Stocker Trout Fishing News

Snow delay is not slowing us down. Worked on the wine cork handle for the next Micro Fly Rod. Finished shaping and fitting it on to the Ice Fishing Rod Blank. Letting the epoxy dry, and then it’s the next step… Rod Guides or is it the Reel Seat? No worries… till the next step! Wine Cork Handle Shaped and Fitted…!

Tried making a run to Murphy City Hall Pond after work this morning. No luck… icy roads and a rear wheel drive, compact pick up with no weight in the bed don’t mix. Staying indoors for now but will work on fishing related things! Snow Day… Delay

Cold temps and snow has the Team indoors. No worries, able to work on the next Micro Fly Rod. Shaping the handle continues… almost there!

No fishing the evening. But, did get to tie more Near Deere hopefully to be used in the near future. Went with the Olive/White, Olive/Brown, and Olive/Olive variants this time!

Received a request to post information on how we tie the Olive/Brown Near Deere – the fishing fly we used recently at Murphy City Hall Pond for Rainbow Trout. In reply, we posted a video below that demonstrates how we tie the fishing fly. Do check it out when you get a chance! Other key points: For the fishing fly we tie, it is a variation of the fishing fly that Texas Fishing Forum’s Tarpon Fly posted several years ago. He described the pattern and noted its simplicity and effectiveness. When we tie the Olive/Brown Near Deere, we use Olive Marabou for the tail and Brown Flash Chenille for the body. However, the pattern allows for ease of mixing and matching colors with our favorites being Olive Marabou/Olive Flash Chenille and Olive Marabou/White Flash Chenille. It can be fished with or without a strike indicator as well as fished as a tandem rig with a GRHEN, Soft Hackle, or Nymphs. It is a consistent producer of Trout as well as other fish like Bass and Catfish in our are...

Made it to Murphy City Hall Pond for another go at Trout. Caught four and missed four more but still was good to get out for another round of fishing this week! Used a Tandem Rig – Olive/Brown Near Deere and a Soft Hackle. One Trout went for the Near Deere, remainder went for the Soft Hackle. Fun stuff! PS: Stay tuned… working on posting a video of how we tie on the Olive/Brown Near Deere. Will post when editing is completed.  

Fished Murphy City Hall Pond this evening. Was cold but it was great to get a round of fishing in during the work week! Even better that we managed to limit out on Rainbow Trout. Used the Four Weight Fly Rod and the Olive/Brown Near Deere that worked the other day. Change in the retrieve compared to last time; long pulls and allow time for the fishing fly to sink instead of the faster retrieve we used on Sunday. Only fished for about an hour but it was enough time to catch and keep five, catch and release one more, and miss a lot more due to missed hook sets or thrown hooks. That said, looks like more cold temps and snow are in the forecast which may be a good thing to keep us focused on our day jobs! PS: Pictures of the Olive/Brown Near Deere and Today’s Catch as well as Today’s Video are posted below! Olive/Brown Near Deere Today’s Catch!

More tinkering around with Micro Fly Rods. This time making a handle using wine corks. Once done, going to dry fit the Ice Fishing Rod Blank before working on the Rod Guides. Hope this one turns out as good as the Micro Fly Rod I and Micro Fly Rod II. Concept looks like it will work…. Corks are in place and glued… letting it dry now. Glue is dry, time to sand and shape!

Made it back to Murphy City Hall Pond before the front arrived. Used an Olive/Brown Near Deere, PowerBait, and a Super Duper to limit out! Nuclaroche hooked up with three on PowerBait, one on a Black Super Duper, and one on an Olive/Brown Near Deere. Fshng84 took a limit on the fly with an Olive/Brown Near Deere. Saw others hooking up as well! Not sure what they were using but the Trout were biting! Now it’s time to bundle up and prepare for the colder temps and freezing conditions. Today’s Limit!  

Made it to Murphy City Hall Pond today. Arrived just as the Trout Derby was winding down. Looked like a lot of folks hooked up with the Rainbow Trout. Gave it a try starting out with a Tandem Rig – Olive/White Near Deere and a GRHEN. After a few missed strikes, found my “mojo” and began hooking up consistently. Even did some catch and release with strikes on a Tandem Rig – Olive Near Deere and Soft Hackle, Olive Near Deere, BH GRHEN, and an Olive/Brown Near Deere. Overall, the Trout seemed to be striking at everything thrown at them. But, would say the Olive/Brown Near Deere seemed to get the most bites this time. Fun stuff… even broke out the Micro Fly Rod and caught a few with it. Plus, caught a Golden Trout that went for a Near Deere!  

Fun time in Denison today. Nuclaroche and I fished Waterloo Park Pond. After a lot of missed hook sets to rising trout feeding on little, black bugs, we figured out the pattern – a COAF Griffith’s Gnat in Size 16! The Trout started out taking dry flies on a dead drift but as the wind picked up and the insects started “skittering” on the surface more, the Trout were wanting more movement on the dry fly. Fun day, especially being able to catch them on dry flies. Also, had lots of fun casting and catching fish using the COAF Micro Fly Rod ! COAF Griffith’s Gnat COAF Micro Fly Rod

It has been a long work week but Friday is here at last. The weekend is looking good for fishing; however, we must do our duty and pledge our everlasting love to our significant others as tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. That said, the Trout Derby on the Blue River in Oklahoma has us itching for a run across the border. Unfortunately, we are unable to make it this weekend. We do plan to wet a line, most likely at Frisco Commons Pond which was stocked last weekend with Rainbow Trout. While preparing the fly box, I noticed the Soft Hackles purchased at Beavers Bend Fly Shop last year were looking beat. Guess a fishing fly can only take so much abuse from feisty trout and scrappy bluegill! I decided to tie a few Soft Hackles. After a few “do overs”,  I was able to turn out a few that looked “fishable”;  hope to try them this weekend. PS: Really glad for the YouTube video – Partridge and Orange Soft Hackle! Soft Hackles Anyone?  

After limiting out on Trout, decided to have another go with the Micro Fly Rod. Changed the fly line by using less backing line and more fly line. No knot to hang up on the rod guides, so I was able to get more distance on the cast. Caught two little Bluegill and one Bass on a Soft Hackle at Frisco Commons Pond. Then, took a break to get hydrated again. Sun came out in force today; even think the temps hit above 70 degrees. Much different than last years freezing conditions at this time. Later in the afternoon, fished the Feeder Creek at Bethany Lakes, Soft hackle had a few strikes but no hook ups. Switched to a Red Midge in Size 22 and hooked several soon after. Then, noticed  fish feeding on something on the surface. So, switched to a Size 22 BWO and ended up catching several more. So far, have been pleasantly surprised with the casting capability of the little rod. The cast is different compared to standard size fly rods; the back cast straightens quickly, so the forward cast is...

Fished Frisco Commons Pond today. Limited out but had a tough time catching them on fishing flies. Used the same rig as yesterday – Tandem Rig Near Deere and GRHEN. Managed to catch two that went for the GRHEN. Had a few more missed strikes, else no luck getting another one with the Fly Rod. Switched to a Spinning Rod and PowerBait. Caught three Trout in short order. Since the day was so nice and calm conditions, decided to try some Micro Fishing as well. Was hoping to catch a Trout using the Micro Fly Rod but the Trout were not going for fishing flies. Luckily a couple of Bluegill and a little Bass were… will post a video of the Micro Fishing action at Frisco Commons and the Feeder Creek at Bethany in another Blog post. Below is the video of the Trout action today.    

Long week but was finally able to go fishing Saturday. Started out “testing” Micro Fly Rod II by doing some Micro Fishing at the Davis Library Pond. Rod worked well! I was able to catch little Bass and Bluegill as well as several larger Bluegill. I do plan to make adjustments to the fly line by using less backing and more fly line. The knot I tend to hang up as it passed through the rod guides. With the adjustment, should be able to see if the little rod can take on some of the Stocker Trout in the area! Afterwards, headed up the road to fish Frisco Commons Pond. The city hosted its Annual Trick-A-Trout Derby that morning, so Trout were freshly stocked in the pond! Windy day, so no chance to try the Micro Fly Rod without the fly line modification. But, was able to limit out with five Trout. Trout went for an Olive and White Near Deere, and then a BH GRHEN fished on a Tandem Rig in conjunction with the Near Deere.

Here is a HubPages article – “ COAF Micro Fly Rod ” that details modifications that I made to a Pen Fishing Rod. The end result is a Micro Fly Rod that may be of interest to fishermen who would like to take up Micro Fishing! Do give it a try when you get a chance! Moreover, judging from the sturdiness of the rod, it looks like it can handle larger fish as well!