Stocker Trout Fishing News

Been stuck indoors since it started raining on us last Wednesday. Finally, got a break in the weather and was able to make a quick trip to Bethany Lakes. Winter pattern of slower presentations was what worked. Managed a Sunfish, two little Bluegill, and then a Catfish that went about 18″ in size. Used a Pink Near Deere and fished it 3.5 feet below and indicator. Took several tries to get the Catfish but did get it to take on the third try! Fun stuff!    

Brutal… rain since Wednesday; still no fishing. Rain delay continues. Had to do something fishing related, so made another Paracord Fishing Lanyard. This one is for Summer Quick Trips that clips on to your belt loop. Only need it and a fly rod/reel and we are ready to go! Used material already on hand except for the paracord fid. Made it from an aluminum binding screw post; even got to use the lathe to turn the point on it! Always good to turn metal on a lathe! To make the fly box holder, we needed a paracord fid to work the line in/out of the loops. Sure made a rainy day a little more bearable!

Rain has the Team indoors. Hate it when it rains when you are off work. Worse yet is the forecast is anticipating more rain into the weekend. For now, been watching TV and thinking about fishing related things like making a Paracord Fishing Lanyard. Looked easy enough, had the material on hand already, and did not take long to make. Hope to use it soon!

Short on time so went for a quick trip to Sonic Pond. Man… what a difference a day makes. Yesterday, could not keep the fish off of our fishing fly. Today, could not get them to bite! Luckily, did get one to finally take the Pink Near Deere. It was a little Bass that at least saved us from striking out. Windy conditions and a chill in the air. Bummer to hear the rain is in the forecast these next few days. Really wanted to fish the Blue River again for more Trout. Oh well, cannot catch them all!

Made it to the Blue River Tuesday afternoon! Had a great time; limited out with six Rainbow Trout. Caught and released a lot more! Used a Five Weight Fly Rod and fished a Tandem Rigged Near Deere and trailed either a GRHEN or a Rainbow Warrior. Started fishing the area by the Island. Caught four fish there – three fish went for a Brown Near Deere and one went for the GRHEN. Bite slowed by the Island, so headed downstream and fished the pockets and runs. Lost count of how many we caught and released. Did notice that roughly half the trout went for an Olive Near Deere and the other half went for a Rainbow Warrior. Did see a number of trout including a Bruiser lurking in the pockets but most were not interested in our fishing fly. Did manage to get one to take a Pink Near Deere as well as one that went for a Black Jig Fly that we picked up at Scotty’s. Ended the day at Hughes Crossing, catching a number of Trout on an Olive Near Deere and a Pink Near Deere. Fun time… even left them biting

Another exercise in spreadsheet sorting… We did this last year, and it helped us get a feel for when places were getting stocked by date. This time, we sorted by Date, City, and then Stocking Location. Also, we added the County and Number of Stockings for a given Stocking Location and further divided the Planned Season Total by the Number of Stockings to estimate how many Trout are being stocked for a given date and place. We saved the spreadsheet but we were not able to upload it. We were able to convert it to a .pdf file and post it –  2015-2016 TPWD Trout Stocking Schedule – Sorted by Date . The info is based on the schedule post by Texas Parks and Wildlife dated 11/23/2015. For reference, here is how Collin County looks after sorting. We will need to watch for any changes in dates as Towne Lake and Murphy City Hall are stocked on the same date. PS: Should be able to save the .pdf file and then convert it to a spreadsheet to allow sorting and filtering as desired.

Yesterday we fished Sonic Pond with the four weight rod. Today, we fished Bethany Lakes with the four weight. Colder temps has the Winter Pattern in play; managed to catch a few using the same slow and steady retrieve that worked at Sonic Pond. Olive and Pink Near Deere continued to work as well; could not tell which was the preferred color as we lost the Olive one to a snag soon after catching the first fish. No more Olive in the fly box, so we went with Pink. Looked like the fish did not mind the color change!

Went for a quick trip to the pond by Sonic yesterday. Had about an hour and a half to fish but did manage to catch and release sixteen Bass, a Bluegill, and a Crappie! All went for a Near Deere in pink or olive. Also, started out with a short pull and fast retrieve that worked well in the daylight. Later, switched to a steady and slow retrieve as it got darker. Seemed to work in the low light conditions. When using the steady and slow retrieve, had to pay close attention to any change in the line, setting the hook at the slightest hesitation and/or twitch! Fun stuff!

Good to know, it looks like the Illinois River in Oklahoma is resuming Trout Stockings this week (week of November 16). Just saw this on the Oklahoma Trout Stocking Schedule posted by Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

Collin County Trout Stockings Texas Parks and Wildlife has posted the 2015-2016 Trout Stocking Schedule ! Looks like Collin County is getting four stockings. Hope to see some of our Readers out there this Season! PS: Schedule sorted by date as of TPWD’s post on 11/23/2015 for reference – Sorted by Date For action from past years, do checkout our Texas Rainbow Trout Fishing Board on Pinterset! Also, added a Google Map that shows the Trout Stockings in Collin County for Readers’ reference. Follow COAF Field Team’s board Texas Rainbow Trout Fishing on Pinterest. Collin County Trout Stockings

Sunset at Celebration Park The weekend is here and a quick glance at the current temperatures shows a chilly 45 degrees Fahrenheit. No solid plans for fishing yet as the Team has non-fishing things to take care of before wetting a line can happen. No worries though as we will have a fly rod ready to go if the chance to fish does come up! We do note the Trout Fishing Derby at Oklahoma’s Blue River starts today. Hope to see a few Bruisers show on the Leader Board. Each year the Trout Stocking gets a supplemental stocking of some nice size Rainbow Trout to make things interesting! Also, reports from the Texas Fishing Forum show the bite is on at Beaver Bend – see  TFF’s TarponFly Guide Report . Things may get crowded as there is a festival happening in the area this weekend, so plan accordingly. For the Team the Blue River and Beavers Bend will have to wait until another weekend. To the fishermen participating in the Trout Derby, the Team wishes you all the best, and we hope you hook one

 Made it out this evening to try the new Eight Weight Fly Rod. Picked up a new one at Cabelas to replace the one we broke on a trip back from the Blue River. Had not been able to fish with it until now. Rod feels good, makes great casts including the Roll Cast, and balances well with the Echo Ion Fly Reel! As for the Bass this round, had one go for a Pink Near Deere, had several more strikes on it but then lost the fishing fly to a snag. Switched to an Orange Near Deere and ended up catching seven Bass on it. Fun stuff, great deal on a great rod!

Received a Google Earth Map from Nuclaroche that shows placeholders for Trout Stocking Areas in Oklahoma. The letter in parenthesis indicate: (D) – Stocking begins in December (Y) – Stocking year round (S) – Stocking is suspended (at least for now) (P) – Private Stocking (not part of ODWC Stocking Program) No letter – Stocking begins in November May be of interest to Readers in Oklahoma which will soon include Nuclaroche… congrats on the new job! Oklahoma Trout Stocking Areas

Broke an Eight Weight Fly Rod yesterday; closed a car door on it. Intended to use it to target the Striped Bass at Denison Dam. Even put a new Fly Reel on it (the Echo Ion Fly Reel mentioned in an earlier post). Made a stop at Cabelas in Allen this afternoon to look for a replacement. Wanted a fast action rod with some backbone. Had narrowed it down to two rods. The Fly Shop Associate suggested another rod that was perfect except it was about $50 more than planned. As it turned out, it was actually discounted. Was able to buy it well below the budgeted price! Back in business… hope to catch a Bruiser with it!  

Made it to the Blue River Saturday for a chance at Rainbow Trout Fishing. Forgot to bring the chest strap for the GoPro. After some mods, was able to get some action shots. Fun day…. limited out, too! Used a Tandem Rig Near Deere and Rainbow Warrior like the one we used at Beavers Bend. It was 50/50 with the Trout going for one fishing fly over the other. After limiting out, did some catch and release fishing. Had fun working the pools that held Trout. Did use an Eight Weight and the new Echo Ion Fly Reel. Plan was to use it for Stripers when we decided to stop a Denison Dam while coming back from the Blue River. It worked really well especially when the wind picked up, but ended up breaking the rod while on the way back home. Stopped at McDonalds for some coffee, one of the sections fell out while getting out of the car, sure enough closed the door without realizing the section fell out. Oh well, good excuse to get another fly rod!

Still not sure what the weekend plans are for fishing, but just in case, tied more Clouser Minnows like the one we used last Sunday at Denison Dam. Will plan to post an update regardless where we go. Good luck and good fishing to our Readers; hope you get a Bruiser or two! Clouser Minnows were tied with Chartreuse Craft Fur, White Craft Fur, and Pearl Flashabou, Size 2/0 Gamakatsu Wide Gap Saltwater Hook, and Small Red Dumbbell Eyes using Red Dacron 70 Thread. Craft Fur Clouser Minnows

While picking up some fly tying material at Cabelas this evening, noticed the Echo Ion Fly Reel in the 6/7 Weight model was on sale for $55. Been keeping an eye out for a sale on the reel; wanted to mount it on an 8 Weight Fly Rod that has been gathering dust in the corner. Could not pass up the deal,… next step, go fishing! Echo Ion Fly Reel (6/7 WT)

Planned to fish the Blue River for Rainbow Trout today but heard the recent rains muddied the river. Was still wavering yesterday on where to fish, so just in case decided to tie some Clouser Minnows to go along with the Near Deere, GRHENs, and Rainbow Warriors. Good thing we had the Clouser Minnows! Ended up catching several Largemouth Bass, Striped Bass, and even a Catfish. Had some “technical difficulties” with the camera but did manage to get video of the action to include a 29″ and 22.5″ Striped Bass. Ended the day with four Striped Bass on the stringer! Would have kept going for a limit but ran out of Clouser Minnows. Had tied five last night. Lost one to a Bruiser that struck the fishing fly and ran for the rocks. Could not turn it with the 5 Weight… lost another Clouser after fouling with someone’s old fishing line; remainder were lost to rocks. Luckily, did pick up some “new tackle” from the rocks, too! Overall, had a great time out there on the Red River! Four Striped Bass… P