Jimbo

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  • November 1, 2018 at 7:23 pm #1509

    Negatory Ghostwriter…..

    Whitewater Camping sits behind Whitewater Sports away from the river. It’s the old condo complex on the hill that never really got off the ground. As soon as we over come the technical difficulties I will host images on this forum and send out an e-mail blast which I just found out is not functioning either. Anyway we have IT working on the solutions now and it should be just a few days.

    Jimbo

     

    October 31, 2018 at 10:28 pm #1493

    Yes you can fish from the bank. It’s just most places don’t lend themselves to fishing from the bank with flyfishing gear. Right now the releases are 765cfs, that’s too much to wade fish just about anywhere. I was down at the river today and there is still a bunch of color in the water making it difficult to see the bottom in even 2 feet of water. I was hoping it would clear more quickly. We are likely to see flows fairly high for several more weeks. I am guessing that about the time we start stocking flows will have dropped to below 600cfs. That will start to open up the river. If you just have to get out there I would suggest hiring a guide and float the river early. Nonetheless the fishing that is waiting for us this winter is likely to be one of the best in a long time. Decent holdover, a full compliment of new stockings, and great flows, that is just about perfect in my book.

    Jimbo

    October 31, 2018 at 10:08 pm #1489

    I probably shouldn’t add to this with my obsession, but…..

    Years ago (1970’s) when I started flyfishing the Guadalupe I started with a Bass Bug rod I already had. It was a Fenwick HMG 9 1/2′ 9wt. It was way too much rod for nymphing for 8-12″ Trout that were common back then. Often when I would set the hook I would launch the little Trout out of the water and over my shoulder,… “A little too much Gun!”

    The next rod I purchased I went to a short and light rod, a Fenwick HMG 7 1/2′ 4wt. Again it was right for the small fish, but I almost immediately missed the length of my 9wt. So I purchased a Fenwick HMG 9′ 6wt. Finally I hit the sweet spot. It would do just about anything and it was my go to rod till Sage came out with their RPLs. Again I went with a 9′ 6wt. and it was everything the Fenwick rod was only better.

    I mainly fished; 9’… 4, 5, or 6wt. rods on the Guadalupe through 2000. RPL, RPL+, SP, SP+, XPs in a never ending progression of the latest and greatest. Then I moved to a 10′ 5wt. Z Axis and it was a revelation in the difference the extra foot made in drift control. I added a 10′ 6wt. but it was really too heavy (But a good light Steelhead rod). I also purchased a 10′ 4wt. Sage One and I use it when flows drop or I’m fishing nothing but midges.

    Today when I head to the Guadalupe, a 10′ rod either 5wt. or 4wt., a 9′ 5wt. and 6wt. almost always are put in the car. For Nymphing it’s the 10’ers, but if I’m throwing streamers it’s the 9′ 6wt. and sometimes 5wt. that gets pulled out of the truck.

    European Nymphing techniques and those specialty rods have really taken off. Many anglers now use 2 or 3wt, 10-11′ specialized nymphing rods. I have fished them but I prefer a little heavier rod. It’s partly because of my Tournament Bass fishing years where you should always prepare yourself for that fish of a lifetime and I tend towards the heavy side of rod selection. My Z Axis is now about 18 years old and I intend to build another 10′ 5wt. this time a Sage X.

    With all that said it’s more about what you can do than the rod can do. Learn to drift nymphs, mend the line, follow the indicator, and detect strikes. Then work on fighting and landing the fish quickly. A good flyfisherman can use just about any rod and catch a bunch of fish. A poor flyfisherman can use the very best equipment and still not catch many fish. Work on refining your abilities and everything else is just icing on the cake.

    P.S. Disclaimer: I am a gear junkie. I own more rods than I can use in a week. My obsession has evolved into having the perfect rod for the water and the technique I’m going to fish. Many of you have seen my summer trips and know I usually take about 16 different rods for these trips. I am a devoted dryfly fisherman and many rods are specifically for dryfly fishing. Most years I’ll use about 8-10 of them on those trips. But I always take along several rods that are “Maybe” rods. I might fish this or that way and need “That” rod.

    Jimbo

    October 27, 2018 at 6:59 pm #1435

    When were these taken?

    Jimbo

    October 27, 2018 at 3:35 pm #1429

    Good News….
    My Ray Bans were found and I’ll be picking them up this coming week. This falls under the category, “I’d rather be lucky.”

    Jimbo

    October 27, 2018 at 3:32 pm #1428

    Good News,…
    My Ray Bans were found and I’ll be picking them up this coming week. This falls under the category, “I’d rather be lucky.”

    Jimbo

    October 26, 2018 at 11:43 am #1408

    I don’t think they will be available at area Fly Shops this season. I will ask the Board if they will be available separately from the orientation/signup online this weekend at the GRTU Meeting.

    Jimbo

    October 19, 2018 at 9:43 pm #1310

    It moves the fish around a bit, but they generally stay up in our water. This is also the best time of the year if GBRA and the CORPS are going to be pushing big water through the dam. Air temperatures are cool enough that all the water coming in is plenty cool enough to sustain the Trout. And we will see only colder weather ahead. So Canyon should be fine and the water plenty cool enough for next summer.

    These flows are likely to last for weeks. And like I said I would not be surprised if they increase flows from 3,000cfs soon. You have to expect that we are going to see lots of rain with the El Nino just beginning and periods of flows too high to wade fish. And don’t overestimate your abilities to wade in high flows. Get to know your limits and don’t push it. Every year someone dies on the Guadalupe somewhere. We’ve been lucky so far that it hasn’t been one of our fishermen. It’s not worth a swim in your waders in high flows. We want you around to join the LAP for years to come.

    There is another good side to these higher flows. It moves the silt downstream. That is really good news for the bug life in the water and therefore all the Trout that feed on them. Last time we had big flows for an extended time after they went back down, where there was slit and muck before, only sand bars were left. And we had crystal clear water for a time.

    Jimbo

    October 19, 2018 at 9:33 pm #1309

    The map is back up…..

    Jimbo

    October 19, 2018 at 12:38 pm #1300

    jrcheno

    LAP member, day pass or no day pass….
    Noone is allowed to use our access sites as anything other than a place to park and a path to the river. No person, member or non-member is allowed to just hang out at the vehicle or as an example sit in a chair to read a book. No picnicking, no camping, no just being there to taking pictures. Now if you want to bring her to one of the commercial sites: Rio, Whitewater, Lazy L&L, Rocky Beach, Action Angler, Bezdek’s, or River Road Camp, as long as you make arrangements with their management, like paying an access fee, and they understand she is there not to fish but to sit on the bank or whatever then that is OK. But not at our private sites, that is not allowed. I had complains in the past from the owners at #5 and Gypsy about such activities and they did not want it to happen again.

    Jimbo

    October 19, 2018 at 12:27 pm #1299

    GBRA has made their decision and will be raising releases to 3,000cfs.

    Canyon Lake Release Advisory October 19, 2018 11:12 a.m.

    Canyon Reservoir has risen to approximately 914.09’ mean sea level (msl) as of 10:45 a.m., which is 5 feet in the flood pool. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will increase the water releases from approximately 620 cubic feet per second (cfs) to up to 3,000 cfs by 5 p.m. this afternoon. Releases and lake elevation are based on current inflows and rainfall. Changing weather conditions may impact future releases. Property owners, recreationalists and other stakeholders should take notice of the changing downstream river flows. Canyon releases and stream flow data may be found at https://bit.ly/2NI2HTz

    Of course they may decide to increase these flows at any time. At 3000cfs there is virtually no place to wade and fish the Guadalupe. You could still fish from the bank, but getting in the river to fish can not be endorsed.

    Jimbo

    October 18, 2018 at 11:06 pm #1288

    That’s a good question? It was there this morning. I know Dustin is constantly working to get this website where we want it. There was an error and it was placed on every forum the last few days. I sent him an e-mail last night and maybe he’s working on it now. Bear with us. No one would take the job because of the hours necessary to make it work. He finally fell on the sword and “volunteered” to be V P of Membership mid September. We should have had somebody working on this beginning last spring. There’s no telling how many hours he’s been working on this to get it up and running. We are still talking about getting certain things changed and this will probably go on for another few weeks.

    Jimbo

    October 18, 2018 at 8:13 pm #1284

    He did so because the original had a few mistakes which have been corrected now. He wanted to make sure everyone in the LAP would get the updated version. It’s still password protected so it can’t be opened by anyone not in the LAP.

    Jimbo

    October 18, 2018 at 6:44 pm #1281

    The Army CORP and GBRA will undoubtedly be greatly increasing the releases from the dam very soon. It looks like they will be switching from the generator outlets, to straight pass though the dam. The lake is approaching 914’msl, pool is 909’msl, recreational pool 910’msl. They will make an announcement tomorrow about what they are going to do. I expect they will ramp up flows, in stages, to 5,000cfs. It should be there for as long as it takes to bring the lake back down. I am hoping they will stop at 910’msl and hold it there instead of going down to 909’msl. As soon as the official announcement is made I will post it on the forums.

    Jimbo

    October 17, 2018 at 8:40 pm #1258

    Sorry you feel that way. We did it for several reasons.

    Over the years members were complaining too many anglers were on our leases and wanted us to limit membership numbers. So we did. Then we had complaints from members who wanted to sign up, but waited too long and were frozen out because we hit the limit and were sold out. We also had complaints that wife memberships took another full membership for someone who was fishing just a couple of days. (Wife memberships counted as a full membership against the LAP limit regardless of how many days they fished)

    That being said, we also have many members who fish only a couple of days and still buy a full memberships,… Why? Because they want easy access to all our sites. They know that 100% of those monies go to support the cost of purchasing all these Trout and acquiring our leases. These costs are going up faster and faster every year. Rainbows cost over double what they were when I started as VP of Fisheries back in 2010. We are still buying 12,000lbs, plus we added 2,000lbs of Browns these last 3 years which again are 75% more costly than Rainbows. It also is getting harder to keep leases access sites. Those costs have gone up over 50% since 2010. Also it keeps getting harder and harder to keep leases from year to year because of a few members that don’t follow the rules. That makes new leases harder to find and negotiate. We lost Scott’s because it was sold and the new owner didn’t want us on the property like the original owner. We lost Gypsy because members were complaining about the check-in and gated access which did not always work. The owner told me it wasn’t worth it anymore unless I paid 10 times as much.

    We have done what we can to hold down the cost of the LAP program. Our costs have gone up more than 65% since 2010 the cost of the LAP has not. And in my book it is still a bargain against anything other yearly paid access. It’s half the cost of a single day with a guide. Most rod fees for Trout in the Rockies start at $100/day and go up. And try to explain to your wife that she is not worth $40/day to visit any of our sites stocked with our big Trout but your membership is not negotiable. You’ll likely the sleeping on the couch.

    What it comes down to was this was a Board decision. We did it to allow more members access. We did it to cover costs for another couple of years without any foreseeable increases. Remember your membership in the LAP is more of a donation to our on-going efforts to stock these large Rainbows and Browns in the Guadalupe year after year after year more than anything else. Only monies generated from the LAP program may be used to purchase Trout and acquire leases those are the bylaws. Members have asked for more Trout, and then Browns, and more lease access. I have done the best I can and said yes to every wish.

    It comes down to a matter of priorities. I am a poor man myself. I myself have not made more than 30k per year for decades and I bet you most everyone in the LAP makes 2 or 3 times as much money as that. And yet I have been in the LAP program for at least 38 years and each year I also voluntarily donate an additional $100 towards funding GRTU projects. And I have always found a way to afford those donations in my yearly budget.

    I’m sorry if that sounds a little harsh. I have given 1000s of hours to maintain the quality of fishing in the Guadalupe since I became a board member. It is still the best deal you will find anywhere for the quality of Trout fishing you can enjoy. And it’s right here in the middle of the Texas Hill Country as improbable as that is and not 100’s or even 1000’s of miles away out of state. Just think how much it would cost you to go to fish the next closest Trout fishery, Mountain Fork, and then tell me the LAP is too expensive.

    Jimbo

    P.S. Guest Passes are for one person for one day of fishing with a member who has a full LAP.

Viewing 15 posts - 526 through 540 (of 546 total)