FLYFISHING NEWS & EVENTS

Apr. 6 Sad News: Jose Wejebe, Host Of Spanish Fly Fishing Show, Dies In Plane Crash

May 5:» Foundations of Fly Casting Class

June 2-3:» Trout Lab

June 18 Meeting: Open

Flyfisher's Guide to Texas

Book by Phil H. Shook $19.82

This is by far the most COMPREHENSIVE travel/fly fishing guidebook to be published to date. This book covers Texas in its entirety from lakes, to rivers to the fish one will catch. Some of the lakes included are E.V. Spence, Possum Kingdom, O.H. Ivy, Corpus Christi, Lake Buchanan, Falcon, Lake Texoma, Sam Rayburn and more. Rivers included are the Guadalupe, Lanno, Rio Grande, Nueces, and the Sabinal. Shook also covers the fish of the Texas waters such as: Bass: Largemouth, Smallmouth, White, Guadalupe and Stiper as well as Panfish: Crappie, Trout and Catfish. There will be over 120 detailed lake and river maps showing lake depths, river access, campsites, and areas of special interest in addition to hatch charts, stream facts and recommended flies. As always this guidebook extensively covers essential travel information such as accommodations, campgrounds, listings for fly shops, restaurants, car repair and rental in addition to hospitals, airports and more. This book is the best yet and an essential guidebook for the Texas angler as well as for those visiting from out of state - a must have!

Further Adventures of Walter and Willie

By Bill Heugel from The Pineywoods Fly Fishers

This trip was to the Southeast Conclave in Gulf Shores Alabama. The SE Conclave is haven of our friends from Louisiana and many of the attendees of the famed Rendezvous. We had been planning the trip for some time with great anticipation of new places to fish. Little did we know what lay before us!!

Our first stop was just the Fountinbleu Louisiana State Park. This proved to be a bust. The park was crammed because of Spring Break and spaces were also very close together. The night proved to be interesting because of the many motorcycle events that were conducted. With my sworn plan to never return to that park we left for Alabama and the conclave.

We found a great campsite in the park at Gulf Shores, just across the road from the hotel from the conclave. I selected a spot which exposed me to the gentle breezes coming from the lake. This would make the nights cool.

No fishing yet. The LA guys had plans for food. They were cooking up a Cajun dinner for that night. We finally met up with them at the community center and learned about making Gumbo and Jambalya. When the final moments arrived we formed up lines and went to tables inside. A couple from Florida joined us and we struck up a fun relationship. Talking about fishing, and food.

The next morning we went to the hotel and met with friends from Dallas and LA. There were many fly tiers there including Chris Helm, one of the greats with Deer Hair. These folks do the same kind of fishing we do Bass, Bream, and Saltwater. I didn’t know where to start watching. One of the first stops was Chris Helm where he gave Walter his famous deer hair mouse. (Walter has been trying to get back at me ever since I got an Arctic Shrew from Royce Dam). Tom Whiting, from Whiting farms the provider of some of the most outstanding feathers gave a great presentation on the chicken business. It was also rumored that Jim Stewart was there. I have recently been tying many of his patterns. However I did not see anyone by that name and no sign of his being there. Part of the first day was also doing some fly rod testing. In particular rods with many guides.

No fishing on the first day!!

Getting back to our campsite I found my tent had been blown over by the winds. The only thing that kept it from rolling into the lake was all the stuff I had inside. Shades of our first trip to the Sow Bug where Walter’s tent went in the drink never to be seen again.

The second morning I met the lady we had been with at dinner the first night. She said her husband was setting up to demonstrate and pointed him out. I went over and much to my delight found he was Jim Stewart!!! Nice way to start, spend an evening with someone and not know who they he is. Takes all the pressure off. Jim showed Walter and me his complete run down of flies and how to tie them. He ties flies that emulate hardware baits. Needless to say I was entranced. Since I had been tying some of his patterns I took them out to show him and we all had a great laugh. You can see some of his patterns in the Stewart and Allen books. Jim develops patterns for production by Umpqua.

That afternoon Walter and I managed to find some places to fish, but there were no fish to be had. One man who was watching us said he had been coming there to watch and had never seen a fish caught. We decided later that we would go to Florida the next day. Walter had some knowledge about fishing the Florida area.

While doing some exploring we found a park with a great pier and lights. We even saw some of the locals catching reds using live shrimp. After hours of casting and changing flies we still had no hits. One of the locals felt sorry and offered us some shrimp. Of course we turned him down.

That night the wind reached hurricane levels or so it seemed. In the morning we decided to check with the park people to see what the weather was going to be. WIND and RAIN. Head for home.

IF

If you love clear coldwater streams;

If you get a thrill over your encounter with nature when you outwit a trout at the game he knows best,

If you want to leave a healthy environment for your children and grandchildren, and that same thrill of encountering nature,

If you think fly fishing is a sport worthy of sharing,

Then consider joining the ETFF. Numbers create pooled funds that can be a powerful force to preserve our fishing holes!

Contact David Grimes - ETFF Membership Director
H 903-759-2486, e-Mail