March 17th Chapter Meeting: Capt. Eric Glass, Fly Fishing Laguna Madre
by Javier Trevino, AFF Vice President
We know of Eric Glass via various sources. Some of us have been guided by him, others have read about or read his articles, but the story I remember best comes from an article I read probably 6 or more years ago. In that article, Eric is described swimming across a channel with his rod in his mouth. Why did he do this? Well, to get to the other side of course (please chuckle – that was supposed to be a joke). He did this of course to fish the flats on the other side. This exemplifies Eric’s demeanor when fishing – Whatever it takes! To add to this, he is known to have guided people on blustery windy days (most guides cancel the trip) and found fish – again – Whatever it takes!
Eric’s history puts him as one of the first guides to target our flats fish with a flyrod. He has been fishing and/or guiding the salt flats since 1986 and in 23 years – one can learn a lot about– if not master the local waters. I can picture Eric in the 1980’s, gazing across windy flats in the Lower Laguna Madre, flyrod in hand – and hunting down his quarry before Sage, Scott, and other rod companies began producing Saltwater specialty rods. Imagine casting in 20 mph gales using a bass-tapered rod meant for huge hairbugs. Eric has no trouble powering flies through these conditions and he is happy to help clients learn a few tricks before heading to the areas he carefully plans for.
Eric’s domain puts him in prime flyfishing waters where florida style flats fishing can be found. The Lower Laguna holds maurading flats quarry such as Reds, Specks, Snook, and Tarpon which find comfort in the balmy weather the Laguna brings. Speaking of Florida Style fishing, Eric adopted the poling platform long before most Texas salts even heard of this technique.
There are few true “Skiff Guides” in Texas but he is definitely one of the best. Skiff guides tend to be hunters rather than Grinders. Grinding is the act of casting into fishy water until a strike happens – usually standing waist deep in the brine. Skiff guides use the elevated poling platform to hunt the clear water for active fish – then call out “Fish at 11:00, forty feet heading to 1:00”. This short phrase tells the flyfisher where to look, and in which direction the fish is headed. If the flyfisher can’t see the fish immediately, the next command might be – “fish is now at 1:00 at 30 ft headed toward the boat”. If the flyfisher has been at the bow before – he/she is already looking at 1:00 because the previous command indicated in which direction the fish was headed in the first place. By now, things happen fast because the fish is within 3 rod lengths. Experience at the bow can only happen with repeated trips with good guides. Eric has the patience to teach the art of seeing the fish and simply move on to the next one if the present opportunity falters.
Eric currently poles a Maverick skiff and when conditions or the season calls for it – targets Snook in the deeper waters near Port Isabel. If Tarpon happen to be in the shallows (this is intermittent as south Texas Tarpon usually stay in the jetty channel), Eric will not be shy about indicating that Tarpon might be better than Redfish for the given day – Whatever it takes!!
Please welcome Eric as our March Speaker. One of our members will be fishing with him when he/she wins the raffle – a guided trip with Captain Eric Glass.
Fish on…