Sailfish Flies

Getting that itch again and since it is the off season for sails and I don't have endless funds to chase them, I am stuck tying flies that remind me how bad ass fly fishing for sailfish is.

Full Moon Bass

Full moon means late night top-water action. Grabbed the five weight and head lamp and hit the local pond. Fished Dahlberg Diving Frog. The fish were hanging right on the edge of the weeds. Saw a shooting star and caught two bass in a little over an hour. Not a bad way to spend an evening.

No Generation on Denison Dam means fly tying time.

Even with all that rain, Denison Dam is still not generating. When the Generation begins the spey rod will be ready to go. Bring it on Stripers!

Jason Hartwick has been chasing the striper in Northern California since the steelhead aren't around. He has the right idea. Click on the link for his video.

Lake Emma and Her Surrounding Ponds

Fishing lakes and ponds that are named after great dogs and stocked full of chunky bass and bluegill on a nice spring day is the perfect a way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Throw in some sight casting and top-water action and you have the recipe on "how to ruin a man." The bass and bluegill were cooperating and hit anything that resembled a shad. It was a good day and somehow we avoided all the rain and thunderstorms (until the drive home). Pictured above is Don Hart's nice bass being released by Mr. Ron Gard. Don put on a lesson and fished for 10 minutes and caught about 6 nice bass and then went back to the truck to nap.

Denison Dam : Texas vs Oklahoma

In order to commemorate The Dallas Mavericks vs The Oklahoma City Thunder NBA playoffs game, Phil and I decided to hit the Red River. We chunked sinking lines and deep dredged several of the deep pools. I was skunked and Phil caught two 10+lb catfish. I'm not sure how this should be interpreted towards tonight's game but I hope the Mavericks do better than I did. The highlight of the trip was spotting a bald eagle. Such an awesome bird.

California Delta Rematch

Chasing pre-spawn Delta Striper with my dad and Mike Costello? You bet your ass. I felt that I had a score to settle with these fish (after the butt kicking I took last trip). We fished I-lines and sinking lines and it took a few hundred casts before I got used to chunking and dodging heavy lines again. Missed a few solid strikes (and by solid I mean how the F did the hook not find a home) but set in to some pigs. There is nothing like that solid whomp that comes in between strips as the fly drops or swings. The delta is beautiful in the spring, the ducks had paired up, the otters played happily, the trees and flowers had bloomed and the striper were fat and healthy and hit hard.

Dinner with April Vokey

I consider myself to be a pretty lucky guy but when Collins Illich called and asked if I wanted to join him and his wife, a few friends and April Vokey for dinner at Mi Cocina, I realized just how lucky I was to have such great people in my life. April is one of those people that has so much passion for what she does that it is pretty easy to get caught up in the excitement of her stories, adventures and plans. And whats not to get excited about? Steelhead, spey rods, Jack and ice, her upcoming trip to Belieze and her flyfishing guru/pinup status. Sounds pretty exciting to me. April, Happy birthday! I liked the high-wasted jeans. Lets go fishing when you get back.