7/31/2010 Salado Creek

I had a great day at the old reliable spot today. My Albright #3 fly rod hadn't seen much action so I thought I'd get a little bit of ultra-light fly-fishing in this day. The rod is supposed to be a #3-4 weight but I couldn't fish it with #4 line, it was a
dog (of course this is their cheap Topwater series rod and reel and I got it for a crazy price online). Even with #3 line on the reel this rod is limited to cast of about 45 feet which doesn't work out bad for this kind of fishing.

For me the hopper is about the best creek fishing surface fly I've found, it is my old standby and what I usually use first when on the water. It didn't let me down today either, catching red bellies, greenies, blue gill, a Rio Grande perch, and even a very nice and chunky spotted bass. That bass felt like a five pounder on this rod, it hit the fly with a splash and for the first second I thought I had on a big perch until it started running. Man, what a nice fight that fish put up, and it was shadowed by a slightly smaller bass which followed it up-to within feet of me.

I got pretty lucky with that bass, I found I had a knot in my line and luckily it didn't break off with that fish. After this fish I walked further downstream and fished my way back up a bit catching a few more perch and seeing a nice 4-5 pound bass but he saw me as well. There were some good Texas Persimmons ripe on the walk back so I ate and gathered a few of them, looking forward to going back down there again real soon.

7/24/2010 Cibolo again

No pictures for this days trip as I only caught one fish. I had decided to take a childhood buddy fishing at Cibolo as we had not been fishing together in probably 22 years, we fished together a bunch when we were kids. Taking a friend here is probably why I didn't catch much and my poor buddy didn't catch anything, it seems to be how it works when you tell some one about a great place and then you take them there, lol.

Well my buddy Mike said he was just happy he hadn't gotten snagged in the Cypress trees this day but wants to go back as, while he saw plenty of good fish, they just didn't seem to be biting today. Of course my father being the old expert he is, caught 10 fish or more.

7/18/2010 Cibolo Creek

I took my dad down to Cibolo again this weekend, it is one of my dad's favorite places to fish- I have to say I agree with him. Today I took my South Fork #5 fly rod and FlyLogic reel to throw some hoppers and other flies in attempt to catch some bass and perch. The perch were willing but I had no luck with bass this day.

My best luck came with the hopper and foam spider patterns, I did catch one perch on a Cypert style minnow. The creek was not as high as in the past 2 times I went fishing which was a good thing. I really like that South Fork rod, even hand size perch put a nice bend in the rod and it just feels good to cast.

It was refreshing wading in the creek especially in a few holes that came up to my chest. Although my line managed to find plenty of roots and trees to snag in it was a good day. I even snagged into someone's line that they had caught up in a tree and was able to pull mine and their lure free. I had to wonder what that person thought they were going to catch in this creek using a 4/0 hook in a big minnow with braided line, well at least I can rest knowing they probably didn't catch anything and hopefully would not be returning.

Finding beer cans and worm tins is a bit of a downer there, it seems most slobs would not make the effort of walking half a mile to go fishing like that but they did and I picked up after them. Just doesn't seem right walking through such a nice place and finding that crap laying around, it reminds my to try and pack a grocery bag next time to pick that sort of thing up.

6/26/2010 Salado Creek

Today I wanted to give the creek a shot, it turned out to be one of the best days of bass fishing I've had on the creek in years. The first fish to bite were a few nice little perch, both greenies and yellow bellies, then I lost a nice little bass that jumped about a foot out of the water and promptly shook the hook out of it's mouth.

Wading downstream and using a topwater lure, I hooked what a thought was a bass from the pull but it turned out to be a nice Rio Grande perch. Shortly thereafter I caught a small Rio and then lost a few more bass. The bass were doing a pretty good job of shaking the hook out with a leap in the air this morning, I only got 2 bass to hand but hooked 7. This day I was using a small, cheap, Eagle Claw telescopic casting rod with a cheap Shakespear reel on it loaded with 6lb test line- this setup is great on the creek and that Rio and larger bass were a real joy to fight on that little rod.

6/20/2010 Father's Day

I knew this Father's day I was going to take my dad fishing in Boerne on Cibolo creek and I wanted my stepson to come along. Normally the boy is doing the teenager thing, staying up late, playing games with friends, or spending the night with friends so we don't get to go fishing much. this morning he got up and we picked up my dad to head to the creek. My son hadn't been here before and he was impressed with the beauty of the place.

It wasn't long before I was on a few fish to my son's frustration, to add to it when I was showing him where to cast and watching him I noticed a few crawfish in the water. Putting my rod tip in front of a crayfish, it grabbed onto my lure and wouldn't let go, I was able to grab it and show my son. "Your even catching crawfish, man!" he exclaimed, "I'm going to try that". So he did catch a few crawfish and was going to walk down the creek where we fished earlier giving up on fishing. I told him he would never catch fish if he gave up and that he should cast down the the pool we were fishing earlier.

Well the boy listened and on his first cast caught a very nice foot long Guadalupe bass, he got it up and out of the water before it shook the hook loose. This raised his spirits and he began fishing more, catching a very large perch not long after and another perch before the day was done. It's funny, but him catching fish and seeing him enjoy himself there was the best Father's Day gift I've had in awhile.

My dad had a good day as well, catching a few bass and many perch. I got dad a Crossman 1377 pistol as he had been wanting one for awhile, it is a good little airgun and looks like many neat modifications can be done to it down the road if wanted.

06/13/2010

This morning I headed to Cibolo with my dad to do a little fly fishing and brought along my old Martin rod and Ocean City 76 reel. This rod is sentimental as it was the 2nd fly rod I ever got and paid for it myself from a bargain bin in a flea market. It's a good rod and rated for #6 line but it needs to be redone at some point in the future.

Fishing wasn't as good as last weekend but I did catch several perch and some of them were nice and chunky, most bit on a hopper pattern and some were caught on a bead-head bugger. The creek is about a foot and a half higher than it was last year and the swamp springs near the creek are now flowing which is nice.

6/11/2010

With the wet weather, I haven't done near the amount of fishing I had done last year. Last weekend I went to Salado along John James park with the intention of walking to the back of the part and fish my way upstream. Well even with Deep Woods Off on the bugs were giving me grief on the trail so instead I just fished under the bridge of Ritamin Rd. and a little bit downstream. I was rewarded with several perch and a nice chunky 10-11" spotted bass for the effort.

The next day I hit Cibolo Creek in Boerne and had a great day, in all I caught 4 Guadalupe bass with the biggest one being a fat 13" or so and I also caught a little spotted bass along with many perch. On both of these days I was trying out my portable fishing kit which is made of a cheap Eagle Claw telescoping casting rod and a cheap Shakespear Durango reel with some 6lb line on it. The combo worked well and I caught most fish on a small minnow imitation swimming it in an erratic pattern. This gave me inspiration today to try and tie 2 flies in a minnow pattern to hopefully try out this Sunday- hopefully I'll give an update with pictures.

With the rains lately I've gotten more into recreational shooting with a friend or 2, I even participated in a IDPA pistol shooting competition which was a good time. Hopefully I'll get more fishing and updates put in this summer.