TEXAS RAINBOW TROUT FISHING 2011

I'm going to go do some fishing tomorrow for the stocked rainbows that are all over the state right now. You can go here to find out when and where the stocking has or will be happening.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/management/stocking/trout_stocking.phtml

I'm going to try out a 3 weight rod I got a screaming deal on from the {Hill Country?} Outfitters store in Fredericksburg several years ago. I've used it a couple of times for small bass on the Llano and James rivers and it's a very fun rod. We were coming back from a Christmastime Big Bend trip and stopped in F-Burg to rest from the road a bit. If you've ever been in the Hill Country Outfitters store, they are a dealer that sells some Orvis stuff, and I usually need some sort of dry fly goop or flies or leaders to fill out my fly fishing bag.

So I was looking for what is called a "fairy wand", a slender tiny fishing rod that would make fighting fish a lot more of a challenge. The slight type of fishing rod that makes small fish seem bigger and makes bigger fish seem huge. I was trying out this rod and noticed it had a sale tag on it. Having been an Orvis customer via mail since before puberty, I'm pretty familiar with their product lines and prices. So when I saw that the rod was going for right at $100, which was really a third of the usual price, I snagged it right then and there. As I was paying for it, another fellow who had been looking at it earlier in the day came back in to get it, so my timing was right.

So I'll be armed with my 3 weight and see what happens. I'll take a 6 weight along in case the wind is high, which it is apt to be at the place I'm heading. It's a relatively small lake, and fortunately there is good access on either side of the lake and on the dam at the end where the trout tend to congregate, so it's just a matter of good positioning based on the wind direction.

Yesterday, my friend Bill was telling me that he had a freezer full of trout. A teacher, he made the most of his Christmas holiday by fishing the lake near his house that gets stocked every year. He said he limited out every time he went, using his home created flies. I didn't know Bill fly fished until recently, and I have only known Bill a couple of years through our kids. I'll get at least one of his flies and get a photo and put it up.

I find that this time of year, even though it's supposed to be winter, we've still got small skeeter like bugs flying around, and so small black flying gnat and mosquito imitations work very well. Likewise, even though we did have a 2nd crop of grasshoppers this year, and late in September at that, there's no grasshoppers to be found now, yet Dave's Hopper has been a perennial favorite for me when winter fly fishing for stocked Texas trout.

It's kinda warm right now for my liking, but I've got to get some outside time at the lake. There's a rain supposedly coming tomorrow night followed by several days of a cold blast, so fishing might even be better next week during the cold weather.