Stocker Trout Fishing News

Fished several places Sunday for Rainbow Trout and struck out. Getting ready to call it a day, but decided it was too nice a day to stay indoors. On a whim, dusted off the Micro Fly Rods and went fishing for some “mini-Bruisers”. After changing fishing flies several times, found the pattern and the right size hook and started catching them! Even caught a pretty fingerling Bass! Had a great time on a really nice Texas evening catching these “mini-Bruisers” on micro fishing gear! Hope to try it again soon… still have components for another Wine Cork Micro Fly Rod; may get the “itch” to make another one!

Fished McKinney’s Towne Lake Saturday morning, and then fished Prosper’s Frontier Park Pond afterwards. Took a little work to find the pattern at Towne Lake. But, did find it… Olive Near Deere was the “go to ” fishing fly again. But, the key was the retrieve – let the fishing fly sink counting to ten, and the a long pull every 2-4 seconds. Light strikes were the norm that morning. So, we had to pay close attention to the line for any hesitation, resistance, or “twitch” while retrieving. Later in Prosper, had another tough time figuring the pattern; that is, did not find the pattern. Did get one trout to take the Olive Near Deere and another went for a Soft Hackle Prince Nymph. Was using a Tandem Rig with the Near Deere as the lead fishing fly and the Soft Hackle as the trailer. Did see others catching them. The key was Power Bait… water was murky and the trout were stocked in the whole pond like the first year when the Trout Derby was held at Frontier Park. In previous years, the trout

Posted earlier that Prosper was hosting a Trout Derby; looks like Denison is hosting one too! Two places for a chance at Trout! Looks like Denison has a Trout Derby too! #troutfishing https://t.co/tC79rpJTNS pic.twitter.com/C9ZZWBghfX — StockerTroutFishing (@iFishRadio) February 26, 2016

Another Trout Derby is scheduled this weekend. Last weekend we had McKinney and Murphy hosting Trout Derbies. Looks like Saturday February 27 it’s Prosper hosting an event. Should be fun! Prosper Trout Derby Saturday! #troutfishing https://t.co/n4YYCWp7zN pic.twitter.com/4Wts1Gd0Bw — StockerTroutFishing (@iFishRadio) February 26, 2016

Hope to go for a quick trip to Murphy this afternoon for Trout. Going to try a new fishing fly tied in tandem with a Patriot Fishing Fly as an indicator. It’s called a “Green Weenie”.  More to come… also, do check our Twitter timeline in the sidebar. Should see tweets on the Green Weenie as well as updates while we head out in a few. Update 8PM: Made it to Murphy but struck out on the Rainbow Trout. Saw others catching them but only managed two Bluegill. Trout were feeding on the surface on something that was hatching. Still a great time getting out of the office! PS: Game Warden was checking licenses, so be sure to have your’s at the ready when fishing. Here is one of the two Bluegill caught on the #fishing quick trip to Murphy this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/qgrviRy58J — StockerTroutFishing (@iFishRadio) February 26, 2016

Fished Murphy City Complex Pond after their trout derby yesterday. McKinney hosted their trout derby yesterday as well at Towne Lake. For Sunday, opted to fish Towne Lake in the morning. Bite was good with a limit being taken in short order, and then switched to catch and release fishing while trying different fishing flies. What worked: Olive Near Deere (most strikes) Pink and White Near Deere Mardi Gras Near Deere Patriot and Prince Nymph Tandem Rig (50/50 between the two) What did not work: Griffith’s Gnat (strikes but missed hook sets attributed to “user error”) Orange and White Near Deere Fun time, below is a picture of the Near Deere used today  and a video that gives an idea how the action went!

Checked out the derby hosted by the city of Murphy this morning. Saw lots of kids catching fish; us grownups had to wait till after the derby to fish. Warm weather was nice allowing for short sleeves and shorts. But, it looked like the Trout were having issues as a number of them were floating upside down and were dead or dying. Also, noticed schools of Trout cruising parallel to the shoreline and largely ignoring lures and baits. Last time we saw them acting like this, it was two years ago at Frisco Commons Pond. The weather was cold and the Trout seemed disoriented and cruising in schools parallel to the shoreline as well. We were able to get them to strike by working a fishing fly parallel to the shore. Although a school would ignore the fishing fly, every so often one would breakaway and chase and strike the fishing fly. Same held true today at Murphy! This round the Trout went for the Mardi Gras Near Deere. Caught two and lost one. Then, the bite slowed. Started switching fishing

Running low on fly tying material and the weekend is fast approaching, Made do with material already on hand. This round gets Pink and White Near Deere and a Purple and Green Near Deere. The Pink and White Near Deere we will call “as is” but for the Purple and Green Near Deere we are calling it the Mardi Gras Near Deere. Let’s cross our fingers and see if the Mardi Gras Near Deere attracts fish like Mardi Gras attracts party goers! Making do with material on hand!

Well it looks like the Team is getting up to speed with Social Media. We have a Facebook page – COAF Field Team’s Fishing Log. We have the online Radio Station – iFishRadio . We have Pinterest Boards – COAF Field Team on Pinterest. We have a YouTube Channel – COAF Field Team Channel . And, now we have a Twitter page – StockerTroutFishing@iFishRadio ! Hope to leverage the Tweet capability when we broadcast online from iFishRadio  as well as provide quick updates, tips, suggestions, etc… to our Readers!  

A brief iFishRadio broadcast providing an update on last weekend’s activities, quick trips with the Switch Rod during the week, and upcoming plans for this weekend! Oops on the “senior moment” when I forgot our email address…. fyi: it’s COAF.weblog@live.com  

Pink and White Near Deere Quick trip to Bethany for some Switch Rod casting practice this evening. Managed three Bass that went for a White Near Deere this round. Similar to the “swing the rod slowly retrieve” that worked on the trout at Waterloo in Denison and at Frisco Commons, it worked on the Bass at Bethany as well! Need to keep this in mind for the Saturday’s Trout Derbies. Although there are two scheduled, will likely give Murphy’s Trout Roundup a try! Fun stuff!  

Look like another Saturday with two Trout Derbies planned – McKinney Towne Lake and Murphy City Complex Pond . Should be a fun day with the kids! McKinney Trout Derby Murphy Rainbow Round Up  

Fished Frisco Commons Sunday for another chance at Rainbow Trout. Was able to limit out using the same Tandem Rigged Olive Near Deere and trailing Gold Ribbed Hares Ear Nymph (GRHEN) that we used at Waterloo on Saturday. Steady action with strikes typically happening as we switched from a short pull and retrieve to a slow swing of the rod. Did get several to take the Olive Near Deere later in the early evening using a fast retrieve. Then, as the evening hatch started was able to get one to take a Size 22 Griffith’s Gnat! Fun stuff!

Fished Waterloo Saturday. Met up with NucLaroche and had a go at the Rainbow Trout. Took some time but we limited out. NucLaroche opted for Super Dupers taking two on gold and three on silver. Fshng84 caught one on a White Near Deere and four on a Tandem Rigged Olive Near Deere and trailing Gold Ribbed Hares Ear Nymph (GRHEN). Of the Trout that went for the Tandem Rig, all went for the trailing GRHEN. The strike was light; had to pay close attention to any twitch in the line to set the hook. Fun stuff!    

Practiced with the Switch Rod yesterday at Bethany Lakes. Had three strikes but did not land them. Went back today and was able to get two Bass. Both went for a Pink Near Deere on a steady retrieve. No Bruisers but still put up a good fight. Have a ways to go in learning the Switch Cast but really like the ability to cast one-handed for distance with minimal effort compared to our other fly rods. Fun stuff and a great start to the weekend! Still not certain where we are going tomorrow, but we do plan to go tomorrow at least to a pond with trout in it!  

Needed to tie a few more fishing flies for the upcoming weekend! Added two more White Near Deere, two more Pink Near Deere, and then two COAF Purple Damsel Flies . Checked out Bethany Lakes this evening and took a Craft Fur Clouser and the Switch Rod. Lotta fun practicing with the Switch Rod; even had three strikes on the Clouser. Too bad they came off before we could see what they were. Suspect they were Bass. And since we keep this blog as a fishing log, good to see the Purple Damsel Fly is one to have handy in the upcoming weeks. So as it goes, there were none in the fly box this evening. But, now there are two! Looking forward to the weekend. Hope everyone get a chance to wet a line and feel a tug on the other end, too! Near Deere Anyone? COAF Damsel Flies…

Looks like the Lower Mountain Fork River and Beavers Bend State Park in Oklahoma are open again…Hooray! According the the Lower Mountain Fork River Foundation, they have continued to stock while the park was closed. Sounds like there will be trout to be had! Like fishing the River but certain that we won’t make it this weekend. Too many things “tugging” out our schedules that precludes us from making the trip… but for those who go, all the best at hooking into a Bruiser! We sure enjoy the area…. Follow COAF Field Team’s board Trout Fishing – Lower Mountain Fork on Pinterest.

Looks like there are two trout derbies this weekend – Blue River in Oklahoma and the Trick-A-Trout Derby in Frisco, Texas. The Blue River is a two day event with some nice Bruisers caught each year! For more on the derby check out Scotty’s One Stop website . It may say the next derby is in November…. disregard that, it is this weekend! For the derby in Frisco, it is Saturday from 8AM-11AM and is for children. Their website has been spotty, so it may be tough to get more details but if you go to their Facebook page – Frisco Parks and Recreation , they are answering messages and can clarify any questions that you may have! PS: Frisco’s website is working again – here is the link to the Trick-A-Trout Derby Saturday. We are not certain about fishing plans this weekend; still up in the air but we do plan to fish somewhere! Till then, Good Luck and Good Fishing! For more on Texas Trout Derbies from the past years do see our Pinterest site: Follow COAF Field Team’s board Texas Trout Derbies

Could not wait till the weekend to go fishing. Decided to make a quick trip and catch a fish or two with the two weight! Fun stuff… sure beats working, even if it was only for a quick trip! PS: Frisco is hosting their annual Trick-A-Trout Derby this Saturday. May need to sneak away and catch more trout this weekend!  

Fished the Blue River Saturday and limited out with six! First four were straightforward catches using a White Near Deere under a strike indicator. Even did some catch and releasing fishing catching several more with the Near Deere. Then, the bite turned off and spend the remainder of the day struggling to catch two more Trout. After some time, was able to get a Trout to take a John Deere fishing fly. Trout were feeding on some thing hatching. Had lots of Trout turn and look away at different dry flies, emergers, midges… finally, got one to take a Midge Emerger! Did see several trout go for a black insect floating by that looked exactly like a Size 16 Black Gnat Midge. Guess what fishing fly was not in the fly box! Bottom-line: Had a great time on the Blue!

Quick update from the Team. Do check it out and give it a listen. Still working on the video of yesterday’s action on the Blue River. Do stay tuned!

Looks like Saturday Denison is hosting a Trout Derby! May stop by after and see if they are biting. Depends on how the bite goes on the Blue. Plan to head to the Blue River Saturday for a chance at a Bruiser. Was a tough go last weekend but good to know Waterloo is stocked in case we strike out in Oklahoma.

Looks like the Trinty River Water District has two trout fishing events planned –  Trout Stocking  February and a Flyfest  in March! Sounds like fun!