Stocker Trout Fishing News

Having fun pond fly fishing for Bluegill and Bass with the OPST Commando Head on the Redington 4wt Rod. Caught one fish using a Foam Grasshopper but switched to a larger size Simple Foam Fly. Lost count of the fish caught, did have several throw the fly on us, but overall was a great morning fishing the local pond!

Finally found the pattern for the tight lipped Bluegill at the local pond. Went with a tandem rigged foam spider and scud! Most fish went for the trailing scud and was surprised the little bass were readily striking the scud! Foam Spider was a diy pattern made from Wapsi’s Foam Spider Kit. The Scud was a old pattern learned from a library fly tying video… uses possum or hares ear dubbing tied on a size 16 hook with a dubbing loop. Liking this tandem rig… plan to use it on the commute to work on a couple of ponds! Fun stuff!

Was not sure if we would make it to Frisco to fish the Commons Pond for stocked trout. Luckily, there was a break in the weekend events. Made the short run Saturday from Allen to Frisco and fished Frisco Commons Pond for rainbow trout. Recently stocked as well as the annual Trick-A-Trout Derby was held that morning, the pond was crowded. Luckily, the bite was on! Able to limit out fishing an Olive Near Deere set 3′ under a strike indicator. No need to retrieve the fishing fly after casting. Instead, let the wind and waves move the strike indicator and let your rig drift with the wind. Watch for the strike, and set the hook! Anticipating the crowd, swapped the Hydros Fly Reel with the Echo Ion Reel that was lined with the Rio Trout Max Skagit Head. Made for ease of casting for distance despite the wind and a shortened backcast due to people all around! Video shows the action on Saturday, and then summarizes Sunday’s action… was able to fish Sunday morning before it started r...

Live update while we were at Frisco Commons trout fishing Saturday, February 8, 2020. Able to limit out and do some catch and release. Really nice weather but warm temps. Will get a follow up video of the action. Key Items this round: Olive Near Deere fished 3′ under a strike indicator Let the wind and waves work the fishing fly, Need only to drift and take up slack in preps for the strike MaxCatch 10′ 2WT Fly Rod worked well with the Echo Ion Reel Rio Trout Max One Handed Spey Skagit line made easy work of the wind and no worreis on a backcast

Fished Bethany Lakes Saturday morning. Able to get a round in before it rained. Planned to fish with the Tube Popper Fly; gave it about an hour with only three missed strikes to show for it. Then, put the Guadalupana on and caught fish – Bluegill, Sunfish, and Bass. Fished the Back Pond and left them biting. Went to the Lower Pond by the Waterfall and caught a Sunfish, then on to the Canal and fished Bluegill and Sunfish using a short cast – 10′ of line. Fish went for the Guadalupana consistently. But, Murphy’s Law struck; lost the fishing fly to a snag. Tied on the Marilyn Monroe Tenkara Fly; missed a few and hooked a few before losing it. Good thing… one more cast lasted another 30 casts and probably would have kept going if it weren’t for losing the fly. Bummer but did miss the rain storm! PS: Do check back on Monday for the Randomly Selected Winner of our Guadalupana Fishing Fly Give Away!

Cold temps Saturday morning – February 16, 2019! Decided to go a round at Frisco Commons for some recently stocked Rainbow Trout. Trout derby was held last weekend; was not able to make it. Temps were in the low 30s, had to bundle up well… layered clothing did the trick but still forgot the gloves like last weekend when we fished Rowlett. This round, started fishing a Near Deere but switched to a Griffith’s Gnat when we noticed all the feeding activity was happening on the surface. Like in past Seasons, Frisco seems to have a “hatch” of some really tiny bugs. Trout love them to the point they rarely will strike anything else. Luckily, having learned our lesson we keep several sizes of Griffith’s Gnats in the fly box. Most times a size 16 will work but going up one or down one size is always a good idea in case the trout get picky. Fished from 8:30 to 4:30, caught and released five trout. Lost several others while bringing them in, and had a lot more ...

Liking the newest fly rod (TFO Pro II 9′ 6wt) in the Team’s arsenal of fly fishing gear. Cast well with the Rio Trout Max Shooting Head. Cast well with a traditional fly line. But, really like the 200 grain OPST Commando Head that we use on our mojo 5wt combo – Redington Classic Trout 9′ 5wt and Echo Ion Fly Reel 4/5wt. After a quick check online on the OPST website, determined the 225 grain OPST Commando Head would work for the TFO fly rod. Put an order in but decided to forego the Lazarline Mono running line. Instead, found a coated running line that would feel more like a fly line than the mono one. The mono line makes for some distance casting but line management is key, else a tangle here and there may have to be dealt with while fishing. Going to try the coated running line and see how it casts and shoots… may lose on distance or not… will see! For the leader, went with a 5′ Airflo Extra Fast Sinking Tip and the 5′ of 4lbs tippet. S...

We like the Echo Ion Fly Reel for various reasons and for several seasons thought we had the complete line of reel weights. They come in the following weights: 2/3, 4/5, 6/7, 7/9, 8/10, and 10/12. After a little cleaning of the “fishing play room” learned we did not have the 7/9 weight. In short order put an order in at FishUSA; reel arrived and now we have the complete line. That said, to answer a Viewer’s question on what reel we like for fly fishing, we posted this video. From the jest of the video, we hope we answered the mail… Echo Ion Fly Reels! Do check back periodically as we hope to provide more reviews like this one to show other fishermen what gear we use and recommend using a simple rating system: “Alrighty Then” – Will buy it again. “It’ll Do” – Will buy it if in a bind. “Not Gonna Do It” – Will not buy even if the fish are biting! Product links: Echo Ion Fly Reel (less the 4/5 wt): https://amzn....

Not able to fish today but did get a round in yesterday. Went with the 5wt lined with the OPST Commando Head. Struck out at Murphy in the morning, but did get some great practice in. Later, stopped at Bethany and caught three little Bass on a Purple Damsel Fly, and a bigger one on a White Foam Grasshopper. Editing the video still but here is a quick update…  

Banner day today! Finished the DIY Wooden Trout Net well before the Winter Trout Stocking Season! Will be shifting to fly tying in preparation for the the trout stockings on the Blue River in Oklahoma in November! Also, new Echo Ion Reel arrived in 10/12 weight, balances well with the Cabelas TLR Switch Rod in 8 weight! Fished it with Lee Wullf’s Triangle Taper Ambush fly line in 350 grain… can get some great casts with minimal effort with it. Still have the two 6 weights at the ready for trout; will hope to target Stripers with the 8 weight… hopefully, at Denison Dam’s tailrace! Here is a video describing the DIY Wooden Trout Net. It’s not perfect but was cheap to make, can hold at least 10 pounds with no issue, and no longer have to deal with fumbling around with the release since this one is magnetic versus a clip like our old one!       it came in from #fishusa …new #flyreel #echoionreel in 10/12 wt to go with the #cabelastlrswitchr...

Out running an errand after work today. Sidetracked with some fishing at Kroger Park (aka Bethany Ridge Park). Caught Bluegill on the 2wt Cabelas CGR Fiberglass Rod and the Echo Ion 2/3 Reel. All went for a variant of the PMC Emerger… the PMC GNE! Log Book Entry: 3/9/17 Location: Bethany Ridge Park Pond aka Kroger Park (Allen) Time: 18:00 – 18:45 Weax: Clear, “Short Sleeve”, Calm Rod: Cabelas CGR 2wt – 6’3″ Reel: Echo Ion 2/3 – 3wt Flyline Comments: Bass were active and in their beds. Had one strike the fly but no solid hook ups with Bass. PMC Emerger GNE did well with Bluegill lurking in the shallows and near the feeder creek readily taking the fishing fly. Did see several nice Bass and a large Catfish cruising the area! Landed: 5 Bluegill – 4″-6″ – PMC Griffith’s Gnat Emerger (PMC GNE) – Sz 16 Click on pictures to see more about Cabela’s CGR Rod/Reel Combo and deals they are offering!

2017 has the Team back at their day jobs. That said, if you can’t go fishing, you can still do fishing related things. In our case, opted to respool the Echo Ion 8/10 reel with a Rio’s Skagit Max Short spey line and Gripshooter shooting line. Add a floating and a sinking Versileader, and we are ready to try it out next chance we get. Afterwards, did a little paracord handiwork and made a cord lanyard for the headset/microphone that we use with our digital recorder (Zume H1). Looks good and does not tangle with fly line like before! All for now, have a happy mid-week “Hump Day” and hope to be out again this weekend!   No #fishing today. But, new #rio line came in for the 6wt #switchrod from #cabelas …now just gotta put it on the #echo ion reel. A photo posted by COAF Field Team (@coaf.field.team) on Jan 3, 2017 at 5:48pm PST   Fixed the tangled cord issue with #paracord …works well with the headset and #zume H1 recorder! Hope to field test while #fishi...

Stayed local this morning and fished Bethany Lakes with the new 6-WT Switch Rod. Brought a White Near Deere and a Mardis Gras Near Deere and caught several Bluegill and Bass. No Bruisers but still lots of fun! Colder temps but the fish remained active. Bluegill were chasing our fishing flies in the shallows. Bass were feeding on fingerling Bluegill with several nice looking ones sighted as we fished. PS: Was able to snag a Frisbee Golf Disc that someone lost in one of the ponds.    

Went “semi-old school today” and fished with an old Olympic Fiberglass Fly Rod and a newer Echo Ion Fly Reel. Rod was purchased from Oshman’s in Corpus Christi back in 1978. Echo Ion Fly Reel was picked up from Cabela’s in Allen in 2015. Started out fishing the Bent Back Clouser Variant that we used at the pond by Sonic yesterday. Had Bass looking but not striking for some reason. Did notice the “green stuff” is growing, so switched to a Foam Damsel Fly and hooked up with a Bass and a Bluegill!

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)