Stocker Trout Fishing News

Fished a new place yesterday – December 27, 2019… Pottsboro Lake located just north of Dallas in the town of the same name… Pottsboro. Stocked with trout earlier in the month, was not sure if the trout would still be there. It’s a small pond and may have had heavy fishing pressure. As it turns out, the trout were there. They were readily feeding on something near the surface if not on the surface. In short order, caught two limits. One of us was using a Chartreuse PowerWorm fished wacky rigged. The other used an Olive Near Deere with no indicator and fished with varying retrieves. Also, started with the TFO 6 wt Fly Rod with Echo Ion Reel. Then, switched to the Cabelas 2 wt CGR Fiberglass Fly Rod with an old 3wt fly reel. Lots of fun… PS: Ordered a new 1-3 Wt Orvis Hyrdos Fly Reel to use with the CGR going forward. More to come once it arrives! Do Like and Subscribe for the latest updates – COAF FIELD TEAM on YouTube! Click on pictures to see more about Cabela’s...

Made it to Kroger Park on the commute home. Always good to have a fishing rod handy in the little pickup for times when traffic is slow and yours truly prefers to fish rather than drive in stop and go traffic. This round used the Foam Grasshopper with the TFO 6wt Flyrod coupled with the Echo Ion 6/7wt flyreel. Reel has the OPST Commando Head and the coated monofilament running line. Made for ease of casting and distance when needed. Pond was clobbered with lots of green stuff but did catch a few bluegill and bass. Fun stuff!

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...

Made the run up the road on Hwy 75 to Denison to fish Waterloo Park Pond for Rainbow Trout. Restocked last weekend, plan was to limit out, and then run further up the road to Denison Dam tailrace to fish for Striped Bass. Cold temps that stayed in the 30s all day put a slowdown on the bite. Ended up striking out at both Waterloo and Denison Dam. No worries… had a great time at “casting practice” with the new TFO 6wt Fly Rod and the Cabelas TLR 6wt Switch Rod.

Picked up a new fly rod on New Year’s Day at Cabelas… a TFO Professional Series II in a 9′ – 6wt four piece rod. Paired it with the Echo Ion Fly Reel (6/7). Tried it briefly using the Rio Trout Max spey line. Worked well but replaced the spey line with a 6wt weight forward fly line.. will provide an update on how the 6wt weight forward fly line and its feel and cast-ability on the TFO! More to come… did enjoy a tasty margarita, too!