Old guy from Texas

[Roland58 0]

Hi All,

First off, thank you for allowing me access to the Forum. I am a total virgin at fly tying at the ripe old age of almost 70. I did a little fly fishing in California about 55 years ago, in fact, I will be using the same rod and reel to begin again!

I bought a Gander Mountain beginner's kit and have tied about 15 flies, so far. (Some pretty good and some very questionable). Texas fishing licenses expire on August 31st every year and I refuse to pay full price for a license that I will have to renew in a month and a half! So, in the meantime, I will be tying flies. I want to get a Kayak and chase down some good Bluegill holes (with an occasional Bass thrown in).

I look forward to viewing what you all have done and 'stealing' some of your ideas. Tim Cammisa put on to this forum, so, if I bomb out, you can blame it on him! Texas is not known for fly fishing. We have the Gulf saltwater folks and the bait casting, plastic worm, crank bait folks after Black Bass. Oops, almost forgot the abundance of Striper/Sand bass people, however, they are mostly limited to spring time spawning runs.

Anyway, I hope to turn a few folks on to the fun of fly fishing, where even a good sized Bluegill is a thrill!

 

Best wishes to all,

Roland

[Dave G. 0]

Hi and welcome ! Also welcome back to fly fishing and now tying .

 

Kayaks are all the rage these days. I'm 65 yo, 6'2" tall, bicycle for exercise etc. But I got to tell you, I own a boat, a canoe and the wife and I both have keyaks. We much prefer to fish from the boat or canoe. Where paddling is required to get to the fish we find it fine to use a kayak and then get out of the thing, maybe wade or what ever. To trip for an hour or two, then fine as well. But for a longer adventure and fishing from the craft, the canoe is just much more comfortable, packs more gear etc.. I have the seats set lower than stock in the canoe for stability ( makes a whole new boat out of a canoe by lowering even 2-3 inches) and we have Old Town cane seat backs we slip in place and just bungee in.. But the seats are still up off the floor compared with the kayaks and those backs on them make it a dream to fish from as well as add support when paddling.. I just can not stay comfortable in the kayak for even a half day fishing adventure. Some of todays solo canoes paddle similarly to a rec kayak as well, maybe better than some actually.. Just sayin. You might want to rent for a while, try before you buy. We love the canoe, glide into a pool on a river anchor off the bow or stern ( never ever anchor off the side of a canoe in a river, especially one with changeable dam flows). Get into those backwater places a boat can't go into on ponds or lakes. Pack in a days worth of what nots and all the fishing gear, photo gear etc.. Course if you get along well in a kayak, so be it ! For fishing we do not.

[mikechell 0]

Welcome to the site, Roland. I've done some good fishing in Texas. I spend some time there every year, for my job. A few miles north of Houston.

Welcome back to fly fishing.

[Roland58 0]

Dave, thank you for your time to respond and the info provided. I have had some experience with canoes (white water stuff) many moons ago. After a lot of studying and talking with other kayak owners, I'm pretty much sold on a couple that are specifically designed for fishing and already set up. They are a bit pricey, but, you get what you pay for, right? I just want to be able to get where the

"Big boys" can't!

 

Mike, you must be hitting Conroe.....am I close? I used to live in that area back in the early 70's. I had a saltwater rig back then...seldom wet a hook in freshwater. Plenty of lakes around me now and they all have my target Bluegill and Bass.

[mikechell 0]

Not that far north. I fish the lakes and ponds in the Woodlands area, and the streams and creeks in the Spring area.

[Adam Saarinen 0]

Welcome! If you don't have to cover large distances on the water? Buy a float tube! Comfy like a lounge chair!:-)

[Roland58 0]

Thanks Adam, I did think about a float tube. The thing that concerns me is the abundance of abandoned trot lines in some of the local lakes. Having my legs dangling down concerns me a LOT. Plus, I will probably want to cover more area.

[tidewaterfly 0]

Roland welcome! Great group of folks here who will certainly give you a hard time & help you with your tying! That's what friends do!

 

I have a brother who lives in TX, but he doesn't do much fishing, and doesn't fly fish at all. He's near Dallas.

 

Had a friend who guided in TX too, but he's relocated to New Orleans. He fished the hill country rivers & streams such as the Brazos. He's a fly angler, but when guiding also used spinning gear. I understand the rains you folks had have pretty much devastated that area & the rivers there.

 

Any help you need, just ask!

[Roland58 0]

Hey Tidewater,

My old skin has become accustomed to people giving me a hard time, however, when done in jest I can keep up with most of them! I'm about 100 miles from Dallas to the west and the same distance to Shreveport to the east. Yeah, we had our share of rain.....the lakes are all full now!

 

I have already received some very warm welcomes and some terrific information. Looks like I landed a winner with this forum!

[notenuftoys 0]

The drive to Purdis Creek State Park probably isn't that far, then. I was talking to a friend of mine a month or two ago, and he said the bass fishing is coming back strong there.

 

I have a float tube, not a kayak, but I've been tempted to make the drive from north Dallas over there. If you'd like to meet, shoot me a note.

 

Take a look also at Lone Star Fly Fishers, the club out of Tyler. http://www.lonestarflyfishers.com/index.html

[Mike West 0]

The drive to Purdis Creek State Park probably isn't that far, then. I was talking to a friend of mine a month or two ago, and he said the bass fishing is coming back strong there.

 

I have a float tube, not a kayak, but I've been tempted to make the drive from north Dallas over there. If you'd like to meet, shoot me a note.

 

Take a look also at Lone Star Fly Fishers, the club out of Tyler. http://www.lonestarflyfishers.com/index.html

I was there opening day...the best bass fishing of my life..simply insane 2-8lb bass 20-30 a day for 3 days....fished it hard 3-days week for 3 years or better and it really just fell off.

I've been actually skunked there a few times and I never get skunked...frustrating cause you know it's just full of fish.

Big bream too 3/4-1.5 lb...big cat fish on top waters too when the water turkeys take off from the trees across the boat launch area on a white marabou fly.

 

I'd love to try it again.

[Roland58 0]

Hey Mike,

I think this would be easier by phone or email, probably not kosher conducting personal stuff on the forum thread. Just to keep it on topic, I do have some new flies I have made and am anxious to try them out on some big Bluegill and/or Bass. My info is: nine-oh-three, 597, nine-8-seven-one and my email is rolandfiveeight at suddenlink dot en-E-tee. Or you can send me yours if you don't get free calls.

[mikechell 0]

Roland ... if you click on Mike's name, it will take you to his personal page. You can then "Private Message" him.

[islander727 0]

Howdy