FW Outing: John Scarborough Sunfish Spectacular, 2nd of May 2026

This is THE family friendly event of the year!

The May 2025 JSSFS Trip Report is written and available for viewing. See this link.

2026 JSSFS Trip Description:

Join us for our 23nd annual fun family fishing event and lunch on Saturday, May 2nd, at Damon’s Seven Lakes (D7L). This is a little later in the year than previously. Hopefully the water and air temperature will be warmer, allowing the fish to feed more actively. If you want to camp you may come after 3 pm on Friday, May 1st. Fishing is mostly from the shore, but kickboat, canoe, and/or kayaking are quite successful. Members are encouraged to bring guests. These guests are how we spread the word, and it is always good to have friends on the water. To learn more about how the Texas Flyfishers of Houston (TFF) Club’s John Scarborough Sunfish Spectacular (JSSFS) event came about, please click this link for a video of Puck giving the explanation.

Further JSSFS event descriptions, volunteering, and online registration for this event is only possible after you log in to this TFF webpage. Registering online on or before midnight, Wednesday, April 29th, is requested so our Trip Leader can purchase sufficient food and drinks for all attendees. Please fill out all form spaces as this will facilitate quicker registration for you at the event. Be sure to bring your completed waivers to the event…there are two forms to bring per person, see links below.

About the D7L Area from D7L website (This website is a little dated, but the information is mostly accurate):

“Damon’s Seven Lakes is a beautiful one-of-a-kind private fishing club located near Damon, Texas just west of Highway 36 between Rosenberg and West Columbia. Contrary to the name there are now nine different, unique lakes of decent size but only eight lakes are open (Goose Lake is closed). The lakes hold Large-mouth Bass (LMB), Tiger Bass (a LMB variety), Catfish, Black Crappie, Bluegill and others. Catching bass in the three-to-five-pound range is a normal occurrence. Twelve-pound bass, large channel cats and twelve-inch bream have been caught in previous years.” Owner and manager, Matt A., does a terrific job preparing the D7L property before the event (e.g., mowing the grass). Please thank him for the opportunity to fish on his property and all the work he did getting it ready for our event.

D7L Fishing Criteria:

All bass are catch and release
People can keep catfish and sunfish
Barbless hooks are requested not required

When: Friday afternoon through Saturday, May 1^st and 2^nd, 2026

TFF Membership: Interested in becoming a TFF Club member? Please visit our TFF membership webpage for details on Club dues for individual, family, and student memberships. You can pay online on our membership webpage.

May 1^st Fishing Event and Campout: On Friday, May 1st, camping is available and encouraged (we have permission from the owner) starting no earlier than 3 pm. The camping locations are either near the picnic area or near the restrooms. The restrooms are 323 yards west of the picnic area camping spot along D7L roads (using Google Earth path).

May 2^nd Fishing Event: On Saturday, May 2^nd, people may arrive and check-in no earlier than 7 am to pay registration fee and turned in two completed waiver forms first and then fish. Payment will only be by cash, check, or Zelle to Txflyfishers@gmail.com for those attending this event.

Event Lunch: It starts at noon in the covered picnic area and will include grilled hamburgers & hot dogs (with all the condiments), beans, chips, cookies, and cold drinks (sodas, water, and Gatorade).
Event End Time: 4:00 pm for the event, but diehards can stay until TDTF (Too Dark to Fish)
Parking: Parking of your car, truck, or trailer is typically between the restrooms and the pool/picnic area. Please keep all D7L roads clear of all vehicles.

Trip Leader: David D; E-mail: ddow80(at) gee mail dot com

Where: Damon’s Seven Lakes

3533 County Rd 4 (CR 4)
Damon, Texas 77430
N29.2524671 – W95.7412050

Event Check-In, Waiver Forms, and Cost:

Check-in at the front entrance warehouse for all attendees, turn in your waiver forms, and pay fee before going fishing. (The 2023 photo below shows the D7L warehouse check-in.)

$20 for Texas FlyFishers members with paid up dues that have signed up ahead of time.
$30 for those that do not sign-up early but are in good standing with the club.
Bring your kids. Kids get in free! OK, bring your grand kids, and the same applies. We still request that everyone check-in at registration desk and leave your waiver form(s) before fishing.
Special pricing for family members 16 and younger, students, and non-fishing spouses who will not be fishing during the event. They may take free casting lessons. Contact Trip Leader for details.
We will be using a list from the membership secretary to verify up-to-date membership. The list may be a week or 2 old by the time the event is held.
Payment will only be by cash, check, or Zelle to Txflyfishers@gmail.com for those attending this event.

Cost for non-club members fishing at Damon’s 7 Lakes is currently $110/person/day, but can be reduced from $110 to $60 by joining Texas FlyFishers at the event, i.e., $30 event fee + $30 individual club dues.

JSSFS Trophy: The John Scarborough Sunfish Spectacular trophy will be given to the adult who catches and documents the longest sunfish before 4:00 pm (1600) on May 2^nd. A photograph of fish length must include the fish with a measurement tool (e.g., a tape measure or your rod). Show photographs to the Trip Leader on or before 4 pm who will be near the picnic area lake. He will log in your entry and tell you how close you are to the other entries. See example photo of Eric R.’s longest Sunfish winner (on 4-15-2023) at top of this post. Remember, “No pictures = no proof.” Note: LMB are not one of the accepted species for the win, only Sunfish. If anyone knows who won the 2022 JSSFS longest Sunfish, please let Trip Leader know.

Junior JSSFS Award Medal: For children 15 years old and under, you can earn the chance to capture the JSSFS Award Medal and a box of tied flies for the longest fish photographed. The same adult rules apply for children.

Child JSSFS Medal — Child JSSFS Award Medal

Casting Lessons: We have an area of D7L set aside for some casting instruction for anyone attending this event. The student’s fly-casting experience level can be from beginner to advanced. The instructors will improve your casting so you can immediately catch D7L fish! These lessons are typically between 20 to 60 minute long. The volunteer instructors are Fly Fishers International Certified Casting Instructors (FFI CI) and are longtime TFF club members. The D7L owner, Matt A., will provide a large, freshly mowed casting lawn for the lessons.

Volunteer 0pportunities: If you are interested, please sign up online or contact the Trip Leader about volunteering. These volunteers will have their registration fees waived for the day.

Purchaser: Request one volunteer with a truck who will pick up the large coolers, garbage bags, storage bins (cooking utensils, plastic plates, napkins, etc.) from TFF storage and then meet meet Trip Leader at Costco to purchase food, drinks, charcoal, and ice on April 30th. He or she must be willing to store the food in their truck until the event. This will give the frozen hamburger patties time to thaw by the time of the event (thereby reducing time to cook the hamburgers).
Check-In Table: In addition to the Trip Leader and Treasurer, request two volunteers from 6:45 to 9:30 am on May 2nd. Volunteers will assist in the check-in and receiving of waivers and event payments.
Cooks: In addition to Trip Leader and his wife, request two volunteers from 11:00 am to ~12:30 pm. Tasks include unpacking TFF storage bins (cooking utensils, plates, napkins, etc.), cooking hamburgers & hot dogs, cutting tomatoes & onions, setting up the buffet table, and keeping buffet table stocked with food, plates, etc.
Cleanup crew: In addition to Trip Leader and his wife, request two volunteers from 12:30 to ~1:30 pm. Tasks includes replacing plastic bags in the garbage cans during lunch, clean up of buffet table, clean and storing away TFF’s utensils, plates, extra food, etc. into TFF’s storage bins, and to remove all trash in the picnic area and put into the garbage cans (windy days spread the trash).
Casting Lessons: Two volunteers that at are Fly Fishers International Certified Casting Instructors.
Fishing Buddy: At least four volunteers to buddy up with inexperienced fly fishers for an hour.
Safety Team: Two volunteers with medical/nurse training. If an incident occurs, provide assistance as required. See Safety Tippets below. Please let Trip Leader know in advance via online sign up.

*Hamburger and hot dog buffet lunch during 4-13-2024 JSSFS*

How to sign-up:

Online registration closed at midnight on Wednesday, April 29th, but come and register during the event. We like early online registrations to give David a better count of attendees; he can more accurately purchase the correct amount food for our lunch. (It takes two days to thaw the hamburger patties and a thawed hamburger cooks quicker. So the food will be purchased on April 29th.)

Please register on TFF’s event webpage (after logging into your account). Registering serves two purposes:
- a) to quicken your check-in process on Saturday morning and
- b) it helps the Trip Leader better estimate food supplies needed for Saturday lunch. Please provide both your first and last name as this facilitates your registration on Saturday morning.
Waiver Forms (must be submitted during registration before fishing):

You must complete and submit the following two waiver forms:

2.a. TFF Waiver of Liability Form, filled out and signed you can get it from this link.
2.b. D7L Day Waiver Form, filled out and signed you can get it from this link.

TFF Waiver of Liability Form is for adults and/or minors along with emergency contact information. A D7L Day Waiver Form is required for entry onto the D7L property Friday night, and/or Saturday. To save time during registration, download these forms, print them, fill them out, and turn them in at check-in.

3. Those attending must check-in at the D7L warehouse registration table, by the front entrance, from 7 to 9:30 am. Afterwards, sign in by the pool/picnic area for the rest of the day.

4. If you plan to stay after 5 pm, please make a note on your TFF Waiver (top right side) form during check-in and inform the registrars. Diehards can stay at D7L until TDTF (too dark to fish).

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Those bringing your own:

Canoe, kayak, or kickboat (These are not needed, but it is a good time to try stuff out)
3-7 wt fly rod with floating line
Extra rod

Those needing loaner equipment:

Please inform one of the registrars during check-in how you may borrow the TFF equipment and where to return the equipment when you are done.
After 9:30 am check-in, please see Trip Leader in the picnic area to borrow the TFF equipment.

Recommended guidelines for participants:

Member dues are to be current at time of check-in. If not, you can pay your dues at during check-in.
Waiver of Liability, filled out and signed, along with emergency contact information, see above.
Extra change of dry clothes
Wind and/or water proof jacket
Water, snacks
Bring your own folding chair for lunch (D7L will not provide it) just in case as there are not enough picnic tables and benches for everyone.
Sunscreen and Mosquito Repellent
Hat and polarized Glasses
First Aid Kit
Notify the Trip Leader if you have any potential concerns
If inexperienced, buddy up
Have proper safety equipment
If you are boating or kayaking, inform the Trip Leader or registrars of your float plan if planning to fish alone or longer then the designated times.
Sign-in: After entering through the double-gate entrance, stop by the front warehouse to sign-in with the registrars. Sometime after 9 am, the registrars will relocate to the covered picnic area near the pool.

Safety Tippets (tips)

There will be at least one First Aid Kit on a table by the picnic area.
If there is an incident during the JSSFS event:
- An accordion folder organizer contains seven nearby urgent care and hospital locations with maps showing how to get each location. They are between 15 to 40 minutes away without traffic. This blue accordion folder organizer (see photo) will be at the registrar’s during registration but after 9:30 am, then it will be next to the First Aid Kit on a table by the picnic area.
- An incident report must be completed by those who witnessed the incident. See the Trip Leader to complete the incident report and turn it into the TFF President.

Recommended Flies:

Puck’s Dependable Dozen, TFF link. These are the flies that Puck P depends on to catch fish reliably in freshwater. This TFF link provides a brief description of each fly.
Yellow spider, size 6-12, video link by Puck
Miss Prissy or similar small popper, video link
BBB – Brim busting bug, video link
PGPP, size 8-12 – Pete’s Gurgle Pop Popper, video link
S1B, size 6-10 – Sam’s One Bug, video link
Hare-E, size 10, video link to the parachute hare’s ear dry fly
Squirrelly, size 12, video link and Squirrel and Herl Bugger, video link
Dark Wooly bugger size 6-12, video link
Easy grasshopper, Mustad 79580 6-14 (used an 8 for this video), video link
Basic black bass fly (BBBF), Mustad 79580 6-14 (used an 8 for this video), video link

Fly Tying Videos (in general)

Variation of Cowen’s Coyotes by Puck P
Fun with Marabou (part 1 of 5 videos) by Puck P (other 4 parts are below this one)
FFI Learning Center: Fly Tying, website
Fly Tying for Beginners, website

TFF Fishing Videos