Texas Holdover

Share your fishing adventures, especially ones using antique tackle!
Post Reply
User avatar
Ron Mc
Star Board Poster
Posts: 3384
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2004 7:49 am
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
Contact:

Texas Holdover

Post by Ron Mc »

For me and Danny, first outing of the "season" in the Guadalupe tailrace - southernmost trout fishery in the 48 (Brian's trout on the big island and Kauai are a bit farther south, and there are some wild trout in the mountains of Mexico, as well).

Jimbo and I had been planning to go out today, but he called me yesterday with an injured back.
I asked Danny to join me.
Danny it wasn't really like you were my second choice - Jimbo planned the outing to begin with.

So we planned to meet up this morning. I was planning to wet wade, but on second thought walking out of the garage this brisk morning, I threw my waders in the truck.
I'm rusty - missed a couple of fish going upriver. And what we found everywhere we went today, they don't give you a second chance.
Caddis were coming off thick - before the day was over, I had spit a few out of my mouth.
The second place I stopped, I noticed the beginnings of redds - it made me very happy.
Of course I missed another one here.
Farther upriver, I heard Danny hoot and he got the first rainbow to hand, but he didn't have a camera and I was far away.
I joined him upriver for this.
Image
It was a honking trout, made a screaming run, and Danny played him right up to the net.
Image
I saw the fish's head out of the water and it was big, but made the short distance escape.
We had seen a cloud of BWOs also, but the caddis were thick.
I was fishing a Guad Prince for my caddis attractor (I don't know why these work for swimming caddis, but they do), and my swimming BWO was my dropper.
I thought I had the bottom, but my rock swam away...
Image..and got very annoyed with me before I got my commemorative photo.
Image
A 22" redhorse sucker? Sure, I'll start the season with that. It took my caddis. If you're catching redhorse you're matching the hatch.
Going back down, below Danny's pocket water, I stopped again at the trial redds.
Fishing into a deep drop, 6-8' down, and just on the first bit of swing, hooked up my first rainbow of the season.
I don't like to make them mad until they're already a bit winded, so things didn't get exciting until the first time we saw each other. When the fish took me down past Danny, I asked to pass but told him I didn't want to go - the bottom gets so ugly down there. Sure enough, I needed one more step to net the fish, and instead, we went for a short swim together. He stayed hooked - we found my BWO planted solid in his jaw and, in fact, left him with it. So if you catch a honking large rainbow with a BWO in its jaw, think kindly of me.
Image
You can see the beautiful color of this fish, but the curl of the net and short focal length of the lens really belittles its size - every bit as big as the redhorse, in length and weight. Danny will vouch for me.
So I'm wet wading after all. I told Danny I hadn't fallen in in two years, so I was overdue.
On the way down, the sun showed us fish. We saw rainbows everywhere. On gravel, in pocket water, sipping what the current was bringing them. Not stacked up in holes, but spread out in the river, living in niches where trout belong, and feeding like trout ought to.
Tried to photograph some, but I got only glare.
Far downriver, after lunch. we saw a lot of trout, but they saw us, and I caught several bluegill.
Sorry, Jimbo, just didn't want to photograph them.
Hooked up a nice rainbow again in some of my favorite pocket water. Alex, my attractor was an egg pattern, and that's what she took.
Image
17, maybe 18 inches, nothing like the first rainbow a couple of shots above, but if you take the photo right, they do look bigger
(comparing the eyes will help show how much bigger the fish above really is)
Image
off for another day
Image
Thanks, Danny enjoyed it.
User avatar
Brian F.
Star Board Poster
Posts: 3536
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2003 1:23 am
Location: Hilo, Hawaii

Post by Brian F. »

Great story and photos as usual, Ron. Thanks!
Post Reply