We had one heck of a fish fry today. I fried up 50 to 60 fillets with some family members.

That's great information

Thanks Doug, I will definitely take a hike up there this year. I went up to the CR 430 / CR 134 creek crossing and checked out that area the other day. But I haven't walked very far upstream from Irwin yet. I saw people coming out of there with crappie and catfish though.

What I want, more than anything, is to find some decent locations I could bank fish or possibly wade fish with my fly rod. I struggled to find areas to do so last year.

What complicates the issue even more is that with conventional gear I can throw an 1/8th ounce jig to get the bait down quickly if needed. With the fly rod and lighter weighted flies I have to have room to drift it into position.

Any help would be appreciated.

I really can't think of a place that is fly rod friendly. A roll cast is about the best one can do on this creek. Now if you are willing to drive to Taylor TX and fish the San Gabriel river this year for whites, I can hook you up with some of the best spots to fly fish. At some point in the upcoming spawn, I would really like to make a road trip to a place where my white bass fishing first started. Head waters of Lake Travis. The water is crystal clear and you have to have chest waders to get out in the river to reach the fish. But when you hook a white in this stream, it will take you awhile to reel it in because they get completely sideways in the strong current and the line is so tight, you can hear this high pitch sound of every quiver the fish makes while this battle to land a fish takes place. On a scale from 1 to 10, I would rate it at a 12. The place is called Reimers ranch, or Reimers fishing camp. I call it a piece of heaven. One of the most beautiful places to fish. I just wish I could camp there like we use to. It's about a two hour drive from my place, so going just a few times during a spawn is about all I would be good for. But it is a breath taking place. I have fished this area for twenty plus years.
Fishinfool40 lives a few miles from this place and he should be able to post updates on the conditions this year. Now that the water level on Travis is back up, this place should be on fire this year.

Now that sounds awesome!!!!! Great post, I felt like I was there for a moment

I might make another trip out there today, but I will be taking some curl tail grubs to use. The water clarity is not so good, so you need something that is bright and it will put out some sort of vibration to attract these fish during a very slow roll close to the bottom. The strike zone is very limited. There are some good numbers in there, but you have to drag a bait right in front of their face in order to get bit. And fishing spots are very limited as well. One wrong step and you will end up in the drink before you can bat an eye lid. These bank conditions also make it somewhat difficult to stand in the right position where you need to be in order to make the best bait presentations. Oh yeah, if you decide to go and you plan to keep some fish, take an extra long stringer with you. In a lot of places you are not going to be able to reach the water with a short stringer, you need one with at least 15 feet of line. I had to tie my fish off at one place and fish in another, so I was doing a little walking back and forth to my stringer the other day.

Went to Irwin Bridge area this morning and ended up with 4 keeper Whites. Lost two hauling them up the steep banks. Also caught several small Black Bass and a small Crappie.

Everything 'fishytx' says in the previous post is true. I went a good ways downstream from Irwin Bridge and there just aren't a lot of places you can fish and make a decent presentation.

...and my stringer was just barely long enough to reach the water in most of the places I was fishing. Six and seven foot banks are the norm out there. And very muddy and slick. Be really careful out there. I had one pretty close call where I basically had to sit down to prevent myself from going in. Let's just say my clothes were a little muddy when I got back to my car.

All in all, not a bad day. It's only December so it will only get better from here.

I hit the creek around 3 pm and fished for two hours. Caught five whites, three crappie and two black bass. Not to bad of a trip. The water has dropped 6 inches and cleared up a tad. The banks were not as slippery like they were two days a go, but you still had to walk with caution. How ever, you still are not able to get down low on the shoreline banks, if you try, you will probably end up in the creek. I know one thing, this trip was better than me staying home and doing yard work. The weather was awesome and it was nice and quite out there. Just what I needed.

Oh yeah, that fifteen foot fish stringer I had today was almost to short.

Anybody hitting the creek tomorrow morning? I'm thinking about it, but going to see what the weather looks like first. Sunday is looking like a wash out for sure.

Scattered showers in the area today. Those banks will be slick again.

Lake level is 241.7. 3.7 feet above normal. Release rate is 1981 cfs. Gates are open about 85% and the lake is receding about 1/5th foot per day.

Sounds like a good idea. I did not grab any curl tail jigs the other day, but I did ok with the regular jigs I use I guess. Boy,do I really want a hit the creek one more time before the rain, nut I don't know. Standing on that bank while fishing seems to really play havoc on my lower back. I'm only good for about two hours, then I have to leave. But I sure do want to go.

I fished downstream from Irwin Bridge this morning from 7 to 10. Ended up with 6 nice keepers and lost another one trying to haul it up the bank. I brought two stringers with me today and tied them together when needed. I didn't have any curly tail jigs with me either, but the regular old tube jigs seemed to do just fine.

The rain started up just as I was leaving. I'm really glad I made it out there this morning. Who knows when it will be fishable again. Lots of rain in the forecast for today & tomorrow.

The rain will bring up more fish into the creek, so it is a good thing.

Jerry, you had a pretty good morning.
The fish are holding tight somewhere, or there just isn't that many up there yet, not real sure on this one just yet. Either way, for someone to be able to hook up with some nice size whites this early in the spawn, that far up the creek is pretty darn cool. The few that I�ve cleaned have had some eggs that are far from being ready and the males seem to be ready to go if a female ever feels the need. I�ve got one more trick up my sleeve I might try on my next trip out there. I will either hit it big if the numbers are there, or go home with just a few like I am now. Time will tell. But just five of these monster fish are enough for a decent fish fry. I need to hurry up and fry the other twenty plus bags of fillets in my freezer to make room for this years catch. And these bags have around twenty five fillets in each of them. I figured if I was going to get the peanut oil hot, I might as well cook up a bunch of them all at one time. I love eating cold fried fish though. Makes me want a go fry some up right now. For a guy who catches all kinds of fish through out the year, these are the only fish I keep for the freezer. My wife isn�t all that crazy about anything else but these whites, so maybe this is why I only keep them. Personally, I would prefer to release everything I catch and when I want some fried fish, I�ll order it off the menu.