Guadalupe

We’ve been hanging out on our local trout stream here in Texas, the Guadalupe River, for a couple of months now.  Our local  TU chapter, Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited, has stocked (see pic) the river several times over the past few months with mostly rainbows, but also a load of browns.  While the actual number of pounds of fish has remained pretty consistent year over year of stocking (see pic), this year fewer numbers, but bigger fish have been stocked in the river.  We’ve found ourselves regularly hooking into trout in the 18”-20+” realm (see pics).

The river has been great for wading this season as the flows have remained below 100cfs.  We’ve taken several hikes up and downstream to spots that before you’d have needed a raft or kayak to access.   This has made the river much more accessible to anglers and we’ve sensed an increase in the numbers of people we’ve seen on the river, both wading and taking guided fishing trips in rafts.  We had the pleasure of taking a trip with Dylan Mendoza of All Water Guides this past week and netted some beautiful bows and browns.  As always, we love seeing all the wildlife along the river, especially all the different species of birds (see pic).

This being our home water in winter, we’ve blogged about the Guadalupe before.  For those of you who may be new to our blog, or those who want more about this southernmost fishery, here are some previous post highlights.

Guadalupe Guide Talk

Our very first “Guide Talk” was done with two Texas fly fishing “legends”, Alvin Dedeaux and J.T. Van Zandt.  These two are real “characters’ who shared not just fly fishing stories, philosophies, Guadalupe tips, and general fishing intel…. but some great stories of their adventures together.

Jimbo!

We did a two part interview with Jimbo Roberts, our GRTU VP of fisheries, who is also one of those “characters” along the Guadalupe.   Jimbo, Part 1, deals with how Jimbo got into fly fishing and how GRTU came to be… and it’s about beer!   Jimbo, Part 2, deals with Guadalupe Fishing Tips.

GRTU TroutFest

One of GRTU’s primary fundraisers is TroutFest, an annual celebration of all things trout fishing.  As part of our River Ramble blog, we attended and covered the last two events, Troutfest 2017 and Troutfest 2018.

Local Waters

We also documented the Guadalupe River in much more detail with our “Local Waters” post from last year.

Deep in the Heart of Texas

If you want to see what the river is like, take a trip down the Guadalupe in this short music video chronicling our river trip with JT and Alvin.

Troutfest 2017

By TB

Up until a year or so ago, every “conference” I’d attended had something to do with educational technology, from NECC/ISTE to SXSWedu and dozens of statewide conferences in between.  I could tell you everything about using social media in the classroom, the ins and outs of challenge-based learning, how administrators should be encouraging and supporting educators using technology in the classroom and much, much more.  This past weekend, that all changed.

Every year, the Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited (GRTU) chapter puts on its major fundraiser, a conference called Troutfest.  This year, Barb and I were actually in central Texas and able to attend the event.  Instead of bits and bytes, we learned about strip sets, euronymphing techniques, tailwater trout tips, and reading streams for better fishing.  Here is a recap of our time at the GRTU Troutfest.

We showed up Saturday morning, bright and early, to catch a session on “Fishing the Driftless” with Jen Ripple.  This was a big session for us since in August of this year, as our “River Ramble” takes us from the western US to the east, we will be fishing in Wisconsin in an area known as the “Driftless” area.  It turns out, this area was formed by glacial “drift” some 500,000 years ago.  What this drift created was a series of deeply carved river valleys.  A TU Top 100 trout stream in this area is the West Branch of the Kickapoo River.  We’ll be putting the SaraLinda near Viroquoa, Wi, to fish this stream, along with several others Jen recommended, including the Timber Coulee, Blue and Big Green.  With over 3000 miles of improved trout streams, thanks to Trout Unlimited and others, we are excited to be heading to these waters.  Who knew; great trout fishing in Wisconsin.  However, we were warned that in summer, when we will be there, we should watch out for wild parsnip, which turns out to be toxic when the sap gets on your skin, producing sometimes serious chemical burns.  Needless to say, when we fish the Driftless, we’ll be wearing long fishing pants and long sleeve shirts.  Big thanks to Jen for all the intel and sharing.  Make sure to checkout her free online magazine, Dun Magazine, The Women’s Fly Fishing Magazine.

Next up, we sat in on a session with George Daniel, a fly fishing legend at only 38 years old, on nymph fishing without an indicator, or “tight line” nymphing.  While we learned to do this on our 2016 Ramble, especially from Rachel Finn on the West Branch of the Ausable in NY and Lance Wilt on the streams around State College, PA, we knew we needed more help, and George came through.  As we listened, it was like things started to “click” in our minds as to the when, where and why to employ this technique.

We also sat in on another of Georges’ sessions on the “Strip Set” when fishing streamers.  Barb and I both enjoy fishing streamers but have had the least experience fishing them so far.  Hearing George talk about the proper equipment, the right flies and most importantly, successful streamer fishing techniques, we now feel much better about it conceptually and will be heading to our “Local Water”, the Guadalupe River, this weekend to work on our techniques.  I especially want to work on fishing streamers upstream as this technique seems to be the most productive way to fish a streamer.  There is something inherently primal about fishing streamers, feeling the tug as the fish hits and eats the streamer.  The fly fishing saying, “The Tug is the Drug” is a mantra to anglers everywhere.  We grabbed a copy of George’s book, aptly titled “Strip Set” and got it autographed.  A great read for anglers who appreciate the tug drug addiction.

Finally, on Saturday night, Trout Porn!  Yes, this is an actual term fly fishermen use to describe pictures and movies anglers post to internet websites showing huge trout.  Highlighting this, every year a group puts on the Fly Fishing Film Tour (F3T), a road show around the country showing a dozen or so short films about fly fishing, both fresh water and salt water.  While often these films show the huge trout, tarpon, permit, bonefish, steelhead and other species being caught, they most often focus on the adventure, people and scenic locations where these fish are being pursued.  This years films were no exception with adventures to places like Siberia and Kamchatka, to great human interest stories connecting friends and family to this endeavor.  It’s really fun sitting in an audience of several hundred anglers, when one of the giant fish gets hooked and starts its runs and jumps, to hear everyone cheer aloud.  For all of us, this moment in fly fishing is a big part of the reason we fish, so we collectively celebrate it.  I hope you’ll consider attending one of these F3T events held around the country.  Here is the LINK to the schedule.  Most times, in each location, it’s far more than just the film, with activities including food and great local beer, live music and vendors participating.  At Troutfest, we had vendors from local fly shops and travel companies, to major vendors like Orvis, Sage, TFO, Rio and Umpqua; great music provided by Little Outfit from Houston; and food/beer provided by Gruene Outfitters, Gruene River Grill, Upslope Brewing and Guadalupe River Brewing.

A BIG thank you to all the GRTU organizers for a great Troutfest.  We cannot wait for next year!   And to top it off, to close their set out, the band Little Outfit amazingly played our theme song by Led Zeppelin…..

Ramble On!

Local Waters

By TB

While we are “rambling” along, fishing the TU Top 100 Trout Streams (and more!) we also want to pay homage to our “local waters”.   Central Texas has been home to us for over 27 years now and while we learned to fly fish on Pacific Creek in Grand Teton National Park, our local water here is the Guadalupe River.

Yes, the Guadalupe River is one of TU’s Top 100.  Its the southernmost trout stream in the US.  It’s also one of the most popular tubing rivers in all of Texas.  The Guadalupe River flows from Kern County Texas all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.  The section that we focus on is the stretch just below Canyon Lake dam.

According to the local TU Chapter, Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited (GRTU), “Rainbow trout were originally stocked in the river by Lone Star Brewery”;  yet another reason to love this fishery!   After this, a small group of local fisherman banded together to form GRTU.  Working with the Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW), they experimented with what types of trout might best adapt to the cold waters flowing from the bottom of the Canyon Lake dam.

As word spread about this fishery, GRTU gained more and more members where today, they are the largest chapter of TU.  GRTU took on many roles in protecting the fishery, encouraging young anglers to take up the sport and more.  But perhaps the thing that made this fishery grow to TU Top 100 status was the stocking program GRTU undertook.

While TPW stocks smaller trout (8”-12”) in the Guadalupe River and in other Texas streams, GRTU stocks rainbows (and now browns) of a much larger size, some over 20”, but most in the 14”-18” range.  GRTU stocks trout in the Guadalupe River 3-4 times between November and March.  These trout are feisty stockers from a hatchery in southern Missouri.

This trout section of the Guadalupe River supports a thriving fly fishing community along its length.  Between Sattler and Gruene, there are three fly shops, numerous guide services and on weekends, in every named pool along the Guad you’ll find fishermen wetting lines, hunting for 20+” trophy rainbows.  Our favorites are Action Anglers and Gruene Outfitters for fly shops.   While we’ve floated the Guadalupe with several different guides and guide services, I’d highly recommend All Water Guides and specifically Alvin Dedeaux and JT Van Zandt.  You can check out their “Guide Talk” on our blog.

If you come to spend a few days along the river, fishing or tubing, there are numerous places to stay right on the river.  We’ve parked the SaraLinda at Rio Guadalupe Resort the last two winters.  Before we got the RV, we stayed numerous times at Hideout on the Horseshoe and Maricopa Lodge, both located right on the river with great fishing and floating access.

Once you are here and you are looking for some food and fun, many options await.  Our favs for dining are Granny D’s in Canyon Lake for home cooking and The Grist Mill in Gruene for great riverside dining and atmosphere.  Nothing beats Sweeties in Sattler for coffee, donuts and kolaches.  If you’re looking for a great cup of joe, go to the Gruene Coffee Haus.

While there are numerous places to hear live music along the Guadalupe River, none beats a stop at Gruene Hall, “Texas’ Oldest Dance Hall”.  Built in 1878, Gruene Hall is Texas’ oldest continuously operating dance hall.  Gruene Hall hosts a variety of acts from established veterans like Lyle Lovett, George Strait, Kris Kristofferson, Robert Earl Keen and more.  Many “up and comers” cut their teeth singing and songwriting at Gruene Hall before they made it big like Garth Brooks, John Hiatt, Chris Isaak and The Dixie Chicks.  Even the original “outlaws”, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson spent time on the small stage while the audience listened and two stepped on the wooden floor.  While major acts play regularly on the weekends, one of our favorite things to do is to grab lunch on Sunday at The Grist Mill and then head to Gruene Hall just across the yard for a variety of local artists who play free concerts on Sunday afternoons.  Its laid back, the beer is ice cold and the music is amazing.

As you can likely tell from this post, our “local water”, the Guadalupe River and its surroundings are very special to us.  We hope ya’ll will come and visit sometime when we’re here, like Chuck and Marty Raplinger did.  We’d even get a picture in front of Gruene Hall ?

Ramble On!!!