Stocker Trout Fishing News

Fished Stoney Hollow Park pond in Plano this morning. Brought the 4 Weight Fly Rod and went with a Purple Damsel Fly in size 10. Varied the retrieve as needed to catch and release 11 Bass and one Bluegill. No pictures or video of the little Bluegill but did get some good video of several Bass. Largest Bass went 15″ in length! Fun times… great to see the Bass are doing well in the pond still!

Latest iFishNews is posted. This one details places we like to fish during the season! Do keep it mind this upcoming Winter Trout Stocking Season for Readers in the North Texas and Oklahoma areas!

Decided to try another pond that we have not fished for some time. This time went to the pond behind In-N-Out Burger in Allen. It’s formal name is Eagles Nest Catch and Release Pond but we like to call it In-N-Out Pond for ease of reference. Brought the six weight Switch Rod this time, and fished Damsel Flies and a Guadalupana to catch Bass and Bluegill. Would have kept fishing Damsel Flies but lost what we brought with us to snags. Fun time… also, added a short snippet of the ponds along the Village Trail that runs between Allen and Fairview. There are three and all hold fish, just no Bruisers caught by us for some time now. Gear used:  Lamson Liquid 4 Fly Reel ,  Rio Switch InTouch Chucker Line #5 , and Cabelas TLR Switch Rod (11′-4pc-6wt / Model TLR-1106-4)  

Held a YouTube Q&A session to answer questions from Readers about the wooden trout net we are making. Intent was to build one that would be durable, did not tangle with fishing flies when landing a fish, and could be made cheaply without special tools…

Fighting a cold this past week but finally got to wet a line this morning. Decided to bring the Redington 4 Weight Rod with the Ross Flystart #2 Reel this time. A fun rod we like to use in local ponds during the trout stocking season. For the pond, we went to the Village Trails Pond in Fairview. Last time we fished it was several years ago; mainly little Bluegill and Sunfish. This round it was Bluegill and one little Bass but did see several larger Bass in the 2-3lbs range lurking in the pond. Water was clear and like the last time we were here, the bank was clobbered with brush. No worries though… still a fun time! PS: Fishing flies used were a Size 10 Purple Damsel Fly, a Size 10 and Size 12 Foam Grasshopper, Size 12 Guadalupana, and a Size 10 Near Deere.    

Been fighting a cold plus still got lots of work to do with our day jobs. Did get to tinker around with the homemade wooden trout net. Still have a ways to go but hope to be done by trout stocking time! Once the frame is finished, will add a paracord handle wrap, magnet release clamp, and plastic lacing net… more to come!   been down with a cold lately, but have been able to tinker around with making the wooden #trout net. hope to have it done by #troutstocking time! #flyfishingaddict A post shared by COAF Field Team (@coaf.field.team) on Sep 22, 2017 at 2:24pm PDT

Fishing Addiction #4 is the case where a Fishing Addict continues to fish despite approaching inclement weather. Typically, a stray Summer rain shower may pop up while we are out fishing. Most often, it is “just a cloud” passing through, and in short order, we can resume fishing once the cloud passes. Other times, we can continue to fish as the rain is light and no lightning is present. However, in the extreme case where Fishing Addiction #4 has taken hold of said Fishing Addict’s senses, the Fishing Addict will continue to fish despite warnings as noted in the video!

Was a tough day on Lavon today with lots of winds and waves.  Put out jug lines and had a couple of strikes but no Catfish. Did land a Gaspergou to avoid a strikeout!   windy day #juglining #jugfishing on #lakelavon today. at least we did not strikeout… caught a #gaspergou #fishing A post shared by COAF Field Team (@coaf.field.team) on Sep 16, 2017 at 5:35pm PDT

More practice with the Switch Rod. This time went to Plano East Senior High School to fish the catch and release ponds. Ongoing construction has limited access to one of the ponds but still managed to catch a fish or two! One was a Bass went for a Tube Popper Fishing Fly, another was a Bluegill went for a Near Deere, and then snagged a bobber that was floating in the pond… had a little Catfish attached to the hook and line.  

Made it to the Blue River today to check things out. Great day to go… only one little Bass this round but did get lots of casting practice in with the Switch Rod – 6 Weight Cabelas TLR combined with the Liquid Lamson 4 and the Rio Switch Chucker line is balancing well. Getting great casts and distance with the two-handed Switch Cast now. Plus… always good to be able to fall back to the cast we use when shoulder is hurting from a past injury. For want of a name for it, calling it the “hurt shoulder cast”. Here is a video snippet of some of the casts used today.

Cool temps has us itching for trout fishing. Not able to go, but did get a round of casting practice with the switch rod. Even managed to catch a bass. Went with different casts including the modified switch cast where we tuck the rod butt under in our armpit and don’t lift our shoulder to cast. Enables casting even when pain from an old shoulder injury decides to flare up.

Had a question from one of our Readers about the fishing rigs we used when kayak fishing for Striped Bass on Lake Texoma. Put a video clip together describing what we used recently. Things change so be prepared to change lures until you find a pattern! For the most part, we like to have on hand: Blue/White Jigs 1/8-1/4oz (also larger if we think the fish are deeper in the water column Flukes by Coco(?) or Yum in Pearl Slabs in Chartreuse and White Rattle Traps Surface Poppers  

Busy work week so far but always have fishing in mind. In this example, said fishing addict selected a backpack based on its capability to hold a Micro Fly Rod, fly boxes, etc… by chance, the laptop and work related equipment fits, too. May they never find a cure… fishing addiction! PS: Did fish a couple of ponds on the way home from work; struck out but no worries… still got to wet a line!     “The Backpack”  

This next video snippet shows the classic case where said fishing addict has decided the next fish caught will be the last fish for the trip but that is not the case… may there never be a cure! PS: Micro Fly Rod built last night works really well at casting… larger rod guides worked!  

Mixing things up and starting a video snippet series to give Viewers a sense of the fishing addiction that has plagued us for many years… this one is called “One More Trout”. Took a spill one Winter while fishing, needed one more Trout to make a limit, temps were above freezing so had to go for one more… PS: Had the car heater blasting on high on the trip home luckily.  

Been wanting a rubber trout net for some time but keep getting sidetracked with other things. Decided to “bend” some wood and make a wooden trout net. Bending is done, just need to make a handle, glue, and finish. Also, short on the rubber net replacement to install to the frame when done. Then, while thinking of fishing things, came up with an idea… use plastic lacing and make a net by hand. Before starting it, made a prototype using the trout net we normally use. It’s not coated, so fishing flies tend to tangle often after landing a trout. Plastic lacing worked as net material… after listening to a YouTube mix of the up and coming country band – Midland and several glasses of wine, completed the net… fishing flies don’t tangle and the net can easily handle 8 pounds! Long weekend has us tinkering with other stuff… next item; telescoping Micro Fly Rod with  large guides than the one we have now. More to come!

Broke out the telescoping Micro Fly Rod this round. It’s the second version we made several years ago, and the one we keep in our backpack at the ready in case we see “fishy” waters while out and about during the work week! This round it was little Sunfish and Bluegill at Celebration Park’s North Pond. Fun stuff catching them! PS: Shout out to the two onlookers who gave the rod a try; great job!

Been itching to test the DIY Tanago Rod we made using an Ice Fishing Rod blank and a Wine Cork. Looks like it works on the little Bluegill and Sunfish. Next step is to try catching a little minnow!