NEW BRAUNFELS FLY FISHING CLUB

Earlier this summer we had a group of New Braunfels Fly Fishers head north to explore the western fishery outside of Casper Wyoming on the North Platte River and the Wind River/ Bighorn River outside Thermopolis Wyoming.

Our group used the Crazy Rainbow Lodge and Ugly Bug Fly Shop for our guides and hosting and thanks much to Ed Finger for arranging this trip for us all!

The first thing you notice is the wide open spaces, the North Platte is right behind the lodge, we could see rising fish in the evenings, and the rivers up here are big water!  The trip to the Bighorn was a long drive to Thermopolis but was well worth it for the change of scenery and to see the river change from the Wind River to the Bighorn.

In addition to the fish in the river, there was tons of wildlife to see and keep you distracted.

It was great western fishing even with a drought in the area making flows a bit lower than typical for up there, but many fish were caught including Rainbows, Brown Trout, and Cutthroats!  This was the first time to catch cutthroats for a few of us on the trip and made the trip for us.  The fish had amazing colors and there were multiple doubles (both people fishing in the boat had a fish on at the same time) and some of us had a three species day!

The owner and the guides from Ugly Bug Fly Shop and Crazy Rainbow Lodge really went all out to make sure we had a good trip and got what we wanted, highly recommended if you are heading that way.  An example of some of the flies we were using up there, in addition to the smaller nymphs like we use at home on the Guad, a good selection of larger flies worked on the bigger fish, Leeches, Thin Mints, Crane Flies, crawfish patterns, and Bob’s favorite (kidding) red wire worms.

All in, everyone caught enough fish that made getting back to the lodge and relaxing with fellowship and stories a perfect end to each day, and the meals that were prepared were spot on (including a special dessert)!

Compared to our home Texas Guadalupe river water, it was fun to have cooler weather, and fish from guide boats instead of wading so we got to see much more water each day than our typical wade on the Guad gets us for a day’s fishing.  In places the scenery was just spectacular as was the wildlife (Wyoming is known for its Sage bushes and its Pronghorns!).

At the end of it, we all had a great time, and I think a return trip someday would be well worth it.

Folks,

We will kickoff the new trout season at our club meeting September 23, 2026.  5:30 – 8:00 at the Tye Preston Memorial Library, 16311 S Access Rd., Canyon Lake.

Public is welcome.  See you there.

Pat

NBFF CLUB MEETING MINUTES JUNE 23, 2026

The LAP Process for the 2026 – 2027 season begins July 1^st.  During the month of July participants need to renew their membership with Trout Unlimited or join Trout Unlimited.  The TU membership expiration date must extend past October 31, 2027, to be eligible for enrollment in the LAP Program.  If you are joining TU for the first time you will need to renew your membership after joining in order for the expiration date to extend past October 31, 2027.  The four-step process is detailed on GRTU’s website.

Recognized guests: Thanks to Kevin Murphy and Jim McCaleb for attending the meeting.

An update on the rolling club calendar of events was reviewed.  There will not be another club meeting nor fly tying class until September.  The next fish feeding meeting will be this Friday, June 26^th at River Rose Tavern at 3:00.  This meeting will sign up volunteers for the months of July and August.  The Holdover Tournament will be November 7^th, please put this date on your calendar.  Attached to these minutes is the full calendar.

Phil Lambrecht was our guest speaker.  Phil presented knot tying with the assistance of Tom Williams who provided the audio/visual to project Phil’s knot tying up on the big screen.  Phil reviewed many of the knots that are used in fly fishing.  Phil demonstrated tying four of the primary knots.  The uni knot, perfection loop, davey knot and drop loop knot.  Phil emphasized that every fly fisherman should know how to tie the uni knot and perfection loop.  All of the attendees also participated by tying the four knots Phil demonstrated.  For further assistance all of these knots are demonstrated on youtube.

The update from the Director’s was not presented to allow more time for knot tying.

Ron conducted the Fly Raffle.

Next club meeting September 23rd

Folks,