before moving down the dam.  Action was a little more scattered along the dam and most of the beach area, as we'd pick up 1-2 bluegill per area.   Then we got down to the South end of the beach near the trees and found another pocket of fish and probably caught a dozen each in that area, including some nicer fish.   Just a really nice day!

Thea with a nice bluegill:

Not So Close to Home - South Delaney

Date: 6/2/2012
Location:  South Delaney

 Time: 8:30 am - 12:00 pm
Weather:  80 degrees with light wind from the south and then stormy with wind 20mph from the South by about 11:30am

Dad and I made the long drive up to South Delaney, but were forced off the lake early by a storm before we were really able to shake the rust off.  Zero fish landed, but dad fought 4 fish and I had 2 on.  We were both under-gunned with a 2wt and a 3wt fly rod and no net.  Next time we need to bring 5wt rods at a minimum.   We tried a variety of tactics, fishing streamers all the way to dry flies.  Both of my hits came on Chironomid nymphs drifted about 6-8ft under an indicator.   Dad had 2 hits on the Chironomid nymphs as well but also hooked two fish on a size 14 Parachute Madame X.  There was midge and Caddis activity on the surface that had fish rising regularly until the wind came up.  I also tried a Brown Wooly Bugger with no luck.  All the fish that were hooked appeared to be large, as they made long and powerful runs.  Also, the water was very clear and most of the fish that I saw swimming were at least 20".  There seem to be a lot more big fish in this lake than I remember.

While we were getting the kayaks ready, we saw some fisherman catch several nice fish near the boat dock.  They were using Sculpin streamers and wooly buggers and said they had done very well that morning.  They left shortly after we got in the water, so it must have been even hotter activity in the morning.  

A good day filled with lessons, but getting skunked was hard with so much fish activity happening.   Next time we need to pay more attention to the weather forecast, arrive earlier in the day, bring the heavier fly fishing equipment, and bring a net!

Day 31 - Troutman Park

Date: 5/30/2012
Location:  Troutman Park
Time: 6:30 am - 8:00 pm
Weather:  75 degrees no wind

Thea and I fished Troutman Park together for the first time in a few weeks, and I took my new 2wt fly rod out for a trial run.  We fished from the North side of the large pond around to the inlet, and then we both gave the little pond a try.  Thea fished her way around the South Bank and I fished my way around the North.

Thea was using a gurgler/pheasant tail combo and caught an absolute ton of bluegill.  They were more active and there were several beds/schools on the North side of the big pond.  She caught bluegill pretty much everywhere and landed over 50 in the evening.  Again most of the bluegill were in the 4-6" range with a few pushing 7".  Not sure where all the big ones are hanging out.

I started out fishing a gurgler/Pink BBS combo and didn't have quite the same amount of success as Thea, as I only caught about 10 bluegill total.  I did catch one bluegill that was a little bigger than the norm at 8", It was very tight to the shore near the inlet pipe in the big pond.  When I moved over to the small pond, I switched to a size 6 yellow popper to target bass.  I thought that I could limit the number of bluegill and attract some bass by moving up in size, but there were still some overly ambitious bluegill that attempted to bite.  I had about 6 total hits from what appeared to be Bass and managed to land 3 of  them.  All the Bass I landed were again the same exact size as the ones I've been catching recently.   I did  have one take that looked to be a bigger fish, but I didn't hook it so it is hard to tell.  Fighting even these smaller Bass was a real challenge with the 2wt.  I think this is the perfect bluegill rod!

Overall, it was a fun trip to the home ponds, and Thea was just on fire.  Every time I looked up she was fighting another fish!

Day 30 - Troutman Park

Date: 5/23/2012
Location:  Troutman Park
Time: 5:30 am - 7:00 pm
Weather:  50 degrees rainy no wind

I took the same 5wt and 3wt combo to Troutman Park, hoping that the rainy weather would make the bigger bass and bluegills more active.  I fished from the inlet of the big pond around the West side to the North edge.  It was almost a carbon copy of yesterday, with about a dozen small bluegill caught on the BBS and 3 small bass on the leach fly.  The bass came from around the inlet and the pipe inlet, and the bluegill were more scattered and I wasn't able to find any specific bed areas. 

3wt and 5 wt combo, a perfect setup for small ponds:

All the bass looked like they were from the same mold:

Day 29 - Troutman Park

Date: 5/21/2012
Location:  Troutman Park
Time: 5:30 am - 7:00 pm
Weather:  80 degrees no wind

I went over to Troutman Park by myself and brought the 5wt and 3wt rods.  I used a gulp leach fly on the 5wt and a gurgler/spider combo on the 3wt.  I caught 3 small bass on the leach and a dozen or so small bluegill on the spider and a single bluegill on the gurgler.  It is nice to take two rods, because I can fish for bass and then switch over to catch a few bluegill when I get bored.  I fished from the south end of the large pond around the East side trees up to the North edge.  Two bass were caught near the outlet structure and a third near the trees in that SE corner.  The bluegill mostly came on the North side of the pond where it looked like there was a few beds.  Overall it seems like the average size of the bluegill is much smaller this year.  The biggest bluegill I caught was about 7" but most of them were in the 4-5" range. 

Typical small bass from Troutman Park: