President's letter from Brooks Bouldin for February

Our February meeting will be held at 6:30 pm at the Chamber of Commerce Building this Tuesday, the 6th. By popular request, Bruce Moring will give a program on Entomology for the Hill Country Fly Fisher. He will undoubtedly give us some good ideas about fly selection based on a better understanding of what foods fish normally feed on in our rivers and lakes.

Bruce Wilks, our outings chairman, has plans for three outings this month: a return to the Guadalupe, a second attempt to go to Shonto Ranch (the last trip was postponed due to icy weather) and a trip to Colorado Bend State Park for white bass. Last week’s trip to the Guadalupe provided six skilled and eager fly fishers with great weather and poor fishing. Fishing reports from guides and other fishermen on the river that day were dismal, as well. A couple of our members report that the water temperature remains cool, in the low 50’s. But guys, you don’t have to fill your waders to reach that conclusion. Take a thermometer next time.

The good news is that GRTU stocked the river again Saturday. Recent rains have kept flows below Canyon Dam at about 100 cfs and Randy Johnson reports that more water is flowing into Canyon Lake than is being released at the dam. Hopefully, new fish and continued good flows will result in great fishing on February 10th.

The Shonto Ranch trip scheduled last month has been rescheduled for the 10th of February, as well. If site casting to large trout interests you, this is the place to go. Those of us who signed up last month need to check with Bruce to confirm your attendance. Anyone else who would like to join the group can check with Bruce, too. Heavily weighted Woolly Buggers in sizes 1/0, 2 & 4 have been successful patterns in the past.

Bruce is planning the trip to Colorado Bend State Park on the 24th. There is plenty of room to hold many anglers there and the white bass fishing should be in full swing. Grab a handful of Clousers and Crazy Charlies in sizes 6, 8 & 10 and come along for some good wade fishing. A sinking line is a good option because the fish will be on the bottom. Kayaks are optional, but not necessary.

Bruce can be reached at 512-255-7940 evenings or by cell phone at 512-671-0629.

Looking forward a bit, an outing, or more likely a trek, to the Nature Conservancy camp on the Devil’s River at Dolan Falls is tentatively planned for April 13th- 15th. We will stay in cabins on the property and have access to 8 miles of river that flows through the 87,760 acre ranch purchased by the conservancy to protect a portion of what is considered the most pristine river in the state. The Devil’s River is also one of the best smallmouth bass fisheries in Texas. The trip is limited to 10 people and will require a $100 tax deductible contribution to the Nature Conservancy per person. Included in the trip will be a tour of the park. Bruce Moring will give us more details about the trip at our Meeting, Tuesday.

All members are encouraged to participate in club outings and activities. Occasionally outings are restricted to a limited number of participants due to limited fishable water, but more often, there is room for more members than sign up. If there is ever more demand for a trip than it can accommodate, Bruce says he will try to schedule a second trip.

Randy Johnson reports that he has distributed over 400 raffle tickets for the $1,000 Sage Z- Axis Rod and 2580 Reel to various clubs in Texas. He has plenty left for our members and will have them available for $20 each at Tuesday’s meeting. Don’t leave home without your cash or checkbook.

If you have library books out, please return them at the meeting and check out some more. Anyone having books or magazines to contribute to the club library can contact Bob Brooks at 512-863-6804.

Clint Barton, our new fly tying chairman, is planning a tying session this month, it'll be open to anyone who would like to tie or kibitz. Details will be provided at the meeting. Clint plans to make this a regular activity. For more information about fly tying, Clint can be reached at 512-868-9148, evenings or 512-863-5585, at work.

Kudos to Don Johnson for the great job he has done on the new web site! (www.sgflyfishers.com) It continues to get even better. If you have questions about coming events, this is the best place to get up-to-date information.

I hope to see you Tuesday and often on the water, Brooks