We will have our meeting at the library on the 28th and the speaker is Bob Pool.  A short BIO follows. See you there.

I’ve been fly fishing for 55 years and have targeted big bass for the last 40. I was originally talked into doing a presentation for my own club, the San Gabriel Fly Fishers because it seemed I caught more big bass than the whole rest of the club put together. A few have changed to targeting bigger fish now and have been very successful at it so I think my techniques work. A couple of local guides have let me know they use them as well with success. It makes me feel good to know I get to help people catch these big bass more often.

The big bass are still able to be caught even in this heat. They are moving early mornings and late evenings. I caught a 5 lb 4 oz and a 7 lb 11 oz yesterday evening late on Lake Marble Falls.

See you guys soon, Bob Pool

CHUCKLE, CHUCKLE!!!

Last Thursday fishing outside of Port Aransas Phil Lambrecht had an awesome day catching 15 Speckled Trout and 5 Red Fish! Pictured is one that was 27 inches!

This day makes up for the other days that the wind and conditions were just not right and You couldn’t even find any fish!!!  GREAT DAY PHIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think you would have to call our first Introduction to Fly Fishing event a success.  We had 10 eager students(CARTER DILLENBECK, EDGAR CUEVE, MARY JAKSIK, DAVID JAKSIK, VINCE CALLIER, MARK CRAWFORD, ROLANDO FERNANDEZ, JENNIFER LONG, AND JEREMY ROETTO) at the event and by the time they left, they were all drowning in too much information and we hope  at least 10% sticks with them.  Ha!!!  We divided the group into small numbers and had them rotate thru the 4 teaching stations(knots, fly tying, introduction to equipment and casting). Each rotation lasted 45 minutes and that was enough time to pass on the information we needed to get across.

Primary instructors were Carl Druebert(knots), Ed Sweet(introduction to equipment), Gary Nyland and Phil Lambrecht(fly tying) and Mike Wright(casting).

Of course we can’t forget the cooks Pat McQuinn and  Jerry Horton plus Brien John at the sign in table and Once again Pat McQuinn for Membership.

The lunch menu included Hotdogs , all the fixens, chips and all you could drink of soda etc.  Hats off the cooks.  they did a great job!!!

THE TEAM!!

I hope the following pictures give readers the sense of the event and you can see the attendees really paying attention(all staged photos). Ha!!

KNOT TYING BY CARL DUREBERT

FLY TYING BY GARY NYLAND AND PHIL LAMBRECHT

INTRODUCTION TO FLY FISHING EQUIPMENT BY ED SWEET

FLY CASTING BY MIKE WRIGHT

THE COOKS  AND MEMBERSHIP JERRY HORTON AND PAT MCQUINN

Pro Tips: Top 5 Subsurface Flies for Largemouth Bass

Written by: Alvin Dedeaux, All Water Guides

Subsurface patterns, such as this crawfish, will take bass when they’re not willing to eat bugs on top.
Photo courtesy All Water Guides

Just like trout, largemouth bass spend most of their time feeding below the surface. And as most people would agree that catching trout on dry flies is more exciting, watching a bass explode on a popper chugging across the surface is even more of a rush. The strikes are just so savage.

But as much as a dry-fly junkie as I am, I do nymph for trout when the conditions dictate. After all, I want to catch as many fish as I can. Ditto for bass. When the topwater bite is not happening, I have a few go-to sub surface bass patterns.

1. Clouser Minnows: I have caught more warmwater and saltwater species on the Clouser Minnow than on any other fly. Favorite colors are chartreuse and white, pink and white, and gray and white. For bigger fish or deeper water, try the Clouser/ Deceiver Half and Half.

2. Crawfish patterns: My personal best largemouth bass on the fly–as well as one of our clients’ world record Guadalupe bass–was caught on a crawfish pattern. Especially when the water temps are low and you need to bounce something along the bottom to entice a big lazy bass to to eat, the Gulley Ultra Craw and the Ghetto Craw are my favorite patterns.

3. Leeches: When the water is off-color or the temps are low, it’s hard to beat a big, dark leech slithering along the bottom. Think of it as the fly-rod version of a Texas rigged rubber worm.

4.Shad patterns: Some of the main forage fish in most bass lakes are shad. If you see bass schooling and chasing bait, most likely it is shad. One of my favorite shad patterns is the Double Bunny.

5. Diving Bugs: While not truly a sub-surface pattern, divers are one of my favorite flies when bass aren’t hitting the surface. The beauty of a big deer-hair diver is how much water they move. Bass will come from a long way off to find out what is making such a commotion. The added bonus of a diver is that you still get to see the strike.

Alvin Dedeaux is the owner of All Water Guides (2015 Orvis Guide Service of the Year Finalist) and Alvin Dedeaux Fly Fishing in Austin, Texas. He is also a former Trout Bum of the Week