Nueces River - Open “V” Ranch, owned by Sky Lewey

Nueces River SunfishThe Alamo Fly Fishers will be meeting this weekend at the Open V Ranch on the Nueces River for fun times and great fishing. If you have never fished the gin clear waters of the Nueces River, this is a must attend outing. Join other members to learn the techniques for success in catching catfish, guadalupe bass, largemouth and many types of sunfish. The fishing is usually very good and the river is easily wadable.

The ranch is located on the west side of Highway 55, just north of Uvalde. Some of the members will be camping in the pecan bottom of the ranch on Saturday night.

Directions to the ranch are as follows (from Uvalde)
- Take Highway 83 North out of Uvalde
- Take the turn off for Highway 55
- You should see the sign for the ranch on your left hand side approximately 14 miles north of Uvalde
Note: If you pass Chalk Bluff Park, you have gone to far.

When you enter the ranch, you will have to pass through several gates. Please leave the gates as you find them (open or closed) as there is livestock on the ranch.

Cost will be $5 per person (or $10 per car). Camping is available for $2 additional per person.

Hope to see you all there!

Colorado Bend State Park – March 20th – 23rd
by Bruce Young

White Bass FliesAs March draws near I begin to look forward to White Bass fishing and especially to the David Young Memorial White Bass Outing. It is one of the club’s biggest and best outings of the year. The combination of camaraderie, camping, good food, and fishing is hard to beat, and makes for great memories.

Eight to ten years ago, on some of my earliest trips to Colorado Bend State Park, I remember the group of us being rather small. The David Young and David Wallace families, and just four or five more of us, easily ate together and stayed on as few as three campsites. Our traditional fish fry on Saturday night was attended my no more than eighteen people. (Over the past two years we have had between forty-five and sixty club members and their families and guests attend the fish fry!) And the names were fun too: we had four David’s (three Young’s and one Wallace) and two Bruce’s (one Nelson and one Young) in camp. It could be very confusing.

White BassBut some things have not changed. The camping remains basically primitive. Camp sites come with fire pits, and without showers, telephones or electricity. It is just how camping should be. But for those who have never been to Bend, don’t let this deter you. Gas lamps, Dutch ovens, tent cots and a little effort make for a great time without the conveniences we take for granted in our daily lives. It is hard to imagine, but on the last two outings we actually had too much food for Saturday night’s potluck fish fry (this year it will most likely be on Friday night, due to Easter being Sunday), whether we had rain or shine, and while feeding sixty people.

Bud Priddy The Alamo Fly Fishers will be hosting the 2008 Bud Priddy Memorial One Fly Contest on Saturday May 3rd from Camp Wood, Texas on the Nueces River.
Entry fee is $20 plus a duplicate of the fly you intend to fish. Registration will be from 7:30am to 8:30am on May 3rd at Lindbergh Park. The entry fee also includes dinner and door prizes. A buffet dinner will be served starting at 6:00pm at the Casa Falcon Restaurant in Camp Wood.
Contest prizes will be awarded in three categories to the lucky fly fisher who catches either the most fish, largest bass, or largest perch. Contest rules require that you use only a single fly, and count only the fish you bring to hand with that fly until you loose it or change to another fly. You may continue fishing after you change your fly, but caught fish will no longer count toward your contest totals. Fishing hours for the contest are between 7:30am and 5:00pm.

For area accommodations, please check out the following motels and campgrounds:
Woodbine Inn (Camp Wood) - (830) 597-2310
Nueces River Motel (Barksdale) - (830) 234-3648
Big Oak River Camp (South of Camp Wood) - (830) 597-5280
Wes Cooksey RV Park (South of Camp Wood) - (830) 597-3223

I hope to see you on the river in Camp Wood!

Todd Fleming
Alamo Fly Fishers - 2008 Outings Director

Oktoberfisch 2007Oktoberfisch Fly Fishing Festival - Friday thru Sunday October 19-21 at Morgan Shady Park on the South Llano River in Junction, TX. Cost is $30 for entry and camping, plus $20 for catered steak dinner. Advance registration is recommended.
Registration form is available at http://www.fredericksburgflyfishers.org/oktoberfisch.html

After an exciting and rewarding event last fall, it is time again to join the Fredericksburg Fly Fisher's for their annual Oktoberfisch. Join a great crowd from across the state to fish the beautiful and abundant Llano River in the Texas Hill Country. Oktoberfisch is a great event which has been filled with opportunities to test new gear, meet new friends and fish a Texas Hill Country gem. This would be a great Tent-Cot opportunity! Saturday is typically filled with activities, demonstrations, and lots of hands on learning opportunities throughout the day and is finished nicely with a catered steak dinner, awards ceremony and raffle. This will the the fourth annual Oktoberfisch and it keeps getting better each year. It is a wonderful gathering if fly fishing talent and knowledge from around the state. This is a wonderful adventure and one that should not be missed!

Bud PriddyThe 2007 Bud Priddy Memorial One Fly Contest on the Nueces River will be on Saturday May 19th. Registration will be from 7:30am to 8:30am at Lindbergh Park in down town Campwood. The entry fee will be $20.00 which will include dinner and door prizes at the Casa Falcon Restaurant. A buffet dinner will be served at 6:00pm.

Prizes will be awarded in three categories to the lucky fly fisher who catches either the most fish, largest bass, or largest perch. You will pick your favorite fly and all fish caught on that fly only will count. If you lose the fly the contest is over, unless you can get it back, then you can continue to count fish. Once you lose the fly you can continue to fish, but any fish caught on another fly does not count.

Llano RiverCome fish the Llano River on 14 April. The central place is Keller's Store www.kellersstore.com on the north side of the Hwy 87/Llano river bridge. It is 30 miles north of Fredericksburg or 15 miles south of Mason. Look for Hedwigs Hill on Mapquest. Those who want to tent camp, there are campsites for $10/person/night. The Llano River RV Park www.llanoriverrvpark.com (no tents) is on the south side of the river. David Williams (cell phone: 210-823-3182) will have information at Keller's Store for other river access that Crockett Keller has allowed us to use. Give David a call or send him an email (David.williams3@lackland.af.mil) if you plan to attend.

Those who come Friday night might even coordinate a float trip shuttle.

There's a lot to see and do in the area. The whole month of April is the Texas Hill Country Wildflower Trails. Mason has a Cooper's BBQ and live music on Saturday night. Fredericksburg Fire Department is also having a Benefit Fish Fry Saturday.

Colorado Bend State Park – March 22th – 25th

By: Bruce Young
March Outing Leader

White Bass FliesAs March draws near I begin to look forward to White Bass fishing and especially to the David Young Memorial White Bass Outing. It is one of the club’s biggest and best outings of the year. The combination of camaraderie, camping, good food, and fishing is hard to beat, and makes for great memories.

White BassEight to ten years ago, on some of my earliest trips to Colorado Bend State Park, I remember the group of us being rather small. The David Young and David Wallace families, and just four or five more of us, easily ate together and stayed on as few as three campsites. Our traditional fish fry on Saturday night was attended my no more than eighteen people. (Over the past two years we have had between forty-five and sixty club members and their families and guests attend the fish fry!) And the names were fun too: we had four David’s (three Young’s and one Wallace) and two Bruce’s (one Nelson and one Young) in camp. It could be very confusing.

By: Lynn Lennox
January Outing Leader

Are you ready for some trout fishing? It is cold water fishing time, and the rainbows are back in the Guadalupe River. Many of them are as big as footballs, and ready for you to catch! If you would like to join us for a day on the water, we will meet at 7:30am on January 20th at Rio Raft. You will find Rio Raft in Sattler, on River Road, at the fourth crossing (about 1/2 mile south of the light at FM 2673 and River Road). Detail directions for Rio Raft are available at www.rioraft.com. Their phone number is 830-964-3613. Rio has a small general store with snacks and soft drinks. Restrooms are also available. An access fee for fishing is usually $4 per person. Pay at the General Store / Office which is located at the property entrance.

Be sure to check out the Guadalupe River Fly web site (www.guadalupefly.com). The Guadalupe Fly site provides a great hatch chart for the Guadalupe. Currently, the bite is best with #8 to #10 cone head woolly buggers, #12 to #18 pheasant tail / hare’s ear nymphs, streamers and egg patterns.

Rio Raft has plenty of water with ample shoreline for our group, but it is deep with lots of big rocks. A wading staff may be very helpful to avoid a trip and dip. Be careful. Practice catch and release. More details for this outing will be discussed at the meeting on January 16th.

Fly-fishing in the Texas Hill Country is a pleasure that many native fly-fishers yearn for during those dog days of summer. When the fall comes around, we grab our rods, head for the nearest river, and jump in with youthful abandon, knowing full well that December will soon bring cold waters and lethargic bass. The members of the Fredericksburg Fly Fishers have invited the Alamo Fly Fishers to join them along the Llano River this fall for the third annual Oktoberfisch. It is a fly-fishing festival for those who delight in Texas fly-fishing while leisurely enjoying one of the crown jewels of Texas Rivers.

Oktoberfisch takes place on the banks of the Llano River at the highway 87 crossing between Fredericksburg and Mason. It is based at Keller’s Riverside Store – a unique Texas treasure all it’s own (www.kellersstore.com). Primitive streamside camping is included at Keller’s, and other lodging options are available close by. You can check-in starting Friday afternoon and enjoy a group campfire that night at the river’s edge. Saturday morning starts early with a full day’s list of activities including fishing shuttles, casting clinics, fly fishing exhibitors, and more. The evening brings a steak dinner catered by Keller’s Riverside Store, live entertainment, and another river side camp fire – a relaxing time to end a great day. Sunday morning is open for more fishing, and the Festival ends at noon. The full package is $40, and includes two nights of streamside primitive camping, Saturday boat shuttles, entry to the exhibitor/education area, one Saturday night dinner ticket, and all festival activities. A Day Pass for Saturday is $25/angler (no dinner or camping), and additional Saturday Night Dinner tickets are $20. Sounds like the perfect Tentcot opportunity – fishing, food, and fun!

Registration forms must be received by October 14th for the Full Package and the Saturday Night Dinner. Please send entry form and check (made payable to Fredericksburg Fly Fishers) to: Fredericksburg Fly Fishers, c/o Gene Smith, 220 Crestwood Dr., Fredericksburg, TX 78624. For more info, call 830.997.8881 or 830.997.8388 or e-mail oktoberfisch@hotmail.com or visit their website at www.fredericksburgflyfishers.org for a registration form.

Todd Fleming
Alamo Fly Fishers

On Saturday Sept 9th, AFF will be teaching Big Brothers/Sisters of the Alamo area fly-casting, fly-tying, and knots at the HE BUTTS Foundation Camp. We still need volunteers who can help teach the "Little" brothers/sisters and their "Bigs" - a captive audience of about 40. With travel time, the will be an all-day event starting at 9:00. We'll meet at the Las Palapas restaurant on the NW side of San Antonio near 1-10 West and Boerne Stage Road and carpool if necessary. If you get a charge out of teaching kids - and a free lunch, free t-shirt, and a chance to fish a beautiful section on the headwaters of the Frio river sounds appealing - please CALL Chris Eldredge at 210-632-7540 for the details, or see him at the AFF fly-tying on Sept 4th.