Hosted by Jerry Hamon

September 19 update:

We have 12 members signed up for this outing so far. Registration is limited to 15 people and closes on September 21. Everybody has indicated that they will tent camp at the Spivey Crossing RV Park. We will began keeping an eye on the weather and night temps and advise if circumstances change. Puck will be organizing the shared meals and will reach out in the next few days.

**Of special note…..Host Jerry Hamon is undergoing surgery next week, but he is hopeful that he can still attend the outing as planned. I assured him that he would have plenty of help on hand.

More info coming soon in another update.

September 3 update:

RV and Campsite pricing is attached below. Reminder to advise trip leader, Tom Strawther, of what you will need. Jerry will make the reservations and monies will be collected at the outing.

September 1 update:

Host and Guide Jerry Hamon has kindly provided a list containing the preferred fly selection as well as the fish species that we can expect to encounter. If we can’t catch fish…..it will be our fault!

Kreelix 
Clousers 
Cap Spiders
Stealth Bomber 
Double Barrel poppers
Wooly Buggers
Carpit Bombs
Foam Spiders 
Damsel Flies in blue and red
Almost every topwater works great 
Briminators 

Any others that will catch
🔽🔽🔽🔽🔽

SPECIES

LMB
SMB
White Bass 
Hybrids
Stripers
About 7 varieties of sunfish 
Carp 
Smallmouth Buffalo 
Longnose and spotted gar
Freshwater Drum – Gaspergoo 
An occasional crappie 

Jerry Hamon
Team Lead
Patriot Anglers EFRT
(214)457-3407

**This is a preliminary overview of the upcoming weekend fishing event hosted by Patriot Angler Guide Jerry Hamon for the Brazos River on October 4-6.  Please review the information and leave a comment if you have either an interest or a solid intention of attending.  The Official registration and a full description for the event will be in a 2-week window of opportunity beginning September 1 and closing around September 14.  The early registration is needed to confirm the number of attendees and the number of RV sites and tent camping spots that will need to be reserved.

Date:  Friday, October 4^th through Sunday, October 6^th.

Location:  Spivey Crossing RV Park, 151 FM-1304, Aquilla, Texas 76622.   

Lodging:  This is a private venue with RV and tent spots with electricity and water.  This isn’t an over night float trip.  We will launch and finish each day at the RV park.  Jerry will be on hand to lead the expedition and provide guidance.

River Access:  River access is located onsite and is a TPWD Lease Access Point. 

https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/recreational/rivers/lease_access/spivey_crossing.phtml

Fishing:  This will be primarily an opportunity to wade fish for the numerous species of game fish in the Brazos River.  5wt to 8wt rods recommended.  Floating lines and the usual assortment of fresh water poppers and streamers are needed.  (Carp are also in abundance in this river and tend to be large.)

Equipment Suggested:  Kayak, canoe, or oar-powered inflatables.  These craft are mainly used to get up and down the river to access deeper holes and wading opportunities.

Our current Freshwater Chair is ready to pass the reins.

The duties of this chair are to plan and coordinate (but not necessarily lead), the club’s freshwater fishing trips in coordination with the Saltwater Chair.  There are many advantages with this position, such as getting to know people in the club, set the agenda for freshwater, and learn a lot about Texas freshwater opportunities.  The club has made many freshwater trips, so there is a lot of history and knowledge to pull from.

If you are interested, get in touch with “Puck”, Chris S. Eric R. “Q”, Taylor G., or Tom S.

Save the date for a unique fresh water outing on October 4^th and 5^th on the Brazos River below Lake Whitney.  The Brazos River from Lake Whitney on down to Waco is renowned for its Hill Country type, clear water and multiple fish species.  Guide Jerry Hamon from Van Alstyne, Texas will be our host for guided float trips for these 2 days.  Kayaks, rafts, canoes, etc. are perfect for this waterway.

More logistics and lodging info on the trip along with the bio for Guide Jerry Hamon will be posted in September when the trip is firmed up and ready for open registration on the TFF website.  

https://texasflyfishers.org/2024/04/29/fw-outing-sabine-river-generation-canal-14-16th-june-2024/#!event-register/2024/6/14/fw-outing-sabine-river-generation-canal-14-16th-june-2024

Form the start, this trip had some challenges. The lake was four feet above where we needed it. (172.5′ vs 168′) All the spillway releases were open and the 2 generators were going 24/7. Access to the roads downstream was denied for safety. SRA had the access gates closed and locked. Then I found out that one of the folks that had signed up had a medical issue and had to pull out. Tough call, but the 3 of us decided to try anyway.

The weather was perfect, and the lodging was excellent. We enjoyed 2 nights of sitting by the campfire, telling stories, and enjoying the outdoors. The 3rd night we were all just too tired to move around much. With the slow catch rate, we made the decision to leave camp early Sunday morning.

Looking at my GPS, we had covered over 13 miles by kayak, or kickboat in our quest for fish. The images below show the shorelines that we targeted.

We fished the lake and it was the lowest catch rate I have ever experienced on that body of water.

I may try to go again, later in the year, but I will monitor the lake level and generation schedule closely before even attempting the 4+ hour trip.

Update to FW Outing: Sabine River, Generation Canal, 13-16th June 2024 (Thursday -Sunday)

We may be fishing the lake the entire time:  Sabine River Authority, Engineering

June

Any stage Above 168 ** Above 172

Use Volume necessary to meet Prime Power Schedule (see Note 2.)Operate plant up to full capacity. *

IF the spillway gates are open, the road and recreation area below the spill way, will be closed.

Water flow below the dam is so high that they have closed the roads downstream.   I will keep an eye out for the river access. I hope we are able to fish the river. The lake fishing is good, but the river can be great!

“Puck”

Friday Night Camping Report by Puck P. (President – TFF)
The first of us arrived on Friday about 10 o’clock in the morning and immediately started fishing. Plenty of fish were caught before the wind picked up, giving us hopes for Saturday’s event. There was some prep work involved for the next day. With the group’s efforts, this didn’t take long, and we quickly went back to fishing. There were seven campers on Friday night, plus two fur-persons.

The tents range from a Taj Mahal to a pop tent. One guy didn’t want to go through the trouble as setting up a tent and crashed out in his car. He actually looked pretty comfortable. Dinner was “what you brought.” We considered doing a “pot luck” but were worried about having too many leftovers again. Sitting around the campfire swapping stories we got carried away and didn’t start drifting off to our sleeping bags till almost 11 o’clock.

Coffee started at 5:30 the next morning, along with breakfast, while we waited for the rest of our people to join in on the fun.

Saturday Fishing by David D. (Trip Leader)
We had 52 attended this terrific event at Damon’s Seven Lakes (D7L). We had one RSVP no show and four non-RSVP who attended on the day of the event. Attendees spread out and fished among the lakes and enjoyed the great weather that day, fishing, seeing old friends, and making new ones. The lake water was clear and beautiful to view the depths. It was fun to see several families attend who encouraged their children’s or grandchildren’s fly fishing and/or casting skills. The covered picnic area with picnic tables became a haven for re-hydrating, visiting with friends, and exchange fishing stories especially on what flies were working. No safety incidents were reported, yeah! Go to this link to read the event announcement to TFF members before the event.

Casting Report by Jim R. (FFI CI)
Phil S. and I were at the 2024 John Scarborough Sunfish Spectacular to provide fly casting instruction to any participants who were interested. Phil and I are both Fly Fishers International Certified Casting Instructors (FFI CI) and longtime club members.

We were provided with a large, freshly mowed casting lawn by Matt and the staff of Damon Seven Lakes and drew some spectacular weather for a great day of casting. Students began arriving around 9 am and continued throughout the morning and into the early afternoon. The students had an experience level from beginner to advanced; all were enthusiastic, attentive, and seemed to be appreciative of the tips Phil and I were able to provide in an effort to improve their casting skills.

So, we had a fine day of casting and also a great day of visiting with all of the students and fellow club members. There were a lot of stories, some good casting, a nice lunch and also some great fellowship, all of which made for a fine day of fun for all.

Buffet Lunch by David D.
The lunch bell and whistle were sounded at noon. The volunteers did a great job preparing the buffet tables and the cooks had all the food cooked by noon. We enjoyed hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, cookies and cold drinks. This year, the cooks included sliced onions and tomatoes with the other condiments to the joy of everyone. The covered picnic area accommodated the seating space needed for most of the attendees with the rest using their folding chairs.

Puck P. and David D. gave announcements after lunch. Puck P. described who was John Scarborough and how the event was named, John Scarborough Sunfish Spectacular. John S. was an amiable and humorous person and annual trip leader of this event to Damon’s Seven Lakes for many years. He always included the longest Sunfish competition. During the event, John always found ways for one of the children to win the longest Sunfish award… he gave mysterious explanations as to why the adults’ measurements were always off, ha. After his long service to this event, the TFF decided to name the event after him.

Raffle Result: Matt A. (owner and manager of D7L) donated a new Wild Water fly fishing kit that included a 5/6 weight rod, reel with fly line, a zippered canvas storage bag and more. Raffle tickets were given out during registration and Mike A. (Matt’s dad) picked the lucky number. The raffle winner was Delia C. who was surprised and happy to have won this nice equipment! Earlier that morning, Delia accidentally cracked her fly rod and could no longer fish. She asked Chris S. if there were any TFF equipment she could borrow for the rest of the day and Chris lent her his equipment. After winning the raffle, Delia returned Chris’ equipment and thoroughly enjoyed fishing with her new equipment!!

After lunch was over and attendees went fishing, volunteers emptied the TFF storage containers, sorted and organized the items (utensils, backup plates, cups, etc.) back into the containers to facilitate the next TFF event. The volunteers also cleaned the picnic area and stacked the filled trash bags.

Longest Sunfish Winner

I decided to bend the longest Sunfish rules FROM longest Sunfish caught by anyone TO caught by children because of the notable story Puck P. told earlier about John Scarborough at lunch. Therefore, Thomas E., 13 years old, won the longest Sunfish for the day measuring in at 7.0”. David D. presented TFF’s award certificate and Puck P. gave Thomas a large box of flies Puck tied for the winner. As far as the longest sunfish caught by an adult, Russell C. won with a 9-¼ inch sunfish. Congratulations Thomas and Russell! There were several great entries for the longest Sunfish by others.

Volunteer Appreciation

I thank all the volunteers for signing up before the event and for helping out during the event! Our volunteers included Matt A., Russell C., Jim D., David & Barbara D., Scott F., Puck P., Michael Q., Jim R., Eric R., Hugh R., Scott R., Phil S., Tom S., and Chris S.

Attendees appreciated all the volunteer’s assistance and camaraderie including safe ground conditions (i.e., Matt A. mowed lawns around most lakes and the fly casting area), the tying and donating hundreds of flies that typically catch the fish at D7L, food purchases ahead of the event, retrieval and return TFF’s coolers and storage containers from the TFF mini-storage, install TFF banners, registration services, fly casting instructions, food safety, post-lunch clean up, an all day first aid station, and other efforts to make the event special and fun.

Cheers,
David D.

Additional Photos

Event Comments and Suggestions

James D.’s feedback and suggestions:

1. Cooking
   • For 2024 event, 72 hamburgers were cooked and 54 consumed – we did not need to cook the extra bag (18 burger patties/bag).The hamburger meat must be completely thawed out by event day because it was hard to cook frozen meat and not burn them. David D – We bought Kirkland frozen hamburger patties by noon Thursday and put them on ice in the cooler. Even though the patties were more than 50 percent thawed by Saturday, we will buy the patties on the Wednesday before the event next time.
   • Put the circular grill in front of the BBQ pit because you need complete access around circular grill. David D – I agree. The circular grill was accidentally located next to the pool this year. Next time we will move it away from the pool.
   • Great idea to use the BBQ pit’s charcoal grill to heat the hot dogs as it worked great.
2. There were about 10 hot dogs left out of 96 purchased.
3. I would ask for 4 volunteers again for next year to assist with lunch preparations – 2 cooks and 2 for food preparations.
4. Great job on ice cold drinks.
5. I would add a kid only Fish Trophy for biggest fish and buy a plastic trophy.

David D.: Please provide any comments and/or suggestions on what we could improve for next year’s JSSS event in the ‘Leave a Reply’ comment box below or send me an email.