Steve Edwards, Tom Strawther and I headed to  the scenic Guadalupe River for a fly fishing trip Feb.10-13. It was our first trip together this year. We normally have a trip or two earlier in the season, but life’s events just kept getting in the way. We decided to stay in a cabin at Hideout on the Horseshoe rather than our usual tent camping. It rained quite a bit Tuesday night, which confirmed our decision. We enjoy camping. But, not in the rain and mud!

I had been out of town for 7 days and didn’t get home until Monday afternoon. Thus, Judy and I spent Monday evening and Tuesday morning prepping and packing. I finally got away just before noon. Several hours later I got my first glance of the river. I always enjoy the drive along River Road where it parallels the Guadalupe River. It is peaceful to watch the river gently flowing, to listen to the water flowing, and to soak in the beauty of nature. That drive settles me down and marks a transition from the hustle of the city to the peace of nature. On the drive that day, I had to stop once for a rafter of about 10-15 turkeys to cross the road; several times I had to slow done for deer as well. I stopped at Rio Anglers Fly Shop to catch up with guide Judson Cole and get a few tips for fishing. He is a great guy that I have known for 10+ years. Tom and I arrived at the cabin around 4:00 pm, and Steve joined us a couple of hours later. It was the first time we had been together in quite awhile, so we enjoyed sitting on our large balcony and catching up. We were joined by three cats, that seemed to have an affection for Tom, maybe because he has a cat and knows how to relate to them. Dinner was at the Wildflour Artisan Baker and Cafe in Sattler.

Wednesday and Thursday were days for fishing and fellowship. The water was a little clearer than it was two weeks earlier when I was there. That made for better wading. Water flow was down to about 65 cfi. We chose to fish “together” Wednesday morning, but we split up in the afternoon. We all caught fish. That evening we enjoyed a camp dinner of cowboy soup, corn bread, marinated vegetables, and chocolate chip cookies (provided by Judy)

On Thursday morning Steve and I went in one direction and Tom went in another. Steve and I both netted a few trout. Tom had a disappointing morning. At one point I hooked what I thought was a huge trout. It took off upstream. I saw it, but couldn’t slow it down. It broke my line. A few minutes later I caught another fish. When I got it in, I saw that it was a white sucker and not a trout. I then realized the big fish I had hooked earlier was a white sucker. I ended up netting 2 suckers and lost 2 others. I had never caught a sucker, so I got to add that to the list of fish I have caught on a fly rod. They were pretty good fighters, but “ugly as homemade sin.” That afternoon I fished by myself and experienced some discomfort with a hernia, so came back early. For dinner that evening we had spaghetti, garlic french bread, and cantaloupe (provided by Tom).

Friday morning, Steve and Tom packed up and headed home. I decided to fish for awhile. Fishing was slow at first. I decided my Oros indicator was hitting the water too hard. So I re-rigged to a lighter yarn indicator and moved down to 5X tippet. I had planned to fish until about 11:00 or so. But the fish really turned on about 11:00. So I ended up fishing until almost 1:30. At one point, I had to play dodge with some buzzards who had taken over one tree—a few times I thought they were taking aim at me with their droppings. In one stretch I had hook ups 8 casts in a row! A first for me! I got lots of practice watching my indicator for takes and setting the hook in time to catch the fish. I caught fish on a nymph rig as well as a streamer rig. In addition to catching quite a few trout, I also caught 3 more white suckers, one quite large. I have no idea why the suckers were there and biting. But they were fun. Most of the trout were 12-14 inches, with a few at 15”.

What was a good trip, ended with a memorable and fabulous morning! I am blessed.

“There will be days when the fishing is better than one’s most optimistic forecast, others when it is far worse. Either is a gain over just staying home.”
             ~Roderick Haig-Brown