Stocker Trout Fishing News

Snowed yesterday but go figure... just a few months ago kicked off the Vintage Lure Series with this nice one!  Fun stuff... time to shift to cold weather fishing and start targeting the trout stocking in our area. Do stay tuned as we are out about this Season!

Found an old Rapala Floating Minnow lure while antiquing this past weekend. 30+ years old, still catches fish! Worked well with the Bass Pro Shops Microlite Rod and Kastking Zephyr BFS Reel with clicker!

Happy Sunday Readers! It was a lot of fun fishing the Blue yesterday. Today, I had to work the early morning. Luckily, I was able to break away afterwards for a quick trip to Bethany Lakes. Cold and windy conditions put a chill in the air... decided to go with a light weight jacket to stay comfortable. Glad that I did not need the layered clothing like yesterday morning! Using the same Near Deere under a Strike Indicator setup from yesterday, managed to catch five Bass. No Bruisers but was good practice (or more an excuse to go fishing). The Bass were holding in a deeper hole in the Main Pond and were just barely striking the Near Deere. It was almost like they were bumping it instead of striking the fishing fly. Also, every so often would twitch the rod to add a little action, else letting the wind/waves "bob" the Near Deere up and down was enough to trigger a strike. Short trip but lots of fun!

Round One of the Vintage Lures Series kicks of the series with an estimated 7+ lbs Bass measuring 23 inches in length. Fishing a Bait Finesse Systems combo and a $2 vintage lure - Cisco Kid Diver, we picked up antiquing in Oklahoma. Great start to the series! Gear Used: Shimano Reel 17 Scorpion BFS XG Right https://amzn.to/3K6KwFV BPS Micro Lite Rod: https://bassproshops.vzck.net/RyLezv Cisco Kid Diver 1300

Out and about for a quick trip fly fishing a pond... One-Handed Spey Fly Fishing style! Using a 175grn OPST Commando Head on a 4wt, 8ft fly rod and fishing a Betts Hand Tied Popper. No need to cast far but was good to know a distance cast was at my fingertips! How many fish this round... three! One-Handed Spey Wish List OPST Pure Skagit Commando Head https://amzn.to/2X83dF0 OPST Commando Smooth (Integrated) Skagit Shooting Head https://amzn.to/2YQKM8L OPST Pure Skagit Commando Micro Tips https://amzn.to/3htb2fE OPST Pure Skagit Lazar Line https://amzn.to/3hmH2lG

BFS fishing the local pond. Started with a popper but switched to a Rooster Tail and had fun catching Bass. Shimano Scorpion 17 BFS-XG reel still rocks with the Bass Pro Shops Microlite Fiberglass rod!

Sunday morning decided on Tenkara Fishing a local pond. Bass were spawning but none of the Bruisers wanted to play. Caught Bluegill and little Bass for a fun round fishing!

Another quick trip opportunity for Bait Finesse Systems fishing at the local pond. Got a Bass with a Senko! Awesome! Trip Report Date: 2/14/22 Time: 1705-1805 Location: Bethany Lakes, Allen, TX Key Take Aways: Warm day with temps in the high 60s, cooling quickly after sunset. No action by the “East Spot” of the Main Pond. No action in the Back Pond’s “North Culvert” or “Drain” Slow presentation of Senko in deeper areas was best chance at Bass “Line Watching” works, slight movement detected. One Bass caught and released at the Main Pond “Culvert” Gear Rod – Bass Pro Shops Graphite Series 3ft Rod Reel – KastKing Zephyr BFS Reel with Reel Clicker Line – 6lbs Stren BFS Lure Data BFS Lure Data Senkos, Gary Yamamoto Black/Red Flake 4″ Size Fish Data One Bass 13″ Length Senko Slow Retrieve with Stop and Go Lessons Learned 4″ Senko continues to produce at Bethany Blk/Red Flake in Watermelon see...

Decided to run down the road to the local pond (Bethany Lakes) and see what was biting. Brought the KastKing Zephyr BFS Reel and Ultralight Lures and left the fly rod at home. Plan was to fish Roostertails but switched to a Mepps Inline Spinner since the Trout seemed to be interested in them – specifically, a copper bladed Mepps Inline Spinner. Trout were following the spinner but not striking which was promising given they ignored gold, silver, and black. For fun and games, fished only the copper bladed Mepps Inline Spinner to see how many fish I could catch. Worked the banks of two of the four ponds at Bethany Lakes… “Main Pond” and “Back Pond”. Caught a number of fish – Bass and Bluegill. Check out the video, and do guess how many I caught…? bfsfishing #kastkingzephyr #pondfishing

Fished Bethany Lakes Friday morning for a chance at the trout. Trout were there actively feeding. Bait seemed to be catching them fished under a float. The winner hands down was a homemade dough bait that one fisherman was using. Yours truly caught three trout fly fishing, caught three Bass as well but his mojo was off losing a lot more trout that stuck the fishing fly. Did notice the trout wanted movement. Did get strikes using a Black Midge, Rainbow Warrior, and a Griffith’s Gnat. As the morning progressed, noticed it was best to recast if no strike after counting to 10 when fishing dry flies. There were a number of Bass near the pier with three caught using a White Producer – fishing fly we bought at Scotty’s One Stop on a trip to the Blue River in Oklahoma. Fun stuff! See our suggested fishing flies at our COAF Field Team Shop .

Here is the follow-up video showing the underwater footage taken with the GoFish Cam. We used the Micro Fly Rod to catch live bait, then baited the camera rig, and struck out… had multiple strikes including one that broke the line. Compared the picture of the Bass caught last week that went 20″; would say it would have gone the same size, too! Counted fifteen bass in the video; do check our count and let us know if we miscounted! Bass caught last week that went 20 inches! Bass that broke the line yesterday… maybe bigger than last week’s Bass?

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!

Video of yesterday’s pond fly fishing action on the 4wt Redington Fly Rod and Echo Ion Fly Reel. OPST Commando Head worked well for reaching out mid-pond but most strikes were nearer to shore.

Break in the weekend “honey do’s”… made a run to the local pond fishing the Simple Foam Fly on a 4wt for a Bass or Bluegill or two!

Another YouTube Shorts video to add to the playlist; trip to the local pond fishing with a fly fishing gear. Several fish caught with this Bass being the largest. Went over 15″, caught and released to get bigger; maybe will catch him again when the weather warms up again. Not The Biggest, But Still Fun On the Fly!

Made it to New Braunfels for some fishing fun. Planned to fish the Guadalupe River by Faust Street Bridge, but it was closed. Headed to Landa Park and fished the Comal River. Was a slow bite with only one Bluegill and a Bass caught. Both went for a Guadalupana!

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!

Another round of pond fishing at the local pond. Had a Bass take a Foam Grasshopper, then spent most of the time working Bluegill on their nest. Had a few missed strikes while trying a number of fishing flies. Did have several little Bass show interest as well as little Sunfish readily taking a Foam Grasshopper by the Waterfall. That said, cannot catch them all… that’s fishing!

Fished Bethany Lakes Friday morning with the MaxCatch Discount Switch Rod and the Foam Grasshopper. Caught a Bass and lost a Bass. Returned in the evening and caught Bluegill and a Bass using a Damsel Fly as well as a Foam Grasshopper! Opted for the Tenkara Rod for the evening fishing round. Fun Stuff!

Been itching to go fishing with the TenkaraUSA Iwana tenkara rod but sidetracked with the day job. Luckily, there was break in the work schedule… able to fish a couple of ponds. Was a tough go at first… a missed strike at the first pond, else no other bites. And then, a slow start until I figured out the pattern… Foam Grasshoppers! Had quite a few missed strikes but lots of Bluegill and one scrappy little Bass landed. Fish wanted a slow, twitchy retrieve at one end of the pond. Then, a fast retrieve at the other end. Liking the lightweight, cast all day feel of the rod. Plus, the portability from its telescoping function makes it fit in my fishing vest (converted hunting vest) without issue. Do stay tuned for more Tenkara Fishing local ponds!