9/20/09 Flyfishing the Creek

Today I got a late start but wanted to go for a walk along the creek and get in a little fly-fishing while I was at it. The mosquitoes were out in full force again and even after a healthy coating of Skintastic these guys kept coming. This time I was more prepared and put on some Deep Woods Off lotion I had in my smaller pack to keep them at bay. Fishing wasn't all that great with my late start but I did catch a few greenies and a few red-bellied perch on a hopper pattern.

It was great to see the creek up at a nice volume of water, I was beginning to get afraid that the fish would die off with the drought. My mind was set at ease when I saw a pair of 4-5lb bass together in the shallows, it isn't a great picture but you can see them circled in the picture above. A nice channel catfish around 5lbs was also seen along with a few of his smaller siblings, it was a great morning walk and I'm glad I got out.

9/19/09 A little more about the creek

I thought I'd add a little more information about Salado creek here. This creek has some history, besides being used by the local native population, some battles for Texas's independence were fought along it's banks- many of which are just a mile or so from my home. Along the creek are 2 markers at the bridge on Austin HWY detailing a massacre of Texas troops by the Mexican army, they were awaiting reinforcements before suffering the attack and only a small few Texans were able to escape with their lives. Posted above here is a marker found along Holbrook Road, the marker details that the last battle to repel a Mexican invasion was fought there. Apparently after the Mexican army had defeated the Texas army upstream they had ran into the men who were set to reinforce the Texans. Luckily the Texans won and were able to stop the advance of the Mexican army that was on it's way to Austin.

This creek is also home to many different fish, there are all kinds of perch (red bellies, long ears, rock bass, greenies, etc...), channel catfish, carp, gar, largemouth bass, Kentucky bass, and Rio Grande perch also roam the stream. Rio Grandes are a fish mostly native to Texas although some are also found in Louisiana as well, they have a pretty color to them and look grey in the water. I have a good picture of a RIO posted above by the other picture of the marker, these are some fiesty fish on the end of the rod but can be very finicky on taking a lure or fly. The creek's geology varies along it's path as well. Along Holbrook road and in some spots upstream it has a limestone bottom but further down it changes to mud or gravel. Well, I guess that's it for now, I'll try to post more soon.

9/19/09 Starting the blog

Hello, I decided to give this blogging a try if for nothing else to log my time spent fishing or outdoors in general. I picked Salado Creek Fisherman as the title as it is a nice little creek close to the house that I frequent. This creek is where I caught my first fish and where I learned how to fish. It has luckily lasted the years and not suffered through the development that it could have being located in a large city. In fact, many of the areas my father and I used to walk and fish have now been turned into parks with some walking trails. This is a little bitter-sweet, as while I like that others may get to enjoy this area as I have, I do sometimes miss having it almost to ourselves. With others having such easy access to the areas though it makes it more likely for people to leave their trash and other debris around.

Well I wanted to add that this morning I had planned to do some wade fly-fishing at the creek in the area of the picture posted above. Rain was the furthest thing from my mind today until I saw that it was coming down this morning and after verifying there was no flash-flood risk I went anyways. A great lesson was learned today though, one I had learned previously but always seem to forget- always have bug spray with you. Now I had bug spray in my other fishing bag but today I brought my vest so I could fit my old camera in it and neglected to bring the bug spray. Well these nasty critters were buzz bombing me big time in a way that Texas mosquitoes seem to be great at and between them and the rain not letting up I was run off of the creek. The rain I could live with, but I'm not going to stand there all morning being a meal to mosquitoes. The good thing about it is I got home and started the page, I hope to have weekly or more frequent updates and will discuss fishing along this creek, Cibolo Creek, and a few other places. The discussion here may not all be fishing related, I may talk about my walk along the creek or other outdoor related things going on. Thank you for looking.