Planned Outings

Reports on Past Outings and Events

Saturday, December 13, Guadalupe River Trout Outing - Bruce Wilks

Web administrator‘s note: This outing was canceled because of high winds. I have left the original outing description intact because it provides useful information about where and how to fish the lower Guadalupe for trout.

The plan is to meet at Rio Raft at 8:30AM. Rio Raft is a stocking site for GRTU and Texas Parks & Wildlife and both will have stocked by the time we start fishing on the 13th.

Here are the directions to Rio Raft (Telephone: 1 - 877 - 746 – 7238 and 1 - 830 - 964 - 3613), where we will meet and put in to fish: Take I-35 South to the Hwy 306 exit (Mile Marker 191). This is the first New Braunfels exit, just north of town. Turn right (West) on Hwy 306 about 12 miles to FM 2673. Turn left (south) on 2673 into Sattler (about 2 miles). Turn left again on The River Road, and go about .5 miles to Rio Raft turn left into resort. (on the left before you cross the Fourth Crossing Bridge). It takes about an hour and a half to get there from Georgetown, with light traffic.

Make sure and stop at the Office on the left and pay. The fee for fishing and river access is $5.00 per person, whether you are wading or putting in a kayak, canoe or kick boat. Rio Raft opens at 9:00AM. There is a honor system drop box by the front door if you want to enter the water before 9:00am. Parking is to the right of the office behind the bathrooms.

Bruce Wilks will update weather forecast as we get closer to Decmber 13th. You should plan to contact each other about car pooling. We plan to meet at Rio Raft on the river at 9:00 AM.

Required Gear:

• 4 or 5 weight medium to fast action rod is great, with a 6 weight as the upper limit.
• Leaders 4X, 5X, or 6X if the water is really clear and the trout are spooky
• Tippet 4X 5X or 6X
• Felt bottom wading boots, if you have studded with felt even better.
• Wading Staff would also be good.

Fly Choices For The Guadalupe River Trout Fishing(You might try using a 12" to 18" inch Attractor/Dropper setup with two types of flies):

• Attractors (sizes 12-16) Top Fly
  • Egg (Various egg patterns including sucker eggs and Pom-Pom)
  • Prince
  • San Juan Worm
  • Hare's Ear
• Dropper (sizes 18-22): Bottom Fly
  • RS2
  • WD40
  • Caddis pupa
  • Little Brown Bug (* This is a local pattern, I can't find it on the internet)

Other productive flies on the Guadalupe River:

• Copper Johns 16-22
• Zebra Midges (16-22)
• Weighted bead head and non-weighted woolly buggers in olive, black and brown (sizes 8-14)
• Use pheasant tail nymphs to imitate blue-winged olive (#18-20) and slate-winged drake (#12-14) nymphs
• The brassie is a very effective imitation for caddis pupae (#16-#18) and midge pupae (#18-#22).
• Blue-Winged Olive hatches (#18-20)
• Gold ribbed hare's ears (#16-20)
• WD40s 14-22,
• Sparkle Caddis Pupa (14-16)

You can fish any of these flies as single fly setup under a strike indicator can be productive, but the Attractor/Dropper setup with two types of flies is the most productive setup. Attractor/Dropper setup can also be fished under a strike indicator, but can get difficult to cast depending on overall setup… You need to get the fly down on,or near the bottom, and if possible, in the ruts and deeper pools in the river bottom. In other words if you are not hanging up at least some of the time, then you are not in the best strike zone… You will lose a few flies, but catch more fish… Also fish behind rocks, boulders, logs, other cover and along the edges and current seams.

Important Suggestion! Remember to bring a change of warm cloths in case you slip or trip and get wet. The bottom is slippery, very uneven and rough with holes that look shallow, but are much deeper than you think... Hey, I have taken a full dunking more than once on this river and others. This is not a problem in warmer temps, but can be a serious problem in cold temps... Hypothermia is no fun at all and can happen quicker that one may think... Water temp is 54 deg and if air temps with wind chill factored in, once you are wet and cold, it will be hard to get dry and warm again... Your day of fishing could be over. It can be a long way back to the car wading down the river from some of the holes.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, June 20 thru 22 - Devils River at Dolan Falls

Bruce Wilks contributed a trip report, and several members contributed photographs. You can find Bruce’s report at: Outing report. You can find a subsets of the photos at: Pictures of people , Pictures of fish, Pictures of Devil’s River.

Gulf Coast Council, Federation of Fly Fishers 2nd Annual FFF Gulf Coast Expo - Bruce Wilks

Had lots of fun in Lake Charles last week. The Gulf Coast Expo put on by the Gulf Coast Council of the Federation Of Fly Fishing was a very good time, with good Cajun food and good people… Many good to excellent fly tiers, with some real characters. Cast some new rods from SAGE & TFO. David Ahan was there from ADG Titanium Rods…

Spent Friday and Sat at the Expo. Spent some time talking to Stacy Trimble who is now a Rep for Hobie Kayaks.. Me and Brooks both attended a casting analysis class put on by Bruce Richards who is Product Specialist for Scientific Anglers http://www.gulfcoastfff.org/expo08/GCC_2008_Program_Handout.pdf There were only 5 people in attendance and the class was two hours long… He watched us all cast and had us make corrections from his critique, then practice, cast and critique again, Then he had a rod that had a angular gyro sensor connected to a Palm Pilot and software that plotted and graphed that showed your forward cast, stop, rebound, speed and acceleration, then your back cast, stop, rebound, speed and acceleration among many other things it told you… I am now a better casted for it… Hmm… Wished I would have done it before the trip into the marsh, maybe would have landed at least a few more Reds…. Also had Al Crise by request form Brooks helped me some more with my Double Haul for about 20 min of his own time, which I can do a double haul much better now thanks to Al, Brooks and Bruce Richards…! Brooks was also a guest fly tier all day Friday… See attached pics…!

Gulf Coast EXPO 2008 Vendors:

• We had some kayak Vendors including Stacy Trimble who is a Rep for Hobie Kayaks. S tacy was showing and demoing the new line of Mirage Drive hovie kayaks…
• SAGE and TFO, and ADG were the fly rod suppliers attending…
• Also had others representing fly tying materials etc… etc,,,

Lots of fly tiers attended so I thought I would point out just a few…

John Carpenter and daughter - Some really nice people and John is getting his daughter into fly fishing and tying flies… What a great dad…! Had some beautiful crab flies, really nice poppers and a great very effective looking shrimp flies. His daughter was tying some foam crease flies and spoons…

Bio:

Santa Fe, TX. Saltwater fishing has always been a passion of mine, starting from the first time I went fishing with my father & mother some 37 years ago. After growing up on the coast of Matagorda Texas in the town of Sargent I learned the basics of saltwater fishing from a young age. I have taken those memories and skills and applied them to the art of fly tying, to try and create flys that are as close to the real thing as possible. I knew after purchasing my first fly rod, I was hooked on the sport. Once you learn to cast you are in trouble, because then your addicted and you have to buy a vice and begin to tie.

Skip Shorb - Ozark, AR. Skip was introduced to tying in late 1996, and learned how to weave in early 1997. He developed procedures to tie the extended body, woven flies in early 1999, for the Sowbug Roundup. See him tie an extended body weaved mayfly with feather wings on a #32 hook. I needed a magnifying glass to see the fly much less even think about tying one… WOW…!!!

Saturday, May 3, 2008 - Float down the San Gabriel

The club's planned float of the San Gabriel had to be canceled because of low flow in the river. Randy was able to arrange for the members who had signed up for the outing to fish a private lake east of town. The crew fished from about 7:30AM till around noon and caught lots of small bass and big sunfish.

Saturday, April 12, 2008 - Casting clinic by Al Crise

Al Crise, certified as a Master Casting Instructor by the Federation of Fly Fishers, came come to Georgetown to help SGFF members sharpen their casting skills. Al not only teaches people to cast, he also teaches other instructors how to improve their communication skills and, as one of the Master Casting Instructors, he conducts tests for those who want to become FFF Certified Casting Instructors, themselves.

Saturday, March 29th - TPWD Casting Certification Clinic - Randy Johnson

On Saturday, March 29th, several members of the San Gabriel Flyfishers attended the TPWD Casting and Instructor Certification Class held at McKinney Falls State Park. Members in attendance included Clint Barton, Kent Conner, Al Desjardin, Matt Rush, Tommy Judson, Pete Walker, and Randy Johnson. Clint's Son-in-law Ryan Jouett also attended.

Beginning in the morning, the class introduced basic fly casting, fly tying, and aquatic habitat to the group. The habitat segment included a trip down to nearby Onion Creek to sample the "critters" inhabiting the stream. TPWD employees and volunteers from the Fredericksburg Fly Fishers and Hill Country Fly Fishers assisted in the training.

Upon the conclusion of this training, all participants received a certificate of completion. Clint, Ryan, Kent, Al, Matt, and Randy then attended the Instructor Certification portion of the training. Each of them will become Certified Instructors upon approval of their applications.

This training will allow the Club members to volunteer to assist the TPWD in conducting classes in the future, and to document our certification when we conduct classes for local groups in the future.

Monday, February 25, 2008 - Randy Johnson

On Monday, February 25th, the Club had their first weekday outing, a white bass trip below Tejas Park on the North San Gabriel above Lake Georgetown. About ten members went on the trip. Bob Pool, whose property adjoins the Corp of Engineers property just below Tejas, allowed us to access the river from his land.

The weather was good, although a little windy and the water levels are low, due to the lack of recent rains. Even though the white bass have been running above Lake Granger for about three weeks, they are not running yet here. The cause is likely too little water flowing into the lake, since the water temperature was about 60 degrees.

We did catch a number of sunfish and small bass, both largemouth and Guadalupe, including one Guadalupe of 13”. We may try to set another date when we can verify that the white bass have started running at this location.

The location is ideal, with plenty of room to fish and minimal casting obstructions.

Saturday, January 19, 2008 - Randy Johnson

On Saturday, January 19th, the San Gabriel Flyfishers took a trip to Shonto Ranch outside Kerrville to go trout fishing. Those attending were Randy Johnson, Keith Lovin, Doug Cornwell, Al Desjardin, Bob Williams, Pete Walker, and Matt Rush.

The weather was not ideal (30 degree at 9:00 AM up to about 50 later, clear sky all day) but was workable. We caught a total of about 20 trout, the largest being caught by Pete Walker, a 24 incher. Doug Cornwell caught a large golden trout, and he also caught the most fish (9). Several people caught sunfish, even though the water was very cold. Most of the trout were caught on woolly buggers and streamers, in the shade of the cliffs/trees against the opposite bank of one section of the creek. We caught no fish whatsoever at the Canyon Lake, where we caught the majority of our fish on the last trip. The lack of cloud cover was the most likely reason.

Everyone either hooked or landed fish, and on the whole, the trip was a success. Everyone had a great time, it is a beautiful place.

For those of you wanting more info on Shonto, the website is http://www.shontoranch.com. You can also view this short promotional video.

Friday, January 4, 2008

On Friday, January 4th, the Sun City Hunting and Fishing Club sponsored their annual “Fly Fishing Only” trout fishing outing at Berry Creek Lake in Sun City. The Sun City Club invited all members of the San Gabriel Flyfishers to attend. They stocked 600 pounds of rainbow trout in the lake, most between 1 and 3 pounds.

Friday through Sunday, October 12-14 - Brooks Bouldin

Eleven of SGFF's finest made a trip to Port Aransas to fish out of Kayaks the second weekend in October. When we arrived, we discovered that tides were running 2 feet high making it impossible to see redfish until it was too late to get a cast to them. Water was over the road into Wilson's Cut, Forcing us to redirect our efforts to the Lighthouse Lakes. Seven hours of fishing resulted in 0 reds and 0 trout. The top fish I saw all day was this scrappy skip jack. We'll check the tide levels before we make our next trip to the coast.

Friday through Sunday, October 19-21

The Fredericksburg Fly Fishers 4th annual Octoberfisch

Saturday August 25

Randy Johnson arranged for the club to fish a private lake near Rowe Valley. Randy and Bob Pool did a great job of organizing the outing, and we had a good group of participants. A lot of fish were caught; among the eleven participants we landed a total of over eighty fish.

Saturday May 26

The planned outing to the Kingsland slab on the LLano was canceled because of flooding and the threat of more flash flooding.

Friday April 13 through Sunday April 15, 2007

Devil's River outing report

Sunday Feb 25, 2007 - report by Bruce Wilks

Me and Randy Johnson are the only ones that showed up on the Outing last Sunday at The Narrows Recreation Area. It is about 55 miles from Round Rock

Randy caught at least 12 white bass and two Guadalupe bass (Randy correct me if I am wrong on your fish count). I caught 22 whites and 1 Guadalupe... All were 11" to 15.5"...! These whites were all fat healthy fish and good to eat.

I also invited three of my fishing friends that do not belong to the club. Blake caught 35 whites and four Guadalupe's, Bryan caught 18 whites and 23 crappies and Bob caught 18 whites and a 26" carp that actually took a clouser minnow for a lip hook set...

Best way to fish for whites at this place is with kayak, canoe or float tube, waders, your 5wt or 6wt fly rod with full fast sink sinking line on your reel. There is a very long area of bank down river at the launch site if you to not have a boat or float tube and you just want to wade fish... You will need to get sinking line at Sportsman's Finest or some other source... Sportsman's Warehouse sells Wet Cell, but the sink rate is to slow... You need a minimum sink rate of at least 4" to 9" per second. Uniform sink is good, or Streamer Express fast sink is good and even more so if they release water upstream from Lake LBJ, which they did at about 3:30 PM... Clousers in #8 to #10 ( white/gray, white/chartreuse, along with other colors including the blue and purple ones...) I used my 5 weight Sage XP with "Uniform Sink rate of 4.5" to 6" per second. My sinking line is dark colored, but many people use the clear sinking lines... It was a beautiful day, and really is a beautiful place to see, do some kayaking and fishing. Catching some nice whites is a real bonus, then eating some is good also...

With the warm weather this week it should really turn them on harder and trigger a bigger run from Lake Travis up the Narrows...!!! The white bass run and spawn will be over and done by end of March or early in April. I am going this weekend again if anyone is interested...

Saturday, Feb 10, 2007

The planned outing to the lower Guadalupe was canceled because of forcasted bad weather.

Saturday, Feb 10, 2007

The planned outing to Shanto Ranch was canceled because of forecasted bad weather.

Saturday, Jan 27, 2007

This was an outing to the lower Guadalupe at Rio Raft. Randy Johnson has provided a fishing report for this outing.

Saturday, Jan 13, 2007

The planned outing to Shonto Ranch was canceled because of bad weather.

Monday and Wednesday, Jan 8 and Jan 10, 2007

The Sun City Hunting and Fishing Club, Texas Parks and Wildlife, and the Corps of Engineers sponsored a project to place 200 juniper trees in Lake Georgetown to form brush piles as habitat for fish. Trees were cut in Russell Park and transported to the boat ramp; then concrete blocks were attached to bunches of trees and which were dropped into the lake from a barge provided by the Corps of Engineers.

Our thanks to the Sun City group, the Corps and Texas Parks and Wildlife for their contributions to this effort.

Friday, Jan 5, 2007

The Sun City Hunting and Fishing Clup put trout into the lake on Dell Webb Blvd., and invited us to participate in their trout derby.

September 23, 2006

Kayak demo in San Gabriel Park September 23, 2006

August 5, 2006

Cleanup of a portion of the San Gabriel's North Fork August 5, 2006

April 8, 2007

Electrofishing population survey April 8, 2006