| Newsletter of the Central Texas Flyfishers | June-October 2002 Vol. 8 No. 5 |
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Officers
| Floods of 2002 | Newsletter Help Needed |
CTFF Shines Through
Poet's Pool | The Year Since 9-11 | San Marcos River Foundation | Back
Issues | Home
President: Joel Chavez
Vice President: Angela Arciniega-Rodriguez
Conservation: Billy Wofford
Outings: Michael Brown
Secretary: Marcus Rodriguez
Treasurer: Bob Blagg
June came and went. June was dry and hot and it promised us a long and dry summer. The fishing was great on all of our local rivers. I for one had a great time and personally caught or was in on catching several hundred. Mother Nature, however had her fingers crossed when she promised a long hot summer. July came around and so did the rain. If somebody would have told me that July would be cold and wet, I would have slapped their momma for raising a fool! Not only was July cool, it was wetter than most people would care to remember. Most of Central Texas took a pounding. Central Texas, which is for the most part thirsting for water was inundated. Rivers that are normally trickles of water during July were raging torrents. The fishing did not get close to normal until late August. Fishing aside, let us be thankful for our friends and loved ones, who did experience the high water first hand are safe.
Life is like a river. There are times when life is a nice run or a very calm pool. There are rapids out there. The rapids can be exciting or they can crush you. If you falter in the rapids, head down feet first so at the end of your swim you can stand up on them. Rivers and people are dynamic. I cannot wait to see what the floods have changed in all of us.
Marcus Rodriguez
I would like to take this opportunity to ask for some help with the newsletter. When I took over the newsletter, I figured that I could easily take an hour out of the day and write. Unfortunately, it has not been simple to find an extra hour. With the new baby, guiding, writing articles, work, and did I mention the baby, the time has been almost unattainable.
There are a lot of things going on in my life currently and I would like to get the newsletter out in timely manner. CTFF members and friends deserve this. I am disappointed with myself for turning the monthly newsletter into a quarterly.
I find that I am competing with the web site. There is nothing that I can write that most of the club and visitors to the site do not already know. I would like to take this opportunity to ask for help. If there is any news out there, let me have it first. I will take anything. Tell me about a trip, give me an announcement, or make a statement. Anything and everything is newsworthy when it pertains to CTFF. Write a story and send me an email. My email address is marcus@guidesoftexas.com.
Community service can be as large as sending a check to firefighters in need. Community service can be a thoughtful as helping a community center wrap presents for underprivileged children on Christmas Eve. Community service is taking time out of a busy day to teach special needs children the joys of fishing. Community service can be as simple as helping friends in need.
Again, we should be proud of ourselves when taking hold of the community service torch and running with it. A few members have flood stories from this past July. Ken and Charlotte Jones have a story of flood waters coming into their neighborhood and removing not only their home, but many others in its path. Ken and Charlotte Jones were residents at Horseshoe Falls just downstream from Canyon Dam. Ken and Charlotte had survived the 1998 flood and they felt considerably safe when the rains started this July. As it turns out, the Jones’ were told to evacuate and they did in the knick of time. Their house however, was destroyed as the water rushed over the Canyon Dam spillway and over the hills and homes below.
It was shocking to see Ken and Charlotte at the July CTFF meeting. Both were in good spirits and they had scary pictures of the flood and the damage it had done. It was decided by the club that we donate $500 to Ken and Charlotte to aide in the small things they might need until they got settled again. It was also decided that we pass a hat around and collect as much money as we could to give the Jones’. We had a very small gathering of people on that hot and humid Tuesday evening, but everybody gave what they had. Putting cash in an old baseball cap we raised another $300 plus.
We handed the money to the Jones’. They were flabbergasted. I was never more proud of CTFF. I looked around and I saw the faces of my fellow members and I knew that they felt the same. This is a once and a lifetime feeling and I am proud to have shared it with my good friends at CTFF.
Along with the money, several members of CTFF donated muscle power. On a moist Saturday, CTFF members helped removed brush, lumber, and find belongings of the Jones’. Several pictures can be seen on the CTFF website. From what I understand, the pictures do not do justice to the actual damage. The Guadalupe River actually cut another channel. Houses that were river side are actually in the new channel!
Ken and Charlotte have since moved on to Colorado. Hopefully, the help and donations eased a little of the pressure that the Jones’ felt after the flood. Donations and muscle power cannot replace what has been lost, but at least Ken and Charlotte have friends and club members that are willing to lend a helping hand. Flood waters cannot destroy that.
There is not one fly fisher
who would not care
about a gin clear flat
and a tail in the air.
Marcus Rodriguez 2002
It is hard to believe that it has already been more than a year since the tragedy of September 11, 2001. On the anniversary of the event, I found myself on the verge of tears several times during the day as I watched the video of jets crashing into the towers and then watching the towers crumble. I did not think that I would be affected as powerfully as I was.
It has been a topsy-turvy year since the tragedy, but that is good. Sometimes it takes a tragedy for us to realize how strong and proud we really are. Tragedies definitely help us look back at our lives and understand what is important. I think that many of us have realized that life is too short not to enjoy what we love: family, friends, and good fly fishing.
It seems that the nation as a whole is doing well. There are a lot of unknowns out there, but I am not going to spend my life being worried. I will live until I die. The days leading to the anniversary of 9-11 were a trying time for the nation. We were all affected. It was good to remember what happened and it was good in helping us look at what is important in life.
In the novel Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry writes that the best way to deal with death is to ride away from it. In chapter 35, the character Augustus McCrae gives a word to the men on the trail drive during the funeral of a peer:
"There’s accidents in life and he met with a bad one. We may all do the same if we ain’t careful. Dust to dust. Lets the rest of us go on to Montana."
The San Marcos River Foundation
This past month, Dianne Wassenich spoke to CTFF about SMRF’s plans to save the San Marcos River, Blanco, and Guadalupe River, and the estuaries they replenish. The meeting was held at Dunbar Recreation Center and several fly clubs were invited.
Dianne spoke of what SMRF is doing to ensure that there is always fresh water flow for the San Marcos and Guadalupe Rivers.
SMRF has been featured in several articles in magazines and newspapers. The most recent articles have been in the New York Times and the Texas Observer. These are exciting times for SMRF. I am glad we were able to show support of such an important issue.
© 2002 Central Texas Flyfishers
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