Fish were caught. Fun was had. Food was eaten.

We had blue skies, some wind, and wonderful temperatures for our event at Damon’s 7 Lakes. Luckily, the cool front and rain ended Friday night (we had over 3-inches of rain at our home)! Due to all the raining on Friday afternoon and evening, the camping part of the JSSFS event was cancelled.

The event on Saturday went smoothly thanks to all the gracious and kind volunteers.

• Mowed lawn for fly casting, camping, & picnic areas; set up a large tarp to block wind so our plates didn’t fly away; provided two gas grills to cook hamburgers and hot dogs (this was a huge upgrade to charcoal cooking!); provided office space (& desks and chairs) for sign-in in the warehouse, and provided a beautifully maintained Damon’s 7 Lakes (D7L): Owner and manager, Matt A.
• Food pick-up before hand and event clean up: Glenn Ws.
• Storage run to pick-up before hand: coolers, drink dispenser, storage bins of cooking wares: Puck P., Howard F., and David Wf.
• Event Sign-In (volunteers were there before 7 am!): Michael Q., Rolfe W., Gary B. and David Dw.
• Donated flies (all tied and mailed to Puck ahead of time): Attendees were treated several types of donated flies for fishing at D7L. These enwrapping TFF members (who love fishing D7L) tied 50 flies each! These volunteers included Puck P. (Hare-E), Glenn Ha. (squiminator and Krap), Gary M. (Ligon), and Russel C. (BBB).
• Cooks and servers (fun jokesters): Glenn Ha., Glenn Ws., David Le., David Dn., & Tracy Q.
• First Aid and hand safety (handed out wipes before eating lunch): Terry S.
• Clean-up crew (stayed to make sure everything was put away in the TFF storage bin, bagged the trash, put my supplies in my car; rinsed off the serving utensils; and transferred all the sodas and water bottles into storage bins staying at D7L): Puck P., Ian S., Clark C., Gary B., and Glenn Ws.
• Casting Instructions terrifically casted and taught by Vitali K., Jim R., and Phil S.
• Fishing Buddies: Puck P. (took several attendees in his pontoon boat built for two to fish) and Scott F.
• Marketing & email reminders of the event, gave a JSSFS power point presentation at the April 28 TFF monthly meeting, and was contributor to this Trip Report: Puck P.

The were 41 TFF members and guests who attended this annual event on May 2nd. For those interested in the 2026 JSSFS event webpage, click this link. From a management standpoint, it was fun to work along side such affable fisherwomen and men who all contributed to its success. As a matter of fact, it was such a big success that Lovebugs crashed in on the event, ha. (Wikipedia states, “…the greatest concern [for cars] is excessive clogging of vehicle radiator air passages by the bodies of the adults, with a reduction of the cooling effect on engines, and the obstruction of windshields when the remains of the adults and egg masses are smeared on the glass.^[2]“) We did not mind the Lovebugs as there were zero mosquitoes…maybe due to the wind keeping them away!

Fish Tales: The sign in area is normally where you go through the formality of paperwork and normally is a dry, boring experience. Thanks to Matt’s preparation, and the volunteers, this was more like a party area, with stories, laughter and coffee.

The picnic area turned into a “base camp” with folks coming in and out all day. There was always somebody there sharing stories, what flies were working, and casting techniques.

There was a story of one of our anglers casting a fly to an alligator. I didn’t see the fly used, but he said that it was refused.

When the wind picked up, threatening to scatter the lunch preparations, Matt was quick to put up a tarp as a wind-brace. It worked perfectly.

An interesting way to measure fish was presented. At first glance the bluegill looked like it measured 22 inches long. Then you noticed how the tape measure was folded. That definitely deserved “honorable mention”.

A bonus species, crappie, came to hand. We thought that the osprey pair had cleaned out that species from the lakes years ago. It was good to see that there are some survivors.

One angler didn’t test his equipment before the outing, and when he sat on his chair, he went all the way through onto the ground, requiring assistance to untangle himself. Nothing hurt but his pride.

Glenn Ha. tied and donated many Krap flies (messy looking nymph) for the event. He asked, “How well did the Krap fly catch fish during the event?” If you did use it and caught fish, then he will tie more for 2027 JSSFS event. If it was unsuccessful, then Glenn will not tie it again for 2027 JSSFS event. Please leave a comment below or email Glenn directly.

LONGEST SUNFISH COMPETITION RESULTS

– Addison S. was the Junior Division winner again this year catching a 7-1/4-inch Bluegill Sunfish.

– Glenn Ha. was the Adult Division winner who caught a 9.05-inch Bluegill Sunfish, photo below.

Congratulations to you both! The handing out of Sunfish Competition awards will occur at our May 26th TFF monthly meeting at our new location: St. Thomas Presbyterian Church in Houston, 14100 Memorial Drive, Houston 77079. Sunfish competition photo gallery:

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JSSFS Event Photos

Due to the threat of rain on Saturday, May 2nd, it got me wondering what quotes and/or sayings about fishing and rain I could find for our amusement, so here are a few:

• ‘Carpe diem; does not mean ‘fish of the day.’  
• The two best times to fish is when it’s rainin’ and when it ain’t. – Patrick McManus
• Water is the most essential element of life because without water, you can’t go fishing.
• If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there’d be a shortage of fishing poles. – Doug Larson

I acknowledge all the volunteers’ efforts. Please post your comment(s) of the event at the bottom or email me directly. Please note, Ben S. kindly accepted being the 2027 JSSFS Lead. Thank you!

Tight lines, David Dw. and Puck