| Monthly Newsletter of the Central Texas Flyfishers | April, 2001 Vol. 7 No.4 |
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President: Terry
Blackwell
Vice President: Joel Chavez
Conservation: Billy Wofford
Outings: Kevin Duren & Johnny
Quiroz
Secretary: Kim Heaston
Treasurer: Bob Blagg
Meeting was held on March 13, 2001. Discussed the merits of caps and T-shirts for the club. Several suggestions were made about who can supply embroidering services. The March outing was set for March 31 at Reimer's Ranch.
Reimer's
Ranch White Bass Outing
Gorgeous weather and Hill Country scenery made this an exceptional, if unusual, outing.
If you have never been to Reimer's Ranch you must take the trip just for the adventure. Take highway 71 to Hamilton Pool road and about two miles before you get to the state park you will find a sign stating that this is Reimer's Ranch, fishing and climbing. Turn right and follow the dirt road for about two miles to the ranch house. Pay three dollars for day use and continue to follow the road for another mile or so. It can get pretty rough so use a vehicle with some road clearance. At the end of that mile you will drop down to the Pedernales River and have the opportunity to see the quintessential Texas Hill Country.
The river is wide and deep at that point and the opposite bank is a steep, limestone cliff dotted with oak and brush. At this time of year all was a brilliant green to celebrate spring. Cows and calves wandered and grazed the meadows next to the river without a never mind to anyone there and there were only the natural sounds of wind, and water.
Fishing went on for three or four hours without a strike. Other fishermen in the area stated that Thursday was the best run they had seen and I could count the white bass others had caught on one hand. There were rises in the river but the flies cast were disdained by whatever caused the rises. Needless to say it was not a good day for fishing.
I hear the question now as I type these words: Gorgeous day? No fish? That's par for one of our outings! What made it unusual?
Answer: Only one person showed up for the outing.
This is the second installment in a series of articles that will outline the basics of fly fishing gear and terminology. It is being developed because there are a lot of new members who have either never used a fly rod or our out of practice but the information will be useful to the experienced fishermen as well. This installment will discuss fly lines.
As we learned in the last article, the weight of the fly line is expressed as the weight, in grains, of the first thirty feet of the fly line. This, for the most part, should match the weight designation of your rod. A five-weight rod should have a five-weight line.
There are two factors about fly line that we will begin with: Line tapers, and floating or sinking factors. Floating line, like its name, floats on the surface of the water to hold your fly on or near the surface. Sinking line, like its name, sinks. It comes in degrees: Intermediate, sinking tip, and sinking. It is designed to get your fly down to where the fish are.
Lines come with no taper, double tapered, weight forward, and a modified weight forward, the shooting taper. The fact that a line is tapered makes casting easier. As the energy of the cast is transmitted down the line it diminishes. The diminishing diameter of the line allows what energy is left to keep the line going. Line with no taper, called level line, is very difficult to cast well and is not recommended for the novice. A double tapered line is tapered evenly at both ends. It cast well but not for distance. It is especially good for roll casting. That makes it a good choice for areas where there is limited back casting. Another benefit is that it can be swapped end-to-end when you have worn out the working end and the life of the line is doubled. Weight forward line has all of the taper towards the front of the line and is the best line for the novice caster. It casts for longer distances that double tapered line. Its cousin, the shooting taper line is designed for distance casting but is not recommended for the beginner.
Now let's put this together. There is a convention in the description of fly lines:
DT - Double Taper
WF - Weight Taper
ST - Shooting Taper
L - Level
S - Sinking
F - Floating
F/S - Sinking Tip
I - Intermediate
To describe a five weight, weight forward, floating line you would see the following: WF5F. WF for weight forward, 5 for the line weight, and F for floating. Other examples are ST8S, WF6F/S, etc.
Kim Heaston
April marks the beginning of my favorite time of the year, namely Daylight Savings Time. This annual blessing provides those of us affected by modern life the opportunity to unwind from the stress of the day by doing things we'd rather be doing while it's still light enough to do them. Yes, this does include our favorite pastime of fly fishing. There are few more enjoyable ways to spend the early evening hours than standing midstream, around the next bend, focusing on the task at hand. Lest it be known that some of us are just happy to be outdoors, not caring too much about the fish that often make light of our efforts to fool them.
On a recent trip up the Guadalupe River with Terry Blackwell and Matt Jennings in pursuit of white bass. Matt and I began to wonder if club members are "bad luck" in regards to the proper functioning of Terry's boat, as it sputtered its way back to the boat ramp. For me I've come to the conclusion that it's just coincidental, that all the boat is doing is crying out for more attention and TLC. That being said, does anyone know of a supplier of nautical rabbit's feet or other suitable good luck charms?
I'm looking forward to traveling to the Devil's River this month, for a couple of reasons. First, I grew up in a desert-like climate, and haven't spent much time in one, since moving to Texas nearly 12 years ago; and more importantly, it's a place I haven't been to, and would like to say that I have. Life is an adventure, fly fishing is our excuse to be adventurers. Regardless of the weather or water conditions, we'll have fun, due to the nature of our fellow club members.
I hope everyone takes the opportunity to enjoy the "added" evening daylight hours, and ponders what happens around the next bend.
Michael Brown
©
2001 Central Texas Flyfishers
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