I'm in Richardson for Christmas Break, but I go to school in College Station at Texas A&M.

I am in R also

You can go wade Rowlett Creek, under Firewheel parkway 12 minutes east from here

it is clear and shallow and will let you start getting your groove on when the S B really start.

If you can ride a mountain bike I can give you a first class bank tour as this park has a premier Dallas Off Road Bicycle Association trail. Which is what all you fellows should be doing right now. Espcially you santa-esque ho ho ho age under 70 Guiness stout drinking m.f.ers

Hire Tarponfly for a 1/2 day or more for a local trip that will put you way ahead of the game.
http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/users/11667/TarponFly

I don't even own a bike, but I've got a good pair of duck waders. I think I'll head over to Firewheel later this week and poke around to see what I can find. Thanks for the heads up SND!

-Tom

I second a small sparsely-tied Crazy Charlie. Tie some with different amounts of hair. Sometimes they like 'em really (almost absurdly) sparse.

unless you are 6/ 11 and weigh 310 lbs
I can loan you a proper bike
and college boys oughtta be able to ride....

I sent this invite out to the forum before, if anyone else wants to put in 12 easy enough miles
and just walk the "Oh Shi*t I cannot believe thy ride this" sections!

there are three? six? wadeable stretches in the pleaseant valley gun range rowlett creek nature preserve stretch

OK, in my opinion, The best way to fish for these guys, as I have been guiding them going on 10 years, is a clouser and an indicator. The indicator keeps the fly off the bottom and right in their faces. W/O an indicator, you swill snag immediatly or eventually or wrap around the many boulders there. Floating line/ not sinking line. The water there is less than 6 ft. So there is absolutly no need for sinking line.... I actually never use sinking line, ever (all the water I fish at , is less than 12 ft in the metroplex. If the water is over 12 ft deep, then I guess that would be a sinking line spot. But the sandies spawn in the gravel in the shallows and hold below the rapids in the shallow pools. So at Rowlett Creek, I use an indicator for getting snagged reason, and I give the indicator a quick one inch - strip every 2-3 seconds.

just tie 'em on yer string and cast 'em out there, if they need to be deeper put some split shoot on em and let it sink more, if they get snagged they sank too much (tie a few)

Direct, sage and concise

All the white bass fishing I've done has requires small strip retrieve--I assume this locale is the same. So since it is not a dead drift, the problem you'll have with a floating line and split shot is that you pull the fly off the bottom with each strip. You WILL absolutely catch more fish using a sinking line for whites, or at least a long sink tip. I have many times seen 2 guys drifting the same run and the one with the floater catching every few casts while the sinker was taking a fish every cast.

Carey, you should give something other than the floater a go. If you've never tried a sinking line then how do you know you won't catch MORE fish than you already are? Sinking or intermediate lines are not just for >6' water. Lots of folks use intermediates in 2' of water to keep the fly from hopping off the bottom.

heck, I can top that, if your catching them, stay there, if not, move on over to where the other fellas is...

I dint know we had to buy more stuff, if ya gotta do that get dynamite & some caps, its 100 %

I have used the sinking line, and I own 3 reels that have it on them. The places I fish though are usually shallow, no more than 12 ft deep. I have found my catch ratio is better with floating line the places I fish. This is just my opinion as stated before, and it works for "me" the best. A couple other rivers and creeks are deeper and actually do require the use of sinking line, but I never venture to those place often, due to I have the same fish in my backyard.

For instance: If I was to fish Muddy Creek in Rowlett, I would be in a mess of trouble on each and every cast. If the fly line was to sink, it would get hung up on every cast. This is just what works for my area. Some people might like the sinking line better at Rowlett Creek, and that is their choice. Plus I dont like to have fly line going through the schools of fish in skinny waters in turn spooking them and making them move. I feel its better to have the line float above them, other than through them.

I like the indicator to keep the clouser or creature fly to pass 6 inches or so, above their heads, and not pass by them directly in wich they have to move out of the way. And, the creeks I fish are very rocky and full of wood and snags (so I stay above them ) On high air pressure days, a split shot will make them move out of the way as I have seen them do numerous times.

-So, I say try both ways and see what works best for you. Its all the anglers decision on what works best for them and getting diff ways to fish for them. Mine is just a different way that produces very well.

For a free note: We had a small run of sandies the other day come up Rowlett Creek. If you would like to practice the sandbass before the main run in Feb, right now they are pretty thick just north of 66 at Rowlett Creek. From the bridge and about 450 yards north its 6-9 ft average. They are all laid up there as we speak. Park at the park with the big pond and walk directly to the creek and start roll casting. If you can see the bottom, your to shallow.



The blue dot is where the main school was located yesterday. and they will prob stay there for a few weeks. Good Luck.

Thanks Carey! Floating line makes sense to me. I've seen how "snaggy" some of these creeks are and lost enough flies to appreciate a method that keeps me away from them. Keeping your fly line above the fish makes sense too. The girlfriend gets in town late tonight, so I might have to slip down to the creek early tomorrow morning before she wakes up and give it a shot. Thanks again for all the tips, folks.

-Tom

I should be in the area tomorrow. I finally have a day to myself so Im shooting for some flyfishing records for the creek. Give me a call if you cant find the spot there and ill paddel up and show you exactly where they are...... there is an East wind all day tomorrow, so it might be tough....

ding,ding, ding!! we have another winner. nice tips from all!!