Last auction, John Staigerwald bid on and won the fly fishing trip to the Arroyo Colorado with guide extraordinaire Andy Pfannkuche.  Fortunately for me, John invited me to go along with him.

On Sunday, 10/27/24, we drove down to Rio Hondo and stayed in a wonderful house right on the Arroyo Colorado.  Andy picked us up at the dock on Monday morning and we headed out to a lake just north of where the Arroyo Colorado empties into Laguna Madre.  The conditions were almost perfect – one of those days where the clouds are few and the wind is less than 5 mph.  Andy immediately put us on a school of redfish.  Then another.  Then another.  Then another 6 times.    Both John and I had never seen that many schools of happy, tailing redfish – it was almost too easy to get a hook up.  Trout to 17 inches and redfish to 27 inches were brought to the boat. 

But a good thing doesn’t last forever and the sun got high and the fishing got tougher after about 11:00 am.  Then the wind started to pick up.  By the next morning, the wind was blowing 20-25 mph with showers looming on the horizon.  Andy took us back to the same lake, but the clear water had turned to chocolate – and then it started to rain on us. 

After a good 15-minute soaking, the storm blew over and we begin to look for the schools of redfish so plentiful the previous morning.  Nothing – the fish had disappeared.  Andy tried another area with the same results. 

By the time we started fishing the third lake of the morning, it was pretty obvious that the lakes were all blown out.  So we decided to head back in early to get a jump on the 6-hour drive home.  As we were floating the last section of the lake, I began blind casting and practicing Belgium casts in the high wind. 

Much to everyone’s surprise, I hooked up on what we thought was a good-sized redfish.  After fighting the fish for several minutes, it came close enough to the boat that we saw it was a very large trout.  Panic ensued when we realized the boat Andy had borrowed for this trip (his motor was in the shop) had no net!  Andy, being the very experienced guide, was able to get a Boga on the lower jaw and carefully hoist the trout into the boat – whew! 

After a quick measurement and a few pictures, the big sow trout was released to go back into the gene pool.  The measurement – right at 31 inches.  I never thought I’d get a trout that big – a once-in-a-lifetime fish.  I can’t thank John enough for inviting me, and Andy for putting us on so many fish. 

If you haven’t fished with Andy before, he is one of the most laid-back, amiable and kind fly fishing guides you’ll ever meet.  He knows the Arroyo Colorado area very well and will put you on fish.  I highly recommend fishing with Andy and I’m very glad he has continued to support the Texas Fly Fishers.  I can’t wait to get back to the Arroyo Colorado.  Good fishing everyone.  Ron Mayfield