November 2007 The President’s Message: "October in Texas"

By: Todd Fleming
Alamo Fly Fishers – President 2007

My fly fishing adventure to Alaska in September was a very special trip. It was a trip of a lifetime that I will remember fondly for years to come. But even as rewarding and satisfying as that trip was, I was anxious and excited to get back to Texas. Alaska is a unique place that is still mostly wild and uninhabited, but Texas is pretty awesome in its own right. It felt good to be home.

My return to Texas was perfect timing. I was back home just in time for my favorite fishing month of the year. Regardless if you prefer saltwater or fresh, October is without a doubt the best month to go fishing. If you could sadly only fish one month out of twelve, you would want to choose number ten – October to spend all your time on the water. In Texas, October signals a change of season. The heat of summer has been broken, the water temperatures start to cool, and the fish go into feeding mode to prepare for colder months ahead. I was lucky and did not have to choose between a freshwater outing, or a trip to the coast – I did both in October.

For the past four years, the Fredericksburg Fly Fishers have organized a freshwater outing they call Oktoberfisch. It has gotten larger and more popular every year. This year the whole town of Junction welcomed the event to their backyard. Over a hundred and fifty people came from all over the state, and we camped, fished, and partied on the banks of the Llano River just beyond the lights of downtown Junction. The Morgan Shady Park was an ideal location, and very comfortable with just the right mix of amenities needed to make a camping trip enjoyable.

The Llano River is a beautiful clear water river with a gravel bottom and lazy flowing pools separated by brief but friendly stretches of light rapids. It winds through the hill country, and along banks lined with huge native pecan trees. I found the endless cut banks and shady overhanging spots to be the most productive. We floated from the Llano River State Park back to Morgan Shady Park, and caught fish from one end to the other. There were so many great places to stop and fish; we turned a three or four hour float trip into about seven – and still had to paddle past good fishable water to make it to dinner on time!

We caught lots of fish; mostly Guadalupe bass and sunfish, and even a few Rio Grande perch. I had good luck with small olive and white Clousers with brass or small lead eyes to get the fly down in the moving water. I remember coming upon this one spot, not much different than many others, where the water was flowing over a shallow gravel bar and dropping into a small deep pool. In my mind, this place just screamed of fish. I remember my first cast. I placed the fly in the faster water just below the gravel bar, and used the hydraulics of the river to take my fly down into the deeper hole. I remember feeling the fly hit a stop like it had gotten hung up, or snagged a root or something. But when I applied a little pressure to free my fly, that “snag” started moving, and a battle was just beginning! I had woken the sleeping giant. The first thing I remember seeing was a huge mouth, wide open, with gills flared, and swimming straight towards me from the depths of that pool. His head was shaking violently trying to expel the fly that had bit him. My heart pulsed a little quicker, and my eyes became fixed on the image in front of me. The intense action and immovable weight on the end of my line indicated that this was clearly my biggest fish of the day. She continued up from the bottom, and jumped clear out of the water. That was a big fish, and a big splash! To my sudden disappointment, I clamped down on the line as I had done all day with countless numbers of smaller fish. But this time my 2x tippet snapped at the same moment I knew I needed to let this fish run. She had size and water current to her advantage. I knew instantly I had messed up. The tight line and bent rod that was full of energy the moment before was now limp and lifeless. It was a helpless feeling after the high of hooking such a magnificent fish. All I could do was jump up and down in the river from my momentary adrenaline rush, and yell out for everyone to hear, “I missed a big one!” I laughed at myself for making such a dumb mistake, but in the end, it felt really good to be so excited about fishing. I love being out on the river at such a comfortable time of the year. I can hardly wait for the fifth annual Oktoberfisch next year!

Before the end of the month, I also made a trip back to the coast to fish some favorite shallow water flats. I’ll tell you very quickly that Banning Collins, Doug Slick, Rob Burlingame and I fished in the Plantation Cup in Port Aransas. It was a fly fishing tournament sponsored by the Plantation Suites & Conference Center and Bass Pro Shops. The wind was blowing that weekend from the North-northeast a little stronger than we would have requested, but a beautiful day nevertheless. The fishing was just okay on this trip, and we ended up sweeping the competition, but that is a story for another time. The October moment I want to share here was not fishing related except that I would not have seen it unless I had made the effort to go fishing.

The sky that weekend was clear blue and cloudless. The unusually low humidity and my polarizing glasses only intensified that deep blue color. The water temperature had started to cool, but was still very comfortable to wade wet. I was wading with the sun and North wind from my back, and my eyes were focused on the water when the flicker of a butterfly caught my attention from the corner of my eye. I looked up to notice a steady stream of butterflies blowing past me. These were the large Monarch butterflies being carried by the North wind toward their destination in Mexico. How they get there is beyond me, but the sight of those beautiful orange butterflies contrast against the blue sky made me smile in wonder of such a fragile creature can making such a long journey.

Fishing time for me on the water is always so relaxing. It is a time to put away life’s troubles, and the problems of the world. I hope you will take time to be on the water somewhere soon. Please be careful to enjoy what Mother Nature has to offer, and share those rewarding moments with a young person.

Tight lines to all.