Now 'at's what I'm talkin' about!!!!

I don't know why, but on a fishing day I always seem to wake at 4:00AM. It may be because that's when Dad always got us up if we were going fishing, so we could be by the water at dawn.

Today was no exception. I had my alarm set for 5:00, so I could get showered, dressed, packed up, and checked out of the hotel by 6:30. That would put me at Rio Raft to meet my guide, Kyle Kenter, at 7:00. At 4:00 I was wide awake and by the time my alarm went off I was loading the truck.

After stopping for an apple fritter and coffee, I headed to the rendezvous spot, missed the last turn on my instructions and arrived at Rio Raft at 7:05. So, now I know why a wake at 4:00!

Kyle had his boat in the river. We shuttled his truck to our take out point and then we hit the river. Kyle rigged my line with two nymphs. The first was about a size 12. He tied a 6X tippet to the bend of that hook and 8 to 10 inches below the first fly he tied on a size 20 nymph. Above the first he added a small split-shot. Above this he added a strike indicator.

The strategy on the Guadalupe is to drift the nymph rig through limestone cuts in the river. They are identified by areas of dark green against lighter water. Over the next four hours I had several strikes, on which I missed the hook set. I also had four on which I set the hook successfully, but lost the fish before landing. I could tell these were large fish.

Then, just as it looked like I was going to have another day when I'd say “that's why the call it fishin' instead of catchin'”, I nailed my catch of the day.


It put up a good fight, with three or four good runs. I'm sure if Kyle hadn't been there with a good big net and coaching, I would not have landed the fish. But I did!

And what a fish! 22 inches and a good 5 pounds or more. I know in the picture it looks like I'm hugging the fish. That because I was! When I tried to hold it away from my body for the picture it would flip and was so strong I thought I would loose it over the side of the boat! After a picture with my camera and Kyle's, we eased the fish back into the river to fight another day.

My decision to hire a guide for my first outing on the Guadalupe was rewarded with a great guide, a good morning of fishing and a great half hour of catching. No question, this area is high on the list of winter base locations.

Now, I'm Austin bound for the Old Settlers Music Festival. What a great week!
Pappy