A few pics from the trip. I managed to blow up the white balance on my camera (Tex, I told you I have to read that manual again) so some of these are a lot worse than others. I'll add more to the album at:

http://s232.photobucket.com/albums/ee189/jackmack65/Hill%20Country%20Road%20Trip/

I'll break this trip down by our stops.

Cameron Park, Waco, TX
I never knew Cameron Park existed until a couple of days ago. According to the city of Waco's website it is supposed to be the largest municipal park in the US. The park is basically at the confluence of the Bosque and the Brazos and it is a really wild looking place. There are some massive elevation changes for this part of the state. Unfortunately, as JM and I discovered, access to the rivers for fishing isn't great. However, the scenery was worth the stop.

We walked past a perfectly good "Trail Closed" sign and descended from the parking lot down to the area where the two rivers merge. There was a spot approximately 30 feet wide that we found that was clear enough to do a bit of casting. One lost fly, no fish, and a bit of frustration later, we decided to head south and find other waters. It was still worth a stop.

San Gabriel River
Upon our arrival in Georgetown, we wandered near San Gabriel Park and decided to give it a try. A spillway spans the entire river there and we both caught a few sunnies in the deeper water there. We both spotted Rios, but couldn't interest them in our offerings.

I was fishing from the spillway and was approached by an older gentleman who said he wanted to visit. It turned out to be Don Johnson (not THAT one) of the San Gabriel Fly Fishers. He directed us to their website which is chock full of useful information. www.sgflyfishers.com

We wandered out east of town to look for new water and found a crossing on CR 100 near Highway 29. There is a nice shelf of shallow water that drops off quickly. While casting a foam hopper to a fallen tree, I managed to hang up on said tree. At this point, I was only in water up to my knees, so I decided to casually wade over and retrieve my hopper. Ever mindful of snakes I crept up to the fallen tree, not really noticing the depth change. In water just over my waist at this point, I triumphantly plucked the hopper from the tree and gracefully turned around...and fell full length into the water! I did manage to keep my hat dry.

I left that side of the crossing to JM and tried the shallow water next door. The bed of the San Gabriel there is all limestone cut with channels by the flowing water. I saw some fish feeding on the surface not too far downstream and semi-stealthfully made my way over to them. I spent the next couple of hours within 50 yards of that spot. I caught little fish on almost every cast for a while. Tiny fingerling bass and beautifully marked green sunfish were in great abundance. My 3wt was a little large for them, but I still had a ball catching them. I hope JM's pictures of some of them came out. We saw lots of spawning sunfish and later figured out that it was a full moon, or close to it. JM finally responded to my repeated whistles and shouts and wandered over himself to sample the fishy goodness. I'll let him tell about that.

After leaving the San Gabriel, we stopped in the local HEB parking lot to fix some lunch (the contents of which JM had purchased at a Kroger, he's a stickler for grocery irony). If you ever get a chance to have a sandwich with JM, please do so. He really puts on a fine feed. Premium deli meats, fancy cheeses, and home fried bacon were all available. The man even brought red bell pepper! It would be an understatement to say that those were some darn fine sammiches.

Pedernales Falls State Park
We drove from Georgetown to Pedernales Falls State Park with only a brief complete stop on I35 in Austin. By the time we got to the park it was full on HOT. After hiking down from the stuffed parking area, we found ourselves ankle deep in very fine gravel and very coarse sand. The river itself was a beautiful deep green color and looked very inviting. Of course the river was pretty crowded with floating folk near the trail, so we made our way downstream on the bank. By this time we were both pretty warm and talking avidly about how good it was going to feel to step into the cool refreshing waters of the river. I was in the lead, so I was going to be first to be rewarded by the NEARLY BOILING WATER. So that there is no misunderstanding, the Pedernales river was HOT, and not for fishing. You could immerse yourself up to the neck in the water, and actually be cooler when you got back out of the water than you were in it.

Not to gripe about our pristine state waters, but the rocks were also slippery and difficult to notice until you tripped on them, which I did frequently. I did manage a couple of little bass in the shade along the bank. I also ran into a nice couple who were curious about my fly gear and had a very pleasant conversation about fly flinging.

After about an hour of flailing in the steamy water, we decided to head somewhere else, if for no other reason than to get to ride in the air conditioned car. I borrowed a rock on the way out of the water and presented it to the small person who lives in my house as a souvenir. She was thrilled with it when I presented it to her upon my return.

JM had an epic battle of wills with a fish, but I'll leave that for him to tell.

Blanco River
We drove down through Wimberly and ended up at the newly rebuilt Five Mile Dam Park just west of Kyle, TX. A pleasant little hike brought us down to the Blanco on the downstream side of the spillway. The water in the Blanco was slightly cooler than the Pedernales, but nowhere nearly as refreshing and cool as the San Gabriel. We did a bit of wading and caught a few small fish, but night was approaching and JM wanted to stop at Cabelas before they closed.

After a brief stop at Cabelas, we needed something a bit more substantial than a sandwich. I asked the cashier lady at Cabelas where we could get a good chicken fried steak and she replied "Chili's". She was disqualified from further commentary. Because it was after 9, our choices were limited, so at my request we ended up at Cracker Barrel to enjoy a simulated home cooked meal. Eggs in a basket is a tasty dish when you're starving.

END DAY ONE

Red Bud Isle on the Colorado River
We arrived at Red Bud Isle at around 7AM along with quite a few folks out to let their dogs stretch their legs. After some brief instruction and assembly, we were ready to hit the water in the float tubes (special thanks again to Robin for the loan of his). The water was blissfully cool and pretty clear. It looked VERY fishy: lots of overhanging limbs, big and small rocks, and some subsurface vegetation. Unfortunately, looks were deceiving for us and our respective fishing styles. We couldn't buy a bite. We tried everything from poppers to bendbacks to clousers to bugges and even received some helpful tips from a local, but no fish. I did spot one banded water snake, and I'm happy to report that Robin's tube remains unsoiled...at least as unsoiled as it was before I used it. I hate that we didn't catch any fish, but it was a tranquil and pretty spot to fling a fly for a few. You really couldn't tell you were in a major metropolitan area. We missed a major opportunity to auction off our parking space on our departure, but I think capitalism may be frowned upon in that area of Austin.

San Gabriel River (yes, again)
I needed to be home by midafternoon to prevent my belongings being piled in the yard and set aflame, so we decided to try the north fork of the San Gabriel just downstream of the Lake Georgetown Dam. We stumbled upon a really nice little park and a short hike brought us to the mercifully cool stream. The river isn't very wide there at all, probably 40 feet at most, but it averages a foot or two deep. We parted company and I wandered upstream and JM went downstream. I also probably ruined his fishing with my clumsy wading style and the silt kicked up by it. I managed a couple of little bass and a sunny or two, but it was a beautiful little spot and very relaxing fishing.

If you get a chance to find a friend and do a little fly flinging road trip, I highly encourage you to do so. It does wonders for sanity maintenance and is good clean fun besides.

All in all we drove quite a way to catch an abundance of small fish. In that ludicrous sentence lies the insanity and beauty of fly fishing with a good friend like JackMack.

It's at the link below, Robin. Not a big deal.

I'm not usually the one who keeps it brief.

The trip was killer great fun.

If you look carefully at this picture you'll see a pretty nice loop indeed. This was last night, just about sunset, on the Blanco River. It really doesn't get much better than this.

Also, that Pedernales River? It's pretty damned hot.

If you caught me throwing a good loop, you'd better examine the water for Nessie and the treeline for Sasquatch.

Dude, that was cast after cast. Wish that picture had come out better.

Don't fret it. It looks pretty good to me. The color picture of a tiny me casting on the Blanco at sunset is my new wallpaper on my phone. It makes me think of those Japanese paintings where the people in the art are insignificant dots and nature takes the spotlight.

Yes. The lack of color makes it all the more compelling.

Sounds like an awesome trip - I am going to make the San Gabriel a priority next time I am headed that way...

J.

Jose don't let those guys corrupt you!!!

next time you come to waco, don't hit the brazos, at least not where you went. instead try this spot. On the map, follow the road south, and there is a parking area and the middle bosque river would allow quite a few opportunities for some wading, and lots of shade.

[http://maps.yahoo.com/#mvt=h&lat=31.50513&lon=-97.283502&zoom=17&q1=barret%20rd%2C%20waco%2C%20texas%2C%2076712]

Thanks for the heads up on that one. Would that be at the south end of the road called Barett on your map? The one that dead ends into the river?

Looks like y'all had a great time.

Les

Yes, sir, I wish we had caught more fish or larger ones, but it was a very enjoyable trip. I'm still buzzing a little and not from the one Shiner I had. It's pretty amazing what a good friend and some water can do for your mental health.

You guys would probably have had 90% as much fun with a zero fish count but who wants to go 90%?

Anyway, those sorts of waters are why I got myself two, one and ought weight outfits. Little fish are a H00T on ultralight tackle.

if anyone ever sees a Cabelas Clear Creek One Weight for sale
Snap it Up as they are out of production and a classy, lovely little fly rod. Anyone want to sell theirs?