New Video Series - $2 BFS Lures | Round 1 Wal-Mart's Crawdad Lure

Starting a new fishing series that looks at discount lures and their ability to catch fish. Keeping it simple, the series sets a $2 limit for purchasing the lure and focuses on Bait Finesse Systems fishing aka ultralight bait casting.

Regardless, what gear you use, as long as you can cast the $2 lure, you should be able to give them a try fishing them in your area!

Do check out the first in the series... Wal-Marts hard bait lure that I call the Crawdad! It will catch a fish or two!

Available online at Wal-Mart... Click on picture for more details from Wal-Mart. Else, run to your local Wal-Mart and look for them selling for $2.00... specifically, $1.98 before tax!

Can a Bamboo Fly Rod and Muddler Minnow Combo Catch Fish...!

On a whim, tied a Muddler Minnow and headed to the local pond with the Vintage Bamboo Fly Rod. After figuring our the pattern - short pauses between short pulls of the line, caught a Bluegill and several Bass!

Lots of fun knowing that a fly rod that is older than myself can still be used. I am a little careful when landing fish. But, I do think the rod will land a good size Bass or other similar fish.

Let's see if that happens sooner than later!

Try tying one, else purchase them from Amazon!

Ultralight Gear, Inline Spinners, and Stocked Trout... An Excellent Combination

Trout Stocking Season is a few months away in Texas. Here is a Shorts from last season where I am using inline spinners and ultralight spinning gear to limit out! See full video at COAF Field Team YouTube Channel

 

Pier Fishing for Sharks | Tips for Beginners | Fishing Infographic

Answering the mail concerning our trip to the Texas Coast last month where we caught a number of fish including some nice size Bull Reds, a Black Drum, and Sharks. Largest was a Black Tip Shark that went 54 inches in length!

Received several requests seeking suggestions and tips when fishing for sharks from a pier. As we are not experts - just "Average Joes" who have a passion for fishing, we thought it best to post things we did this trip as well as past trips to the Coast.

Keeping it simple, created a Fishing Infographic - "Pier Fishing for Sharks | Tips for Beginners", and posted it at the end of this post.

Do check it out. 

COAF Field Team Trip to the Coast - Galveston 2022

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by COAF Field Team (@coaf.field.team)

Pier Fishing for Sharks | Tips for Beginners

Try Trout Fishing in Oklahoma | Turner Falls Park

YouTube Shorts of a past fishing trip to Turner Falls Park in Oklahoma. That Season, they stocked trout above the Waterfall which made for interesting fishing as sections of the river were clobbered with brush and trees.

Luckily, I found a nice spot that offered excellent access and focused my efforts on finding the pattern. After a number of fishing fly changes and varying retrieves, I noted the trout preferred an Olive Near Deere fished with short pull retrieves and no strike indicator.

Also, the trout were readily striking but I missed a few until I began setting the hook as soon as I saw the trout "flash" in the water as it struck the fishing fly.

Fun trip, do give it a try. But, do check with the Park as stockings may be delayed or canceled contingent on water conditions.

Olive Near Deere Materials

Vintage Bamboo Fly Rod - Bass and Bluegill for Round 1

Tried the Bamboo Fly Rod for some pond fishing. Put a Fenwick Large Arbor fly reel initially, then switched to an old Shakespeare bought from Oshman's Sportimg Goods in the early 80s.

Had a Bass on but lost it. Was being careful not to horse the Bass in. Later, caught Bluegill and then ended with a Bass that I did land.

So far, liking the Vintage Fishing Series and fishing a fly rod from the past. Do check back for more!

Try kayak fly fishing... 😀

Kayak Fly Fishing is fun! Even better with an OPST Commando Head to make it easier to cast from a sitting position! See full video at https://youtu.be/qnjuabWu4AU

Clouser Minnow Pack

Left Deceiver Pack

50+ Year Old Rapala Floating Minnow Still Catches Bass!

Fifty plus years old Rapala Floating Minnow  still can catch a Bass or two! Round Two of the Vintage Fishing Lure series gets more Bass. Not as big as the Cisco Kid Diver and the 7+ lbs Bass but the Rapala Minnow still rocks in the 21st Century!

Rapala Floating Minnow

Cisco Kid Topper

Fly Fishing Tips from the Little Red Book of Fly Fishing | Podcast 43, Episode 24

Episode 24 in the "Little Red Book of Fly Fishing" podcast series where I review fly fishing tips….

This round it's tips 110 through 113!
Tip 110: You Got to Pick a Pocket (or Two)
Tip 111: Rock On
Tip 112: Pillow Talk
Tip 113: Rob the Banks

Do check back on our next episode in the series where we discuss tips 114 - 117 .
Tip 114: Rosenbauer's Rules
Tip 115: Be the Tree
Tip 116: Nervous Water
Tip 117: Your Fly Rod Cannot See

Good Luck and Good Fishing!

Can a 30 Year Old Lure Still Catch Bass? #bassfishing #shorts

Found an old Rapala Floating Minnow lure while antiquing this past weekend. 30+ years old, still catches fish! Worked well with the Bass Pro Shops Microlite Rod and Kastking Zephyr BFS Reel with clicker!

First Kayak Fishing Trip for 2022 | Jug Lining for Catfish on Lake Lavon (Apr 18, 2022)

Finally made it out to the local lake for kayak fishing. Opted for jug lines and Catfish fishing.

Had to make a few modification to the jug lines per the Texas Fishing Regulations.

Also, had to read the new rules for Catfish on Lavon. Different compared to past Season!

Do check out the video!

Pond Fishing Fun | Cabelas 2wt CGR and Foam Grasshoppers 👍👍👍

Planned to fish with Bait Finesse gear for Bass and Bluegill. But, the pond was too clobbered with "green stuff" that fouled lures. Switched to fly fishing - Cabelas 2wt Fiberglass Rod and the Caddis Foam Grasshopper. Was a fun time ultralight fly fishing!

Cabelas 2WT CGR Fiberglass Rod
Orvis Battenkill II
Bett's Bream Getter WT
Bett's Bream Getter - Blk

See more at Cabela's!

Trout Fishing | Bubble and PowerWorm Rig Worked This Round (Dec 21, 2021)

Decided to fish Pottsboro Lake in Pottsboro Texas this past Saturday. After a little rain in the morning, made it to the pond just as a cold front rolled in. Cold and windy, did manage three trout. Planned to catch trout using ultralight lures and a BFS Rod/Reel, but trout wanted PowerWorms. Good thing I had the Bubble and Fly Rig handy, just swapped the fishing fly for a PowerWorm. Bite was steady, just kept missing the hookset. Did get a few Bluegill and a Bass on the PowerWorms. Plus got some underwater video of what was lurking in the pond! Do check out the video!

Great for Trout, too!

Tying the Olive/Brown Near Deere (Feb 26, 2015)

Received a request to post information on how we tie the Olive/Brown Near Deere - the fishing fly we used recently at Murphy City Hall Pond for Rainbow Trout.

In reply, we posted a video below that demonstrates how we tie the fishing fly. Do check it out when you get a chance!

Other key points:

• For the fishing fly we tie, it is a variation of the fishing fly that Texas Fishing Forum's Tarpon Fly posted several years ago. He described the pattern and noted its simplicity and effectiveness.
• When we tie the Olive/Brown Near Deere, we use Olive Marabou for the tail and Brown Flash Chenille for the body. However, the pattern allows for ease of mixing and matching colors with our favorites being Olive Marabou/Olive Flash Chenille and Olive Marabou/White Flash Chenille.
• It can be fished with or without a strike indicator as well as fished as a tandem rig with a GRHEN, Soft Hackle, or Nymphs.
• It is a consistent producer of Trout as well as other fish like Bass and Catfish in our area!

PS: Tarpon Fly also offers the fishing fly in his online store at Carey Thorn's Online Fishing Store.

Back Again to Murphy City Hall Pond This Round! (Feb 24, 2015)

Fished Murphy City Hall Pond this evening. Was cold but it was great to get a round of fishing in during the work week! Even better that we managed to limit out on Rainbow Trout.

Used the Four Weight Fly Rod and the Olive/Brown Near Deere that worked the other day. Change in the retrieve compared to last time; long pulls and allow time for the fishing fly to sink instead of the faster retrieve we used on Sunday.

Only fished for about an hour but it was enough time to catch and keep five, catch and release one more, and miss a lot more due to missed hook sets or thrown hooks.

That said, looks like more cold temps and snow are in the forecast which may be a good thing to keep us focused on our day jobs!

PS: Pictures of the Olive/Brown Near Deere and Today's Catch as well as Today's Video are posted below!

More Tinkering Around with Micro Fly Rods (Feb 23, 2015)

More tinkering around with Micro Fly Rods. This time making a handle using wine corks. Once done, going to dry fit the Ice Fishing Rod Blank before working on the Rod Guides. Hope this one turns out as good as the Micro Fly Rod I and Micro Fly Rod II.

Back to Murphy City Hall Pond This Round (Feb 22, 2015)

Made it back to Murphy City Hall Pond before the front arrived. Used an Olive/Brown Near Deere, PowerBait, and a Super Duper to limit out!

Fishing Buddy hooked up with three on PowerBait, one on a Black Super Duper, and one on an Olive/Brown Near Deere. I took a limit on the fly with an Olive/Brown Near Deere.

Saw others hooking up as well! Not sure what they were using but the Trout were biting! Now it's time to bundle up and prepare for the colder temps and freezing conditions.

Two Youth Trout Derbies Saturday... February 21, 2015

Looks like this Saturday should be a fun one for kids participating in Trout Derbies in the Murphy and Denison! For more information, do check out the their websites! Hope the rain does not delay things... cross our fingers!

• Murphy - Rainbow Round Up
• Denison - 17th Annual Youth Trout Derby

Dry Flies at Waterloo This Round (Feb 15, 2015)

Fun time in Denison today. Nuclaroche and I fished Waterloo Park Pond. After a lot of missed hook sets to rising trout feeding on little, black bugs, we figured out the pattern - a COAF Griffith's Gnat in Size 16!

The Trout started out taking dry flies on a dead drift but as the wind picked up and the insects started "skittering" on the surface more, the Trout were wanting more movement on the dry fly.

Fun day, especially being able to catch them on dry flies. Also, had lots of fun casting and catching fish using the COAF Micro Fly Rod!

Tough Round at Frisco Saturday (Feb 15, 2015)

Late start Saturday for Nuclaroche and I. We planned to fish Frisco Commons for Rainbow Trout that morning but I was sidetracked by work and then some early "Spring" cleaning of the office. By the time all was done, it was late afternoon.

Around 4PM, we made it to Frisco and fished till after sunset. Nuclaroche hooked up with one Rainbow Trout using PowerBait. I stuck with different dry flies trying to hook the Trout that were rising on the surface, and then eventually switched to the Micro Fly Rod.

A quick check to match the hatch did not help either. I had caught one of the bugs flying around, and then tried several fishing flies that looked like it. No luck!

Still had fun catching little Bluegill on the Micro Fly Rod!