Dana Williams
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Can somebody kindly post a map of where Kanz is? I have been there once for a stocking but can’t remember where it is. Thanks.
A member mentioned earlier that sites were stocked from Maricopa to River Bluff on Saturday.
Does that mean every site from Maricopa to River Bluff or just some of them in that range?
Thanks,
Dana
The state hasn’t started stocking yet but GRTU has. There are also holdover trout. I find it more difficult early in the year and have heard some early skunk reports from friends but it is not a total waste of time.
Chris Johnson of Living Waters mentioned in his recent online presentation re: the Guad that if he had only two rigs to take to the Guad he would choose:
Orange or peach/yellow (I forget) egg size 16 or 18 as attractor and black with white midge emerge size 18 to 22. OR
Pat’s Rubber Legs (stonefly) size 14 brown or black and CDC pheasant tail or hare’s ear size 18 to 22. OR
mix and match.
I have never fly fished for warmwater species in the trout area no advice there.
Pre,
You are sitting exactly where I was this time in 2017. I have fished pretty hard every week during 3 trout seasons and can proudly no longer call myself a beginner.
My suggestion is to learn to set up a double nymph rig online or get the diagram from Living Waters fly shop in Round Rock and then when you get tangled and frustrated and lose the whole thing just switch to a single streamer for a while to ease your frustration. Line management and tangles are the hardest part at first. It can take a beginner 30 mins to put togther rod and tie up a double nymph rig to start the day out. Don’t worry about dry flies at this point – they are not heavily used on the Guad.
Also, I strongly recommend considering yarn strike indicators instead of the plastic thingamabobbers and similar which tangle more. And stay away from 6x or 7x tippet until you get more experience. Use 4x or 5x.
Another thought is going straight into euronymphing which is primarily what I have done the last season and due to less complicated rigging there are fewer things (no split shot or strike indicator) to tangle up with. Someone else with more experience can chime in on this point (Alex Argyros?) but it is probably easiest to euro with a very long rod (I have a euro or nymphing specific 3 weight 10 foot) than what you may already have. But I think euro is actually easier rigging and fewer tangles than conventional nymphing and my catch rate has definitely gone up. But not suitable for all situations.
Finally, your mileage may vary, and I fished most of my first season alone about 15 days on the water during a layoff during weekdays (and before I met all my fishing buddies through Texas Women Fly Fishers) but I only caught 3 trout that first season so please understand it can be a steep learning curve. Just keep grinding and I promise it will get better. It is an amazing sport and in 3 years I am now president of TWFF – welcome to the obsession.
I hope this helps.
Dana
Wonderful pictures. Are y’all twins? You have the same facial hair! Great job!
Thank you, Alex!
Thank you, JC. My friends and I had another epic day on Saturday. I will not compare numbers with Drew’s crazy figures above but I tied my Guad record again on Saturday, almost entirely through euronymphing, and I caught my largest fish on the Guad in my 3 seasons. Only caught one fish in the morning conventional nymphing at Kanz for about 1.5-2 hours.
Broken rod report – yes, funny that you heard about this so quickly. Fortunately, when I broke my rod Tuesday at the end of the day at Whitewater, I called Orvis on the drive home to Austin and they immediately shipped out a new replacement (charged me) and said they would credit me back for the return which would be faster than doing an exchange. I agreed and after that call Tuesday afternoon, received my new replacement rod on Friday just in time for Saturday fishing. Pretty impressive. No charge since the rod was only 4 months old.
By the way, for the lurkers, the rubber hatch is impressive right now as Drew says. I am not sure if I am fishing a week or two later than when I stopped last year or if Coronavirus is driving everyone to outdoor activities, but it was out of control at Whitewater Saturday afternoon. The parking lot at the Exxon by Whitewater was full.
Jimbo, is Gypsy Rose an old name for the River Rose Tavern which is the current lease access point for the Whitewater area as you know?
I caught a 5 inch rainbow at Whitewater on Saturday in the rapids. I was guessing it was born in the Guad but wasn’t sure – first time for me. Also, since you mentioned the fishing was outstanding on last trip, JC, my friend and I have noticed that we are doing extremely well for us the last few weeks but that also last year at the end of the season we did best. I don’t know if this is because we are getting better at the end of the season or if due to temps the fish are more concentrated/easier to find, or just a fluke. I had my best 3 days on the Guad ever in 3 seasons – the last 3 outings (over last 1.5 weeks).
Any thoughts on why the fishing is so great right now? At least for me and my buddies compared to our average…
Jimbo, where is Kanz? I think I went there last year for the brown trout stocking but have no memory of where it is. I recognize all the other places you mentioned except Gypsy Rose and Lower Slot.
Also, where is Barking Dog Hole. Someone said no. 5 and I am familiar with a few holes in that area but not sure which one is called Barking Dog.
Great job, Chris!
Thanks so much for the great info, Doug57spencer!
Congratulations Kevin! Great catch and one I am still hoping to catch myself.
We were with a young guy today who caught a wild rainbow at Rocky Beach/Meckel’s.
Kevin, fish is looking good! What is test #2?
Candysnacker,
The guide who demo’d euronymphing to me in Broken Bow was using a euro-specific 3 weight rod but otherwise he was using a Rio euronymphing leader (which has the built in sighter) and tungsten flies. I believe his favorite was the Frenchie. So same setup but he had the euro rod which is longer and more sensitive tip. And if you see me out there Dec. 26th, me too with the new rod! Don’t tell my husband I figured out the new rod is under the tree!
Dana
