Stocker Trout Fishing News

Field Team reported a limit of Trout caught at Waterloo Park Pond in Denison. One member struck out but did get a couple of strikes. Overall, cold temps slowed the action down but did pick up as the day warmed.  Key notes this round: Catfish were striking PowerBait BH GRHEN fished 2′-3′ under an indicator were getting strikes in the morning (overcast and cold) As the sun came out, bite turned off for the BH GRHEN Heard from others that Near Deere were getting bit later in the day Video clip below shows the action on the BH GRHEN:

Decided to get the switch rod out in preparation for next Saturday’s TRWD Flyfest. Tend to use the switch rod while fishing for trout as longer cast are needed at times and like the ease of less and/or no false casting. Stopped at Towne Lake in McKinney and got a round of practice casts in. No trout but still good to bend the rod. Then, headed to City Complex Pond in Murphy and got lots of practice in… and even limited out on trout! Tandem-rigged Near Deere with a trailing nymph be it a GRHEN or Pheasant Tail Nymph worked this round. Fun times… hope to do a repeat next Saturday at TRWD Flyfest!

Been fighting a cold and have been indoors these past few days. However, just could not let the day pass without wetting a line. Decided to check out South Lakes Park Pond in Denton this afternoon in hopes of Rainbow Trout. The pond was recently stocked on Wednesday. Not sure how the trip would go; been some time since we last fished the pond. Brought a 5WT flyrod and fished a Near Deere as well as a Tandem Rigged Near Deere and GRHEN. Had one strike while walking the bank, so stayed there and ended up catching two little Crappie and a Bluegill. Continued to work the pond and had several strikes fishing the Tandem Rig under a strike indicator but failed to set the hook in time. Kept at it for another hour and managed to catch one more undersized Crappie. Overall, had a fun time getting out on a chilly but nice day.    

Below is the video of the afternoon’s action fishing the Lower Mountain Fork River’s Blue Zone this past Saturday. We were able to limit out with six Rainbow Trout. Had lots of fun fishing this one spot; we could see the fish lurking in the pool below the waterfall. In the video, we used an indicator to keep the fishing fly in the “money” zone where the fish were lurking. We also removed it when the fish started lurking deeper in the pool. And, in both instances the “twitching rod tip” seemed to get strikes more often than not. There was one point where we would let the line drift into the white water, and then we let the line continue downriver before beginning the twitching action. These seemed to work for several casts followed by flipping our line over causing us to fish with our rod underhanded. Shortly, after doing so, we would get a strike!

Had a great time Saturday fishing the Lower Mountain Fork River at Beavers Bend State Park in Oklahoma! Been a while since we last fished it. Luckily, found a break in the schedule and made the run north across the border! Fished the Red Zone in the morning in hopes of a Bruiser, and then the Blue Zone in the afternoon to try for a limit. Of interest this round were: The morning round resulted in no Bruisers but did see several nice ones lurking in places. None were interested in a fishing fly unfortunately including an Albino that looked about 18″ in length. Had lots of fun catching, missing, and seeing trout in a couple of places in the Cold Hole. Water was clear and could easily see the fish with polarized glasses. Trout seemed to like the Tandem Rigged Near Deere and trailing fly setup. More important, they tended to strike when the fly was moving fast either by a quick twitch of the rod or by swing the rod fast. The rapid, short pulls of the fly line did not get any strikes. Used ...

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 ...

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!

Stopped by Bethany Lakes yesterday to check out things. Water level is up from the recent rains. Looked like the trout bite was slow; did see some folks fishing but no hook ups while we were there. Tried different spots to see if anything would take our fishing fly. Been liking the Two Weight Fly Rod we picked up from Cabelas the other day but only been able to fish with it once since getting it. As it turned out, this round the fly rod worked out well on the little Bluegill lurking near a culvert. Water was crystal clear! Ended up catching 10 or so Bluegill and one little Bass this round. Fun stuff!

From the Field Team to our Readers, we would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! It has been a great year for the Team, we hope our Readers have enjoyed the same in 2015! As today is the day before Christmas, what better way to celebrate the Holidays then to go fishing! That said, we went fishing! NucLaroche arrived yesterday from Oklahoma. And, Fshng84 is always ready to go fishing. So, after work, the Team headed to Waterloo in Denison. We are still working on the video and will post it later… till then here is a picture of today’s catch and a brief message from the Field Team posted in the embedded player below! Update 12/25/25: Merry Christmas everyone! Here is the video of the action at Waterloo. We used a Five Weight Fly Rod and a Kiyotaki 18 Tanago Rod. Lots of fun catching them on the fly! Although most of the fish were caught with the Five Weight Fly Rod, we did get one Trout and two Bluegill using the Kiyotaki 18!    

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...

Headed to Bethany Lakes this morning to try out a GRHEN and Rainbow Warrior Tandem Rig. We used the GRHEN as the lead fishing fly and the Rainbow Warrior as the trailer. Started fishing the rig under an indicator; worked well but opted to remove the indicator as we were fishing the shallow pool by the Waterfall. It was mainly little Bluegill and Sunfish that were putting up a nice fight on a “short” 5 foot 4-WT Rod/Reel Combo. Later, fished the main pond and caught more little Bluegill and Sunfish; we did get one nice sized Bluegill that went for the Rainbow Warrior but overall it was micro-sized fish this round! Really liking the Rainbow Warrior pattern; good to see it works on little Panfish as well as 20″ Rainbow Trout! Till next time… Good Luck and Good Fishing! Bream Getter Cabela's Fiberglass CGR Fly Rod Rooster Tail Inline Spinners Mepps Trout Kit

Made it to the local pond and fished Tenkara style with a Kiyotaki 18 Rod; caught little Sunfish and Bluegill as well as two Bass! Used a GRHEN, a Black Midge, and then a Guadalupana. Tried more aerial video with the drone; not much… need to practice more and get extra batteries! Still lots of fun! Bream Getter Cabela's Fiberglass CGR Fly Rod Rooster Tail Inline Spinners Mepps Trout Kit

Change of pace… went up the road to Frisco and fished the Frisco Commons Pond. It’s the same pond that is stocked with Rainbow Trout during the Winter Trout Stocking Season. Have caught little Bass and Bluegill/Sunfish while fishing for Rainbow Trout in the Winter. Decided to see what was biting during the Summer. Started fishing around 8AM and kept at it till about 11AM-Noon. Water was clear, and we could see fish lurking in the “greenery” that was growing near the banks. Used a COAF Griffith’s Gnat, Near Deere, GRHEN, and Prince Nymph to catch Bass and Bleugill/Sunfish. No Bruisers but did see several nice size looking Bass swimming in the area as well as a few Tilapia! Heard there was Tilapia stocked in the pond during the warmer months so it made sense when we saw them! Had a fun time on nice Sunday morning! Bream Getter Cabela's Fiberglass CGR Fly Rod Rooster Tail Inline Spinners Mepps Trout Kit

Headed to Kroger Park after work this evening. Only had a short window to fish. Good thing… bite was slow! Only one this round – a Bluegill on a GRHEN. Water was cloudy and green. Lots of things growing in the water to clobber your lure. No worries; still had a great time getting away! Bream Getter Cabela's Fiberglass CGR Fly Rod Rooster Tail Inline Spinners Mepps Trout Kit

Happy Fourth of July… started out catching little fish, ended up hooking into to two nice ones… a Catfish and a Bass! Fished Murphy City Hall Pond this morning. Used a Tandem Rigged Near Deere and GRHEN to catch a number of Sunfish and Bluegill. Bite was good; even caught two at the same time on the Tandem Rig. Kept at it and started noticing some nice size Bass were chasing the hooked fish while being reeled in. Twice a Bass took a hooked fish, and twice we fought it before the Bass let go of the Sunfish before it could be landed. Kept on fishing until a nice size Catfish took the Nymph. After a good fight on the four weight rod, was able to land it. While unhooking it, noticed it had a Khale Hook in the side of its mouth. Looked like someone hooked it but it got away when the line broke. Taking advantage of the situation, quickly caught a Sunfish on the GRHEN, tied on the Khale Hook, and baited up with the Sunfish. In a short while, a Bass took it and put up a nice fight… went about ...

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!  

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.