Question:
Does anyone know what the best bet for serious fly fishing prospects a
day's drive from east Texas might be?
Answer:
I guess you are looking for trout and don't know what part of east Texas you
will be in, but I would suggest you forget trout in Texas. Try the Little
Missouri in southwest Arkansas as the closest trout to east Texas. Jeff Guerin
is the guide to see in Murfreesboro, but I don't know how it is fishing this
time of year. I have a couple of friends who just spent a week fishing the
Little Red and thay had a good time. The fishing was not easy, but they caught
trout each day except for one. Before the week was over John caught rainbows,
browns, cuts, and brookies.
I would ask that you try some warmwater fishing as it just dosen't get much
better than East Texas. Many of the small towns along the I-20 corridor have
small lakes which are great for bluegill or perch as they are known
here....some weighing more than a pound are not all that uncommon and they will
put a giggle in your heart on any 3 weight rod. Some of the lakes in the Dallas
area are currently experiencing the biggest great big grasshopper swarms in
years...among the things reported caught have been a 10 pound channel cat from
the surface on a fly rod. Some folks use a 10 weight rod when fishing Lake Fork
for huge bass, but the fishing there is reported as slow there now...Some of
the guides you see on the fishing shows each Saturday are having a hard time
catching fish there now. Lots of great bass fishing in the lakes of East Texas.
A couple of my favorite lakes are Lake of the Pines and Martin Creek. I prefer
bluegills on a 3 weight rod to any other kind of fishing bar none. You are
welcome to enjoy a great weekend of fly tying etc. at the Southern Conclave in
Mountain Home Friday and Sat. Oct.1 & 2. The Dallas Flyfishers Club is hosting
the event this year, and we always catch a lot of trout in the White River and
the Norfolk. The fly fishing, fly tying,lying and eating event of the year is
the Rendezvous at North Toledo Bend State Park the first weekend of November.We
take over the group camp facility with five bunkhouses and a main meeting hall
with a commercial kitchen, a fireplace in the main room and about fifteen
picnic tables, for fly tying and eating in the main room.BYOB and let the kids
run free...just 30bucks for the family for the three day weekend and it is
difficult to find a better bunch of folks in the world. God do those Cajuns
know about food!!!!!!! This is an event put on by those good folks in the North
Louisiana Fly Fishers and the Pineywoods Flyfishers.
Colorado and New Mexico are good, but from Dallas it always takes me a hard
days drive just to get out of Texas...I find myself heading East more often
than west during the last few years.
Sorry about the length of this post, but I kind of get carried away sometimes
when talking about fly fishing.
